A Small Update

It's about time for an update, don't you think?

Abigail weighs 5lbs 5 oz and continues to gain about 1/2 oz to 1 oz every day! Kaitlin weighs 5lbs 3 oz and is a little behind Abigail on weight gain, but they're both going in the right direction. Right now with both girls we are working on eating. We have been working on breastfeeding for over a month now and we started bottles last week. Eating is complicated when you are a preemie! They want them to get about 50% of their milk orally, either from breastfeeding or from bottles. Once they do that consistently they have a 12 hour eating "on demand" test, where they ONLY feed them when they wake up and are hungry and eat all of their meals orally. If they do well on that (getting at least 75% of what they're supposed to get) they'll try for 24 hours. Once they pass the 24 hour test they get to come home! Right now we are doing "cue based" feedings. So, if they wake up and cue that they are hungry the nurse or I will feed them with a bottle (or I'll work on breastfeeding). If they don't wake up they get their feeding through a tube in the nose. If they don't eat all of their bottle they get the remainder through the tube. It's a very up and down process.  One day the girls will be doing GREAT, but then it seems to wear them out and the next day they sleep most of the day. So, they need stamina to get through all of their feedings. Katie seems to be doing a little worse than Abby, so the doctors are preparing us that the girls may not come home at the same time.

That's really all of the news with the girls right now. We've also moved from NICU B to NICU C and have a lovely view of the mountains. There are a lot more babies in NICU C and more nurses. We were starting to feel like we were the only ones left in NICU B, so it's fun to move to a different area. I've made friends with a few of the moms who have babies nearby. The girls are now out of preemie clothes and diapers and are wearing newborn outfits! We can't wait for them to come home.