5-7-09 Update

Yesterday Mom and I were shopping for a few more preemie clothes for the babies. Fed up and a bit impatient Emily sighed and said, "why are we buying more clothes for the babies? They stay naked all the time!"

This was true up until today! Emily was thrilled today, as you also will be, that both Elias and Elsie got to wear their first clothes this morning! Their jaundice levels were low enough that they were taken off the phototherapy lights. They are eating well enough that Elsie's feeding tube (in her nose) was finally removed for good. They don't have IV fluids anymore.

Now they are in the process of being weaned off their isolettes to see if they can maintain body temperature in regular room air with no assistance from the warmers. I was at the hospital for the 8 am feeding through their 5 pm feeding, and when I checked back by phone at 8 pm tonight, both babies had temperatures of 98.5. They will continue to decrease their isolette temp. by 1/2 degree every three hours as long as their under arm temp. doesn't drop below 97.5. They get to be clothed and swaddled. (And you better bet I chose the thickest clothing and socked their feet with booties on top stitched to their onsies, and swaddled them with care! )

Of course I will post an update tomorrow. Hopefully it will say that they are both out of their isolettes and in normal room air. (And in cute baby clothes, of course! :) The next step is to have a 48 hour watch to see if they can maintain or grow their body weight. If that happens, they get to come home! One step at a time! I will probably stay at the hospital much more during the 48 observation time, just because now they are getting half feedings from me, and half feedings of pumped milk by bottle when I can't be there over night. But I feel like they get SO MUCH MORE food when I nurse, rather than the pre-measured amount by bottle. And I want them to eat as much as possible so we can bring them home!!!

And I won't go too much into detail, but I will say that nursing two babies is HARD! I knew it would be, but SHEESH! There is no way that I am quitting because we've come so far. The babies nurse very easily... its me who is having the difficulty! Thank goodness for a supportive nursing staff, husband and mom to encourage me! :)