Who you callin' tiny?

Tiny they are no longer... at least not to us! They are officially too big for preemie clothes. :)

Mady

Emma

Leaps and Bounds

We've been told this whole time that one day your kids just get it. They turn a corner and just keep going. Our girls finally got it! Emma is now down to about 28% o2 and has been as low as 24%. Mady is down to 21-22% and was even off her canula for a little today. Mady's feeding tube was removed and she's now on ad-lib feedings which means they'll give her about 50ccs and she can take what she wants. She's been finishing the whole thing in record time! Emma is now up to having a bottle every feeding as well and may have her feeding tube removed soon!

We asked the doctor the question tonight that really can't be answered... when can they come home? They would like them to be off of their canulas (and so would we) and they need to without and B's (drops in heartrate) for 7 days. Mady was the last one to have one on the 11th. That puts us at as early as the 18th! GULP! However, we think it will be a little longer and I'm finally gaining a little patience. The doctors will give us a 3-4 day heads-up when the time comes. At that time they will need to pass the car seat test! We're amazed at how much has changed in the last week. Seeing them a little closer to each other in an open room really makes it hit home that we have beautiful TWINS! :)

It's 3am

And for the second night I have a fever of 103°. I took some tylenol and am waiting to see if it will go down. If not, I may be back in the ER for IV antibiotics. I'm starting to sweat, so I think that means the fever broke. I so badly want to give up pumping. I can't go through this again in 2 weeks. But, I also can't imagine NOT breastfeeding my girls, even if I only get to experience it for a few weeks. I haven't done it (breastfed) for a few days since I was sick. I think I need hold off at least tomorrow to help clear this infection out since the girls aren't strong enough to pull out enough milk. Christian is so on-board with breast feeding which makes it even harder to give it up. I think my plan is to stick it out, but if another infection comes along, we're going to have to evaluate whether it's worth it. These fevers completely knock me out which is not good when trying to take care of two kiddos at home!

35 Weeks!

The girls are now 35 weeks - 6 weeks old! Emma hit the 5lb mark last night and we finally saw a decrease in her o2 requirements. Madeyln is up to a bottle almost every feeding and Emma is now up to every other feeding with a bottle. They are now closer to each other in the E pod, but not close enough to be able to see how much they really look alike or not! I think we are really getting close to these lil' ones coming home!

I forgot to post the other night about Christian's bottle feeding with Mady. He said she got so excited that she yelped like a little puppy. He said it was just adorable!

I'm Strong Enough - Thank You

Everything you go through that is hard makes you stronger, right? Guess what? I'm strong enough! No more, please?! I'm now going through my 3rd official breast infection since I started pumping for the girls 6 weeks ago. I went to the ER last night with a 103.3 fever. I spent the night tossing and turning between sweating and having chills. I had to call in sick to work again today to rest and make sure I keep this infection at bay. They did an U/S last night and saw no abcess, which is good. I was told to call my OB/GYN this morning. I'm so scared that she's going to ask me how important breast feeding really is to me. It's important for 2 reasons... 1, my girls really need it...being preemies they need the antibiotics in breast milk. 2, I really want to be able to breast feed with them and have that bonding time. My cold is still here and I woke up with a scratchy throat again. I did get to stop in and see the girls after my ER visit last night. I didn't get to enjoy it too much because my fever was so high and I couldn't stop shaking from the chills. I was so happy to see them though after not seeing them since Friday. They were sound asleep, so I'm not even sure that they knew mommy was there :(

Well, I definitely have a cold.

I feel like crap. This feeling is only multiplied by not being able to see my daughters again today. I am trying to find something I can take without it affecting the babies or my milk supply and apparently I need to try to not take anything. That is NOT the answer I am looking for because I NEED to see my girls tomorrow. I am actually resting, which is often hard for me. I will be chugging OJ today and am going to go whip out the vaporizer.

On to the GOOD news... the girls are now in the E pod, which is the open pod with no walls. What does this mean? It means our girls are now 5 feet away from each other with no wall separating them. As soon as one of them gets one of their canulas or other monitor removed, they will be able to co-bed! It's killing me that I'm not there to see this today! Mady is down to 23% O2 and Emma is at 31%. They are both doing great with their bottles. Christian feed them both last night and they finished all of their bottles with no problem. They did de-saturate a little afterwards which may be due to reflux. He's going to ask about that today.