Leaps and Bounds...

Greetings from NICU land!  The twins continue to make tons of progress every day.  Will's umbilical line was taken out Friday night as promised, so we have been able to hold him all weekend, which has been wonderful :) It feels so good to be able to cuddle and bond with both of our babies.  The only invasive thing left on their bodies are their gavage tubes, which will be removed as soon as they are able to eat enough via breast or bottle to gain weight.  They are maintaining their temperatures well, so they have graduated from their isolettes (incubators) into open cribs, which the NICU nurses refer to as "big boy" and "big girl" beds.  Will officially reached 5 pounds today, and Sydney is steadily gaining as well- she is up to 4 pounds, 9 ounces.  After birth she lost a few ounces (as is typical for newborns) and was down to 3 pounds, 14 ounces, so this is still quite a big gain!

As you can probably guess, we are anxious to get the twins home and it gets harder every day to leave them at the hospital.  Our last hurdle will be getting them to eat enough so that they can thrive without their gavage feeds.  Although they are still a bit uncoordinated, both babies have demonstrated that they have the skills to eat from the bottle/breast, but since they are so little they have trouble staying awake long enough for their full feeds.  This is to be expected, since they are technically only 35 weeks along tomorrow, and really shouldn't be out in the "real world" yet, much less eating on their own!  Plus, both babies put on at least 1-2 ounces a day in body weight, and all that growing takes lots of energy, making them very sleepy.  We know that being parents means being patient with our little people and trusting that they will begin eating when they are ready, and that we will be bringing them home before we know it.  However, that doesn't stop this Momma from shedding a few tears at night when she thinks of her little ones :(  Thank goodness for the NICU nurses- they are happy to give us updates on the babies any time we call, which helps anxious parents sleep a little better at night.

And now for the fun part...more pictures!




                       On Friday, the twins moved from these...

Will's isolette

Sydney's isolette

...to these!

Will's "big boy bed"

Sydney's "big girl bed"

                       Doncha' love those Horned Frog blankets?
        
             Mommy was so excited to hold baby Will for the first time!

          
                       Here's our little monkey in one of his first outfits...

                    ...and sweet Sydney at the "spa" getting a shampoo!

                                 Gotta love that sweet little face!                                        

And now, a few pics of what my babies do best!

Nighty night!

Sydney napping

Will sucking his thumb

Sydney after bath

Will avoiding the paparazzi :)