Joys In My Life

The days (and nights) are getting better. We're getting settled into a routine and we've gotten out of the house a few times, so I'm getting more comfortable with that. I'm going to try to get some pics uploaded of the boys. They are getting more and more cute every day. Today, we're going to go grocery shopping. Woo hoo! I love getting out! We'll pick up the new parent essentials - coffee and diapers. BTW, I've gone back to drinking my coffee black. It seems to taste better that way to me right now. Plus it's a lot less fussing to get the caffeine into my system. The visiting nurse came today. The boys are both measuring at 22 inches long. Tommy is now 7 lbs 1 1/2 oz and Liam is 5 lbs 15 1/2 oz. They have been increasing how much they've been eating, so I'm not surprised. Once Tommy took 6 oz in his bottle! And Liam even took 5 oz! Although usually they eat between 2 1/2 to 4 oz per feeding. I have to admit this bottle feeding...

Things have been crazy at our house since Friday night. Liam came home and now we are all here and nesting. Although I'm going stir crazy by now, LOL. But I love kissing up these boys and watching them sleep next to each other. It was getting really hard with Liam in the hospital, especially with concerns about him not eating enough and gaining weight. It seemed like he had turned a corner the last day, so they let him come home. I know I was getting concerned over the weekend and was worried that we'd end up back at the hospital after his first pediatrician appointment today. He was eating about 1 1/2 oz breast milk per feeding and could go about three to four hours between feedings. I had to wake him often for feedings, but once awake, he'd seem like he'd want to eat. I was still concerned that he might now be eating enough. Especially since his diapers were not that wet and he hasn't had any stool in his diapers. Not that he's ever been a big pooper...

Tommy did come home on Friday. The doctor came in and told us at 5 PM on Friday afternoon. By 9 PM, we were home and missing Liam, but I do now see how taking one home first can make things easier. The doctor was very reassuring telling us that it is extremely rare for premie twins in the NICU to come home together. It was bittersweet going home without Liam, but telling ourselves that this was Step 1 of "Operation The New Normal" helped us. Plus having just Tommy around has helped us get to know his cues and routine. The first night was tough, as when we went to bed, the apnea monitor alarms kept going off, saying there was a loose lead. We finally figured out that both of the pads on his chest needed to be replaced, but we were exhausted at this point. Note to self and others: the pads for the home monitors can only be placed once. After that the sticky is no good and will cause issues. I also learned that if the "loose lead" alarm is going off and you p...

Tommy and Liam are 5 weeks old today and there's a possibility Tommy may come home today. He's been managed with on demand feeding since Wednesday evening and they took the feeding tube out yesterday morning and didn't replace it. He nurses like a champ for his feedings and is taking bottles of breast milk when I'm not there. Both boys passed their car seat test yesterday. Liam was still tired for most of his feeds yesterday, so he never nursed when I was there, but he has been taking bottles well when I'm not there, so he is getting there. And Liam did nurse for one full feed on Wednesday. Tommy still has almost a full pound on Liam. Their current weights are as follows: Tommy - 5 lbs 10 oz Liam - 4 lbs 13 oz And here's an updated pic of the two of them sleeping together which they absolutely love doing. They sleep much better when they are next to each other.