Lilypie Third Birthday tickers

Lilypie Third Birthday tickers

Friday, May 29, 2009

Trip to the Pediatrician

Both girls on the pediatrician table

Riley sleeping and Addison wide awake

Both girls went to the pediatrician this week. Riley went on Tuesday and she had gained 2 ounces since being released from the hospital, putting her at 5 pounds 9 ounces. Her length was 19 inches, up 2 inches from birthEverything checked out fine on her and she is growing very well for being a preemie. She was put on vitamin drops with Iron to ensure she is growing up big and strong. She was such a stinker and peed on me after I picked her up from scale. Rookie mommy mistake, I didn't put her diaper on right away and she gave me a lesson to learn. :)

We took both girls back to the pediatrician the day after Addison was released. Riley needed another weight check. Riley gained another 4 ounces putting her at 5 pounds 13 ounces and she grew another 1/4 of an inch. Addison was released from the NICU at 6 pounds 1 ounces and she weighed 6 pounds 2 ounces the next day so she is growing right on schedule also. The doctor is very pleased with their progress and he wants us to come back in 2 weeks for another weight check and then 2 weeks after that for their 2 month appointment.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Addison is Home!

Home and together at last!
Both girls home from the hospital

Look at how pretty I am!


Addison's Coming Home Outfit

We are so glad to have our family complete. I had my post partum appointment with my OB and got the okay to resume "normal" activities. We took Riley with as we were going straight to the hospital right after to get Addison. The staff at the OB's office thought Riley was so cute in her pink bow and they were surprised at how small she is, yet she looks so big to me. I guess when she is born at 3 pounds 12 ounces, 5 pounds 10 ounces looks big to me.

We got all the discharge instructions on Addison. She has to take her heart medication every 6 hours and she has to take the medication with her feedings so that doesn't give us any room to adjust her feeding schedule and go longer than the 3 hours in between feedings. Riley has already had a few 4 to 4.5 hour stretches that gives mommy some extra sleep. As of right now we have no idea how we will handle the feedings. Sara is here to help and now Jesse needs to get involved in the feedings. With Riley I didn't need his help much but now I know I am not taking care of both feedings and pumping at the same time. Riley is up and down on her breast feeding, actually mostly down. She gets upset that the milk is not readily available like it is with the bottle. Poor girl, she is just impatient. So I'm not sure what to do from here. I haven't tried BF with Addison yet, but I hope to here soon.

My dad took more video of Addison getting ready to leave the hospital, leaving the hospital, and coming home. He will put the video together with both girls as a memory for the girls when they are older.

So far Addison has been very good at home and took all of her first feeding and then slept for 3 hours when her next feeding was due. I wonder if she even knows she has a sister at home, or what home is for that matter. LOL

I will post tomorrow and let you all know how it goes with both girls. Wish me luck!

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Trying out the new toys


























Riley has got to break in all her baby items at home. She really likes her bouncy chair because she can see what is going on in the house. We have her bassinette out in the front room but the sides are high and she can't see what is going on. We just use that when she needs to take a nap. When she is awake she likes to hang out in the bouncy chair and watch what everyone is doing. She has always loved bath time so her first bath at home was lots of fun. She loves all of her new clothes and she especially loves her new blankets. They are so much softer than the hospital ones. She is not too fond of her car seat, but what baby is? Once we get into the car and get going she seems to like the car rides and falls asleep quickly. I can't wait to see what Addison likes and dislikes. Oh and the last picture is what happens when you let dad and Sara try to use the swaddle blanket.

Addison is coming home tomorrow!


The doctors were almost going to send her home today, but they want to give it one more night to make sure she is up to speed on her feedings and they want to show me how to administer her medication and listen to her heart at home in case she goes into another bad rhythm. She hasn't had another episode since the first one so the medication is doing its job, but better safe than sorry.

She will have her car seat test later tonight along with her bath and she should be all ready to come home. I have my post-partum appointment with my OB and then we get to head over to the hospital and take her home.

I am so happy to finally have both my girls at home but I am deathly scared of how difficult it will be to have 2 preemie newborns at home to care for. My sister has been fantastic, and she has helped with the night time feedings. Now we need to get daddy in the mix so we can all get some sleep at some point.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Addison's Progress

I went to visit Addison today and what did I find but a cute little face without a feeding tube. Yep, that is right, Addison is becoming more efficient on her feeds and has earned that right to feed without her cord pack. She is very close to finishing all of her feeds completely and if she can go a couple of days at this pace, she will be able to come home.

I brought Riley up when I visited Addison today and I got a dose of what it will be like when I have both girls at home. Riley was crying because she was hungry and Addison was crying because she couldn't keep her paci in her mouth. I had to feed Riley while trying to comfort Addison. Jesse and Sara didn't go with me so I had both girls to take care of on my own. While it was hard to divide my attention and take care of both girls, I was happy to have my girls in the same room with me. I am so proud of the progress each girl has made and I am starting to see more and more of their personalities. I can't wait to see how similar and different they both are.

Riley saw the pediatrician today. She was so kind to pee on mommy after I picked her up off the scale. I made a rookie mistake and didn't put her diaper back on before picking her up. The good news is that she has gained 2 ounces since being released from the hospital. The doctor said she looked great for a baby that should still be cooking. He said we can look to going a longer stretch at night in between feeds. I'm thinking about starting small and stretching one feed to 4 hours instead of 3 and see how she handles the extra sleep and the extra hour without eating. Overall, Riley is a champ at eating now and I really don't have to worry about her eating enough. She is taking in more and more each feeding. We are still working on the breast feeding but she doesn't quite have the strength to pull out enough milk so she gets a bottle after feeding. All in all, things are going very well, minus a little sleep. :)

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Riley is Home!!!


Riley has finally made her journey out of the NICU. She has been such a trooper and continues to finish all of her feeds by mouth. Last night I stayed the night at the NICU and nested with Riley. We attempted our first breast feeding session and she did well at the breast but I think I need a nipple shield to help her little mouth latch on. It felt so good to have my baby latched to my breast and get the milk directly from me. Now I didn't get much sleep as you can imagine when you are pumping and feeding a preemie. I would wake up, pump, then feed Riley for 30 minutes and clean up. If I was lucky I would get 2 hours of sleep before I needed to do it again. Surprisingly, I have been fairly awake all day even though I got little sleep. I think I am just on a high because I finally have one of my babies home.

My parents came up to the NICU and took a bunch of pictures of her and video taped her getting dressed, going into her car seat and her journey out of the hospital. They even filmed us coming home and bringing her into the house. She will have many memories to look back on. We plan on doing the same thing with Addison once she is able to come home.

The plan now is to get into some sort of routine and find out what Riley likes and what she doesn't. She has been eating well since she got home and we may need to increase her feedings because she has looked for more milk after she is done feeding. I bet she is just trying to get used to her new environment. It is such a different world to make all the decisions about her care rather than waiting on the nurses to do make the de
cisions.

Friday, May 22, 2009

A Good Day





























I really had a good day with my girls today. I got up early to take Jesse to work because his car is in the shop. I spent the entire day with my girls. Addison is doing so well at gaining weight, she is now 5 pounds 10 ounces. I am in shock that she is so close to 6 pounds now. Riley is up to 5 pounds 4 ounces. Now, I am going to get you all excited now because Riley is so close to coming home. She has gone 2 days without her feeding cord. She did struggle a little bit on her 8am and 11am feedings. She was getting tired towards the end, but the nurse and I would give her a break for a few minutes and she would eventually finish her bottle.

On her 2pm feeding, I had lactation come in and help me introduce Riley to the breast today. I learned the proper position for the cross cradle hold and the football hold. Riley was sleeping the whole time which made the positioning really easy, but she really didn't know what was going on. During the cross cradle hold, she did latch onto my breast and sucked a little bit, but I think she was too tired to do anything else. I was so excited to try the breastfeeding experience, and you all are right. It is one of the best feelings in the world. I plan to try again when she is more awake and see how she does. I then went on to feed her with her bottle and she did such a fantastic job. She was able to complete the entire 45ml in less than 15 minutes and she was wide awake after that were she spent time sucking on her paci while starting up at me. I am just so in love!!!

The doctor came in to review the girls charts and felt that Riley should be ready to go home tomorrow. Now the nurse did not think she was quite ready, so they want to give her a little more time to show she can finish her feeds so I am not stressed out at home if I take her home too early. I am bringing in their car seats tomorrow to do the car seat tests and then if Riley proves herself, she may be coming home without her sister. Addison is doing very well with her feeds, she just doesn't get everything down before going back to sleep. I think she will be up to speed here real soon though.

My mom and Aunt Diane are coming up tomorrow to visit and I'm sure they will be surprised at how big the girls are getting. Addison is getting those cute big cheeks, and Riley is filling out all over. I will update more about Riley coming home as soon as the doctors confirm she is ready!!!

I want to say thanks to everyone who commented and emailed me on my "Liquid Gold" post. I appreciate all the help and suggestions as well as the kind words. I'm sure if I can get the girls to latch onto the breast and feed efficiently, my supply will increase and I may be able to keep up with the needs of both girls. I added some recent pictures of Addison and some older pictures of Riley before she got her feeding tube out. I need to take some new ones of her pretty face without the feeding tube. I should be able to post more tomorrow after my visit with them.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Liquid Gold

Yep, I'm talking about my milk. I really have come to realize that I consider my milk to be liquid gold. If I only had one baby, I wouldn't be worried about my supply at all. I would be cruising along just fine. Actually if I only had 1 baby, I would probably be breast feeding rather than exclusively pumping and I wouldn't even know how much milk I was producing. With two babies I know that keeping my supply up is very important. So far, I am doing just fine as the girls are only eating 45-48ml per feeding and I am producing at least 60 if not 90 ml out of each breast per pumping session. So I am ahead of the game at this point, but I would like to have more on hand as the girls start eating more.

I try to get out as much milk as I can per pumping and I treat the milk as if it is liquid gold. If I ever spill some, I get very upset knowing how important my milk is to my girls. I also get really excited when I happen to produce more than normal on any given pumping session. Then same is true if I don't at least get 2 ounces out, I am somewhat upset. I'm pumping every 2 1/2 to 3 hours during the day and then I take a 5 hour stretch at night to sleep where I get 4 to 5 ounces out of each breast and then I go back to the same 2 1/2 to 3 hour schedule.

Some women can get 40 ounces a day after pumping only 4 times a day and others like me struggle if I don't consistently pump. I'm very scared to lose my supply and I get very upset if I am out when I should be pumping. Basically I live my life in 3 hour stretches of time. Now my life would still be like that if the girls were home since they eat every 3 hours, but with the pumping, I have to either be at the hospital or at my house to pump with the hospital grade pumps. Lactation has recommended I start taking the herb Fenugreek to increase my supply. I bought the bottle today and I hope it helps increase my production a little bit so I can relax about the whole milk production thing. It has also been rumored that oatmeal helps in milk production also so me and the oatmeal cookies have become good friends. I have lost all of my pregnancy weight plus a few pounds, but I have stopped losing weight now that I am eating all the cookies. At least they taste good. :)

On to better news, Addison is 5 pounds 8 ounces and Riley is 5 pounds 3 ounces. Riley got her feeding tube taken out of her nose today because she was nippling most of her feeds. They will keep it out as long as she continues to finish most of her 45ml on each feeding. When I fed her today she did 25ml and then fell asleep. The nurse said she had one more chance to finish the full feed at her next feeding time, otherwise she would have to get her tube put back in. I really hope she can continue to do well so she can keep the tube out and come home soon. Addison is getting really close to finishing her feeds and she did 30 ml with me today. I'm proud of my girls and I hope they are starting to figure things out so they can come home real soon. They are almost 37 weeks gestation and getting close to a full term baby.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Riley is catching up

Riley is now 5 pounds 1 ounce. She is doing so well at growing and trying to catch up to her big sister. Addison is gaining a little slower this week so she is 5 pounds 6 ounces. There is only a 5 ounce difference between the two girls now. I'm starting to feel the extra weight when I hold and feed them. The girls are still hit and miss with the feedings. Yesterday Addison did all of one feeding and most of another one while I was there. Riley was only doing about half of her feeds before getting tired and needing to use her feeding tube to finish.

At this point I thought I would have the girls home. The doctors estimated a 2-3 week stay in the NICU before going home, but as always, the feedings are the hardest thing for the babies to learn. We are now past that time frame so it is completely up to the girls at this point. The girls still need to nipple all of their feedings for 48 hours before they can go home. That is 16 feedings in a row where they complete the entire bottle. I sure hope they can do this really soon.

We did our discharge and infant CPR class last night. Infant CPR has changed since Jesse and I were certified. Mostly, the changes make it easier to perform CPR with less things to remember. I do hope we never need to perform CPR on our girls but it is good to know we have the skills to take care of them if something happens.

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Kangaroo Care







Today we got to spend more time with the girls where Riley's crib was wheeled into Addison's room. Jesse and I spend time holding the girls in Kangaroo care. We haven't done that since the day after they were born. Addison spent time on daddy's chest and Riley spent a little time with me. We also put both girls in one of the cribs, just to see them lying next to each other again. I can't wait to get them home so I can have them next to each other as much as possible. I'm just so in love with my girls. They are both so sweet and hardly ever cry. Sometimes I wonder how got to be so lucky to have both of them here and doing so well.

Friday, May 15, 2009

Sisters







So I started to wonder if my girls even remember each other, especially since they haven't been next to each other since the day they were born. Through their travels through the NICU they have been in separate incubators and separate cribs. Even now that they are in the continuing care nursery, they are in separate rooms. The NICU has a couple of twin rooms but the girls aren't in the pod that has the adjoining twin rooms.

So when I came to visit the girls, the nurses suggested that we wheel Riley's crib into Addison's room so they could be by each other. Riley is more stable and requires less monitoring so it was easy to move her over to Addison's room and hook her up to the small monitor that she needed. I was so excited to get the girls next to each other so they could feel their sister next to them. I finally got a look at the girls and I can see the differences between them. In the same respect, I can see the similarities, they are just harder to see since Riley is smaller in the face. I also learned that Riley had done 4 feedings in a row where she finished her entire bottle. Addison had done 2 and was completing most of her bottle with just a little help of her feeding tube. Aunt Joan came up to visit the girls and she had a great time holding Addison and taking pictures and videos of the girls.

Their weights as of today were:
Addison ~ 5 pounds 5 ounces up 1 pound and 1 ounce from her birth weight
Riley ~ 4 pounds 14 ounces up 1 pound and 2 ounces from her birth weight

The doctors also order an echocardiogram on both girls and everything appears to be normal on each girl. Addison's problem appears to be under control and more of a one time thing as of right now. The doctors don't anticipate her having any more trouble from her heart at this point but we still need to look for the signs that she is going into an abnormal rhythm. They say that she will start to look pale, get extra fussy, and either throw up her feedings or not want to eat at all. In the NICU, they can see her heart rate at all times but we will need to pay extra attention to make sure she is in a normal heart rhythm.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

5 Pound Milestone


My big girl Addison is finally above 5 pounds. She has been consistently gaining weight everyday and as of today, she weighs 5 pounds 1.3 ounces. With the amount she has been pooping out, I am surprised she is gaining so much weight, but I guess it isn't all running through her. LOL Riley is gaining steadily also. She is 4 pounds 9.4 ounces. She takes a few less ml per feeding as her sister so her weight gain is slower but still very good for her smaller size.

They are both still working on their feedings. Some feedings they nipple half or most of their bottle, and other times they don't even want to try and eat. It really depends on how awake they are. Preemies have to work so hard to eat and learn the suck, swallow, and breathe sequence. I am proud of the progress they have made and they will figure this all out in due time. I am thankful for the time in the NICU even though it isn't an ideal situation. I have been able to learn how to care for them, change them, bathe them, feed them, burp them, and find what positions they like best before I even bring them home. I was scared to me a mom and take care of two babies, but I feel confident in my abilities after the extra help from the nurses.

Today great grandma Jean and Fabulous Aunt Shannon came to visit the girls. It is some much easier to have visitors now that the girls are in the continuing care nursery and they are in open cribs. Visitors can touch and hold the babies and I have the freedom to do all their care instead of relying on a nurse to open their pods for visitors. I am very blessed to have so much family here to help and love the girls. Tomorrow Aunt Joan is coming to see the babies and take some video of them. She plans to take several videos over time and give them to the girls when they are older. I want to say thank you to all my family and friends that have been here for me during my tough pregnancy and now this road through the NICU. I love you all!

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Progress on the Feedings

The doctor ordered a consult with a speech therapist for the girls’ feedings. The pathologist came and watched how the girls were feeding and listened to their sucking and breathing techniques. She quickly saw a problem with the way the girls were trying to feed. They were both sucking well, too well in fact, that they were getting overwhelmed and that is why they would shut down or go to sleep during their feeds.

She suggested laying the girls on their side rather than trying to hold the girls upright to feed. She also wanted the nipple to only be half full when they fed so they wouldn't get overwhelmed with milk in their mouth making it hard to breathe. Once we tried this with Addison, she quickly caught on and did over 30ml with me feeding her. Riley did better as well but she is too eager to eat and has trouble remembering to breathe. She did about 15ml of quality feeding though.

Later on the nurses called me after I left to say that Addison did her entire bottle on her own. She did all 50ml through the bottle and was very awake the whole time. Riley did about 20ml. I think my girls are really making progress and should start getting the hang of things soon. The doctor thinks they will be home in about a week and a half or 2 weeks at the most. I am very excited and very nervous for them to come home. We finished the nursery and got all their clothes and toys put away. I still plan on putting a few things on the walls but at least they have a clean place to come home.

Tomorrow is bath day and I will get some good pictures of Addison's bath since I missed her last one while she was in the ICU. I hope both girls continue to do well with their feedings. Addison is less than 1 ounce away from 5 pounds and Riley is over 4 and half pounds. Both are consistently gaining weight. I am so proud of them both.

Monday, May 11, 2009

My first Mother's Day











Now this is a strange change of life where you go from celebrating your own mother on mother's day to being a mother yourself. Jesse worked with the nurses in the NICU to get the girl's foot prints put on the inside of my mother's day card. The card had a butterfly on the front and the nurses turned the foot prints into butterflies on the inside. I plan to frame the card and keep it safe as a momento of my first mother's day.

The NICU nurses also made cards for all the mother's with the babies foot prints in each card. I can go back and remember how tiny their feet actually were when they are older.

The girls are both doing very well again. Riley made it out into her open crib and has done very well with keeping her temperature. She is only taking about 10-15ml at her best on her feedings. The nurses are confident that they are getting close to figuring things out. Addison has not had any more episodes with her heart and she is back in continuing care in the same room she was in before. It is looking like they will be in the NICU for a couple of more weeks since they haven't made too much progress on the feedings.

Jesse is going back to work tomorrow and will stay working until the girls get to come home. Then he will take a few more weeks off to help me and Sara with the girls. I believe I have 6 more weeks before I have to go back but I may have a few extra weeks with the extended leave they have me on at work. I am still in the process of figuring everything out with HR.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Addison's Update







My big girl is doing very well. She hasn't had any episodes since the one yesterday. The medication they have her on seems to be working and she seems very happy and content. She is even doing better on her feedings. I think it was hard for her to go so long without eating and she was eager to get her tummy full so she drank 20ml from the bottle and they haven't put her feeding tube back in yet. She used the faster nipple and did better. The slow nipple seems to wear her out to fast. She was smiling at me and making cute faces while I fed her today.

The cardiologist called and talked to Jesse today. He says that Addison is responding well to the medication and they plan to monitor her closely to make sure she doesn't go into another bad arrhythmia. Her echocardiogram was pretty much normal. She does have a small hole in one of the chambers but that is normal for her gestation and it should close on its own. I asked when she could come back to the continuing care nursery and be by her sister and the PA gave me a "look" when I asked that like I was trying to speed things along. In reality I just wanted to know what the plan was. She said Addison will be in the ICU for a "while" longer and her move is based on the nurses’ schedule and her acuity. So basically they have no idea. I just hate the not knowing part of this journey but each day is a day closer to them coming home and I just keep saying my prayers that they will remain healthy and come home when they are ready.

Riley is doing very well and is completely stable. She is less interested in nippling her milk, but I know she will get it very soon. She just melts my heart when she makes faces while I hold her and looks my direction when I talk to her. I will be so happy when she gets into her open crib and that should happen very soon.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Scare with Addison

Things were going very well with both girls up until today. Jesse and I went up to the NICU and he got a phone call right outside so I went in alone. I walked into Addison's room and she wasn't in there. I quickly found a nurse who told me that she had a very high heart rate and they moved her back to the ICU. I was freaking out. The nurse took me back to the ICU and there were about 5 doctors and several nurses all around Addison.

We learned that there is something wrong with her heart that allows the blood to run through it improperly and causes a high heart rate. They gave us the technical term and the cardiologist drew a diagram to show us what happened. Basically she will have to be on medication for at least the 1st year of her life and she can have more episodes like this now and again. She may even need to go home on a portable monitor to record her heart for periods of 24 hours.

I so scared to see her like that even though the doctors said she was fine. It was just so hard to see her being worked on and to know she was back in the ICU. They found Jesse outside and brought him in and we stayed with her for a little while. They told us she will need a few days back in the ICU. She won't get fed for 24 hours because they don't know if the blood was flowing properly to her bowels.

I went back to the visit both girls and Addison's rhythm was much better and her heart rate finally went down to the 140's where it has been most of the time. She was sleeping and the nurses wanted her to rest as much as possible because if she wakes up, she will probably be very hungry after not being fed for most of the day. We plan to hear more tomorrow after we see the cardiologist again.

It makes me sad that the girls are not close together, but it looks like Addison should come back to the continuing care nursery soon if all stays stable. Riley is doing well but she is in a period of not wanting to nipple much of her meals. She loves her paci but doesn't know what to do when milk is coming out of the nipple. Maybe she will do better after a little more time.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Progress




The girls continue to make progress each day. They moved from the ICU portion of the NICU to the intermediate care last Wednesday and last night they moved from the intermediate care to the last step, "continuing care nursery". They both are gaining weight slowly and Addison got to move out of her isollette into an open crib yesterday. Riley needs a few more days of steady weight gain before she gets her open crib.

The main road block in the way of them coming home is the feeding. The need to be able to nipple all of their meals on a consistant basis. Addison is taking 41 ml of expressed breat milk and Riley is taking 37ml. Addison was able to nipple 10ml today with me feeding her and Riley did 13ml with the nurse earlier in the day but only did 5ml with Jesse feeding her. They both have a hard time eating when they are tired. They need to be fully awake otherwise they don't take much from the bottle. The remainder of their milk is fed through their feeding tubes. The nurses work with the babies more in the continuing care nursery rather than always feeding them through the feeding tubes like the nurses did in the intermediate care nursery. I hope after a few weeks of trying, they will be able finish all of their milk and be ready to go home.

I have to go back to work after 8 weeks after my delivery and I'm just worried that I won't get much time with them at home. The doctor today said they may still be in the hospital for another 3-4 weeks. That shocked me, but I hope the girls prove the doctors wrong.

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Day Five





























Today is bath day for the girls. They got a bath the night they were born but we didn't get to see that bath. We are so excited to learn how to bathe them. Right now they are just getting a sponge bath in their beds. Until they get their IV's out, they can't have a real bath. The doctor said Addison will be off of her IV by tomorrow night and Riley should follow a day or so later. Since Riley is smaller, she gets less milk and won't be up to full feeds as quick as Addison. The good news is Riley gets off of her photo lights today!

Riley got her bath first. She cried and cried the entire time. The nurses say that the babies don't really like the sponge baths. They seem to enjoy the full baths later on. It was so cute to see her so upset about her bath. Once they got her dry, she was happy as a clam. Since she was getting off of the photo lights, she was able to wear clothes for the first time. She got a preemie onesie and it was still so big on her 3 pound 12 ounce body.

Addison's bath was second and I got to do her bath by myself. She was just like her sister...screaming her head off the entire time. She got her hair washed since her IV is not in her head like her sister's IV. She looked so beautiful once I was done. I got to hold and feed her afterwards and she was able to nipple 3ml of her milk and that is the most she has done. She probably would have done more but she got the hiccups and couldn't get the suck, swallow breathe sequence along with the hiccups.

Day Four











Today is a big day. The girls are moving out of the ICU portion of the NICU to the intermediate care. This means the girls aren't sick enough to need constant care and monitoring but they aren't well enough to go home yet. They still need to work on keeping their temperature and learn how to nipple feed all of their meals. The doctors are increasing their milk intake every six hours. The plan is to have them up to full feeds which is 37ml by the weekend. Once they are up to full feeds, they can be taken off of the IV's and be a little more free and have less things hooked up to them.

Riley's levels went down dramatically so she should be able to get off the photo lights by tomorrow. Addison is not breaking hers down as well as her sister, she will probably need a few extra days on the lights.

I still get sad to leave the girls in the NICU everyday but I know they are in good care and we will have them home soon enough. Jesse and I are working hard to get the nursery finished and buy the last minute items to make sure we are ready to take them home.

Day Three







Today is my mom's birthday and she came out to visit the babies with my Aunt Diane. The doctors are saying that Addison should get off of her CPAP and we are so excited to see her face without the breathing tubes in her nose. Our Riley has lost a little weight and Addison has gained a little bit. Besides the weight, Riley is the one who is making milestones faster. It must be the 2nd born syndrome. She may have come out second but she has something to prove.

We also learned that both girls are jaundice and will need a few days on the photo therapy lights. When the girls are on the lights, we can't hold them as much. The girls can only have 20 minutes outside of their beds to make sure they get the maximum exposure to the lights. Riley is practicing taking her milk through the bottle top more and more giving us signs that she will probably be the first to switch to nipple feeds rather than her feeding tube. They had to move her IV today and the best spot was to put it in her head right by her forehead. It looks really barbaric but there are little nerve endings in the head and she didn't even cry. Now she has little chance of pulling her IV out.
My milk has mostly come in today. I'm only getting about an ounce or less out of each breast but I'm sure my body will work its way up to more as the girls need more.