James is now 4 lbs 8 oz. so he has lost 7% of his birth weight. It is common for babies to loose up to 10%. Here in the NICU they start to worry if the babies loose more than 8%. It is unlikely that James will loose anymore. He is breast feeding like a champ and had his first bottle feed last night. In the last 2 days he has had 3 full oral feeds (nothing given through his NG tube ). In order to go home he has to be able to take all his feeds orally. The new schedule for him is to breast feed at 8 am, 2 pm and 8 pm. After Brest feeding he will be "topped up" either through his NG tube (if he is tired) or with a bottle (if he is awake). At 2 am he will take a bottle. On all other feeds he will be fed through his NG tube (11 am, 5 pm , 11 pm and 5am ). This allows him to rest in between breast/bottle feeding so that he can continue to grow big and strong!
Josie has been steadily gaining weight and is currently 3 lbs 14 oz which is 2 oz bigger than her birthweight! She is however in the 3rd percentile for her gestational age so they have recommended starting her on a breast milk fortifier. This will give her extra protein so that she can catch up to her big brother. The lactation consultant recommended this a few days ago and I met with the dietician this morning. Now that Josie is 10 days old she can start it. The dietician said that the fortifier will make it much more likely that they will be able to go home at the same time!
They temporarily moved Josie into a big girl bed so they could do some electrical maintenance. She is technically a bit to small for it, but I bundled her up well and they've said that if she can maintain her temperature she will get to stay in it.
I won't pretend that having twins in the NICU is not challenging, emotionally more than anything else. However, our babies are getting the most amazing care here. Everyone who helps with them goes out of their way and they are so great about teaching us what to do when we get to being them home!
We have also been so blessed by the amenities provided by the Ronald McDonald Children's Charity. They have a great lounge for family to use with TV, comfy chairs and snacks. They also have sleeping rooms where we can go for a nap or stay over night if we want to. It may not sound like much, but having these options available to us is amazing!
Thank you to everyone who is reading our blog and following along with us. It means a lot to us and to our babies. We can't wait for you all to meet them!
Xoxo
Michelle
Wow! Way to go babies! I am so happy you are ALL being cared for.
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