My 2 Families

These boys are A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!!!!!!!!! Will and Mike are now 2 weeks old and are making great progress. They simply amaze me. In the last week both boys have continued gaining weight and have increased their feedings about 10times. The boys have gone back and forth a little in their progress, but as a whole they continue to move forward.

Zed and Will

Zed and I have gone in to see our boys every day of this past week. It has been my happy place. I always hold at least one of my boys. I have to even out how much I hold each of my babies. If I hold Mike one day then the next day I make sure that I hold Will. My general preference is to stay at the hospital long enough to hold both boys. Some days I’ll let Zed hold someone, but most days he is kind enough to sit with me and chat while I hold one of the boys. I have absolutely loved my times holding these sweet guys.

Me and Mike

Zed and I are starting to notice small differences in the twins to tell them apart. Sometimes it is as simple as knowing what stickers the nurses use on the boys or which arm their PIC line is in. But we are also noticing physical differences. We are hoping that by time they get to come home will we be able to easily tell you which one is Mike and which is Will. Also, right now they are in separate rooms, not even next to each other. So when we get to see them next to each other we are feeling more confident that we will notice their individual features. It’s kind of fun to see as they grow their distinguishing features.

Mike at 2 Weeks

This week we have Mr. J and Otisdown here with us. I am SOO incredibly happy. I have loved spending time with them. Singing bedtime songs again; morning snuggles (when Grandma’s door is still closed); puzzles; movies. I’m especially loving listening to Otis talk. His speech has been improving and increasing by leaps and bounds over the past 8 months, but I LOVE listening to him now as I am understanding more and his vocabulary is increasing. Mr. J is getting ready to start kindergarten next week. He is so excited to start and I am thrilled to get to spend some of his last days of summer with him.

Over the last week Mike has gone from eating 3mL per feeding to eating 30mL per feeding. He now weighs 3lb 9oz and was taken off of his TPN (supplemental nutrition). Mike has been doing so well on his eating that his PIC line has actually been removed. Both boys are still eating with a tube, but hopefully next week we will be able to start trying to feed with a bottle. They still need to learn to eat that way, and at 34 weeks is when most babies have the ability to “suck, swallow and breath” (basically eat without choking and breath at the same time).

Mike Smiling

Will still has his PIC line, but has graduated from his TPN to just receiving what was basically described to us as sugar water. His feedings have increased from 3mL to 25mL today. He was eating 30mL yesterday, but wasn’t doing well with that amount, so they lowered it. Will now weighs 3lb 13oz. Yesterday while I was holding Will he was awake absolutely the entire time. I loved getting to see him be alert and wriggling around with me. It was just fantastic to see him acting like a “regular” baby. AWESOME!!!

Will Checking Things Out

I am just so happy with their progress. There are still a lot of things that these boys need to do before they are ready to come home. We plan on being here several more weeks. These guys are stealing the hearts of all the nurses working with them. They absolutely steal everyone’s hearts.

Will Sleeping at 2 Weeks

So with having Mr J and Otis here I totally feel like I have 2 families. I have my family with my older boys that I’m accustomed to; this is my “home family”. Then I’ve got my family with my new babies; this is my “hospital family”. It feels so weird to feel split between two parts of my family. It makes me more anxious for Mike and Will to be home so that I can feel like we are one whole big family again!