Good news we hope..

Today was a short day for us at the hospital but it was rewarding as usual.. it seems like once I get there and I see them, I can breathe out. It calms us to be near them even though there isn't much we can do to help them other than snuggle for an hour. Today was my date with Grace and she was hilarious.. squirming and throwing her left arm around. I ended up grabbing her finger and she finally stopped. I guess she was dipping her head down too low so her desat alarm (again, low oxygen) kept going off, of course giving me a heart attack. Then, Austin's kept going off too so we were in for it today. They both got comfy eventually and Tom and I tried to sing in unison to them both. The other moms around us must hate us because all we do is sing to them and we only know a few songs so we keep singing the same ones.. haha

We have been talking more and more about the heart valve issue and they said that even if the valves in their hearts (that helps oxygenate their blood) are not closed, they won't do anything about it for a while. They are doing well for their age and they are going to wait to make any decisions or even check it.

Updates:
Austin
He is back on the lights bc his bilirubin went back up to 8 I think.. ugh. Oh well, they said that would happen. A few days on and few days off. We are just glad that they aren't seeming to get burned by the lights anymore. Both of them were so dry around their mouths, they had little cracks and bled (when they were a few day old). He is up to 24 ML feeding, Yay! and still weighs 3 lbs. He is so close to 3.2, his birth weight. We will do a jig when he finally hits it. Good news for the day is that they are planning to take his pick line out in the next few days. That is his feeding IV that goes up his arm and close to his heart. He has to keep his arm straight to not kink it and when you are as little as he is, it makes it hard to live up to those expectations.. hence the alarms go off. I swear there is an alarm for everything, you can't keep them all straight.

Grace
Our little Princess is also back on the lights for her bilirubin. I think they talk to each other regularly bc they pull the same stuff on us each day. She is copying Austin I think.. She is up to 20 ML feeding and has not gained weight.. steady at her svelte 2 lb. 11oz. - we call her our little supermodel. She is so long and skinny, she is already looking for designers to hire her. Grace also got good news about her pick line and it will be taken out shortly as well. They will be fortifying my breast milk to take the place of what they are getting via IV.. it's like a baby protein shake they said.

I am posting some photos finally.. we have waited because they looked so scary with all of the wires coming off of them but now they have more of a baby look so we felt more comfortable. Enjoy!

Much love,

Erica and Tom