Gracie JOINS Austin.. she has her own CRIB!!

Apparently, last night Grace was moved to her own crib and I got to see it this morning. What a sigh of relief to walk up and see them both sans incubator. Today started well.. we had a semi-productive nursing experience and I was going to hold them skin to skin but we had a family meeting. Tom was able to come which was really nice. I have missed his presence at the hospital so much and I know he loved it.

The meeting went really well.. the Dr. essentially told us that the only thing keeping the kids in the NICU is that they don't know how to nurse yet. He said they have been a pleasure to work with and of course Tom and I felt so proud. His prediction for release from the NICU was between TWO and FOUR weeks!!!! They could be coming home very soon and we couldn't be more excited. It seems like the past almost 6 weeks have flown by and should they have to stay the full 4 weeks, that is still a whole lot shorter than we thought it would be.They are officially 34 weeks gestational tomorrow so it would be between 36 and 38 weeks and not the full 40. Yay!!!

They are both being checked on Monday for hematocrit again and the doctors will decide whether they will get a transfusion. It seems like a transfusion would be a good thing bc it is a nice boost but it correlates to another issue and that is stomach infection. They can't figure out why but they would rather not do the transfusion if it is not absolutely necessary.

The only other issue is that Grace will need a hip ultrasound. Apparently, girls who are breach can have serious hip dysplasia.We just need to complete it before she leaves the NICU. After that, we will have her checked again to be sure as there is a statute of limitations. If you wait too long, it cannot be reversed so we will do it asap
Updates
Austin
He weighs FIVE POUNDS and one oz.!!!!! Holy cow, I can't believe how fast he is growing. It is a night and day difference in the way he looks to me.. even just this week.

Grace
She weighs 4 lbs. 10 oz!!!! She gained a ton of weight yesterday so we are super proud of her progress as well! She is just behind him and doing really well. :)

All in all it was a successful day. I left a little early to see my OB and wasn't able to do skin to skin today but that was the only downside.. I'll take it.

Much love to you all,
Erica and Tom