Week 1!

I can't believe it's already been a week since the girls arrived. Luke and I are also celebrating our 4th anniversary today! The week has been full of ups and downs, but one of the most joyful I can remember. Here's our week in review.

The girls were born healthy and able to breathe on their own, thanks to the steroids I was given for pre-term labor. Digestion was a huge problem though. The girls were not able to even digest 5mLs of food for the first few days (30mLs every 3 hours is "normal"). I spent Sunday and Monday fearful and tearful. (Note to self: Do not listen to country music at night when you are upset.)

Because they weren't able to digest and had nothing to excrete, they had high counts of bilirubin and were at risk for jaundice, so the girls had to be placed into isolated "tanning booths".

(The girls rock out in style in their isolation booths... just like in the beauty pageants.)

We started "kangarooing" the girls on Monday. Within 24 hours, the girls were eating and digesting 25mLs of food every 3 hours and their bilirubin counts were down. We were suddenly off and running, hitting major benchmarks much more quickly than anyone anticipated.

(Kangaroo Care with the girls. Both girls sleep with their mouths open.)

Yesterday we were able to bottle feed the girls for the first time. It was so exciting. And, it was the first time they had actually tasted food. (It has been being piped into their stomachs through nose tubes.) Everyone was cheering the girls on. They demolished the bottles in less than 4 minutes - 16 minutes less than they were expected to achieve it in. With this success, the girls were detached from their IVs.

(Anni is a fierce sucker on her first try. Isn't that bottle bigger than her?)


(Go, Elli, go! This bottle thing requires fierce concentration and focus.)

Today the girls received their first certificates of accomplishment to post on the refrigerator. Ivy League here we come? Okay, so they just passed their hearing tests. Ha.

Luke is a natural parent, and much better at just about everything than I am. He gives himself an A+, and I really can't argue with him. :) I'm very afraid of breaking the girls.

(Double-fisting Daddy.)

We expect the girls to be exclusively bottle-fed, out of their isolation chambers, completely disconnected from their many monitors, and on their way out the door by mid-next week. I'm feeling perfectly well, and have been so since about 2 hours after delivery. (Vaginal delivery is the way to go!) Thanks to everyone for their prayers and happy-thoughts... they are certainly felt.