"Time is every baby's best friend in the NICU."

...or so I was told yesterday by one of Griffin's nurses. For his little lungs to get stronger, he needs more time to grow. Patience has never been my strong suit so enduring the NICU is just one of the countless challenges we'll face as parents of multiples. Facing a challenge -- opposite from patience -- is one of my strengths, so we're in luck there. All three little DiMasi's are doing quite well. (I should mention that this picture is of me holding Braddock yesterday. He held my finger the whole time I held him. He was very alert when I first got him in my arms, smiling and sticking his tongue out. We have video I will put on tonight)

Back to the trio.... Julia is still sailing through this whole I'm a premature baby thing. She is now looking very feminine compared to her brothers. Her features are just so dainty. She is alert much more often than the boys. When she hears our voices, she always opens her eyes. Bill held her last night and changed her diaper. I wasn't there but I heard it was a funny scene when she had to tinkle after he took the dirty diaper off. She's captured her daddy's heart so quickly. He told me last night how she is the most beautiful girl in the world. I was only jealous for a nanosecond I swear!

Braddock is starting to grow now and he will probably be off the CPAP (the blue tubes in the picture) very soon because all his levels are staying very consistent. He is tolerating all his feeds and he has no iv's or lines. He has a funny personality. He really is smiling most of the time (even when he's sleeping) but when he cries, everyone around him hears it. His lungs are getting stronger because he really belts it out. For now I love the sound because it used to be so weak and barely audible. I'm sure once they are home and someone is always crying, I might not love it quite as much.

Griffin is holding his own. His level of oxygen is very low but he does have it. They seem to "chase" him all day trying to get the level just right. He needs a little more time than Braddock and Julia, but he will get there, too. He is looking more comfortable but he hates his tubes. He pulls at them a lot. I can't say I blame him. He's done the best with his weight gain. He's now 2 lbs 11 oz, so he has caught up to Braddock. Some of it is water retention but I can see he looks bigger and stronger every day.

so that is the update. Not much is changing but everything is stable and moving forward. That is all we can hope for at this stage. I will be heading over there very shortly and when I get back, I'll put some video on.

I should add that I'm feeling much better overall lately. I will be driving myself by this weekend and I'm moving around pretty well. I still have a long way to go before I'm jogging but the muscles are starting to strengthen now. One day at a time!