Another day closer to getting home

Griffin sleeping while Braddock's little hand is resting on his arm

Julia checking our her surroundings

Here is Braddock taking his bottle. He is a bit of a guzzler but he is really getting the hang of it. Now the talk is that he'll be the first to go home. I think the truth is that every day is different and nobody knows what is going to happen next. Watch it be Griffin to end up first at home.

The word on Griffin is that his nurse today (Gail is her name and she's so good to our little monkeys) thought that maybe the reason he struggles to breathe deep enough to oxygenate his blood is that he might have a reflux issue when he is digesting, so she took his gavage tube ( the white tube that goes through their noses to their stomachs to feed them) and his nasal cannula out to see if he was more comfortable. She fed him with a bottle and he ate very well and didn't have nearly the trouble he was having when they fed him through the tube over an hour and a half. We'll see what is going on when I get there in the morning.

Braddock and Julia are both doing very well, too. Braddock is the most alert when it is time to eat and so he is taking the bottle more often than Julia. In order to come home they have to maintain their own temperature in an open air crib, have no help breathing, and take all their feeds by bottle or breast. So both Braddock and Julia are in the crib, breathing on their own without any apnea episodes, and now they are both taking their feedings by bottle. They average about every other feeding. They seem pretty wiped out after them since taking the bottle is so much work. I gave each one bottle today and tried to nurse each one. Neither are too interested in nursing but they tell me they are still a bit too young to be expected to get it. We'll keep trying.

At one point today I had Julia in the kangaroo care position (tucked inside my shirt so that she and I were skin-to-skin) There are many benefits to the babies to do this and also for me to help with milk production. Anyway, I was holding her that way and Griffin needed to be burped, so I told Gail (our nurse for today) to put him on my free shoulder and I would try to handle them both at once. Many of the nurses and doctors that were there enjoyed watching me struggle to make sure both their necks were supported, trying to soothe Julia and burp Griffin. The funny part, of course, is that I still have one more baby to care for and no more hands. Lucky for me, Braddock was fast asleep in the crib. I'm like the old lady who lived in a shoe....and I have to say, I couldn't be happier about it no matter how hard it is going to be.