December 8- Little Champions

Well. It's been five weeks in the NICU and the twins are doing amazing! They are growing about an ounce a day!! River is already 4 lbs 5 oz and Riley is finally over 3 pounds! Woohoo! It's been incredible seeing them grow and develop these past few weeks. I do miss having them together (they were separated last week when River got an eye infection and haven't been put back together since). It was so cool seeing them interact, so I miss being able to see that. But I guess in due time...

So a few days ago they both had their first try with bottle feeding. They have been cueing for a while now (rooting, sucking on pacifiers, putting their hands in their mouths when they're hungry) so the doctor out in an order for them to start trying. Well the little overachievers that they are got it in the first try and by the second they both finished their whole bottles! It doesn't happen every time, sometimes they get tired and zonk out before finishing. In that case the nurse will give them the rest through their feeding tube. But they were doing so well with it, by day 3 the doc put an order in for them to start bottle feeding twice a day! And of course they are rocking that, too! I'm beginning to think there's nothing these two can't do! 

Every week the twins are showing their 

personalities more and more. Riley is becoming more alert every day! Even though they still can't see very much, she is so expressive with her eyes. Whenever her daddy or I talk to her (we have always said the same things the same way, even when they were in utero, so they would recognize our voices: "Riiiiiiley. Mommy (or daddy) looooves youuuu") her eyes go wide and her forehead scrunches up in recognition. It's truly amazing to see. And she is SO content all the time. When either of us changes her diaper or clothes or do anything with her, she barely makes a peep. We get the sense from her that she just trusts us. Then there's River. He is definitely proving to be a whineypants. Every single time we change him he fusses. We can definitely see who is the tougher one in that duo, and it's not him! Can't wait to see how their dynamic plays out in the future!

In other news the doctors told me that once the babies are 4lbs and taking all their feeds by bottle they can go home. That's a bit nerve-wracking because River is over 4 lbs already! So once he is off his feeling tube he'll be discharged (and if Riley is close to 4 pounds but not quite she'll go too) and with how quickly they are picking things up that is going to be sooner than we anticipated! Eeeek! So we are scrambling to get everything ready. I organized the nursery, got a pediatrician lined up, set up our mandatory car seat/CPR class at the hospital, hubby put together the stroller... getting it done! Few more things to do before we're 100% ready..., well, as ready as we'll ever be! Everyone keeps making comments that "it's going to be so hard the first few months," we'll get "no sleep," "it's going to be hell at first." We get it. But what are we supposed to do with that info? Not much we can do about it! It's gonna be what it will be and we'll just have to tough it out and get through it. After all we've been through this year, I'm pretty sure we can survive anything that gets thrown our way! 

Pics from Week 5:

    Double Stuffed

    Mommy's bottle feeding with River

    

    Sweet Riley girl so alert

    The nurses put Riv in an oversized 

    onesie so he wouldn't mess with his 

    eye infection. He loves his paci!

    

    Daddy's first bottle feeding with Riv 

   

    So you can see just how small he is, 

    check out daddy's hands in 

    comparison! 

   

    Riley can hold her paci!

 

    Three generations

    It's official... They definitely look alike!