Gracie and Luke are One Week Old!

I can't believe it has already been a week since Gracie and Luke were born! So much has happened in the past 7 days. I can't even begin to take you through all of it, so I'll just share the highlights and info about the babies. Of course, a post about them would not be complete without pictures!

As I wrote last week, Gracie and Luke were born about 8:55 pm on September 5th. Both were taken to the NICU where they both started in Room A. The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit is arranged by room numbers indicating the level of care a baby requires. Room A is for the most critical babies and babies progress to Rooms B, C, or D as they improve.

By last Friday, Gracie had made her way to Room B and then on Saturday was moved to Room D! She is wonderfully healthy and just needs to grow. She started out at 3 lbs 7 oz and lost a bit of weight as the amniotic fluid was flushed from her system. On Sunday, she weighed 3 lbs 5 oz and is gaining a little bit of weight every day. The NICU measures weight in grams. She is currently at 1650 grams and when she hits 1800 grams, she will be moved to a regular bassinet instead of the intimidating isolette where she currently resides. She is already drinking from a bottle and has already expressed her preference for Mommy's milk instead of that yucky formula! I got to feed her her very first bottle on Monday, the 10th. She has made great progress in the feeding department and is taking an ounce of milk every 3 hours. This may not sound like a lot, but considering that she was only taking in one-sixth of that last Thursday, it is awesome! If she can only gain 9 more ounces and drink from a bottle at every feeding, she will get to come home.

Luke was in Room A until Monday, when we came in to visit and he had been moved to Room B. Luke's main issue continues to be his respiration. He was born needing lots of help getting in enough oxygen. His lungs were not quite ready for the real world and so he had to use a lovely nasal canula. He still has them now, but they do not have to keep him on the same levels of oxygen as they did early on. His chest moves slower now and he does not lose his breath as much. He gets the hiccups often; not surprising since he had them 3 to 6 times a day when he was in my tummy. he no longer needs any antibiotics and had his IV removed yesterday. He is much happier now! As for his eating, this past Sunday, he was only eating 10 ccs of formula. Today, his nurse reported that he is up to 45 ccs (an ounce and a half). He is eating more than his sister, but he has a bigger body to maintain. She still wins for the first one to an ounce. The neonatologist called us this afternoon and told us that he is now on room air and the nasal canula will be removed tonight. If he does well with out it and can drink from a bottle for the next 36 - 48 hours, he will be able to come home this weekend!!!!!

Yesterday, they moved Gracie over to be with her brother in Room B. They like to keep twins together, so now, Daddy and I can visit the twins together. We were able to take our first family photo today! How exciting that it happened on their One Week Birthday!

Daddy and I visit the Twinsies every day and are already changing diapers, holding pacifiers, and staring at them for hours on end. Daddy has already been practicing lullabys with them. The other Moms and Dads will smile when they hear him singing and the Twinsies just love it. They smile at him and hold onto his fingers.

We are so excited to be a family and can't wait for the babies to come home!