The Pair of Scates: Six Pounds and Three Days

Both girls are officially over six pounds today! Hazel measured in at 6 pounds, 3 ounces, and Abigail was six pounds even. They are actually normal baby sizes now!

Today ended up being a marathon day in the NICU - I was there for four feedings (2:30p, 5:30p, 8:30p, and 11:30p), which is close to 12 hours, and didn't leave until about 12:45 in the morning. I had planned to be there for those first three feedings, but Matt got over there around 10:30 and I ended up sticking around for that 11:30 assessment. It is so hard to leave! I've told several of the nurses - one of the good things about the 6:30p "kick out time" (for shift change/nurses report) is that it forces you to leave. Otherwise all of my days would end up being like this.

As Cheryl put it, Abby certainly has found her voice. For most of her assessments today, she woke up earlier than her assessment time and loudly proclaiming that she is hungry. And, at her 11:30/12:00p feeding time (the one prior to me arriving), she ate 75-80 ml! I worked on breast feeding with both her and Hazel for the first three assessments, and we had to supplement with her (and Hazel) for each one. She will certainly let you know if she's not happy. And, as Cheryl said, she's definitely not going to miss a meal. :)

So the three breastfeeding times in a row was interesting. I hadn't done that before, and I wanted to see what it was like while in the NICU and help was available. The girls are better at latching on, but it was pretty clear that feeding both that way at the same time was going to be virtually impossible without help, and especially since one would likely need a bottle to "top off" while the other was still eating. Oh, boy. Bringing them home is going to be interesting. I'm sure we'll figure out a system.

One nice thing about being up there late was I spoke to Dr. Kienstra directly instead of on the phone (she must be a night person - I usually see her later in the day/evening). With Hazel, the situation is relatively clear cut, as she is still having chartable episodes. She had one today (Thurs), although the good news is she didn't have one yesterday (Wed), so at least they are becoming more infrequent now. Thus, assuming she was clear and free of episodes from here on out (which is possible but not really likely), the five day countdown would start today and they'd do a sleep study on her May 29.

Abby, on the other hand, is not as black and white. Prior to today, her last chartable episode was on May 20. Thus, the five day countdown would end tomorrow, May 25. But, today, she had a slight/small incident of periodic breathing, which technically should start the countdown over, but as Dr. Kienstra and Rachel explained, was pretty common in all (even term) babies. So, Dr. Kienstra hated to restart the full countdown just for that. On the other hand, though, as we are about to go into a holiday weekend, she definitely would not want to send Abby home with lingering questions. Her plan, then is to watch Abby for the next three (3) days, and do the sleep study after that if there are no other episodes. So, she may be up for the study on May 27 (Sunday!).

After our medical visit, Dr. Kienstra told us about her experience last year on a federal jury in Houston. And later Rachel told me all about how she got engaged, and showed me the scrapbook her boyfriend/fiance gave her during dinner right before he proposed. So exciting!

One other random note from the day - this week ended up being "get the cars serviced" week. So I took Matt's car in on Monday for a routine oil change and minor things (tire rotation, etc). On Tuesday I took my car in for its 100,000 mile checkup, and was able to negotiate a free full interior detail to be done while they had my car. (In the meantime, I got to drive a really sweet loaner vehicle.) Anyway, I picked up the car today and was so excited! The interior looks AWESOME. It's ready for two car seats now!!!

Pics from the day: