5 Weeks Old!

Mind. Blown.  I know I keep saying "I Can't believe...." but, I can't believe it's been 5 weeks since our lives were changed forever!  I look at this picture, taken just before they were born, and wonder how I could have gotten any bigger, then I look at the two girls and my uterus hurts a little just thinking of how big I would have been had they made it to today, their due date.

In front of the hospital on the day the girls were born

I will admit that I still have quite a bit of guilt over the fact that I couldn't carry them longer, but on the other hand, we get to spend an extra five weeks of life with our baby girls, and they are really doing so well! 

Annie with her funny oxygen

One prong in, one prong out!

They are both still on oxygen, but boy oh boy do they hate it.  They spend a lot of time with it either on top of their nose, with one prong in one nostril and the other one out, or with both prongs in one nostril.  They seem to do fine regardless, and so now it is just a waiting game for them to come off.  They are only on 1/64 a liter of oxygen, Annie down from 1/16 when she came home and Sophia down from 1/32 when she came home.  They call it just a "whiff," and it's really a pretty small amount, and the lowest possible amount.  A respiratory therapist comes every Wednesday to check on them.  She takes their pulse ox, and they have to be on room air and stay at 93% oxygen saturation or above to be able to get the oxygen off permanently.  Sophia occasionally dips into the low 90s and high 80s (like 89), so as of last Wednesday, so had to keep it.  Annabel stays above 93 but does something called periodic breathing, which she also did in the NICU.  They tell us it's normal and all newborns do it (we just don't know it because they aren't on monitors all the time), but they would rather have her on the oxygen so it doesn't happen then make her work a little bit harder.  (A Medical Definition of periodic breathing: Periodic breathing is marked by a pause in breathing that lasts just a few seconds and is followed by several rapid and shallow breaths. Periodic breathing is not accompanied by a change in facial color (such as blueness around the mouth) or a drop in heart rate. A baby who has periodic breathing resumes regular breathing on his or her own. Although it can be frightening, periodic breathing typically causes no other problems in newborns.) So now we just wait and see... the RT will be back again on Wednesday, so hopefully we will have some good news!

Both girls are still being treated for oral thrush, poor things!  They have to have 2mL of medicine injected into their little cheeks four times a day.  They do NOT like this medicine, and Annabel's just won't clear up. The thrush itself doesn't seem to cause them any discomfort, but the medicine just stinks.  Sophia also just got over having a little clogged tear duct, but it as an easy fix and cleared up very quickly.

Both girls are still wearing newborn clothes and will probably still be in them for at least another week or two.  Annabel is still doing great with the cloth diapers, but Sophia is still at an odd size for them.  She is very long and skinny as can be with tiny legs.

Annabel and Dad playing

The girls have still been able to receive breastmilk only, which I'm really happy about, especially given their prematurity, but it has not come without its struggles.  It's hard, plain and simple.  I'm what the internet calls an "exclusive pumper."  Every 2-3 hours around the clock.  It's exhausting and trying, and try as I may, I really can't sugarcoat it.  We went out to lunch one day to celebrate my one month "Pumpebration."  I have read that when you are exclusively pumping (or nursing for that matter), it's a good idea to have short term goals and celebrations at the end of each of those goals, so we decided that on every "pumpiverssary" we would go out to lunch together at my restaurant of choice.  We went out for BBQ for lunch #1, and just this morning decided that lunch #2 will be cheese and chocolate at the Melting Pot.  I can do just about anything for cheese and chocolate. :-)  Annabel nurses every once in a while, but Sophia is pretty used to her bottle and is having a hard time transitioning.

On the same day we went out for BBQ, David and I went to Baby Cotton Bottoms, where we purchase our cloth diapers.  They are a "natural parenting" store, and they sell really neat wraps to carry  baby.  David's mom had generously given us a gift card to the store to buy a wrap, so we finally got one.  I haven't quite mastered it's use, as I am always worried the baby is going to suffocate or her head is going to bob and fall off, but David LOVES it and wears it like a champ!  The babies love it, too.

Our next doctor's appointment is on Thursday, so I will update with new weights and lengths.  I can't wait to see how they are doing!  I love these little girls so much.