Celia & Isa reunite!!

Today was such an exciting day for everyone!  It was the first time that Celia & Isa reunited and our first double kangaroo!  It was so cool to hold both girls at once, and it just so happened that 90% of our primary nurses were working so we were lucky to have everyone there for the big event.  We weren't sure if they would remember each other ... but they seemed pretty comfortable sitting next to each other.  There was a little bit of hesitation at first from Isa, but after a while, both were sitting there looking at each other!

As of tonight, Isa is 3 lb, 11 oz (1660 grams) and 15 1/2 inches long.  Celia is 3 lb, 7 oz (1560 grams) and 15 1/4 inches long. 

Tomorrow they have another eye check to measure the stage of their ROP.  Our fingers and toes are crossed that it hasn't advanced past Stage 1 and that it is on it's way to correcting itself.  They also have their 2 month immunization shots (3 total) on Wednesday & Thursday. 

Celia & Isa

Celia  & Isa - first time holding both together! 6/27/11

Isa & Celia

Celia & Isa - first time holding both girls! 6/27/11

First family photo!!  6/27/11

C & I

Isa

Celia

I & C

Isa

C & I

C & I

Sam and all of his ladies

C & I

Family Photo!

This pose may have been staged ... but it's still cute.

I & C

Pictures, Pictures

As always ... face planting - Celia 6/17/11

... and thinking its hilarious - Celia 6/17/11

Sharing a laugh with her sister - Isa 6/17/11

Lazy Saturday - Celia 6/18/11

Lazy Saturday continued ... - Isa 6/18/11

Celia 6/19/11

Celia & Dad 6/19/11

Isa & Dad 6/21/11

Isa pondering life 6/21/11



Isa 6/21/11

Celia 6/21/11

Celia 6/22/11



Who knew 3 pounders could have tripple chins?  Isa 6/21/11

This picture makes me laugh - Celia 6/21/11

Isa 15 inches long! 6/21/11



Celia 6/21/11

And another Happy Birthday!

I don't know anyone who has more birthdays than Celia and Isa.  We celebrate their weekly birthdays on Thursday (this Thursday is 9 weeks), their gestational birthdays on Friday (this Friday is 33 weeks) and today is their 2 month birthday!  They can't eat cake yet but they do get 3 birthday songs - the traditional "Happy Birthday", the Zipko "Good Bye" song and the Porras "Las Mananitas" song.  All bets are on that their first word is birthday.

Their growth spurt is still going strong.  Celia is 3 pounds (1370 grams) and 14 inches long.  Isa is 3 pounds, 4 ounces (1460 grams) and 15 inches long.  They are each eating about 5 ounces of breast milk per day now too.  And with just a few more grams, lots of fun, new things can happen.  At 1600 grams we can dress them, swaddle them and hold them like regular babies!  They will be able to maintain their own body temperatures much better at that time so we won't need to solely Kangaroo.  AND other people will be able to hold them too.  At 1800 grams, they will try them out of the incubator and in a regular crib so no more plastic walls in our way.

Celia is down to 3 liters on her high-flow cannula.  Isa is still at 4 liters but sitting low on her oxygen requirements in the mid-twenties and should be successfully weened to 3 liters within the next few weeks.  Both girls will get their 2 month immunizations shots (3 of them) this week which the nurses have warned us could set them back a few days but are obviously needed. 

In addition, they had their 2nd eye check today.  The optometrist found they that both have stage 1 ROP (http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/rop/rop.asp#1).  He said that of all the children he checks, 80% show a little ROP while only 5% or less end up needing treatment.  He also said that the ROP typically gets worse before it gets better, so it's common for babies to go from stage 1, to stage 2, back to stage 1 and then correct itself with no intervention.  If it progresses past stage 2 into stage 3 (it goes up to stage 5), that's when we should start to be concerned and they would talk about possible treatment.  But until then, they will be rechecked every week and fingers crossed it fixes itself. 

Latest Videos (31 Weeks)

31 weeks and counting

Another week has passed by and the girls continue to do well and grow. As of today, Isa is 2lbs 14oz and Lia is 2lbs 9oz (both now officially inducted in to the "Kilo Club" by our nurse Kirsten). The difference in how they look now compared to when they were first born is amazing. Both girls are now on Q3 which means that they get fed and checked (diaper change, temperature, blood pressure, etc) every 3 hours and are tolerating being bugged more throughout the day just fine. They also only get one nurse assigned to the both of them (which is great news for us because they're doing so well and don't need constant attention, but I think their primaries miss being with them).

They are also continuing to do well with their bolus feedings. One new thing that we have all been trying is to give the girls a pacifier when they are awake and being fed (which is still through the feeding tube).  We are doing this to get them familiar with sucking and to associate sucking to getting full so that they will have a head start when we start bottle feeding in another 2 weeks.  It's pretty cool to see the girls taking the pacifier. It's almost like they're saying, "I don't know how I feel about this guys, but I'm going to suck on this thing you're sticking in my mouth" (see picture below).

The girls are also more awake and alert during their checks. We get to see their big eyes and have them looking around their pods and at us much more often now.

Oh one more thing, Isa was moved down to 4 liters on her nasal cannula and has been doing great on it!

I am 14 1/2 inches long now!  - Isa 6/9/11

Celia with her pacifier 6/9/11

Celia 6/9/11

I love the new hat that Tita made me!  Isa 6/9/11

I love my new hat too! Celia 6/9/11

Isa 6/10/11

Celia on her way to Kangaroo with Dad 6/10/11

Celia & Dad 6/10/11

Isa 6/11/11

Isa working on her pacifier 6/11/11

I am such a happy baby!  Isa 6/11/11

Sunday Funday 6/12/11

Mom & Celia 6/12/11

Dad & Isa 6/12/11

Sleeping Beauties

The girls both had their first eye exam on Tuesday. Preemies can develop an eye condition called retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) which at its most severe can cause blindness. They look for abnormal growth of blood vessels in the retina at the back of the eye. In this check, both girls looked OK (their blood vessels are still growing so its hard to get a completely accurate picture right now) and will be checked again every 2 weeks until its clear whether treatment will be necessary and/or the condition is getting better on its own. So sigh of relief for this round!

Both Celia and Isa were changed from continuous feedings to bolus feedings to mimic more how a term baby would eat.  Basically, instead of constantly getting little amounts of food, they get a big deposit of milk every 2 hours. They are both tolerating the feedings great. They will continue to increase the amount of breast milk given and shorten the period of time the milk is distributed to get them ready to try bottle & breast feeding in another 3 weeks. YAY!

As of this morning, Isa is currently 2 lbs, 8 oz and Celia is 2 lbs, 2 oz. They are on strict orders to rest and grow because at 3 pounds, we can start putting them in clothes!

Isa catching flies in her sleep 6/6/11

Isa 6/5/11

Isa & Mom 6/7/11

We often find Celia face down in her bed - we gotta keep on eye on that one! 6/7/11

Isa "Please, no more pictures" 6/7/11

Hi Beauty!  Isa 6/7/11

Celia taking a snooze 6/8/11

Celia 6/7/11



Celia 6/8/11