Celia & Isabel: Productive 4th of July Weekend!

So much has happened since our last blog post. Where to even begin?!

Weight: Isa is now over the 4 lb mark, weighing in at 4 lb, 3 oz! Her sister isn't far behind, weighing in at 3 lb, 14 oz. To us and all of the nurses, the girls are GIANTS but we were looking at their weight chart yesterday and turns out they are only in the 10th percentile for their gestational age. But, taking into account they were micro-preemies and twins ... we are very happy with how big they are today.

Shots: Both girls had their 2 month immunization shots (DTaP, Hib, PCV/IPV/HepB) and did a-OK. They required higher oxygen for a few days and were very lethargic but all in all, they handled them extremely well and we are relieved that they are over and done with.

Oxygen: Isa is now at a pressure of 1 liter on her cannula, and Celia is at 2 - but both are sitting very close to 21% which is the amount of oxygen we breathe in the air so I am guessing another reduction is coming soon!

Bath: They got their first sponge bath this weekend ... and nurse Jessica said it took her 30 minutes to bathe each. They had tons of stuff in their chin rolls and leg rolls but are now both squeaky clean :) I guess that would happen after 10 weeks without a full bath!

Eyes: They had another eye exam on Tuesday. Isa is still a stage 1 ROP and resolving which is fantastic news. Celia has progressed a bit and is now a definite stage 2 ROP but the doctors are still not too worried about her. We learned that ROP either progresses or goes away, meaning Celia won't stay at stage 2. Fingers crossed next week her ROP is on the way to resolving and not progressing to stage 3, but we will deal with that if/when we need to. If we have learned anything in the NICU, it's not to worry unless you need to.

And now onto the FUN stuff! Both girls are dressed, swaddled, and can be held like regular babies (not only Kangaroo'd) by everyone! Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents, friends - all is fair game! They are also not connected to the bed temperature anymore and have been maintaining their own body temperatures pretty well on there own. This is getting them ready to soon be out of the incubators and in regular cribs without heating control. They also don't have a blanket covering their incubators anymore. It's time to get them used to full light like they will need to be OK with when they come home.

EATING! We are working on bottle & breastfeeding too! Celia took her entire feeding from the bottle on the first try - and has been doing so great with it. It's amazing to watch her know exactly what to do and to do it with so much determination. We tried breastfeeding yesterday as well and she latched on 3 times. I can tell already it will be such a great bonding experience once we can do it full time.

Isa on the other hand is our very laid back baby and would rather sleep than wake up long enough to take the bottle. She took about 5 mls from the bottle but her entire feeding is 36 mls so we have a little bit of coaching to do with her still. But, last night she gained close to 3 ozs in weight so no wonder she has been tired - we would be too if we were growing that much in one day!