Misery loves company

Nicholas expresses his discontent to his brother. Matthew proves difficult to persuade, but after resorting to violent tactics, Nicholas effectively rallies Matthew to join his cause.

Update: As of 8/30/10, Nicholas now weighs 7lbs. 6 oz.! And Matthew is up to a whopping 6 lbs. 5 oz.! The pediatrician was quite impressed!

Cuddle Buddies

The boys are doing remarkably well adjusting to their new environment. They seem to have a calming effect on each other. They are getting tons of love from their big sis, doting parents, and surprisingly maternal, nurturing Aunt Andrea. Matthew weighed in yesterday at 5lbs 6 oz, quite the growth spurt! Both are due for a check up tomorrow so hopefully all will be well and they'll never have to spend the night in the NICU again!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIG SIS!

Home at last!

Matthew finally joined the whole brood yesterday afternoon. He is doing really well, graduating the NICU at a whopping 5 lbs. 2 oz.!

Nicholas flies the coop!

One down, one to go!

Nicholas preps for his trip home finally!!

Matthew isn't far behind, taking 68% of feeds orally. Hopefully by Sofia's birthday, we'll all be together.

Out with the tube

Nicholas takes it upon himself to pull his feeding tube out so the doctors decided to let him try eating on his own. So far so good, he's doing great! Matthew isn't far behind him either. Also, the latest echocardiograms showed that both boys PDAs have closed so no more open heart ducts!! They have slight "flow" murmurs which apparently aren't a concern to the doctors.

Our boys are famous!

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/08/09/DDP81EQ0LS.DTL

Small setback

Nicholas had a 10 sec drop in his heartrate last night while sleeping. Policy is that he has to remain in the hospital for a mandatory 5 days after this sort of episode. The nurse and I came to the conclusion that he is stalling so that he doesn't leave his little brother behind when discharge time comes.

The boys sporting their new duds:

Matthew catching his Zzzz's

Nicholas checking things out

Update 8/7/10

The boys are making great strides. Both are eating on their own very well and only use their tubes a fraction of the time. Once they can eat everything orally, they will remove the tubes and test them a couple of days before sending them home. We are hoping for 1-2 weeks at this point. It will be a relief to have them home finally.

Big Sister's Visit

One month and counting

The boys have made it one month and two days now! Today, they are 35 weeks gestational age. We are hoping only a couple more weeks in the hospital.

Nicholas is eating really well. He is up to 47 mls per feed. He has nursed up to 12 mls at once and had 2 whole bottles last night so he is definitely homeward bound! Just needs to eat all feeds on his own (without tube). Also, his murmur is practically gone and he has passed the 5 lb mark!

Matthew isn't far behind his brother. His murmur is definitely quieter and they think his PDA is closing. He had a bit of trouble keeping warm so they put a blanket on top of his crib to block the ridiculously cold draft bearing down on him (Mommy was freezing too so how could little Matthew be expected to keep himself warm?!). He is up to 42 mls and had 22 mls out of a bottle this morning. He nursed 10 mls yesterday and today! Hopefully he can catch up so he doesn't have to be left behind when discharge time comes.

Splish Splash!

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Nicholas gives Mommy a refresher course in Bathing Preemies 101

The Emperor's New Clothes

Matthew sports his new duds sponsored by Nana.