"Day of Life 5"

"Day of Life X" or "DOL Y" This is what they call it in the NICU (Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit) when refering to how old babies are. This is Will writing and we are on DOL 5. I have temporarily/permenantly taken over Blog duty as we have charged Bridgett with the task of birthing, recovering, feeding and nurturing our 3 children. So the only thing left for me to do was this and with it will come many spelling errors. In our haste to get out information to everyone Bridgett and I both sent out emails. I have posted them as earlier entries for you to read and view the pictures if they did not reach you. Since that time both Oscar and Willie Grace have graduated to the Level 2 nursery and all three are back together again.

Bridgett is doing much better despite still being very anemic and starting to get back into the swing of things. She has made it to the nursery every day so far (walking there today) and her motherly instincts could not be more apparent as she comforts and soothes our little ones. After a rocky start with the breast pump, a little help from my friend Champe, and my wife's ablitiy to stay on a schedule has really paid off.

All of the kids are doing very well and are making progress toward leaving the hospital. We have no idea when that will be as there are many factors which contribute to this decision. As you may have read in the previous posts or emails, all of the babies are very little. Because of this they have almost no body fat and have trouble regulating there own body temperature. The doctors want to see that they eat well and steadily gain weight. They are now known each as a 'feeder, grower'.  This is very sophisticated NICU terminology..

So far, all three are eating very well.

 As of day 2, Lainey, the prodigy, has been bottle feeding (as opposed to getting fluids through an IV or milk through a feeding tube inserted directly into the stomach via the nose or mouth). She hasn't met a nipple she didn't like. She seems to have her father's appetite which has proven to be a real benefit for a premature baby . She actually gained weight today which is great and will more than likely be the first to go home.

Oscar is also bottle feeding but has proven to be a bit of a finicky eater (I wonder where he gets that from). What he doesn't eat in his bottle, he gets through his NG tube in his nose.  He is doing very well and also put on some weight as of today. Bridgett has breast fed Oscar a few times and he seems to like that best. Bridgett is now pumping enough milk to feed all 3 babies, impressive given the odds... 3 babies & only, umm, 2 milk sources.
Just to clarify, when I say weight, I am talking about grams...an entire meal for Oscar is only19 ccs. We don't even talk in terms of ounces or pounds when is comes to their eating & weight gain. 
 

Willie Grace mader her first attempt at bottle feeding today with Bridgett and did well. She is getting most of her food through a tube but should transition away from that shortly. She is proving to be pretty fiesty, actually she's a total maniac.  She is already causing trouble as she decided to test my ability to stay calm while ripping out her IV and bleeding on my leg during what was supposed to be some nice father/daughter bonding time. Fortunately the nurse was right there to take care of us both and Bridgett did not seem too bothered as I came to her with my hat in my hand. She says wild ones like Willie Grace pull these

stunts all the time.

So as you can see, the fun has already started. Bridgett and I have leared a lot about each other and are quickly learning that even in the early hours of life, these tiny little people have pretty distict personalities.  On this note, I am still on my quest to determine a favorite.  Let me clarify this.  What I really mean is that i am trying to figure out which one is the cool kid (most like me) to be my surfing buddy and keep me company.  I am leaving the door open for all of them, but it seems only fair for Bridgett to have at least one brown-noser for herself. You may notice that, other than a sort of creepy picture of me and a breast pump we seem to be a little short on pictures of the boys. Although I believe that this is possibly a trend that will continue, I will work harder to get Oscar a little more face time.

We look forward to sharing our family with you as we grow.