Friday, October 14th

Today started out a little rough. We went to see the babies and feed Ben at 5am. Ben didn't want to take his 2am feeding so they had to put a feeding tube in. We knew this was a possibility but he had been doing really well so it was disappointing and Mom had her first tears in the NICU. However the emotions were short lived and when we came back for his 8am feeding he took it all by mouth. He has kept up the feedings all day and the feeding tube is there for "back up" in case he gets too worn out to eat. We have really been leaving him alone in an effort to not get him too tired. We try just to hold him to feed him and then maybe a few minutes longer. He seems to get more rest in his crib. He got his IV out today so he is now only connected to his heart rate and respiration monitor which will stay on until he goes home. His main goals right now are to continue to eat well and rest so he can grow!

Ainsley has had a pretty eventful day as well. She was holding steady this morning and did not really have any changes but when we came back to the hospital this afternoon the room was strangely quite...because she got her CPAP off! She is now on oxygen through her nose. Since she got rid of the CPAP she got her umbilical line out and we got to hold her for the first time - so AMAZING! We also got to feed her. She started at 5ml and got 1ml of breastmilk and 4ml of formula. She did quite well for her first ever feeding. We are also trying not to stimulate her too much so we enjoyed holding her for awhile but are now letting her rest most of the time in her bed.

Here she is after the CPAP was removed and before she got her nasal cannula.

Here's Mom getting to hold her for the first time!

Holding hands

Dad giving Ainsley her first bottle

We had to limit visitors a little bit to no more than two at a time and not more than about 30-45 minutes. It's hard because we want everyone to be able to love on them but we understand they need to rest so they can grow and do their best.

I was discharged today. They were completely full and asked if I would want to leave a little early. I was totally up for that since I wanted to get stuff moved around and settled into the babies' room. Since we got out by 11am we got a $30 gift card to Target - CRAZY! But awesome! We took some stuff home and started a load of laundry. Well, Jeremy started the laundry and I took an hour nap. Then we stopped at Target and came back down to the hospital. We are going to sleep at home and be here during the days. The bed in the room is NOT comfortable.

We are feeling pretty good although tired and I'm still pretty sore. We are trying to remember to take care of ourselves too which is probably the hardest part. Who ever thought it would be so hard to remember to eat?

Again we want to thank everyone for all your support and thoughts and prayers. They are working!! Praise God for these two amazing miracles!