Put Your Best Face Forward

All sorts of good excitement happened today.  First, when we got to the NICU and went to the babies' bedsides, they weren't there anymore!  After having mentioned to a couple nurses our request for Lucas and Olivia to have their beds side by side, last night they were able to make the move.  Not only can they now sit next to each other when they come out, but they're also in the outside bay of beds by the windows, so we all get to enjoy some natural light.  And it's where the bigger babies who can hold their own temperature hang out :)  Eventually, one of us will be able to hold both babies together, but for now with all the various attachments, sister and brother will have to settle for this:

 

We're pretty excited to all be this close and are sure that even if they can't quite see across to each other yet, Lucas and Olivia can probably smell or hear each other and they must be excited to have re-found their sibling :)

Olivia continues to do great work increasing her feeds.  So well in fact that as she gains weight she keeps pushing up the full feeds requirement.  It was 19 mL every 3 hours when we started this transition to breastmilk adventure and now it's up to 23 mL Q3.  Today she got increased to 17mL, going up to 18 tonight. So by my math, it should only be a couple more days now.  She continues to do well on her cpap of 5, and most importantly on her growing.  Mom forgot her exact weight this morning (there was a lot going on), but the fellow is happy with her progress along her growth curve.  And both she and her brother are going down on the temperature requirements in their incubators, which gets them closer to being able to enjoy an open-air crib.

Lucas started his day by practicing sucking while he got his breakfast:

He and Olivia are both doing well with the soothies and looking forward to working with the speech therapist next week.  Since Wednesday is growth chart day, Lucas got his progress evaluated too.  He's now 1310 grams (2lbs 14oz), solidly gaining weight every day, but the fellow is considering increasing his calorie fortification to really beef him up - otherwise Olivia might catch him soon!

The biggest excitement of Lucas's day was the long-awaiting pronouncement during morning rounds that he could get his cpap off!  This is big news because it represents a step-down in the breathing assistance he's requiring and because it is much more comfortable as well.  Everyone was so excited to get Lucas off the cpap that the respiratory specialist had him on the high-flow canula almost before they finished Olivia's report during rounds.  Lucas was absolutely loving his new view on the world, looking all around and checking things out.  He was so cute that Mom had to stay a little longer just so that we could talk and hang out while he followed my voice and looked at my face - and everything around him.  And yes, his eyes do look blue to me, though the dark, curly hair definitely identifies him as part of this family :)

We'll try to get a video tomorrow so you can truly appreciate how cool it is to watch him take in the world - however much of it he can see a foot from his face :)  Being able to look in his eyes made me realize that I could easily spend all day looking at and holding my babies.  We are truly blessed.