Moving On Up

Lucas and Olivia reached another milestone today:  They moved out of their incubators and into open air cribs.  Though this makes changing their diapers a more dangerous proposition for their caregivers, the move begins their journey toward meeting two of the three milestones they must meet in order to graduate from the nicu.  One, they must be able to hold their temperature in open air (because the doctors feel it a bit much to ask for us to invest in some incubators for home).  Two, they must be able to consistently gain weight.  This relates to being in open air because they will have to prove that they can keep themselves warm without burning too much of their calories.  So far, so good, as they both had a great day out in the open.

For the third requirement, as we may have mentioned, Lucas and Olivia must be able to take all of their feeds on their own, either by nursing or bottle (because the doctors feel it a bit much to ask for us to learn how to properly insert feeding tubes into their stomachs).  The little ones continue to improve on this front as well.  Both did a great job nursing today, and Olivia continues to show off as a quick study.  After we arrived this morning for 8 am (Lucas) and 8:30 am (Olivia) feeds, we missed Olivia's window because the nurse did not have her ready to come out at 8:30 am--she tends to fall asleep easily and fell back asleep before mom got the chance to nurse her.  Just when we thought all was lost, Olivia seemed to wake up before the nurse got around to 'hanging' (i.e. attaching to her feeding tube) her feed.  Mom, the smart and intuitive mother that she is, asked if she could try a bottle with Ms. Olivia as long as she seemed a bit awake.  Well, Olivia sucked down the entire bottle.  Ain't no thang.  That a girl.

The journey continues.  Both kids are officially over four pounds, which means they can now fit in their car seats.  Three more baby steps, and one hernia surgery, to go . . .