Days 103-110 - May 6-13

Not much new has happened in the past week.  Andrea and I are really starting to feel like we've been here way too long.  Aubrey and Paige's adjusted age is 3 weeks.  Here are our little monkeys playing together on Cinco de Mayo.  Aubrey's on the left, Paige the right.

Here's a funny one of Paige.  I'm not sure what she's doing, but it looks like she's screeching at the monkey.

Here's Aubrey looking irritated at mommy's attention.

Both girls had eye exams on Thursday.  There weren't any significant changes with the retinopathy of prematurity thing, so both girls are still Stage 2 ROP and will have another exam this week.  For what it's worth, both girls track us pretty well when we're up close to them, and they both seem to hear just fine.  They haven't had any official hearing test yet; I just occasionally make weird noises and the girls seem to respond to them.

We went outside with the girls again yesterday.  It was about 85 degrees, so we stayed out for about 45 minutes. I guess I'll just post a bunch of pictures.  Aubrey is on the left and Paige on the right in until further notice.

Paige on the left and Aubrey on the right until further notice.

Here's Aubrey on the left, Paige right with daddy.

Here's Aubrey with daddy.  Despite my vigilant use of the burp rag, she still puked all over my shirt that day.

Right now, everything is focused around getting the girls to eat, because that's the one thing stopping them from coming home at this point.  Each girl is getting breast milk that has been fortified with a cow-based fortifier to have 25 calories per ounce (breast milk au naturale has 20 calories per ounce).

Let's talk about Aubrey first.

Her reflux (baby heartburn) has been kind of bad the past few days.  She's been spitting up often, and the reflux seems to decrease her desire to eat.  She is being fed 51 mL every 3 hours, and sometimes she'll take a full bottle, and other times she'll eat only 5 mL (the rest gets put down her feeding tube), but usually she'll drink 20 to 30 mL.  The inconsistency is a little frustrating.  Also, she usually does not let us know when she is hungry.  She'll sleep right through a scheduled feed time and not really care.  Here are a few pictures of Aubrey working up an appetite between feedings.

Paige's turn.

She's been eating very well for the most part.  Unlike Aubrey, her reflux is not really all that bad.  She spits up maybe once a day, if that, and eats aggressively.  When she's hungry, she hoots and hollers and tells us all about it.  She hoots and hollers about pretty much everything, haha.  She is getting 48 mL every 3 hours, and usually drinks 35 to 40 mL from the bottle.  Every few feedings she drinks the whole bottle.  She is pretty consistent.  Here are a few pictures of her.

That scab on her cheek is from her scratching herself.  I occasionally cut her fingernails, but I can't safely get them short enough to prevent the scratches.

Both girls are getting more and more interactive with us.  They make pretty good eye contact when they're alert, and seem interested in listening and watching us when we play around with them.  It's amazing how much they've changed over the past few months.

Weight time!  Aubrey is around the 5th percentile adjusted for gestational age.  Paige is around the 3rd percentile for gestational age.

Aubrey:

     Day 1 -     2 lbs 2 oz     14 inches
     Day 8 -     2 lbs 7 oz
     Day 17 -   2 lbs 11 oz
     Day 27 -   3 lbs 1 oz
     Day 36 -   3 lbs 4 oz

     Day 46 -   3 lbs 7 oz     16 inches

     Day 56 -   4 lbs 0 oz

     Day 62 -   4 lbs 9 oz     16 1/2 inches

     Day 72 -   4 lbs 14 oz   17 1/2 inches

     Day 80 -   5 lbs 5 oz

     Day 88 -   5 lbs 14 oz   18 inches

     Day 102 - 6 lbs 6 oz

     Day 110 - 6 lbs 15 oz    

Paige:
     Day 1 -     1 lbs 13 oz   14 1/2 inches
     Day 8 -     1 lbs 12 oz
     Day 17 -   2 lbs 2 oz
     Day 27 -   2 lbs 10 oz

     Day 36 -   2 lbs 13 oz

     Day 46 -   3 lbs 5 oz     16 1/2 inches

     Day 56 -   3 lbs 10 oz

     Day 62 -   4 lbs 1 oz     17 1/2 inches

     Day 72 -   4 lbs 4 oz     18 inches

     Day 80 -   4 lbs 14 oz

     Day 88 -   5 lbs 0 oz     18 inches

     Day 102 - 6 lbs 2 oz

     Day 110 - 6 lbs 7 oz