6 months old and home for almost 2 months!

The girls are now 6 months old!  Their adjusted age is 3 months.  Here are a couple of pictures of our little old ladies.  They were moving around a lot, so I didn't really get sharp pictures.  I tried explaining to them the importance of sitting still, but they wouldn't listen to me :)  Paige on the left, Aubrey on right.

They're really starting to "grow up" on us.  Both smile a lot when we talk to them and they've discovered that their hands fit in their mouths very well.  Paige will sometimes give us a good giggle, and Aubrey coos at us like she's trying to have a conversation when we talk to her.  They're a lot of fun when they aren't cranky and tired.

The girls had an eye exam a few weeks ago, and things seem to be going very well with their eyes.  The retinopathy of prematurity is resolved in both girls.  Aubrey's retinas are developed just as they should be for her age, and Paige's are almost there.  Her retina blood vessels have not fully grown in yet, but the ophthalmologist says that he has never seen a case where the ROP resolves and the blood vessels don't eventually grow in correctly.  He is not worried about her, but she will have another exam in August just to make sure everything is OK.

Both girls are eating relatively well and gaining weight.  Paige had been eating really sloppy until last week when we experimented with a different bottle.  With the new bottles (which we had already tried and not had luck with two months ago), she now eats nearly leak-free.  I'll include the weight/height chart below, but as of July 25, Aubrey weighed 10 lbs 6 oz and was just a smidgeon under 21 and a half inches.  Paige weighed in at 9 lbs 1 oz and was just a hair taller than her sister at 21 and a half inches.  We took the girls to church for the first time a week ago, and it's weird seeing babies that are only a month or two old just dwarfing our "6-month-old" girls.  Paige still wears newborn diapers, and Aubrey wears size ones but could reasonably fit into newborns if blowouts weren't such an issue with her.

We've started introducing baby cookies to our girls.  They seem to enjoy the flavor, and the end result is usually a lot of drool and crumbs all over everything.  We'll probably introduce rice cereal and pureed veggies in the next few weeks just to give them exposure to foods.

The girls got their 6-month immunizations a couple of days ago.  They did not seem to enjoy that very much.  Aubrey screamed like I've never heard before.

Andrea's grandma came for a visit, so we had 4 generations of girls in our home for a few days while Andrea's mom was still here.  Aubrey on left, Paige on right.

Here are some pictures of our girls with their only great-grandparent.  Andrea thought they were funny pictures, so if great-grandma gets mad, it's Andrea's fault :)

Here's great-grandma laughing while the girls are screaming.  We captured everyone with open mouths.  Aubrey left, Paige right.

Our dog lived with great-grandma for about 6 months while Andrea and the girls were in the hospital, so she wanted to show some appreciation by giving her a lick.  I got lucky and caught great-grandma's and Paige's reaction to the incoming puppy kiss.

Both girls really enjoy watching our dog play around.

Paige has kind of been turning into a mommy's girl.  There are times when nothing I can do will calm her down, and then Andrea will take her and she'll calm down in a matter of seconds.  After I get past my feelings of being rejected by my own daughter, we have a good laugh over it, haha.  Aubrey is happy with whomever gives her attention and talks to her.

Here are some pics of babies with mommy and daddy.  Aubrey is on the left, Paige on the right.

Weight and height time!

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 

     Day 118 - 7 lbs 6 oz     19 1/2 inches

     Day 126 - 7 lbs 8 oz

     Day 134 - 8 lbs 0 oz     20 1/4 inches

     5 months - 9 lbs 2 oz

     6 months - 10 lbs 6 oz   21 1/4 inches

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

     Day 118 - 6 lbs 12 oz   19 inches

     Day 126 - 7 lbs 1 oz
     Day 134 - 7 lbs 4 oz     19 3/4 inches
     5 months - 7 lbs 14 oz
     6 months - 9 lbs 1 oz     21 1/2 inches

1 month home update

Sorry for not posting recently.  The girls keep us a little busy, and I kind of lost track of how long it had been since I last posted.  The girls' adjusted age is 2 and a half months (11 weeks).

Overall the girls have been doing well.  They eat, sleep, poop, and cry.  Compared to when we brought them home, they are much more engaged with their surroundings now.  Aubrey especially loves to be held upright over our shoulder so that she can look around.  Also, both girls are enjoying tummy time.  Here's a picture of Aubrey working her arm and back muscles.

Both girls have been starting to smile a lot, too.  It seems that both girls give us lots of smiles every time we take off their pants, be it for a diaper change or a bath or whatever.  It's pretty funny.  It's hard to get a picture or video of it, though.  Every time they see the camera or one of our phones pointed at them, they get really serious and focused.  Here's a video of Paige smiling a little bit.  Andrea is getting her ready for a bath, so her hair is really nasty.

Both girls have also started to discover their hands.  They like to put their hands up to their lips and will occasionally give their hands a lick.

We got our dog back with us a few weeks ago.  Here she is trying to reclaim her territory on the couch.

Canela has been tolerating the girls pretty well.  Every so often when they both cry at the same time she'll retreat into our guest room for a little peace and quiet.

My parents came to visit the girls a couple weeks ago.  My dad hadn't seen the girls since February when they were both in incubators and intubated, so he got to hold them for the first time.  Here are Grandma and Grandpa Roberts with Aubrey on the left and Paige on the right.

When this picture was taken, Aubrey and Paige were their newest grand kids.  The girls lost that title about 2 weeks ago to their cousin who, despite being 5 months younger, is about 2 pounds heavier than they are.

Andrea's parents also came in for a visit this past week.  This was the first time Andrea's dad was able to meet the girls.  We took Andrea's parents to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park with the girls.  The girls did pretty well there, but made sure we knew every time they were hungry.  Here's a picture of Grandma and Grandpa Moore with Paige on the left and Aubrey on the right.

Sorry about the weird lighting.  The girls were starting to cry and I couldn't figure out how to manually turn the flash on before we abandoned the photo shoot. Here's a funny picture of Aubrey screaming while being held by Grandpa Moore.

The girls' 5-year-old niece sent them some hair bows, so we put them on.  Paige is on the left, Aubrey the right.

 

Both girls are gaining weight at about 4 ounces each week.  As you can tell from the picture above, Aubrey is a little more successful at gaining weight than Paige is.  When we first came home, we were struggling with getting Paige to eat enough, but she has really improved over the past few weeks.  Paige normally eats about 8 times each day, and Aubrey eats about 6 times per day.  We still wake Paige up at night to feed her, but have stopped waking up Aubrey.  With Aubrey, we find that she just doesn't eat between 9 PM and 5 AM no matter how hard we try.  She often goes 10 hours through the night without eating, and then pigs out during the day.  Paige is more of an every 2 hour snacker.

The girls had another eye exam a few weeks back, and the ophthalmologist was happy with their progress.  We have another appointment sometime this week, and if all goes well it should be the last one for ROP screening.

A question that we get asked a lot that we are still not sure how to answer is "how old are your girls?"  If we tell someone that the girls are 5 months old, they give us a weird look because they are still the size of newborns.  If we say 2 and a half months, which is their adjusted age, it feels like lying.  In the comments section of one of the previous posts, I explained a little bit about how the girls are assessed and viewed age-wise from a medical standpoint.  I'll go into a little more detail here if anyone cares to know.

For about the first two years, the girls' doctors treat them as if they were actually born on their due date, which was April 22.  This is called their age adjusted for gestation.  Height, weight, and major milestones like grabbing things, mouthing, eye tracking, crawling, cooing, babbling, and whatever else babies eventually do is assessed based on their adjusted age.  For these aforementioned things, the girls are viewed as being 11 weeks old.  That Andrea and I are aware of, the only 2 things that are not adjusted for gestational age are immunizations and introduction of solid foods.  We will be introducing them to solid foods towards the end of this month.

As a general rule, preemies that do not have significant mental or physical disabilities or delays are expected to catch up to their full term peers by about the age of two.  This means that a person should not be able to tell the difference from a 2-year-old preemie and a 2-year-old full term baby.

That being said, a preemie will always be a preemie.  The time that preemies lose that would have otherwise been spent inside mommy can not be regained, despite the best medical care and professional services that the world can offer.  All of us probably know someone who was born premature and is now living a perfectly "normal" life with no noticeable problems.  In nearly every case, that person would be even more "normal" if they had been born full term.  The analogy I think of is like getting a broken bone.  Sure, the bone will heal itself and be fully functional in 6 weeks or so, but it will never be the same bone it was prior to breaking.  A radiologist will always be able to look at an x-ray of your bone and see that it had been broken.

Our girls may or may not have physical or mental delays.  It's a little too early to tell that.  But if they had been born at full term rather than 3 months premature, they would have been stronger, bigger, healthier, and more mature mentally than they are now.  That's just the way it is.

My car, which has well over 300,000 miles on it, was our only vehicle that could accommodate both girls' car seats and all the other junk that travels with them wherever they go.  So Andrea went out and got this ugly thing a few days ago.

What it lacks in looks it makes up for in practicality.  It's actually a pretty sweet car as long as you're inside of it.  I'm not sure why car makers can't find a way to put sliding doors on, say, a Chevy Tahoe.  Oh well.

At last weigh ins a week ago, Paige was 7 lbs 14 oz, and Aubrey was 9 lbs 2 oz

Happy Father's Day!

Not much to report. The girls' adjusted age will be 8 weeks tomorrow.

Paige is on the left, Aubrey on the right.

Days 127-130, then home! - May 30-June 8

After 130 days, the girls finally got to come home.  Here we are leaving the NICU as a family on Sunday June 2.  They were born on January 24 and are the equivalent of a 6-week old baby.

While we're extremely excited to be home, it's kind of sad to leave the NICU.  We became good friends with a lot of the staff at the NICU, especially some of the nurses that frequently took care of our girls.  Now that the girls are both home, we miss the around-the-clock care that allowed us to get so much sleep at night :)

We also want to thank everyone who has helped us out in any way during our long antepartum and NICU journey.  Andrea and I truly appreciate everything that you all have done for us, and this would have been much more difficult without your help.

As you can see from the oxygen tank in the picture, Paige came home on oxygen.  We're not sure how long she'll have to be on it, but it will probably be at least a few months before she's taken off of it.  We now have a bunch of oxygen tanks in our home.

Before we left the NICU, both girls had hearing tests and passed.  Here's Paige with all the sensors attached to her head during her test.

Aubrey's heart rate and breathing monitor machine kept saying that she would stop breathing for about 20 seconds every few hours.  Anyone accustomed to hospital monitors knows that those things give off false alarms ALL THE TIME, and every time that alarm went off while we were in the room, we saw that she was clearly breathing just fine.  However, to be on the safe side she had a 12-hour apnea test performed.  Basically, the test made sure air was moving in and out of her nose.  Here she is with her mustache sensor.

That test showed she was fine.

After both girls were cleared medically, we went home.  It was strange having both of them home the first few days.  It was almost like we were just taking a field trip from the NICU.  Now that we've been home for almost a week, being home with them is starting to feel normal.  Here's Aubrey (L) and Paige (R) being held by me the day they came home.

Both girls, but especially Paige, have been much more calm since we've been home.  Paige would get really agitated any time anyone at the hospital messed with her, and she doesn't get messed with so much at home.

The one good thing about being stuck in the NICU for 4 months is that I think our transition to being new parents at home has been easier than the experience of most new parents.  Andrea has long since healed from her C-section, so we don't have to worry about that.  We already know our girls very well, so we're usually able to figure out what their problem is pretty quickly when they squawk at us.  We also already know how to comfort them and help them fall asleep.  I can't imagine how crazy being home for the first few weeks would be if our girls were born full-term and came straight home.

Here the girls are posing for a picture in the same bassinet (or whatever they're called).  This is against NICU rules, so naturally it was one of the first things we did after we got home, haha.  Paige is on the left.

The girls are kind of weird in that they make great eye contact with adults and seem interested in whomever holds them, but they seem to ignore each other for the most part and never look at each other even when they're side by side.  Maybe we're noticing the aftereffects of a womb feud or something.  Here's another picture of the two girls, Paige on the left.

We went on our first walk with the girls on Tuesday.  The legs and arms you see belong to Paige, the head belongs to Aubrey.

Nurse Kristen, one of the nurses that we became good friends with during our stay in the NICU, came over one morning for a quick visit with the girls.  Aubrey is on the left in the picture.

Here's mommy holding the mute button on both girls.  (Paige on left)

Andrea's mom has been here the past week helping us out with stuff.  Here's grandma holding the girls.  Aubrey is on the left.

If you remember from my last few posts, the thing holding the girls back from coming home was inability to eat enough.  Since she's been home, Aubrey has been eating a ton.  Our nickname for her has become "little piggy."  She's still getting Enfamil AR fortified to 24 calories per ounce, and she eats 17 to 20 ounces each day (her required minimum in the hospital was 16 ounces).  Paige has been having a little bit of a harder time.  She was getting fortified breast milk in the hospital, and a few days before we were discharged her milk was increased from 24 to 26 calories per ounce.  The 26 calorie milk ended up being extremely constipating for her, so after a few days of watching her scream every time she tried to poo, we gave her plain breast milk for a few days to get her system flowing again.  It has seemed to do the trick, so we're going to slowly fortify her milk again to as strong as possible without plugging her up.  She's been an ounce or two short of her daily NICU goal of 15 ounces, but the pediatrician doesn't care as long as she is still gaining weight on track with the weight curves.  Here's Paige's typical look after getting what she thinks is a full meal.

We were trying to wake her up so by letting a little cool air hit her skin so that she would eat more.  It didn't work out for us, so we got our revenge and got a picture of her.

We had our first pediatrician appointment on Thursday and both girls are gaining weight, so that's a good thing.  We also had an eye exam this week, and both girls' eyes continue to improve.  The ophthalmologist thinks the ROP will be resolved in a month or two.

I thought I would end the post with some general "stats" and other random info:

Number of consecutive days someone in our family was hospitalized (Andrea then girls):  157

Approximate number of miles Andrea and I drove to and from the hospital:  10,000

Approximate number of X-rays each girl had:  100

Approximate number of blood transfusions each girl had:  15

Approximate amount this would have cost us if we didn't have medical insurance:  $1.4 million

Actual amount this cost us:  about what you would pay to get a nice 10-year old used Honda Civic, plus food and gas for a strange 157-day 10,000-mile-long road trip in which you slept in the car so as not to accrue lodging expenses

Height and Weight time!  Their age-adjusted weight is around the 5th percentile, with Aubrey being a little above and Paige a little below.  Their height is like their weight, right around the 5th percentile. Aubrey has a big head compared to the rest of her body, it's at the 25th percentile.

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 

     Day 118 - 7 lbs 6 oz     19 1/2 inches

     Day 126 - 7 lbs 8 oz

     Day 134 - 8 lbs 0 oz     20 1/4 inches

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

     Day 118 - 6 lbs 12 oz   19 inches

     Day 126 - 7 lbs 1 oz
     Day 134 - 7 lbs 4 oz     19 3/4 inches

Days 119-126 - May 22-29

We should be going home this weekend! The latest word (which seems to change everyday, haha) from the girls' doctors is that if everything goes smoothly the next few days, both girls will be going home with us on Sunday.

I haven't taken any pictures the past week, so sorry about that.  Today's post will be info only.  Let's do eye stuff first.  The girls had an eye exam on Thursday, and are both still stable.  Aubrey's ridge (one of the signs of ROP) has disappeared, and Paige wasn't any worse than before.  The plan is for the ophthalmologist to see the girls again this week to check for any changes.

Both girls have been eating well, especially Aubrey.  Aubrey has really taken off in the eating department.  As I explained in the previous post, she was switched over to Enfamil AR formula, which is a spit up formula.  Prior to the switch, it was a good feed for her if she took 30 mL (1 ounce) by bottle.  Now she takes 80 mL or more (about 3 ounces) pretty much every time she eats, which is enough to extend her feeding to every 4 hours instead of 3 so that she can get more sleep.  Her nasal feeding tube was taken out 6 or 7 days ago, and she has really had no problems eating.  It's nice to be able to see a baby face with no tubes attached to it.  It was pretty amazing seeing her go from not eating well to pigging out in such a short amount of time.  Aubrey is probably ready to come home now, but the NICU is nice enough to let her stay a few extra days so that we don't have one baby at home and one in the hospital.

If you compare the eating progress of the two girls to the story of the tortoise and the hare, Paige is definitely the tortoise.  She hasn't made the quick progress that her sister has made, but she hasn't had the setbacks, either.  She continues to slowly improve each day, and has been taking enough by bottle to not need to use her feeding tube.  She is very consistent at taking 50 to 60 mL each feeding (about 2 ounces), which means she has to eat every 3 hours.  Her feeding tube is still in "just in case" and also to give her medications so that she doesn't have to taste them.  Paige is still eating fortified breast milk, and her reflux appears to be minimal.  Paige does not eat very fast, so we have to be very patient with her when she eats.  She seems to like to take a little "siesta" in the middle of her feedings, which is a little frustrating for us.

Paige will be coming home on oxygen and will probably have to remain on it for 3 to 6 months until her lungs can catch up to her.

Well, that about does it for today.  It's weight time! The girls' adjusted age for gestation is 5 weeks, and their actual age is 4 months.

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 

     Day 118 - 7 lbs 6 oz     19 1/2 inches

     Day 126 - 7 lbs 8 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

     Day 118 - 6 lbs 12 oz   19 inches

     Day 126 - 7 lbs 1 oz

Days 111-118 - May 14-21

Corrected for gestational age, the girls are the equivalent of 4 weeks old now.  Here's a video of Aubrey acting like a baby.

We usually get about one to two hours of her awake and content like this each day.
Here's one of Paige.  She's usually awake and content like this for 30 minutes to an hour each day.

Both girls had another eye exam on Thursday, and their retinopathy of prematurity is still stable so they'll have another exam in a week.

The only thing keeping the girls from coming home at this point is their inability to drink all their milk, so that's mostly been the focus this past week.  As you may recall from my last post, Paige had been doing pretty well, and Aubrey was having some struggles with spit ups and lack of appetite.  We've been doing a little experimenting to see if anything gets the ball rolling a little more quickly.

The first thing we tried was putting both girls on plain breast milk (unfortified).  We've noticed that Aubrey had been cringing and sticking her tongue out with the fortified breast milk, so we wondered if there was some sort of taste issue there.  Both girls seemed to enjoy the plain breast milk and did fairly well on it, and Aubrey stopped making her disgusted-looking face when she got the plain fresh stuff.  The problem with the plain breast milk for the girls is that it gives them too much water.  Due to their immature lungs (especially Paige), we have to be very careful that we don't overload them with fluid because that can make it hard for their lungs to work right.

We then changed both girls over to a Enfamil AR, which is meant to help babies with acid reflux. We didn't really notice much of a difference for Paige, but Aubrey has been doing much better on the formula.  She doesn't seem to dislike the taste, and she has only spit up a few times in the past few days.  Aubrey has been taking most of her bottle nearly every time, and will often take a full feed.  It seems that the formula is helping control her acid reflux and enabling her to actually have an appetite.  She seems to actually enjoy eating since we put her on the formula.  Here's Aubrey eating her formula.

Since Paige had been doing fine on the fortified breast milk, I'm still not really sure why all the experimenting was done with her (maybe just because they're twins and twins are supposed to do the same things?).  We put her back on fortified breast milk and she is still doing fine.  Here's Paige.

I think of all the pictures I've taken of Paige, the last one is the most accurate representation of her.  Her eyes show the fierceness and intensity that she possesses that has carried her through experiences that we wish she would not have had to go through.  While I was taking pictures of her for a little over a minute, her eyes just followed me.  It was really cute.

One of the girls' doctors had another discussion with us about them possibly getting the G-tubes (the kind that are surgically placed through the belly) if they don't figure out this eating thing soon.  We said "no, not interested."  Hopefully we don't have to re-visit that topic next week.

My mom wanted to see their eyes.  I don't have a macro lens for our camera, so here's the best I could do.  Aubrey first, Paige second.

You'll probably have to click on the pictures and really zoom in, but Aubrey's eyes have started to lighten up a little, and are medium gray with a hint of green in the right light.  Paige is harder to catch with her eyes wide open like Aubrey, so I don't have as great of a picture of her eyes.  Paige's look like they're turning brown, but are mostly the baby gray color.  I have green eyes and Andrea has brown eyes.

I think it's about time to do some "look at me now" pictures with barbie.  Here's Aubrey on day 10 and day 118.  That's the exact same nurse barbie in both pictures.

Here's Paige with nurse barbie on day 10 and day 118.

When I see those old pictures I get a little freaked out.

Weight and height time!

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 

     Day 118 - 7 lbs 6 oz     19 1/2 inches

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

     Day 118 - 6 lbs 12 oz   19 inches

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