Emerson's turn to be a glow baby...

When we went down to the NICU this morning Emerson was on the lights today. Her bilirubin was at 8 which is right on the cusp of being a problem and they just wanted to be proactive in treating it. She was still only taking 3cc of food through a tube and seems to tolerate the breast milk much better than the formula so that's all they've been feeding her through her tube. By her night time feeding they had increased it to 6cc (a table spoon of food) but most of it didn't digest or go anywhere. Her breathing continues to improve and by last night they were able to remove an IV from her hand and from her stomach making it a little easier for us to hold her hand. Last night in the midst of all of her flailing around she got her hand stuck underneath some of the tape from a wire and then couldn't move her hand. Poor thing was getting so frustrated. We're hoping in the next few days we'll get to hold her. She's down a little in weight still and weigh 2lbs 15oz. She's such a scrawny little baby.


Both Eli and Emerson had little lambs in their isolates yesterday when we went down there. I guess a few years ago on of the NICU nurses started a program called "Lambs of Love" and so she personally buys a little lamb to keep all the babies company.


As far as Eli's progress goes he was off the lights so we were once again able to hold him. He continues to show off with his breathing and eating and by last night he was up to 20cc of food. He gets a mixture of breast-milk and formula, still primarily through his tube. The doctor told us he absolutely no concerns about Eli at this point and he just needs to continue to grow and learn to eat better. Which is such great news. My favorite part of yesterday was being able to change his diaper. It was a little scary since he's so tiny but the nurse kept assuring me he wasn't going to break (even though that's what if felt like). I was also able to calm him down when he was crying. We were getting ready to leave when he started screaming and when I put my hand on his head and started talking to him he calmed down and after about 30 min went to sleep. He's also down just a little in weighs 3lbs 10oz.



Marcus and I have also started telling the babies stories. We've started by telling them about their grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins which takes awhile because there are many of them. Marcus also shares his version of nursery rhymes. They're a little off from the originals. He was telling Emerson about some egg who sat on a wall and slipped off, and Eli about a pickle that jumped over the moon. Close enough for me, although I did warn Marcus that when our kids go off to preschool they may be a little confused to learn that the egg has a name, and that it was a cow that jumped over a moon and not a pickle.



As for me I'm still sore but it's getting easier to move each day. Marcus and I went to a breastfeeding class and a discharge class (They nurses seem to be amazed at Marcus' participation in all of this and keep thanking him for being there, Marcus just said to me, "I can't imagine not being there.") neither one too helpful since they applied mostly to full term babies (the demo doll was twice the size of Eli and Emerson) and I'm continuing to pump and it's going very well. The nurses in the NICU are always excited when we bring more milk for the babies to eat. Things are going very well at the moment, and for that we are grateful.

I'm going home tomorrow, after a month in the hospital, and feeling really sad about having to leave our babies behind. Knowing it'll be that much harder to see them once we're home.