We're still chuggin' along

Well, as of 2am this morning, Cole was taken off of his oxygen again. He appears to be doing well so far without it so that is a great thing! He's eating much better now and has taken a couple of bottles from both C. & I. He actually wakes up crying due to hunger which is a good sign. He's weighing in at about 4 lb, 10 oz now. Hoping for a significant weight gain this week. Since he got sick, he's been staying about the same weight. I'm actually very thankful for that since most of the time when these little guys get sick, they actually lose weight.

JD is doing great at home. He eats like a champ and sleeps straight through to his next feed. I wake him up every 3 hours to eat. He's eating a little over 2 ounces right now. I think he's probably almost 7 pounds now - he's growing so fast. He's already out of his preemie clothes and almost out of preemie diapers. It doesn't take long! He loves to be in his swing - but most of all, he loves to sleep on Daddy's chest. He's getting spoiled already - imagine that. He's a pacifier fiend and seems to be happy as a clam all of the time. We are truly blessed.

All of the kids are moving to the new NICU on Tuesday so that will be an adventure. I can't imagine the planning that is involved in moving 24+ babies in critical care to a new area. I am bummed that we have to go since I was hoping we would all be home by then but it's going to be awesome to hang in the new NICU unit for a short time. We'll have our own private room, with a flat screen tv, which is pretty awesome. The rooms are beautiful and it will be much more quiet and restful for Cole. I'll try to take some pictures of his new place once we get moved in. We're hoping to have a room connected to or near our friends - Jack's parents. We've developed a nice bond having gone through so much at the same time. We'll miss them so much after we leave the little room we're in now!

As of now, we have a few milestones to make before our homecoming. 1) Cole needs to continue off of his oxygen with no episodes (A's & B's) for at least 5 days. 2) He also needs to be able to take 8 full bottles before they will remove his feeding tube. Once the tube comes out, he's pretty much ready to come home. 3) He is still on antibiotics for his infection and I believe that those should end on the 16th. Those are given by IV so he can't continue on them at home unfortunately. That just means we have to stay until they are finished.

It will be questionable whether he will come home with a monitor or not. We have mixed feelings about that but will go with whatever is the safest and best for him of course. It will be a bit nerve wracking either way but I know in just a couple of days after he gets home, he'll just take off and thrive, just like JD did.

We've got lots of follow up appointments with the boys over the next couple of weeks for their hearing, eyes, shots etc. I've gone solo to the doc with JD and it was easy but thinking about taking two of them is a whole new ball game. Luckily I'll have helpers! They are scheduled to be circumcized by a urologist the week of Thanksgiving so we'll hope that Cole is home by then so they can give each other the moral support they need for such a procedure.

Our nanny starts tomorrow so that will be good - she is a Chilean girl who has been working for one of my friends for a few years. We're sharing her during the week so I'll have her from 9:15 - 2:45 each day. She will put Suze's kids on the bus and get them off of the bus in the pm so I have her in between. I'm sure she will be a great help. Once the boys are home and stable, I'll work on my return to work plan. I'm going back to work after the holidays so need to figure out logistics for the boys. It's just so hard to plan right now, not knowing what Cole's needs will be etc.

That's about it for today. Going to grab some dinner before my night visit with Cole. Hope you all enjoyed the weekend - until tomorrow...