Either yesterday or tomorrow is the girls one month birthday, depending on your perspective. 😉 Yesterday was 4 weeks even, tomorrow is the 4th. I tend to go by the 4th since it’s easier to remember each month. I remember thinking, at one point, that we could have 4th of July babies since that would be 38 weeks. Guess not. Well, at least they won’t have to ‘share’ their birthday with the country, but still it would be kinda cool to have your birthday celebrated with fireworks every year, don’t you think?
Anyway, on Monday Stu and I were able to have a chat with one of the NP’s who look after our girls. It was good to get some input from her and express some of our own concerns. Plus we had an absolutely fantastic nurse for the last 2 days! Ya know, I realize that nursing is a “job” but it’s a special job because those people are caring for other people. I think that it needs to be a little more of a calling than just a job. There have been a couple of nurses that we’ve met during our month at the Newborn I who I know think of it as just a job, and believe me it shows. The ones who really show some caring are the ones who do a stellar job and who I’d rather see watching over my babies any day!
All of that to say, the last couple of days has been much of a relief for me anyway. I had confidence in the nurse and her opinions on the girls, and I knew that she was doing her best to help them progress rather than just one more feeding to “get it done” like some others. I really needed that as I was about to the snapping point on my tolerance last week.
The chat with the NP was good, but of course there was none of the “they’ll be out by such-n-such day” kind of promise. Which is understandable. It’s all dependent on how well the girls progress. And I can certainly see the progress for myself. Our little lazy Claire it seems had found her motivation! She’s been EXTREMELY enthusiastic about her bottle feedings in the past few days! In fact the day before yesterday she was not happy about the gavage feeding AT ALL! Rather than take that time to ‘rest’ as she’s supposed to, she was throwing quite a fit that she wasn’t given a bottle and allowed to fill her own tummy! 😉 I was rather humored by it to be honest. So yesterday at the recommendation of our awesome nurse, they allowed her NG tube to be removed!! Yay for going tubeless!! I really hope that she does indeed have the energy to continue on without it. This is the first time she’s been without the tube and I so badly want it to last because that will mean it’s just a matter of days till she’ll be ready to go!!!
Gabby is not there yet, and the difference between them is really obvious to me now. However, yesterday morning after Claire had her tube removed I had a little chat with Gabby and said, “You’re not going to let your sister beat you out of here, are you?” Sure enough she perked right up for her bottle feeds, and was much more alert than she’d been before! Her nurse was impressed, but I just told her we had to wake up that competitive edge. 😉
So I’ve been feeling much more optimistic the last couple of days and it’s been a welcome relief. Today the girls will have a different nurse, and I’ve got a little anxiety over whom it will be, but I’m hopeful when we get there that it’ll be another of the wonder-nurses! Which just to clarify, there seem to be MORE of them than the other kind, so that IS good! But keep praying that our littlest lasses will make quick progress. My ideal would be for ALL of us to get to go home on Monday when Stu has to leave, though I know that’s a very long shot. Still, we’re closer every day to getting to be back together as a family and I need to remember that!
Enjoy the cuteness!
No, Mom, I’m sleeping!
No tube Claire!
This girl sleeps best when Daddy is holding her!
GIANT passi and the “eyebrow” look!
Sweet toes!
Gabby goes a little cross eyed from time to time, ha!
Tiny loves!
