Preemie Paparrazi

Greetings from the NICU! The other night we were getting ready to go home when Nurse Bethany suggested we take a "couple" more pictures before we go. It turned into a full photo shoot, and we had a blast. We've mainly just held and fed the boys while we're here, so this was our first glimpse at how much fun it is to PLAY! Here are a couple of the highlights and some updates from the past few days...

John is now in a big boy bed like his brother! They're both sleeping in open air cribs and are doing great at regulating their temperature (which is one requirement before coming home).

John's Big Boy Bed

Both boys have started taking bottles for three of their eight daily feedings. Sometimes they're only able to take half (or less) of the feeding before they tire out and fall asleep, but so far both boys have managed to take an entire feeding by bottle - the nurses even made signs to congratulate them.

We're constantly reminded by the nurses that they're doing exceptionally well for their age. Their adjusted age is still only 33 weeks, so one nurse told us that the boys shouldn't even be THINKING about bottles at this point. They've still got a while before they fully grasp the suck-swallow-breathe concept, but they're catching on. We can only thank God for blessing them with good health, we've been so fortunate to not have to deal with the complications that most other preemies face.

Andrew and Dad

Ryan, John, and Lisa



"This suck-swallow-breathe-thing is HARD!"



John rests after a big meal

Andrew takes a few sips, then pants like a dog to catch his breath - so cute!

Our big guys are starting to pack on the pounds! John has joined the 4 pound club and now weighs a full 4 lbs 4 oz. Andrew is a whopping 5 pounds 1 ounce, and I think is starting to show a little double chin - which I think he gets from my side.

That's all the news for now.  It will most likely still be several more weeks until the boys come home - sometimes it's easy to forget that they shouldn't even be here for another six weeks.  We're glad that we get all of this "practice time" in the NICU before we bring them home and have to do this all without the professionals.  It looks like they're already starting to wrestle and do typical "brother stuff" to each other...let the fun begin!

"Hey Andrew, smell my formula-breath"