YIPPIE

Brandon finished his bottle yesterday in 25 minutes... all 47 ml. of it!!!
Pray that he keeps it up.

Also, John did great with his second bottle!!

I pray they come home soon, it is starting to wear on me.

Our Piglets

The boys are doing very very well!!!!!!
Brandon and John are both over 5 pounds and growing everyday. They are both up to about 47ml of milk a feeding. John has been upped to two bottles a day- about 12 hours apart (they like three feedings in between). If he takes the second bottle well they will keep increasing bottles per day. Hopefully it will not take long for him to get to 8 bottles and come home. Brandon is still on one bottle, he is being a little stinker and not being very interested in taking his full bottle- he eats about half and then falls asleep..... so cute but very frustrating.
Please continue to pray for the twins as they learn how to feed and tolerate the bottle so they can come HOME!!!!

Prayer Request

Alright, I need some prayers!!!

I am sick... I don't know if I am having a bad case of allergies OR I have a cold but low and behold I don't feel good!
I feel like I can not catch a break. From getting home from the hospital I have had a fever, a numb hand, an infection and now this.... it is one thing after another and now I am not getting to see the boys everyday (I missed yesterday and today) because I don't want anyone in the NICU getting sick if I am really sick.
I just want to feel good!!! Please pray for my soreness to subsides, my allergies/cold goes away fast, the feeling in my hand comes back and that the infection goes away so I can go see the boys!

Thanks

Updated pic

Here they are at 34 weeks 3 days-12 days old. John on the left is 4 pounds 9 ounces and Brandon on the right is 4 pounds 13 ounces.... gaining weight every day!

Side by Side

After birth... they have change a bunch but I wanted a side by side picture to show everyone!

A lot has happened

Like I have said before, things change daily with the boys! Lets see, Brandon's weight is up to 4 pounds 8 ounces and John is up to 4 pounds 6 ounces.... John is finally above his birth weight.... YEAH!!!! They both have taken one bottle a day. Brandon is having a little trouble sucking, breathing, and swallowing all at the same time and is taking awhile to take his entire bottle (38 ml.). It takes his almost 30 minutes, he just does not suck on the nipple very eagerly. John had his first bottle Saturday morning and had 29 ml. in 11 minutes. He was a champ and they said that his sucking relax is great and he can pace himself very well. They are going to start helping me feed them so I can learn how to feed a preemie and be confident that I won't hurt them. Before they come home they have to be able to take 8 bottle a day and be able to digest the milk. I don't know how fast they will get to 8 bottle but things can change every 24 hours. Also they are almost keeping their temps up very well and are almost at room temp. which will help them get in an open crib in the NICU.
As for me I was at the hospital again last night (Saturday). About 4pm I ended up having a temp of 101 and called the doc and they said I needed to get checked out because it could be a uterine infection. So I was at the hospital for about 2 hours getting blood taken and all. Come to find out they could not determine the reason I had a fever but once I got home my temp broke. I personally think it had to do with not pumping enough yesterday... We were a little busy yesterday and I waited too long. Needless to say I am back on schedule and feeling good. The doc however had to check out my incision and pretty much pounced on my tummy and made it very sore!

The boys will take thier bottle together everyday at 2pm and I will get some pictures to show everyone soon!!!

our little men...

are 1 week old
Gosh, things change so fast!!!! Everyday something has changed with Brandon and John. On Tuesday (1/2) my mom and I walk into the NICU and Brandon is off all his IV's and John is no longer under the jaundice light. Also Brandon had his first try at a bottle--- I am over joyed about how good he did. His feeding has been going up daily and he now is on 30 ml and yesterday during his bottle feed he had 29. So everyday at 2pm we will feed him by bottle until he can suck swallow breath really good. He is such a tropper and doing so well. John is still on his IV but it doesn't look like it will be long before he is off of them. He is now sucking on a pacifer. He gets tired easily but he is small and we are just thankful he is tryng!
As for me, I am TIRED!!!! I feel as if I don't have enough time in the day but also that I am just really slow still with being sore. My swelling is going down, slowly but it is going away. Pumping is going much better, I am a milk making machine and I am glad for that so the boys have my milk but I feel like I am pumping 24/7. Other than that things are really quiet and we are just trying to get ready to have the boys home.
More pictures to come!