7 Weeks!!! Big Bro B-Day!!!

 I can't believe that it has been 50 days already!!!  The boys have made outstanding progress over the last few days as well, which is making the time go by a little faster I think!!! I have to start the blog tonight though by wishing Vincent a very happy 2nd birthday!!!  We had a great day celebrating with him and we ventured out to Arlington Racetrack along with Grandpa and Grandma G., Aunt Sheri and Uncle Tom, and his cousins!!!  We also celebrated my parents 39th wedding anniversary too!  The only thing missing today was the boys of course!!!

So since I haven't seen the boys in the past 3 days, I've relied heavily on the information that Kalleigh is providing me to update everyone.  She has been doing an amazing job keeping track of everything that is going on, especially with all of the new progress!!!  Nicholas is now weighing in at 3lb 13.5oz, and is up to 30ml of breast milk every 3 hours! He has been tolerating his increased feeds fine, and in fact yesterday pulled off his nasal canula that was supplying the oxygen, but the nurses decided to try and leave it off to see how he responded.  Of course on this news I was very nervous, but I'm happy to report that Nicholas has now been off of oxygen since he pulled off his nasal canula early yesterday!!!!  It's such an amazing feeling to know he is doing so well, and to think of how much improvement he has made since he was born 7 weeks ago!  We are hoping that Nicholas is able to reach 4lb early this week and be able to move to an open crib in the middle or end of the week!  Nicholas also made his first attempt at breastfeeding today!!!  Kalleigh said he did really good, and was able to get the technique down, but it was kind of a dress rehearsal if you will, because they wanted Kalleigh to pump first and then try to get Nicholas to attempt the feeding.  The reason for this is they don't want to introduce two new experiences at once, so taking to Kalleigh is number one, and then oral feeding is another.  Kalleigh will go back tomorrow and try to actually feed Nicholas.  I can't begin to describe the feelings that have been going through me these past few days listening to all of this progress, and at the same time not being able to witness it by myself, but I know Nicholas is doing great, and I will be seeing him tomorrow!!!

Joseph is also doing great, he now weighs 4 lb 4.25oz, and is up to 34ml of breast milk every 3 hours!  Today his nurse tried taking his oxygen away, and although he handled it for a little while, she had to put him back on, because his oxygen saturation levels just weren't staying high enough for her to be comfortable leaving him off!  Instead the nurse lowered his pressure to 1 liter of air per minute, which is almost nothing, and he is hovering right around room air for his oxygen assistance!!! We of course were very happy to hear that he tolerated some time off of the oxygen, but considering all of the issues we've had with Joseph we are not surprised that he is a tiny bit behind Nicholas in his respiratory development.  Joseph was also moved to an open crib today!!!  He looks so much more comfortable and we hope he can remain out of the incubator from this point forward!!!  We are so happy to see his progress and are looking forward to having him attempt breastfeeding tomorrow too!  We will be keeping a close eye this week on Joseph's progress and hope that he can get off of his oxygen like Nicholas!

The boys are doing so great, and we know we are so lucky to be in the situation we are considering where we've come from!  Thank you for the continued thoughts and prayers from all of you, this has been a truly amazing experience and has given Kalleigh and I a whole new outlook on life!  Sorry for the late post, but today we dedicated the majority of our time to Vince for his day!!!

Nicholas without his canula!!!!

Joseph giving us a smile!!!

Joseph in his open crib!!!