I have new pictures attached. The first one is a pretty picture of Piper from this past Saturday. The second is a picture of Henry from last Friday being kangaroo'd, and the third is a picture of Rosemary from this past Saturday being kangaroo'd. The fourth is a picture of Piper and Henry meeting each other from this past Sunday -- they were wholly unimpressed by one another. The fifth is a picture of Rosemary from Wednesday with her new bracelet -- which happens to be Gary's wedding band (yes, she really is that small). The sixth picture I just love -- it's from this past Wednesday and it's Gary and Henry practicing how they're going to watch football games this fall.
As far as the kangaroo thing, it's also called "skin-to-skin" and is a way to keep the baby warm while bonding with Mom. Basically, we just shove a baby down my shirt and then I get to sit there and hold them. All sorts of studies show that kangaroo'ing has many benefits to the babies, including helping them eat better, maintain their body temperature better, etc. Plus I love getting to hold the babies.
As of Wednesday night, Piper weighed 3 pounds 10 ounces, which is 8 ounces up from her birthweight. Henry weighed 4 pounds 5 ounces, which is 6 ounces up from his birthweight. And Rosemary weighed 2 pounds 4 ounces, which is also 6 ounces up from her birthweight. This past Saturday, all of the babies got moved from the NICU they were in to another stepdown NICU. In fact, the babies skipped one stepdown NICU and are in the least critical NICU at UAB. We are so proud of them for making it to that NICU!
Other than the NICU move, the last week has been pretty uneventful for the babies, which is perfect. All of the babies are doing great and growing and eating well. Henry and Piper are taking two bottles a day and are slowly working up to all bottles. Because of the calories it takes to get a bottle, Rosemary is not allowed to try a bottle yet because she needs to conserve all the calories that she can. We expect her to be a champ at the bottle when she gets a shot at it, though! We still don't know when they will be home, but the goal now is for them to eat and grow and hopefully come home really soon.
I have a correction -- or clarification -- to make to my last e-mail update. I'm definitely not doing the nursery alone -- Gary has done a lot of work helping get the nursery ready, including putting together three cribs and moving anything and everything I've wanted moved around in the nursery. My mom has also been helping a lot with the nursery. And when I said that the house was in dire need of attention -- it was NOT because Gary had allowed the house to get out of control. In fact, Gary did a great job keeping up the house while I was in the hospital. The mess was because of all of the things that I brought home from the hospital as well as all of the things that are needed for three babies that seemed to multiply as every day went by. I did not mean to imply that I was doing it all by myself. (Gary, is that better?)
Hope you're all doing well!
Piper at 17 days:
Henry at 16 days:
Rosemary at 17 days:
Piper and Henry at 18 days:
Rosemary at 21 days:
Henry at 21 days:
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