Five Weeks and One Day - Father's Day

The girls are five weeks old and both have gained nearly two pounds since birth. It's hard to believe that we have been visiting the NICU for this long and at the same time I feel like our girls are so much older.

I am constantly amazed and humbled by our daughters and how much I love them. I know Eric feels the same.

We are still spending a good six hours or more a day with them and it seems as though we are now in a place where both take little steps forward most days. We know there is still a ways to go, but we are getting closer to getting our girls home.

Morgen is now taking three feeds per shift by bottle or breast. It has been primarily the former but we are working on latching and she is getting there...slowly but surely. The nurses keep hinting that they think she will go home this week, but we are trying not to get our hopes up too much. She is still inconsistent with her feeds and they won't let her come home until she takes all by mouth.

Sonne is growing and is as feisty as ever. She is very interested in feeding by mouth, but is only at one oral feed per shift. I think she could be upped, but that's just my opinion given her need to be sucking during her feeds. I'm hoping to get her better evaluated today by the lactation consultant so we can figure out how much she's getting from the breast so we can make the breast her per shift feeding as she seems to settle into it more than the bottle.

Yesterday we celebrated Eric's first Father's Day. We were with the girls for almost the entire day shift. There was much cuddling to be had by both of us and it was good. I think we were both quite content just being with the girls - content in a way I'm not sure either of us has felt before as there is often something weighing on our minds while there. And Eric loved his gifts from the girls - prints of their footprints. I've promised to frame them for him.