Big gains

Big news: Colin has gained 2 ounces since they added fats into his diet. And when you’re talking about a baby that started out at just 1 pound 7 ounces, 2 ounces is BIG. He is still being fed through a tube in his umbilical cord (and will be for quite a while), but his body seems to be responding to the fats, which is what we want to see.

The doctor is planning to try a “real” feeding with Veronica very soon. They were thinking about doing it yesterday already, but she is getting some green drainage from her tubes, which may mean she is fighting off something. Because her digestive system is not fully developed, they don’t want to introduce anything new until they’re as certain as can be that she is ready.

Since I seem to be healing well, we decided to check out of the hospital yesterday in hopes of getting better sleep at home. In addition, Ethan is back from his great Wisconsin adventure, and we thought it might be easier for him if we’re all back under the same roof (at least the all of us who are able).

Being home is both good and bad. It’s nice to be able to be with my own stuff and not have the nurses and doctors coming in and out all the time. But on the other hand, you have to do stuff again — you can’t just push a button and ask one of the nurses to take care of it for you. I’m actually carrying around a little notebook to keep track of when I took what pill last and when I pumped. I feel a little like my life has been reduced to a spreadsheet.

The other down side of leaving the hospital, of course, is that the babies are not just down the hall. We actually have to plan when we want to visit. But we’ve worked out a mini schedule for today and tomorrow, and will adjust from there. It will be much easier when I’m allowed to drive or take the El again because my visits won’t have to be chauffeured.

John was able to get some good close up shots of Colin last night, and we have some closer shots of Veronica from earlier in the day so that you can actually get an idea of what they look like around all those tubes. I promise we’ll try to get some of those pictures posted today.