So we didn't blog yesterday for two reasons...it was a quiet day for the girls (which was great - no news equals good news) and pure exhaustion had set in and neither one of us had it in us by the end of the night. And from the looks of Maddie, this weekend exhausted her too...Saturday was a good day. Both girls had baths and we found out that Madison loves bathtime and is VERY alert and active afterwards! Melia on the other hand screamed her head off through her entire bath, so the nurse put her in her favorite position (on her tummy) afterwards and she completely passed out just about immediately - and with t
hat we also learned that Lia is a night-time mouth breather and will surely snore like her father. Both girls had a little weight loss, losing a few grams. This is no big deal as we are consistently told that changes in weight (in either direction) are due to water weight right now. But in the upcoming days the girls should begin to gain weight a bit more steadily. Which should be easier now since as of today both of their feeding schedules have been increased and the nurses told us that now they are truly digesting their food. Melia is now getting 5ml of milk (which is equivalent to a teaspoon) every 3 hours (up from 3ml every 3 hours) and Madison is now getting 4ml of milk every 3 hours (up from 2ml every 3 hours). They are both tolerating their feedings very well. Another great sign in a positive direction is that both girls are requiring the minimal amount of oxygen through their nasal cannulas and today even the pressure of the air flow was decreased on each of them from 5 liters to 3 liters and they both handled this change very well.
hat we also learned that Lia is a night-time mouth breather and will surely snore like her father. Both girls had a little weight loss, losing a few grams. This is no big deal as we are consistently told that changes in weight (in either direction) are due to water weight right now. But in the upcoming days the girls should begin to gain weight a bit more steadily. Which should be easier now since as of today both of their feeding schedules have been increased and the nurses told us that now they are truly digesting their food. Melia is now getting 5ml of milk (which is equivalent to a teaspoon) every 3 hours (up from 3ml every 3 hours) and Madison is now getting 4ml of milk every 3 hours (up from 2ml every 3 hours). They are both tolerating their feedings very well. Another great sign in a positive direction is that both girls are requiring the minimal amount of oxygen through their nasal cannulas and today even the pressure of the air flow was decreased on each of them from 5 liters to 3 liters and they both handled this change very well. In other 
awesome news, Mike changed Madison's diaper for the first time today and took her temperature. While he did his daddy duties with Madison, I did the same mommy duties with Melia and took her temperature and changed her diaper. It's amazing how these little everyday things become milestones for us - things that we'll probably dread doing as a routine part of our day months from now, are things that we long for and can't wait to be allowed to do now. And the most exciting part of our day as many of you may have already seen on my facebook page or been told by us in one way or another - today, 9 days after they were born, we got to hold our little girls! The feelings that overwhelmed us can't be described. It was so emotional and completely amazing! Mike held Madison first while I finished up changing Melia. She looked soooo tiny in his arms - it was beautiful. When I 
was done getting Melia freshened up, I got to hold her. And there we were, Mike and I sitting next to each other, each holding one of our little girls! I couldn't believe that we were able to do this already! Mike had to put Maddie down a little early because her medication line kept getting tangled up, so after a while I decided to share Lia with him...and Mike held Melia. I didn't get to hold Maddie yet, but there will be time for that. I'm so grateful for what I was able to do today. My friend Gina was there and she has a few video clips which I'm working on trying to upload for those who haven't already seen it on my facebook page. It was an unforgettable moment in both of our lives!
awesome news, Mike changed Madison's diaper for the first time today and took her temperature. While he did his daddy duties with Madison, I did the same mommy duties with Melia and took her temperature and changed her diaper. It's amazing how these little everyday things become milestones for us - things that we'll probably dread doing as a routine part of our day months from now, are things that we long for and can't wait to be allowed to do now. And the most exciting part of our day as many of you may have already seen on my facebook page or been told by us in one way or another - today, 9 days after they were born, we got to hold our little girls! The feelings that overwhelmed us can't be described. It was so emotional and completely amazing! Mike held Madison first while I finished up changing Melia. She looked soooo tiny in his arms - it was beautiful. When I 
was done getting Melia freshened up, I got to hold her. And there we were, Mike and I sitting next to each other, each holding one of our little girls! I couldn't believe that we were able to do this already! Mike had to put Maddie down a little early because her medication line kept getting tangled up, so after a while I decided to share Lia with him...and Mike held Melia. I didn't get to hold Maddie yet, but there will be time for that. I'm so grateful for what I was able to do today. My friend Gina was there and she has a few video clips which I'm working on trying to upload for those who haven't already seen it on my facebook page. It was an unforgettable moment in both of our lives! All that excitement was in the morning. Then we went back tonight for NICU family pizza night. This is an event held once a month in the NICU lounge where parents and families of NICU babies can get together, share stories, support each other and have some free pizza. ;-) Mike and I are trying to get involved in as many of these events as we can and I'm glad that we went tonight. I met a woman who was there as a volunteer. She is a NICU graduate who had twins at 26 weeks and her children are now 18 months old. We shared not only a lot of the same experiences, but also a lot of the same views and feelings on what we've been through. Things that I've been feeling that I've been afraid to admit to anyone but Mike, I was able to talk to her about and see that I'm not the only one who has felt this way. It was really therapeutic and helpful for me.
This was such a great weekend and I know that this roller coaster ride is nowhere near being over, but I'm enjoying the good stuff while it lasts! ;-) The girls are having their follow up head ultrasounds tomorrow and Dr. Kamtorn is confident that they will be clean. So everyone keep your fingers crossed, say a prayer or just think happy thoughts...and you know, we'll keep you posted. 
