Lia on the other hand is thriving. But it leaves you with such an empty happiness. Sure it is great to see Lia in some new clothes, but you can't help but be worried bout her sister. Its like the negative news for Madison has overridden anything positive about her twin. I want to be happy about Lia's progress, and I am, but when I lay down at night, its the vision of a sick Maddie that overwhelms my thoughts.
The night before I go to work is always a little sad. I know I won't see them tomorrow, and I wonder what I'll miss. But tonight, the girls left me with some nice thoughts for tomorrow. Maddie wasn't back, but she did give us a few 'Maddie-faces' and we started to see that absolute curiosity return. She is still weak, and not as active, but I do see some steps in the right direction, and that is encouraging.
Tonight belo
nged to Lia though. This morning, we were told (in passing by the way) that we could feed Lia with a bottle! We were both so excited to see how she would do. At first, we said that maybe we would have the nurse do the initial feeding. This was because of last nights slight scare. Amanda was holding Lia during her feeding, and a little came up. She then seemed like she had no idea what to do with this liquid in her mouth, and started to desaturate. So with this fresh in our minds, we thought we would watch the first feeding. But then I said to Amanda that maybe she should give it a try. She agreed, and she got to feed Lia first. The nurse told us that she would be happy with 5ml's, and she would have a half hour to accomplish this. Well, Lia started slow, but then got into a rhythm. Fifteen ml's later (which is half of her total feeding as she's up to 30ml every 3 hrs now - 30ml by the way is equal to 1oz), and it looks like we have a mouth eater! We were told that she would be given one bottle every shift. So we let the nurse know that we would definitely be back for the night feeding. I was so excited to feed her, and hoped she would do as well for me. When I got her
in my hands, and gave her the bottle, she looked like she was doing something. I would check the bottle, and it was 1 ml. I tried again, spun the bottle a few times, tickled her throat, and tapped the bottle. Check again. 1 ml. What am I doing wrong? One more time. In it goes, and I don't know if at this point she was starving, but she found her rhythm, and I could see that she was taking her bottle! I was so proud of her. She did so well. She actually took 20 ml's when it was all said and done. 
We also got to put Lia in a little outfit. She can wear clothes now since she is holding her temperature pretty well, and I think its only a matter of time until she winds up in a step down room. Normally this would be great, but Amanda and I are concerned about them being split up, and how we will divie up our time. But lets cross that bridge when we get to it. As for now, I can go to work tomorrow knowing one little lady is getting closer to eating, and the other is getting close to being herself again.
**all pictures tonight are of Lia - we didn't take any pictures of Maddie due to her being sick**
