The past couple of days have also been good for Elizabeth!  She's not in clothes yet, but she's doing really well.  Her feedings are still set at 20 mL every 3 hours and she is the only one not on oxygen.  When we went to see her today she was up to 2 lbs 6.3 ounces, so she is definitely growing!  It's funny when we go see her because she is always the most active of the three.  She loves to squirm and move her legs and arms around!  She also makes the funniest facial expressions!  Yesterday when she was sleeping she had her thumb right next to her mouth like she wanted to suck on it.  It's neat seeing these little bits of her personality starting to come out. 

Just like with Timothy, I got to help out today by checking Elizabeth's temperature and changing her diaper.  I know it's not something most parents look forward to, but for me it was a big step!  To get to touch my kids and finally (after 2 weeks) get to do something as simple as change a diaper is huge.  It just makes everything that much more real!  I'm so thankful for these little opportunities to be involved!

Not much new to report today on Elizabeth.  She's still doing really well!  She's eating a bunch and slowly putting on weight.  They've still got her off of oxygen, which is awesome.  And, she was off of the phototherapy again today. 

While Paul was holding Timothy, I got to hold Elizabeth.  She was a little fussy...kept pushing out her lower lip like she was going to start crying.  It was really cute!  Hopefully next time we go Paul will get to hold her since he hasn't had a chance yet. 

Elizabeth was having a good day when we were there today.  She is up to 19 mL of food every 3 hours.  This is the max they'll feed her for now.  As a reference, it's just under 4 teaspoons that she's being fed every time.  They had taken her off of oxygen and she didn't seem to be having any breathing issues.  They also took her off of photo therapy (for now).  She is up to 2 lbs 4 oz, which is about 3 oz more than her birth weight.  And, I got to hold her again today. =)  So, not a bad day.  She's doing really well!

Elizabeth is still doing well.  She is back on a small amount of oxygen, but they're just pumping it into her chamber instead of putting the tube back in her nose.  They are still increasing the amount she is fed by 1 mL at every other feeding.  She is still on phototherapy for her jaundice, but that's to be expected since she was so premature.  Overall she is doing really well!

The big news today is that I got to hold Elizabeth for the first time!  I felt really bad because Paul wasn't there for it, but they asked if I wanted to and I just couldn't say no.  It's hard to explain how it felt.  Throughout this whole experience it's been hard to believe that I'm actually a mother...today made it seem more real.  Of course, it was a little weird because she was still hooked up to machines and I had nurses and other people watching me, but I wouldn't trade it for anything!  I can't wait for Paul to get to go up there with me and hold her!  It's such a great feeling to finally be able to touch and hold her!  It happened sooner than I expected and I'm still just kind of overwhelmed by it all. 

Elizabeth's day was pretty similar to Timothy's.  When we got to the hospital they were in the process of removing her central line (the one that runs through her umbilical cord).  As with Timothy, this is great news becaues it means she's getting all of her nutrients through her feedings and no longer needs the central line.  It also means we'll get to hold her soon! 

Elizabeth also got placed back under the phototherapy because of her jaundice levels.  As soon as she's out from under that, they'll put her in clothes!  Elizabeth didn't have any issues while we were there.  She was squirming around, opening her eyes, and being quite a character!  She is doing very well and for that we are so thankful! 

Hard to believe it's already been a week!  We are constantly amazed at the progress all of the kids are making!  So, here's what's been going on with Elizabeth.

We got a good report Saturday when we went to see Elizabeth.  They had increased her food to 4 mL every 3 hours and said she was doing a good job of digesting it.  Sunday was more of the same.  They had increased her to 5 mL every 3 hours and if all went well were going to continue to increase the amount she was fed by 1 mL at every other feeding.  We were also surprised to see they'd removed the light they were using to treat her jaundice.  That was the first time we'd really gotten a good look at her face, so we were really excited! 

Today's visit also went well!  Elizabeth is up to 8 mL every 3 hours, although her last feeding didn't go quite as well as her previous ones had.  She had only digested about half of her previous feeding, so they were going to try her again at her previous amount and see if she did any better.  Before we left I checked her chart and her weight is up to 2 lbs 5.1 oz, which is about 4 ounces higher than her birth weight.  The other thing they're doing right now is reducing the amount of extra nutrients she gets through her IV.  They're hoping she can start getting all of her nutrients from her food and that way she won't need the IV any more.

So, overall Elizabeth is doing really well!  W

Today was our first day visiting the babies from home instead of already being at the hospital.  So, it was a pleasant surprise to hear all the good reports from the doctors and nurses!

Elizabeth is still breathing well without the extra oxygen.  They've moved her feeding tube from her mouth to her nose, which she seems to like! 

Her feedings seem to be going better.  They've increased her to the 24 calorie formula (which is what they use to supplement breast milk) and they've increased the amount of milk/formula she receives.  Yesterday she was getting 1 mL every 6 hours.  Today she was getting 2 mL every 3 hours.  So, not only have they increased the amount she gets, but also the rate at which she gets fed!  The doctors said she still has some residual left in her stomach (which means she's not quite processing everything) but she's getting more digested than she was before!

When we first got there, Elizabeth was sleeping pretty calmly.  As we stayed and watched though, she started to wake up a bit!  She was kicking her legs and kept grabbing at her cords!  She seems to be pretty active and likes to give the nurses a hard time by taking off her various sensors!

Overall, a good day for Elizabeth!  She's making progress and we're excited to hear that!

Elizabeth's day was not nearly as eventful as Timothy's.  She spent most of her day sleeping and eating, which is just what we want to see! =)  Her breathing has been improving and they've been slowly weaning her off of the oxygen.  As we were getting ready to leave, they told us she'd be having her oxygen tube removed.  We hung around a bit longer so we could see how she did off of the oxygen.  Just like her brother, Elizabeth did great breathing on her own!  We were so excited to see her take that step forward!  As with Timothy, the next step will be to work on keeping her feedings down and eventually they will be looking to put a PICC line in her as well.