Day 17

Today was another good day for Ethan and Sydney. Both of them gained weight--although not as big as yesterday. Ethan gained 16 grams to nudge him up to 3 lb 15 oz--just one ounce shy of 4 pounds. Sydney gained 2 grams, keeping her at 3 lb 12 oz. We are glad they're still gaining.

Today's 1:00 feeding went well as they were both alert and sucking on their binkies. We've made friends with another set of parents in the Special Care. They are the parents of the other set of twins there. If you've been following this blog, you might remember the set of twins that came into the NICU 2 days after Ethan and Sydney were born. They were so much bigger than our babies and were both over 5 lbs at 34 weeks. Ironically, they are still in the NICU and her babies are struggling to nurse and get enough food. Our hearts went out to her today when she heard they will probably go home in another 2 weeks. We felt a little concerned for how long our babies will be there. We're excited to start trying 'real' feedings so we can know how they do.

Ethan was supposed to get his cast today, but Dr. Faux (pronounced fox) was called into surgery. They said they'll cast it Thursday after 3 pm. They also warned us that he may recommend that they be in two separate beds for the first few days. We're hoping they don't do that, but at the same time know that Ethan sprawls out all over Sydney most of the time. That could be quite the "whack" with a cast on his foot. But, it won't fit into her diaper...

They had another visitor tonight--Doug's sister, Michelle.

They interacted a bit for us as well.

This video is a little more embarrassing. We thought they were holding hands...

Then we discovered that it was Sydney holding her own hands. We had been frantic to get out the camera. Doug noticed that Ethan appeared to have 3 hands--and we realized she'd tricked us!

One thing I haven't mentioned, Doug and I love to sing to them. It's slightly awkward to have the nurses and other parents listening, but we don't care enough. We sing "I am a Child of God", "You are my Sunshine", "I'm Trying to be like Jesus", among others. Our favorite is to sing "Good Night Sweetheart" to them just prior to leaving. I like to think that it helps them sleep better.

"Goodnight, sweetheart, well, it's time to go,

Goodnight, sweetheart, well, it's time to go,

I hate to leave you, but I really must say,

Good night, sweetheart, good night."