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Tuesdays and Saturdays are bath days in the Intensive Care Nursery, and a couple days ago I shot some video of Janet giving Elizabeth a bath. It’s really fun having them completely disconnected from all of the wires, if only for a little while.  Click on the image to load the movie in a new window.
We also captured these two wonderful photos. They were taken only a few seconds apart, and I can’t help thinking that it looks like Elizabeth (on the left) has just whispered something funny to Carolyn. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to make out what it might have been.  At some point perhaps we'll manage to get a picture of them both smiling at the same time. I knew immediately that the 2008 remake of The Day The Earth Stood Still would be a bad movie, and probably really bad. Nevertheless, it ended up in my Netflix queue and we just recently watched it on DVD, even though I knew there would be nothing (other than greed) to justify its existence, and that in the end it would be just another pathetic Hollywood abomination. And sadly, I was right. However — I have to say that there was one point in the movie when I glimpsed an opportunity for the filmmakers to do something a little different (better, even) than the classic 1951 film, something that would have been creative and possibly even profound, something that could have completely redeemed all the nauseatingly preachy left-wing political correctness that drenched the rest of the film. For approximately one minute I was tantalized by the possibility, while I waited to see which direction they would go… Would they zig left or zag to the right? Alas, we’re dealing with Hollywood, so naturally they zigged WAY left. I suppose what follows here might be considered spoilers, but trust me — if you haven’t already seen this film, you’re really not missing much. The girls are almost two weeks old now, and for the most part they seem to be doing very well. The heart rate and breathing alarms still go off once in a while, but it seems that they’re both doing what they need to do — just get a little older and keep developing. Elizabeth has been doing great with her feedings, often able to take the whole feeding from a bottle (rather than getting tuckered out halfway through and getting the rest of the feeding squirted through the feeding tube that’s up her nose). One of the benefits of this is that they’ve removed Elizabeth’s IV line, which means that one arm is now much less encumbered, and it’s just one less cable to deal with when handling her. Also, when we visited today we were pleased to see that they had moved Elizabeth to a smaller, much less high-tech crib. In fact, it’s really nothing more than a clear plastic box with no lid. If you suddenly moved me into a smaller house that was lacking all the high-tech gadgets I’d become accustomed to, that might be upsetting — but in her case, this is a promising promotion! Several days ago Carolyn seemed to be having a little trouble with her digestion, so they gave her stomach a rest for a day (by skipping a few feedings), and they’re gradually increasing her back up again. She should catch back up with Elizabeth soon. Of the two girls, Carolyn is definitely the more “aggressive” feeder, sometimes sucking so vigorously that she doesn’t have time (or simply forgets) to swallow. But both girls are still gradually gaining weight, and that’s a good sign. The most frequently asked question we get right now is, “Do you know when they’ll be able to come home?” Not exactly. When they were born, we were given a vague range, like four to six weeks. So all we know is that now we’re two weeks further down the road. We continue to feel very blessed! As promised, here are a few new video clips of the girls! Putting these together has been a lot of fun.  Click on the image to load the movie in a new window.  Click on the image to load the movie in a new window.  Click on the image to load the movie in a new window. Our two daughters were born eight weeks early on Tuesday, May 12, 2009. For those of you interested in just the highlights of that day, read Dan’s post Introducing Carolyn Joy and Elizabeth Grace. For those interested in all the play by play details, read on… The day began rather earlier than expected. I got up in the night for a bathroom trip (imagine that). Then I decided I needed a snack (this was a little unusual and only happened a half dozen times or so throughout the pregnancy). Before returning to bed, I noticed a decidedly pink tinge to the discharge and decided to call the doctor. The day was nothing short of a whirlwind after that. I called the doctor about 4:00 AM and about 11 hours later I was in a recovery room having given birth to our two new baby girls. |
We took our first family photo yesterday! The girls are three weeks old and while they are not quite ready to come home yet, they continue to make good progress. Carolyn is now 5 lbs. and Elizabeth is 4 lbs. 15 oz. They have both had their IVs and feeding tubes removed and are taking all their milk from a bottle. The biggest thing keeping them in the hospital is that they’re still having incidents of
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