Day 17

Day 17 - Friday

I had a good conversation with the boys' nurse today. We talked about their progress thus far, the individual challenges they both face, and what needs to be seen now before both boys are ready to come home. At this point, the only thing really keeping the boys in the NICU is their inability to finish 100% of their feeds. Once they hit that mark, and eat everything via bottle for 24-48 hours, they'll be considered ready to come home. Even if Hudson still needed the small oxygen support, they would send him home with it if he were eating consistently. 

I talked with her about my frustration with breast feeding- how even if they successfully feed that way, they still have to then finish their entire bottle. She understood my feelings and suggested I try breast feeding after the boys eat if they are still awake. Then we could still practice things, but without tiring them our before their feeds. It's a great suggestion. So tomorrow, that's the plan. 

Colton is now up to 48ml and Husdson to 53ml every feeding (60ml would be two ounces). They are continuing to make progress in taking more and more via bottle, but they're not there yet. I keep praying they'll be there soon! But in the meantime, I'm doing everything I can to spend as much time with them as possible and also hold them both skin to skin whenever I have a couple hours to do so. Like today- I held both of them for almost 2 hours. It was perfect! 

Colton 

Hudson