No More Isolettes!

I am extremely blessed to say that Lane and Sloan have both had many great days since my last blog!

A huge milestone was reached two nights ago when Sloan hit 5 pounds!! We officially have two 5-pound babies:) They are continuing to put on weight each day. Tonight Lane weighed 5 pounds 10 ounces, and she is 17 1/2 inches long. Our little man Sloan weighs 5 pounds 3 ounces and is 16 inches long. They have both come a long way from 1 pound 6 ounces and 11 inches!

Today we also reached another big milestone...both Lane and Sloan are in open cribs!! NO MORE ISOLETTES!! They are both maintaining their temperatures, and they seem to be much happier outside of their "box". It is so neat to go in there during assessment time and simply pick them up from their beds.

Both Lane and Sloan are still receiving a little oxygen. Lane is now just on a nasal cannula with very little oxygen, and Sloan is on HIFLO and gets between 30-45%. While we were hoping to be completely off oxygen soon, it is not a requirement before we can go home. The doctors and nurses tell us that many babies go home on oxygen and that it is easy to maintain. If this is the case, they will also send us home with a monitor that will let us know if their heart rate drops or if they are holding their breathe.

Nursing is the last thing we need to accomplish before we are able to take our babies home! I am now nursing them each 3 times a day, and they are doing great. The other times they are tube fed through their feeding tube in their nose. I am slowly working up to full feedings which is 8 times a day. They must get full feedings from me for 48 hours and gain weight!

I know after all of this time it sounds CRAZY to be talking about going home, but we are getting so close! They are 38 weekers today....almost full term. They were due to be born March 24th.

Thank you GOD for the progress we have made this week:)