One month old!

Our boys are now one month old.  It's still surreal that an entire month has passed since they were born.  It's been an eventful month!  We are so thankful both boys are doing fantastic.  We couldn't ask for anything more, except that they continue to grow and get to come home soon.

As of his one month birthday Jacen is up to 4lbs2oz!  He is still anemic but we're all hopeful he won't need a transfusion.  He is on iron and sodium supplements.  He is currently eating 38mL of fortified breast milk every 3 hours.  Most of that is through his feeding tube but he is starting to suck from the bottle and breast.  Hopefully in the next week or two he'll begin taking more and more of his feedings from us.  Jacen is definitely our chill little cuddle buddy.  He doesn't get too upset most of the time and loves skin to skin time.  He was not a fan of his one month pictures though!

Spencer is up to 4lbs4oz!  He does not have to take the supplements his brother does and is currently eating 40mL of fortified breast milk every 3 hours.  He is taking most of his feedings through the tube but it working on bottle and breast too.  Spencer is our little drama king.  We joke that he has an on/off switch because he goes from happy to upset back to happy in quick progression.  He has a high pitched cry that makes us laugh every time we hear it because we know he's just complaining and is fine.  He's also our little cuddle buddy though since he always calms down when held by mom or dad.

We are so very blessed!  We're very hopeful that the boys might be ready to come home by the end of the month.  In order to do so they must be maintaining their own body temperature in an open crib (moving to one in a few days), eating all 8 meals from bottle or breast, gaining weight, not having any episodes of apnea or bradycardia, and pass their car seat tests.  

We're busy getting ready for them to come home and visiting them in the NICU.  Between pumping 4.5 hours a day, at least a 30 minute commute to the hospital each way, being at the hospital for about 8 hours a day, eating, sleeping, showering etc there doesn't seem to be enough time in the day!  But we're managing and seem to have found our "normal" for now.  I just can't wait for the boys to be able to come home.  I know it's going to be challenging being 100% responsible for their care but I am so incredibly ready!