Champs!

My boys are Champs! They are continually improving and steadily gaining weight. I see them every day and get to breastfeed them while Im there. They are both latching and taking more and more from me each day. I weigh them before I nurse them and then weigh them again afterwards to see how many mL's/grams they gain. They are also taking 4 bottle's a day and a week ago it took them 30-45 minutes to finish a bottle and now it only takes them 10-15 minutes! Ryder is a bit anemic right now so he is getting an iron supplement and both of them are finally off the caffeine therapy (they give premie's caffeine to keep their heart rates up and thus avoid dips/bradycardia's or apnea's). The pediatrician is going to take both my boys off their heart monitor's (another HUGE milestone) tomorrow or the day after....no more leads/lines and pulse oximeters! YAY!!! They still have their "gavage's" or NG tubes (nasogastric tube) because they are still getting a few feeds a day through that. They get too tired bottle feeding and breast feeding so they will feed them via NG tube so they can sleep through the odd feed. The last criteria that the boys need to meet in order to come home is 2 solid days where they took ALL oral feeds....meaning no more NG tube and the car seat test where they sit in the car seat for an hour while hooked up to a monitor for that hour to make sure they dont have any apnea's. They are about another week away from coming home and I cant wait. These last 6 weeks are starting to take a toll on me and I really want my baby's to come home! I am utterly exhausted from trying to be in two places at one time every single day as its both emotionally and physically draining. I spend so much time driving back and forth from the hospital, pumping/labeling/freezing my milk (I HATE pumping), 2-3 hours with my boys, then home to make Brooklyn dinner and chase after her the rest of the day, then the boy's laundry (all their sheets, receiving blankets and clothes that they are constantly peeing/spitting up on, then running around town to pick something up off Craigslist that we need for the twins, trying to figure out some easy recipe's for casserole's to fill my freezer and trying to figure out my EI claim (its a complicated one) and lastly, trying to figure out if we are going to put Brooklyn in day care 3 days a week OR if we are going to hire some help. Oh ya, and Chris and I have to rip out all the carpet upstairs for the new carpet install arriving on the 29th. I am so busy and the twins arent even home yet! Its only going to get busier.

I just miss my boys so much and am ready for them to come home! That being said, I am nervous about having a demanding two year old with two new born's at home. Im sure there will be some growing pains like any new addition to a family but I just worry that Brooklyn is going to try and get away with murder once she realizes I cant get up off the couch in a pinch to discipline her or take something away from her because Im nursing the twins. And as for potty training....we havn't stuck with it because Im gone every day and Chris works a lot so there hasnt been enough time to devote to it unfortunately.

The boys are neck in neck for weight and length...Ryder is 5 lbs 9oz and Cruz is 5lbs 8oz and they are both 18" in length (they were 15" when they were born).