Holding Time

While our daughters continue to have their share of ups and downs (as Nurse Karen put it last evening, we're still in the "hour-by-hour" stage), we were blessed to be able to hold the girls this weekend again. Jeni got to hold and kangaroo with Hope for the first time. Hope loved being with her mommy and tried several times to literally climb up Jeni. She even managed to raise her head. It is amazing how strong she is given her size. I see that she takes after her mom in this department already.

After 3 long weeks and 1 day, Daddy finally got to hold his Gracie Girl, and this certainly capped off the week as the highlight. Gracie enjoyed resting her little head on her daddy's elbow and even ate her 2 ccs of breast milk while in Daddy's arms. I am amazed at Gracie's independent spirit and determination. She had PDA surgery on Wednesday, was off of her breathing tube and on feeds by Friday, and doubled her feeds and was held by her dad on Saturday. Gracie's biggest challenge thus far has been that her independent spirit gets the best of her and can cause trouble at times, as she tries to do too much too fast. For instance, she hates the nasal prongs and pulled them off while being held (I was told this occurred regularly with her throughout the day, and she ended up giving herself a bloody nose in the process). I keep having people tell me, "wait until she's a teenager." Frankly, I can't wait!