The Passage of Time

Time is a funny thing. On a Monday morning, the week seems eternally long but then by Friday, I always wonder where the week went. Similarly, in September, I look at the calendar for the school year, plotting a meeting in January, a field trip in May, thinking that it will never actually come. All of a sudden, it's the middle of May and we're left with only 23 days of school (not that anyone's counting). Yesterday was Grace and Hope's one month birthday. Where did that come from? As we chatted tonight with the NICU nurses, I couldn't help but think about this last month. Looking back, it appears to have gone fast. At the same time, I considered Grace's surgery, which is just shy of two weeks ago. It might as well have been two months. Days seem like years in NICU time.

Small picture wise, we're still struggling to cope with how long everything seems to be taking. I know that the girls have to take baby steps (or should I say preemie baby steps), but it's a challenge for Mom and Dad to see the progress in day-by-day mode. It is for any parent though, isn't it? All of a sudden, you realize your child has grown several inches over the school year and you didn't even really notice it. It's hard to watch, too, as countless babies have come and gone in the time that we've been there. In the past week alone, we've seen at least five new arrivals, and four departures.

In the big picture, the girls have made quite a bit of progress. Our Gracie is approaching the three pound mark, catching up with her sister who has apparently decided to go on a diet and lose a few ounces. Grace is up to 15 milliliters of milk per feeding. Three mL is approximately .5 ounces, three teaspoons, or one tablespoon. That means, for eight feedings per day, she is eating nearly 1/2 cup, equivalent to a serving of ice cream (as if anyone actually eats only one serving of ice cream...). Hope is at about half of that amount, or 1/4 cup per day, which is four whopping tablespoons, which is about how much milk I put in my morning coffee. It's pretty incredible to think about the amount of time it has taken them to reach this point!

As I work on the nursery that Will keeps reminding me I have a long time to get together, I feel the urge to try to get it finished (no small task for an expert procrastinator, mind you). I just know that the girls will be home before we can blink, but why then is it taking so long to get here?

Mommy and Gracie

Jeni got to hold Gracie for the first time since her surgery last week (which seems like decades ago at this point). Being Dad I felt the need to switch to video mode on the camera to catch some of Gracie's funny faces. We also had the opportunity to have our first picture of me, Jeni and Gracie. We hope to do likewise with Hope this weekend.

Mommy & Gracie

Our Feisty Daughters

The good news for today is that Grace's head ultrasound, too, looks good. As suspected, like her sister, Grace has a PDA. She had her first dose of medication today and we're waiting anxiously to see how things go. Unfortunately, like most medical conditions, it doesn't look like we will know right away if the girls' PDAs are going to close or not. That's how things seem to be in the NICU, lots of "wait and see." As such, we're waiting to see how Hope responds to the medication, although there has been no change at this point. After tomorrow, she'll get another echocardiogram to determine if/how the medication is working.

After our doctor examined Grace today and came over to give us the report, he mentioned, "her blood pressures have looked good, she's breathing room air, she's a pistol, I tweaked her sugars and lipids..." It cracked me up that right in there, with all of her medical stuff, "she's a pistol." Well, we tend to agree with this statement. Grace squirms and stretches and does her little exercises all day long. While Grace seemed to be our feisty child, calm little Hope has joined her in the last couple of days. She's "a wild child" according to the nurses. I hope that this means that our two girls are little fighters! If they're like their mom and dad, I have a feeling that they will be. Both girls have taken pacifiers which helps to mellow them out a bit, but we know that in spirit, they are both just as feisty as ever.

Today, I got to join my hubby in the ranks of diaper changes. There are very few parents out there that get excited about "getting" to change diapers, but Will and I are exceptions to this rule. When you are barely allowed to handle your child (for very good reasons, mind you), changing diapers is a privilege. Not only did I get to change Hope, but also sponge out her mouth with some sort of tasty mint solution, which was adorable watching her lick her lips contentedly, and take her temperature (underarm, thankfully).

Pampers preemie diapers worn by Hope and Grace
(photo from http://www.flikr.com)