Bath time

Russ got back up here this morning, and we both made it back to the hospital for bath time.

Today was the first real bath for both babies. Since their belly buttons are all healed up now, they could sit in the water while we washed them instead of the quick sponge baths they've been getting. We all had fun for most of the process, James got a little upset towards the end of his bath but settled right down once he got wrapped back up in a nice warm dry towel. Kathryn liked her bath a little better.


Both of them are keeping thier temperatures up very well in the open cribs. They were warm enough this afternoon that they can go without hats for a while, and only need light blankets wrapped around them. Now that they're out of the incubators, they get to wear clothes and we can hold them more often. They seem happier dressed and swaddled in blankets than they were even with the snugglers in the incubators. They're also starting to act more and more like babies. Their movements are getting more coordinated, they are more alert when they're awake (which is more often), and they're even making happy baby noises instead of just crying.

Weighings were tonight too, and we got more good news. James is up to 3 lbs. 12 oz., and Kathryn is up to 3 lbs. 14.5 oz -- a great accomplishment considering that they have burn calories to keep themselves warm now too. They are both getting regular (preemie) formula now, and are both up to 38ml (about an ounce and a quarter) per feeding. Tomorrow they will try a bolus feeding, which means giving the fomula over one hour instead of gradually over three hours. Once they're able to tolerate that well, we will be able to try a bottle feeding, maybe as soon as the end of this week!