6 Days Old

The babies are continuing to do well in the NICU! Townes is now 4 lb 9 oz, Caroline is 3 lb 15 oz, and Natalie is holding steady at 4 lb 6 oz. They lost weight like all babies so I am happy they have come back up and even gained some ounces. Townes remains in his incubator because he hasn't been able to control his temperature fully. Natalie is in an open incubator and Caroline is in a crib. The smallest is the biggest fighter apparently! We were told this often and it is very true. The nurses have already decided that Caroline will be the leader of the pack. She has a slight heart murmur, but nothing to be worried about according to the doctors.

Here is Natalie and dad...

Little Caroline...

And burping Townes...

Hopefully the kids will be out soon. There is no specific weight requirement, but that they can feed without the necessity of an IV and hold their temperatures without an incubator. We have been helping with the feeding routine everyday. Poor Nate has taken the brunt of the dirty diapers so far! They eat around 20 cc's of breast milk every 3 hours plus have some nutrition via a PICC line.

We continue to be thankful for our babies' progress. We are in the Stahlman NICU which is for the "less serious" cases versus Vanderbilt Children's NICU.  However, there are some very small and sick babies in there. Townes is next to a baby who weighs 1 lb 8 oz. I have overheard that several fellow visitors currently live in the Ronald McDonald house and are hundred of miles away from home. It really breaks your heart and makes you thankful to be 15 minutes down the interstate. We really have not had any setbacks which has made this situation much less stressful. Please continue to pray for the babies as they grow and develop!