Gestational age: 45 weeks 

Adjusted age: 5 weeks 

Day of life: 141 

Beckett: 8lb, 7oz 

Juliette: 9lb, 7oz 

 

We’ve still been cruising over here! Two exciting things have happened since the last update: Beckett started oral feeds and has already moved to phase 2 of 4 phases. Juliette’s latest eye exam showed that her eyes are mature and she doesn’t need to worry about ROP anymore!! Beckett has been doing really well with nursing and bottle feeding, but it takes a while to build up stamina because suck/swallow/breathe can be difficult when you’re a preemie and breathing doesn’t come easy. But he is a hungry guy and has been very excited about eating. 

 

We’ve still been trying to find a formula that works for Juliette to supplement my milk. She’s been uncomfortable and upset due to gas/constipation. I have a low supply, but was able to feed both twins exclusively for three and a half months until they surpassed my supply in late August, which is a win in my books. We are trying a hypoallergenic formula, which unfortunately smells like cheese powder, but we’re hopeful that it will help with her tummy issues. 

 

Dan has continued working half time to save up his parental leave for when both twins come home and I have been using my leave full time. Eventually, I am hoping to fit in an hour here and there when we’re able to make it work. 

 

Since the twins passed their August 25th due date, we are working with two different ages: their age based on their Mother’s Day birthdate and their adjusted age based on when they were supposed to be born. All milestones for the first two years of life are based on their adjusted age because they are developmentally closer to a 5 week old than an almost 5 month old. However, this does make it confusing when someone asks how old they are. 

 

We don’t have a date for when Beckett will be discharged yet, but we are hoping that we will be home before the holidays. In order to be discharged, he needs to be able to take all feeds by mouth, be weaned down to nasal cannula instead of RAM (we plan on him going home on oxygen just like Juliette), and his eyes need to be healthy and stable enough to move his exams further apart. All of this also depends on the babies not getting sick. Even something as small as the common cold can send a baby all the way back to Bay 1, which has been happening quite a bit in the NICU with school starting and cold and flu season approaching. This is something we’ll need to be really careful with even when we take them home. We have heard from other families in our situation that small sicknesses can lead to life flights and hospitalizations. Beckett will need one more surgery to repair some hernias (which isn’t urgent and can happen sometime after we go home), but outside of that, we would really love to stay home and out of the hospital, so we will be very cautious for a while.