Sean and Britt: 33 days old

We had the good nurses today, Maureen and Katie, and they always make the day easier. I got to the hospital a little after 9 so that I could attend rounds for Lilah and advocate for her, but they started in the opposite order than what we expected so they were long done by the time I arrived. I went to Charlotte's session around 9:30 and asked them to talk to me about Lilah and they said they'd stop by in a little bit to go over things with me. I didn't go to the bathroom or eat because I didn't want to miss them - and they finally showed up at 3:30 thanks to Maureen reminding them again that I still wanted to talk.

I basically got nowhere with the conversation, big surprise. The doctor said, "Let me make you a deal. Give me until this time tomorrow. If Lilah nipples all her feeds, then we'll talk." Which is essentially where we'd be if I hadn't spoken with him. She ate all her feeds in the last 24 hours except one, and that was only a tube feeding of 10 mL, but that was because she had a desat, which doesn't bode well for our argument. Sometimes she sucks 10, 12, 14 times without taking a breath and then pauses because she's now worn out and has forgotten to breathe entirely. Her heart rate drops and her O2 levels fall. She eventually starts again but sometimes needs a little tap to snap her out of it. When Sean or I feed her, we watch to see if she's taken a breath every few sucks and if she hasn't, we pause the feeding to give her a chance to get a breath and she does just fine. But, not everyone is as diligent about it as we are and so the desats show up and we fall behind another day or two.

Charlotte, on the other hand, is fantastic about pacing herself and even breathes in between each separate suck, just like she's supposed to. Today she ate all of her feedings by nipple and may just be on the road to schooling her sister.

So, I ended up staying all day, feeding them both several times, and at one point commented to the nurse about how it would be easier to do it all if I could get them in the same space instead of going back and forth. I told her they hadn't been next to each other since they were born and she was shocked. She said, "They're both healthy! There's no reason for that! Let's get them together!" I said that I didn't think that was allowed and she said it wasn't a problem. So we detached Charlotte's leads and brought her over to Lilah's space for the first time. The girls were laid next to each other on a pillow on my lap and finally touched for the first time in 4 1/2 weeks! It was so exciting!! Lilah slept through the whole thing and Charlotte was completely alert (a role reversal for the two) but we can definitely tell they're identical. Charlotte's nose is just slightly wider and her skin is paler and more flushed when she moves because of her low hematocrit count, and her hair is thicker and darker. Otherwise, they're twins! Lilah is on the left, Charlotte on the right.