Cannula Free is the Way to Be

As of 6:00 AM this morning, Charlie is on room air! He needed the cannula for a few minutes here and there throughout the day during his feedings, but for the most part he is breathing entirely unassisted and doing great. Lily is currently rocking the low-flow cannula and word is that she may come off it tomorrow or the next day to join her brother in the world of room air. She is especially looking forward to having people be able to gaze upon her beautiful face with nothing obscuring the view.

Feedings are going well. Charlie has been doing so well that he is now allowed to eat his fill (today he took about 2 ounces each feeding!) and will eat every 4 hours as opposed to every 2. As of yesterday we are alternating the babies between breast milk and formula, as I am weaning of the pumping. Both are doing just fine with the formula. In fact, Charlie has decided he prefers it to the breast milk that Mommy worked so hard for. This afternoon I was feeding Charlie his bottle of breast milk. He would get so excited to see the bottle and would eagerly take a gulp, then make a face, wiggle his head around and spit out the milk. After several minutes of this, his nurse Sid and I decided to try to formula on him, as his night nurse Sue had indicated that he was loving the formula. As soon as I gave Charlie the formula he perked right up, grabbed the bottle in his little hands and went to town on it. Stinker.

This evening we had a nice visit with both babies. Joe and Lily had some nice daddy-daughter time that involved cuddling and a bottle feeding. She was nice and awake and she and daddy had a nice chat before feeding time. This morning she wanted nothing to do with the bottle I was offering her, but tonight she drank the whole thing for her daddy.

Charlie and I hung out in the tub – well Charlie hung out in the tub while I scrubbed him down with his special Burt’s Bees shampoo. The entire time he was in the tub Charlie was smacking his lips and sticking out his tongue – he was so hungry! So hungry in fact that by the time he got his bottle he kept dropping his heart rate because he couldn’t pace himself – he was so anxious to get the food down. After a few minutes he settled down, found his rhythm and slurped every drop of his bottle. At least he was hungry enough to drink the breast milk! After he ate Joe read Charlie Where the Wild Things Are, borrowed from Charlie’s roommate Ethan. Charlie enjoyed the book a lot, mainly the parts that mentioned supper. We decided we needed to get some food-related books, so tomorrow I plan to pick up Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs for the Chunk.

Both babies received two vaccines today and will receive three more tomorrow. They were very brave while getting them, but of course a few little needles don’t really faze them after all they’ve been through the last few months. They also both gained weight – Lily is closing in on the 5 lb mark with a weight of 4 lbs 13 oz and Charlie is 5 lbs 5 oz.

After my morning visit I spent the afternoon starting to organize my shower gifts. Wow, did we get a lot! After unpacking everything I had an overflowing laundry basket of clothes for Lily and Charlie, a big bag of toys and every cool gadget and contraption a baby could need. These babies are going to be so spoiled – but they deserve it!

Lily explains to her mommy all the drama of her day.

Charlie was quite comfy in his bubble bath. So comfy, in fact, that created some bubbles of his own (if you know what I mean).