April 12th, 2006

These are some pics of the boys, Hunter to the left and Preston at the top.









On April 12th, we drove up to Orlando for a short visit after Anthony got off of work. We held all four and fed all four in 2 1/2 hours and then made the return trip home so that my husband could make it to work in the morning.

Preston is now with his brother and sisters!! He made it over 1000 grams which was the goal to go to the Special Care Unit (NICCU level 2). Tonite all the babies were weighed and Alexandria is now 3 lb 12 oz. Gabby is 3 lb 8 + oz. Preston is 2 lb 3 1/2 oz and Hunter is our big one at 3 lb 14.6 oz. They have all started to gain weight and pass their birth weights, after their initial losses. Gabby is now off of skin control/probe and able to wear clothes in her isolette like her brother Hunter and her big sis Lexi. My littlest one continues to be on skin control. He has a long way to go to make that goal. He has to be at least 1500 grams. I am thinking that Hunter and Lexi will probably start bottle feedings in a few days. The nurses are trying to get them to suck on their pacifiers while they are getting their tube feedings so that they associate sucking with a full stomach. This is preparing them for bottle feeds. All of them did well at that tonite, even Preston. They say the hard part will be getting them to swallow. I guess we shall see if they are ready for bottles on our next visit - Friday. We will be staying the weekend there at the Ronald McDonald house again, spending as much time as we can with the babies. We look forward to our visits but can't wait till the babies come home so we can be a real family. If Lexi and Hunter keep progressing so fast, I imagine they will be home by the end of the month. Gabby and Preston will probably be there a little longer.

More good news: I have lost a total of 50 lb in a 10 day period. The fastest weight loss I have ever seen. I thought it would take months to lose 50 lb. Can't wait to get the remaining pounds off of me, but I can't exercise yet. It will take time I guess. At least I can burn a few calories with the breast pumping. I hear that works on weight loss as well as being good for the babies!