Tired

I am officially tired. It is very hard to stay committed to pumping when it means never sleeping for more than three hours. With Selah, I just snuggled up and let her nurse, but with pumping you have to get up, set it all up, clean up afterward, write out labels for the containers, then try to sleep for another couple hours before starting all over again! Ugh. But, as I mentioned before, this is one thing I can contribute when I feel so helpless to help them get better. So I'll whine about it, but I'll still do it. Couple this with getting to and from the hospital, spending all day at the hospital, fighting with our insurance, all while weaning off pain meds... I just need lots of prayer right now! I am SOOOO thankful we are staying with my in-laws, so I don't have to arrange child care while I am at the hospital. It is such load off my mind knowing the girls are well cared for. (I don't think the girls are going to want to move back home!) I am able to spend a lot more time with the babies, though, because of this, and I know this will help them grow and develop... and get home sooner. Right now they are telling us they could be home within a month, but the nurses told us they never say the word "home" in NICU because the babies hear you and decide not to cooperate. So, they say "Home Depot." As feisty as Micah is, we have to be really careful around him. He's sneaky.

As for the babies, they are progressing in some areas and stable in others. They are not gaining weight consistently, but both are almost back to their birthweight. They are still having trouble staying warm, so although they opened the incubator for a couple hours, they decided not to make the babies waste calories on keeping warm when they need to be gaining weight. And of course, they have the usual preemie stuff of heart rates dipping or forgetting to breathe. One time Levi stopped breathing (for a few seconds) while Papa H was holding him, and I think Papa almost had a heart episode!! The nurse came over, leaned over Levi and said, "Breathing is not optional, young man. You have to keep doing it." I think my father-in-law's breathing took longer to regulate than Levi's. Both babies are now off their IV, which I am SOOO happy about. The fewer tubes stuck in them the better!