Happy "Would-Be" Birthday, My Dear Babies!

March 9, my official due date! I'm glad it's finally today, so I can read all those baby books (not that I have much extra time) to see what I can expect the first month! We've been told it will take a couple of years for them "catch up" from being preemies. So when their real age is a year, really they will only act like 9 month old babies. I do think they are ahead of what a newborn would be, though. They are pretty strong (with good head control) and already have their own routine. We are lucky so far with Sofia and Madeline on how easy going they seem to be. Sure, they don't love having their diaper changed, but we can feed them at night and put them back without having to lull them to sleep. They are usually content to just be in their cribs. (They get plenty of cuddle time during the day.)

We got some sad news about Josephine today. She had another swallow study because at the start of every bottle feeding, she spells (the rest of the feeding she usually gets a rhythm and does well). They were worried she is aspirating even though her last swallow study showed she didn't. I was there to watch the study and saw for myself that with the first swallow, she got the thickened liquid down the wrong pipe. I'm not sure if it goes in her lungs or where it sits, but she doesn't cough it up. This means we could be doing more harm than good when we bottle her. Looks like we're in for a G tube: surgery to put a tube directly in her stomach in order to avoid oral feedings. Luckily, the docs really do think that this would be temporary. We know she can swallow, but getting formula with rice cereal in her lungs is slowing up her chronic lung recovery and could even give her pneumonia. If we go ahead with the G tube, at least she would go back to getting breast milk. She would get another swallow study in a couple months to see if she gets better.

At the hospital on Sunday, Josephine's clothes got messy and the only outfit she had available was this preemie one! I had to cut the feet off because it was so small on her!
Look how cute Josephine is!

We have no idea what Sofia and Madeline weigh now. I miss not having those daily weight updates to reassure me. They both eat a lot so I shouldn't be worried. Sofia is probably over 6 lbs by now and Madeline probably just under. Josephine was 6lbs 4 oz the last we heard.

A lot of people ask if we see any personality differences yet. We think that Madeline is the funniest and the little spit-fire. She seems to be very aware of her surroundings and listens to everything. Sofia is easy going but once in awhile is stubborn while feeding. We usually have to wake up Sofia to eat while Madeline is crying for food. Josephine is the biggest sweetheart ever. She smiles a lot when we hold her and she loves to cuddle (they all love to cuddle though). She's pretty happy when she's awake. Who knows how their personalities will evolve through the years, but this is what I see right now!

Sofia above and Madeline below having some playtime on the floor.

Madeline in her fun swing! She doesn't seem to know what to think!

The girls having some tummy time. Look at Sofia with Dan and how strong she looks! It looks like she's doing back extensions.

Cute Sofia.

Another pic of Sofia: "Who's hungry?!"

One last little tidbit.... Dan and I took Sofia and Madeline on their first walk outside in the stroller! It was an ordeal getting them bundled up (probably overkill because it wasn't even that cold) and into their car seats and figuring out how to put the seats in the stroller. Somehow we managed, and had a nice walk around the lake by our house. There were so many puddles- it's definitely spring out there!

Alrighty, that was a long update! Have a great rest of the week, everyone!