I was discharged from the hospital yesterday evening to go home. Haven't been "on the outside" in 6 weeks! It was very strange being outside and out in the public. I was glad to be going home, but it was sad to leave the girls behind. We left the hospital with our two empty carseats installed in the backseat. :( I cried a little.
Our apologies for not posting an update since they were born. As you can imagine, our days have been busy and long and I've been sooooo tired. Over the past 5 days the girls have been doing very very well. Neither have had any oxygen assistance, both are in open air cribs. Olivia is back up to her birth weight today, which they told me is great for being only 5 days old. She is the stronger eater and has been taking all her food by bottle, and has attempted some breastfeeding. They have been discussing discharging her relatively soon, maybe in the next few days. Caroline is also doing great, but has a little bit of catching up to do. By day 3 they put a feeding tube in her because she wasn't eating her minimum amount (both girls are now on a minimum of 35 cc's per feeding). Poor baby, she is very aware of the tube in her nose, which is left there 24 hours a day and taped to her cheek. She is always grabbing it and really hates it. We alternate feedings with her - one we will attempt to give her a bottle and if she doesn't finish it within about 20 minutes she is fed the remainder in the tube; the next feeding is all tube fed. The doctors are hoping this will help her to gain weight since she isn't burning as many calories fighting to eat. Here's daddy feeding her with the tube in.
Caroline's jaundice levels have been elevated so she was on the billy lights for 2 days to break down the liver enzymes. Here she is getting her "sun".
This morning we got up and went to the hospital to spend the day with the girls, which will be my daily routine until they come home. I've been pumping like crazy - every 2 to 3 hours and it makes me feel good knowing that I can still do that for them, even though I'm not giving my babies constant care. The girls did so great today. Caroline is off the billy light and took all of her 35 cc's by bottle from me at one feeding today! I was proud of her. Olivia continues to do well and had her eyes open a lot today, her pretty blue eyes checking out her surroundings and looking at us.
Daddy with both his girls today
And here are some pictures from over the past few days:
Grandma Karen
Grandpa Richard
Olivia 
Caroline
Kangaroo Care with Mommy
Grandma Diane & Aunt Kari
