32 week's eve

Austin and Malia are doing great as usual on the eve of their 32 week milestone, with Austin at 3 lb., 14 oz., and Malia 2 lb., 14 oz. (slight decrease from yesterday for her, thanks to a nice blowout we're told!).  Yesterday got crazy in the NICU as three babies arrived in the NICU, including another set of twins.  Moments like those bring me back to the intensity of Austin and Malia's admittance into the NICU, where it can be quite a spectacle.  It appears that all those babies are doing fine today, so the quiet resumed in their pod.  Apparently they could be moved to one of the outer pods soon, which could even mean that they will soon reside in side-by-side isolets - exciting to see how they'll react to one another after so many weeks apart.

Super awake and alert when we arrived this evening.

Malia sat with daddy this morning and did great for the full hour-plus session.  This evening, the nurse decided to try her out and see if she would latch with Cheryl.  Austin whiffed on his first such trial the other day (mainly because he was too sleepy), but little ole' Malia did great and figured it out with some coaxing and positioning from the nurse.  Don't let size fool you, this goes to show how differently the babies progress in their journey home.  And this time it is quite refreshing to see Malia lead the pack in one of the important milestones.  Although she's a full pound behind Austin, "nippling" on mommy is one of the criteria for discharge, so we're on a good start in that category.

Malia, 31w6d: "Hi, Daddy!"

Doing her best Gene Simmons impression

The babies saw a lot of family today, including the Vlasich grandparents as well as their Aunt Marta and Uncle Randy, who all remarked of the noticeably bigger set of babies since their last visit.  Austin is certainly showing fewer signs of his prematurity, and at nearly 4 pounds he could almost pass for a term baby (well, he's still got a ways to go).  Our little fuzzball was so sleepy tonight that we only snapped 1 decent shot of him with his eyes nearly open.  Must be a growth spurt!

Austin, 31w6d