Keeping Up with The Twins: 6/29: 7 weeks old, Austin to head back to Hoag!

This has been a very good week for both of the babies, and you can see from their weight tickers that they have both been growing steadily with their increased feedings. Austin especially has grown into the appearance of a near-term baby, with puffed out cheeks and a long body. Overall, Austin is just astounding the doctors with his progress. One of our favorite doctors who attends at both hospitals remarked how they never count on a particular outcome with NICU babies, and with the surprises that he sees in his patients it's particularly nice when a suspected serious condition resolves without invasive intervention. Austin is presently showing no signs of Hirschsprung's, in fact he's been pooping with every diaper. He is doing so well that none of his doctors believe that there is a need for him to remain at CHOC. We weren't sure whether the insurance companies would approve his transfer back to Hoag, but we just learned that he has been approved and will be going back soon! This is fantastic news indeed, no word yet on when the transfer will take place.

We're so lucky that both of our kids are doing well. Cheryl and I are truly humbled by our good fortune of two very healthy babies getting closer to coming home.

Austin loves to stare at his mommy, and vice versa

He really is looking good here, and this is how he is when he's not sleeping - really mellow!

So both babies have been practicing bottling and nippling, but it's a process that tends to wear them out rather quickly. For some feedings they both do really well, while others they barely muster the energy to draw a couple of cc's. The mechanism for sucking proficiently comes about between 34 and 36 gestational weeks, and there's nothing you can do to rush it. So we'll keep practicing, but so far we have a really good start.

Malia hit a couple of really big milestones this week, most notably tipping the 4 lb. mark yesterday! She was also moved to one of the peripheral pods in the Hoag NICU, which are reserved for the less serious babies. This is obviously a good sign for her, and the nurses have even reserved a space next to her for when her brother makes it back to Hoag. It will be so nice to have them both there, but for now we're ecstatic about how much progress they've made.