Gavage Free?

Today started out to be relaxed and, Caitlyn and I were about to head out on our usual venture.....Jer and I realised however that in the hub-bub of the day-to-day, we neglected to remember that Caitlyn had a doctor's appointment. At the time of this realisation, Caitlyn was overdue there by 15 minutes! Oops. Well, not all was lost, we managed to contact the clinic and they welcomed us anyway - Phew! So, Caitlyn and I raced off to the Children's Hospital for yet another eye exam. These appointments are very long but, ironically, the actual exam is extremely short, about one minute in fact. With her eyes checked again (after great bleating cries and tears from little C) we were told that her eyes look fine - despite this, she will still need to be checked again in another 3 weeks. These eye specialists are very cautious, but this is good for all in the long game. 

Jer and Jennifer headed off to the hospital -- but I'll let him tell you about that: 

When we arrived, I hoisted Jennifer up so she could see her sisters. She had no difficulty identifying them without any assistance from yours truly. We had arrived late, and did not have much time to stay, but Jennifer gave each of her sisters a brief belly rub. As we were leaving, we spotted their nurse and so stopped to check out the news (which is in line with Jan's info, below, about their new feeding regimen). As we said goodbye, Jennifer said that she did not want to leave yet! We stayed and watched the nurse who was caring for them start to bottle Emily. Emily waved at her big sister and gave up a big smile: Jennifer was delighted! Jennifer was quite captivated and stood very still (well, for a two-and-a-half year old!), watching Emily take her bottle famously. We departed shortly thereafter and ran home for a late, drawn out lunch, followed by the reading of too many books that we took out from the library yesterday. I wasn't predicting a nap from Jennifer, but... Hallelujah, she knocked herself out! If only I had following her example...

We all seemed to gather back at the house for a late lunch and then headed for naps. Well, Mama and Papa at least planned on napping...but didn't get there -  and Jennifer - well I'm not sure she had planned to nap, but actually did - Yay! Jer had a head of steam to get the car ready for selling and Mama headed off to the babies room to get some last minute organization completed.

What of Emily and Heather you ask? Well they seem to be doing great. Once again the game plan seems to have changed slightly. The team is letting the girls dictate how much milk they want to finish each feeding period and, for the next 24 hours at least, will not be tube fed. I think this is an effort to see what volumes they can manage on their own, and to see if they will continue gaining adequate weight with this change. So far it seems fine... both girls gained 50 gms tonight. It was nice to see that both girls seem to be taking a reasonable amount of milk so we'll see what tomorrow brings. Let's hope it brings the thought of car seat tests and potential for coming home this weekend or early next week!!

So until tomorrow - goodnight....

Jan