Lucy and Ellory- One month.

What a month it's been! It's hard to describe- when people ask if time seems to go fast or slow, I say that the days go fast and the nights go slow. Their birth and NICU stay seems so surreal because it's so out of the ordinary, but we are so thankful that our girls are here, doing well, and healthy!

I will never forget my water breaking, ambulance ride, and c-section that day on February 23, but it was all worth it to meet these precious girls. Being in the NICU was hard- hard to not be in the same room together, hard to be away from Norah, and hard to watch them be hooked up to so many machines, but we are grateful for the excellent care they received and that they were about the best case scenario you could ask for with NICU babies.

We were in the NICU for 10 days, and those 10 days were basically just feeding every three hours, which took an hour, so I was on for an hour and then “off” two. I spent the days with the girls in the room while Kley worked from our hotel room and he would come over for meals/to say hi. I'm thankful he was able to stay in Sioux Falls with us! We waited for the doctor visits each day to hear their progress and next steps. Basically, our ticket to go home was to learn to eat better/more consistently, and to have steady weight gain. Going home and being together as a family of five was a joyous day!

Being home was definitely an adjustment for everyone, especially the first week, but it is slowly feeling more normal. We love having three daughters! Both girls still nurse every three hours, and have two fortified bottles a day (my milk mixed with a small amount of preemie formula to make it a higher calorie so they gain more weight), and both are doing really well with both. Sometimes we have trouble getting them to burp. They both love to toot and fill their pants! Ellory is more of a pacifier girl than Lucy, and Lucy has a higher pitched cry and spits up more. They don't sleep well at night, so we are looking forward to them sleeping longer stretches! They prefer to be held when they sleep at night and wake up crying shortly after being laid down, which means little sleep for the holder. They are sharing a crib for now. They enjoy being in the bath water, but not the before and after. We've all commented that we can tell they are getting stronger with their legs and holding their head. They both really did not like their vitamins (Ellory kept throwing up), so the doctor said we could wait until later and I could take extra vitamin D so they would get it through my milk. They are starting to have more eye contact and longer awake periods. We like to read books and sing songs.

Both grandmas have been here a lot over the month and have been a tremendous help! We couldn't have done it without them. Friends and family have also been so generous in bringing meals too, which is amazing. Norah is a great big sister (so much love that we have to tell her not to smother them)! Lucy and Ellory, you are very loved and quite adored.

Ellory

Lucy

One month cuties!