And then there were 5.....

Caroline Emily and Brooke Kathryn arrived on December 10, 2008, at 6:05 p.m. and 6:07 p.m. They were 34 weeks old at birth, past the real dangers developmentally and for that we are deeply grateful. Caroline was born at 5 lbs; Brooke was 5 lbs., 10 oz. Their first names are our personal favorites, but their middle names are in honor of two very important women to our family. Emily for my sister, aka "Aunt Emmy," and Kathryn for our dear friend Kate who introduced me and J when we both looked liked hopelessly single individuals. Matchmaker of the century!

Caroline and Brooke are both healthy, but they were born 5 weeks early. As preemies, they are struggling learning to eat by themselves, as babies usually need to be around 37 weeks to suckle at a healthy rate. They are getting stronger every day. The tubes you see in the pictures are feeding tubes. They eat every three hours from bottles. When they get too tired to finish their portion, the rest of the milk is fed to them through the tube, which goes directly into their stomachs. As you can imagine, this is very difficult for us as we really want to bring them home.

So far as when we can bring them home, they need a blessing from the "nipple fairy," as the nurses call it. Essentially, they need 24 hours of eating each feeding by themselves, after which the feeding tubes come out. Then they need another 24 hours of successful feeding, then they can join us at home. Preemies get a "blessing" from the nipple fairy because one day they just figure feeding out. The neonatologist told me today that there really isn't a week when preemies begin feeding consistently and there aren't any other specific signs that indicate that the successful feeding is nearly here. As a Type A, I am struggling with this concept! We are hoping that they can be with us at Christmas.

In the picture of Mom and Dad and the twins, Mom is holding Brooke and Dad has Caroline. Brooke looks just like Jack did at this age; Caroline actually has Dad's nose. Dad thinks that Caroline reminds him a bit of his Aunt Jeri, he may finally have a child that resembles him! Caroline has shown herself to be the spunky one of the bunch. The nurses think she'll be an actress as she has shown a propensity for drama. (Don't know where she would have picked that up!) Brooke is a bit quieter, and they both are terribly sweet.

Big Brother Jack is recovering from the shock. Nana was a hero and stayed with him while we were at the hospital. We are forever indebted and seriously cannot imagine doing this without her help. She is exhausted, though, as anyone is after several days of chasing a 2 1/2 year old. Santa will bring her great gifts this year! As is to be expected, Jack did punish both J and me when we came home. He wouldn't come to us until today; it appears that we have been forgiven now. At least until the twins come home! He did visit them in the hospital and he told Brooke that he loved her. He's going to be a wonderful big brother.

Thanks to all for all the well wishes and thoughts. Send all good thoughts our way and to our little babies!