Babies first power outage

I said I wasn't going to blog every night, and as if our first night home wasn't interesting enough, the babies experienced their first power outage this afternoon and evening. Jeff and I were just getting our feet wet (I think he said it was hour 25 of having them home), when our power went out. Normally a power outage is more annoying than anything else, but add in two brand new babies and it gets kind of rough. We tried waiting it out since the power company said it would be fixed by 8:35pm. We snuggled with the babies, and took them to meet their neighbor Max, but when 8:35 came and went with no power, we decided to pack up and head to gramma's. Fortunately Max (and his parents Ben and Emily) had a pack n' play we could use! By the time we got to Gramma's, got all unpacked and ready to eat, our power was back on. To make a long story short, we're home but thankful we had friends to lend us stuff, and a cool place to go.

To our nurses...

With our first night behind us, (sort of), we just wanted to thank everyone for all their time and dedication you spent on our children. We're not sure how many of you read our blog, but please pass it along to anyone that's spent any time with these little ones...we truly can't thank you enough. We knew we were ready to be parents with our babies home, but after less than 4 hours of sleep between the two of us, we're welcoming offers of assistance! :-) Not sure how we'd work it out, but any of you guys that would rather come to our house for your shift you just let us know! :-) Thanks again...really, we couldn't have done this without you guys! We'll miss you!

WELCOME HOME COOPER AND ELOISE!

After 80 long days in the hospital Cooper and Eloise have finally come home! Jeff and I are so excited and can't wait to introduce them to everyone. We feel about as prepared as we can be, and we can't thank our doctors and nurses enough for taking such great care of our little ones. Thanks everyone for keeping up with everything we've been going through...we'll still try to keep the blog updated, but can't promise it'll be every night. :-) We also wanted to share that the naming will be on September 26th. If you'd like more information, please let Jeff or I know and we'll get it to you.

Last Saturday in August...

It's crazy that it's already the very end of August! I'd ask where the summer went, but I don't think that would be accurate since I don't feel like the time's flown by...more like it's been a a year and not a few months. Today was fortunately a mellow day. Cooper was still a little cranky from his procedure yesterday so he got some extra snuggles from Mom and Dad. Eloise was our quiet little girl...although she did go on a walk with Dad.

Snip snip!

What a great day to be Eloise...and a really crappy day to be Cooper. Our little man was circumcised this morning, and I'm pretty sure it was traumatic for all parties involved, other than the doctor of course. Jeff and I were not allowed in the procedure room, but we were able to have our Rabbis come and say some blessings beforehand. As you can imagine, he has been the opposite of a happy camper since it happened! He's been very owly, but it's been nice for Jeff and I to be able to comfort him.

Fortunately, Eloise has been pretty low maintenance in Coopy's time of need. She spent much of the day loudly sleeping in her crib. She did some snuggling with Mom and Dad, but I think she was ok with letting Coopy be the center of attention. I guess she knows her time as princess is yet to come :-)

Annie Annie are you ok?

Jeff and I took infant CPR today in hopes that we'll never have to use it, but with babies as small as ours, it's just a good skill to have. Other than that, it was a pretty uneventful day. Cooper and I went for a walk up and down the unit, and both babies ate well for both Jeff and I. I'm never going to say that we're sick of boring and we'd like some excitement, but I will say that I'm getting sick of waiting! We just want these babies home already!

Wednesday...our 11th I believe

I know I can't keep talking and thinking about how long the babies have been in the hospital, but it seems to be all I can think about since they're getting so close to discharge. I've never been a patient person, but this waiting is just killing me! The babies had good days today. Now that Cooper is on ad lib feedings, he got his nose hose pulled and he's much happier with nothing sticking in his nose. Both babies also got baths today and now smell as clean and adorable as they look.

Test time...well, car seat test time

When the time comes, both babies can come home. Today they both took, and passed their car seat tests. Basically they had to sit in their car seats for an hour and a half and keep their heart rates and saturations up. I'm not sure they realized anything was different since they slept through the whole thing.

Cooper now gets to go to ad lib feedings like Ella. We're hoping that the hunger he'll be feeling will motivate him to focus on, and coordinate better when he's bottling. I think he's jealous of how much Ella gets to eat, so I'm sure he'll enjoy this. Eloise had a pretty sleepy day. I think her shots yesterday kind of zonked her out for today. That was ok though since she slept for almost an hour on my chest.

Shot day...and not the fun kind

We know discharge must be getting closer, because the doctors are trying to get all their ducks in a row. Today was 2 month old shot day, and I'm not sure who they were harder on, us or the babies. Poor Eloise screamed so much it almost made me cry! I think Cooper put on a brave front, because Jeff said he didn't cry too much.

Now that Eloise has gone to ad lib feedings, she's gotten the last bit of "stuff" off of her face for good! She seems quite happy to have nothing shoved up her nose anymore, and we just love looking at her pretty clean cheeks. :-)

Cooper must be jealous that not only does Ella get to eat whenever she wants, but she gets as much as she wants too because he's (finally) starting to pick up this whole bottling thing! Even with the doctor bugging him for rounds, and a really stinky dirty diaper change in the middle, he was still able to finish his lunchtime bottle. And the best part of that was, it was his second bottle in a row! Hopefully he'll catch up to his sister quickly.

Children's Hospital...day 73

Our little "feeders and growers" are doing just that, feeding and growing. Cooper still needs to work on his coordination, but he is Jeff's son, so I think that's something he's going to have to deal with his whole life. Eloise can now feed "ad lib" or basically like a normal, term baby. That means she gets as much food as she wants, as often as she wants, but we're working toward about 200mL every 12 hours, and she should be waking up looking for food every 2-4 hours. Our day today with the babies was spent napping (Coopy on Jeff), and strolling/planning our escape (me and Ella). We're hoping our next few weeks will get more exciting with discharge planning and getting ready to go home.

Planning our escape...

No word yet on when our little munchkins will be sprung, but both spent some time checking out all the possible exits today. Now that they're both off of oxygen it's much easier to take them out to see the rest of the unit, so both Coop and Ella got to stroll around with Mom and Dad. While it's nice to get out of the room with them, it's really just a tease because we can't go very far.

As for how the babies are doing well, things are pretty much status quo. Ella is now over 6lbs and continues to amaze us with how well she's bottling. Cooper is growing and still learning how to bottle like his sister. He did, however, do something that Ella has yet to accomplish: he took a smelly poop while Gramma Polly was holding him. As you can imagine, he was more please with himself than we were with him. :-) We just need them to keep on this path of improvements and hopefully we'll have the best anniversary present (an early one would be even better!) in getting both our little ones home!

10 weeks old!

We had a quick visit from Gramma Betti and Pops today, and for once both babies were awake for the majority of the visit. The babies had pretty good days today. Cooper is over 6lbs, but just barely, Eloise is now at least attempting all of her feedings through a bottle, and both babies are still doing well off of their oxygen. That's about all the "news" we've got to report...fortunately we took some pictures though :-)

A gloomy Thursday...but some cute pictures

It seems counterintuitive, but I think spending gloomy days in the hospital is so much harder than the nice ones. Especially days like today that just seem to drag. Both babies are still working on taking their bottles, and both also got baths today. One bit of excitement is that Ella is finally off of oxygen! I think she's pretty happy not to have a cannula sticking in her nose, and we are too.

Short and sweet...

...just like our babies :-)

It was just another day. Both babies are making the improvements they need to their feedings (both) and oxygen (Ella), and now they just need to put it all together to get them home. This waiting business is getting tough! The better they're doing, the harder it is for us to still have them in the hospital...we just want them to come home. Eloise and I had story time today. She just chatted along with me as I read her nursery rhymes until she fell asleep. Not one to be left out, Cooper spent a good portion of his afternoon smushed into my chest sleeping and chatting.

Just another slow moving Tuesday

It was another quiet day at the hospital today. Both babies seem to be enjoying the cooler weather because neither of them has been as grumpy as last week. That being said, they still each have their moments, and the only thing this cooler weather is doing for me is making me even more excited to get them home and test out their stroller around the neighborhood! :-)

Ella took 3 bottles in a row today! She's quickly getting back to where she needs to be. :-) She's also requiring less and less oxygen so hopefully we'll get our first "clean faced Ella" pictures in the next few days.

Cooper is still having his moments when it comes to bottling, but he continues to improve. He took a few full bottles today, including one for Jeff this evening.

Only Monday...

Oh you know it's bad when, upon waking, you realize that it's not Wednesday or Thursday, but Monday. I've felt this way many times during my life, but I think it's exponentially worse with kids in the hospital. Despite my desire for the week to be half over already, it was a pretty good baby day. I mentioned a few days ago that we can actually tell that the babies are growing because they're no longer fitting in preemie size clothes, well their lengths were measured last night. Eloise is now 16.9 inches long, while Cooper is 17. They're the size of term babies...well, almost. :-)

Eloise is starting to require less oxygen to help her breathe, and is still doing well with her bottles. It surprises me that she's our shorter baby, because she always likes to be stretched out she seems so much longer!

Cooper now has a doctors order saying the nurses can, at their discretion, remove his cannula and let him breathe room air without any pressure. He's been off of it a few times, but knowing the doctors are confident enough to allow it to come on and off at will is really exciting.

The end to another week...

Today was a pretty mellow Sunday and fortunately for us, (unfortunately for all the readers), there really isn't much to tell.

Eloise got a bath and I can already tell she's going to be using all our hot water if we don't stop her! I think she could've stayed in that little tub forever. :-) She's also just cruising along on her bottling after that little pit stop earlier in the week. Hopefully she'll be able to get rid of her "nose hose" and take all her food from a bottle soon.

Despite the respite from the heat and humidity, Cooper was still a grumpy little boy today! The one thing that really calmed him down was being held by Jeff. He's definitely Daddy's little mini-me. He hasn't quite gotten back up to speed on his bottles the way Ella has, but he's showing huge improvements from where he was a few days ago.

A quiet, Daddy filled Saturday

While I was in and out of the hospital today, the babies spent most of their day with the Dad-man. While it may not last, Cooper finally weighs more than Eloise again, although I think she looks bigger than he does. I think that's because she likes to stretch out as long as she can, while Coop likes to be curled up. Both babies got some quality snuggle and bottle time with Jeff and they did pretty well. Hopefully they're starting to get the hang of this whole eating from a bottle thing again. One of our old NICU nurses came by for a visit today, and she mentioned how different and bigger the babies looked. Sometimes Jeff and I have to step back and remember that they are growing and changing every day, even if we don't always see it.

It was bath day for Coop, but I don't think he'll be fighting for the hot water once he gets older. He was not a very happy camper! I'm not sure who's child he is because it's no secret that both Jeff and I like long showers. Coop was much happier when we took him out, wrapped him up, and took him for another stroll down the unit. It's those little tastes of freedom that I hope motivate him to get home quicker. :-)

Eloise had a more mellow day. She did some good bottling for the nurse and for Jeff, and then spent the rest of the day sleeping. I know babies need sleep, but lately Eloise has been making a very "Jeff-like" noise while she's been asleep. I wouldn't call it snoring, but she sounds like an old creaky door...sometimes it's so loud I'm surprised she doesn't wake herself up!

9 weeks old!

Hopefully today was not only the last day of the super humid weather for a while, but the last grumpy baby day too. Cooper has finally caught up to Eloise in the weight department, and they are now only 10 grams apart but both technically weigh 5lbs 6oz. They also each had a visit from OT during feeding time to get them back on track with their bottling. Cooper still has a bit of coordinating he needs to do, but Eloise was able to take a full bottle from me this afternoon. Both Coop and Ella were feeling pretty photogenic today, so I made sure to capitalize on that, and thanks to Gramma Betti and Pops, they're all ready for football season! :-)

Another hot one...

At least we had a reason for one grumpy baby today other than the heat. Cooper had another eye exam today and though his eyes are still immature, they're in Stage 3, which is I believe one step below mature. Because of his exam, he was a little sleepier and grumpier than normal. Eloise was just grumpy for no reason, though she too slept most of the day. She did spend some time snuggled with me, and I like to think that that really helped her case of the grumps.

Both babies are having difficulty bottle feeding here lately, which is frustrating for all parties involved. It's so hard to see them so hungry, but not able to figure out how to get the food the way we're offering it to them. We know they can do is, as they've done it before, but lately they've been having a hard time coordinating breathing and eating. We know we have to be patient with them, but it's been difficult for us to see them doing so well, and then seeming to forget what they can do and then having to start back at square one. Hopefully we'll get them back on track here soon. Stay cool everyone and happy one month birthday Gabriel! :-)

Is it the "terrible twos" or the "terrible two months"?!

Wow did we have some grumpy babies today! It's been so hot and humid for the past week or so, and I think not only is it starting to get to the adults, but our bitty babies are feeling the effects of it too. :-( Other than a huge shared case of the grumps and lots of crying, the babies had a pretty good day.

Eloise is now working on bottling all of her feedings, and once she can do that consistently she gets to move onto the last step which is basically feeding on demand. Pretty much that means she acts like a regular, term baby and eats when she's hungry and sleeps when she's not. Cooper is a bit farther behind on his bottling. Like his daddy, he's a messy eater and doesn't always coordinate eating and breathing all that well. He's getting better, but he still has some work to do before he catches up to baby sister. He also had to go back on the nasal cannula although he's really just getting a bit of pressure to remind him he has to breathe while he eats, and not just eat as fast as he can.

Both babies got to celebrate their two month birthday by coming out for double holds with both Jeff and me. They each had time alone with both of us, and they also got time together with each of us too! I think Eloise liked it best of all. She's typically a calmer baby, and so far she doesn't need us to hold and comfort her as much as Coop does. So as soon as she came out, she promptly snuggled right into our chests and fell asleep. :-)

A double 5lb Tuesday

Eloise being 5lbs is old news. What makes this a double 5lb day is that Cooper finally hit the 5lb mark! Not only that, but he's now within half an ounce of his baby sister! Ella weighed in at 5lbs 2oz, while Coop was 5lbs 1.5oz. Along with gaining weight, they're also starting to grow out of preemie clothes! I don't have their measurements, but most of the clothes they're wearing now are newborn sizes, even though they're still a little big.

Ella got a bath and all new bedding today. She also got some good snuggle time with Mama while she had a bottle. I think Eloise was jealous last week when I said that Coop wanted to be a male model just like Zoolander, because apparently now she's also attempting to perfect her own "Blue Steel".

Cooper spent most of the day snoozing, which was a nice change as he's usually the baby that's awake. He must have "Daddy radar" however because as soon as Jeff walked in this afternoon he got fussy and would only calm down if he was face planted into Jeff's chest.

Out for a Walk

Cooper and Daddy out for a walk after bath time.  Yes, I can post too, not just Zoe.

Another Monday update

Apparently all the excitement happened after I left today! For the most part, it was a quiet ICC day. Eloise took 3 whole bottles in a row, which is quite a feat for a baby her size. The doctor also took the pressure on her cannula down from a 1/4 to an 1/8. I think she was just jealous that Cooper no longer has his, and she wants to be just like him. Cooper was pretty quiet when I was there. Basically he just ate, slept and pooped...and mostly ate and pooped. Lately he's been spending a lot of time awake. I think he just doesn't want to miss anything that's going on!

I guess the babies were just waiting for some good quality time with Dad this afternoon, because when he got there is when the excitement started. That was the 3rd bottle in a row Eloise drank, which she did pretty quickly. Not to be out-done, Cooper decided he was sick of his criblette, and after a bath, wanted to see the rest of the unit. So he and Jeff bundled up in warm blankets (well, Jeff bundled Coopy anyway), and they went for a little stroll up and down the hall. :-) I think Coop just wanted to scope out where the exits were for when they spring him (although there's still no word on when that'll be).

PHEW!! What a weekend!

I think all the Minneapolis Robinsons could use another weekend to recover from the one we just had! As we've said, Jeff and I had friends, Dan and Sara Arnold, in town from Nebraska for the weekend, and we also had David and Jenny Branstad and Bob Bamsey over for dinner and to break in our new fire pit last night, and I think entertaining really took it out of all of us! :-) Caddie spent the entire day asleep somewhere in the house...at least I'm assuming that's what she did because that's all she's done since I've been home. I think while she's glad to have her house back, the babies however, miss all the company.

Cooper was a littly grump-a-potamus today! I think he was hoping Sarah would hold him again because every time we had him out, he just kept looking around to see who else was there! I did get a taste of what it'll be like to have them home however, and I think I need to start practicing multi-tasking even more than I already do! Coop was crying and couldn't (or wouldn't) calm down so I picked him up for a snuggle. Not only did it take him a while to calm down, but just as I got him to sleep, Ella started fussing. Then every time I snuggled with one of them, the other would get jealous and need attention. Oh I can only imagine what it'll be like when the dog is running between them too!

I think all the visitors got to Eloise more than they did Cooper, because she was one sleepy baby today! Other than eating and when she was getting a change of clothes, she was asleep. And if she could've found a way to sleep through both of those things, I think she would've.

Saturday and 5lbs!

It was another good day to be a Robinson baby.

Our little Cooper got some good bottle time with Mommy and a mini-bath with Mommy and Daddy. It was really just a hair wash, but he still seemed to enjoy it. He also got some snuggle time with Gramma Polly.

Eloise weighed in at a whopping 5lbs today! I think all that weight really wore her out, because she spent a lot of the day snoozing. She is still bottling well and apparently was really hungry today and sucked down a few bottles in like 10-15 minutes! She's not a chunk yet, but she's getting there. We've had friends in town all weekend, so there'll be a nice photo update tomorrow. Happy Saturday everyone!

8 weeks old!

I think this picture says it all. Thank you cousin Gabi!

Today was another great day to be a Robinson baby. It took him a while, but Cooper finally decided that bottle time with Mama was not the time to be playing games but the time to be eating. He must be getting his food from somewhere, even with his game playing, because he's quickly gaining on his sister. He now weighs 4lb 11.5oz, a HUGE gain from the last few days. I think most importantly to him, he's now cannula free! Our little Cooper is no longer getting any pressure assistance to help him breathe. Eloise also had a good day. She got a snuggle with both Mommy and Daddy, and is still doing a great job on her feedings.

Our friends Dan and Sarah Arnold are in town from Nebraska this weekend, and while they're not the first of our friends to meet the babies, they are the first to hold them! Coop used his big blue eyes to charm Sarah today, and I'm sure Ella can't wait to snuggle with Dan. Caddie, however, is not too fond of Dan. As I've been typing this update, Caddie has been barking at him...from all over the house. She won't even come near Jeff if he's in the same room! We're glad we've got some friends in town this weekend because it's hard not to be with the Pitlor side of the family at Ben's bar mitzvah. Have a great weekend everyone! We're there in spirit, and good luck Benny! We'll be thinking of you!

A trouble-makin' Thursday

This shouldn't surprise anyone, but our little boy is a little trouble maker! Today was the second day in a row where Cooper thought bottle feeding with Mommy was play time. Today he pretended to be asleep through the first part of his feeding, and then just played with the bottle and nipple, rather than eat anything from it. How do I know he was pretending? Because I caught him: his eyes were closed, so I was giving him a break, and I looked up at Eloise to see what she was making noise about. When I turned back to Coop, he had one eye half open and when he saw me looking he quickly shut his eyes tight and turned his head away! If that wasn't bad enough, while Jeff was holding him, he realized he can spit his pacifier out and it'll fly up in the air and then fall on the floor. Oh I can only imagine what's to come! :-)

Eloise was much more subdued today. I'm sure she would've been more than happy to join in on her brother's misbehaving, but she got her eyes examined and that made her sleepy and grumpy. Her eyes are still immature, but the doctor is not seeing anything of concern. I bet tomorrow she'll be back to being her normal self and she'll be all ready to join in any trouble Coopy starts, or she just might start some herself! :-)

Another Wednesday update

It was another quiet day to be a Robinson baby, but with each quiet baby day comes a slightly busier parent day. With both babies getting bottles now, I (and when he's there in the late afternoons, Jeff) have more "responsibilities"...or at least more things we can participate in. It's nice to actually start to feel like a parent, instead of just the diaper changer while the nurses did everything else. :-)

Both Cooper and Eloise are still increasing the number of bottles they get a day. Ella is up to 4, while Coop is one behind at 3. Both babies also got a decrease in the pressure they're receiving on their cannulas. Coop is now at 1/8th of a liter, while Ella is at 1/4. We can also tell that they really are starting to put on weight since their cannulas don't fall out of their noses as much with the smallest movements of their heads. It seems like they're starting to get chubby little cheeks to help hold them in, although the cheeks don't really stop them from still pulling the dang thing out! :-)

Tuesday and Daddy's home!

The only problem with the babies having been so good while Jeff was gone is that I never got the opportunity to say "just wait until your dad gets home!" I'm sure that chance will come...probably more than once. :-)

Our babies had another good day. Eloise took at least two full bottles, one for Jeff and one for me. Cooper was fed by both Jeff and I as well, but he was not the rockstar he was yesterday. He did get more bottles than yesterday, and hopefully he can continue at this pace. Other than some good feedings, the babies had a quiet day. I think both are starting to harbor some thoughts of becoming models when they get older thanks to all the pictures we've been taking. The best part is that if you catch Coop at the right moment, he looks like he's practicing his own version of Blue Steel. :-)

Our first day without Daddy...

With Jeff in Norfolk for the night, the babies and I got a chance to hang out, just the three of us. And I think they really enjoyed it. While I know they missed their Daddy, the day still had to go on...and it was a pretty good one at that.

Coop and Ella spent much of the day pretty stable and asleep. I got the opportunity to feed both of them, and Cooper drank his whole bottle! Eloise still sometimes falls asleep during feedings, but Coop eats like he's never been fed and like he'll never get fed again! He's also already practicing his burping, and he seems to be pretty good at it too. We're just kind of in a holding pattern right now with these guys. We just need them to get bigger and stronger, keep putting on weight, and keep working on taking their feedings via bottle...we can't wait to get them home!

A Sunday in pictures...

There isn't a whole lot to say about today that the pictures we took can't say better. Eloise got her first bath and really seemed to enjoy it. :-) Cooper got his first bottle and wow was he a happy camper! His daddy fed him and he was bright eyed for most of it. He also let out a nice loud burp for Jeff before falling asleep on his chest. :-) We hope you enjoy the pictures of our day as much as we enjoyed doing it all!