Lucy having a visit with her Grandpa McDonald yesterday.
Ella loves having a good stretch. Her blood work wasn't as good as it needed to be on Friday so she is still not eating. Yesterday the results came back better and she will have an X-ray this morning to determine if her bowels have returned to normal. If yes, then she will slowly be able to be fed milk again. That will make Ella very happy. Over the last couple of days she has become much more alert. She has awake periods where she loves to look around and interact. She must be feeling quite a bit better. Ella now has a mobile to keep her entertained.
Lucy continues to do well. She is still on full feeds at 40mL every three hours. Her surgery is tomorrow and we are hoping that it will halt her eye disease. We are also hoping she does not need to be intubated and put on the ventilator again. Both girls seem so big to us now, but to most people, they would still seem quite small.

On Saturday, I was able to kangaroo with both girls at once. I was holding a sleeping Lucy and talking to a wide awake Ella in her crib. The nurse came by and asked if I wanted Ella out as well. Of course I said yes! Lucy woke up and the girls spent a little bit of time checking each other out. I'm not sure what they thought! But eventually both girls relaxed and fell asleep. I reflected on the fact that I was still supposed to be pregnant and that the heaviness of our two growing girls was what I would have been feeling if everything would have gone according to plan. It is incredible to think that instead we have been in the NICU for twelve weeks today.