Two milestones, some great news, and a move!
Ella falling asleep taking her bottle. It is a special bottle that helps control the flow of the milk so that it is easier for her to control.

Lucy has grown into the sleeper that Ella was wearing last week!

Our new room.

Wednesday marked 100 days in the hospital. When I entered ante-natal I was wearing shorts and now we are wearing winter coats and toques. It will likely be a full third of a year by the time we leave.

Thursday was the girls' original due date. We had always assumed that they would be born a bit early, likely in late November or early December. We had not anticipated early September! Yesterday is the date which their development will be corrected for. For example, today they are considered one day old corrected, even though they are actually three months old. Correcting their age for their due date allows us and the doctors to have a more reasonable expectations and timelines for their developmental milestones. However, because the girls were born so premature, they will likely be even slower at reaching milestones than a baby born today. The hope is that they will be caught up by the time they start school.

Our good news is that the surgeon checked out Lucy's eyes yesterday and everything looks great. He was very pleased with how she responded to the surgery and believes that the eye disease has been halted. She will continue to be followed up regularly by the eye doctor in the coming year. Ella will also be closely followed. Her eyes have gotten a bit worse but at the moment she does not need the surgery.

We have moved to "Care By Parent." This was completely unexpected after only five days in the NPCU. This is the last step before we are able to go home. I will live in the hospital with the girls and begin the process of learning how to care for their daily needs and establishing a routine. There is still a nurse there to help us out, especially in our first days in the new unit. They are now taking about half their feeds by mouth. This will slowly increase as the girls are able. They need to take all of their feeds orally for two days without a tube feed and still be gaining weight in order to go home. The discharge nurse said this will likely happen at the very earliest in ten days but more likely two to three weeks. It is incredible to be thinking in terms of going home in weeks instead of months!