Getting settled in...

So, today we sort of embark upon this next phase of our adventure. Erin will be here in the hospital probably until Tuesday, and has felt very good all things considered. She has been able to get up and walk around, and take a couple wheelchair rides down to the NICU. She can get up and out of bed as much as she feels she's able, and is encouraged to do it as much as possible to facilitate recovery.

We went down to the NICU a couple times yesterday, then again this morning. Collin and Emery are doing very well. They are both now on "room air" meaning they breathe on their own (subject to change, they may be given oxygen in the future if needed), and are basically just getting acclimated to their new surroundings. They have an umbilical line for feeding & medicine, as opposed to a normal IV in a wrist/hand or something.

For this first little while, Erin and I are the only ones who can reach in to the "isolet" (aka incubator) to touch the babies... which is an absolutely fantastic experience. Last night Emery was squirming and fussing a little bit, so the nurse handed me a warm blanket and said "put this on her then rest your hand on top of her," which I did. As my hand rested on her, she calmed right down and went back to sleep. This morning the nurse had Erin change their little wet diapers (which neither really liked, but Emery was quite a bit more vocal - she cries a good amount, and pretty loudly for such a little one) and take their temperatures. Wow, what a neat experience. We are so grateful to be able to have that close human interaction with both babies.

The NICU is a fascinating place - sort of intense and overwhelming in some regards, but so far it has been SO good to have many attentive medical professionals (nurses, speech pathologists, neonatologists, nurse practitioners, etc) who have been wonderful in explaining things, teaching and helping Erin and me feel at ease. Collin and Emery are both in the same room, with beds probably 15-20 feet apart. One nurse cares for both of them all day long. We are grateful for such nurses, and their consistent monitoring.

I would imagine progress will be slow for now, and not too exciting, but we'll certainly keep apprised of any changes. We probably won't post pictures quite yet - we'll wait until they have fewer lines/chords, etc in them so everyone can appreciate how beautiful they are! :)