It is so hard to believe that the boys will be 2 weeks old in 2 days! And what an amazing, exhausting, and wonderful 2 weeks it has been. I am proud to say that no one has asked me when my baby is due for the past few days. When we were going back and forth to NICU I got "when are you going to have that baby", "oh, you better hurry to the 4th floor" and "are you ready". I am not sure if things are shrinking or if I just haven't gone anywhere :) We spent last week trying to get adjusted to being home, as much for myself as for the boys and Jace. Jace has been so sweet to the babies. He loves to kiss on them and giggles everytime one of them squeaks. He has been a bit overprotective of them, including trying to yank Lane out of Grams' arms to give him back to momma. But overall he has been very loving to them. It has taken him a bit to get used to having me back at home, with increased use of the word "no", though that has improved drastically over the past 2 days. Stuart has to conveniently be absent at bed time to avoid the argument to sleep in "daddy's bed". He has developed quite a few new "Jace-isms" since I got admitted to the hospital. He loves to dance (especially to Beyonce's Single Ladies video- or "the girls" as he calls them). He has to take several favorite toys to bed each night- sometimes a stack of book, handfuls of cars, and his dancing monkey. I think he got his momma's OCD. He really enjoys lining up his toys and "cleaning" his car with a wipey. The independence stage has started and Jace thinks he needs to dump his own potty, often close to dumping pee all over the floor! Thanks to his wonderful grandmas he now knows his colors, can count to ten and can identify about 75% of the alphabet. He is talking much more, and even sings or hums along to songs. I am just so glad to be back home with my sweet little boy!
As for these little boys.... they are doing really well also. It is funny how much their personalities reflect how they were in utero. Lane is very mellow and wants to be held all the time. He is happy to lay still and just study things. Cole, my little flip flopper in utero, is much more active and can turn himself bright red when he gets worked up. He has even rolled to his side so he could pop his brother in the face. Both are getting the hang of eating. Cole is a nursing champ! Lane, being more laid back, has to be woken up to eat and needs a little more reminding about what he is doing. Twice I have even been able to nurse both of them at the same time using my mumbo jumbo feeding pillow! I felt quite accomplished with this feat. I have worked in NICU for over 7 years and have swaddled hundreds of babies, but my swaddling on these guys lasts about 5 minutes. Luckily, Stuart has become a swaddle master and the boys have been able to sleep like little burritos for up to 3 hours at night.
Today we went for a weight check and were glad both boys are gaining weight well. Lane has passed his birth weight and is now up to 7#4oz. He had been 7#1oz on Friday at the doctor's appointment. Cole is up from 7#9oz to 7#15oz. I still look at them in amazement, knowing that they were both crammed in my belly!! I don't know how they fit. With Lane closing in on Cole they are looking more and more similar. Lane has slightly more delicate features, sorry buddy I know it's not a manly term. Cole has the trademark hairy ears like Jace did and overall thicker hair. His cheeks are a bit fuller too. If all else fails, you can tell them apart by the fact that Lane has delayed descension of 2 certain anatomical parts. It also helps that we keep their little animal pacis by them and Lane is the monkey, Cole the puppy. In all my OCD-ness, we have also started color coordinating them when possible. Lane has been assigned blue and Cole green.
We got to stop by and visit our antepartum friends today after the weight check. It was so nice to get to see everyone. These babies wouldn't be here if not for all of them! Jace needed quite a bit of reassurance that momma didn't have to stay in momma's room. He was very uncertain, asking about "momma's room" before we even got to the hospital. When we did get there though, he marched straight to my old room and almost barged in. I think he was relieved that I didn't have to stay there.
I am sorry to ramble! The past 2 weeks have gone by so quickly. We have been so blessed by friends and Stuart's parents bringing food. We are so grateful for my mom and her new full time job as bottle washer (among many, many other jobs around the house). My Grams left Saturday after being here 2 months to help with Jace. We couldn't have done it without her!!
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