Good morning EG...
The news sounds great for your 2 babies. Aren’t they the sweetest things in the world???
With Elizabeth going home before Kathryn, it will give everyone time to adjust and get ready for the second round! And Kathryn, eating as she is, will be there quicker than you would think. Any news on her little legs? We pray that everything will be OK with her in every way.
I know what you mean about the little glow worm. Isn’t it amazing though what they can do to help these babies?? The jaundice will leave... and in the meantime, the blue light is what will help it do so.
Glad to hear you’re on dinner duty! Maybe these 2 will let you hug them :) LOL What does Miss V think about having baby sisters? She’s going to be so good with them I bet.
Thanks for the update...... prayers continue as always.
Nana
Not that I know of, but I'll ask. Her mother asked the staff neonatalogist to run a genetic test to see if there is any genetic difference between the twins. She, the doctor, thought that there probably was not, but would run the test.
But whatever the source of her overall smaller size (not uncommon, even with identical twins) she does like to move those legs around whenever she escapes from the cocoon (very much like a papoose board, without the board) they have both girls in, she likes to move those legs around, much more so than lazy 'Liz. When she gets a diaper change, she waves both arms and legs about vigorously, while Elizabeth is more passive, but not completely so. The docs and nurses say it's fairly usual for the smaller twin to be the more active and aggressive...but things often change after a while too, so we'll just have to wait and see.
Forgot to mention that Kathryn is still in the isolette, with a warmer. Both are still "wired for sound", or at least for heartbeat, respiration, and concentration of O2 in their blood. The babies both have use of some really nice little knit or crocheted blankets to help keep them warm and toasty, made by volunteers. My wife does something similar with quilts, she and friend donate at least one quilt a year to one of the big children's hospitals, so these are sort of like the bread cast upon the waters.
Also forget that they put tiny on a higher calorie formula supplement at the 11 PM feeding last night. She didn't seem to like it much, but hopefully it was just different and she'll get used to it.
Grandpa slept clear through the 5 AM feeding, and the getting ready for it. I did wake up during the prep for the 8 AM, but stayed at the house, the twins' and Victoria's house, and got cleaned up. I'll take Mom and Dad to breakfast...unless Elizabeth comes home with them, in which case I'll go get it.
I'd best go get my shoes and socks on so I'll be ready when they return from the 8 AM.
Further updates to follow...although I'll be in Orlando starting tomorrow and won't be back here until about 4 PM Saturday. I'll relay what I get though.
She's only seen pictures so far. She's 4+ hours north with Grandma. She was supposed to come back Friday, but both she and Grandma got sick.
Apparently she's missing Mommy pretty badly, to the point where La Gata had to hide the pictures. Still the great nieces help keep her occuppied and that helps a lot. She's also getting more quality time with Mort the mutt, who runs free in GrandMa's house, although he knows where he's not supposed to go, and generally doesn't go there.
Elizabeth and Kathryn are 4 now, going to pre-K classes for special needs kids. Like many twins, their language skills are not as developed as others their age. They go to different schools, although Kathryn goes to the same school as big first grade sis, Victoria, who is also there for special needs classes as well as regular first grade stuff. She's mainly deficient in writing skills. But, skinny as she is, she can break a board with her elbow or the heel of her hand. :) She can dance, tap and ballet, and she can can sing. So can the twins, in fact they are all in the same singing class. :)
Elizabeth is still larger than Kathryn, about an inch and just under 4 lbs.They are still small,at 25 and 29 lbs, but it doesn't slow them down. For example, on Tuesday when I dropped E off at day care, which I do on Monday and Tuesday, her class was trooping around the church building. She took off after them, but I made her come back before I saw them. So they got farther ahead. She handed me her lunch box and took after them again. She fell down running down a hill, got up and ran after them some more. As soon as I was sure the teacher knew she was there, I took her backpack and lunch box to her cubby. Met them on the other side of the church as they were coming back. One boy had given her on of his maracas so she could join in the joyful noise. :) In her pre-K class it's Elizabeth and the 9 giants. All boys except for her. She's got them all wrapped around her finger. Many of them will tell her goodbye, but unless I remind her to tell them goodbye,she just ignores them, as if it were her due as Queen.
Kathryn is the smallest, the smartest and the most stubborn in her pre-K class. She goes 4 hours, 5 days, in contrast to Elizabeth's 2 hours 2 days. Those are the two days' that "Grandpa's Taxi" makes it's runs. The other days Dad transports Kathryn. Kathryn and Victoria ride the bus to school. Last year Kathryn sometimes rode it home, if there was anyone, like their other grandma, there. She got quite upset when she couldn't ride it, I think she liked being up high and being able to see everything. Now she's OK with that. I let her pick which way to go as we leave the parking lot. Either way works, but they are different routes to the freeway, and it serves as a "right hand/left hand" lesson.
Their great uncle, my wife's youngest brother, has a daughter Kathrine, only about 9 or 10, whose name is Kathrine. Every time we mention her or look at her pictures, Kathryn giggles. She also has a 3rd cousin, my wife's sister's granddaughter, Katharine as well. All spelled differently.
Kathryn still gives the best hugs. Elizabeth has begun to copy them though. They now sleep in bunk beds, with the beds at right angles to each other rather than one completely under the other. We thought Elizabeth would sleep on top, since she is fearless. But when I ask them, separately, who slept on top, they both almost always answer "Kathryn", and they always report the same. Sometimes, like Monday night, they both sleep in the same bed, sometimes the top, sometimes the bottom.
Elizabeth is the most self confident 4 year old I've ever come across. She is Queen Elizabeth, and she knows it quite well, the boys in her "apple" pre-K are but princes, if that. If she says something is the case, like no dance this Saturday, it is. But Kathryn takes no guff from her bigger, but younger, twin. In fact if anyone is chasing and grabbing, it's Kathryn. They both adore big sister Victoria. Both are good climbers, but since K has shorter arms and legs, it's harder for her. Both often run from the car to their day care class rooms. (Different rooms.. this year)
All three girls have food sensitivities. Little Kathryn the least. She can have both dairy and gluten, just not soy and artificial dyes. Victoria is probably the worse, but Elizabeth gets "bumps" on her back if she eats anything with soy in it. Kathryn has an issue with not staying hungry long once she starts to eat. Something do with receptors in her brain. So she will often eat half or less of her food, and then be hungry again in a half hour or so.
This weekend, they will be performing their singing and choreography routines at rest homes. The featured song is "The Good Ship Lolly-Pop".. first sung my Shirley Temple, who is within a year of their great grandmother's age. :) They both know their songs, in particular their solo parts. :)
They have two living great grandmothers. My mother and my wife's mother. The latter is fixing me some meatloaf as I type. :) All generally insist on their full name being used, not Vicky or 'Rori, Liz or Beth, Kat or Kathy. Although the twin's day care teachers do call them Liz or Lizzie and Kat. (Lizzie being particularly frightening to those her know her well, we'd prefer "Beth". :) )