Advanced Hospital Math

I forgot to mention that on the day we left, the twins were moved into the same room. Prior to that, tracking them was like an algebra problem: William (W) began in 4a with John-Raven (J) in 4b. W remained constant in 4a while his brother moved one room down the hall (J=3b). But then their positions were reversed and J became constant in 3b while W accelerated in the direction of 5. Assuming both twins being equal, how long would it take before they arrive at the same destination?

About 4 days, apparently, thanks to some shuffling around (and some inside help...thanks Stephanie!). Now they're in adjacent incubators. We just wish the hospital would allow co-bedding for twins (and in-house math tutoring for parents).


John-Raven (featured above) is off oxygen now and looking much better. Since the beginning, William has seemed the healthier of the two, but his brother has practically caught up to him. I guess John-Raven wasn't fond of the idea of letting his brother get too far ahead. Maybe that's what he was telling me when he christened my arm this morning as I tried to change his diaper. Or maybe he's telling me I move too slowly. Either way, I hear you, little man...message received.

Both boys are still on feeding tubes, but they're also taking bottles and nursing, to some degree. Being able to feed without tubes is one of the (somewhat obvious) goals they need to reach before they can go home. We don't know when they'll be homebound or whether it's even a good idea for them to come home prior to the shunt surgery (the date for which still isn't set), but we're excited that they are becoming less dependent on NICU support.

With no surgery date set, and with the boys looking so good, we're almost afraid to wonder just how good this could get. If no one had told us our babies had something wrong with them, we wouldn't know they were anything but typical premies. Perhaps better than typical, considering that they seem to be bigger than expected for twins delivered at 34 weeks. On top of that, the occupational therapist (who checks out all of the babies in the Harris Methodist NICU) said yesterday morning that both boys are looking good and responding well to tests.

With no idea of when the boys will have surgery, we're still in a holding pattern for now. Regardless of when the surgery happens, our boys have been given extra time we didn't think they'd have for getting healthier and stronger. We'll take it.