A new start

Well well well. It seems like soooooo much has happened in the past couple weeks. I don't even know where to begin.
Last night was what has become my favorite time. Bath night.....
Up until now, "bath" has meant whipping them down with wet, soapy gauze patches, so I can't say that I was ever really excited about it; unlike Kim. So last Friday was bath night; I wasn't really interested in doing the bath thing until Janice told us that she'd be doing a tub bath. "Hmmmmm this might be fun" I thought. Little did I know.... For our first real bath, Kim bathed Jenna, & I gave Blake a bath. I have to admit that it was way way more than I would have imagined. Not only was it fun, but it was the first time I really really felt like a dad, doing dad things. Sure, I've changed some diapers, but that's not really all that fun or interesting. To make things easier and more enjoyable for us, the kids behaved wonderfully. They hardly made a peep and cooperated the entire time. Dare I say, they may have even enjoyed it. :)
Sooooo as you can imagine, both of us really looked forward to last nights bath time. This time we switched off and I gave Jenna her bath while Kim cleaned Blake up. Again, both of them were wonderful and quite peaceful.

After the bath, we got them dried off and dressed in their lil outfits. Then swaddled and settled in for the evening. After Jenna got snuggled in and settled, she let out this loud cry. Her passie had fallen out and she was NOT happy. She did that the other day too. As soon as we put it back in her mouth, she was happy and off to sleep.
Several of the nurses have commented on how laid back & chill they are. They hardly even make any fuss and in general are very easy to care for. We've only heard them cry a few times. Hopefully that will be a personality trait that sticks with them. How awesome would that be?
I've always assumed that I would have collickie babies as punishment for my past transgressions. ;)

When we got home and sat down for our nightly relax and talk time, Kim informed me that Janice had called and told her that we were moving to the feed & grow section and into bay 7. WOW, that really caught me off guard. It seemed like just last week we were worried about Blake keeping his vision, and now they are in the "feed & grow" stage. When we first took the NICU orientation (while Kim was on bed rest), it was explained to us that Bay 1-3 were for the "sicker" babies and that is where we'd be if we delivered way early. Bay 5-7 were for the ones that were pretty healthy and were close to going home. Going off that description, I figured we'd be in Bay 2 for a while longer. Although we knew we'd move eventually. In reality, it was somewhat surprising that we hadn't moved earlier. We've seen soooo many kids come and go through Bay 2 in our 10 weeks there.
My initial reaction was kinda sad. Besides getting used to Bay 2, we were going to miss our nurses as well as the other nurses that are often in Bay 2; most of all, we'd miss our neighbors Trinity & Kinsley. Even though I don't really get to spend any time with them, and only catch a peek occasionaly, I've really grown fond of them. I imagine it's got a lot to do with the fact that when I gaze at them, I see Jenna & Blake perfectly clear. They look identical at that age & size, and they have embarked on a similar journey. Hopefully their path will be a little less difficult and have less setbacks. We are certainly hopeful and send prayers and thoughts their way.
But..... you can't stop our lil guys, and they are growing no matter what life throws at them. So, on to a new phase of the NICU experience. Here we come!
-J