Happy Birthday Will and Kate!!

Kate loves her snug almost as much as her big brother that gave it to her.
Will just enjoys relaxing...after his daddy's heart!

It's hard to believe but its been exactly one month since Will and Kate came into this world. It has definitely been a pretty wild ride so far and while I hope the excitement is over for a while, I'm sure there will be plenty more for the next eighteen years or so...
Kate and Will have both had a pretty good end to their first month of life. On Sunday, Kate decided she was tired of the CPAP and was put back on the nasal cannula. We all hope this will be the last time she makes this transition and her scuba days are long behind her. As for her brother, Will has finally decided that he wants the scuba gear back and was taken off the ventilator this morning. However, for reasons too complicated to describe here, this time Will's scuba gear looks a little different and this nickname for CPAP apparently no longer applies. Instead he has a tube that goes about an inch and a half down each nostril helping to keep his lungs pressurized while he breathes on his own.

Kate and Will received crowns today to commemorate their birthday - royalty!!

Another development, somewhat related to their breathing struggles, is that Kate has now come within just 12 grams of her brother's weight. This is mostly due to the fact that Will has been on diuretics for a few days now to help dry out his lungs. This has helped do the trick along with removing some of the swelling that seems to have been contributing to some of his earlier weight gains. Both of them are now about 2lbs 12oz (Kate is 1238 grams and Will is 1250 grams). Similarly, according to their length measurements taken yesterday, Kate is 35.5cm long and Will is 36cm. It seems that by all accounts they are twins!

Ben and MH made cupcakes for the kids today, I think he enjoyed himself!

To celebrate their birthday today, MH and Ben made cupcakes and brought them to the NyICU for the doctors and nurses to eat, which they did (so quickly, in fact, that their hard-working nurse, Marina, didn't get a chance to eat any!). As you might have guessed, it was no mistake that one of the cupcakes had a "B" on it, standing for "Big Brother Ben" according to you know who. Unfortunately, Will and Kate could not share in the cupcake extravaganza and instead were stuck being tube-fed breastmilk. Kate is now up to 11ml every 3 hrs (and increasing by 1ml every other feeding). Will is still eating just 2ml every 3 hrs with no scheduled increases currently (waiting to see how he tolerates CPAP, which can push a lot of air into the belly).

I had the pleasure of holding Kate for about an hour today
She is incredibly adorable!!

Thankfully, as the kids are becoming more and more stable as time goes by, MH and I are now feeling more comfortable getting into some sort of "normal" routine. For me, this means getting back to work in both Phoenix and Flagstaff as well as some short trips out of town in the near future. For MH, this means spending more time with Ben and some friends from Flagstaff who have been able to visit Phoenix recently. She is also looking forward to a short return trip to Flagstaff to attend her "make-up" baby shower on Nov 23rd. This was originally scheduled the middle of September, but was rudely interrupted by her hospitalization and a helicopter flight to Phoenix! She is not, however, looking forward to the snow that will more than likely be there waiting for her arrival!
I hope to have more good news to report in a few days. Until them keep the thoughts and prayers coming and post a comment if you get a chance. We love to hear from you all - THANKS!