The Little Hedgehogs, 34 weeks++

Rhys & Harlo chilling

Harlo, the serious one, and Rhys, the joker

Happy Thanksgiving! We celebrated here back in October when Canada has it's Thanksgiving weekend, but I wanted to share how thankful we are this year. Harlo and Rhys are almost 5 months corrected (8 months total) old. They have doubled in size several times from just at 2lbs to over 13lbs. They enjoy playing, rolling over, shrieking, and for some strange reason, my singing. We are learning to eat rice cereal, roll onto our sides, and pet the dog. We are completely tube and wire free. They came home struggling to eat 600 milliliters a day at all, and now regularly eat over 850 milliliters all on their own. We have adapted to some type of a routine that allows us all to sleep a lot, and after pumping for six months, I stopped the milk flow back in October. These pictures show just how much they have grown. Rhys has on a shirt that once covered his whole body and a hat that once was too big for him (and held on his breathing apparatus).

The Little Hedgehogs, 14 weeks ++

Jason, Rhys, and Harlo, Day 103

Grandma and Harlo, Day 103

Grandma and Rhys, Day 102

Rhys, Day 101

Jason's first double cuddle on his birthday, Day 99

Rhys doing push ups, Day 96

The Little Hedgehogs, 13 weeks+

Rhys and Harlo with Mimi, Jason, and Big Kahuna

Three generations of Winget firstborns

Harlo & Rhys, Day 91

Mimi & Harlo

Walk like an Egyptian?

My favorite picture

Harlo and Rhys, almost 2 weeks ago

Taking care of Harlo and Rhys is a full time job! I started my maternity leave at last, and spend most of every day with them. So lots of new pictures, but no time to post. Hope these have filled the void. Harlo weighs over 3200g and Rhys is nearly 2800g.

The Little Hedgehogs, 10 weeks++

Harlo, Rhys, & Danielle, Day 75

Harlo & Rhys, Day 74 - first slap fight?

Harlo swimming, Day 73

Harlo & Rhys, Day 71

On the stretcher for the ambulance ride, Day 71

Rhys, Day 69

Rhys with Jessie and Chris, Day 67

Rhys and Jason, Day 68

What a difference nine days makes! Last Thursday we moved to a new hospital to finish growing and learning how to eat. The ambulance ride was our first outing, and everyone just slept. The most exciting news is that they are finally in a crib together and interacting with one another. Rhys is 2448g and Harlo is 2906g. Both are feeding by gravity flow when not trying bottling or nursing - no more pumps!!

We loved BC Women's and Childrens', but St. Paul's is wonderful too. The commute is longer (50 min vs. 10 min) but (1) we get more exercise walking to it, (2) we get to spend time together during the commute, (3) bus tickets are cheaper than gas, and (4) Harlo and Rhys love it there. The nurses are just amazing - spending 45min to an hour each time helping us with bottling and nursing.

The Little Hedgehogs, 9 weeks+

Harlo, Day 62

Rhys sucking on a finger he put in his mouth, Day 62

Our little frog, Harlo, Day 63

Danielle with Rhys and Harlo, Day 64

Rhys, Day 64

Rhys & Jason (left) and Harlo (right), Day 66

Harlo & Rhys are edging closer to a homecoming. Rhys weighs 2195g (4.8lbs) and Harlo is 2650g (5.8lbs). We work almost daily on bottle feeding or nursing, with very slow but steady progress. Once they master either or both, they are free to come home. We may be transferred to a new hospital this week to finish growing and learning, which would be the first time they have ever been outside!

The Little Hedgehogs, 8 weeks++

Harlo holding Jessica's finger, Day 60 - wearing a onesie from Cullen!

Harlo and Danielle, Day 60

Jessica, Dany & Rhys, Day 60

Dany, Jessica, Jason & Rhys, Day 60

Harlo and Rhys continue to grow - Harlo is over 2300g and Rhys is over 2000g and has almost doubled his birth weight (2030g). Rhys has been on a course of antibiotics for a small skin infection that is rapidly clearing up.

The Littler Hedgehogs,8 weeks+

Harlo, Day 53 and Rhys, Day 54

Harlo, Jason & Jessica, Day 54 - their first visitor!

Rhys sans all tubes, Day 57

Rhys, Danielle & Harlo, Day 58

Rhys, Day 58

A few recent pictures for everyone to enjoy. Rhys is now eating every 2 hours through his stomach - a big change from continuous feeds to his small intestine! Harlo is our chunky monkey - over 2200g.

The Littler Hedgehogs, 8 weeks

Today marks 2 months since Harlo and Rhys first saw Jason and I. We have come a long way! Rhys is now breathing independently and weighs over 4lbs. Harlo is up to 4 1/2 lbs and has officially doubled his birth weight. They welcomed their first visitor to the NICU on the holiday Monday this week and should get their first vaccinations soon. We feel we have plateaued a bit again - waiting on them to get older and a bit bigger so that the eating falls in line with the breathing. They are only 35 weeks!

The Littler Hedgehogs, 7 weeks

Harlo and Danielle, Day 50

Rhys' first bath, Harlo sucking a finger, Harlo's first bath

Jason and Harlo

First double cuddle

Harlo and Rhys are 50 days old! Rhys is a giant 1736g, and Harlo is 1890g. Both are so much improved - last night we had NO ALARMS the entire time we visited including a bath, an hour off breathing assistance for Rhys, and our first attempt at breastfeeding with Harlo. We just can not relate how soothing and exciting it is to interact with each of them without worrying so much.

The Littler Hedgehogs, 6 weeks++

Just a quick note with a promise to post pictures soon.

Harlo and Rhys have continued to do great over the weekend. I changed the title to "Littler" because Rhys is over 3 3/4 lbs, and Harlo broke 4 lbs. yesterday. On Saturday, Harlo also came out of his isolette into a crib. On Sunday we gave Harlo his first bath, and then I held them both together for the first time. Yesterday they both took a trial at being off any breathing assistance, and Harlo is still off almost 21 hours later! We can't wait to start working up to independence with Rhys during cuddles this week.

The Littlest Hedgehogs, 6 weeks+

Harlo, Day 43 showing his true colors before a cuddle

Rhys and Danielle, Day 44

Harlo and Jason, Day 44 - look fewer tubes for a few minutes!

The last two days have been really exciting for Jason and I, but probably less so for the little beans.

On Thursday, Harlo and Rhys were promoted out of the acute care area into "the back" which is for growing babies without major complications. Our new room has 4-7 babies instead of 12 and 2-3 nurses instead of 6. It is amazingly quieter. Best of all, they are finally next to one another! Jason was the first to touch them both at the same time, ever, on Thursday night.

On Friday night we walked in and thought they had moved Rhys again because we didn't recognize him in his CRIB! He wears a onesie under a long-sleeve footie to stay warm, but he is outside! We had our first side-by-side cuddle, and Harlo and Rhys could see each other for the first time, if they could see that far.

We have also held Harlo for an hour each of the past two nights without his breathing assistance, and he is doing really well. Harlo also got changed to 3-hour feeds from every 2 hours, and the result has been almost an asking for food at 8pm when we cuddle him and he gets fed. He thinks he is ready for a boob and even leached onto Jason last night. Rhys is much more awake when we cuddle and working hard on sucking practice.