the mission: wash and tweek twice

the story: naive as i was, i volunteered for early morning duty... and in the morning is - exactly: washing. which includes creaming, weighing, changing. and in the 21st century a man has bad luck on talking his way out of this... :) no, seriously, i didnt want to fold. i am their dad and i want to do it all!
and the hours at end of kangarooing give you the boost to be the racoon any day!

the result: relative praise from the expert: "for never practiced you are quite good at this!" well, my self esteem is unrockable! :)

unfortunately there was no time left for the third one. while i was all warmed up now! so, mommie had to take over.

next stop: maybe the engineer inside gets the better of me and i will invent a preemie washer machine until next time, who knows? :-P

mission accomplished! vic & ben have outgrown the incubator and are now officially "on the unit"! the two of them. on the same one!




in wise precaution i took out the steering wheel from the convertible, though. after all, i am the legal representative and my license is in enough danger as it is! :)
but now we have - as with collin for several days already - much more time and opportunity to snuggle and cuddle. finally we really have three kids, and that 24/7!

besides, it also feels much better to actually SEE the progress, to have it objectively measurable in front of us...

so at this point - again but with the same devotion as ever - a big THANX from our heart to everybody orchestrating this progress. you are truly grand!

well, that musta been one tired lookin' kangaroo! anyways, an especially nice nurse decided against the usual semi-lounge-chair and had us use the bed last night. THAT was something alright for collin and his kangaroo! cosy and comfy, good nuff to hold out for an extra while!
however, in bed, the desire to "nod away" is immense, too. so it is down right dangerous - we dont want to lose the precious cargo off the kangaroo!



but everything went alright and it was an all around good experience. so, thanx, anita!

unfortunately, the ears were out for sterilizing - so, no fotos. but honestly, who wants to see a half-sleeping, fully earless kangaroo? :)

over all the agitation, the initial grief and discomfort, the battles, the conversation, the soul stabilisation, the hours, days and nights in the intensive care unit and not least also the break on the blog, two eminently important and very positive aspects should be all but forgotten: benjamin and victoria!

so, here - finally! - the latest status of our two "oldest":
victoria's arm is healing very well! the bandage is small enough by now for her to bend the ellbow! oxygen is supplied in very little quantities now and no longer from the huge mask, but from streamlined little transparent prongs in her nose. almost invisible, the little princess likes them.
benjamin is also in top shape. he can do entire days without any breathing assistance whatsoever. his ductus venosus inaudible. looking good!

the pair are allowed TOGETHER on the kangaroo! which of course looks funny, especially when they poke each other's faces... both have long since passed the 1000 gram mark. and we start hearing careful talk about being placed into the same incubator soon and soon after that into an open bed, the so-called "unit", the dream of all preemies! because mostly, these units are on the much desired "nurturing" side...

collin must - no, HAS A CHANCE to - walk now. down a very long and risky path, with an unknown destination.

he finally has convinced EVERYBODY with his fighter personality! so much that we got an official "go" today to continue what he started over the past 2.5 weeks: he is to grow and stock up on strength and development for 4 weeks, then we'll see what opportunities there may be for the longer term.

not to spread any unrealistic rumors: this is not turning down any alert levels! this is confirming that our back is up against the wall. but on the bright side: if your back is up against the wall, all walking goes into only one direction! and: every global journey starts with the first step!

are you ready, boots? start walkin'! good luck, collin! we are with you. always.

dear finger crossers, for hope reasons all flights have been grounded. collin will not fly out and thank y'all personally. not yet.



every cloud has a silver lining, fine as it may be.

collin will fly out and visit each finger crosser personally. soft, quiet, in the dark. don't miss it!

today is not a good day. friday wasn´t a good day either, because collin had a new surgery on his belly.
it was catastrophic for everybody, even doctors and nurses. nobody expected what they have found in his belly. they have done everything they could.
to cut a long story short, our little one will have to take a new path the next days, his path is one way only and allows only one traveller.
the pain is strong, it is not easy to write at the moment and it won´t be easy to withstand this sad time.

from now on our blog will be "paused", for a few days, until we will have accompanied our sweet baby on his path with dignity, without pain, until we are allowed to do that.

for the meantime i turned off the light.

weeeell, question was, who will have gained the most weight relative to birth time, by the end of the month...
measuring, computing - the engineer's favourites... makes you look scientific, kills time and distracts wonderfully from possible bad stuff lurking in the back somewhere. so, really, a very positive action, alltogether...



we start - just like the billboard top ten - at the tail: the most discrete head of our dragon is our firstborn, benjamin. he weighed in at 925 grams today. welldone! a real feat. this is almost exactly 47% gain.
second comes in - despite the absolute weight record from yesterday - collin! starting at an opulent 680 grams he reached 1030 grams by now, in other words almost 52% gain! good job, big guy! and the winner is: our girl, victoria, my own personal vote.
the lady made her run from 590 grams all the way up to 920 grams, almost surpassing her older brother in absolute weight: a massive 56% weight gain! i wonder if she would like news like this spread once she has grown up? :) be that as it may, at the moment this is excellent news!
and another truth: clearly visibly, the kids emerge from health difficulties strengthened. this is also due to your crossed fingers! thanx again to everyone. and especially for tonight's and tomorrow's crossing, because this is when the decision will be made whether collin needs another surgery... all together now: *cross*

collin is the first one to break the magical mark of one thousand grams! ok, there is still a lot of fluid stashed in his tissue, besides he was born the heaviest. and after all he still has trouble with his belly. but a broken mark is a broken mark!

since today, there is a balloon on his little "glass house" boasting "1030g". he smiles proudly and is back to fighting again already...

his siblings are behind him, but closing in!