Hi everyone, we made it another day with the babes improving. Both Grace and William remain on the wall, getting breast milk in addition to their total protein mixture. They seem to be tolerating the food well, Both had their IVs changed and the nurses found veins on the first try. They seem to use a rubberband for a tourniquet -- makes sense considering how small the babes are.

William is having a brain scan today to check for brain bleeds, which unfortunately happens with about 20% of babies born before/at 32 weeks and when the Mom has HELLP syndrome. Grace will have a scan too at the 10 day mark. We are praying that the babes will come through a-okay.

David is back at work, part days, working with his clients who have been very accommodating. And the folks at Women-to-Women gave us two lovely complete outfits for Grace and William. The blankets Disney -- double sided -- and are adorable. Thanks to these special people!

Back to the flowers -- our home continues to smell great. Thanks to:

Trudy and the Callaghan family
Anne Theriault
The PCHC family -- Ken, Kevin, Mary, Vicki, Carol, Denise, and Doug
The IL connection -- Betty and Jackie
The Bivin Family
The Kennebunk connection -- LuAnne and Julianne
The West Wingers -- Katie, Jan, Bill and Val
The Drollinger's
My awesome department -- Stakeholder Relations
The Fresno hemophilia gang -- the Anderson's, Carmody's and Terray's
The Foth Family in Madera
The gang at Community Dental

It was such a pleasant surprise to run into Patti Watson at the NICU. She left Anthem BCBS to take a job at MMC in the development office and is working on HELLP syndrome, according to David. How worthwhile to raise funds for such a nasty syndrome.

I'm pumping and getting the hang of it. It is really strange in that some times during the day my body produces more milk than others. Each day, we take about 5-6 oz of breastmilk to the NICU freezer. When the nurses feed the babes they thaw it for use.

I spoke to two of David's sisters yesterday. They will be getting together in New Mexico next week with David's Mom for fun and family activities. Our love to David's Mom, Grandma, Dad and Jan, the sisters, husbands and children -- I know you are calling checking on us.

Betsy, we are getting ready for some of your yummy sweets. I'll call you in the next few days or please call us -- and come join us for dinner.

My incision is healing nicely and I'm not on pain meds anymore. Getting in/out of bed can still be tricky but doing it slowly is the key. And my heart is healing too -- the babes are in the best possible place, other than our home -- we are very lucky to have such great care, family and friends. We pray that one or both of the babes will come home very soon so we can cuddle them and take care of them. David is wonderful, tending to me, helping me with cleaning and sterilizing the bottles. And of course, my Mom is still here. Yesterday was a special day for her and we are so glad she spent it with us -- and holding Grace for the first time too. Harry Potter, our standard poodle, is calming down and sits with me when I pump -- it is nice to have the company. Even Sarah Wendy, our cat, is more social and visits us in the living room.

With love,

David, Victoria, the babes, Harry and Sarah