New accomodations

The boys are doing pretty well this weekend. Griffith is having a few stomach issues still. No one appears terribly alarmed but it is a little frustrating. Apparently after surgery it is not all that uncommon to have an ilius. As best I understand it, your intestines move food through by contracting rhythmically. When you have surgery, that stops the movement and it sometimes takes awhile for it to start back up again. It is just a matter of time, but it is, well, frustrating. On the up side, though, his incisions are healing well and he seems to be getting back to his ol' fiesty self. Yesterday Cheryl reported that he was hanging out, breathing room air (no oxygen) for several hours. He can't do it full time, but he is making progress. He's also been sitting up in his swing and loves it. Not only does he like the constant movement, but it enables him to investigate what's going on all around him. This morning, Jenny had Griffith propped up looking out in to the hallway and singing "I'm a Girl Watcher." Oh, yeah, it is cute now, but just wait until he's a teen-ager. Jenny is going to have a lot to answer for then.
The big news on Allan is that he is moving in to the same nursery as Griffith. They should be roommates by tonight. They were originally in beds that were side-by-side, but Griffith got moved to isolation because he tested positive as a carrier for MRSA. Despite the fact that he wasn't sick with, despite the fact that at any given time 2/3 of the population has it on their skin, and despite the fact that the boys are going to be sharing the same bed as soon as they get out of the hospital, they weren't allowed to remain together. (Hospital protocol. What.Ever.) Anyway, it comes as no surprise that Allan has tested positive as well. So now they can be together. After 8 weeks of separation. It will be nice for us in that we don't have to separate when we go to care for them. And they might as well get used to the idea that the other kid is here to stay (I swear they both think that they are only children!) But since they are together, we only need half the nurses. That means that we are going to lose some of the folks who have taken such good care of the boys. And that makes us unhappy. Having the boys in the NICU is hard, but knowing that they are with people who are not only competent, but also genuinely love and care for them makes it possible for us to go about our day-to-day life. I can't say that we don't still worry, but we worry less because of the faith and trust that we have in their nurses. I'm sure that it will all get sorted out though. There are worse problems to have other than too many people who love and want to take care of your babies. Besides, Griffith is so social, he'll probably organize an open house or happy hour or something.