Mouse & Kitten.

What's new this morning?

We got a call this morning from one of the neonatologists at Peninsula. Nothing wrong, just an update on the night before. Now that's service with a smile!

They spent the night in the same isolette, which was an adorable sight on Ginger's cell phone camera. However, they were too warm, so that's not a viable long-term solution, no matter how cute. So they're moving to an open-air bassinette today. We wanted them to get used to sharing the isolette because the room they'll have to share between now and, say, when Charlie goes to college is not much bigger. Open-air bassinettes are progress, though. The inexorable march toward normalcy continues.

They're also working on bottle feedings as a replacement for the NG tubes. Right now they only take a portion of their 35-44 ml feedings by bottle, and then the NG tube is used to top them up to ensure proper stretching of the stomach walls. And when Ginger's there, it goes:

• Nursing, which day-to-day ranges from "what's all this, then?" rank amateurism to smashing success.
• Bottle.
• Syringe and NG tube.
• Repeat all of the above with the other twin.
• Ginger retires to the pump room for the next round.

What we're looking for now is the ability to coordinate breathing while nursing, which typically occurs at 35 weeks' gestational age.

Transport team.

Mouse, a bit sleepy from the ride.

Kitten, wide awake.

Done yet?

Yep. Evelyn's arrived too. This is her in the transport isolette.

How did the transport go?

Still in process. Anna's here. However, the transport isolette was too small to bring them both in one trip, so they had to go back for Evelyn.

The transport isolette is a pile of electronic equipment clipped to the top of an ambulance gurney. At the very top of the pile is a blue nylon box that looks like a cross between a tent and a soft-sided beer cooler. That's where the baby rides. There's a zippered access door in the side. We're told there's a little five-point harness inside, too. Adorable.

They couldn't ride together, but once Evelyn arrives the girls might be placed side-by-side in the same isolette. This saves space in Peninsula's relatively tiny NICU, which they call "the SCN" for Special Care Nursery. Evelyn's not too far off from an open-air crib anyway.

I remember seeing the SCN here when Patrick and Charlie were born. It was adjacent to the elevator lobby, but the blinds were always closed, so you couldn't ever see in. I think I remember it seeming like a sad place. I never thought I would be happy to be here. Probably no one ever does.