slow and steady

We've got a bit of good baby related news today. My milk came in so I'm sending good amounts of breastmilk down to the nicu. The caseworker that is handling our insurance came to talk to us this morning. Our insurance normally approves a rental pump for 1 month but because the babies are so early, they automatically approved it for 3 months. We only have a $30 copay for the whole 3 months and if we need it after that, it's only $65 a month. It's a Medela Symphony, supposedly the best available right now. The rental place will deliver it to me at the hospital by 10am tomorrow!
So, onto the boys. Riley is doing really well. I asked about his apgar scores from when he was born and he was a 3 and then a 7. They also did one at 10 minutes and gave him a 9. They also told me that he didn't get the ventilator until 6 minutes after he was born and he was breathing primarily on his own. His skin looks good and there's no sign of the skin breaking down. He's even started tugging on a few of the tubes. He's also sucking on his fingers and twisting his tongue around the tubes in his mouth and trying to suck on them. They had to make him a little belt out of a blanket to keep him in place. He had a little bit of extra oxygen added in today and he still has yet to pee. They've started him on dopamine (spelling?) to help stimulate his kidneys and liver.
Addison is having a little bit of a tougher time. They had to pull his line out of his belly button yesterday and they tried to put a new one in his arm but they weren't able to get it threaded so they're still pricking his heel for now. He's got some bruising on his leg from having his leg held while they do the heel prick but his circulation is all better now. He is going to get his first blood transfusion today. We signed forms when they were first born to approve transfusions for both of them. As they do blood work, the babies aren't able to make enough blood to replenish so apparently this is pretty common for micro preemies. Addison was sucking on a little q-tip when we went to see him. They use the sterilized water to rinse out their mouths and let them suck. His apgar scores were 4 and 7.
The one caseworker we talked to today said that we can start holding them hopefully in the next week or so. We'll be able to do kangaroo care even if they're still on the ventilators which was really nice to hear.
So, one day at a time is our motto right now. They're doing well right now and that's what really matters.