Hoping for more days like these

The boys have been looking great. Both are gaining weight. Kaden weighed 3lbs 13oz and Braylon weighed 4lbs 13oz. Although Kaden in only in the 3rd percentile, he is finally starting to gain and maintain his weight. They increased his feeding to 26 calories to help him progress a little quicker.
We have a big eater on our hands. Braylon nippled all but ½ of one of his feedings today and I am pretty sure he broke a NICU record. Yesterday the nurses would give him his whole feeding by gavage (through his tube) even after he had breastfed. I thought that it was strange and thought they might be over feeding him so I asked the night nurse if that was normal. She said, “Oh yeah, they almost always do that with preemies because they can’t get enough from the breast alone, it’s just too much work. I would be amazed if could get a full feeding from breastfeeding at his age. There is just no way.” I told her, “Really? Because it feels like he is getting a lot out.” It wasn’t until they weighed him last night and he had gained a little more weight than they had expected that they started to consider that he might actually be getting a full feeding or even a half feeding from breast. Today the day nurse decided to weigh him before he breastfed and then after he was finished eating. They are able to measure the amount of fluid in their stomach because 1gram on the scale equals 1mL of fluid. She let him eat for a ½ hour and then weighed him. She was so stunned by his weight gain she weighed him twice before she could believe it. He weighed 60 grams more after his feeding, which means he ate a grand total of 60mL, over 1 ½ feedings. His full feeding by bottle or gavage is only 42mL. I wanted to say, “He is a Howland. Haven’t you heard we don’t do anything small? That’s why we got two babies in one shot and look at what a commotion they caused when they were born. And didn’t I mention my milk supply?” (I am able to pump so much they have started to hint about donating some of it, but I keep telling them I’m stock piling it for later, I will need if they both eat like Braylon)
Kaden has been doing excellent on his high flow cannula. The nurses can hardly tell the difference in his respiratory status whether he is on it or the c-pap. The doctor said he can try and stay on it a little longer each time and he only has to use the c-pap when he looks like he needs it. He is starting to fight the c-pap, which the nurses say is great because the more he fights and shows he doesn’t need it the faster the doctors will take it away for good. He made it eight hours by the time we left tonight. I was able to hold him for 2 hours today and we both loved every minute of it. He can finally relax enough to snuggle right in and fall fast asleep. He looks so peaceful now when he is sleeping and actually looks rested. The more rested he looks and the more weight he gains the more he is starting to look like his brother. He is changing more and more each day, just like his brother did several weeks ago when he really started to progress. Kaden is very interested in starting to nipple and likes to burrow his face in my chest and stick his tongue out to lick me or try and suck. Today he left a big puddle of drool on me. He won’t be able to start nipple feeding until he is off c-pap for good and off the continuous feedings. If things go for him like they did his brother it will practically happen overnight. We are hoping that he is finally over the hump.