Tuesday, November 10, 2009
One big, happy family!
Tonight everyone will be home from the hospital!!! Sam came home last night and we will be bringing Logan home tonight! It's weird to have two home right now, so I am sure I will be a bit overwhelmed (emotionally and physically) tonight when all three are here with us. We have waited so long for this and are so grateful that they have been so strong from the day they were born. Thank God that we have so much help from our families-I don't know how we would get through all this without them! I will try to update more soon and fill you all in on their little personalities and the fun we have with them!! I know some of you have access to pictures on my Facebook page, but I believe some of our family and close friends have not seen any pictures yet. If you fall into one of those categories, you can e-mail me and I will send a link so you can see some pictures. bd2178@comcast.net
Monday, November 9, 2009
Waiting
Lauren has been home for over a week now and we are starting to fall into a routine, which will soon be thrown out the window. We were told to plan on bringing Logan home over the weekend, but he is still at the hospital. When they are switched over to demand feedings without their feeding tubes they are weighed daily to make sure they are continuing to gain weight. Unfortunately, Logan lost weight Friday night, so he now has to show two days of weight gain again before being released. We are hoping that we will be able to bring him home early this week. They were moved into the step down room where there is less monitoring and is mainly filled with babies that need time to grow.
Sam had had more episodes of apnea than our other two, so they have him hooked up to additional monitors that record every breath and heartbeat for 3 days. The doctors review the data to see when he has these episodes, how long they last, etc. They do not usually count the spells they have when they are eating; mainly just the ones that occur while they are sleeping or while they are alone. He had two apnea episodes Saturday morning while sleeping that were only a couple minutes apart. His heart rate dropped down into the 70-80 range, but he did bring it back up on his own. When it happened again only a few minutes later, the nurse decided to go wake him. He will probably "fail" this test and buy himself more time in the NICU. We are hoping that a few days or a week more to mature will help him grow out of these spells. It's really scary to think that this could happen when he comes home, so we are willing to wait until he is done with these before taking him home.
Brad was finally able to visit the boys in the hospital today! It had been three weeks since he had been there, so they have changed a lot in that time. I notice changes after just missing a day of visiting, so I can't imagine what it would be like to see them after weeks. I know he missed seeing them, so I am glad we were able to go today.
Lauren is doing well at home. She has quickly learned that it is much better to sleep while being held rather than on her own! She sometimes seems to have trouble digesting her meals, so we usually hold her until she falls asleep before putting her down. She is a noisy little girl-grunting, squeeking, etc., and I keep telling her she can't do those noises after eating when she is older! She is eating better now than when we first brought her home though, so I shouldn't complain about the noises!
The babies will be one month old this week, but really only 36 weeks gestation. I can't believe it has already been this long! It's hard because the boys are still in the NICU, so it doesn't feel completely real yet. That will change as they come home! Thank goodness for the help from our families because I don't think I would be able to function at this point, let alone when all 3 are home! Brad and I actually both slept in our room last night for the first time in about 3 weeks. Oh how I missed that bed! Sleeping on the couch just isn't the same! My mom came over and took the night feedings so we could get some sleep. Hopefully we will be able to do that a bit more often!
Our girl is grunting so I'd better go see what's going on!
Sam had had more episodes of apnea than our other two, so they have him hooked up to additional monitors that record every breath and heartbeat for 3 days. The doctors review the data to see when he has these episodes, how long they last, etc. They do not usually count the spells they have when they are eating; mainly just the ones that occur while they are sleeping or while they are alone. He had two apnea episodes Saturday morning while sleeping that were only a couple minutes apart. His heart rate dropped down into the 70-80 range, but he did bring it back up on his own. When it happened again only a few minutes later, the nurse decided to go wake him. He will probably "fail" this test and buy himself more time in the NICU. We are hoping that a few days or a week more to mature will help him grow out of these spells. It's really scary to think that this could happen when he comes home, so we are willing to wait until he is done with these before taking him home.
Brad was finally able to visit the boys in the hospital today! It had been three weeks since he had been there, so they have changed a lot in that time. I notice changes after just missing a day of visiting, so I can't imagine what it would be like to see them after weeks. I know he missed seeing them, so I am glad we were able to go today.
Lauren is doing well at home. She has quickly learned that it is much better to sleep while being held rather than on her own! She sometimes seems to have trouble digesting her meals, so we usually hold her until she falls asleep before putting her down. She is a noisy little girl-grunting, squeeking, etc., and I keep telling her she can't do those noises after eating when she is older! She is eating better now than when we first brought her home though, so I shouldn't complain about the noises!
The babies will be one month old this week, but really only 36 weeks gestation. I can't believe it has already been this long! It's hard because the boys are still in the NICU, so it doesn't feel completely real yet. That will change as they come home! Thank goodness for the help from our families because I don't think I would be able to function at this point, let alone when all 3 are home! Brad and I actually both slept in our room last night for the first time in about 3 weeks. Oh how I missed that bed! Sleeping on the couch just isn't the same! My mom came over and took the night feedings so we could get some sleep. Hopefully we will be able to do that a bit more often!
Our girl is grunting so I'd better go see what's going on!
Sunday, November 1, 2009
One of three at home
Our little girl is at home with us! She came home a few days ago and we are adjusting to life with one infant. I think we are going to be pretty busy once all three are home! I was terrified and excited to bring her home, as well as sad to leave our boys at the hospital. They were able to move both boys together though since she left a vacancy in our pod at the NICU. She is not eating as much as she did at the hospital, so I am worried that she is going to lose weight when we go to the doctor this week. She was up to 4 pounds 7 ounces at discharge. Not a bad weight gain for 2.5 weeks! She hates her vitamins, even when we try to mix them with breast milk. She sleeps best when being held, which does not work well for us getting any sleep! Luckily, my mother and mother in law have been able to help out during the night shift since Brad is not allowed within a range of a few feet still. We are hoping he will be able to be more involved this week since he is feeling better and is fever free.
Our boys are considered growers and feeders at this point, so hopefully they'll be home within a few weeks. Both boys have been breathing too fast for bottle feedings sometimes, so the resident who looks after our kids ordered chest x-rays for them. It turns out they had fluid in their lungs, so they are on a 3 day course of medication to help drain it out. We are hoping that helps them regulate their breathing so they can take more feeds by mouth instead of their tubes. I visited them today and both boys are in open cribs now regulating their own body temperatures!
I can't wait for them to all be home and let our crazy new life begin. It is going to be a lot of work, but it'll all be worth it!
Our boys are considered growers and feeders at this point, so hopefully they'll be home within a few weeks. Both boys have been breathing too fast for bottle feedings sometimes, so the resident who looks after our kids ordered chest x-rays for them. It turns out they had fluid in their lungs, so they are on a 3 day course of medication to help drain it out. We are hoping that helps them regulate their breathing so they can take more feeds by mouth instead of their tubes. I visited them today and both boys are in open cribs now regulating their own body temperatures!
I can't wait for them to all be home and let our crazy new life begin. It is going to be a lot of work, but it'll all be worth it!
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