I have decided to try to keep track of all the milestones for the kids on here since I seem to forget to write them down in their books! One day I will have the time to fill everything out, I hope!
Lauren: She is still our big talker/babble queen. She has many sounds and seems to know how to carry on a conversation already! She also lets her opinions be known by yelling at the dog or her brothers when they are bothering her. She is starting to stand on her own and she is actually better at it than the boys right now. It's surprising because she was the last one to roll, crawl, and pull up-we didn't expect her to stand independently first! She still loves to laugh and smile, especially at Daddy! She loves the song for Elmo's World on Sesame Street and is starting to dance-which consists of swaying back and forth. She continues to make goofy faces all day long, which makes us laugh since they are not the most attractive ones! Her other favorites include going for walks in the Choo-Choo wagon, "Magic Baby, (which Daddy invented), and when I sing "You Are my Sunshine," (which I am not sure if she likes it or is laughing at my singing)!
Sam: He has started babbling a lot more, and makes some funny noises now. He is still cruising around on the furniture and is getting closer to walking on his own. He is our monkey and loves to climb on things. Sometimes he climbs on his siblings, sometimes on toys, and has now learned to use the diaper boxes. Logan and Sam both love to push things around and have discovered where I keep the extra diaper boxes. So, Sam will push the box back and forth for awhile, and then pushes it next to the couch. In a matter of seconds, he will climb onto the box and then up to the couch! I have a feeling he will be the first one to climb out of his crib! Besides climbing, Sam loves to crawl around with his head held up high (which looks pretty funny), wave his arms around and bang them onto everything, and crawls away from Logan so he can be chased. He also likes to cuddle when watching Sesame Street and when he is tired. He is our loudest child when he is laughing-a true belly laugh! He hates loud, sudden noises and is the first to cry when someone leaves the house.
Logan: He is still our sweet boy who likes to sit back and observe everyone. He seems to be the most like me in personality traits-reserved until he is comfortable with someone, then he is all smiles! He still is the only one with a dimple, so it's easy to pick him out in group pictures! He is still our biggest and loves to eat! As I said before, he loves to push things around the room. Give him a box and he will entertain himself for a long time! If you put a pillow or a Boppy on the floor he loves to throw himself onto it, which can lead to accidents since his aim is not always the best! He loves Murray on Sesame Street, along with most music-he is also starting to dance! Daddy plays "Magic Baby" with him too, but Logan gets obsessed and will keep crawling back to play again-when it's time to take a break, he cries and cries! He is great at making his brother and sister laugh and loves to make goofy noises to achieve that. He doesn't seem to get too upset, but you can definitely tell when he is tired or hungry! He also likes to cuddle when watching T.V. or when he is tired.
Overall, they are all doing great! Lauren has 2 bottom teeth and Logan has 1 bottom tooth, but Sam is still all gums! Hopefully he will catch up with them soon! They are eating more solids and seem to be fine with all foods so far. I miss being home with them everyday, but I school started again. Luckily we have supportive family that watches them when we are working. In a perfect world, I would be able to stay home full-time, but unless we win the lottery we need money to buy formula and diapers! I can't wait until their 1st birthday-sippy cups and milk!!! We will save a lot of time and money when that happens!
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Life is great!
It has been so long since I have posted on here, so I am sure nobody even checks it anymore! But I will post just in case someone stumbles onto it again!
The babies are about 9.5 months old now and are doing great! It amazes me how quickly the time has gone by-it seems like it was just yesterday that we were feeding them every 2 hours and they couldn't move anywhere. Now, they eat three meals a day and are getting into everything!
MOBILITY-Everyone can sit on their own and get into sitting position unassisted, which has made them much happier, (me too)! The boys are crawling quickly around the house. Sam has been moving on his own for a couple months now and Logan was a couple weeks after him. They are doing real crawling, not "army" crawling anymore! Lauren has just started crawling in the last week or so-although she doesn't go far, she is able to get to toys that would have been out of her reach previously. She gets so mad when the boys take off without her, but at least she is motivated to follow them!
The boys are also pulling up and cruising along the furniture, which was cute-now they pull up and start pinching us, pulling leg hair (Daddy's, not mine), and start fussing to be picked up. Sam is our climber, while Logan is usually content to just stand holding onto things. Lauren wants to pull herself up, but she isn't quite strong enough. If you are brave enough to sit on the floor with them, you will be attacked, (which is actually pretty fun now, even though they pull my hair and slobber all over me)! We had to buy some toys that they can stand with since they are not happy in the exersaucers or jumperoos anymore. More stuff-our house looks like a toy store!
TEETH- Lauren just started cutting the first tooth of the three babies! They have all been drooling and chewing on things for months, so it is nice to actually see something now! I have a feeling they are going to get a lot of teeth at once since they are almost 10 months and just now getting teeth!
SPEECH- Lauren is our most vocal child still. She loves to babble throughout the day, but her favorite sounds are na, la, and da repeated over and over and over! The boys are starting to make more noises, but not nearly as often as she does. When Sam is upset or frustrated, he babbles mamamama-guess I should get used to that when they actually understand who that is!
ROUTINES-So everyone sleeps 10-11 hours at night now-wonderful!! They take 5 bottles and 3 meals a day. We are still working our way through different fruits and veggies, but we haven't seen any allergic reactions yet. The boys seem to enjoy their food more than Lauren so far, but we are working on it. She seems to dislike different textures of foods-pureed vs. bits of fruit, but the boys don't seem to mind when we change it up!
They nap 3 times a day still, although it takes them longer to fall asleep now that they stand up in their cribs! In the mornings, they have fun "talking" and laughing before we go in to get them. It is so great that they have each other and now that they are interacting with each other, I know they will have this special bond for their entire lives.
Well, I know they shouldn't watch TV until after the age of 2, but sometimes our television randomly changes the channel to Sesame Street! Actually, we do turn it on for that show for a little bit everyday (about 10 minutes) because they love some of the songs and characters. I have a couple shows on DVR so we can fast forward to certain parts-the opening song, the letter of the day with Murray, Abby's Flying Fairy show song, number of the day with Murray, and Murray has a Little Lamb song. Murray is the big favorite here, along with Abby's song-Lauren squeals with delight during that! Anytime they are getting fussy, we flip on that and they sit and watch-a few moments of peace for us!
And we try to talk them for walks in our Choo-Choo wagon on the days it isn't too hot out-much easier to walk them in that instead of hauling out two strollers! Lauren yells and talks most of the time, while the boys sit back and chill out.
I love each stage these babies are going through, but it's a little bittersweet each time they pass a stage. I love this stage because you can see the wonder and excitement of new things in their eyes, and their innocence too. I can't believe I am so blessed to have three babies at one time-I wouldn't trade this life for anything in the world.
The babies are about 9.5 months old now and are doing great! It amazes me how quickly the time has gone by-it seems like it was just yesterday that we were feeding them every 2 hours and they couldn't move anywhere. Now, they eat three meals a day and are getting into everything!
MOBILITY-Everyone can sit on their own and get into sitting position unassisted, which has made them much happier, (me too)! The boys are crawling quickly around the house. Sam has been moving on his own for a couple months now and Logan was a couple weeks after him. They are doing real crawling, not "army" crawling anymore! Lauren has just started crawling in the last week or so-although she doesn't go far, she is able to get to toys that would have been out of her reach previously. She gets so mad when the boys take off without her, but at least she is motivated to follow them!
The boys are also pulling up and cruising along the furniture, which was cute-now they pull up and start pinching us, pulling leg hair (Daddy's, not mine), and start fussing to be picked up. Sam is our climber, while Logan is usually content to just stand holding onto things. Lauren wants to pull herself up, but she isn't quite strong enough. If you are brave enough to sit on the floor with them, you will be attacked, (which is actually pretty fun now, even though they pull my hair and slobber all over me)! We had to buy some toys that they can stand with since they are not happy in the exersaucers or jumperoos anymore. More stuff-our house looks like a toy store!
TEETH- Lauren just started cutting the first tooth of the three babies! They have all been drooling and chewing on things for months, so it is nice to actually see something now! I have a feeling they are going to get a lot of teeth at once since they are almost 10 months and just now getting teeth!
SPEECH- Lauren is our most vocal child still. She loves to babble throughout the day, but her favorite sounds are na, la, and da repeated over and over and over! The boys are starting to make more noises, but not nearly as often as she does. When Sam is upset or frustrated, he babbles mamamama-guess I should get used to that when they actually understand who that is!
ROUTINES-So everyone sleeps 10-11 hours at night now-wonderful!! They take 5 bottles and 3 meals a day. We are still working our way through different fruits and veggies, but we haven't seen any allergic reactions yet. The boys seem to enjoy their food more than Lauren so far, but we are working on it. She seems to dislike different textures of foods-pureed vs. bits of fruit, but the boys don't seem to mind when we change it up!
They nap 3 times a day still, although it takes them longer to fall asleep now that they stand up in their cribs! In the mornings, they have fun "talking" and laughing before we go in to get them. It is so great that they have each other and now that they are interacting with each other, I know they will have this special bond for their entire lives.
Well, I know they shouldn't watch TV until after the age of 2, but sometimes our television randomly changes the channel to Sesame Street! Actually, we do turn it on for that show for a little bit everyday (about 10 minutes) because they love some of the songs and characters. I have a couple shows on DVR so we can fast forward to certain parts-the opening song, the letter of the day with Murray, Abby's Flying Fairy show song, number of the day with Murray, and Murray has a Little Lamb song. Murray is the big favorite here, along with Abby's song-Lauren squeals with delight during that! Anytime they are getting fussy, we flip on that and they sit and watch-a few moments of peace for us!
And we try to talk them for walks in our Choo-Choo wagon on the days it isn't too hot out-much easier to walk them in that instead of hauling out two strollers! Lauren yells and talks most of the time, while the boys sit back and chill out.
I love each stage these babies are going through, but it's a little bittersweet each time they pass a stage. I love this stage because you can see the wonder and excitement of new things in their eyes, and their innocence too. I can't believe I am so blessed to have three babies at one time-I wouldn't trade this life for anything in the world.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Where Has the Time Gone?
So the babies are 5.5 months old and I am trying to figure out how we got here so quickly. It seems like they were just coming home from the hospital, but my upcoming return to work reminds me that they are already almost half way to their first birthday! They have grown so much, and so quickly, I am already a bit sad that so many stages are over. These will be the only babies we have, so I am trying to memorize every moment-and am taking tons of pictures to help me remember these days. It's going to be much more difficult than I expected to return to teaching. I would love to be able to stay home and teach these guys, but unfortunately we need my salary-as little as it is! Luckily our families are able to babysit for us!
We were able to get one more Synagis shot for each of the boys, and Chubby, (a.k.a. Chub Chub, Lauren), was able to get what was left over). We were battling our insurance company because they were over three months old and born at 32 weeks, so supposedly they didn't need any more RSV protection. Although we gave up that battle, our doctor's office was able to help us out-love them! So, by getting another shot, they are protected a bit more for when I go back to work next week. And we were able to get their weights, which we had a little bet on-of course, I won! Our big boy Logan weighed in at 15.1, Sam at 14.6, and Lauren at 13.11. It's crazy how big they are getting!
They have slept through the night a couple times, but usually go about 8 hours and then wake up to be fed. I can't wait until they sleep straight through, although this is much better than the 4 hours we were getting a few months ago! They all sleep in their cribs now at night and we are working on napping up there too. The boys will usually only nap for about an hour in there though, so hopefully that'll stretch out longer soon.
Sam was our first one to roll over from his tummy to his back, but his new favorite is rolling across the floor since he learned how to get from his back to his tummy. He also loves to look at me when I put him in his crib, smile, and then roll onto his tummy. Then we play the game where I put him onto his back and he continues to roll over until he wears himself out and gives up. I am a little annoyed with this game! :) He is our least vocal one, but when he is really happy we'll get some cooing out of him!
Lauren, however, is our loudest talker of the bunch-I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that she is a girl!? She will screech, coo, and make every noise under the sun, especially when we copy the sounds back to her. She is also our biggest drooler and loves to suck on her fingers-not her thumb, but fingers. And it is usually at least 2 fingers at a time! She is also the best at grabbing onto the toys on the exersaucers and jumperoos. She doesn't really bounce in those things-just grabs and spins everything on the top. She has a recent obsession with her feet that is actually causing her to scratch herself. She pulls on the bottoms of her pants to see her feet/socks/shoes better, but in the process she scratches her bare legs! It looks like she has been attacked by a cat. We will probably have to cut her nails everyday now! She does not really show much interest in rolling over and sometimes seems to have less strength than the boys-except she loves to stand!
Logan is our all around average baby. He can roll over both ways now, but needs to put more effort into than Sam right now. He has started vocalizing more now, but not as much as Lauren. He loves to jump in one of our jumperoos and will bounce himself to sleep if we don't take him out in time! He is hilarious to watch in there-he actually doesn't lift his legs, he just rolls forward on his toes and throws himself backwards over and over. The jumperoo is starting to make squeaking noises from over use! He also loves to suck on his hand, but more the top of his hand instead of his fingers or thumb.
All three are great at grabbing things and are getting better at putting things into their mouths. They are constantly drooling, all over their clothes and causing them to get rashes on their hands. They are very smiley in the mornings and can be pretty crabby in the evenings-I think we need better naps! We are still trying to get the hang of eating cereal, but they seem like they might get the hang of it soon, hopefully!
Next month we go to the cardiologist to check all the murmurs (PDA, PFO) and to the developmental clinic at the hospital to check in on their progress. I will try to post an update then.
We were able to get one more Synagis shot for each of the boys, and Chubby, (a.k.a. Chub Chub, Lauren), was able to get what was left over). We were battling our insurance company because they were over three months old and born at 32 weeks, so supposedly they didn't need any more RSV protection. Although we gave up that battle, our doctor's office was able to help us out-love them! So, by getting another shot, they are protected a bit more for when I go back to work next week. And we were able to get their weights, which we had a little bet on-of course, I won! Our big boy Logan weighed in at 15.1, Sam at 14.6, and Lauren at 13.11. It's crazy how big they are getting!
They have slept through the night a couple times, but usually go about 8 hours and then wake up to be fed. I can't wait until they sleep straight through, although this is much better than the 4 hours we were getting a few months ago! They all sleep in their cribs now at night and we are working on napping up there too. The boys will usually only nap for about an hour in there though, so hopefully that'll stretch out longer soon.
Sam was our first one to roll over from his tummy to his back, but his new favorite is rolling across the floor since he learned how to get from his back to his tummy. He also loves to look at me when I put him in his crib, smile, and then roll onto his tummy. Then we play the game where I put him onto his back and he continues to roll over until he wears himself out and gives up. I am a little annoyed with this game! :) He is our least vocal one, but when he is really happy we'll get some cooing out of him!
Lauren, however, is our loudest talker of the bunch-I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that she is a girl!? She will screech, coo, and make every noise under the sun, especially when we copy the sounds back to her. She is also our biggest drooler and loves to suck on her fingers-not her thumb, but fingers. And it is usually at least 2 fingers at a time! She is also the best at grabbing onto the toys on the exersaucers and jumperoos. She doesn't really bounce in those things-just grabs and spins everything on the top. She has a recent obsession with her feet that is actually causing her to scratch herself. She pulls on the bottoms of her pants to see her feet/socks/shoes better, but in the process she scratches her bare legs! It looks like she has been attacked by a cat. We will probably have to cut her nails everyday now! She does not really show much interest in rolling over and sometimes seems to have less strength than the boys-except she loves to stand!
Logan is our all around average baby. He can roll over both ways now, but needs to put more effort into than Sam right now. He has started vocalizing more now, but not as much as Lauren. He loves to jump in one of our jumperoos and will bounce himself to sleep if we don't take him out in time! He is hilarious to watch in there-he actually doesn't lift his legs, he just rolls forward on his toes and throws himself backwards over and over. The jumperoo is starting to make squeaking noises from over use! He also loves to suck on his hand, but more the top of his hand instead of his fingers or thumb.
All three are great at grabbing things and are getting better at putting things into their mouths. They are constantly drooling, all over their clothes and causing them to get rashes on their hands. They are very smiley in the mornings and can be pretty crabby in the evenings-I think we need better naps! We are still trying to get the hang of eating cereal, but they seem like they might get the hang of it soon, hopefully!
Next month we go to the cardiologist to check all the murmurs (PDA, PFO) and to the developmental clinic at the hospital to check in on their progress. I will try to post an update then.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Busy times 3
I did not realize how long it has been since my last post! Time has been flying by here taking care of our crew. The babies have changed drastically since they were first born. All three weighed well over 10 lbs at our three month visit, and we go again next week so I will update again then with their stats.
Our daughter is still dealing with acid reflux and floppy cartilage in her throat, (there is a technical term for it, but I have no idea how to spell it). She has her happy times and her fussy times, and you never know what you are going to get. I think she is training me for when she is a teenager! She is obsessed with Brad, already Daddy's little girl! We are going to see if we can upgrade to a stronger medicine to help her more. I hate when she is uncomfortable and in pain. There are nights that the only thing we can do for her is to sit in the rocking chair with her fuzzy blanket until she calms down. I know how painful reflux was for me when I was pregnant; I hate that she has to deal with that pain. She has not upped the amount she is eating in the past month or two either. She used to be our best eater, but the reflux is affecting that too. She usually takes between 3-4 ounces a feeding, and spits-up sometimes too. She was our first child to smile and is the most vocal one when it comes to cooing. Lately, she has been drooling non-stop, which I have learned is normal for her actual age! She needs to work on tummy time more since she is our most wobbly-headed child though. She doesn't seem to have the muscle strength that the boys do! She does love to "stand" on us though; it is sometimes impossible to burp her because she won't sit long enough.
Both boys are doing well and gaining weight like crazy! Logan has become our heaviest child and he looks like it! In the NICU, both boys preferred to look to their right sides, which their nurse worked on with them. Logan has decided to revert back to that and now has a bigger flat spot of the back of his head on the right side! We have been working on keeping him looking to the left more, so hopefully that'll solve that problem! He is great at lifting his head and keeping it up a long time. We are pretty sure he will be the first one to roll over, and probably pretty soon! This past week he has really started to smile and interact a lot more, as well as coo more.
Sam has also gained weight, but is still our smallest one by a couple ounces. He is our most sensitive one-to noise, gas pain, etc. When he is happy, he is really happy. When he is upset, you will most definitely know about it! He also has been smiling a lot more lately, especially the wide, open smiles! He is also great at holding his head up and likes to stand a lot too. Both boys eat 4-6 ounces a feeding now, which is a lot for their age.
I cannot wait for them to get a bit older and a little more independent. I am looking forward to them grasping things and rolling over soon, hopefully! Last night they slept five and a half hours during the night! I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel of lack of sleep! We want to be able to put the boys in their cribs and shut the door for the night-it'll be amazing to sleep again! Lauren will stay in our room because of her reflux and breathing issues for now. Sleep training will begin in a couple months-when they are four months adjusted.
Logan wants out of the swing, so that's it for my update for now. Hopefully I will have some impressive weights to post next week!
Our daughter is still dealing with acid reflux and floppy cartilage in her throat, (there is a technical term for it, but I have no idea how to spell it). She has her happy times and her fussy times, and you never know what you are going to get. I think she is training me for when she is a teenager! She is obsessed with Brad, already Daddy's little girl! We are going to see if we can upgrade to a stronger medicine to help her more. I hate when she is uncomfortable and in pain. There are nights that the only thing we can do for her is to sit in the rocking chair with her fuzzy blanket until she calms down. I know how painful reflux was for me when I was pregnant; I hate that she has to deal with that pain. She has not upped the amount she is eating in the past month or two either. She used to be our best eater, but the reflux is affecting that too. She usually takes between 3-4 ounces a feeding, and spits-up sometimes too. She was our first child to smile and is the most vocal one when it comes to cooing. Lately, she has been drooling non-stop, which I have learned is normal for her actual age! She needs to work on tummy time more since she is our most wobbly-headed child though. She doesn't seem to have the muscle strength that the boys do! She does love to "stand" on us though; it is sometimes impossible to burp her because she won't sit long enough.
Both boys are doing well and gaining weight like crazy! Logan has become our heaviest child and he looks like it! In the NICU, both boys preferred to look to their right sides, which their nurse worked on with them. Logan has decided to revert back to that and now has a bigger flat spot of the back of his head on the right side! We have been working on keeping him looking to the left more, so hopefully that'll solve that problem! He is great at lifting his head and keeping it up a long time. We are pretty sure he will be the first one to roll over, and probably pretty soon! This past week he has really started to smile and interact a lot more, as well as coo more.
Sam has also gained weight, but is still our smallest one by a couple ounces. He is our most sensitive one-to noise, gas pain, etc. When he is happy, he is really happy. When he is upset, you will most definitely know about it! He also has been smiling a lot more lately, especially the wide, open smiles! He is also great at holding his head up and likes to stand a lot too. Both boys eat 4-6 ounces a feeding now, which is a lot for their age.
I cannot wait for them to get a bit older and a little more independent. I am looking forward to them grasping things and rolling over soon, hopefully! Last night they slept five and a half hours during the night! I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel of lack of sleep! We want to be able to put the boys in their cribs and shut the door for the night-it'll be amazing to sleep again! Lauren will stay in our room because of her reflux and breathing issues for now. Sleep training will begin in a couple months-when they are four months adjusted.
Logan wants out of the swing, so that's it for my update for now. Hopefully I will have some impressive weights to post next week!
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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