I had to take the twins to the opthamologist today and I about fell over when they did the exam. Apparently preemies struggle with retina development so we have to see the doctor several times to make sure they are progressing as they should. Mom and I got there and they dilated their eyes as suspected.. then... they brought out the Barbie salad tongs and shoved them into my childrens' eyes, holding back their lids. Austin screamed so loud and cried so hard, he broke blood vessels in his forehead and Grace didn't do much better. What in the world!!!!! I was shaking when we left and to top it off, they have to go back in three weeks. :((( That was Dark Ages torture as far as I am concerned. It was horrible and I am so sad that they have to endure that kind of pain just to see if their eyes are ok. Good news is that they do look good so chances are they will be joining us seeing individuals, nice.
We met our first night nurse candidate and she was not good for the job. Boo! The girl had two hair colors that were not complementing each other (sandy blond and orange). I don't think a 21 year old student will cut it.. back to the drawing board. I have been tempted to go with a Doula instead even though it will be more expensive. Hopefully the agency will call tomorrow with someone who can start immediately!
Have to go to bed .. getting up in an hour for the 11pm feed. Cheers to another day with my little stars.
Much love to you all,
Erica and Tom
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Night Nurse here we come..
So, I went on sittercity.com last night and posted our job and got 6 applicants, woo hoo! I have never been so excited about sleeping in my life. We are interviewing three tomorrow so that should be handled by tomorrow. It's amazing how quickly I have to get things done now. Having three kids will certainly make me more efficient with my time.. bc I have NONE! :)
The kids took 80LMs tonight!!! They both did really well and we switched to the platex drop in bottles which seem to be easier. The NICU gives you these little 2 oz bottles and although my freezer is full of them, I have no new ones left so off we go to the store bought varieties. The new nipple confuses them a bit but they adapted pretty quickly.
The days seem to be ok but I am starting to imagine what life will be like once Mom leaves and it's scary. Simple things like running to the bathroom will be a new challenge. Man, I forgot about this with Tommy. I am so inspired by all of my friends who have twins that have already run this gauntlet and survived.. "just a few more months" I keep thinking..
We have an opthamology appt tomorrow bc preemies struggle with underdeveloped eyes .. hope that goes well. The second pedi appt. is Thursday so I will report new weights and such then. All in all, they are doing well and we can't complain. The great news is that I have hired a photographer to come to the house to shoot and am so excited to get some photos of all three kids!!!
Much love you all,
Erica and Tom
The kids took 80LMs tonight!!! They both did really well and we switched to the platex drop in bottles which seem to be easier. The NICU gives you these little 2 oz bottles and although my freezer is full of them, I have no new ones left so off we go to the store bought varieties. The new nipple confuses them a bit but they adapted pretty quickly.
The days seem to be ok but I am starting to imagine what life will be like once Mom leaves and it's scary. Simple things like running to the bathroom will be a new challenge. Man, I forgot about this with Tommy. I am so inspired by all of my friends who have twins that have already run this gauntlet and survived.. "just a few more months" I keep thinking..
We have an opthamology appt tomorrow bc preemies struggle with underdeveloped eyes .. hope that goes well. The second pedi appt. is Thursday so I will report new weights and such then. All in all, they are doing well and we can't complain. The great news is that I have hired a photographer to come to the house to shoot and am so excited to get some photos of all three kids!!!
Much love you all,
Erica and Tom
Monday, February 27, 2012
Breastfeeding is NOT going well :(
I just have to have a moment for the biggest frustration about the kids coming home. Breastfeeding them has become virtually impossible. I'm afraid of Grace choking again so I have been working mostly with Austin. I have to however top him off because he gets tired too fast, then I have to bottle feed Grace and finish off by pumping.. NINE times a day. The past few days I have been so tired that I have to skip at least one pump a day which screws up my milk production. I feel like a cow gone wrong..
It was so easy to bf Tommy, I took it for granted. sorry for the rant, I'm just frustrated. I now have an entire freezer full of milk that I will mostly likely be using sooner than I had hoped. Ummph..
Good news is that we will be interviewing night nurses this week to start on Sunday. My mom is going to leave on Friday, poor thing. She has been here off and on for a month and I am sure she is so ready to be in her own bed. We can't do this alone we are realizing - at least this beginning part - and we found some nursing students that might work. I'm nervous about having a stranger in our house at night with our two precious babies but we HAVE to sleep more. After the 2am feed, we fall asleep and nothing wakes us up.. very scary!! It will be nice to have some help for a least a month.
The kids are doing great. .. growing I think .. we will prove that on Thursday at the pedi office. The Regional Center came by today to assess the kids for developmental problems and said that they both look good. Of course Grace is dealing with mild subluxation in her hips so we will see the ortho next week to be sure she doesn't need a brace. For the most part though, they are normal yet tiny babies and are soo sweet. Being home is comforting to them and us. Little T is getting more comfy too which is so cute. He pushed my mom away from Austin tonight almost in a protective manner and it was amazing to see him begin to own them as his siblings. He said to me tonight, "Mom, let's go feed the babies." Tom had let him hold the bottle for Austin so he is now feeling a part of the process of taking care of them, nice.
I signed them up for the wait list at Manhattan Beach Preschool today so they are officially ready for school in 3 years. Each day brings a new milestone that solidifies the fact that they are mine. I like that and it feels good to be in this new place whether I sleep or not.
Much love to you all,
Erica and Tom
It was so easy to bf Tommy, I took it for granted. sorry for the rant, I'm just frustrated. I now have an entire freezer full of milk that I will mostly likely be using sooner than I had hoped. Ummph..
Good news is that we will be interviewing night nurses this week to start on Sunday. My mom is going to leave on Friday, poor thing. She has been here off and on for a month and I am sure she is so ready to be in her own bed. We can't do this alone we are realizing - at least this beginning part - and we found some nursing students that might work. I'm nervous about having a stranger in our house at night with our two precious babies but we HAVE to sleep more. After the 2am feed, we fall asleep and nothing wakes us up.. very scary!! It will be nice to have some help for a least a month.
The kids are doing great. .. growing I think .. we will prove that on Thursday at the pedi office. The Regional Center came by today to assess the kids for developmental problems and said that they both look good. Of course Grace is dealing with mild subluxation in her hips so we will see the ortho next week to be sure she doesn't need a brace. For the most part though, they are normal yet tiny babies and are soo sweet. Being home is comforting to them and us. Little T is getting more comfy too which is so cute. He pushed my mom away from Austin tonight almost in a protective manner and it was amazing to see him begin to own them as his siblings. He said to me tonight, "Mom, let's go feed the babies." Tom had let him hold the bottle for Austin so he is now feeling a part of the process of taking care of them, nice.
I signed them up for the wait list at Manhattan Beach Preschool today so they are officially ready for school in 3 years. Each day brings a new milestone that solidifies the fact that they are mine. I like that and it feels good to be in this new place whether I sleep or not.
Much love to you all,
Erica and Tom
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Am I awake or asleep?
Today has been a blur. I was up from 2am until about 8am with intermitten sleep of about 20 minutes a pop. Thank the Lord that my mom is here because otherwise we would never sleep. I was able to get a nap in and am up for another night of feeding, changing and burping.. this is the long haul. Somehow I thought the NICU would be the hardest part of this journey but we are now in the no sleep stage. I am just glad they grow and change bc they are so fragile still it is hard to be excited. It is finally setting in that I actually have twins. Little Tommy is now freaking out and we are running on empty.. just what I imagined would happen. We had a come to Jesus conversation today after he cried for an hour and wouldn't let me hold or feed the kids. All in time.. I was just glad he was able to voice his feelings after months of pent up sadness and anger. He showed it all to me today and he is such a verbal child that we actually talked about it.
They are still eating 9 times a day and taking about 60-70 ML each time, two Enfacare formula bottles with vitamins and numerous diapers. We need a night nurse.
Sorry for the short blogs.. I have no time now so they will be shorter. Just wanted to catch you all up.
Much love,
Erica and Tom
They are still eating 9 times a day and taking about 60-70 ML each time, two Enfacare formula bottles with vitamins and numerous diapers. We need a night nurse.
Sorry for the short blogs.. I have no time now so they will be shorter. Just wanted to catch you all up.
Much love,
Erica and Tom
Friday, February 24, 2012
Day 2 with Gracie
I'm happy to report that Grace has not called 911 again.. We had an uneventful night and today has been mellow. We figured out a way to feed her that keeps her from refluxing. Only 60 ml, no more ..and then we hold her for 15 minutes. It seems to be working well for now so I can take a breath. She went to the pediatrician yesterday and all checked out well. One day in with three kids.. Wow.
Much love to you all,
Erica and Tom
Much love to you all,
Erica and Tom
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water...
I can't say that the past 24 hours have been all wonderful. We got Grace home after going back and forth with the doctors for days.. it was supposed to be amazing right? Well.. wrong. We had spoken with the team at the NICU about her being ready to come home and that she hadn't had a lot of episodes and so I was feeling so much safer, even confident that she would be okay.
Last night was surreal.. to start with the positive. Tom got off work and we drove up after putting T3 to bed. We got there and packed up. I was so emotional knowing that the past 9 weeks were over and we were moving on to another chapter. The blood, sweat and tears we shed were coming to a close and I was feeling very emotional obviously. We put her in the carriage and then got her to the car and I couldn't help but think that we were stealing her away in the night. We arrived home and got her all nestled in with her brother and then it began..
They woke each other up several times and I was nursing Grace while standing and giving Austin his binky at the same time, hilarious and a precursor to what I will be doing for the next 6-9 months. We seemed to get through the night as best we could and today I was feeling again, confident.
Around 11:45am, I was holding Grace after feeding her. She had latched really well and I felt like she had gotten a lot of milk.. I was even a little proud that our relationship was starting so smoothly. My sister called and I was talking away when Grace choked on milk that was apparently coming back up. The next few minutes did not go so well. .. she had a brady while I was holding her and she turned that oh so beautiful shade of BLUE. My mom was standing there with me and we both jumped into action. I grabbed her and patted her back quickly, no response. We rubbed her breastbone, no response. I turned her upsidedown and smacked her on the back several times, no response!!! My mom then grabbed her and did it harder. I took the baby from her arms and laid her down on the sofa and gave her a quick breath with my own mouth over her nose and mouth and low and behold, she came back!!!! Phew!! I called 911 and they were there within several minutes. The team came in to assess the situation and I explained what happened and the medic asked that I speak with a nurse at UCLA who really wanted me to have them take her to the hospital. I took a deep breath and said, "We have been at the hospital for NINE weeks, and I am not taking her back there." They were a bit shocked but I knew this could happen and by the grace (no pun) of God, I knew what to do and I would do it again. I pray to God that I don't have to.
We agreed that I would take her to the Pediatrician and I did, and he agreed with my choice to keep her home. We even called the neonatologist and he agreed. I think the NICU may have let her go too soon but now we need to be her champions and do the best we can to keep her breathing. Ugh.. I truly HATE saying that and I wish that I could fast forward the next several months so that she could be older and this wouldn't be a problem. I have to admit that this whole experience has changed me .. as a person, as a mom. The me of two years ago could never have given her baby CPR and been laughing with the firemen 30 minutes later, while T3 gawked at the firetruck that was consuming our driveway. I am in awe of what happened today and I am grateful for CPR training, my sweet baby who keeps fighting. She has taught me a world of lessons in such a short time. I just wish they were a little less dramatic, in essence we are screwed!!! I have a feeling she will be wearing "dramatic" well throughout her life.
She is doing well tonight and so is Austin who has been amazing today, just sleeping and eating. T3 is acclimating to them well and got to hold them last night for the first time. We have designated baby toes, his for kisses. We will keep you all posted and once I can download the pictures from last night, I will post them.
Much love to you all,
Erica and Tom
Last night was surreal.. to start with the positive. Tom got off work and we drove up after putting T3 to bed. We got there and packed up. I was so emotional knowing that the past 9 weeks were over and we were moving on to another chapter. The blood, sweat and tears we shed were coming to a close and I was feeling very emotional obviously. We put her in the carriage and then got her to the car and I couldn't help but think that we were stealing her away in the night. We arrived home and got her all nestled in with her brother and then it began..
They woke each other up several times and I was nursing Grace while standing and giving Austin his binky at the same time, hilarious and a precursor to what I will be doing for the next 6-9 months. We seemed to get through the night as best we could and today I was feeling again, confident.
Around 11:45am, I was holding Grace after feeding her. She had latched really well and I felt like she had gotten a lot of milk.. I was even a little proud that our relationship was starting so smoothly. My sister called and I was talking away when Grace choked on milk that was apparently coming back up. The next few minutes did not go so well. .. she had a brady while I was holding her and she turned that oh so beautiful shade of BLUE. My mom was standing there with me and we both jumped into action. I grabbed her and patted her back quickly, no response. We rubbed her breastbone, no response. I turned her upsidedown and smacked her on the back several times, no response!!! My mom then grabbed her and did it harder. I took the baby from her arms and laid her down on the sofa and gave her a quick breath with my own mouth over her nose and mouth and low and behold, she came back!!!! Phew!! I called 911 and they were there within several minutes. The team came in to assess the situation and I explained what happened and the medic asked that I speak with a nurse at UCLA who really wanted me to have them take her to the hospital. I took a deep breath and said, "We have been at the hospital for NINE weeks, and I am not taking her back there." They were a bit shocked but I knew this could happen and by the grace (no pun) of God, I knew what to do and I would do it again. I pray to God that I don't have to.
We agreed that I would take her to the Pediatrician and I did, and he agreed with my choice to keep her home. We even called the neonatologist and he agreed. I think the NICU may have let her go too soon but now we need to be her champions and do the best we can to keep her breathing. Ugh.. I truly HATE saying that and I wish that I could fast forward the next several months so that she could be older and this wouldn't be a problem. I have to admit that this whole experience has changed me .. as a person, as a mom. The me of two years ago could never have given her baby CPR and been laughing with the firemen 30 minutes later, while T3 gawked at the firetruck that was consuming our driveway. I am in awe of what happened today and I am grateful for CPR training, my sweet baby who keeps fighting. She has taught me a world of lessons in such a short time. I just wish they were a little less dramatic, in essence we are screwed!!! I have a feeling she will be wearing "dramatic" well throughout her life.
She is doing well tonight and so is Austin who has been amazing today, just sleeping and eating. T3 is acclimating to them well and got to hold them last night for the first time. We have designated baby toes, his for kisses. We will keep you all posted and once I can download the pictures from last night, I will post them.
Much love to you all,
Erica and Tom
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Between a rock and a hard place..
We saw Grace today and she officially weighs 6 lbs. 4 oz.! She is still adorable but still having brady's and desats and they are talking about doing a pneumocardiogram on Thursday which is two probes placed in her stomach that monitor her heart, lungs and digestion at the same time. They really don't want to do it but may have to. It seems that she has reflux and when you feed her, she gulps down her food really fast and then apparently it comes right back up but she doesn't vomit or spit up. She holds her breath... which causes her heart rate to slow. The problem is that she did it an hour and a half after eating a few nights ago and we would never know that she was having an episode without the monitors. What if she were asleep and we missed it.. not good. With another infant in the room and us sleeping in between her feeds .. it is just too risky. So she stays until she can get through at least a full 24 hours without any events.
We are looking at the end of the week for discharge.. maybe. I held her today and just cried because the whole experience is heightened by her still being there. Austin's spot has already been taken by a new couple and their child and it pains me to see her still in her open crib, not being held enough and being alone. I can only be there for an hour a day because it takes me an hour to get there and an hour to get back. I can't be gone that long from Austin and Tommy so my time is split unfortunately. My heart aches for her and I will not be complete until she is home.
On a lighter note.. Austin had his first doctors appt today with the pediatrician and did great! He is now 6 lbs. 7oz. and is 19" long!!! He seems to be loving being at home.. he gets so much attention and Mimi (my mom) is loving holding him all the time. We have been working as a team with Tom trying to cover Austin in the wee hours of night. I can't even imagine what it will be like to have two of them at home at the same time. We will cross that bridge when we get there. Right now, I am just glad to have at least one of them in our house .. We are all acclimating nicely. :)
I have added some pictures and will add more when Grace gets home.
Much love to all of you,
Erica and Tom
We are looking at the end of the week for discharge.. maybe. I held her today and just cried because the whole experience is heightened by her still being there. Austin's spot has already been taken by a new couple and their child and it pains me to see her still in her open crib, not being held enough and being alone. I can only be there for an hour a day because it takes me an hour to get there and an hour to get back. I can't be gone that long from Austin and Tommy so my time is split unfortunately. My heart aches for her and I will not be complete until she is home.
On a lighter note.. Austin had his first doctors appt today with the pediatrician and did great! He is now 6 lbs. 7oz. and is 19" long!!! He seems to be loving being at home.. he gets so much attention and Mimi (my mom) is loving holding him all the time. We have been working as a team with Tom trying to cover Austin in the wee hours of night. I can't even imagine what it will be like to have two of them at home at the same time. We will cross that bridge when we get there. Right now, I am just glad to have at least one of them in our house .. We are all acclimating nicely. :)
I have added some pictures and will add more when Grace gets home.
Much love to all of you,
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Austin is home.. First day complete!
I can't believe I'm saying this but Austin is really home.. The past 24 hours have been crazy but wonderful.. Well almost. We started out on Wed. Being told that he was ready and we ended up waiting to do the room in until Friday night, which totally sucked. We started the night with both babies and after the 11 pm feeding, Grace had two desats and Brady's and we had to give her back to the nurse. She wasn't ready and although we were soooo sad, it was for the best. So, the night began with stress.. No sleep later, we were happy to report that all went well and we were slated to be released at 11 am. We met with the doctors and visited Grace in her bay and then went and had breakfast.
By 12 pm, we still hadn't been released. So much goes into discharging a patient esp. a preemie so it took a while. When we finally got the ok, we took him downstairs and got the car. We had to adjust his car seat to the smallest setting and we were off. It was a decent ride home .. Totally surreal. Once we got home home, we realized that Tommy was napping so we waited until he woke to introduce them. As suspected, Tommy woke up grumpy so the initial meeting was rough but after a while, he warmed up. It was so cute when he said, "I hold him, now?" and petted his back. We were a little scared bc he has been coughing a bit but it hasn't gotten any worse so we are being cautious.
The last 24 hours has been crazy to say the least.. Feeding every three hours and then trying to visit Grace in the hospital. Tom and I divided today and he stayed home with the boys while I went for a few hours. This is the hard part, Grace had another serious apnea episode last night. ;( it broke my heart to hear but I'm so glad she is still there and not at home with me trying to deal. It will be another week before they will allow her to go so at least I will have a few days alone with Austin to prepare.
I will post pictures tomorrow of the home coming.
So much love to you all...we are almost there..
Erica and Tom
By 12 pm, we still hadn't been released. So much goes into discharging a patient esp. a preemie so it took a while. When we finally got the ok, we took him downstairs and got the car. We had to adjust his car seat to the smallest setting and we were off. It was a decent ride home .. Totally surreal. Once we got home home, we realized that Tommy was napping so we waited until he woke to introduce them. As suspected, Tommy woke up grumpy so the initial meeting was rough but after a while, he warmed up. It was so cute when he said, "I hold him, now?" and petted his back. We were a little scared bc he has been coughing a bit but it hasn't gotten any worse so we are being cautious.
The last 24 hours has been crazy to say the least.. Feeding every three hours and then trying to visit Grace in the hospital. Tom and I divided today and he stayed home with the boys while I went for a few hours. This is the hard part, Grace had another serious apnea episode last night. ;( it broke my heart to hear but I'm so glad she is still there and not at home with me trying to deal. It will be another week before they will allow her to go so at least I will have a few days alone with Austin to prepare.
I will post pictures tomorrow of the home coming.
So much love to you all...we are almost there..
Erica and Tom
Thursday, February 16, 2012
AUSTIN IS COMING HOME!
We arrived at the hospital yesterday to be told that Austin could go home today! We were so overwhelmed that we had to push our "room in" til tonight instead of last night so we could better prepare ourselves and the house. We will "room in" with the kids tonight and baby Austin will be in our house by Friday at noon. They have a hotel like room in the NICU for parents to do a test run and it should be an adventure!
Gracie is doing better and we figured out what was causing her such strife.. her vitamins! I tried to give her them again in a small bottle and she had one Brady after another (but not quite as bad as before). We discontinued them nevertheless and we will see how she does. She still has events and her heart rate still elevates so they are keeping her until at least Tuesday. What in the world am I going to do with one baby at home and one in the hospital? My mom is here now and my dad comes on Saturday so I might have to leave Austin with them on Sat. and Sun for a few hours so that we can go to the hospital to see Grace. We will figure it out but it will take some careful planning. We are sooo excited though to at least have one of them home, the NICU journey is finally coming to a close after almost 8 weeks .. crazy. It all feels like a blur.
Updates
Austin weighs 5lbs. 15 oz and Grace weighs 5lbs. 11oz.. they are still gaining! They are both getting better at breast feeding but we still supplement with a bottle and they are both up to SEVENTY MLS!! They are hungry little monkeys for sure.. just have to keep them fed and they are very quiet, sweet babies.. more as it happens.
Much love to you all,
Erica and Tom
Gracie is doing better and we figured out what was causing her such strife.. her vitamins! I tried to give her them again in a small bottle and she had one Brady after another (but not quite as bad as before). We discontinued them nevertheless and we will see how she does. She still has events and her heart rate still elevates so they are keeping her until at least Tuesday. What in the world am I going to do with one baby at home and one in the hospital? My mom is here now and my dad comes on Saturday so I might have to leave Austin with them on Sat. and Sun for a few hours so that we can go to the hospital to see Grace. We will figure it out but it will take some careful planning. We are sooo excited though to at least have one of them home, the NICU journey is finally coming to a close after almost 8 weeks .. crazy. It all feels like a blur.
Updates
Austin weighs 5lbs. 15 oz and Grace weighs 5lbs. 11oz.. they are still gaining! They are both getting better at breast feeding but we still supplement with a bottle and they are both up to SEVENTY MLS!! They are hungry little monkeys for sure.. just have to keep them fed and they are very quiet, sweet babies.. more as it happens.
Much love to you all,
Erica and Tom
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Not for the faint of heart..
WARNING: THIS IS KIND OF DEPRESSING, but it happened so I am sharing it.
I have good news and bad news.. the good news is that we are slated for Austin to come home on Saturday and Grace to come home on Monday or Tuesday. We have tentatively reserved the family room for Friday night so that we can do what is called "room in" with the twins. It is a trial run I suppose.. We are really excited and would be more so if what happened yesterday wouldn't have happened. :(
Bad news is that I was doing the 2pm feeding and was feeling really self sufficient.. I had just fed Grace and had to give her some vitamins so I was trying to give her a bottle. About 2/3 of the way through the bottle, she vommited all over me, nice! I didn't think anything of it, burped her, made sure she was ok and then wrapped her up and put her back in her crib. I went over to start Austin and the alarm went off. What happened next is something I will never forget. I turned and looked at my precious baby Gracie and she looked dead. She was ash gray and wasn't breathing.. she had aspirated her milk and was having a HUGE apnea episode. When I got to her, she was limp and not breathing and I grabbed her out of the crib and began patting her back vigorously.. a minute later, she was still limp. The nurses came over and asked me to give them Grace and as I stepped aside, they gave her oxygen and tried to suction her nose and throat. I have never been so terrified in my life. I thought for sure she was gone. About two minutes in, she finally took a big breath and started crying. I think I lost about 5 years in that moment.. my heart was beating so fast.
It turns out that she had indeed apirated milk and they suctioned it out of her airway, sat her up and called the respiratory therapist and our doctor. Our biggest fear is pneumonia obviously so we will watch her over the next few days to be sure her white cell count stays down. She is scheduled for an EKG as well bc her heart rate is still high (160s) even with the transfusion. They said it would be smart to check it before she leaves and I agree. I think they are still going to allow her to come home, but I am hoping that they keep her for at least another week. I don't think I will be able to handle it if something happens to her at home, While she is there, they can intervene quickly and I can step aside and let them do their jobs. If it is just us, I will be the one to bring her back and in theory that is all nifty, CPR and what have you.. but who wants to do that to their 5lb. 9oz. child??? I am terrified I will not do it right and it will be my fault if something horrible happens.
I will do anything to keep my child alive, but today really REALLY sucked and I just pray that we never have to go through that again. I will never forget what she looked like and that makes me so angry.. that I had to see that, that I know now what my child would look like if she passed. We are at the end of our stay in the NICU and it has been a roller coaster .. I wish I could get off. I wish I had that choice and I don't. We just keep rolling with the punches and I keep wondering, why is this happening? Maybe in time I will understand more deeply but right now it feels very personal.
Tom and I were able to go to dinner and try to celebrate VDay but I spent most of it crying, poor Tom. We will move past this eventually and the best part is that she is okay for now and we get to stay on this journey with her no matter how bumpy. Poor Austin got the shaft again with all of her drama.. he did great today and we will continue to watch him, hold him and hopefully bring him home on Saturday. The saga continues..
Update
Grace weighs 5lbs. 9 oz and Austin weighs 5lbs. 13 oz. :)
Much love to you all and Happy Valentine's Day,
Erica and Tom
I have good news and bad news.. the good news is that we are slated for Austin to come home on Saturday and Grace to come home on Monday or Tuesday. We have tentatively reserved the family room for Friday night so that we can do what is called "room in" with the twins. It is a trial run I suppose.. We are really excited and would be more so if what happened yesterday wouldn't have happened. :(
Bad news is that I was doing the 2pm feeding and was feeling really self sufficient.. I had just fed Grace and had to give her some vitamins so I was trying to give her a bottle. About 2/3 of the way through the bottle, she vommited all over me, nice! I didn't think anything of it, burped her, made sure she was ok and then wrapped her up and put her back in her crib. I went over to start Austin and the alarm went off. What happened next is something I will never forget. I turned and looked at my precious baby Gracie and she looked dead. She was ash gray and wasn't breathing.. she had aspirated her milk and was having a HUGE apnea episode. When I got to her, she was limp and not breathing and I grabbed her out of the crib and began patting her back vigorously.. a minute later, she was still limp. The nurses came over and asked me to give them Grace and as I stepped aside, they gave her oxygen and tried to suction her nose and throat. I have never been so terrified in my life. I thought for sure she was gone. About two minutes in, she finally took a big breath and started crying. I think I lost about 5 years in that moment.. my heart was beating so fast.
It turns out that she had indeed apirated milk and they suctioned it out of her airway, sat her up and called the respiratory therapist and our doctor. Our biggest fear is pneumonia obviously so we will watch her over the next few days to be sure her white cell count stays down. She is scheduled for an EKG as well bc her heart rate is still high (160s) even with the transfusion. They said it would be smart to check it before she leaves and I agree. I think they are still going to allow her to come home, but I am hoping that they keep her for at least another week. I don't think I will be able to handle it if something happens to her at home, While she is there, they can intervene quickly and I can step aside and let them do their jobs. If it is just us, I will be the one to bring her back and in theory that is all nifty, CPR and what have you.. but who wants to do that to their 5lb. 9oz. child??? I am terrified I will not do it right and it will be my fault if something horrible happens.
I will do anything to keep my child alive, but today really REALLY sucked and I just pray that we never have to go through that again. I will never forget what she looked like and that makes me so angry.. that I had to see that, that I know now what my child would look like if she passed. We are at the end of our stay in the NICU and it has been a roller coaster .. I wish I could get off. I wish I had that choice and I don't. We just keep rolling with the punches and I keep wondering, why is this happening? Maybe in time I will understand more deeply but right now it feels very personal.
Tom and I were able to go to dinner and try to celebrate VDay but I spent most of it crying, poor Tom. We will move past this eventually and the best part is that she is okay for now and we get to stay on this journey with her no matter how bumpy. Poor Austin got the shaft again with all of her drama.. he did great today and we will continue to watch him, hold him and hopefully bring him home on Saturday. The saga continues..
Update
Grace weighs 5lbs. 9 oz and Austin weighs 5lbs. 13 oz. :)
Much love to you all and Happy Valentine's Day,
Erica and Tom
Monday, February 13, 2012
...two steps back.. again.
Of course all was going well and we expected some mountains to overcome and of course today we got to that mountain. As I was driving in, I got a call from the neonatologist saying that Grace would be getting a transfusion today. Booo! It had been scheduled and there was nothing we could do about it. We jumped on the band wagon and it actually went pretty well. Her hematocrit was still 26 and has been for weeks, her heart rate was in the 200s and she kept having events fairly consistently. The writing was on the wall and knowing that they want the kids to come home soon, they felt it was the smartest decision.
She started at 2pm and was finished by 6pm and I stayed with her all day, holding her as often as I could. She turned pink from the extra blood (which was Tom's yay!) but slept the majority of the time. I was able to nurse her while it was happening and by the time I left, she seemed fine. Tom was able to come too and be with us for several hours which was really nice and comforting to me for sure. The main concern is that she accepts it well, she doesn't develop an infection or reject it but all of that would have happened immediately. The kicker is the stomach infection that can occur. We will watch for that too and whatever happens, we will deal with it. It is really scary knowing all of the what ifs and not having a clue if we are going to have to confront any of it.
Austin had a good day today which was nice. He was super alert and hungry! I tried to keep up with him just nursing but I ended up having to supplement with bottles. I am really going to have a chore getting them up to speed with breast feeding but we will have to worry about that later.
We are still on par for this week in terms of going home. The kids have to be in a safer place before they will release them which will probably be this weekend. My parents are coming back to help out and we will need it. This whole journey is coming to a close and I honestly cannot believe it. I can't believe that it has been more than 7 weeks. The time has melted away and I feel as if I have lost time for the first time in my life. .. very creepy.
Updates
Grace
She weighs 2530 grams which is 5 lbs. 9.2 oz.
Austin
He weighs 2660 grams 5 lbs. 13.8 oz.
Cheers to the next chapter..
Much love to you all,
Erica and Tom
She started at 2pm and was finished by 6pm and I stayed with her all day, holding her as often as I could. She turned pink from the extra blood (which was Tom's yay!) but slept the majority of the time. I was able to nurse her while it was happening and by the time I left, she seemed fine. Tom was able to come too and be with us for several hours which was really nice and comforting to me for sure. The main concern is that she accepts it well, she doesn't develop an infection or reject it but all of that would have happened immediately. The kicker is the stomach infection that can occur. We will watch for that too and whatever happens, we will deal with it. It is really scary knowing all of the what ifs and not having a clue if we are going to have to confront any of it.
Austin had a good day today which was nice. He was super alert and hungry! I tried to keep up with him just nursing but I ended up having to supplement with bottles. I am really going to have a chore getting them up to speed with breast feeding but we will have to worry about that later.
We are still on par for this week in terms of going home. The kids have to be in a safer place before they will release them which will probably be this weekend. My parents are coming back to help out and we will need it. This whole journey is coming to a close and I honestly cannot believe it. I can't believe that it has been more than 7 weeks. The time has melted away and I feel as if I have lost time for the first time in my life. .. very creepy.
Updates
Grace
She weighs 2530 grams which is 5 lbs. 9.2 oz.
Austin
He weighs 2660 grams 5 lbs. 13.8 oz.
Cheers to the next chapter..
Much love to you all,
Erica and Tom
Saturday, February 11, 2012
They could be coming home THIS WEEK!!!
Tom and I don't know if we should be excited or terrified.. they are likely coming home this week. They both handled the full :by mouth" feeding for the past 24 hours and we are looking at discharge soon. I will wait til the doctors tell me a date but we are getting everything ready.
We went in today with Tommy in tow and just tag teamed again. I got dropped off to do the 11am breast feed and Tom took Tommy to a park nearby. Then we switched and Tom was able to give Grace a bottle and that was fun for him. I then went up and breastfed Austin and he got 12 ML!!! That is double what he got yesterday so he is definitely making strides. We have to keep teaching them to nurse until they are able to increase the volume to where it needs to be. For now, we supplement with a bottle when I am done nursing them. When they come home, we will be giving them two bottles per day of Enfagrow so they can get extra calories. That means that I am still pumping, ugh.. but at least they will be getting more calcium which is why they do that for preemies.
Updates
Grace
She now weighs 5lbs. 6 oz. and is getting a little belly on her.. what a little cutie she is. They have her on a doughnut for her head shape because she has been on her side too much. She is still grunting like a little squirrel and it still cracks us up. She is a champion feeder and we hope that remains a constant.
Austin
He now weighs 5lbs. 12oz. and seems huge! Although quite the looker .. he is also dealing with the hammer head so he now has a doughnut as well. Good thing their heads change so much in that first year. :) He is doing much better with his bottle and is quickly learning how to nurse, thank God! I really dislike giving him bottles right now bc he gets tired so quickly and then has brady's which scare me to death! He is improving though and that is all that matters.
Sooo.. I will keep you all posted on when the big day is. We have been told that this can be a waiting game so I am not going to hold my breath. I will keep preparing their room, getting clothes washed and such.. nesting. The BIG ride is about to begin.
Much love to you all,
Erica and Tom
We went in today with Tommy in tow and just tag teamed again. I got dropped off to do the 11am breast feed and Tom took Tommy to a park nearby. Then we switched and Tom was able to give Grace a bottle and that was fun for him. I then went up and breastfed Austin and he got 12 ML!!! That is double what he got yesterday so he is definitely making strides. We have to keep teaching them to nurse until they are able to increase the volume to where it needs to be. For now, we supplement with a bottle when I am done nursing them. When they come home, we will be giving them two bottles per day of Enfagrow so they can get extra calories. That means that I am still pumping, ugh.. but at least they will be getting more calcium which is why they do that for preemies.
Updates
Grace
She now weighs 5lbs. 6 oz. and is getting a little belly on her.. what a little cutie she is. They have her on a doughnut for her head shape because she has been on her side too much. She is still grunting like a little squirrel and it still cracks us up. She is a champion feeder and we hope that remains a constant.
Austin
He now weighs 5lbs. 12oz. and seems huge! Although quite the looker .. he is also dealing with the hammer head so he now has a doughnut as well. Good thing their heads change so much in that first year. :) He is doing much better with his bottle and is quickly learning how to nurse, thank God! I really dislike giving him bottles right now bc he gets tired so quickly and then has brady's which scare me to death! He is improving though and that is all that matters.
Sooo.. I will keep you all posted on when the big day is. We have been told that this can be a waiting game so I am not going to hold my breath. I will keep preparing their room, getting clothes washed and such.. nesting. The BIG ride is about to begin.
Much love to you all,
Erica and Tom
Friday, February 10, 2012
One more day down..
Today has been equally as stressful as yesterday but I think I handled it better. Grace didn't latch as well today in the 2pm feed as she did yesterday, but she did okay. I'm not complaining.. Austin latched better in the first feeding today but then scared me taking his bottle in the 5pm feed. He got more than I thought bc I couldn't get him to finish the remaining milk via bottle. By 5pm, he was spent.. wouldn't even wake up to nurse more than a few minutes.. then had two brady's back to back. Ugh..It's a crap shoot it seems trying to decipher how much they drink. I am determined to figure it out though.. Ultimately, they do better in the 2pm feeding. The 5pm is a disaster.. or at least it has been these last two days. I just don't want to push them too hard..
Good news is that they still look adorable and I'm bonding with them more this week simply because I'm able to spend more time here with them. I hate that that means I'm away from Tommy but I just keep saying to myself that it is temporary. I'm not sure I will know how to deal when we are all under the same roof but we will cross that bridge later..
Updates
Austin weighs 5lbs. 11 oz. and Grace weighs 5lbs. 6 oz.. still gaining!
Much love to you all,
Erica and Tom
Good news is that they still look adorable and I'm bonding with them more this week simply because I'm able to spend more time here with them. I hate that that means I'm away from Tommy but I just keep saying to myself that it is temporary. I'm not sure I will know how to deal when we are all under the same roof but we will cross that bridge later..
Updates
Austin weighs 5lbs. 11 oz. and Grace weighs 5lbs. 6 oz.. still gaining!
Much love to you all,
Erica and Tom
Thursday, February 9, 2012
.. one step back..
Everything was going so well this week that the small pessimist in me was waiting for something to shift. .. and it did. Well I can't say that we had a bad day, it just scared me. I arrived and got to hold them both.. we all fell asleep which was great as usual. They know me now and just snuggle in and fall asleep which I treasure. A short break later, I came back at 2pm and did my first nutritive feed. Austin latched and did pretty well, Grace did too but I knew she didn't get much. They both then finished their bottles on top of what they got from me. They were full but no one threw up, sweet! I was feeling good.. tired but good... and very proud of my little stars.
I went and got a coffee and rested for a bit, and came back for the 5pm feed. I had no idea how this second feed was going to go bc they have never done three feeds by mouth in a row. I started with Grace and she latched immediately, and I think she got A LOT because we tried to finish her with the rest of the bottle but she handled it horribly! She not only refused to eat anymore, she had two bradys (HR went down to 66!) back to back and they scared me to death. She was refluxing a bit too I think. We laid her down after she recovered of course, swaddled her and I picked up Austin. He wasn't interested in breast feeding at all which was a disappointment. Our nurse said, no big deal and she started bottle feeding him which ended up being fine. I was still full so I had to pump before I left and got started.. about a minute into it, I heard Grace's alarm and looked over. She was BLUE! The nurse couldn't get up bc she was feeding Austin and I was pumping so I dropped my pump to get to Grace immediately. She was having another brady and this time, it didn't go so well. I managed to get her out of her crib and unwrapped and after some coaxing, she finally took a breath. Geeeeez.. I about had a heart attack. She ended up being fine and I was probably overreacting but I will never get used to those darn bradys!!! She hasn't had any in a while and today she had three. Ugh. The good news in all of this is that she took to breast feeding and I think she prefers it because she can control the flow. With the bottle she can't and I think she tried and failed.
This is all on the heals of speaking with the discharge nurse today about final preparations before they come home.. that it will probably be the week after next and how excited I was to even talk about getting them home. Episodes like this make me terrified to bring them home, to let them fall asleep on their own without me watching them. I might ask for a monitor just so that I can sleep. ;) It does feel like the downhill stretch though and if I can get Austin to breastfeed more efficiently and get Grace to stop having events.. we might all make it.
Tomorrow, we will do the same thing again.. 11am to 5pm and then try two feeds back to back earlier in the day this weekend so I don't have to be away from the boys so much. The week was as follows:
Bootcamp
2 days one bottle/bf per shift (2 per day)
2 days two bottles/bf per shift (4 per day)
2 days three bottles/bf per shift (6 per day).. we are currently here.
If we can master this third stage, the kids get their feeding tubes out and we can really start planning for their homecoming. I will be praying that they are able to tolerate this jump with flying colors and we can get them home.
Updates
Gtace weighs 5 lbs. 4 oz. and Austin weighs 5 lbs. 10 oz. :)
Much love to you all,
Erica and Tom
I went and got a coffee and rested for a bit, and came back for the 5pm feed. I had no idea how this second feed was going to go bc they have never done three feeds by mouth in a row. I started with Grace and she latched immediately, and I think she got A LOT because we tried to finish her with the rest of the bottle but she handled it horribly! She not only refused to eat anymore, she had two bradys (HR went down to 66!) back to back and they scared me to death. She was refluxing a bit too I think. We laid her down after she recovered of course, swaddled her and I picked up Austin. He wasn't interested in breast feeding at all which was a disappointment. Our nurse said, no big deal and she started bottle feeding him which ended up being fine. I was still full so I had to pump before I left and got started.. about a minute into it, I heard Grace's alarm and looked over. She was BLUE! The nurse couldn't get up bc she was feeding Austin and I was pumping so I dropped my pump to get to Grace immediately. She was having another brady and this time, it didn't go so well. I managed to get her out of her crib and unwrapped and after some coaxing, she finally took a breath. Geeeeez.. I about had a heart attack. She ended up being fine and I was probably overreacting but I will never get used to those darn bradys!!! She hasn't had any in a while and today she had three. Ugh. The good news in all of this is that she took to breast feeding and I think she prefers it because she can control the flow. With the bottle she can't and I think she tried and failed.
This is all on the heals of speaking with the discharge nurse today about final preparations before they come home.. that it will probably be the week after next and how excited I was to even talk about getting them home. Episodes like this make me terrified to bring them home, to let them fall asleep on their own without me watching them. I might ask for a monitor just so that I can sleep. ;) It does feel like the downhill stretch though and if I can get Austin to breastfeed more efficiently and get Grace to stop having events.. we might all make it.
Tomorrow, we will do the same thing again.. 11am to 5pm and then try two feeds back to back earlier in the day this weekend so I don't have to be away from the boys so much. The week was as follows:
Bootcamp
2 days one bottle/bf per shift (2 per day)
2 days two bottles/bf per shift (4 per day)
2 days three bottles/bf per shift (6 per day).. we are currently here.
If we can master this third stage, the kids get their feeding tubes out and we can really start planning for their homecoming. I will be praying that they are able to tolerate this jump with flying colors and we can get them home.
Updates
Gtace weighs 5 lbs. 4 oz. and Austin weighs 5 lbs. 10 oz. :)
Much love to you all,
Erica and Tom
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Breast Feeding 101
Going home...The Dr. said today that we are getting closer but he was not willing to commit to a date. It all depends on how they do this week but they are still having brady's and desats so I am assuming all of that has to stop before they will be released.
Today, I went to Target to start picking things up for the twins' room and it felt so strange to be back at the newborn stage. I didn't have time to nest like I would have so I am on fast forward.. especially if they come home so soon. I am feverishly putting everything together and we will be ready. :) It's a fun next step though and makes it all more real.
Updates
Austin weighs 5 lbs. 9.4 oz. and Grace weighs 5lbs. 3.8 oz!!!!!
Much love to you all,
Erica and Tom
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Good day again..
I'm scared to say it went well again but it did. We had one hiccup and that was Austin's apnea event while drinking his bottle. I arrived to find them in the cutest fleece sweatsuits (thanks Mimi!! ;)) ..I did the non-nutritive breast feeding with them and then held them at the same time skin to skin.. We all three fell asleep. It was wonderful!!
I was able to do their bottle feeds and Grace has now been graded " advanced feeder " - woo hoo! She can suck, swallow and breathe at the same time.. Which is more like a 37 weeker! What a little rock star!!! Austin did well too but not as well.. We think he got tired but he was only able to get down 17 of the 47 ml in his 2 pm feeding. We will see how he does tomorrow but the OT is still advancing them both to two bottles per shift. I will meet with the lactation team and do my first nutritive feed.. Yay!!! It's all contingent on their progress tonight and tomorrow though.. Hoping and praying!!
Updates. ( we just called )
Grace
She weighs 5lbs 1.7 oz! She took 40 ml in 12 minutes, little piggy!
Austin
He weighs a hefty 5 lbs 7.5 oz. and drank his bottle in 20 minutes.. So glad he is doing better.
More later.. Much love,
Erica and Tom
I was able to do their bottle feeds and Grace has now been graded " advanced feeder " - woo hoo! She can suck, swallow and breathe at the same time.. Which is more like a 37 weeker! What a little rock star!!! Austin did well too but not as well.. We think he got tired but he was only able to get down 17 of the 47 ml in his 2 pm feeding. We will see how he does tomorrow but the OT is still advancing them both to two bottles per shift. I will meet with the lactation team and do my first nutritive feed.. Yay!!! It's all contingent on their progress tonight and tomorrow though.. Hoping and praying!!
Updates. ( we just called )
Grace
She weighs 5lbs 1.7 oz! She took 40 ml in 12 minutes, little piggy!
Austin
He weighs a hefty 5 lbs 7.5 oz. and drank his bottle in 20 minutes.. So glad he is doing better.
More later.. Much love,
Erica and Tom
No TRANSFUSIONS!!!!!!!
Great news.. the hematocrits were good! Well, they weren't great, but good enough. Grace's was 27. and Austin's was 29. The neonatologist decided not to do the transfusions.. phew!.. that was close. It was a good day with the kids.. I got there and jumped right in to breast feeding boot camp and then got to give them both bottles. :) They did really well.. It was me who felt like the novice. I got nervous for some reason. Regardless, everyone survived and I was able to start holding them. This time, I took time for each one which was nice.. I've been holding them together and I enjoy the individual time as well.
Updates
Austin
His feedings were increased to 47ML! and he takes all of that in a bottle in less than 30 minutes.. I am so impressed! If you could see how tiny he is, it seems amazing. His face is really changing now and he is such a snuggler.. we cuddle really well. He always likes to be right up under my chin and I love it, bc I can kiss on him the whole time. :) He has really gained weight and is at 5 lbs. 5 oz. now!
Grace
Her feedings got increased today too.. and she is now taking 45ML! Woo hooo! She now weighs 4lbs. 15 oz.. and is just behind her brother and her tummy is getting all round now which I just love!!!! All I want to do is zurburt her belly but I don't think the nurses would approve.. save that for home I guess. :) She has officially outgrown her preemie clothes. I can't believe it.. We have decided to donate a lot of them to the unit as a thank you for all that they have done for us.
We will move up tomorrow to two bottles per shift. It is one per shift now and they seem to be doing great. I will touch base with more as it happens..
Much love to you all,
Erica and Tom
Updates
Austin
His feedings were increased to 47ML! and he takes all of that in a bottle in less than 30 minutes.. I am so impressed! If you could see how tiny he is, it seems amazing. His face is really changing now and he is such a snuggler.. we cuddle really well. He always likes to be right up under my chin and I love it, bc I can kiss on him the whole time. :) He has really gained weight and is at 5 lbs. 5 oz. now!
Grace
Her feedings got increased today too.. and she is now taking 45ML! Woo hooo! She now weighs 4lbs. 15 oz.. and is just behind her brother and her tummy is getting all round now which I just love!!!! All I want to do is zurburt her belly but I don't think the nurses would approve.. save that for home I guess. :) She has officially outgrown her preemie clothes. I can't believe it.. We have decided to donate a lot of them to the unit as a thank you for all that they have done for us.
We will move up tomorrow to two bottles per shift. It is one per shift now and they seem to be doing great. I will touch base with more as it happens..
Much love to you all,
Erica and Tom
Sunday, February 5, 2012
quick post..
I am not going to write a lot but I have even more good news.. the kids were taken off of caffeine today. :) They have been on that since birth for apnea and it was finally time to come off. We are so happy and the other good news is that they have both gained more weight. I will write more tomrrow but I had to share.. Tom went by himself today and I took T3 to the park.
More later,
Erica and Tom
More later,
Erica and Tom
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Peaceful day with Nana and Poppy :)
Today was spent marvelling at the kids' ability to drink all of their bottles within 15 minutes. Grace picked up the pace today and did amazing and Austin is now an old hand at it. :) Nana and Poppy (Tom's parents) came to visit today and were able to hold them for the first time which was really nice. We all held them a lot today actually and it felt for the first time that the kids were detached from their beds. It seems like ever since they were born that they have been hooked up to something, isolated from us and today there was a shift. It was probably just me but it was nice. Now that I know they are coming home (2-4 weeks) for sure, I am preparing mentally I suppose.
In 8 days, they will be getting their feeding tubes out so that is a great sign. Every other day they will increase the number of bottles they get and I will begin to supplement those bottles with breast feeding until they are breast feeding most of the time. The hard part is that next week, they want me to come in at 8am to breast feed and then skip a feeding so the kids can rest (and use the feeding tube) only to come back for the 2pm feeding. That is going to be really hard for our time schedule and most likely will not work but I will see what I can work out with the nanny. Living so far away from the hospital poses major problems but we will find a way.
Updates
Grace
She now weighs 4lbs. 13oz. and is really quite adorable. We were worried there for a bit but she is coming around for sure. There is some respiratory therapist that comes to check on her all the time which is so sweet but kind of creepy too. I haven't met him yet but Tom keeps joking that he imprinted on her.. for those of you who watched or read the Twilight series, you will understand. All I have to say is Yuk to that! She beat out Austin tonight with her bottle feeding and did better, good job!
Austin
He weighs 5lbs. 3oz., woo hoo!!!! He got tired tonight I guess on his feedings but I am sure he will be ready to go tomorrow. He is such a cute little baby and I just want to snuggle him all the time.. he will be a momma's boy for sure, not the bad kind but I have a feeling we will be close. ;)
It was a good day and I am feeling very blessed that they are advancing each day. Thank you GOD!!!
Much love to all of you,
Erica and Tom
In 8 days, they will be getting their feeding tubes out so that is a great sign. Every other day they will increase the number of bottles they get and I will begin to supplement those bottles with breast feeding until they are breast feeding most of the time. The hard part is that next week, they want me to come in at 8am to breast feed and then skip a feeding so the kids can rest (and use the feeding tube) only to come back for the 2pm feeding. That is going to be really hard for our time schedule and most likely will not work but I will see what I can work out with the nanny. Living so far away from the hospital poses major problems but we will find a way.
Updates
Grace
She now weighs 4lbs. 13oz. and is really quite adorable. We were worried there for a bit but she is coming around for sure. There is some respiratory therapist that comes to check on her all the time which is so sweet but kind of creepy too. I haven't met him yet but Tom keeps joking that he imprinted on her.. for those of you who watched or read the Twilight series, you will understand. All I have to say is Yuk to that! She beat out Austin tonight with her bottle feeding and did better, good job!
Austin
He weighs 5lbs. 3oz., woo hoo!!!! He got tired tonight I guess on his feedings but I am sure he will be ready to go tomorrow. He is such a cute little baby and I just want to snuggle him all the time.. he will be a momma's boy for sure, not the bad kind but I have a feeling we will be close. ;)
It was a good day and I am feeling very blessed that they are advancing each day. Thank you GOD!!!
Much love to all of you,
Erica and Tom
Friday, February 3, 2012
A great week..
I was there when they gave Grace hers and she was able to drink 30 ML of the 40 ML.. wonderful! She got tired and fell asleep so we gave her the remaining 10 ML in her feeding tube. She was very peaceful and happy afterwards, love it. I am so proud of her too.
Tonight is a short entry - I hope you all have a great weekend!
Much love,
Erica and Tom
Gracie JOINS Austin.. she has her own CRIB!!
Apparently, last night Grace was moved to her own crib and I got to see it this morning. What a sigh of relief to walk up and see them both sans incubator. Today started well.. we had a semi-productive nursing experience and I was going to hold them skin to skin but we had a family meeting. Tom was able to come which was really nice. I have missed his presence at the hospital so much and I know he loved it.
The meeting went really well.. the Dr. essentially told us that the only thing keeping the kids in the NICU is that they don't know how to nurse yet. He said they have been a pleasure to work with and of course Tom and I felt so proud. His prediction for release from the NICU was between TWO and FOUR weeks!!!! They could be coming home very soon and we couldn't be more excited. It seems like the past almost 6 weeks have flown by and should they have to stay the full 4 weeks, that is still a whole lot shorter than we thought it would be.They are officially 34 weeks gestational tomorrow so it would be between 36 and 38 weeks and not the full 40. Yay!!!
They are both being checked on Monday for hematocrit again and the doctors will decide whether they will get a transfusion. It seems like a transfusion would be a good thing bc it is a nice boost but it correlates to another issue and that is stomach infection. They can't figure out why but they would rather not do the transfusion if it is not absolutely necessary.
The only other issue is that Grace will need a hip ultrasound. Apparently, girls who are breach can have serious hip dysplasia.We just need to complete it before she leaves the NICU. After that, we will have her checked again to be sure as there is a statute of limitations. If you wait too long, it cannot be reversed so we will do it asap
Updates
Austin
He weighs FIVE POUNDS and one oz.!!!!! Holy cow, I can't believe how fast he is growing. It is a night and day difference in the way he looks to me.. even just this week.
Grace
She weighs 4 lbs. 10 oz!!!! She gained a ton of weight yesterday so we are super proud of her progress as well! She is just behind him and doing really well. :)
All in all it was a successful day. I left a little early to see my OB and wasn't able to do skin to skin today but that was the only downside.. I'll take it.
Much love to you all,
Erica and Tom
The meeting went really well.. the Dr. essentially told us that the only thing keeping the kids in the NICU is that they don't know how to nurse yet. He said they have been a pleasure to work with and of course Tom and I felt so proud. His prediction for release from the NICU was between TWO and FOUR weeks!!!! They could be coming home very soon and we couldn't be more excited. It seems like the past almost 6 weeks have flown by and should they have to stay the full 4 weeks, that is still a whole lot shorter than we thought it would be.They are officially 34 weeks gestational tomorrow so it would be between 36 and 38 weeks and not the full 40. Yay!!!
They are both being checked on Monday for hematocrit again and the doctors will decide whether they will get a transfusion. It seems like a transfusion would be a good thing bc it is a nice boost but it correlates to another issue and that is stomach infection. They can't figure out why but they would rather not do the transfusion if it is not absolutely necessary.
The only other issue is that Grace will need a hip ultrasound. Apparently, girls who are breach can have serious hip dysplasia.We just need to complete it before she leaves the NICU. After that, we will have her checked again to be sure as there is a statute of limitations. If you wait too long, it cannot be reversed so we will do it asap
Updates
Austin
He weighs FIVE POUNDS and one oz.!!!!! Holy cow, I can't believe how fast he is growing. It is a night and day difference in the way he looks to me.. even just this week.
Grace
She weighs 4 lbs. 10 oz!!!! She gained a ton of weight yesterday so we are super proud of her progress as well! She is just behind him and doing really well. :)
All in all it was a successful day. I left a little early to see my OB and wasn't able to do skin to skin today but that was the only downside.. I'll take it.
Much love to you all,
Erica and Tom
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Go AUSTIN Go!
I arrived at the hospital today to find Austin in a CRIB!!!! I was so excited I could barely contain myself. He looked so great in a real crib for the first time in his life.. I am so proud of his progress!!
We had a good visit today .. the kids were perfect.. slept like logs, snuggled beautifully and had no events. Are these my kids??? They both latched on again but Austin was a little lazier today and that's ok bc he's just now learning. It could have been a super peaceful day however our nurse was horrible! She was so stressed all day long, fell behind on everything. To top my day off, I had a new couple beside me that delivered the night before. I had to witness their first time seeing their daughter in the NICU which is just awful and I immediately went right back to that first day, when I saw the twins for the first time all hooked up to machines with the beeping and such. What a traumatic time? and thinking about it was difficult.. I felt so bad for the couple but I know that they will survive it, just lke we are!! It made me realized how far we have come in the past 5 1/2 weeks. It is so hard to see people that are just beginning the journey and you can see they have no clue what they are in for. We all take trauma one piece at a time (at least Tom and I do) and it is such a fragile place to be in. Everyone around us knew that we were on this emotional rollercoster yet no one could cope for us .. we had to walk through the fire on our own.. Deep thoughts with Erica Haupert.. I know. haha
On a much lighter note, Grace's feedings have been increased to 40ML and hopefully she too will be in a crib soon. She is up to 4 lbs. 7 oz. and Austin's feeds are the same (42) but he has gained weight as well to 4lbs. 15 oz.!!! I have attached some fun pictures from today. Enjoy!
Much love to you all,
Erica and Tom
We had a good visit today .. the kids were perfect.. slept like logs, snuggled beautifully and had no events. Are these my kids??? They both latched on again but Austin was a little lazier today and that's ok bc he's just now learning. It could have been a super peaceful day however our nurse was horrible! She was so stressed all day long, fell behind on everything. To top my day off, I had a new couple beside me that delivered the night before. I had to witness their first time seeing their daughter in the NICU which is just awful and I immediately went right back to that first day, when I saw the twins for the first time all hooked up to machines with the beeping and such. What a traumatic time? and thinking about it was difficult.. I felt so bad for the couple but I know that they will survive it, just lke we are!! It made me realized how far we have come in the past 5 1/2 weeks. It is so hard to see people that are just beginning the journey and you can see they have no clue what they are in for. We all take trauma one piece at a time (at least Tom and I do) and it is such a fragile place to be in. Everyone around us knew that we were on this emotional rollercoster yet no one could cope for us .. we had to walk through the fire on our own.. Deep thoughts with Erica Haupert.. I know. haha
On a much lighter note, Grace's feedings have been increased to 40ML and hopefully she too will be in a crib soon. She is up to 4 lbs. 7 oz. and Austin's feeds are the same (42) but he has gained weight as well to 4lbs. 15 oz.!!! I have attached some fun pictures from today. Enjoy!
Much love to you all,
Erica and Tom
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