Christian Momma

Well, I finally did get a call back from the nurse. She said that I could come in today for a BP check…I asked her if I was going to have to pay for it and she said yes…so I asked if I could just got to Wal-Mart. She told me that would be fine, so that’s what I did today. This time it was on the low end of normal…127/71. My thinking is the other day I took my BP pill with Coke…probably shouldn’t have done that. It’s a slow release pill (slowly releases over a 24 hour period), and taking it with Coke probably messed up the pill. Anyway, I called in my BP to the nurse and she was supposed to write it down in my chart. I’m not feeling dizzy like I did yesterday, but I have had a few “head rushes” from moving too fast.

Anyway, Kevin drove me down to the hospital last night (with my 13 frozen bottles of milk and 7 refrigerated ones…YEAH). I made it down there for their 6 pm feeding. Well, the nurse asked me right away if I wanted to nurse Andrew…I jumped at the chance (figuring that he’d do what he did the last time). Well, he latched on and drank for 6 full minutes before giving up!! He did wonderfully!! I was so excited!! I didn’t get the chance to try with Daniel this time, but I’ll make sure he gets to try the next time! I was so relieved that he actually did it! I was afraid that neither one would latch on and I’d be pumping forever!! I know Daniel can latch on, since he did the last time, so I know he can do it too!! The nurse I had last night was telling me that it’ll only be a matter of time before I’ll be nursing them both at the same time!!
I took the car seats in last night too. They have to do what is called a “Car Seat Challenge”, where they monitor the baby as they are strapped into the car seat to see if they have any issues for 1/2 hour. They like to do this a few days before discharge. Oh and my boys are already circumsized too!! They said they’d do that a couple days before discharge! I’m so excited…things are moving right along!! They should be getting their Hepititus B shot and Synergist shot today (or Saturday).

I’m hoping they don’t have any issues and gain their weight so they can come home Monday!! I guess Excited doesn’t really explain my feelings…but I think you all can get the picture!!

I went to the hospital again tonight! It was great! I got to try to nurse both boys (on a 1/2 empty breast). Daniel was the 1st to try, he’s the one who had been having issues with feeding lately (not any more, but the past couple days)…anyway, he latched on and sucked once or twice, then slid off. Andrew tried next, he would get his mouth opened up wide enough to latch and sit there not knowing what to do. However, he did trigger a let down, so I know he got some milk! The nurse who was on tonight told me that a lot of premature children don’t get the latch on/nursing accomplished until they are 40 weeks gestation…so anytime between now and then can be practice…maybe they’ll just learn quicker!!

Oh and the best news that I heard…the nurses told me that my boys will probably be coming home early next week!!! I’m so excited!! I’m not exactly sure what “early next week” is, but that’s still GREAT news! I was even told to bring in the car seats with in the next couple days!!

Anyway, right now I’m on cloud 9!

I feel…: excited

I went to the hospital last night by myself (that’s the 1st time I went by myself). I got to feed both Daniel and Andrew! It was wonderful! Oh and the best part, they allowed me to “try” nursing Andrew last night! Unfortunately, he wasn’t sure what to do once he was on my breast…so needless to say, we didn’t do too well. But at least I was able to get him to latch on a couple times (even if he didn’t suck). The nurse said that it’ll take some time to get him to know what to do, but he’ll get it. I didn’t get the chance to try Daniel, he had been having a little bit of issues with eating and had a feeding tube back in…but they weren’t using it unless it was necessary…he had been taking his feedings by bottle, but there are times it takes him too long to eat so they feed it through the tube. I guess if it takes too long to eat, they burn up more calories than if they would have eaten quicker.

Here’s hoping that there aren’t any more issues and that I get the chance to nurse them both soon!! Not to mention them coming home quickly!!

I feel…: hopeful

We went to the hospital tonight!! Kevin went up first, he got to feed Daniel tonight! Then after he was done, he came down to the lobby and I went up and got to feed Andrew. Of course I got diaper duty again tonight too, but that’s ok!

I did get to meet the resident that is on for the month. She’s really nice. She stopped in to see if I had any questions or anything. So I had asked her what we are looking at as far as them coming home. She said that they need to gain a little more weight and learn to eat from a bottle and then they can come home. Well, since neither of them have a feeding tube any longer, they are learning to eat from the bottle now…and might I mention doing wonderfully! And they’ve gained weight too, but I know they need to gain more. Daniel weighs 3 pounds 6.6 oz; Andrew weighs 3 pounds 4.8 oz.

After talking with one nurse, she told me that if there were things to get done before the boys get home that I need to start getting it done because it looks like they’ll be coming home soon!! That really made me happy! She said don’t be too surprised if they say something about them coming home sometime this week!!! OMG! That’s soon! I’m not going to get my hopes up too high though, but to me that sounds very promising! (And again that came from a nurse, not the dr).

So, this week/weekend we are focusing on getting stuff done around here…finishing up with the baby room (I have clothes scattered everywhere, the crib is still in the toddler bed, etc.) I also need to get a pediatrician lined up…I have one in mind, but I need to find out if our insurance covers them and if they are taking new patients…I’ll have 4 to add!!

I’m a little nervous, but it’s so exciting to know that they may be home soon!!

EDITED TO ADD: The resident told me that as soon as they hit 2,000 grams (not sure the pound/ounce yet), they can come home!! YEAH!!

Now for my mini-vent!!!
When we got to the hospital, I sat down with the boys in the lobby (due to the no one in the hospital under the age of 14 due to the flu/RSV season). So we sit there and there was a lady (I’m assuming grandma) with a young girl down there too. Well, this little girl is hacking…BADLY!! And of course she’s not covering her mouth. I was very nervous, since we were sitting in the same area. When they got up and went to the gift shop, I was a bit relieved. Then they came back and the little girl had a balloon that said “It’s A Girl”. So I’m thinking, ok, her mom just had a baby. Well, they gather up their stuff and go to the elevators…ok…NO ONE UNDER 14 is allowed to visit. So while they were gone, I took my boys over to the gift shop for a piece of candy. When I got back…guess who was back, hacking?!! So I picked up our stuff and we moved over to the cafe’. The lady in the gift shop had mentioned something about that little girl and how she shouldn’t be here…I said yeah, that’s all I need is to be sick with my babies in the NICU! I’m not a doctor, but man did this little girl’s cough sound pretty deep in her chest…and there’s sick people walking all around in the lobby too! I just can’t understand why you would bring a sick child to the hospital! Not to mention the fact that she went up to visit someone…I’m assuming on the maternity floor! As we were leaving later on, the staff at the front desk were complaining about that child. One of the ladies had said to the “grandma” that she needed to take her out of the hospital, and I guess the “grandma” said that she just had a slight cold! Slight cold?? A slight cold is a little runny nose…not a deep cough that you are talking about getting medication with codeine in!! UGH!! Why don’t people get it??

I feel…: excited

02 March 2005 @ 08:19 pm

We went to the hospital today!! It was great! The boys are doing wonderfully!

They are in an open crib! Andrew pulled out his feeding tube and the nurse said he’s doing so wonderfully on nipple feeding that they weren’t going to put it back in for now! Daniel needs a little help remembering to breathe while eating, but they said it normally takes a few times but he’ll get it. I got to feed them both their bottles! They said that this weekend I can try nursing them!! YEAH!! I also got 3 diaper changes and 2 outfit changes tonight! LOL Andrew peed through his diaper before we ate and then pooped afterwards…Daniel pooped after he ate (the nurse changed him while I was feeding Andrew), and then while changing him, he decided he wasn’t done pooping…so we had to change his outfit!

Hopefully we’ll have some help this weekend with Michael and Noah so Kevin and I can go up together to see them!

I feel…: excited

01 March 2005 @ 04:10 pm

Well, no hospital visit tonight I hate when I don’t get to see my babies! I did call the NICU today and they said that the boys are doing great! They had 2 feedings from a bottle and did it within 15 minutes (which is good)!! Oh and they are in an open crib today!! YEAH!! The nurse said they may have to go back into their isolette if their temps go down, but for now they are in the open crib bundled together!! Co-bedding!

I did talk with the nurses last night to see if it was the hospital policy to send away the placenta to see if twins are identical or fraternal. Well, the NICU nurse called L&D and they said it was common policy for any multiple birth to send the placenta away and that I can get the results from my OB doctor. She said she didn’t know the time frame of them getting the results…she said that they definitely should have it by my 6 week check-up. Which I got scheduled today…April 1 I go in for my 6 week check-up!

Today I drove for the 1st time since having the twins (and a while beforehand)…I took Noah to Meijer, then to McDonald’s, and then to Target! I got the cutest baby announcements from Target, and get this, they are on sale!! YEAH!! I need to figure out what to put on them now!

I feel…: blah

Ok, I’ve been pumping since the twins were born…

(Possible TMI for some below…)

I think I’m doing pretty good so far…I’m producing an average of 107 ml’s at each pump. It is anywhere from 1/2 a bottle to almost a full bottle (the ones the hospital give me for storage they hold 80 ml in each bottle). I’m pumping for 15 minutes every 2-3 hours. Some days there is less than others, but I think this is wonderful considering I haven’t had them at my breast at all!! I’m just hoping and praying that when they come home that I can actually nurse them and not have to just pump!

Things are going really well…I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to hold them both at the same time without dropping one or losing my grip. However, I’m finding out that it’s not that hard. The nurses will put them both on my lap and I’ve been able to maneuver them around my lap without problems. I guess I am capable of doing this. I’m sure I’ll figure things out as they get older too!

I have to say that more and more I’m feeling like a new mom…it’s hard to think that way when you come home to the normal day to day routine and your babies aren’t here with you. But as each day goes by, I start to realize that it won’t be much longer for my babies to come home!!

Twin update (as of 2/27/05 9:30 pm):
Andrew now weighs 3 pounds!!! Daniel now weighs 3 pounds 1.4 ounces!!! They finally hit the 3 pound mark!! YEAH!! They are both still doing great, no set backs at all! They now eat every 3 hours…27 cc’s with an extra 24 calorie fortifier added to the breast milk!

Oh and I have to add…CONGRATS to my friend who found out she was pregnant last week!! I’m so happy for you!!

I feel…: accomplished

This poem didn’t have a title or an author listed, but boy does it speak to how I feel!!

As I love you thru the glass,
the hours seem so slow to pass.
I stroke your skin, and hold your hand;
this isn’t exactly what I had planned.
I cast my eyes up to the sky,
and say a little prayer;
that the Lord will hold you in his arms,
and keep you in his care.
So sleep and grow my baby,
and dream of clouds of foam,
and I will Love you thru the glass
until you can come home.

Edited to add: I think I’m going to put this in their scrapbooks!!

I feel…: touched

I know you all may be sick of this, but too bad!

We went down to the hospital again this evening. I got to spend some time with my boys! The nurse came and put them both on my lap and let me spend some time with them on my own! I didn’t get to Kangaroo, but it was nice just holding them…even if they were sleeping!! I enjoyed myself so much! Felt a little bad that Kevin and the boys were down in the lobby while I was there…for about 2 hours or so.

I was talking to their nurse tonight…right now they are in what is called an isolette (incubator), and she said they may try this weekend to go to an open crib! Which is a wonderful step! This means they are holding their body temperatures! Also they are going to up their feeds again (right now they are getting human fortified milk added to their breast milk to give them extra calories…we want them to gain weight…it’ll help them hold their temps). I’m so excited…The doctor came over and talked with em. He said that they were doing well and he wished all the other babies in the NICU would take notes from our boys. They are doing so well!! I said well, keep them over here so they can’t take after the other babies! LOL I was telling Kevin tonight that it always makes me feel better when the nurses and doctors tell me how well they are doing. And they aren’t just saying it either, they are so genuine and caring. Right now those nurses are my boys’ second mom!!

I feel…: grateful

We went to the NICU this evening. I was a bit nervous, Kevin stayed down in the waiting room with Michael and Noah since they aren’t allowed in the hospital. Anyway, I go upstairs and the nurse is getting ready to feed Andrew and Daniel. So she says, “Do you want to Kangaroo?” I’m like YEAH! Ok, I guess I should explain, Kangarooing is basically skin on skin contact. So I sit there and they put both Daniel and Andrew on my chest. OH MY! It was so awesome! I could have sat there and cried!! Daniel was rooting the whole time! That made me feel wonderful! The nurses were glad to see that too. Andrew just chilled. They are still feeding them through a tube that runs down their nose to their stomach, while they feed them, they put a paci in their mouth so they get the sucking motion and the feeding at the same time.

I just had to share with you…it was so wonderful!! The nurses did get me a few pictures…I’m hoping that I’ll be able to get them scanned into the computer to share with all of you.

From my initial look, I believe they are fraternal twins. Daniel has the same hair color as Noah and Andrew’s hair is the same as Michael’s. That alone makes me think they are fraternal. Now, I could be totally off here, but that’s just my initial thinking! We’ll see when they get a bit older to see if they look more alike or not.

Daniel: 2 pounds 12 ounces
Andrew: 2 pounds 9.6 ounces

I feel…: loved