Snuggling!

Look Who's FOUR!!!

I can't believe Elianna is FOUR years old! Granted, she acts like she is turning fourTEEN as opposed to four, but that's another story. Here are some pictures from her birthday party. Thanks SO MUCH to everyone who came out and made it a special day for her. She has really been going through a lot emotionally with my extended illness, 5 weeks in the hospital, and then having me spend the days up at the NICU with the boys... she definitely enjoyed a day all for her! In lieu of a cake, I make horse cupcakes (complete with a corral, haystacks and raisinette horse poop) since she has been on a horse obsession lately. In fact, she specifically asked for a cake with pink horses, so some of the horses were indeed pink! She got a lot of great gifts (including lots of much needed clothes!!!) and had a lot of fun. Thanks again, everyone!!

Fattening up!

The home nurse came today, and Levi is already over 7 pounds! (7 pounds, 2 ounces to be exact) and Micah is 5 pounds 9 ounces. Both are doing great! Mommy is a zombie, of course, now that life is a blur of diaper changing, feeding, pumping and laundry. But it's better than sitting in the NICU, and I have a lot of help. Chad even does an early morning feeding for me so I can get almost 4 1/2 straight hours of sleep! That is a huge luxury, and I am feeling much better with that longer stretch of sleep. Well, Micah is hungry already so I'd better run. Just wanted to let you know we are doing great. A little sleepy and bleary-eyed, but great! The boys are healthy and growing, the girls are still taken with them (no real jealousy issues yet), so far so good!

It's official!

The boys are BOTH coming home tomorrow!!!!!

I came in this morning and there was literally a line of people waiting to talk to me. (I felt like such a celebrity.) It was just like in the movies, with each person calling out what they wanted and there I am trying to give the right answers to the right people.

"The dietitian wants to go over their diet and feeding schedule."
"Your pediatrician appointment needs to be changed to Saturday. Are they open on Saturday?"
"The car seat fit test went well, it's time for the angle test."
"Do you want them to get vaccinated today or wait for their doctor visit?"
"Micah had a *brady last night, but not severe or long enough to change the discharge. Are you comfortable with that?"
"Are you going to have help when you get home?"
"They are going to be on a special formula. Do you need a prescription for it or do you want a couple cans now?"

Through this all, my cell phone rang at least three times!!! It was so nice to actually feel like we were doing something, as opposed to just hanging out in my recliner. (Which I will miss, by the way. I was one of the only moms with my own recliner, boppy pillow, regular pillow and breast pump right at the bedside. Think they would notice if I took all that stuff with me?! Probably.)

After I was able to talk to all my adoring fans individually (okay, they're not really my fans, but it made me feel important anyway. Har, har.) and work out all the aforementioned questions/issues/instructions, I met with the neonatologist who confirmed that all the docs agreed to let them go home together, even if it meant releasing Levi early. They said it would be the least amount of stress on both the family and the babies if the transition was made at the same time instead of two separate incidences. They also said that since Micah's apnea episode happened after he had nursed and was being forced to try his bottle (not my idea!), it was more than likely a lack of coordination on his part because he was so tuckered out. So although they normally keep them five days from an apnea episode, they are willing to let him go on the third day because of the "extenuating circumstances." Levi also still had about a week and a half to go, but since he removed his own feeding tube he has been eating like crazy and gaining lots of weight. (Some of the wait was that his feeding tube wasn't going to be removed till Monday, then it would be a week after that.) He has jumped from about the 5th percentile to the 22nd in his weight, though! (Micah went from the 3rd to the 8th, and they are shooting for at least the 10th within the next month or two.)

They will be closely monitored now by their pediatrician, and I am kissing any aspect of my life that does not involve feeding or pumping good-bye. Between teaching them to nurse, supplementing with bottles (so they can get their fortifiers), and pumping to keep my milk supply up, I don't know when I'll have time for much of anything else!!!! (Like sleep maybe?) I have begged a couple of my favorite nurses to come home with them. I assured them I was secretly a millionaire and would hire them as private nurses, most notably for the middle of the night feedings that they have been handling for me so well. They didn't believe me about the millions, though. Probably the social worker asking if I had a WIC appointment yet didn't help...

Naturally I don't know how often I will be able to blog after we all go home, but I will try to keep you posted on their progress. There won't be a crew of nurses to watch them while I run and sit on the computer with a cup of coffee!!!! (So I guess I will miss a couple things about the hospital. That and the giant cookies. I'll miss those, too.) I think those days of getting a break whenever I want one are gone for a few months... okay years now!

Now just pray that nothing happens tonight. Babies in the NICU are very prone to last-minute drama when you start planning to go home, but let's hope not. The usual discharge time is between 3:00 and 4:00, so we should be home by dinner time!

P.S. Because this is still considered RSV season, the doctors told me to keep the boys at home/away from large groups of people at least till the end of April. You are more than welcome to visit us, but I won't be able to take them out anywhere where there is a high risk of catching something (stores, church, etc...) for a few more weeks. Just wanted to give you the heads up about that!

*A brady is when their heart rate slows below 100.

Busy busy busy

The action has picked up a bit here, as they make preparations for the boys to come home. Initially, we had hoped Micah could come home this week, but he has had two more apnea episodes, which bought him 5 more days. This gives Levi some time to catch up, so maybe they will come home together?!?!

Levi has been doing great. They were talking about taking out his feeding tube next week, but he apparently didn't like the idea of waiting. He pulled it out twice himself! The second time, they decided to leave it out and see how he did. He has been eating like a champ and gaining weight like crazy. He is now up to 6 pounds 10 ounces!!! Little oinker. He is still having tummy issues, but they are not hindering his eating or weight gain. I personally think it is all the extra stuff they add to the breastmilk. When he has a bottle of plain breastmilk, he does much better, has less gas and doesn't get constipated. So I am guessing that issue will resolve itself once he is home. I nursed him the first time today, and he disliked it as much as Micah initially did. It will take some time, especially since Levi is not the most motivated baby in the world! The bottle works just fine in his opinion, so why go through the effort of learning something new?!?!

Micah is also doing well, and I have been able to start nursing him three times a day. Unfortunately, he is now preferring to nurse over the bottle (I don't think he likes the taste of the doctored breastmilk now that he's had the real thing) so I have to keep clarifying with the doctors and nurses WHY he isn't finishing his bottles anymore. That way they don't hold it against him and put off his discharge even longer.

They both were circumcised today, which is why I am hiding out on the 8th floor playing on the computer. I know, I know. I should be there comforting my boys, but I'm too big of a wimp. (Even the doc performing the procedure said she didn't watch her own son's!) As soon as they got out that little clamp and explained the gory details to me, I ran away. (After signing the consent, of course.)

They also have their angle test today, where they have to sit in a car seat for an hour while being monitored for heart rate, breathing and oxygen saturation. (Basically the monitors they always wear.) They showed me how to prop them properly when they are in a seat of any kind, whether a car seat or a swing, etc... since many babies actually can't breathe well in them.

I am meeting with their doctors today sometime to talk things over and see what their timetable is now (adjusting for Micah's apnea episodes). Honestly, I don't mind Micah staying a few extra days or even an extra week if it means both boys coming home together. It will be much easier to have them both home than to have one home and one still in the NICU! But we will have to work all that out. Well, it is feeding time already! I'd better run for now.