Well that happened fast....

BOYS ARE HOME! They have actually been home since July 18th and with the newfound craziness, I have just had trouble updating my blog. I actually don't think I've turned on my laptop more than once since they've been home. So... let's backtrack a bit. My brain is pretty fried, but lets see how much I can remember from the last of their hospital stay!

I think last time I posted, I was mentioning that Adam was almost off the IV and that the boys would be moved into a crib together, assuming Scott could hold his temperature, I know I was a little worried about that. So, Sunday morning (the 14th) I showed up at the NICU for the 9 AM feed, to see the boys together in a crib! It was sooo nice to see both of them without IV's! I waited around for the Doctor to do his rounds and he mentioned again that the boys were excellent candidates for pediatrics (moving out of the NICU to just be 'feeder/grower' babies upstairs) and that he would put them on the list. I didn't think anything would happen soon, but Jamie and I came back after we had lunch to find out that a spot had opened and that the boys would be moving that day! The nurses told me that I could get a private room with them, so I went home to pack up all of my stuff. I got back to the hospital around 7PM and luckily didn't bring up my giant suitcase because it turns out I did NOT have a private room! The boys were in a ward room, which is basically a big room with cribs in all 4 corners. The nurse said that there would be a private room, but that she'd have to check with all of the other parents with babies in the ward room first to see if they want it. I guess I was last in line. The nurse said that two of the families likely wouldn't want it because they had other kids at home (and wouldn't be able to stay overnight anyways) but that there was one other family who probably would. I had to wait until the 9PM feeding for the other Mom to come in and decide. Well, come 9PM the other Mom is asked, and because she lived only 5 mins away she was great and gave it up for me! Yay! Apparently it wasn't going to be ready until the next day though, I had to go back home on Sunday night, oh well!

Happy Momma!

Cuties in their crib!

Crib in the ward room

 So Monday morning I showed up nice and early and we all got moved into our own room! I wasn't really sure what to expect from here. I knew we were getting 'close' to going home, but didn't want to get too excited or anything. A new Doctor checked them out that morning and I asked him 'best case scenario' of when they could go home and he said 'a few days' which was a HUGE shock. I was expecting another couple of weeks or something. I knew that in order to go home, the boys would have to take all of their feeds by mouth (either by breast or bottle) for 48 hours, pass their carseat test (sit in the car seat for 90 minutes without having any oxygen or heart rate problems) and not have any issues with their heart rates etc for at least 5 days. I wasn't sure how long everything was going to take, and if I was going to be staying the entire time. The first night was rough. I didn't have a bed in my room, just a crappy pull out chair, and it was freeezzingg! Adam was really fussy all night so the nurses kept coming in and taking him out so I could try to get some sleep, which didn't really happen. I figured we had at least a week left, so I didn't object to feeding them through their NG tubes in the middle of the night. I think for the 9 AM feed we did it by breast and I decided to just giv'r from there and try doing all feeds the right way from there on. Breast feeding in the hospital was difficult because we had to do 'test weighs' every time. I would have to weigh the baby, feed. and then weigh again. 1 gram would equal 1ml, so each baby had to gain at least 50 grams per feeding. It's not an exact science and I really found it frustrating weighing constantly while feeding, so I mostly bottle fed and pumped while in the hospital. Test weighs were sooo time consuming, and it really make breastfeeding stressful for me. Luckily, bottle feeding in the hospital hasn't caused any nipple confusion.

My Dad showing off our new room

 On the second day, they brought me a cot, which was great, so I finally had a bed. I began to feel organized, which is huge for me. I hate being unorganized!! My Mom came and we rearranged the room and figured out where everything should go, haha.  Everything is kind of a blur, but the babies did great. They were taking their feedings like champs (little porkers) and breathing like good little boys too. I had a shower both days in the little parents area, so that was nice to have. There was some 17 year old girl in pediatrics who was constantly arguing (quite the potty mouth!!) with the nurses too, because she wanted to go out for a smoke and her doctor wouldn't sign off on her leaving the ward. I'm not sure what she was in there for. Also, it was her birthday on the 17th, and she had soooo many people come for a get together. Didn't exactly love that many people in the ward, and I don't think the nurses did either. Okay, so lets see. Monday was when I came to the hospital, and that was the first (crappy) night. Tuesday I decided to cut the NG tubes to get them home (I don't think I could handle much longer staying in the hospital, I really wanted to get home) and Wednesday was more of the same. Both boys pulled their NG tubes on Wednesday morning, and luckily the nurses agreed that we didn't have to reinsert it. It's like they were saying 'we're breaking out of here tomorrow, no more nose tubes!!' It was Jamie and I's third wedding anniversary on the 17th, and I can't say we really did much. We knew at this point that the babies would likely be coming home the next day, so we were trying to focus on that. As of 9AM Thursday mornings, both babies would have done 48 hours of feeds by mouth. We did the car seat test on Wednesday night, and they both passed.

 

Mommy showing off my new cot!

Scott was proud of pulling his NG tube

Boys during their car seat test

 Things were getting down to the wire. From originally thinking that we had another couple weeks left before they came home, suddenly they were coming home SOON. We had sold our spare bedroom furniture a few weeks prior, and so everything from that room was piled up in the babies room, waiting for us to go to IKEA and get the new bed and dresser. My parents and I went to IKEA on Wednesday, and bought everything, which my parents took to our house for Jamie to build. He didn't exactly have time - he was working all day, eating dinner in a rush, and driving straight out to the hospital to be with us. But we really wanted at least that bed built, because we knew my Mom would likely be staying over for a while to help at night with the babies. Needless to say, things were a little crazy and rushed. So anyways - Thursday morning (July 18th) comes with all feeds taken by mouth. The Doctors come for one more look and then suddenly... We're free to go! What a weird feeling. After 25 days, we were allowed to bring our babies home. All of the wires were removed from their chests, the O2 sensors were taken off of their little feet, and suddenly they were just 'babies', not patients. Jamie came out that morning and we loaded up the truck with all of our stuff (I don't pack light) and then the boys were loaded into their car seats and off we went!

Happy family ready to head home!

 We got home around lunch time, and put the boys on a quilt on our rug. One of our neighbours came over to visit and it was a blissful time. When we went upstairs we realized just how crazy everything was. There were piles of laundry from all of the clothes the babies and I wore at the hospital, their room wasn't done, the junk from the spare bedroom was still scattered on the babies' floor, basically it was my worst nightmare. I figured we could just put the boys down for a nap and get everything cleaned up, but that wasn't the case. They decided that screaming was much more fun than sleeping. I was a stress-case. I hate being unorganized, and our house was a pigstye (no ones fault, we had just been SO busy!!!!), the babies were crying and I remember just thinking 'oh my god, this is our new life???' I also had gotten very little sleep during my 3 nights at the hospital, it wasn't exactly the comfiest bed in the world and constant beeping/ flashing lights doesn't make for a restful sleep. Eventually I fell asleep on the couch with both babies for an hour or so and Jamie was able to restore order in the home, yayyyyy. My Mom came over that night and she & I slept in the spare bedroom with the babies. I felt it was best if Jamie got a full nights sleep, so he could be awake the next day, which was a great idea. The first night wasn't great, but we weren't expecting it to be. The babies were up a lot of the night and really wanted to sleep on our chests most of the time.

Sorry, I know this has been my most random blog post ever. The babies have now been home 15 days, and it has been a blur. We've had great days and nights, and some crappy days and nights. I'm starting to get more comfortable with everything, and we're accepting that the best routine is to just go with the flow. I've made a point to get out of the house every day, and my Mom comes over almost every day during the week to go for a nice walk or to the mall. Jamie and I took the boys to Costco the day after they came home, and they've been pretty well traveled so far. I'm starting to find all of the best areas to nurse when out and about, which has been helpful. My only fear of going out all alone (which so far I've only done once) is both babies having a meltdown at once. It's easy if one baby is acting out, because usually I can just nurse him and that will settle him right down. But I'm not comfortable tandem feeding in public, that would take some talent I don't quite have yet!

Anyways, this is getting way too long, and it's taken me THREE days to write it, so I just want to finish it. I'm missing 1000 details, but I will try to update more often now. For now (because Scotty is waking up and crying!!!) I'm just going to add some pictures and get this bad boy posted! WHEW!!!

Adorable Adam dreaming about coming home 

Boys first picture at home!



First trip to Target

 

Meeting big sister, Holly!



Cuties in bed!

 

Me with my boys

 

Finally dressed as twins!