Learning the Ropes

I've been writing this post in my head for the past week or so, but all free time so far has been spent snuggling my girls. {I'm trying to make up for all the lost time in the NICU!}

Having both girls home is amazing & oh so tiring! Twins are no joke! Having Maddie home before Amelia was a piece of cake compared to double trouble.  But honestly, the NICU got them on a great schedule & we have been able to stick to it pretty well.

The girls are still napping a lot, as they still haven't even met their real due date {May 24}. Nighttime is pretty similar to day time. Most of the time they make it to their next scheduled feeding, but even now and then someone {mainly Maddie} will get to sneak into bed for a little snack.

Dave & I certainly have different parenting styles & we are still working out the kinks. As expected, I'm hovering over the babies constantly, checking if they are breathing, & always looking for a cuddle. I'm up at every cry, wanting to comfort the babies the best that I can. Dave obviously has profound hearing loss at night, because he can sleep through any wail, no matter what the decibel.  So I'd say we are both falling into our stereotypical roles as parents.

Amelia has been settling in really well. She still snoozes a lot, but will certainly let you know when she is hungry. She is still on the diuretic for her PDA Valve, however, at her first appointment with our Pediatrician, he couldn't even pick up her murmur with his stethoscope. We have a follow up visit with the Cardiologist at the end of the month, and hopefully it will be closed.

Maddie on the other hand has completely made herself at home. She is more alert than Amelia & loves to play, or scream, either one works just fine. This is truly my child. The girls have been having a blast sitting on their play mat together.  All the fun parts on the mat aren't even glanced at, instead they intently study each other, & then promptly bat one another in the face.

We have made a few trips out here & there. The girls are always a hit. Well, more like a novelty, because of their size. We have lots of "tiny, small, new baby" comments, which I instantly have to defend. "Well they are actually almost 2 months old, but born premature." Small & tiny comments hit hard to a preemie mom.  On the flip side, there have been several moms who have in turn shared their story about their premature infants. I chatted with a lady at Costco about her 24 weeker, who is now a healthy 11 year old.  Same with the lady at the post office, who had her twins at 27 weeks, & are now giant 15 year olds. I love these stories. Keep them coming.

We celebrated Mother's Day by stuffing our face with delicious food & I enjoyed the flowers given to me by my husband & parents.  I can't say I had a relaxing day off, maybe those come in the next few years, but at least the day was enjoyable.

So all in all we are happy to have everyone home! We are grateful for all the support from our family & friends. Thank you so much!!

Rebecca

Are We There Yet?

We are starting to get antsy because we want the babes home so badly.

But we know how important it is for them to learn how to feed properly, so we sit patiently and wait.  We visit the babes daily, feed them, and snuggle them in our arms.  It's absolutely wonderful seeing them grow day by day. No longer do they look like the fragile little babes that were born almost a month ago!

The twins have yet again had an awesome week. Amelia's echocardiogram on Monday showed that her PDA valve was smaller!! They are now very confident that it will close on it's own. The cardiologist won't do another scan till just before she goes home.

Madeline hit an amazing milestone on Saturday & is now 5 pounds!! We couldn't be more ecstatic. She is becoming more alert when we feed her & she also likes to have play time with us after. Amelia on the other hand likes to have a good snooze post feeding.  Although she has been on the diuretic for her PDA, she still continues to gain weight & is 4 lbs 12 oz.  I can see her hitting 5 pounds in the next few days!

Both girls have had on & off days with feeding, but as the week progressed, it seems like we are having more on that off.  They are now 35 weeks & apparently that's when a lot of feeding cues kick in.  The girls are now up to 3-4 feeds a day from the breast or bottle.  They have also had their tube feeds lowered from an hour and a half all the way down to thirty minutes.  As long as they can keep the spits away, then they will continue at this rate. The idea here is to make them hungrier for feeds off the tube. Once the tube is obsolete, these babes will be on their way home!

Today I let the girls know that a perfect birthday present to me would be their discharge from the hospital.  But in all reality, I am hopeful that they will be home in the next couple weeks!

Feeding & Growing

Both girls have had a great week & are really starting to gain weight. Madeline is now up 1 pound since birth! She weighs 4lbs 9oz & Amelia is 4lbs 6oz. Their little preemie diapers are starting to get too small!

Dad on diaper duty

Right now we are really excited that Amelia is gaining weight, since she is on a diuretic for her heart murmur. {This could cause her to maintain or lose weight} Her echocardiogram last week showed that her PDA valve has not yet closed, & in fact looked larger. They will check again tomorrow to see if it has improved at all this past week, as they can still hear the murmur.

caught a little smile

We have been working hard on breastfeeding. Right now they can feed from me or a bottle twice a day, & I'm hoping that this can get bumped up to more sessions soon.  The closer they are to getting their feeding tubes out, the closer they are to going home! Both girls have their shining moments in the eating department, while on other days, they just play around or snooze.

In certain light both girl's hair looks strawberry blonde

We have a checklist of all the things the girls must be able to do/or have done. So far only two things have been checked off. Dave & I have taken the infant CPR test & both girls have passed their hearing exam. Hopefully this week we can really make a dent in that checklist. The Braves season has started & these girls need to be home watching the games with us!!

Breathing on her own

Yesterday Dave had an awesome afternoon & held Amelia for the first time.  He said she was pretty active & kept grabbing at her nasal cannula trying to remove it.

Well apparently with all that pulling she got it off herself! The nurse let her run with it & now Amelia is breathing on her own!

I had already planned on spending the morning in the NICU & then going to visit a friend who just had her baby at the same hospital {the twins new BFF}. So now I was even more excited to see Amelia without tubes all over her face! Dave went down to Maddie's nursery to hold her & I got to go hang out with Amelia & snap a few pictures. We've spent most of the day trying to see if the girls look alike.

The only disheartening thing was that the murmur is still present. The nurse told me not to worry just yet, since they are still keeping an eye on it, hoping that it will fix itself.  The cardiologist saw her today & we will probably get the results of her echocardiogram tomorrow. Chances are it's her PDA valve causing the murmur & it will eventually close on its own. If not our options are medications first & if all else fails surgery.