During our time in the NICU, I kept little notes of the babies' progress, but I wasn't ever able to sit down and blog about our experience. I thought I would have a lot of free time, but I was surprised to find out right away that that wouldn't be the case. It was a crazy time... full of driving, feeding, pumping, snuggling, etc.
Charlotte spent 3 1/2 weeks in the NICU. Grady was a few days behind
and spent about 4 weeks there.
and spent about 4 weeks there.
When I was first admitted into the hospital and thought I'd be delivering at 24-25 weeks, we soon began realizing that they would need to spend months and months in the hospital.
We were so incredibly blessed to have lasted until 33 1/2 weeks, and that the babies were healthy and thrived and only ended up spending a short time in the NICU.
During our stay there, though, it did feel like forever.
When I was discharged from the hospital on Saturday, 4 days after my c-section, I was an emotional wreck! It was so much harder leaving my precious babies behind than I thought it would be. Each night after that, when it was time to say goodbye and go home, I felt so sad that I couldn't bring them home with me.
The thing that made it easier was that they were healthy... considered "feeders & growers." They just needed to master breastfeeding and gain weight, and then they could come home.
So I was there almost all day, every day,
making sure I did all I could to bring them home as soon as possible.
making sure I did all I could to bring them home as soon as possible.
Both babies were born at 3 lb 3 oz. As expected, they lost a little weight after birth, and dropped down to 2 lb 12 oz. They were so tiny! They were put on oxygen, because their sats kept dropping down (they ended up coming home on oxygen - such a bummer). Charlotte had a heart murmur, which is common among premature babies as their hearts haven't finished complete development, but it went away by the time she came home. Their bilirubin levels were also high in the beginning, so they spent a few days under the lights.
Other than that, they did really well.. I was so proud of my little ones. They were very well tempered, hardly making a peep. I really never even heard them cry (besides during delivery), until they were a few weeks old. The nurses would comment that they were like grown babies in tiny preemie bodies- especially once they got the whole feeding thing down, and that they should be teaching a thing or two to the older babies in NICU... go G & C! :)
Both babies were on a feeding system...
Stage 1 was to receive one full breastfeeding per shift, so 2 in 24 hours, without needing to be supplemented through their feeding tube, for two days in a row,
and to gain weight each of those days.
Both Grady and Charlotte took a while on this stage, without seeming to make any progress from day to day. It was pretty discouraging. The nurses did tell us, though, that when preemies hit 35 weeks, they have a lot of brain development going on, and it can cause them to be really sleepy and seem to not make any progress. It was crazy, because G & C totally fit the mold on that one. But pretty much as soon as 36 weeks rolled around, they were like completely different babies, and started doing better with their feedings, thank goodness!
Once they (finally) mastered stage 1, they flew through the last three in a matter of a week.
Stage 2 was 2 full feedings per shift for 2 days,
stage 3 was 3 feedings (breast and bottle by this point),
and stage 4 was ad lib, meaning they would wake when they were hungry (instead of being woken up every 3 hours to eat like they had been), and every feeding had to be by breast or bottle- no more tube feedings!
Because they smoked these feedings, we were so unprepared to bring them home! Being hospitalized at 24 weeks, and then spending all day after their delivery at the NICU, it really didn't leave much time to get things done. I thought we still had a couple weeks... we just hoped to have them home in time for Christmas! But on December 13th, we spent the night "rooming in" with Charlotte at the NICU -kind of like a test run with just the 3 of us and all her tubes and monitors since she was coming home on oxygen, but the nurses were down the hall in case we needed anything. Then we brought her home on the 14th. Such an exciting day! (Although, I was still a little sad to be leaving Grady there all by himself.) It was hard to be juggling my time between caring for Charlotte at home and still being there at the hospital enough with Grady. Luckily, he came home just 2 days later on 16th!
That was the best day... our whole family was finally home together!
It felt really weird to walk out of the hospital that day knowing I wouldn't be needing to go back the next day. I had lived there for the previous 3 months. IMC is an amazing top-rated hospital, and we received such great care.... but I was not one bit sad to be leaving! :)
All in all, our NICU experience turned out to be better than I could have hoped for. I thought countless times how blessed we were to have had things work out the way they did. Although I wish I could have made it to term, with minimal bedrest, it was all worth it to see our sweet babies alive, healthy, and thriving after that scary experience.
We are grateful each day for Grady and Charlotte, our little miracles!
kangaroo care - our favorite
...............
...........
Charlotte & Grady - one week old:
................
quiet snuggle time & marveling at the size of their preemie clothing
.................
first baths
.......................
car beds
....................
12/14/12
Charlotte is ready to go home!
Welcome home Charlotte!
.................
12/16/12
Now Grady's turn to go home!
(I promise I'm excited, even though I don't look like it in this picture! I developed Bell's Palsy the day after I was discharged from the hospital, which paralyzed the right side of my face. :( ... most likely caused by the stress of all that my body went through, physically & emotionally, with preterm labor, 2 months of bedrest, and my c-section. Still working on getting those facial muscles to work properly again.)
Welcome home Grady!
Our family all home at last! :)
Other than that, they did really well.. I was so proud of my little ones. They were very well tempered, hardly making a peep. I really never even heard them cry (besides during delivery), until they were a few weeks old. The nurses would comment that they were like grown babies in tiny preemie bodies- especially once they got the whole feeding thing down, and that they should be teaching a thing or two to the older babies in NICU... go G & C! :)
Both babies were on a feeding system...
Stage 1 was to receive one full breastfeeding per shift, so 2 in 24 hours, without needing to be supplemented through their feeding tube, for two days in a row,
and to gain weight each of those days.
Both Grady and Charlotte took a while on this stage, without seeming to make any progress from day to day. It was pretty discouraging. The nurses did tell us, though, that when preemies hit 35 weeks, they have a lot of brain development going on, and it can cause them to be really sleepy and seem to not make any progress. It was crazy, because G & C totally fit the mold on that one. But pretty much as soon as 36 weeks rolled around, they were like completely different babies, and started doing better with their feedings, thank goodness!
Once they (finally) mastered stage 1, they flew through the last three in a matter of a week.
Stage 2 was 2 full feedings per shift for 2 days,
stage 3 was 3 feedings (breast and bottle by this point),
and stage 4 was ad lib, meaning they would wake when they were hungry (instead of being woken up every 3 hours to eat like they had been), and every feeding had to be by breast or bottle- no more tube feedings!
Because they smoked these feedings, we were so unprepared to bring them home! Being hospitalized at 24 weeks, and then spending all day after their delivery at the NICU, it really didn't leave much time to get things done. I thought we still had a couple weeks... we just hoped to have them home in time for Christmas! But on December 13th, we spent the night "rooming in" with Charlotte at the NICU -kind of like a test run with just the 3 of us and all her tubes and monitors since she was coming home on oxygen, but the nurses were down the hall in case we needed anything. Then we brought her home on the 14th. Such an exciting day! (Although, I was still a little sad to be leaving Grady there all by himself.) It was hard to be juggling my time between caring for Charlotte at home and still being there at the hospital enough with Grady. Luckily, he came home just 2 days later on 16th!
That was the best day... our whole family was finally home together!
It felt really weird to walk out of the hospital that day knowing I wouldn't be needing to go back the next day. I had lived there for the previous 3 months. IMC is an amazing top-rated hospital, and we received such great care.... but I was not one bit sad to be leaving! :)
All in all, our NICU experience turned out to be better than I could have hoped for. I thought countless times how blessed we were to have had things work out the way they did. Although I wish I could have made it to term, with minimal bedrest, it was all worth it to see our sweet babies alive, healthy, and thriving after that scary experience.
We are grateful each day for Grady and Charlotte, our little miracles!
kangaroo care - our favorite...............
Charlotte & Grady - one week old:
quiet snuggle time & marveling at the size of their preemie clothing.................
first baths.......................
car beds....................
12/14/12
Charlotte is ready to go home!
Welcome home Charlotte!.................
12/16/12Now Grady's turn to go home!
(I promise I'm excited, even though I don't look like it in this picture! I developed Bell's Palsy the day after I was discharged from the hospital, which paralyzed the right side of my face. :( ... most likely caused by the stress of all that my body went through, physically & emotionally, with preterm labor, 2 months of bedrest, and my c-section. Still working on getting those facial muscles to work properly again.)
Welcome home Grady!
Our family all home at last! :)
1 comment:
So happy they are home and you are all doing well!
Post a Comment