The dust of the NICU that is. Michael is home with us! After Ben came back to visit and told him how awesome it was to be at home, he turned it on and got ready to come home. We have adjusted nicely to having Ben at home, worked out a good schedule for right now and are still getting some sleep.
Michael is definitely our "high need" baby who has a mattress allergy - he screams every time his back touches the mattress. Thus far we've been using a miracle blanket to swaddle him, and playing a heartbeat from a sound machine with decent luck. Not sure if that will continue to work, but let's hope so!
The week before Michael was added to the mix was pretty smooth, one baby is a piece of cake! We did baths, worked on nursing, and had a successful visit to the pediatrician. Now if only the other two would be that easy!
To handle bringing both Ben and Michael to and from the hospital, we broke out the triple stroller. We might as well walk around with a marching band escort, because it draws so many stares! Much more than I thought, I guess just because of it's unusual in line, rather than side by side, style. It does fit in a regular elevator, barely, but we prefer the hospital elevators designed to hold a gurney. Much more room for activities.
And then there is Delia. What are we going to do with her? She is a stubborn little princess and still isn't eating from the bottle enough. After much brainstorming and discussion, today we decided to try some tough love and stop using her tube. She'll get what she takes by mouth only, assuming that she doesn't show signs of physical distress. Since she is one day old adjusted, she ought to be able to handle her feedings by now. (By the way, adjusted refers to her age counting from my due date rather than her true birth date. They get those extra nine weeks to achieve all developmental milestones, up through the age of three, based on this "adjusted" age.) The doc isn't sure it will work, but it's as good an idea as anything else we've tried so maybe this is the kick she needs. Hopefully so.
I'm not having quite as much luck lining up helpers as I was hoping, but there are a few slots on the care calendar being covered. I met with two lovely young ladies this week who will hopefully come and help us a few evenings a week. I'm still working on a nursing student, if I can find one, and welcome anyone else who would like to come give me a hand. There are things to do any time of day or night, believe me!!
Last week I decided that the long hair had to go if I wanted to be able to shower regularly in less than an hour, so I got about eight inches cut off and have a super cute "swing bob" now. I love it. Much easier to deal with!!
Also, funny story today. I was changing Michael, half asleep, when I felt a warm something on my belly. How odd, until I looked down and realized he was peeing on me. I was so shocked that I just let it happen. These boys are gonna be trouble, I can tell.
Ugh, that's all for now, the hospital's internet is funky and won't let me write posts, so I'm working on it at home when I should be sleeping :) More to come soon.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Sunday, September 26, 2010
I'm a real mommy
Finally, after eight weeks I have one at home. Ben was released Friday afternoon! I'm not sure what I thought was going to happen, but it was very uneventful. Verify he is my baby, sign some papers, pull off his monitors, and that was it. We didn't leave until several hours later, so it was dark outside, quiet, a non-event to everyone else. But of course it was huge to us. The final result of years of hoping, praying, and waiting. It felt pretty darn good to walk through those doors with Ben in my hands.
I was a maniac with the video camera. I recorded him getting buckled in his carseat, walking out of the room, getting on the elevator, walking through the lobby, getting put in the car, getting out of the car and walking in the door at the house. I would have taped the car ride if it wasn't dark. This is probably a very bad sign of things to come!
As good as it was to bring Ben with us, Friday night was the first time I cried at leaving the others. Splitting them up is miserable every day we do it. Hopefully it won't happen many more times before the others are able to come home.
Delia and Michael are slowly getting better with their feedings, both are attempting to bottle about 6 times a day (out of 8). Michael has taken several full bottles, and Delia is averaging about 1/2 of her volume most times. The doctors aren't worried about them, they just feel that more time is needed to build up stamina. The therapy team is watching them closely too so that we are sure reflux issues aren't being missed. We are hoping they will be coming home within a week, maybe two at the most, depending on how quickly they start to pick up. It sure didn't take Ben very long to get the hang of it once he started going good!
Another very sad thing about leaving the hospital is leaving all our wonderful nurses. I didn't realize how close I had become with some of them until I realized we might not be having some of the weekend girls again. They've been my companions and support these past weeks, especially all the hours I spent at the hospital by myself. Without their positive encouragement I surely woudl have quit breastfeeding by now, and would be in a much different place with my attitude. Every time I would start to worry about the kids or about myself, feel like I was doing something wrong, or have what I felt like a dumb question, they were there to make me feel better, to tell me I was doing fine and that my question was not dumb. They've been patient with my inability to remember the names of medicines and technical terms - I compared some special formula to eating dry Ramen noodles the other day, and referred to a laxative as Colon Blow. And they have been good to my kids. Until we split them up a few days ago, I didn't really have trouble leaving the hospital without the babies. I knew they were in excellent hands and that I had nothing to worry about while I was gone. I would have struggled much more if we had a different team of primary nurses.
Hopefully we'll be able to keep in touch after everyone is gone from the hospital, I think they have become quite attached to the babies and will want to see them grow up over these next few months. Melissa even made us an adorable cake as a going away present, it was the sweetest thing ever! Figuratively and literally, buttercream and chocolate cake with a fudge filling. And our weekend night nurses have "shared custody" of the babies and have to rotate weekends since they always work the same nights. I've been told that the nurses don't fight over patients very much, so I think we might be a little bit special. I hope they have enjoyed having us as patients as much as we've enjoyed and appreciated their care.
I have no idea why this didn't occur to me earlier, but for some reason the other day it just hit me that without these nurses and doctors, the babies wouldn't have made it. Even though we didn't have any real problems other than being small and immature, without breathing and eating help, the babies couldn't function. Thank God I didn't let that cross my mind while we were living it, I would have (and maybe should have) been much more scared than I ever was. I guess I was so caught up in the excitement of them being born and the lack of new problems that I didn't have time to think about how serious their existing problems were. How is it that when we are living through things, it doesn't seem like that big of a deal, but when we look back and reflect we say how the hell did I survive?
One hour to sleep before the next feeding. Should probably do that instead of goof off on the internet. Good night:)
I was a maniac with the video camera. I recorded him getting buckled in his carseat, walking out of the room, getting on the elevator, walking through the lobby, getting put in the car, getting out of the car and walking in the door at the house. I would have taped the car ride if it wasn't dark. This is probably a very bad sign of things to come!
As good as it was to bring Ben with us, Friday night was the first time I cried at leaving the others. Splitting them up is miserable every day we do it. Hopefully it won't happen many more times before the others are able to come home.
Delia and Michael are slowly getting better with their feedings, both are attempting to bottle about 6 times a day (out of 8). Michael has taken several full bottles, and Delia is averaging about 1/2 of her volume most times. The doctors aren't worried about them, they just feel that more time is needed to build up stamina. The therapy team is watching them closely too so that we are sure reflux issues aren't being missed. We are hoping they will be coming home within a week, maybe two at the most, depending on how quickly they start to pick up. It sure didn't take Ben very long to get the hang of it once he started going good!
Another very sad thing about leaving the hospital is leaving all our wonderful nurses. I didn't realize how close I had become with some of them until I realized we might not be having some of the weekend girls again. They've been my companions and support these past weeks, especially all the hours I spent at the hospital by myself. Without their positive encouragement I surely woudl have quit breastfeeding by now, and would be in a much different place with my attitude. Every time I would start to worry about the kids or about myself, feel like I was doing something wrong, or have what I felt like a dumb question, they were there to make me feel better, to tell me I was doing fine and that my question was not dumb. They've been patient with my inability to remember the names of medicines and technical terms - I compared some special formula to eating dry Ramen noodles the other day, and referred to a laxative as Colon Blow. And they have been good to my kids. Until we split them up a few days ago, I didn't really have trouble leaving the hospital without the babies. I knew they were in excellent hands and that I had nothing to worry about while I was gone. I would have struggled much more if we had a different team of primary nurses.
Hopefully we'll be able to keep in touch after everyone is gone from the hospital, I think they have become quite attached to the babies and will want to see them grow up over these next few months. Melissa even made us an adorable cake as a going away present, it was the sweetest thing ever! Figuratively and literally, buttercream and chocolate cake with a fudge filling. And our weekend night nurses have "shared custody" of the babies and have to rotate weekends since they always work the same nights. I've been told that the nurses don't fight over patients very much, so I think we might be a little bit special. I hope they have enjoyed having us as patients as much as we've enjoyed and appreciated their care.
I have no idea why this didn't occur to me earlier, but for some reason the other day it just hit me that without these nurses and doctors, the babies wouldn't have made it. Even though we didn't have any real problems other than being small and immature, without breathing and eating help, the babies couldn't function. Thank God I didn't let that cross my mind while we were living it, I would have (and maybe should have) been much more scared than I ever was. I guess I was so caught up in the excitement of them being born and the lack of new problems that I didn't have time to think about how serious their existing problems were. How is it that when we are living through things, it doesn't seem like that big of a deal, but when we look back and reflect we say how the hell did I survive?
One hour to sleep before the next feeding. Should probably do that instead of goof off on the internet. Good night:)
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Pictures pictures pictures
I'm super behind on pictures, so here are a bunch from the past month.
A few from the Woelfle's visit to Jackson.
My helpers!
Randoms of the kiddos
My kids have the cutest clothes ever.
All triplets born at St. Francis get a permanent plaque in the labor and delivery wing. Here is ours. I had to take it down because the tiles were in the wrong order. The frame is held together with duct tape, very sophisticated.
A few from the Woelfle's visit to Jackson.
My helpers!
Randoms of the kiddos
My kids have the cutest clothes ever.
All triplets born at St. Francis get a permanent plaque in the labor and delivery wing. Here is ours. I had to take it down because the tiles were in the wrong order. The frame is held together with duct tape, very sophisticated.
Ben is coming home on Friday!!!
Or at least that is the plan. He's been tube-free for several days and just has a few minor things to take care of, including circumcision, before he's released. Very exciting and scary at the same time! They will let us bring him back to the hospital so that I can come and see the others but I have to bring all my own supplies. It's going to be quite the adventure.
No updates on Michael or Delia yet, we're still working to figure out their eating issues.
I tried to add some photos but the hospital internet is being dumb so I'll put them up later tonight.
No updates on Michael or Delia yet, we're still working to figure out their eating issues.
I tried to add some photos but the hospital internet is being dumb so I'll put them up later tonight.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Help Wanted
It's getting to be about that time when we'll need tons of help at home. I'm using Care Calendar to track all our helpers, so if you can lend a hand with feedings, meals, housework, etc please consider signing up. http://www.carecalendar.org/?cid=42714, password is 0730 (their birthday!)
It's been a good week since I last updated everyone. Lots and lots of news to share, so here goes!
Last Monday night I stayed overnight at the hospital to have a practice run at caring for them overnight. It was a harsh dose of reality to say the least. I got a total of 45 minutes sleep all night, didn't even lay down to attempt sleep until 3:30AM. By the time everyone does their feeding, and then I have to pump, it's just about time to start again. Everyone was pretty slow with taking their bottles, so it just drug on and on. I was kind of nervous after that and decided we needed to try an overnight with both Ethan and I to see how two hands worked.
Saturday night we tried the team approach with much success. Sleep was still at a premium, but it was much better than doing it alone. We were able to split up the kids and I pumped while he fed, so we were able to sleep between all the feedings. And by Saturday Ben was eating much faster, taking a bottle in a half hour or less, so that helped too.
Also, by Saturday we had confirmation that Ben is off oxygen for good! He isn't even wearing the oxygen monitor anymore, which is awesome. I was so happy to take off that darn thing and I threw it on the floor and stomped on it for good measure. Hooray! Apparently he just needed that little bit of extra time, and once the oxygen came off he started rocking and rolling.
Ben has been doing awesome with his bottles, taking three or four in a row almost all the time. They are starting to use the H word.....HOME!!!!!!!!! Maybe as early as this weekend! He pulled his tube out today, bad boy, and they are going to leave it out until he doesn't take one of his feedings. We're keeping our fingers crossed for him!
Michael had been doing pretty good too, but his acid reflux has caused him to backtrack a little bit. Every time we think we've got it figured out, he starts getting a snotty nose and getting fussy and uncomfortable again. We've tried special formula and breastmilk with rice cereal added to thicken it. We've tried different bottles and nipple sizes. We've tried Prevacid. Now he's got some constipation problems, possibly from the rice, so we're going to treat that and see if getting him cleared out helps any. We may try another special formula, but the doctor is hesitant to do that because the reflux formulas aren't designed to meet the nutritional needs of preemies, and aren't as good as breastmilk. So we'll see.
Delia has become a mystery too. She was doing the best from the get go, but she's hit a brick wall that we can't seem to tear down. She'll take about a third of her feeding and quit. We think she may have reflux issues too, but the doctor isn't sure so we aren't going to start playing the formula/rice/medicine game with her yet. Michael's lack of success isn't helping us much either, but maybe if we get him figured out we can try the same thing with her.
We're getting to the most frustrating and challenging part of this process I think. Ben will be home and the other two will still be stuck there. I'll have to either drag Ben back up there, with all our own supplies and food from home, or stay at home with him and be away from the others. If we could just get them to eat, they would be at home too. It seems like such a simple task, but we've been working on it for weeks. This is very typical of preemies and there isn't anything truly wrong with them, but it's really tough to sit back and know that I can't do anything to help them.
I've been trying to busy myself with preparations at home, and so far that has worked well. We've also got the most amazing nurses at the hospital, who are constantly praising us for being involved and encouraging us to keep going. It's been really nice for me to have some friends to pass the day with and give me some conversation and an occassional distraction from the chaos of three babies. As much as I want to have them home, I really am going to miss the nurses a lot.
I've also said good bye to my doctor for a while, I had my six week follow up appointment and passed with flying colors last week. I spent so much time with the doc and the nurses at her office, it will be really strange to not be seeing them all the time. I became very close to my doctor through the pregnancy and especially my hospital stay. It was great to get to know a professional mom who could talk candidly about work life balance and dealing with life down here as a working mom. There are a good number of stay at home moms down here, and a lot of people who are anti day care, so having someone to relate to was great.
An old chapter ending and a new chapter beginning. That's the way life is going to be for the next few weeks as we say goodbye to old friends and start to make new friends with helpers from church, the pediatrician, day care, and who knows. Exciting but scary. Terrifying actually. I don't know how "normal" moms take their babies home two days after delivering. My babies are pushing eight weeks and I still feel totally underqualified to even consider bringing them home. At least I can take comfort in knowing that I'm smarter than LOTS of parents, and even at my worst I will be better than most. It will all work out, getting the helpers we need, figuring out our schedule and how to live a life with three kids, balancing work and home life. But until we're actually doing it and maybe even after that, it's going to be nerve racking.
It's a good think I've developed a laid back personality since having kids. Yes, that's right, MULTIPLE nurses have commented that I am so "go with the flow" and easy going. I must have undergone a personality transplant while I was under, because I most certainly never would have used those terms to describe myself. I guess because there is so much uncertainty about things right now, I've flipped into survival mode where I have no choice but to be laid back and take things as they come. The kids rule my life now, every aspect of it. I still fight that occassionally, but I have utterly no control anymore so I might as well accept it.
I will provide updates this week, I promise, as things progress with Ben. Wish us luck and don't forget to sign up to help us!!
And of course, the current weights:
Ben - 6lb 13 oz
Delia - 6 lb 14 oz
Michael - 6 lb 8 oz
It's been a good week since I last updated everyone. Lots and lots of news to share, so here goes!
Last Monday night I stayed overnight at the hospital to have a practice run at caring for them overnight. It was a harsh dose of reality to say the least. I got a total of 45 minutes sleep all night, didn't even lay down to attempt sleep until 3:30AM. By the time everyone does their feeding, and then I have to pump, it's just about time to start again. Everyone was pretty slow with taking their bottles, so it just drug on and on. I was kind of nervous after that and decided we needed to try an overnight with both Ethan and I to see how two hands worked.
Saturday night we tried the team approach with much success. Sleep was still at a premium, but it was much better than doing it alone. We were able to split up the kids and I pumped while he fed, so we were able to sleep between all the feedings. And by Saturday Ben was eating much faster, taking a bottle in a half hour or less, so that helped too.
Also, by Saturday we had confirmation that Ben is off oxygen for good! He isn't even wearing the oxygen monitor anymore, which is awesome. I was so happy to take off that darn thing and I threw it on the floor and stomped on it for good measure. Hooray! Apparently he just needed that little bit of extra time, and once the oxygen came off he started rocking and rolling.
Ben has been doing awesome with his bottles, taking three or four in a row almost all the time. They are starting to use the H word.....HOME!!!!!!!!! Maybe as early as this weekend! He pulled his tube out today, bad boy, and they are going to leave it out until he doesn't take one of his feedings. We're keeping our fingers crossed for him!
Michael had been doing pretty good too, but his acid reflux has caused him to backtrack a little bit. Every time we think we've got it figured out, he starts getting a snotty nose and getting fussy and uncomfortable again. We've tried special formula and breastmilk with rice cereal added to thicken it. We've tried different bottles and nipple sizes. We've tried Prevacid. Now he's got some constipation problems, possibly from the rice, so we're going to treat that and see if getting him cleared out helps any. We may try another special formula, but the doctor is hesitant to do that because the reflux formulas aren't designed to meet the nutritional needs of preemies, and aren't as good as breastmilk. So we'll see.
Delia has become a mystery too. She was doing the best from the get go, but she's hit a brick wall that we can't seem to tear down. She'll take about a third of her feeding and quit. We think she may have reflux issues too, but the doctor isn't sure so we aren't going to start playing the formula/rice/medicine game with her yet. Michael's lack of success isn't helping us much either, but maybe if we get him figured out we can try the same thing with her.
We're getting to the most frustrating and challenging part of this process I think. Ben will be home and the other two will still be stuck there. I'll have to either drag Ben back up there, with all our own supplies and food from home, or stay at home with him and be away from the others. If we could just get them to eat, they would be at home too. It seems like such a simple task, but we've been working on it for weeks. This is very typical of preemies and there isn't anything truly wrong with them, but it's really tough to sit back and know that I can't do anything to help them.
I've been trying to busy myself with preparations at home, and so far that has worked well. We've also got the most amazing nurses at the hospital, who are constantly praising us for being involved and encouraging us to keep going. It's been really nice for me to have some friends to pass the day with and give me some conversation and an occassional distraction from the chaos of three babies. As much as I want to have them home, I really am going to miss the nurses a lot.
I've also said good bye to my doctor for a while, I had my six week follow up appointment and passed with flying colors last week. I spent so much time with the doc and the nurses at her office, it will be really strange to not be seeing them all the time. I became very close to my doctor through the pregnancy and especially my hospital stay. It was great to get to know a professional mom who could talk candidly about work life balance and dealing with life down here as a working mom. There are a good number of stay at home moms down here, and a lot of people who are anti day care, so having someone to relate to was great.
An old chapter ending and a new chapter beginning. That's the way life is going to be for the next few weeks as we say goodbye to old friends and start to make new friends with helpers from church, the pediatrician, day care, and who knows. Exciting but scary. Terrifying actually. I don't know how "normal" moms take their babies home two days after delivering. My babies are pushing eight weeks and I still feel totally underqualified to even consider bringing them home. At least I can take comfort in knowing that I'm smarter than LOTS of parents, and even at my worst I will be better than most. It will all work out, getting the helpers we need, figuring out our schedule and how to live a life with three kids, balancing work and home life. But until we're actually doing it and maybe even after that, it's going to be nerve racking.
It's a good think I've developed a laid back personality since having kids. Yes, that's right, MULTIPLE nurses have commented that I am so "go with the flow" and easy going. I must have undergone a personality transplant while I was under, because I most certainly never would have used those terms to describe myself. I guess because there is so much uncertainty about things right now, I've flipped into survival mode where I have no choice but to be laid back and take things as they come. The kids rule my life now, every aspect of it. I still fight that occassionally, but I have utterly no control anymore so I might as well accept it.
I will provide updates this week, I promise, as things progress with Ben. Wish us luck and don't forget to sign up to help us!!
And of course, the current weights:
Ben - 6lb 13 oz
Delia - 6 lb 14 oz
Michael - 6 lb 8 oz
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Mommy is so proud of her PO'ed babies!
Sounds crazy right? Except that in NICU lingo, PO stands for per oral, aka taken from a bottle. So whenever the babies work with a bottle rather than get fed from their tube, they are considered to have PO'ed. While they are in the hospital ONLY, I want these babies to be PO'ed all the time!
We are making great strides with the bottles. Everyone has taken at least two full bottles, and the boys have taken a few consecutive bottles which is AWESOME!!! They have to take all eight daily feedings by bottle consecutively, to prove that they can survive without the tube as a backup. So every bottle or partial bottle they take is wonderful. Right now Michael is the leader, having taken three consecutive bottles. Ben is actually the next best, because he's taken two or three over the course of a day which is great. Little Miss Delia has decided to pull the diva card again and likes to take about a quarter of her feeding, fake sleep so we put it in the tube, and then wake back up again to play. We haven't quite figured out how we are going to break the habit but it's getting mighty frustrating. The first of many battles with her I'm afraid.
Ben is off his oxygen for the moment, and thus far has been doing very well. He sometimes has spells where his oxygen level dips below the preferred level but he recovers quite well, so the nurses are really pushing to leave him off and let him muscle through. Hopefully he'll keep fighting and build up his strength so he can be rid of it forever!
Everyone is doing well for their age (37 weeks adjusted as of Thursday; 6 weeks old as of Friday). Right now they just need to build up their stamina and endurance. They are all anemic, which is extremely common even in full term infants, so that affects their ability to maintain the energy necessary to take a whole bottle. We'll just keep plugging along and hope for continued improvement every day. Once they take those eight consecutive bottles, they can probably come home within a day or two. We're getting closer and closer!
Everyone got their first round of immunizations today, woo hoo! They did really well and so far don't seem to have fevers or be fussy at all. Hopefully all shots will go that well from now on. We had eye exams last week too, which turned out mostly perfect. Delia had something a little bit out of the ordinary show up on hers, so they are testing her urine to rule out some kind of infection that the doctors are almost sure she doesn't have. It was just fascinating to me to see how they get a urine sample from a baby (cotton balls in the diaper; who knew?)
Delia and Ben are in the six pound club (6 lb 4 oz and 6 lb 1 oz), with Michael bringing up the rear at 5 lb 10 oz. His reflux is still pretty bad, so he was on a special formula the past week to try to help, which kind of slowed his growth a bit. He's back on breastmilk as of yesterday, with a little rice cereal to thicken it and help with the reflux, so he should catch up and join the six pound club very soon.
We've had lots of exciting visitors the past week: all three great grandparents! It was the first trip ever for the Woelfles to Jackson, so they saw the babies and the house last Sunday. Grandma McD hadn't seen the babies since the day after they were born, so it was a big change for her, Mary and Susan to see. And the babies are already demonstrating an amazing ability to behave well around company. Hopefully that continues throughout childhood!
We started training our helpers this week also. Grandma Maggie spent three days with us and started changing diapers and working with feedings. Delia was nice enough to give her a "diaper christening" if you catch my drift, so now she can handle explosive diapers with ease. And CGAM (crazy Great Aunt Mary) saw some diaper demos today so that she'll be ready to start in next weekend when she comes back to visit.
Now that we're entering the six pound zone, we've moved up to newborn clothes. Delia was absolutely busting out of the preemie stuff, but of course drowns in the newborn sizes. We're cuffing the sleeves and that seems to be taking care of it for right now. I'm sure she'll have those filled out rather quickly too. Good thing I brought the preemie stuff to the hospital for them to wear or it never would have been used!
We're still on the pediatrics floor of the hospital in NICU overflow, which works really well for us. We don't see all of our favorite nurses as often, as they sometimes have to stay upstairs to work on patient transports or more high risk cases, but the level of care is still wonderful. We are enjoying our privacy and the nurses say we are almost ready to come work here. I even know the code to get into one of the kitchen areas for when I do my breastmilk pumping dishes, how crazy is that?
My dad made a very interesting point after his visit last weekend. He said that he's heard me talk about how busy I am every day many many times, but it didn't really hit him until he saw me doing it. Here's a typical day in my life right now to give you a feel for the craziness my life has become:
7:30 AM Get up and pump
8-10:30 AM Eat breakfast, shower, cook supper, pack my lunch and my/Ethan's supper, clean house (ha ha ha), run errands
10:30 AM Leave for hospital
11:00 AM Arrive at hospital; begin "cares" for everyone. "Cares" consist of temperature, diaper change, vital sign exam by nurse, and feeding. Bottle feeding takes approximately 30-40 minutes on a good day. Delia goes at 11, Michael 11:30, and Ben at 12. Usually at least one massive dump diaper per care that requires a clothing change and/or bedding change.
12:30 Pump, if everyone cooperated during 11AM cares. Otherwise, pump at 1
1:00 Eat lunch and socialize with babies (rather than making them work by eating or torture them with diaper change). Or soothe cranky crying babies. Or change disgusting diapers that stink so bad they can't wait for the next care.
2:00 Repeat cares
3:30 Pump, if everyone cooperated, etc etc
4:00 Brief nap if lucky, or socialize. Maybe personal phone call if lucky.
5:00 Repeat cares (seeing a pattern here?)
6:00 Dad arrives, so between cares duties heat up supper and eat
7:00 Pump, catch up with Dad on the day
8:00 PM Repeat cares. First care of night shift adds in blood pressure and weight measurement, which involves removing clothes. Keep in mind clothes has likely changed two to three times per child by now.
9:30 Leave for home after cares are complete.
10:00 Pump
10:30 Catch up on email, pay bills.
11-2AM Sleep
2:00 Pump
3-7:30 Sleep
Even typing that out just doesn't do it justice. I'll have to pay closer attention tomorrow to figure out exactly what it is that I do during all those in between times, because I promise you there is very little sitting involved :)
And right now I'm behind schedule because I haven't pumped yet and am cutting into my sleeping time. More to come in the days ahead!
We are making great strides with the bottles. Everyone has taken at least two full bottles, and the boys have taken a few consecutive bottles which is AWESOME!!! They have to take all eight daily feedings by bottle consecutively, to prove that they can survive without the tube as a backup. So every bottle or partial bottle they take is wonderful. Right now Michael is the leader, having taken three consecutive bottles. Ben is actually the next best, because he's taken two or three over the course of a day which is great. Little Miss Delia has decided to pull the diva card again and likes to take about a quarter of her feeding, fake sleep so we put it in the tube, and then wake back up again to play. We haven't quite figured out how we are going to break the habit but it's getting mighty frustrating. The first of many battles with her I'm afraid.
Ben is off his oxygen for the moment, and thus far has been doing very well. He sometimes has spells where his oxygen level dips below the preferred level but he recovers quite well, so the nurses are really pushing to leave him off and let him muscle through. Hopefully he'll keep fighting and build up his strength so he can be rid of it forever!
Everyone is doing well for their age (37 weeks adjusted as of Thursday; 6 weeks old as of Friday). Right now they just need to build up their stamina and endurance. They are all anemic, which is extremely common even in full term infants, so that affects their ability to maintain the energy necessary to take a whole bottle. We'll just keep plugging along and hope for continued improvement every day. Once they take those eight consecutive bottles, they can probably come home within a day or two. We're getting closer and closer!
Everyone got their first round of immunizations today, woo hoo! They did really well and so far don't seem to have fevers or be fussy at all. Hopefully all shots will go that well from now on. We had eye exams last week too, which turned out mostly perfect. Delia had something a little bit out of the ordinary show up on hers, so they are testing her urine to rule out some kind of infection that the doctors are almost sure she doesn't have. It was just fascinating to me to see how they get a urine sample from a baby (cotton balls in the diaper; who knew?)
Delia and Ben are in the six pound club (6 lb 4 oz and 6 lb 1 oz), with Michael bringing up the rear at 5 lb 10 oz. His reflux is still pretty bad, so he was on a special formula the past week to try to help, which kind of slowed his growth a bit. He's back on breastmilk as of yesterday, with a little rice cereal to thicken it and help with the reflux, so he should catch up and join the six pound club very soon.
We've had lots of exciting visitors the past week: all three great grandparents! It was the first trip ever for the Woelfles to Jackson, so they saw the babies and the house last Sunday. Grandma McD hadn't seen the babies since the day after they were born, so it was a big change for her, Mary and Susan to see. And the babies are already demonstrating an amazing ability to behave well around company. Hopefully that continues throughout childhood!
We started training our helpers this week also. Grandma Maggie spent three days with us and started changing diapers and working with feedings. Delia was nice enough to give her a "diaper christening" if you catch my drift, so now she can handle explosive diapers with ease. And CGAM (crazy Great Aunt Mary) saw some diaper demos today so that she'll be ready to start in next weekend when she comes back to visit.
Now that we're entering the six pound zone, we've moved up to newborn clothes. Delia was absolutely busting out of the preemie stuff, but of course drowns in the newborn sizes. We're cuffing the sleeves and that seems to be taking care of it for right now. I'm sure she'll have those filled out rather quickly too. Good thing I brought the preemie stuff to the hospital for them to wear or it never would have been used!
We're still on the pediatrics floor of the hospital in NICU overflow, which works really well for us. We don't see all of our favorite nurses as often, as they sometimes have to stay upstairs to work on patient transports or more high risk cases, but the level of care is still wonderful. We are enjoying our privacy and the nurses say we are almost ready to come work here. I even know the code to get into one of the kitchen areas for when I do my breastmilk pumping dishes, how crazy is that?
My dad made a very interesting point after his visit last weekend. He said that he's heard me talk about how busy I am every day many many times, but it didn't really hit him until he saw me doing it. Here's a typical day in my life right now to give you a feel for the craziness my life has become:
7:30 AM Get up and pump
8-10:30 AM Eat breakfast, shower, cook supper, pack my lunch and my/Ethan's supper, clean house (ha ha ha), run errands
10:30 AM Leave for hospital
11:00 AM Arrive at hospital; begin "cares" for everyone. "Cares" consist of temperature, diaper change, vital sign exam by nurse, and feeding. Bottle feeding takes approximately 30-40 minutes on a good day. Delia goes at 11, Michael 11:30, and Ben at 12. Usually at least one massive dump diaper per care that requires a clothing change and/or bedding change.
12:30 Pump, if everyone cooperated during 11AM cares. Otherwise, pump at 1
1:00 Eat lunch and socialize with babies (rather than making them work by eating or torture them with diaper change). Or soothe cranky crying babies. Or change disgusting diapers that stink so bad they can't wait for the next care.
2:00 Repeat cares
3:30 Pump, if everyone cooperated, etc etc
4:00 Brief nap if lucky, or socialize. Maybe personal phone call if lucky.
5:00 Repeat cares (seeing a pattern here?)
6:00 Dad arrives, so between cares duties heat up supper and eat
7:00 Pump, catch up with Dad on the day
8:00 PM Repeat cares. First care of night shift adds in blood pressure and weight measurement, which involves removing clothes. Keep in mind clothes has likely changed two to three times per child by now.
9:30 Leave for home after cares are complete.
10:00 Pump
10:30 Catch up on email, pay bills.
11-2AM Sleep
2:00 Pump
3-7:30 Sleep
Even typing that out just doesn't do it justice. I'll have to pay closer attention tomorrow to figure out exactly what it is that I do during all those in between times, because I promise you there is very little sitting involved :)
And right now I'm behind schedule because I haven't pumped yet and am cutting into my sleeping time. More to come in the days ahead!
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