Baby Steps

Slowly but surely the babies have been making progress in the NICU the last couple weeks. We have gotten to the point where there is one nurse for all three babies instead of one nurse for each baby which means they are much more stable now than before. We were also able to pick a few primary nurses we like who will always work with the babies when they are scheduled up until they are discharged. This way it is not a new nurse every day. We feel like they know the babies better and its much more comfortable for us to talk to them as well.

I am so happy to say that Mickey had his breathing tube removed this week and he is doing great. I guess he just needed a little more time. Right now he has the Cpap machine which inflates his lungs when he breathes but at least he is doing the breathing. The next step would be just a high flow nasal cannula kind of like what Jolynne has. We are thinking maybe another week for that. Mickey is 3 pounds 15 ounces, by tomorrow, I suspect he will be 4 pounds. Every day I see him, he looks bigger to me. He is now a full pound or more bigger than Jolynne. He is very strong and is known for trying to pull the tubes out and wires out and break free from his little nest. I think he is a little incredible hulk! He has quite the temper and knows how to get attention. He even has the nurses fighting over who gets to take care of him.

Jolynne is doing well too. Her biggest issue at the moment is weight gain. She is 2 pounds 14 ounces and she lost some weight again last night. The problem is because her intestines end at her belly now, they don't digest the food all the way and she does not absorb all the nutrients from the food she needs to. The are trying to mix some special formula for her that is easier to digest and give her Imodium that is supposed to help. I am a little nervous about the Imodium because the doctors seemed hesitant to use it and only as a last resort. I sure hope it helps though and she starts to gain weight because they cannot do that 2nd surgery until she gets bigger and that determines when she will be able to come home too. On a positive note, everything else looks great for her. She had a Physical Therapist evaluation yesterday and the therapist was blown away. They said they had never seen a 33 weeker so alert and put together like Jolynne, especially since she had undergone such a major surgery. When all you hear every day is all the risks and possible complications and set backs, it was really nice for Tommy and I to hear that. They are working on getting her off that oxygen too. Any day now, maybe today, I plan to walk in and its off.

Georgia is moving right along as usual. She is off the oxygen so there is no longer anything sticking up her nose. She is 3 pounds 5 ounces and gaining about an ounce a day. Its weird because Mickey is gaining like 2-3 ounces a day and the girls are not. But the only tube she has left is her feeding tube in her nose, and since she is almost ready to nipple feed, within the next couple days, I don't think she will even have that feeding tube for much longer. We can put clothes on her now which is kind of fun. Its nice to see her without all the wires and tubes and sensors on her body and its so much easier to pick her up and hold her without worrying about disconnecting something important or pulling an IV out.

I would say all three of them are much more alert now, even Mickey. They have moments where they just stare up at us and look all around and their eyes are so big and bright. They melt our hearts really. I am becoming so attached to all of them but I am also getting a taste of what it will be like when they get home. Now, as it is, if more than one is awake and looking around I don't know who to go to, and then another one will start crying or need a diaper changed but I don't want to leave the other one. It really will be like a juggling act. It already is. At least when they come home I can have them all next to each other and look at them at the same time. When we are getting ready to leave at the end of the day, one or two will wake up and then I feel stuck, how can I leave when they are looking up at me like that? Its very hard to walk out the door some days. The doctors have jokingly mentioned that they should start paying me because I am there so much and helping the nurses out all day, but I mean, really, where else would I be? In all honesty though, I am very lucky that my work and my benefits allow me to be there, because I know a lot of new moms probably don't have that option. I am very fortunate in that regard. I don't know how I could be away from my babies right now when they are so fragile. They need me.

Other than that we are looking forward to a week spent with family. My Aunt and my cousins will be here until Wednesday and then the rest of the family will be here for Thanksgiving. We have so much to be thankful for this year, so much! We will be eating Thanksgiving dinner out this year, which will be weird but we dont want to worry about cooking and cleaning so we can get up to the hospital. All that matters anyway is that we are all together.

Christmas is now right around the corner too and although I don't have as much time to devote to shopping and decorating this year, I am still excited. And a little birdie told me that Santa Claus might be visiting the NICU in a couple weeks. Cant wait!

Georgia

Jolynne

Mickey - These are all before the tube was taken out