Today was a hard day.

The day started with the girls having another bath and their bedding changed. The purple and pink blanket trick to tell them apart is no more.

Ana was sleeping with her arm over her face reminding me a picture we took of Olivia around the same age that is extremely slow to find on the hospital wireless.

Ana, sleeping like Olivia once did. 🙂

Dorothy

During rounds, the neonatologist prepped us concerning Dorothy. While Ana had been eating up to her allowed amount and started ever-so-slightly gaining weight, Dorothy hadn’t been eating up nor stopped her initial weight loss. If she didn’t make some gains in the next 24 hours, they would add a feeding tube to send milk straight to her stomach.

Ugh. Damn it.

Alright, that’s fine. If it helps her bulk up and turn the corner, sure thing.

Later in the day, V and I took off for a couple of hours to swap out dirty clothes for clean ones and take a shower. After a frustrating experience between insurance and a vendor trying to get a quality breast pump that could support our needs when, in a first, the insurance company telling me they covered something when the vendor said insurance wouldn’t. I should defer all insurance conversations until after we’re out of NICU.

We head back to the hospital to find…

Ana under the lights

Dorothy under the lights

What? They were cleared from bilirubin checks? Labs weren’t being sent off anymore. It had only been a couple of hours since we left without jaundice being on the table to phototherapy?

Their nurse noticed their coloration was deteriorating and requested the neonatologist confirm and request labs. Sure enough, their bilirubin levels were high enough to merit intervention, including VISOR-style stickies.

Dorothy with her Gerodi La Forge visor inputs

The day ranged from the doctor suggesting we wouldn’t be here when he returned on Monday to our nurse telling us we’ll see him next Thursday when he’s next on duty.

We’re emotionally drained after today.

A small step back today: The girls were working too hard to keep their temperatures up and not quite getting there, so they’ve been stripped down and under the infant warmer again.

Dorothy’s bilirubin levels are borderline, but the team thinks she’ll keep them under control. Another check tomorrow.

It has been a good day though. I slept a bit and V is sleeping now. I give off a good amount of body heat, so I took the girls skin-to-skin for awhile—turns out I’m more effective than the infant warmers :). It has been a nice, peaceful afternoon so far—their first “Daddy Date”, so to speak.

The NICU staff has been great at encouraging us to do the parent duties—feeding, changing diapers, etc. The first diaper of Dorothy that I changed yesterday… well, let’s say she has figured out how to wiggle out of her diaper so her first load of dirty clothes is waiting to be washed.

Thanks for everyone for their kind words, help, prayers. We haven’t been worried about anything except the girls thanks to you all.

Pictures!

Ana under the lights

Dorothy living the life.

Dorothy and Dad

A quick update in case you’re on the edge of your seats 🙂

Both girls’ lab workups were good, so they lost the IVs and are taking in all of their nutrition by mouth. With their IVs coming off, they can start wearing real clothes and being swaddled. While they’re still living in the infant warming beds, they haven’t been used since being shut off (yesterday?) and are looking like normal, in-hospital babies.

We’re happy to see what feels like quick progress, though still a bit clueless on any reasonable timeline for going home if all things continue on this track. I think a nurse or NNP said they would want to see them start gaining some weight (as all newborns lose some of their initial birth weight after birth) before being considered for discharge.

In any event, forward progress, one step at a time.

We’re now in the “nesting room”, an unused hospital room in a currently unused overflow wing that allows us to have a home base within the hospital. The window has a beautiful view of downtown.

Three topics we’ll write more about later: 1. great nurses and a small world, 2. the nesting room, 3. I already hate monitor alarms.

Time for a nap, but before we go… pictures!

Dorothy in big girl clothes and no IV

Ana snug as a bug

The view from our nesting room

Ana sleeping with her mouth wide open.

Ana hangs onto her cap while she’s sleeping.

Today, V was given her discharge orders, so we’ll be leaving the 2nd floor soon.

The twins are progressing well. They have continued to meet their feeding goals (e.g. food via mouth), so they have reduced their IV intake. Their glucose levels will be monitored the remainder of today and early morning tomorrow. If all goes well, they continue to meet their feeding goals and the glucose levels are sufficient, they could possibly lose the IVs soonish.

Once they lose their IVs, they’ll work on ensuring they can self-regulate their temperatures, meaning attempting to ditch the infant warmer bed and progressing to the “normal newborn” blanket swaddle.

In short, all good news. They’ve been pretty easy as far as NICU stays go.

Since they want Vanessa attempting to feed them or pumping every three hours (give or take) and we’re being evicted from postpartum, NICU arranged for us to keep a bed warm in an empty overflow wing as long as they’re not needed for patients. While the twins have their own challenges to meet, we’re going to figure out the balance between supporting the NICU twins and supporting the three still at home. I’ve stayed overnight with the oldest girls during O’s asthma admit and MC’s tonsillectomy; this will be V’s first stay in the hospital without the staff support of being a patient.

Yadda, yadda, where are the pictures? Here:

Ana on December 1st. A selfie with Dad.

Dorothy lounging in the dark under the head lamp. 12/1/2014

Dorothy sleeping after eating before going back to the heatlamps 12/1/2014

Ana post-snack before back to the lamps. 12/1/2014

With just shy of a day under their belts, the twins are doing great. V is on track to be released from postpartum tomorrow. The twins are still looking good, being supplied by a combo of IV and mom’s milk. Breathing, glucose, and all that jazz look good with no signs of infection or anything else negatively noteworthy.

Ana’s First Picture

Dorothy’s first picture

Where’s sis?

Waiting for transport

Who is that?

Hanging Out

Ana

Dorothy

Dorothy

Dad and Dorothy

Dad and Ana

Dorothy’s IV Prep

Dorothy’s book

A for Ana!

Ana’s Bath

Mom and Ana

Mom and Ana

Mom and Dorothy

Ana in Pink