Heaven on Earth

April 24th, 2008

Last night was amazing!! Paul and I got to hold Brooklyn for the first time! Then I got to hold Calahan; which I didn't think would happen for quite some time. It was the GREATEST FEELING EVER! Our hearts were bursting with joy and overflowing with love...we were holding OUR very own babies. Babies that are a part of Paul and a part of me. INCREDIBLE!!

As of last night here are the updates:

Calahan now weighs 2 lbs. 11 oz. He was getting a blood transfusion when we arrived last night. They had to put an IV in his left foot because the blood can't get through the PICC line. Cal is now on 3 cc of breastmilk and will probably go up to 4 today if he tolerated his feeds well in the night.

Brooklyn joined the THREE POUND CLUB weighing in at 3 lbs. 1 oz. She is on her tenth day of antibiotics today. Her white blood cell count came down from 43,000 to 29, 000. Average range is 7,000-12,000, so we still need it to come down but she is heading in the right direction. She started feeds two days ago and is now tolerating them well. Nurse Brenda pushed for the doctors to try her on the nasal cannula yesterday and she was doing well while we were there.

Aidan weighed 3 lbs. 6 oz. yesterday. What a big boy! He is on his 5th day of trophic feeds (loading dose .5 cc) and doing well. Hopefully tomorrow he will go up to 1 cc. Aidan continues to desat and hi-sat, but always recovers on his own. Nurse Stephanie decided to try Aidan on the nasal cannula as well for fun.

I spoke with the NICU this morning and the babies had a good night. Aidan and Brooke are still on the nasal cannula. Aidan and Cal had bradies and desats. Aidan did have one episode of apnea where they had to step in and bag him. Brooke had one of the nurses concerned with her midnight poop, so they sent it to the lab and it came back negative for blood, so hopefully that was nothing. There was also a lot of air in her residual so they will keep an eye on that as well. Overall, a great night!

Many people have been asking how I am doing physically after 77 days of bedrest, c-section, etc. I am doing pretty good, but that is only because I have the most amazing husband ever. When I walk or stand my ankles have a lot of pressure on them and it is difficult to walk or stand in one spot for very long. Likewise when I sit, my butt hurts despite all of the extra padding. Go figure! Paul is always very conscious of these things and reminds me to take it easy. I can't bend down because it hurts my knees and I still have a shooting pain down my right leg when I try to bend down. I love sitting indian style and I am slowly able to do that again, but my joints are still stiff. My incision is healing nicely. I still can't see it unless I look in the mirror because it is hidden by my big belly. Yet every day Paul tells me how beautiful he thinks that I am and what a great job I am doing. He is the best!

Mentally, I cried quite a bit the first week or so in the NICU due to the hormones and all of the beeping and flashing that goes on. But now I am used to those things and only cry tears of joy when we are spending time with our babies because they are completely amazing! Thanks for asking. I guess you just don't take the time to think about yourself when you have kids. Your whole world revolves around them. The time flies when you are spending time with them and stands still when you are away from them.

Paul is also doing well. He gets up early to go to work, comes home and we head to the hospital until 9 or 10. I am sure it will start to wear him down soon, but he is so strong. I am constantly amazed at how well he handles everything. I thank God every day for him. He always knows what to say and do.

I hope you are having a wonderful day. I will end this post with a video of Brooklyn. Love to all!