Joys In My Life

By Thursday evening, things were going well. Labor was staying away, even though I had a contraction every now and then. I had gotten two steroid shots into my system by this time, one on Wednesday morning when I was admitted and the second Thursday morning. I was taken off IV fluids and monitors and cleared to get out of bed to use the bathroom by Thursday afternoon. Tom and Phoebe came to visit me Thursday evening and I sent them home at 8:30 PM for her to go to bed as she had school the next day. Myself, I went to bed around 10 PM. I was getting sick of watching House reruns on TV and getting tired too. I woke up at 11:30 PM out of a sound sleep with the worst contraction ever, but this feeling that I had to go to the bathroom. This will be TMI, but I knew I was constipated since I had been admitted to the hospital and that is very unlike me when I'm on my normal diet from home. I went into the bathroom and tried to use the facilities but I quickly became aware that I wa...

It's been almost a month since Thomas and Liam were born, so I better get started on the story of how they came into this world. As I had mentioned in my blog the weekend before my water broke, the boys definitely dropped and I was feeling better about breathing and eating. I didn't really think this meant they would be coming soon, as I know when you get to that point it can still be several weeks before labor. But it was a sign of things to come.... On Wednesday, May 27, 2009, I was getting out of the shower and Leo and I were getting ready to get Phoebe on the bus. As I was drying off in the bathroom, a trickle when down my leg and onto the floor. I immediately knew what was going on. I didn't want to freak Phoebe out or make her worry all day, so I discreetly called Leo to the bathroom and asked him to get Phoebe on the bus and that my water broke and we needed to go to the hospital. I finished getting dressed and getting my act together, packing a bag and such ...

Hope everyone had a Happy Father's Day. We had a very good one. Tommy is now in an open crib, instead of the incubator and is nursing very well when he's not tired. Liam also had his last dose of caffeine yesterday and he also is good at nursing when he's not tired. Liam is still in an incubator, but I hope that as he gains some more weight he can regulate his temperature better. I'm making sure that even if Liam nurses, he still gets his full feed from the feeding tube which includes the 2 packets of fortifier. He needs the extra calories as on Saturday, they both nursed very well so we chose that we didn't think they needed the feeding tube that day, but Tommy gained weight while Liam did not. So we won't make that choice with Liam until he gains a bit more weight. Tommy is now around 4 lbs 10 oz, while Liam dropped back to 3 lbs 15 oz. Here's some updated pics. One of the boys side by side (Liam's head is so small!) and our official Father...

Tommy and Liam are doing very well. I was starting to get frustrated for a few days as it didn't seem like anything was getting any better. But they turned a corner and both are starting to regulate their own temperature better and are beginning to gain more weight. After that one night that Tommy nursed so well, we hadn't had a repeat of that until last night. Now I need to see if I can get it to continue, but I think it will. Next I need to work with Liam, but he's still been very sleepy the past few days and I think it's because he's working hard to gain weight and regulate his temperature. Liam is now off the pulse-oximeter and the temperature lead to the isolette, so he now has the same number of wires that Tommy has. I'm thinking it still might be another two weeks at least before they come home since they haven't transitioned yet to an open crib. I'm also feeling pretty good as I got "back to the mat" yesterday. I was very kind ...

If "The Boys" were still on the inside, they'd be 34 weeks gestation. Everything continues to go well, except Tommy is still ahead of where Liam is. Liam's been loosing weight since he's been off the IV and on full feeds through the feeding tube. The doctors called for both of their feeds to be fortified for extra calories, so hopefully that will help. The other good news with Tommy is he's working to become a nursing champ. He's taking bottles from the nurses when I'm not around, but I've now tried nursing him four times over the past two days and two of those times, he did great. Two days ago, the first time I tried nursing him, he took 1/2 his feed from nursing. The second time he wasn't as interested that day. He seemed kind of tired. Yesterday, he wasn't interested at all, but the second time I tried, he nursed for a 1/2 hour, which at that point the nurses confirmed with the doctor's that their was no point in trying to fe...

Tomorrow "The Boys" will be two weeks old!!! And I have lots of good updates. Here's a run down of both: Tommy - Tried a bottle for the first time yesterday. It was a fast-flow nipple, so he didn't really have to suck much, but he got the swallowing part down pat. He had 16 ml of his 36 ml feed from the bottle before he fell asleep and I couldn't wake him again by chucking him under his chin. - Now weighs 4 lbs 1 1.5 oz (a gain of 1.5 oz in 2 days) - His feed today was moved up to 38 ml Liam - Off oxygen again. Still on caffeine. His apnea issue was a little better today. He seemed to recover on his own more. - He's also off the IV and is strictly getting his calories from breast milk from the feeding tube. - Dropped a little in weight and is now 3 lbs 15 oz. His last weight was when he was still on the IV, so the drop in weight is to be expected at first. - Is now on the full feed size for his weight of 36 ml. - Also likes his pacifier today for the ...

So in the past few days, Liam has decided to try a new way to get Mommy attention (at least that's my attempt at a joke). Liam's been having heart rate decelerations and stopping his breathing. They put him back on oxygen with the canula two days ago for this and yesterday he was still doing it, so they decided to give him caffeine to keep away the apnea issues. I'm trying not to freak out about it, but the doctor talked to me about it, and I hadn't had any questions, as he hadn't done it since yesterday afternoon. About an hour after I talked to the doctor, he started doing it again. I'm interested to see what's going on tomorrow and what our next steps are. Other than that, they are both doing well. Liam is back to his full birth weight of 4 lbs 1 oz and Tommy is now a little more than his birth weight at 4 lbs even. Tommy's feeds are still at 36 ml but Liam's are now up to 25 ml. Apparently 36 ml is the full feed for the weight they are a...

Today the boys would have been 33 weeks gestation if they were still on the inside. I'm keeping track of this info (and I know the doctor's are too) as they say at what would have been 34 weeks gestation, the boys should have a good enough suck to be able to bottle feed or nurse. So one more week to go! I'm wondering if they might let Tommy try early though, as he loves his pacifier when he has his feedings through the tube. Liam is really not interested in his paci at all yet. I haven't noticed too much of a rooting reflex of either yet. Hopefully that will come in the next week. They got weighed last night, so I'm curious to see where they are at now. I think Tommy should be back to above his birth weight. He was just 1 oz shy of his birth weight 2 nights ago and he's been on full feeds for his weight for a few days now. He's getting 36mL of breast milk through his tube feedings every 3 hours. Liam was put back on feeds the day before yesterday a...

Tommy and Liam are now 1 week old and to celebrate, I've had tons of energy and downloaded the pics from the camera to the computer and can now share them all with you. Enjoy! Leaving for the Hospital After My Water Broke Pic of Liam Pic of Tommy Leo (aka Tommy the Second) and "The Boys" Phoebe holding Tommy

The boys continue to do really well in the NICU. We're getting more comfortable every day as we get to understand the schedule of their care and when the doctors come around on rotations. The nurses are fabulous and provide lots of information to make us feel more comfortable as well as helping us feel more comfortable about changing their diapers, taking their temperatures, and wrapping them up and letting us hold them during their gavage feedings. Here's a detailed update on both: Thomas (Tommy) never needed any respiratory help, but he's been in a temperature controlled incubator to help regulate him to be warm enough. He needed one day of the bili-lights, but it doesn't look like he will need it again. They keep an eye on both their bili levels every day. Tommy has been on gavage feedings with my breast milk for several days. Yesterday he was at 20 mL per feeding and they are increasing by mL every 12 hours. He's tolerating his feeds very well and every ...