Babies age 0 weeks- Life in the NICU

The NICU is not as scary as I first thought it might be. It was awkward when I arrived for the first time but I quickly adjusted to the daily protocol. On Sunday after delivery the babies where put on CPAP. They were needing a slight bit of assistance to breathe which is completely normal and expected with preemies born at 33 weeks gestation. We visited them that evening and it was hard to really see their faces with the oxygen masks and the CPAP which pushes fluid out of their lungs causing bubbles to form around their mouths.

Kelsey on CPAP and Oxygen

Skin to Skin with Kelsey and my first time holding her

By the time we visited the next morning they had been taken off the CPAP and oxygen masks. It was the start of our ever changing and steadily advancing babies! I was also able to finally hold both babies. I stripped down and held them skin to skin and it was just amazing! There are many benefits to holding your baby with both bare skin and I certainly have no problem with it :) I was finally feeling like I had given birth. I also delivered very small vials of colostrum (early milk) that I had hand expressed. There was only a drop or two in each vial but the nurse showed me how they swab their mouths with it to give them the antibodies it provides. We are allowed to visit whenever we want and we can bring guests whenever as well. Austin unfortunately has not met his brother and sister yet because sibling have to be age 5 to come into the NICU and non-siblings must be age 14.

Logan during his first bath

Kelsey during her first bath

On Tuesday the babies were taken off their feeding tubes and I was able to nurse both babies which would help tremendously with my milk to come in. Both babies latched on with their first try and life was good. I didn't have nearly as much luck nursing Austin but the last couple weeks of my pregnancy I had been dreaming at night about breast feeding so I just KNEW it was going to go much better this time around. In addition, I really knew what I was doing this time and that makes a HUGE difference. Paul also was able to feed Kelsey a bottle of formula that evening. He still hadn't held them yet but this was a good first step.

Paul feeding Kelsey

Collage by our NICU nurses

 Wednesday on day 3 my milk came in and I spend the entire day nursing them at each feed to get my production up! They are on a rotating feeding schedule Kelsey receives feeds at 8-11-2-5-8-11-2-5 and Logan receives his feeding as 9-12-3-6-9-12-3-6. This allows me and the nurse to feed each baby and then have a nice amount of down time between while they sleep.

Thursday their IV's and their quantities of milk at each feeding were upped to compensate for the fluid they were receiving through their IV's. Each day it increases by 5 ml to promote weight gain. It is pretty crazy how much milk I will need to supply. Just as I think I am producing enough then the next day it increases and I fall behind again. It will be a constant process of nursing, pumping and supplementing with formula. Because this was my last day in the hospital before being discharged that evening, I again spent the whole day with them cuddling and nursing. I went down at 11 changed, fed and cuddled with Kelsey and then Logan at 12. I then returned to my room for lunch between 1-2 and then went down and did it over again returning to my room from 4-5 and back down. After Logans feed at 6, Paul and I packed up and I was discharged at 7:30pm.

I sobbed the entire way home and a lot that evening. It was the hardest thing that I ever did. I just wasn't sure how I was going to come to grips with the fact that our babies were not home with us. It was a pretty aweful evening and I stayed pretty quiet and depressed. I showered when I got home which helped a lot to unwind and I set up my pumping schedule which included setting my alarm for one early morning pump at 4:00a.m. which coinsides with my medication dose of oxycodone and motrin.

Friday, Sarah (Paul's sister) came to assist me for the day to make sure I was taking it easy. She dropped me off at the hospital at 10:45. I nursed and supplemented Kelsey and Logan, changed and cuddled with them. I also dropped off the milk that I had pumped since being home and then she picked me up at 1:00. It was wonderful to be with my babies and I found out that this is a very nice schedule that works well to visit each day. The babies were also in clothes when I arrived today as they are slowly getting ready to be put in open air cribs. We also decided that Paul will visit once a day in the evening as well so he can bottle feed one or both babies and spend his time bonding with them. This day also marked when the babies stopped losing weight and officially started gaining weight back Yay!

Their first photo shoot

Their first photo together!

Saturday the nurse went over all the things that the babies need to accomplish to be able to go home.
1. They must continue to gain weight and stay above 4 lbs as a minimum
2. They must maintain their body temperature in an open air crib for at least 24 hours
3. They must receive all feedings from a bottle or breast NO feeding tube for at least 48 hours.
4. They must have no spells ( forgetting to breathe) for a minimum of 5 days straight.
5. Car seat test. Able to sit in the car seat for 90 minutes with no drop in temperature, heart rate or spells and hold their heads safely.
In the meantime there is a small checklist of things for us as parents to do and learn while the babies are in NICU such as, kangaroo care(skin on skin) change diapers, take temperatures, observe bath time, weigh the babies, learn infant CPR, nurse and feed babies bottles and change babies clothes.
Today marked the day that I first held both babies at the same time. Wow, was that a moment of realization. I hadn't really wrapped my head around the concept that I had two babies to tend to. With their NICU schedules, I am always just one on one with them. The nurses say that they almost always stay on this schedule when they go home. Well, I must say that is definitely one perk to NICU. They are very manageable with their back to back feedings and a very nice break in between. My brother Ryan and girlfriend LeAnn came to meet the babies this evening and they got quite a show during the care hour because it was weighing and bath time so the babies were awake and perky!

Mommy holding both babies for the very first time

Can you tell we are twins??

Sunday my mom and I went in and she got to spend some time with the babies and took some new photos of them. She has chosen to not hold them yet because she has a case of Poison Oak and we are taking precautions. Paul also went in to feed and cuddle with Logan since he spent the last couple nights with Kelsey.

And our last update for this post! Our babies are officially a week old today and their  current conditions are this. Kelsey is gaining weight, she maintains her temperature well, she is slightly jaundice but needs no intervention, she still has a feeding tube because she sometimes doesn't finish feeds and needs it directly inserted into her stomach. She has spells but usually comes out of them on her own and only sometimes needs assistance. Logan is gaining weight, he maintains his temperature okay but does cool down during feeds if not wrapped up. He eats all meals and is our little piggy. He is slightly jaundice but even less than Kelsey. He has started getting spells as well.