NICU Day 18

The doctor came around this morning and heard a murmur in both girls' hearts. They originally only heard one in Olivia, but today found a soft murmur in Caroline as well. They said that I should not be overly concerned at this time, as the valves could close on their own in time. But both will need to get an echo soon to take another look. Other than that, the girls had a good day. Both had a couple of brady's today, funny how I come to almost expect them to happen every day. I hope they grow out of these episodes soon. This daily hospital routine is really wearing on us. Rob and I have spent every single day at that hospital for the past 8 weeks and 5 days now (including my inpatient stay while pregnant). We miss them terribly after kissing them goodbye each night, such a strange feeling to have to leave your children in someone else's care every day. It's almost like we're not even their parents yet. People tell me to enjoy this time of "free babysitting" and restful nights before we bring two needy babies home, but we actually want the WHOLE experience of having them here at home with us where they belong. I'm their mom and I should be the one there to comfort them when they wake up at night, and we should be the ones taking shifts warming bottles and changing diapers at 3am. We actually want all of that because it's part of being a parent. I know our time for this is coming, but I can't help but feel like we're missing out on some of it.

Here are a few pictures of our visit with Grandpa Richard and Grandma Linda over the past couple days.

Proud GrandpaMommy & Caroline

Livi trying to suck her thumb

Caroline has turned in to a good eater!

Happy Halloween!

Grandpa Richard and Grandma Linda came to visit us the past couple days. They enjoyed seeing the girls and have decided they are the cutest babies ever (they might be slightly biased).

My Aunt Sandy sent the girls two Halloween shirts and here are my attempts to pose them next to each other to see what they say. They were squirming all over the place. Caroline is in the "Happy Halloween" shirt with the pumpkin socks, and Olivia is in the "I love my mummy" shirt with the purple cat socks.

Weights today:

Caroline - 4lb,13.25oz

Olivia - 5lb,4.7oz

2 weeks old today

Two weeks ago today the girls were born. They continue to eat well, but are still having a couple brady episodes each day. The doctors say that they're just not ready and need to stay there longer to grow and get stronger. No one really knows how much time they will need.

I washed their hair today. It was so cute, they really liked it. I tried to brush it, but it dried in this funny spike do! I think they have daddy's hair. This is Olivia.

Weights today:

Caroline - 4lb,9oz

Olivia - 5lb,1.8oz

You can really see the difference between the girls now. Olivia has the chubby cheeks. Caroline is starting to eat a lot better and hasn't needed the feeding tube since Sunday so I'm hoping she'll catch up soon.

The nurses made them these bow headbands out of their hats for them

Caroline all cozy in her bed

I woke Livi up with the flash

Both babies still in the NICU

Well, we were all ready and packed up to come take Olivia home with us on Sunday when we received a phone call from the doctor letting us know that she had a brady episode that morning so they would be extending her for at least another five days. By the time we got up to the hospital that afternoon, she had had two more episodes. So she is not ready to come home yet... maybe she just doesn't want to leave her sister behind. Must be a twin thing. As for good news though - Caroline got her feeding tube taken out on Sunday evening! It was such a great surprise when I walked in on Monday morning and was able to see her whole sweet face again. She does still have a few red marks on her cheeks from the tape but that should go away soon. She seems much happier now and has been eating so well, taking all of her minimum feeds like a big girl! Hopefully she catches up to Olivia soon, who now weighs just a hair under 5lbs (4lb, 14.7oz today ; and Caroline is 4lb, 8oz today). They continue to do well, but both have been consistently having one to two brady episodes a day. This is the last hurdle they must pass before being discharged. I'll post newer pics soon.

Olivia MIGHT be coming home on SUNDAY!

The doctors came around to talk to me this morning and said that it's very possible that Livi will be coming home this Sunday! Of course, this depends on a couple things over the next couple days - she cannot have any brady's and she has to continue taking her minimum feedings all by mouth (but she hasn't really had a problem with either of these so far). We're very excited to have her home, but also very nervous! Just hope that we're ready! I am supposed to bring in her carseat tomorrow morning so they can test her sitting in it for one full hour to make sure she maintains appropriate oxygen levels, temp, etc. And they also had us set up an appointment with our pediatrician, as she'll need to go in within 48 hours after going home. Although we're happy to be bringing her home with us, it will be sad to leave her sister behind. I hope that Caroline catches up soon. She's doing very well and is slowly gaining weight every day, but she's still having one to two brady's every day. She's already had two since I've been here today. :(

Also, they started both girls on this multivitamin - it's a green liquid that is super strong smelling and tastes awful! I gave it to them both mixed with a little breastmilk this morning. Olivia made a super hilarious face because she knew it wasn't her normal breakfast, but still took it all down like a champ - she's a good little eater. We had to give it to Caroline in her tube so she wouldn't taste it. She still had green spit up a few minutes later - I think she'll be a little more sensitive to medicines, etc.

All in all, things continue to go well. We'll let you know after tomorrow what the verdict is on Olivia's homecoming!

Today's weigh in:
Caroline - 4lb, 4oz
Olivia - 4lb, 10oz

One week old!

One week ago the girls were born. It feels longer to me, but maybe that's because they've made so much progress since then. They're both doing great today. Caroline did had another brady early this morning for about 12 seconds... that's another 5 days for her. But both are still eating well and I think Livi is getting closer to coming home. The next few days will determine this.

NICU Day 6

I spent today with the girls again. They both ate really well today, meeting their minimums all by bottle. We did tube feed Caroline in the tube for one feeding just to give her a bit of a break. Both girls had bradycardia episodes today (called "brady's"). This is when their heart rates drop and slows to an abnormal pace for a period of seconds, and sometimes they stop breathing for that short time as well. The nurses assure me that this is pretty common in premature babies and will stop as the girls get closer to their due date. It's still scary to witness this happen because you can see the heart rate drop on the monitor and the alarm sounds and the nurse comes running in... very scary for a mom to see. Each time one of them has a brady automatically tacks on an extra 5 days to their NICU stay. Caroline has had a few of these already, but today was Olivia's first one. Maybe she just doesn't want to leave before her sister.
Livia looking at her daddy.

Sisters during Kangaroo Care

And Auntie Lindsay came to visit us today.