Big Boys!!!

The boys have officially turned 2 weeks old (or 33 weeks gestation). Everybody is so impressed with their progress. They're all taking full feeds and are on 26 calorie milk/formula mixture. They're all gaining weight and are back up to their birth weights and then some.
All the nurses have noted how much they like to suck on their binkies or their hands when they're getting hungry or when they're getting their feeds. Yesterday, Benji was wide awake before his feed and going to town on his binkie. The nurse decided he should try to take a bottle (this is big b/c they're not usually ready until they're 34/35 weeks). She brought it in for me to do and he took 10 mL!!! This is impressive b/c he didn't drop his heart rate or have any brady's at all. He even burped at the end. It did take him 15 min so he got the rest of his feed through his tube, but it's still a pretty big deal.

Thanks to Eli for the great picture!!!

Then last night, Nate took 15 mL and Sam took a whole 30 mL bottle! They're rock stars!!!

Moving Day!!!

Friday was a bit of a crazy day. I wasn't able to go down to Boston at my usual time because of an appointment up here. I was frantic that the boys were going to miss me and not sure of what time I'd be able to go down to see them. As I'm sitting around waiting for my appointment, I got a call from MGH...I panicked of course...The lady had an accent of some kind and couldn't get her words out. Now I was in a complete state of insanity. They told me the only time they'd call me from the hospital is if they had to intubate somebody, so this is what is going through my mind.

Finally she spit it out...they had 3 spots up here and they boys were moving!!! OMG!!! They thought that they would all arrive up here by 3 PM. OK, well, then. I called Dave and then sat around until 3 and waited for their call. I had decided to call at 4 if I hadn't heard from them. At 3:45, I got the call. "Ben's arrived, but they forgot his milk. Can you bring some over?" Sure. I'll be right there.

So Ben had arrived around 3:40 and was super hungry. The ambulance had to shuttle back down to get Nate & Sammy. Same ambulance, same crew, different nurses. This was going to take all night...

I hung out with Ben a bit and then waited around for Nate. Dave arrived and headed down to get dinner before the cafe closed. I waited and waited and waited. Then coming down the hall, was Dave & the ambulance crew with...Sammy!!! Apparently Nate was eating so he let Sammy go ahead of him. This was around 6:30.

Same drill now for Nate...waiting...waiting...waiting...9:15...Nate's here!!! It's like a reunion. The boys had never been apart from each other for that long. I'm sure they missed each other. ;)

We're so excited to have them so close to home (<5 minutes door to door & free parking!). There are a few things that I'm not too excited about as far as set up and staffing, but I pushed for this and so I'm just going to have to suck it up and deal with it...I compare it to going from the Ritz to the Holiday Inn. There's nothing wrong with the Holiday Inn, just compared to the Ritz, it's not quite the same.

Now that they're close by, we've had a barage of people stammering to see them. Of course they're the main attraction, but we need to be careful. The Nursery has strict rules about visitors and many people think that they can just swing by and take a peek. They're on a locked floor and there's no access without me or Dave. We can only have 2 adult visitors at a time. No kids, unless it's Eli. We're trying to keep visitors to a close circle of people at this time...Grandparents & Godparents. We hope people understand.

As for when they're home...we're going to have to be just as strict. Because they were born so early, their immune systems are more succeptible to catching things. Even the common cold can kill them. They will be eligible for the RSV vaccine, but that doesn't mean that we can have a parade marching through our house. Once we get the info from the drs., I'll post it so people can be aware of the limitations on visitors. I'm thinking we won't be able to do any visiting for Christmas or Thanksgiving either. Their big "debut" will probably be their Baptism which we're hoping to hold after RSV season is over in April or May.

Moving Pix...none of Ben since he arrived before I did:

Here's Sammy...



Here's Nate...

1 Week Birthday & Graduation

So...I arrive in the boys' room today and there are a million people with computers and clipboards standing by Ben's bed. I had a heartattack!!! They were just doing rounds so I relaxed a bit...phew!!! One of the doctors told me that there were 3 openings upstairs in the Level 2 (special care) nursery so they were getting moved. AHHHH!!! I was not prepared for that.

Today also happens to be the day when my crazy hormones kicked in and I cried at everything. Mostly happy tears about them being moved. I do wish they were moving home to our hospital, but waiting for 3 beds to open when there are only 10 is going to take awhile. It will be so weird going to a different nursery to see them. It's a little sad too because they were in a private room and they had awesome nurses. I hugged the nurses (not a typical thing for me...it must be hormones!) and cried all the way out the door.

I did get to see Ben "move" before I left. I had to sneak out before rush hour so I didn't see the other 2. They really didn't have a timeline, so I have no idea how long it would have been.

When getting ready to move Ben, the attending came in and told me how inspired she was when working with my boys. Yikes! More tears! They truly are an inspiration and a blessing. I am so proud of them and love them so much already (crying as I type).

Sammy's hanging out and peeing and pooping on the nurses!!!



Also big news: today Nate was off his IV nutrients and on full mama's milk!


Ben's making the big move!!! Way to go!!!

Staple Nightmare...cont...

So I went to get my last stuck staple out today. It was horrendous!!! The Midwife came in and I explained to her what the situation was. So...she proceeded to do the same thing the nurse did yesterday...um, that didn't work yesterday, why do you think it's going to work today???

She went to get me some ice and found a doctor. Luckily the doctor had seen this before so she knew what to do. She prodded around for awhile and then said, "I have to run to a surgery. Will you be around when I get back? I can shoot you full of lidocane and we can take care of this then." Um, no, I should be in the NICU with my boys and you're wasting my time lady. Get this thing out!!!

So she got tweezers and poked and picked and pinched me for 20 minutes. Luckily, they finally got the flippin' thing out!!! I think it might have been the worst part of the whole c-section...AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Staple Nightmare

So the Visiting Nurse came over today to remove my staples. I was freaked out of course, but assured that it was no big deal. She took out the staple remover thingee and proceeded to get to work. She started off on the 1st staple and had the remover UPSIDE DOWN!!! This means she pinched the staple and squeezed it into a different shape. Soooo...she got the rest of them out and then tried the 1st one again. They all came out easy peasy. Literally, getting my eye brows waxed hurts more. She tried to get that flippin' staple out for over a 1/2 hour and then gave up. It's still in!!! That means, tomorrow when I'm down at MGH I've got to head over to my dr and get a staple removed. Oh, and the best part is, Dave gets to put Bacitracin on my staple...Oy Vey!!!

Pix!!!

Benjamin



Nathaniel



Samuel

Update...almost 1 week old!

So it's been a wild week since the boys arrived. We've had lots of visits with them and lots of visitors. The boys are all superstars! Ben is off his C-pap and all boys are breathing room air the old fashioned way. All boys have been under their phototherapy lights and they're currently off. With Jaundice though, it fluctuates (even with full term babies) and it's something that may or may not come back. They're still eating through NG tubes in their noses. They have started to suckle their binkies while they're getting fed so this is a good sign to help them get the relationship. They have all increased their feeds and love their mommy's milk! They also get supplemental nourishment through an IV until they can be on all milk. Every time the nurses increase the milk, they decrease the IV.

Also, super news: they're now considered Level 2 babies (improved from Level 3). This means they can move to a hospital closer to home! This will be fantastic because it is exhausting to go down and visit them now that I'm home. The 2 hospitals have been in communication and now we're just waiting for 3 beds to open up to be able to accommodate our little guys. I can't wait!

We've been kangarooing all the babies and they love to snuggle. We've also been changing their diapers and getting them dressed in "big boy" clothes. We're still trying to figure out a way to tell them apart, but for now they're all labeled so it makes it easier!