Limbo

From the Twin-Mommy:

Having our boys in the NICU seems like a type of limbo. We are parents, and our little tykes are no longer in my belly. However, at the same time, we are still waiting to be able bring them home to find our own rhythms as a family. Right now, Dominic and Alexander still haven’t been able to touch each other since they were born (and probably won’t until we bring them home), and we have to wash our hands every time we switch from holding one to the other. Their little world is filled with the motion and voices of nurses, other parents visiting their children, and the bells and bings of alarms and notifications from the variety of equipment.

The NICU – for very good reasons – has to be very careful about infections, but this also means that a cough, a fever blister, or any number of symptoms can leave you quarantined from your little ones. I wasn’t able to go in from Sunday morning until yesterday afternoon, and that has made it even tougher and more frustrating to have Dominic and Alexander in the NICU. The last few days I have continued to recover from my C-section and to feel a bit like I’m being converted into a plastic cyborg by my breast pump (whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…is the background sound to my life). Grandma has visited the boys every morning to hold and love on them, and Puck and Grandma returned every evening after he got off work to feed and love on them some more. They were taking lots of little videos for Mom, so I could see my boys.

Alex Wants his Grandma

Grandma holds Alex and Dominic Smiles in his Sleep

(Look for a classic smile around 1:40 into the video.)

Yesterday, I was absolutely elated to be able to go and hold Dominic and Alexander again. We made it there before their 7:30 (Dom) and 8:30 (Alex) feedings, so I was able to nurse them for 15 minutes (good practice for me and for the boys) before giving them their bottles. Both of them did a great job with their nursing workout which is still a lot of work for them with a lot less reward. Still, they were eager to get to business, and Alex drank up his full bottle afterward. Puck and I got to take their temperatures, change their diapers, and something new…. we put them in their first outfits from home – 2 little newborn onesies that were decorated for them at one of our baby showers.

While having our little ones in the NICU is not ideal in many ways, we are so happy that they are being well taken care of by a large staff of very capable and friendly nurses and doctors. It’s important to also recognize and appreciate the other benefits. I’ve probably been able to recover faster after my surgery and to get a bit more sleep, and we’ve gotten lots of on-hand, expert advice about holding our babes, changing diapers, bottlefeeding, breastfeeding, etc.

How the Boys Are Doing:

Like most every baby, our boys initially lost weight after birth, but they are both almost back to their birth weights. For a time, they were only 2 ounces apart, but Alexander has pulled back ahead. Yesterday, Dominic weighed 5 pounds 11 ounces (2794 grams), and Alexander weighed 6 pounds 2 ounces (2583 grams). Plus, they changed them to bottlefeeding for every meal, and the nurse removed the tape and let them pull out their own hated feeding tubes under her supervision.

They are no longer monitoring Alex’s oxygen levels, and if Dom continues to do well, they will stop monitoring his soon too. Alex’s heart rate dipped sharply on Monday (though it came back up on its own), so we know that he has no chance to come home before next Monday as they monitor a preemie’s heartrate for a week after that. Alexander and Dominic are each eating 60+ mL at each feeding (and Mom is currently barely producing 60+ mL each day, though it’s milk now and not colostrum). In fact, I must go get ready to head to the hospital to see my little piggies right now.