Week 3 post-partum

Thursday: 
Started out badly.  A new nurse that I wasn't so wild about, and at rounds it was more of the same old thing and ended with the doctor saying, "A few more days" and me just about crying.  I was just DONE with the NICU on that day. 

However, maybe it was my frustration, or maybe the babies just had that "36 week" lightbulb, but they took almost everything orally that day.

Friday: 
Moose and Monkey sick at home with fevers.  And wouldn't you know, that's the day that I go to the hospital and am greeted with, "E can go home tomorrow, and D on Sunday!"  So as excited as I was to take them home...it wasn't so great to think about taking them home to get fevers!

So Friday was our "ad lib" day, when the babies got to take out their tubes and call the shots about how much and how often they ate.  If they gained weight after going "ad lib" then they could go home.

D without her feeding tube!

E without her tube as well!

Saturday:
Yay, they gained!!

Sick kids' fevers abating, but cold symptoms replacing the fevers.  It's decided that we'll bring both babies home on Sunday to hopefully lessen their chance of getting sick, and try to quarantine the babies.  Spent any free time getting pre-discharge stuff done (carseat testing, hearing testing, CPR video, etc).

Sunday:
HH stayed home with the kids while I went to the hospital and got the babies!!  Hooray!!  After 2.5 weeks in the NICU it was SO EXCITING to leave!

As soon as I got them home we realized that it was unrealistic to think that we could quarantine the babies.  Chick joined the sick ranks (she skipped the fever, though), and all of the big siblings couldn't resist sneaking in to pet and kiss and invade the personal space of the babies. 

Moose is especially taken with them (and shows no signs of jealousy yet!!) but he's also the scariest because 2 year olds aren't known for their gentleness.  He has been as gentle as he can be, but I'm sure my blood pressure skyrockets every time he's in the room with them.

Monday & Tuesday: 
HH stayed home from work, and we tried to find routines.  I tried to not stress about the babies getting enough nourishment (it was a lot less concerning when the folks at the hospital just TOLD me when and how much the babies needed to eat).

Our pediatrician, Dr. Sunita, came over on Tuesday afternoon to check out the babies.  Everything was going fine, and they were 5 ounces up from when they were discharged (E: 5#6oz, D: 5#13oz).  There might have been some discrepancy between the scales...5 ounces in 2.5 days seems like a lot...but it still was positive and helped me to chill out and stop worrying.

Wednesday & Thursday:
The older kids had a playdate, and my sister Laura came with her daughter Rachel and grandson Charlie.  We visited for a while (but I was really tired and rather lackluster, I'm afraid) and then Laura collected the kids from the playdate and took them to her house for an overnighter.  It was very quiet and calm with just the babies and me at home for most of the time.  I read a book during breastfeeding time (Divergent...interesting read.  I love dystopian stories lately).

When the kids came home I let the older girls hold a baby for the first time...Moose was still pretty snotty, and he was out-of-sorts anyhow, so he still hasn't had a turn.

Chick holding D

Monkey, with disheveled hair, holding D

And now D and E are three weeks old!  They are cute as can be...I especially love to see them cuddled up together...I think it will be fun to have twins : ) 

Now if we can just stop using bottles and stop needing to pump out all of the extra milk (and stop having to wash all of the bottle and pump stuff all the time) then this will totally feel do-able.