There's No Place Like Home

My apologies for the delay in this post... we've been a bit busy the past couple of days. :)
Monday morning at about 7:30am, we received a call before we left for the cities to see the girls...our nurse practitioner said it looked like the girls would be able to come home.

We gathered our things and put the car seat bases into the Yukon.  They had to pass the car seat test, which they did!  Dr. Mulrooney discharged the girls a little after 3:00pm.  It's such a great feeling to finally have them at home

The medical staff at Children's and the Mother Baby Center was amazing.  Post-partum nurse Samantha and Special Care Nursery nurse Chris were awesome.

What can we possibly say about DLS and Shannon (and everyone) from the MN Perinatal Physicians, who we have worked with since last August.  Our girls wouldn't be here without you.  This quote perfectly describes how we feel about you:  "Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for awhile and leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never, ever the same.”

Since we're home, I wanted to be up front about our thoughts on visitors at our home.  Many of you are really excited to meet the girls and see them and we look forward to seeing you all.  That being said, since our girls are still not full term, they are really susceptible to catching those bugs out there.  We are in the peak of cold and flu season and RSV is really bad this year.  If the girls were to catch any of those, they would end up back in Minneapolis at Children's, which we obviously want to avoid at all costs.

If you've recently been sick or have a fever, cough or runny nose, please hold off on scheduling a time to stop and see us.  If you have young children, please don't bring them with as, even if they aren't sick, they still carry a lot of germs from the outside.

We are settling into a routine now here at home with feedings and sleeping.  The girls are getting used to their environment and things are going well.

We have our first follow up appointment in Hutch with Dr. Leah this afternoon.

Have a great week!
cw

Update - 1/25

The girls are doing really well.  We are hopeful that they can come home this week.  The main thing we are waiting on is that they are eating consistently and their amounts are increasing as well.  The nurses at Children's have been great and they all possess a lot of knowledge and have given us a lot of helpful tips and information for when we bring them home.

Tomorrow they have a carseat test and a hearing test.

Isaac and Ellie were able to come and hold them on Saturday.  They really enjoyed that!

We will keep you posted as to when they are able to come home.

Update - 1/22

Today the girls moved one step closer to being "wireless".  They had their IVs removed and they are also done with the photo therapy light as their bilirubin level has come down.  The only thing they have now is the feeding tube and the basic monitors.  Their eating is going well and they don't have to use the feeding tube too often.  Overall, things are going well!
We are once again staying at home tonight and will head in tomorrow.

Update - 1/21

Sara was discharged today so her and I headed home to have a night at home and sleep in our own bed.  They girls have increased their amounts of eating / food intake since they have been under the photo light.  Their bili levels have come down as well so the photo therapy seems to be working.
Sara's milk has come in so they have been getting a mixture of that now with some formula.
They are also weaning off of the IV food so that is good as well.
We are hanging out with Issac and Ellie tonight so it is good to spend some time with them as well.
We will head back to the cities tomorrow to bring the girls their breast milk and spend time with them.
cw

Update - 1/20

The girls are still doing well today.  They are going to spend some time under the photo therapy light as their bilirubin levels are a little high.  Because of the high bilirubin, they are sleepy.  They are also going to put in a small feeding tube to supplement anything they aren't getting from a bottle.  Once Sara's milk comes in and they begin having breast milk they should really start getting the nutrients and nourishment that they need from that alone.

Even though the girls are identical, we can tell them apart :)  We think Nora might have a little wave/curl to her hair.

Sara is doing better today and not in as much pain.  As of right now she is scheduled to go home tomorrow at some point.

cw

Happy Birthday!

Yesterday morning - Sunday, January 18 - Sara's water broke about 5:00 am, so we got ready and headed into Minneapolis.
At 10:11 am we welcomed 5 lb 7 oz Amelia Jo (a.k.a Baby A) and at 10:13 am we welcomed 5 lb 14 oz Nora LaVonne (a.k.a. Baby B) into our lives!
They are doing great; breathing on their own, all vitals look good and have taken several feedings from a bottle.  They will likely be in the special care nursery for 10 days to three weeks, while they reach their milestones.
Sara's c-section went well, but she is in a fair amount of pain and discomfort while she heals and now starts to get back on her feet.  Hopefully each day will get better for her.
We also paid tribute to our angel Tenley, who was the first baby to come out at 10:10am.  We know that she will forever be with us and our family.
I will update the blog as our girls reach various milestones on their way to going home.
Thanks for all of your well wishes, thoughts and prayers!
cw

Amelia

Nora

Weekly Checkup - 1/13/15

This weeks checkup (33 weeks, 6 days) included not only our usual BPP and NST, but also growth measurements.  The girls both passed the BPP and NST once again.  The growth measurements were the part we were waiting for.  These weights are approximate give or take 11 ounces.  Baby A weighs 4 lbs 11 oz and Baby B weighs 5 lbs 4 oz!  We were completely shocked as we didn't expect them to be this big yet.  This is great news.

Weekly Checkup - 1/6/15

Our first checkup of the new year went well on Tuesday.  Both girls were rock stars and passed the NST and BPP right away.
Baby B turned again and is now head down.  Hopefully she stays put now as that was the cause for quite a few contractions for Sara on Sunday and Monday.
Next week we have growth measurements so we are anxious to see how much these two girls have grown!