After staying up wayyyy too late last night to work on this here blog, it was really tough getting up (multiple times) this morning. The good news is I've noticed that the milk production has increased, even if I don't pump as many times in one day. I try not to push it, though, since I want the production to increase even more and it tends to hurt if I go too long without pumping.
I arrived at the hospital earlier than usual so I could help give both the girls baths today. As a side note, the NICU gives babies baths every three days, and originally it was only during the night shift. The night nurses complained about that, so now the NICU switches between day and night every month. Since today is the first day of May, baths moved back to the daytime.
As a fortunate coincidence, Dr. Kinestra was present and about to check the girls when I walked in to NICU 3. She gave me the update (nothing new, although there's a chance they'll be switched from fortifier to a preemie formula tomorrow, plus their feeds may increase tomorrow too), and I had the opportunity to ask some questions from Matt. Specifically, he is concerned (as am I) about Abby's recent somewhat severe apnea episodes (one on Sunday, one last week). How sure will they be gone by the time the girls are discharged? And, are the episodes normal, or something to be concerned about? Dr. Kinestra said both girls were in the normal range for babies their age (although Abby is probably on the higher normal end and Hazel is on the lower normal side), so there is not a concern there. She also said the girls would not be discharged until they go at least five days (while sleeping) and three days (while eating) without any episodes. So it's normal and possible for babies to stay in the NICU for awhile due to episodes even though they are managing everything else (temperature, feeding, etc).
Giving the girls a bath is fun. They are so cute and wiggly! Both were not big fans of being woken up, unclothed, and then getting wet (big protests from Hazel and Abby at that point), but liked it once they were placed on their tummies and were wrapped up and dried off. I brought in a bunch of the newborn clothes we had received from the baby showers, and put the girls in these cute onesies:
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| "Drop it like it's hot!" - h/t MAN |
Both Dr. Kinestra and Cathy thought these were pretty cute. :)
Of course, the drawback of giving a bath is it really tires out the girls. They received their 2:30/3:00 feeding via gavage, and I was supposed to breastfeed both at the 5:30/6:00 feeding. After about 10-15 minutes, Hazel zonked out, and wouldn't even wake up to finish up her food via bottle (I tried rubbing the head, tickling the feet, burping, etc ... nothing), although Cathy managed to get it down her (ah, the experience of a nurse comes into play ... plus, as even she noted, she doesn't smell like breastmilk). :) Abby, as usual, started slow, was on for about 10 minutes, and then zonked out too. I didn't even have a chance to try and bottlefeed her since it was NICU closing time.
Three interesting things today:
1. I met Victoria, the occupational therapist, today. She told me that both girls have been favoring turning to the right side, and so their heads were slightly flat on that side. So, we need to work on making them turn to the left. Of course, I'm sure part of the reason they are turning right instead of left in the crib is because the door, people, and all sorts of happenings are occurring on their right side. There is nothing but a wall on the left - how boring would it be to look at that all day? To rectify that, Victoria put up some visual stimulation on the left side of their crib:
She also suggested we need to tightly swaddle the girls' legs more frog-leg like until they are about 40 weeks gestation, as that improves their flexor muscles and also mimics the conditions in the womb. And, to help with the flat head plus right turning issue, Victoria suggested we constantly switch the girls when we hold them, change them, and put them to bed in the crib, so they have to look both to the right and to the left.
2. I also met and conversed with a fellow NICU parent of twins, whose girls (Arwyn and Arriana) are in the same room as ours. We told our preterm labor war stories (her was more prolonged than mine - she was on bedrest for 5 weeks, but still ended up giving birth at about 29.5 weeks, on April 9). She and her girls have been in the NICU for about 3 weeks, compared to my 7 weeks, and I could see in her face that she was not quite the harden veteran yet. I'm not usually an outwardly emotional person, but up through the first three or four weeks, seeing babies leave the hospital still really bothered me and choked me up. (Now, fortunately, seeing babies leave makes me smile). As I told her, I think it is because the girls have progressed so well, and I can see a light at the end of the tunnel.
3. Matt had tried to visit the girls last night, but when he arrived there was a sign up indicating the NICU was closed due to a procedure. So the attempt was thwarted. I asked Cathy about it today, and she told me a 22 or 23 week baby was admitted last night, and the staff was trying to get the IVs and other medical equipment set up. Cathy paused, and then told me the baby didn't make it (but fortunately they were able to get the mom out of c-section recovery in time to be there). It was a sobering reminder that I was in an intensive care unit with life or death consequences. However strong our girls are now, they were very fragile when they were born, and it is entirely possible I could have been in that poor mom's shoes. I'm so very blessed that I wasn't.
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