The One with The NICU Update...

I finally got a chance and have the energy to give everyone a little update. I will write out the birth story later this week, but for now I'll just let you all know what's been going on with the babies. 

They are both still in the NICU but they are doing well. They each have their own nurse watching over them & couldn't be in better hands...especially at night time when Emily Hugen is there taking care of them :) 

Faith has consistently been doing better. She was brought straight to the NICU after being born because of her size. Once there, she was put on a CPAP which helped her breath, but was able to come off of it by early Saturday. Since then she has been breathing on her own, has come off the IV and has started breast feeding. She has been a rock star feeding so far, especially for her size and age. So proud of her already :) It does take a lot of energy for her to feed and if it takes her longer than 30 minutes to eat, it starts being counterproductive and she burns more calories then she takes in. Because of this, she  they ended up putting in a feeding tube so after she feeds and is all tuckered out, she is given whatever I've pumped through her feeding tube. She is starting to show signs of having jaundice, but her levels aren't high enough to put her under the light, so we're hoping it stays that way. I love being able to have the special one on one time with her to do skin to skin, feed her, and to see her little quicks and personality outside the womb. 

As for Mr. Cole, he is making progress. He was originally taken to the nursery because he was good size, but after struggling to get good, deep breaths, they took him to the NICU to join his sister. All the nurses have told us that statistically, females tend to do better than males in the NICU as well as the 1st twin tends to also have a quicker recovery rate than the 2nd born twin. So poor Cole has both of those odds stacked against him :/ But he will get there and is already improving. He still has his CPAP on to regulate his oxygen and a picc line to give him everything he needs. We haven't been able to hold him yet which has been really hard. We get to take his temperate, change his diaper, and able to put our hands in the incubator and touch him, but until the CPAP is removed and he is more stable, we won't be able to hold him. Last night was actually the first time since he was born that I got to see him with the CPAP off his face. It breaks my heart that I'm not able to hold and cuddle him like I can Faith. They said we might be able to do skin to skin today which would be so nice to do before we go home. It's hard feeling like you have two babies when one is in your arms and the other is cooped up in an incubator. I know he will be out of there sooner then later and our time will come, but all I want to do is bond with him like I can her. I hope I'm explaining all of the correctly. Matt is the one who is good at understanding all the medical terminology :) I am so thankful to have him as my partner in this and to see him as a dad has made my love for him grow even more. I love watching him while I feed Faith, sitting next to Cole, looking at him in his incubator and watching his vitals.

 

I'm recovering really well and not in too much pain. Trying to walk around as much as possible and get as much rest as I can, which has been harder then I thought. By the time we check in and scrub in at the NICU, spend time with the babies, feed and get back to the room, it's time for me to pump. Then it feels like the cycle starts all over again. I know this is just a glimpse of the tiredness to come, but I think it's much more emotionally draining right now then anything. I'm home today which is going to be even more difficult having to drive back and forth each day. I'm planning on staying for 2 feedings in a row during the day and then Matt and I can come back later in the afternoon/night to do another feeding. We don't have a good idea yet of when they will come home. It's all hour to hour, day by day with how their progress goes. We probably won't know until the day before that he and/or she can come. I'm thankful that I have this time to recover and rest, and even more thankful that their conditions aren't more serious. We finally have our babies that we have prayed so long for. I think we can wait a couple weeks longer till they are home with us, we have waited this long :)

Thanks to everyone for the congratulations, and for all you encouraging words, thoughts and prayers. We are so blessed to have family and friends there for unconditional support and appreciate it more than you know. This is just another part in our journey and another one of God's blessings in disguise :)

We can't wait for Cole to join us for a picture!