Then we watched our friends go through every possible emotional journey with the loss of their precious son Smith, and yet stand strong and hopeful and grateful as their second son Gray spent his share of time in the NICU, getting strong and then going home to two of the most amazing people. I am simply in awe of their strength and grace and I do believe it was Kori & Jon's journey which gave my heart peace as I looked upon our twins that first night in the NICU.
I wasn't scared, I wasn't nervous, I was just grateful. Overcome with love and compassion and grace, knowing that God did what He did for his purpose. So it was up to me to be strong, caring, compassionate, hopeful and trusting as my journey of motherhood for Madeleine & Luke was beginning.
They were tiny, and perfect. They were breathing on their own, with a bit of CPAP help {which the nurses compared to a sleep apena machine, just helping keep the airway open for them}. They had IV's the first day, and NG tubes {a tube in their nose} to help get the food to their tummies. I was pumping and by day two my milk was in and I was bringing fresh milk down every chance I had. Their sucking reflex wouldn't really be strong enough until their gestational age of 32 weeks, so until they could learn to suck they would be fed with the NG tube. But it was always breastmilk. This comforted me because if I couldn't hold them all day, change their diapers everytime, the least I could do was pump every 3 hours and give them the nutrients, antibodies, proteins, and more from my milk.
The c-section recovery was terrible. Not being able to stand upright, not wanting to walk, not being able to really get up out of bed and so forth. I wasn't on pain meds {they make me nausous} and I really just wanted to get back to my 'normal' self. Leaving the hospital was also a difficult day. I felt terrible leaving the twins, knowing they were fine and okay and perfectly where they needed to be, also wanting to finally go home and be with my husband and other two precious children, yet still feeling like our family was incomplete. I adjusted in about 2 days, only because I have the greatest husband, kiddos and family in the whole world.
I spent the next several weeks, pumping every 3 hours, and visiting the NICU 2x/day for anywhere from 1-2 hours loving on the Twins. They were doing great, progressing fast and furious, upping their feedings, adding weight and doing everything they needed to be doing.
Eventually we started introducing them to breastfeeding, rather 'nuzzling' and then it was the bottle. Again, my milk supply was great so they never had to have formula, only the calorie fortifier necessary for preemies to help them pack on the pounds, err ounces.
Before we knew it, they were well past their birth weights, one month old, and Luke was rapidly approaching discharge. The nurses were shocked at how well he was eating... 'completing' all his feedings so fast. on October 22, when he was 4 weeks, 5 days old Luke came home. 2 days later at his pediatric visit, he had gained 7 ounces, and was weighing in at 5lb 15oz. I guess we can all agree, the boy likes to eat.
Madeleine was almost ready to come home too. Both kiddos were a bit anemic, which is expected of twins, and she was a little lower so it was making her a little more tired, thus not really helping her 'complete' her feedings. On November 3, at 6 weeks 3 days old Madeleine came home.
Finally we were back together. All of us.
All 6 of us.
As a family.
For the first time since August 5th, almost 3 months. Finally our family was together, again.
We are celebrating. We are happy and yes, we are adjusting.
There are 2 more mouths to feed, 2 big sisters to pour love on, and of course, each other, to keep sane and happy.
We are grateful, blessed and happy to be together.
Our crazy family of 6.
 |
| Madeleine at 3 days |
 |
| Luke at 3 days |
 |
| Madeleine at 8 days |
 |
| Luke at 8 days |
 |
| Luke at 1 month |
 |
| Madeleine at 1 month |
 |
| Home at almost 7 weeks |
2 comments:
it was definitely crazy finally seeing y'all all home the other night - all 6. Crazy, but perfect!
LOVE the pics. They are so precious. So glad that pumping is going well, I have been praying about that for you, cause I know it is important to you to give them the best to eat :)
Post a Comment