First Update:
I woke up at 4:30 am on December 26th with bad back pain and light spotting.
I decided to take a shower around 5:00 am knowing my doctor was going to send me to UH to get checked. I immediately felt better after the shower, so I decided to eat breakfast before calling the doctor to let her know what happened and see what she wanted me to do. All of a sudden, my water broke. Mate jumped out of bed, acted exactly like they do in the movies and I stayed perfectly calm. Within 15 minutes we were on our way downtown. We arrived at 6:30, they checked to see if my water had actually broken and if I was dilated. The broken water was confirmed and I was at 2 centimeters. They told me they would try and stop the contractions, but I wasn't going to be leaving the hospital until the babies were born (which we weren't expecting to happen until mid to late February). They gave me a steroid shot right away for the babies' lungs and moved me out of triage into a delivery room.
My contractions were 2 minutes apart for about an hour and a half. The intensity was slowly increasing, so they decided it was time for the c-section. By 11:59 Mia was born and Ava came at noon. They each weighed 3 pounds. Mia was intubated right away, while I got to have a quick peek at Ava. Within an hour of the girls' arrival, all our family members were able to see the babies in the NICU. After our families left, Mate was able to take me down to see the babies. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get out of the wheel chair, so I couldn't really see or touch them. Luckily, by Monday I was able to stand and get a good look at our girls. They are breathing with help, getting breast milk through a feeding tube, and working to keep their temperatures up. Tonight Mate held Ava for over an hour, while I got Mia for about 25 minutes. We get to move into the room with them tomorrow after I am discharged. All reports from doctors/nurses have been positive and encouraging. Needless to say, we are beyond thankful for their safe arrival and have fallen madly in love with them both. We're hopeful that they continue to make progress each day.
Week 2 Update:
Although the girls have only been here for two weeks, I have no recollection of what it was like without them. They made a great deal of progress during their first week of life, but we've experienced some setbacks during week two. The girls have PDA's which means a valve outside of their hearts didn't shut at birth. This is common for preemies and is being treated with 6 days of medicine. After the final dose of medicine last night, the doctors and nurses could still hear the murmurs. The girls will have ultrasounds on Tuesday to see if the PDA"S have closed or are small enough to leave alone. There is a possibility they will both need surgery, but we are hoping to avoid that.
The medicine has made them retain a lot of water which puts pressure on their lungs and makes it a little harder for them to breath. Saturday, Ava actually stopped breathing for an entire minute. The nurse had to call a staff emergency, and I woke up from a nap to doctors and nurses rushing into the room. Fortunately, she recovered from the episode just fine and has been doing well since. It was definitely the scariest moment yet, but we were able to keep ourselves calm. Thankfully, yesterday was completely uneventful. We're hopeful for a great third week.
On a happier note, the girls have had 71 visits from family and friends during their first two weeks of life. They've also acquired quite a wardrobe. Since we didn't know what we were having before they were born, it has been fun picking out and receiving girly clothing.
The nurses and doctors keep telling us we have the easiest babies to take care of. They are relatively calm compared to other babies here. I'm just hoping they stay that way when Mate and I are on our own.
We have begun to refer to the NICU as home, which is good considering we'll probably be here well into February.
Week 4 Update:
Tomorrow marks the end of our fourth week in the NICU. While week three was eventful, this past week has been relatively calm. On the 11th, we had ultrasounds which showed that Ava and Mia's heart murmurs were small, but not completely gone. Luckily, we do not have to worry about surgery because the murmurs are not causing any problems for the girls. On the 13th, Ava needed a blood transfusion due to a low red blood cell count and both girls had PICC lines put in. Those are more permanent IVs that get threaded all the way up their arms and stopped just before their hearts. They had an easy time completing the procedure on Mia, but it took a few tries on Ava. Thankfully, the lines were taken out four days after being put in.
During week four, all IV fluids were stopped and their CPAP machines were removed from our room. YAY!!!! The girls are down to the lowest level of breathing support. Today, Ava spent three hours breathing completely on her own. Both girls are gaining weight and bottle feed once a day. As long as there is room for us on Monday, we will be going to the transitional unit. The girls will stay there until they can maintain their body temperatures, eat without a feeding tube and breathe completely on their own. Our guess is that we'll be here through most of February. Thanks again for the continued support!
Week 5 Update:
I was going to do an updated note every two weeks, but too much has happened to wait. On Monday the 24th, We packed up and paraded with all our stuff from the NICU to Rainbow 4 (the transitional unit). They had to put us into a shared room which meant that the girls were on one side (meant for a single baby) and on the other side of a curtain was another little girl. We had three kids in a space meant for two. It was so crowded that the nurses were having to limbo under all the tubes and wires. We were thankful to be out of the NICU, so we made the best of the situation. The baby with us rarely gets visited by her family, so I joked to Mate that we were going to leave with triplets instead of twins. She was fussy, but you can't be upset with a baby in that situation.
Things started off all right in our new home, but Mia decided to give the nurses a hard time. She was alarming every 15 minutes, which required the nursing staff to spend way more time with her than their other patients. In the middle of the night, we explained that this was not normal behavior for Mia, but were told that she was probably just reacting to the transition. Mate and I weren't convinced, but we left her care up to the experts. Finally, a little before 5 in the morning, we were told Mia was being sent back to the NICU. I tried to insist that we were all going back together, but they said we had to leave Ava. I was not happy about being separated and this was the first time I allowed anyone to see me upset. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything I could do about the situation and we split up. Mia spent two days in the NICU before they decided her problem was constipation. They changed her iron dosage and she went back to her normal self. All this drama over some poop!
In the meantime, Ava was put in a crib, taken off her last medication, and breathing all on her own. The doctors called her a superstar, which we were thrilled about. Mate spent the night in Ava's room and I was staying with Mia. It wasn't fun to be separated, but we didn't want either girl to be left alone. Luckily, after a few crowded, noisy nights in the shared room, the nurses moved Ava and Mate to the largest room on the floor.
After spending a few stable days in the NICU, the doctors were confident Mia was ready to leave again. Yesterday, she and I moved back in with Ava and Mate. Mia was put in a crib last night and both girls are doing wonderfully. Mate and I are now responsible for most of their care. We can change, wash, clothe and hold them at anytime.
Hopefully, the girls continue to do well and we'll be able to head home by the end of the month.
February 15th Update:
After 52 days in the hospital, we were able to bring the girls home.
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