3 weeks in the NICU.

I can picture it like yesterday……

I was staying with my parents, Doctor requested to be close to the hospital those last 8 weeks of carrying for these babies.  So I was 20 minutes away from the hospital staying with my parents.  A little closer than the 2 hours from my house.

At about 5 1/2 weeks early, I woke up late at night and had some bleeding.  Hmm.  Called the Dr.  who said this can be typical to have some spotting this late.  I put on a pad so I could monitor it better.

Well the next morning was a Sunday.. November 3rd.  My parents were gone to church and I just thought something wasn’t right.  It wasn’t just spotting and I just felt I needed checked.  Called the Dr again.  He said if I felt I needed checked to come in.

My parents had gone to church.  I called my parents, who didn’t answer, so I sat and waited, I knew they would be back from church within the next couple minutes.  They got back and I informed them… I think I need to go to hospital to be checked..

So my Dad and Mom drive me to the hospital.  I call my husband during this time and fill him in.  I had no idea what to expect… would they send me back home, would I be put on bed rest, was I losing one of the babies.

We get in, fill the papers out and they take me up to a room.

I put on the robe and lay down.  Nurses come in and checked for amniotic fluid with a little paper..  The paper changed color and I remember clearly one nurse asking the other…

Do you see what I see…

and I hear…

“Looks like we are having babies today”…

Oh Ok.. I really didn’t know how to react.  I just knew my husband was on his way and I needed another hour for him to get here..  So I asked about delaying the c-section.  for those who wondered..  we had planned a c-section, because the smaller baby was on the bottom and the bigger baby on top.  Dr. weighed the pros and cons and we choose a c-section due to babies sizes and the challenges that pressure may put on the smaller baby.  The babies were doing fine, heart rate wise, so they were fine with waiting an hour.  It was not an emergency, just needed done 🙂

My husband literally got there 5 minutes before they wheeled me in to get my Spinal Epidural.

I remember a room full of people, and they planned on taking the smaller one, boy out first because they feared him to have the most initial problems.

They pulled baby boy out and we heard screams… I know people talk about that sound, but I remember it so clearly.. I was so HAPPY and emotional.

They pulled baby girl out and she made sounds, but not as much.

I was able to say hi to my son before they took him away, but my daughter they had to get her to the other room, because they needed to get her on a breathing device.

After they stitched me up, they took me back to the room to recover.  I remember throwing up and not tolerating the pain meds well or maybe it was the epidural..  I don’t know, but I was throwing up.

AND THIS IS WHERE my NICU experience begins.

After I was ready to go to my “4 day” room, they wheeled my bed into the room the kids were in.  I was there for 2 seconds, and I felt like throwing up so they took me out immediately

I had only got a glimse of my daughter at this point,

The time frame after that is a blur.  I remember either the first night or second night when the kids were in their NICU room, that my husband came back and was so excited, he had gotten to hold his son.  They had to change the bedding, so the baby had to go some where and where better then into the hands of their father.

He said if I felt up to it, I could hold my daughter the next night, when they did the bed changing.  I was really excited and my husband was so great about making sure I was in the right place at the right time for it 🙂

I remember finally being able to hold my babies and crying like one myself.  I was so relieved that they were here, through all the infertility, the bed rest and scares of losing them… they finally were here…

I was so grateful for the NICU nurses who helped us along the way and allowed us the opportunity to hold them when we were able.  The NICU Nurses, were so patient and kind not only to my children, but also to these new parents who had no idea what to do.

The babies were in the NICU for 3 weeks to learn to eat, gain weight and get their breathing and body temperatures normal.

During that time, we learned a few things about these NICU nurses as we fed and changed babies together.

1. NICU nurses have seen it all, from loss to tragedy, to seeing babies going home to  unfortunate situations.  They also have seen true miracles happen in their own eyes.

2. NICU nurses know babies recover quickly.  We dealt with weight, eating, and breathing issues.  We were reminded that babies recover quickly..  and we were lucky and they did.

3. NICU nurses are the best babysitters.  We could leave for dinner with friends visiting, or just go get some sleep, and we knew they were in the best hands EVER.

4. NICU nurses are very patient, kind and reassuring… My husband wanted to take home every monitoring device… but we were reassured we would be fine

5. NICU Nurses know… Keep the Schedule…  we knew 1, 4, 7, 10, 1, 4, 7, 10 like the back of our hand… actually I knew that better than the back of my hand.  We fed every 3 hours and had to keep the schedule for a few months after we came home. Exhausting, but necessary for their little tummies.

After  3 weeks, I “moved” out of the “Home Away from Home” apartment I was staying at across the street from the hospital, we said good bye to these special people and started the journey alone with these 2 little babies.

We took the 2 hours drive home.  Once home we looked at each other and said “now what”…  looked at the clock and Thanks to our teachers from those last 3 weeks we knew exactly what to do. 🙂

Here are a few pictures from our time in the Nicu.

 

 

 

 

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