Day of Life Two (April 18th)

So much of the first couple of days were quite a blur.  I'm sure the lack of sleep contributed but I think mostly it was the Percocet.   That first night Shane spent the night in the room with me.  I was allowed and encouraged to get up a few times but with help.  I had the catheter, the IV cord and would have to unplug my legs from the wraps/pump that were hooked up to encourage circulation.  I was doped up and also on Ambien to get a good night's sleep.  The babies were in the NICU - which is not particularly close to my room and wouldn't be able to come out for their entire stay.  I did wake up to pump every 3 hours and would either send the tear amount with Shane to the NICU or with the nurse.  It was reassuring to have Shane there in the room with me so that I could have an instant helper without having to push the call button to impose on the nurses - although they never made me feel like I was imposing.  My experience at EIRMC was fabulous and all the nurses were very kind and lovely.  The beds aren't that comfortable but after the c-section having the adjustable bed with the rails (so you can do all your situating with your arms and not your abdominal wall) is KEY!

The morning after the babies were born - Day of Life Two - as the NICU counts everything - I got up and brushed my teeth and did my make-up in my bed while I waited for breakfast.  I was very hungry and glad to be able to eat something.  The doctor (I think it was Baker that did rounds that morning) came and checked on me.  My big complaint was a trapped gas feeling in my abdominal cavity - it felt empty and quite uncomfortable all at the same time.  They were giving me some expensive form of Gas-X for the discomfort and said it was quite normal to feel that way any time you are "opened up".  I also hated how swollen my legs and feet were from the pitocin.  I guess a regular delivery you get pit for several hours after the baby (to contract the uterus) and with a c-section you get it for 24 hours and with twins an extra amount... and that swelling would last for 10+ days because it was in your muscles and would take a while to work out of your system.  I was anxious to get all that done so that I could go down to the NICU to see the babies.  Shane went home and showered and let Hurley out  and got back as quickly as he could.  I felt impatient about getting down there because I couldn't really remember the babies or what they looked like.  I had a vague memory / worry that they were ugly and had pig noses.  Shane thought I was being ridiculous - but once I saw them with their nasal canulas squishing their little bitty noses I realized that was what my drug-induced brain had been remembering. 

Shane had mentioned that he didn't dare to pick up or hold the babies because they were so small as he was wheeling me down in the wheelchair to the NICU.  Once we got in there I felt so hot (it was only 72 degrees in the NICU) because of the extra fluids and the narcotics that I could hardly stand to be in the room.  I felt so guilty that all I wanted to do was get out of there because of the heat (or my reaction to it) when I shouldn't have wanted to leave at all because there were our precious little miracles.  I told Shane that I was feeling really dizzy (which was true and part strategy) and so he would have to handle the babies.  I wanted him to have confidence with the babies and I knew that once he successfully held them once he would be hooked.  I was glad that I did that - despite him telling me multiple times, "you are doing it wrong" - because he does feel like the expert.  And he is.

We found out that Charlotte had a "velamentous cord insertion" - which is when the umbilical cord is attached to the edge of the placenta - instead of the center - so it doesn't have as much vein support as it should.  That was probably why she was so small throughout the pregnancy.  And that there was a clot on her cord - which was probably why she dropped off in growth the last week.  So - we were very glad that we did the c-section and got her out of there.  Both babies were on room air with a little bit of force via nasal canulas for 24 hours.  Neither of them had to have surfactant or be on the c-pap or ventilators.  Both babies had IV's and were getting antibiotic incase of an infection (which Slade got off after the labs came back and Charlotte stayed on for a few more days to get more fluid).  Both babies were on all sorts of monitors (breathing, heart, temperatures, oxygen saturation).  The babies IV's blow easily and sometime they were on their arms/hands and sometimes it was in their heads.  It was disturbing to see it in their little heads - but it actually hurts them less and lasts longer.   Both babies had nasal-gastric tubes and the first few days it went in their mouths and not their nose because their noses were so small.

Little Sargent Slade seems so small on his own - but compared to his little sister - seems quite big.  It seemed a lot less scary changing Slade's diaper, taking his temperature, picking him up, trying to nurse him.  He was easier to handle or manage because he was twice as big as Charlotte - with twice as much muscle tone, etc.   Charlotte was just sooo tiny!  Both babies had very thin skin - so they were really red and you could see a lot of their veins.  Charlotte's head was so little that the individual plates in her skull were over-lapping each other.  The nurses told me that this showed that she would grow to be a normal sized person - and that you could feel the overlapping because her head still had so much growth to do.  It was a little disconcerting to feel the bones overlapping - it was like ridges sticking up in her skull. 

We weren't supposed to hold them too often or for too long - and only while they were feeding and not on every feeding - because it would increase their metabolic rate and they would burn off more calories than they were consuming.  Both babies were taking most of their food by the gavauge feedings.  Sometimes it would be hanging on the rack or the pump - but sometimes either Shane or I would hold it while we held the babies.  I would usually try to have the babies latch-on while they were getting the gavauge feedings.  The suck-swallow-breath reflex is developed during that 34th week of gestation and Slade's was a lot stronger than  Charlotte's.  I remember being worried that something was wrong with her brain and she was going to be slow.  Dr. Jenkin's assured me that wasn't the case. 

It was surreal and I felt like we were holding other people's babies and I kept  expecting to get in trouble for trying to nurse someone else's baby.  Except that I felt an intense desire to understand everything that was going on with them. 

We had some sweet little visitors later that day and it was nice to be able to get big hugs from everyone.

Ruth's McKay

Stevan and Ruth's Elijah

Ruth's Elijah and McKay and Stevan's Cooper and Easton and Kate who didnt want to be in the picture!!

Later that evening we went back down to the NICU and gave the babies their first bath.  The baths are done in the isolets under the warming lights in little tubs. It was a sponge bath so their cords wouldn't get wet.  It was a little scary handling such small little miracles - but they didn't seem to mind it too bad.

Before every feeding (and bath) we did their "cares".  This included taking their temperature (it needed to be 36.5c at least), and changed their little diaper - which were way too big for them.