Tuesday, May 22, 2012

6 days old

Piper and Phoebe are doing great!  Each time I see them I fall more deeply in love.  Both Piper and Phoebe do have feeding tubes inserted down their little noses into their tummies.  The nurses do try to bottle feed them each time and the feeding tubes are there just in case.  Currently the girls are drinking my milk for each feeding out of a little bottle.  They rarely need to use their feeding tubes.
I got to have skin on skin time with each baby today which was WONDERFUL!  Below is a picture of Piper and I getting good mommy and me time.
                                                            
A few days after being born both Piper and Phoebe developed a little bit of jaundice (which is 100% normal).  They are currently on light therapy.  Both girls look so warm and relaxed under the bright lights.  It totally looks like a tanning bed. :-)
Our nurse today was wonderful!  She educated me on so many different things.  She told me that the doctor was hoping that both girls would be off all of their IV fluids by Thursday and off the jaundice lights then too.  If that happens then we will be able to bring in clothes for the girls to wear.  That will help them get one step closer to moving into an open crib and once they are sleeping in an open crib they are that much closer to going home.  Even though it is hard not having the girls home I know they are in great hands at CHOC.  I want them to spend the necessary time there so they will be super healthy and strong before they come home.  

2 comments:

Caitlin Rodriguez said...

Oh lord, they are precious! That face-that Piper! So sweet. I am so happy the girls are doing so well. Kisses to you all.

Megan said...

Oh Melanie, I feel like I am reliving my experience reading about this! I am so thrilled at how well your angels are doing!! God was so sovereign in protecting them! I remember every little thing about the NICU (our were there for just over a month). The "rule" at my hospital was that once the baby was taking all 8 feeds of the day from the bottle, they could go home (of course if nothing is wrong)!!! I remember when Kaleiah was taken off her breathing ventilator after 6 days and how huge that was. And when their IV's came out, the feeding tubes, jaundice being gone, being moved to little beds and the coming in each day towards the end and being so excited to hear how many feeds they had taken from a bottle! Some days they will take 6 and the next day 2 and that's just part of the roller coaster but God's timing is perfect. I am so proud of you for pumping...it's not an easy feat. It's the BEST thing you can do for them! I pumped around the clock for 3 hours and brought my milk to them every single day and I literally could see the improvements everyday bc of that liquid gold. Like it is for you I'm sure, it was soooo special and important for me to provide that to them bc it was the ONLY thing I could do for them at the time and it was the only thing that only I and no one else could provide. I pumped for 4 months straight (the NICU bottles created major nipple confusion an thus made trying to nurse extremely hard) so if you have any pumping questions feel free to ask. I then went on to nurse exclusively for 14 months :) It's an amazing gift. You can do it! I am so happy for you and James. Your faith in this entire situation has without a doubt brought Glory to God!