So much to share!

Hello all!

Thanks again everyone for your thoughts and support! I am home from the hospital, and I feel really good. In addition to my system returning to almost normal, I've lost 25 lbs. in a week, making it much easier to get around. I still look pregnant though--a woman asked me yesterday when I was due!

More importantly, I have seen my babies! We went straight from the hospital yesterday to the one where the babies are. They are so beautiful! The nurses took the girls off their little blue lights so I could see them better--it's absolutely amazing how tiny they are. And though they are so tiny, they are little people. :) The nurses recommend putting one hand on top of their little heads and one on their bottom or feet, and when you do, their breathing rate changes. And when you take your hand away, they fuss and stretch their legs until you put your hand back! Amazing. Anna and Matilda look so much the same that we will definitely have to work hard to keep them straight. For the moment, their beds have their names on them, but once they start being mobile, getting confused is inevitable!

The babies eat so much! Noah eats 16 ml of formula/breastmilk a feeding and feeds every three hours. The girls are eating only 6 ml at each feeding so far. After a frustrating few days, I am now able to supply about 15-20 ml of milk per feeding, which is not enough, but I'll keep working at it. It's difficult because just when I think I'm catching up, the doctors increase how much they feed the babies! But then I realize that if there were only one baby, I would be supplying more than enough, and I feel better.

Noah is off his ventilator so that we might be able to hold him today. The nurse said we could yesterday, but then they were feeding him. He had apparently gotten sick after his feeding earlier in the day so they didn't want to disturb him too much just then. I can't wait though! I've only gotten to "hold" Noah once, when they put him on my chest after my c-section. And I didn't get to even do that with the girls. Soon though . . . .

They all had ultrasounds of their hearts done yesterday, looking for a patent ductus arteriosis. This little blood vessel is open when the babies are in the womb and causes the blood flow to bypass the lungs, which are not much use until the baby is born. Usually the vessel closes soon after birth, but in a fair number of preemies, it doesn't close. The doctors wondered if the girls had this problem, which would explain why they aren't off their ventilators yet. I don't know the results of the ultrasound, but we should hear this morning. If it isn't closed, then many times, a course or two of medication can cause it to close without further intervention. We'll just have to see what happens. They will also get a brain ultrasound today to make sure that they haven't had a brain hemorrhage, which is apparently standard procedure. The doctor felt that they had no symptoms of hemorrhage, so he wasn't worried about that problem.

Sorry this is such a jumble! I wanted to post last night, but my blog account was messed up. My email was also messed up, which did nothing for my blood pressure! All is well now though, and I hope to get back to blogging regularly. I'll see about getting some new pictures up soon too, although with the girls' blue lights, it is hard to see much of them.

Have a good day, everyone!
Courtney