Homecoming, Part 1

Jackson was finally able to come home with us on 9/19/2012. The hospital had us nest with him the night before. They set us up in a small room and wheeled his crib into the room and unhooked all the monitors. The nurses came in every 3 hours to take vitals, but the feeds and everything else was up to us. I was so nervous to have him unhooked from the monitor, because I had started to depend on the monitors to tell me if he had shallow breathing or his heart rate dropped. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep that night, because I was constantly checking him to make sure everything was ok. Dad came along to nest too, but since he thought he was going to work in the morning, he pretty much slept the whole night. The next day we were free, but it was really hard to leave Reagan behind at the hospital. They assured us it wouldn't be too much longer before she would be discharged as well, so that made us feel better.

 

Jackson has done really well at home. He is such a good baby and hardly ever cries. I know this will change once his sister comes home, so I am enjoying my time with one baby for this short time. He is gaining weight like crazy and as of 9/25/2012 he weighs a whopping 7 lbs!! He has come a long way from the 3 lb 6 oz that he weighed at birth. I am so in love with my little man.

Visitors for the babes

A couple weeks ago, my Aunt and Uncle along with my Grandpa came to visit from Florida. Their daughter, Krista, was playing in a college volleyball tournament at ASU over the weekend. I was able to get away from the hospital for a bit and see some of the tournament and hang out with my family, so that was nice. They were able to come and see the babies in the Special Care Nursery while they were here, which I know Jackson and Reagan enjoyed. Also, since my Grandpa stayed a little while longer, he was able to come to the hospital with me one evening and got to hold Reagan for the first time. These are his first Great Grandchildren, so it was a very special moment. We loved having them here and we will hopefully see them again soon.

Special Care Nursery and Reagan Update

Reagan has not been progressing along quite like her brother. She is still on oxygen support and has not even started to try and feed from a bottle. The doctors discovered that she is pretty anemic, so they suggested a blood transfusion. She had been on Lasix (a diuretic) for a couple days, which they were hoping would be enough, but her red blood cell count stayed low. They tell you going into this that having preemies in the NICU is a rollercoaster ride, because they will take two steps forward and then a step back. Aaron and I have been incredibly blessed that the babies haven't needed too many procedures done and they have been progressing steadily, so hearing Reagan needed a blood transfusion was pretty hard to swallow. It sounds like a scary procedure and I was terrified at first, but the doctors and nurses assured me that there was nothing to worry about and the procedure is a pretty normal thing for a premature baby. They also explained what a difference it would make for her energy levels and that it would help get her off of her oxygen, so the decision was made to go forward with the transfusion. The procedure was done overnight and when I went to visit her the next morning, she already looked so much better. She had pulled her feeding tube and nasal prongs out (again), but the nurse noticed that her vitals looked fine with out the oxygen, so they removed her prongs. I couldn't believe that results like that could happen so quickly. She even started bottle feeding and has done extremely well (maybe even better than her big brother). She breathed room air for the majority of the day, but unfortunately had to go back on a little support that night. I am still optimistic, because the amount of oxygen support is less than she needed before and the fact that she is nippling so well is a good sign.

 

 

Some pictures I took of Reagan while her nasal prongs were out



In other news, the babies were moved out of the NICU and into the Special Care Nursery. We knew this was a possibility, because the babies have been doing so well and they were first on the list to move if sicker babies needed their rooms. Moving to the SCN is a step in the right direction, but it will take some getting used to. The NICU consisted of individual rooms, each with it's own bathroom, tv, monitors, etc. It was so nice to have privacy when visiting the babies. The SCN is a giant space with many babies hooked up and no privacy. If a nurse requires the light on for one baby, then the lights go on for all of the babies, which is pretty annoying when your babies are trying to sleep. At least we know they will not be affected by noise when they come home. Overall, we are so thankful that they continue to do well and each day we are closer to having them home with us. Thank you all for your continued prayers and support, it means so much to us!

Our New Home (At least we get to be next to each other now)



Moving Right Along

This past week has brought even more firsts to our family. Jackson came out of the incubator and is now in a crib. He also started bottle feeding for the first time. He is still getting used to it and has a ways to go until we can remove his feeding tube, but he is moving in the right direction and this is one more obstacle he will need to overcome before he can come home. He is also trying to breastfeed once per day and he is doing really well. Premature babies have trouble coordinating their suck, swallow, and breathe reflexes, so it is really encouraging that he is doing so well.

Jackson also got to be held by G-Ron (Grandma Ronee) for the first time. So far in the NICU, Dad and I have been the only ones to hold the babies, so it was quite special for my mom to get to hold her Grandson for the first time. She loved every second of it and so did he.

Our babies also hit big milestones in their weight this week. Jackson is now over 5 lbs and Reagan is over 4 lbs. They have come a long way in the past 4 weeks and are really doing well. We are so thankful that they are progressing this well. We can't wait to have them home!