Taggart is on oxygen. He's on 1 liter with a nasal cannula so hopefully he will wean off of it without a problem. He is getting his nutrition and hydration from an IV fluids but he also gets to breast feed every 3 hours if he's showing hunger signs. I went to the NICU for all the feedings and he breast fed about every other feeding and the others he was more sleepy and didn't feed too long.
Sienna is breathing on her own and gets all of her nutrition and hydration from the IV fluids. It's keeping her blood sugar stable too. She has breast fed well at a few feedings and then has other feedings where she is more sleepy and not interested.
For now it's ok they aren't super feeders. Since they are premie it's normal for them to be tired. They will work up to it but for now their bodies can focus on growing and getting stronger.
James, Lynnlee and Kaden aren't able to go to the NICU but they were able to meet them through Skype. Marshall was in the NICU and so while the kids were in my room they got to see them. Not as good as in person but better than just seeing snap shots.
Wednesday
Last night Taggart weaned off his oxygen with no problems. Now he's one step closer to coming home.
He wasn't as interested in breast feeding but did latch on for a few. Sienna was about the same. At this point they are both in their own beds but soon enough they will get to be next to each other.
Thursday Morning
Taggart and Sienna are what the nurses call "feeder growers." Since they are premies and have no other problems at this point they just need to feed and grow. They tire out easily and don't drink all they need yet so they have an IV that keeps them hydrated and last night they got feeding tubes. This is all part of the normal process to get them home. They get breast milk in the feeding tube and get to breast feed too.
The time frame of coming home is all dependable on the twins. There is a not a set day because it depends on how fast they can start eating all on their own. So it could be a few days. It could be another week. We don't really know but hopefully soon because their brothers and sisters are so excited to meet them.
They are going to be under Bili lights today so they can be held for feedings and that is about all. The more time they spend under the lights equals the sooner they can be done with the lights. Luckily their jaundice is low so they shouldn't have to be under the lights for more than a day, two at the most.
Thursday Afternoon
When I went to the 4:00 feeding I found Taggart and Sienna bunked together. It is so cute. She even had her leg stretched as far as it was go resting on his leg.
They will get to stay together now. Taggart had great feedings today and Sienna wasn't really interested but got to snuggle with me instead. They each get breast milk through the feeding tube and that amount increases every day.
Bili Lights On
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Bili Lights Off
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Side note:
Even though Lynnlee spent some time in the NICU when she was born, the focus was a lot different with her recovering from surgery. She was constantly taking steps to coming home and it felt fast paced.
Our experience with the twins has opened our eyes and we are still getting used to a slower pace and slowly taking steps towards coming home. We don't really have a time frame like we did with Lynnlee.
While we have been with the twins at the NICU, we have also been missing our other children. Wednesday we realized that the twins would be in the NICU longer than we thought and we better adjust our schedules so we could have a better balance spending time with the older ones and the twins. Right after their birth I had planned to be at every feeding around the clock but by Wednesday afternoon I realized this wasn't realistic. We spent Wednesday night at home with our kids. Kaden and Lynnlee were really missing us so it was fun to give them some much needed attention.
Today I went to the hospital for two feedings and then Marshall went to a feeding tonight. We had dinner as a family and celebrated Kaden's birthday. His birthday was on Tuesday but since I was in the hospital we postponed celebrating it. I will do a separate post for that. Basically tonight has been really fun with the older kids and helped keep the balance. We miss the twins a lot when we are home so it will be nice when we are all home together.
