It's almost time!

I spent the day cleaning and grocery shopping and Christian had to work. Needless to say, we aren't as rested as we should be for tonight! We are going into the NICU around 6 to "nest" with the girls. We'll stay overnight in a room and as far as I know, we only call for the nurses if we need them. We are so excited about having our girls home, but we are both nervous as well. The girls do not always do great at their feedings and on occasion still turn color. We have to keep a tight eye on them and know when to help them pace and when to stop and stimulate them to breath. I can only hope that once they get home it all just clicks!

I'll update soon. I think tomorrow may be a crazy, wonderful day :)

Trick Or Treat

Sisters First, Friends Forever

Our Nursery

It was alot of work, but we think the nursery came together pretty well! Thanks to mom and dad for helping us by painting the grass graphic on the wall and my friend Keith, who made the vinyl letters for the wall quote.

Is this really real?

Our girls are coming home!!! Maybe an hour or two after my post yesterday, I got the call. They will be coming home Sunday or Monday. We're ecstatic. We are however, a little nervous. Not so much about bringing home two lil' ones, but about them being preemies. We will have to watch them pretty closely during their feedings for awhile and they still may come home on a monitor or two. Mady had a B (drop in heart rate) while at rest yesterday, which is why she may need a monitor. They fed great for us last night and for the nurses all night and this morning... no alarms at all :) I'm taking in outfits for their Magee photo shoot today and we'll be taking in the car seats tomorrow for their 1.5 hour test. They have to sit there in them with no alarms! In the morning, I need to take my car in to the Police station to have them check the installation of the car seat bases.

I'm so excited to have my girls home with us! Check back tomorrow for their halloween pics!

Patience

Patience has never really been my strength... right now I really need it! I need to not focus so much on when they are coming home, but focus on the fact that they ARE improving. The girls have now been off of O2 since Monday. They've had ups and downs since then. Yesterday I assumed they'd be home this weekend. Today, I'm not so sure. All I know is that they will tell us 3-5 days before the day they can come home. The hang up now is their feedings. One day Mady does well and Emma doesn't. The next day it's the opposite. They are having some trouble on occasion with the suck, swallow, breathe thing. Emma turned dusky on me yesterday and we had to turn her upside down and pat her back pretty hard to get her back to normal color. Last night, during the late night feeding, Madelyn did the same and had a B (drop in heartrate). They will not release them as long as this continues, nor do we want them to. We want them safe. However, at 60 days, it's killing us to not have them home. They are so much more alert now. They are smiling more. They are making more noises. They know who we are! On the plus side, they do great when nursing and have no issues when they are. And, while their improvement is very very slow, they ARE improving. They ARE doing great for girls born more than 2 months early.

We are reconsidering moving them to TIC (transitional infant care). The DR thinks at this point it may be a good move because it will offer them more one-on-one care, a better developmental atmosphere, and will teach us how to work with home monitors just in case they need them. It's a little further for us to travel, but not much. It's near the new Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh. Christian and I are so indecisive... but maybe this is what they need to get home?!

Finally, we meet again!

The girls were put together in a bed yesterday! Madelyn is a bed hog! It is so cute to seem them together.

The Plan

The doctor will be taking the canulas off of the girls tomorrow! He threatened them on Wednesday and it seems to have worked. They did have a few desats today, so I am still a little nervous. However, they have both been on room air for a few days. They had a visit from the NICU Developmentalist and they both did great. She sees no issue so far, but they are still very young. Emma passed her hearing screening and Mady will be having hers soon as well. They will be getting their vaccines this week and their RSV shot will be right before they leave. We were told to get the car seats ready to go! We need to take them to the local police station to get the installation checked and we need to make sure we know how to adjust the straps, etc.

I'm almost done with the house, I think. With very little free time, it's a little hard to get things together. I think the only major task I have left is to clean our bedroom. We need to make room for their bassinets, which I have yet to buy! Christian really wants them sleeping separate at night since we won't be awake to keep an eye on them. I, really think I want them in our room for a few weeks, so we are looking into sleeping options!

Friends of ours at the NICU are taking home one of their twin boys tomorrow! Good luck Danielle and Chris! Their other little boy is still sick, but hopefully will be joining his brother at home soon.