NICU

20 days.
15 subway sandwiches.
40 (or more) drives to centennial.
Countless tears.
At least 60 bottles of pumped milk.
This is our story of the NICU with twin boys.

Our boys were born via c-section at 35+3. They weighed 6.4 and 5.11. Good size and good gestational age. I was naive to really what 35 weeks meant for us. I had read in a book that we should tour our NICU, of course I didn't really think we needed to do that. We should have. I had no idea what to expect...
Garron was in the NICU As soon as I had him. They brought him to my room and said they would be taking him up. The doctor said it was just precautionary and I felt like he wouldn't be there long. The next morning we called and the nurse said he had come off his oxygen (didn't know he was on) and would be ready to feed soon. When we got up there we had to cover our clothes and scrub in (I never want to see a scrub brush again). Garron was in isolation but had a great nurse who helped me try to nurse him. She thought he would be able to go home with William and I on Sunday. Later that day he was moved to step down, taken off temp regulator and was looking good! Doctor said he would likely leave with us (me still being totally dumb about NICU).

Then comes Friday. William can't keep his body temp, and is taken to the NICU. They move both back down a floor and put them on temp regulators. Garron is going backwards. I was by myself that night for their feeding so I walked up there. I was almost in tears just from the walk (Garrett had been wheeling me around). I was nursing William when he got choked, quit breathing, turned blue, and alarms went off like crazy. This would just be the first of many spells, but I cried hysterically for the rest of that feeding. The nurse that night was less than helpful. She told me I ahould probably just give them formula..why would I do that when I have plenty of milk!?! I requested to not have her again. Request filled-never saw her again! Later that night Garrett was back and garron had two spells, not a good night! The next day our first nurse was back, we talked with a NP who was the first person to really let me know how they were doing, and I felt a little better. That night, we got moved to our final room. It was a converted patient room and it was us and one other baby. One nurse would be in there caring for them. This was soooo much better than a room with 12 babies and all of their monitors going off! That drove me crazy!

They spent the next two and a half weeks in that room. We had a lot of breathing spells, and I spent my whole time there looking at the monitors. I must admit I was scared to even touch them. I wanted them to just lay there and continue to breathe normal so we could go home. I would change, check temp, nurse, supplement, burp, swaddle, and back in their beds. I rarely (in the beginning) just sat and held them. After a few days they were put on a bily blanket for raised jaundice levels. They were only  allowed off of those for 30 minutes at a time- so no choice but to not hold them. After about two weeks and me realizing they weren't leaving soon, I decided to do things how I wanted. I held them when I wanted. I fed around their schedule, not to the minute like some of the nurses wanted. If William wanted to nurse for an hour, I let him. I was growing weary of so many "rules". Days past, and finally William was close to five days with no spells. Luckily, the two days before he was going home he had the sweetest little nurse who knew how to calmly handle the babies. She didn't force them to eat and make them sick, or panic with every drop of oxygen. I was so thankful for Mrs Mary!

In order for William to be released we had to spend the night and prove we could get up and take care of him. I've done a newborn before, I got this. Anyway, while we were there staying with William garron was still up in the NICU. We had a nurse that night we had never had. She was super nice, but new and right by the book. She calls us at 3am to tell us to check Williams temp (I think I made something up) and that Garron had a spell- we were on day 3. The next morning, after shift change, I went to voice my complaint about this spell. Luckily the day nurse was on my side and we convinced the doctor not to count it.

Garron was ready to come home two days later. They initially said he would have to stay all day to get five full days spell free. So I made plans for that. Garrett went to the office and we planned to pick him up that night. They called me at 930am and said he was ready to go. Of course he was. I had William (who had been home one full day) alone with me. We packed up and headed to get garron. Luckily my mom could meet us there and take the day off to help!

I don't wish the NICU on anyone! But I did learn some powerful lessons:
My babies don't have to be held around the clock. They can be put down.
Preemies are fighters.
Those nurses , even though some annoyed me, love on the babies so much
We have a lot of people in our lives who love us
Prayer is a powerful thing
I am blessed beyond measure
We have cute babies😄