It was definitely the most stressful 6 weeks of my life. I'm not sure I can really describe it. For one thing, I have no other experience as a mom. I don't know what it's like to have one, healthy, full-term newborn who you take home from the hospital after 2 days and then a photographer comes over to your house to capture your family's postpartum glow while you frolic in the leaves or whatever.
No, my introduction to motherhood was being wheeled down the hall to the NICU nearly 24 hours after giving birth to see my little guys hooked up to all sorts of machines and then almost passing out while I was there because I probably shouldn't have been out of bed yet...
We learned a lot about preemies and the medical care available to give them the best chance at a "normal" life. Yes, being born early does carry with it all sorts of risks, but I think being a preemie in 2015 is way better than being born early a few decades ago. In the NICU, they try to keep the babies in a dark, quiet, womb-like environment so their brains can grow and develop.
My daily routine, once I got discharged, was to go to the hospital at least once a day. The babies had assigned feeding times which was when parents were allowed to touch them. When they were really little, all we could do was take their temperature, change their diaper, and put our hands on them in a "comfort hold" position. They got fed through a feeding tube and had to stay in the incubator for warmth. As they got bigger, we were able to hold them while they got fed through the tube, and eventually they started drinking a little from bottles.
I was pretty worried the whole time they were in the NICU that they would develop some major complication, or be exposed to a hospital-borne infection or something. But really, for being so early, they hardly had any problems. Just some jaundice, the occasional apnea (forgetting to breathe), low red blood cell counts, and that's about it.
In order to be discharged, they had to reach a few milestones - weigh at least 4 lbs, not have any breathing issues, maintain their body temperature without help (beyond a blanket), and eat their whole feeding from a bottle (no feeding tube). It was the last one that was the hardest for them to achieve, because they usually fell asleep while eating and just couldn't be roused to take another sip. Eventually, though, they got the hang of it and at 37 weeks "gestational age," they were released! Both babies came home on the same day, which is apparently sort of uncommon for twins. My theory is that they spurred each other on to greatness. Let's hope it continues :)
File under: NaBloPoMo Day 2
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