A recap: days 1 through 5

Well, the days are starting to run together for me, so I figured I'd make a quick post about what each day has entailed so far.  This post may be more of a reminder for us and girls in looking back on their early days than anything else - it might be a little dense or boring for the rest of you!  :)  And Leah will be adding some detail, since she was not on pain killers at any point in this process...

Day 1 - Saturday was an eventful first day! 

Chris: After 6 hours or so of laboring and trying to delay my C section so that Dr. Reich could deliver me, the girls were born at 6:36 and 6:37 am.  Once the decision was made, at around 6am, it was clear that the doctors and nurses meant business!  It took about 10 minutes to go from "We're moving forward with the C section" to Leah being in blue scrubs and calling my mom to say "I think you should get in the car.  No, now!"  

Leah: Immediately after the girls were born I got to go to the infant stabilization unit outside of the OR.  There were three nurses for each little lady and at least one RNP to supervise. It was pretty wild, tubes flying around and that sort of thing.  At one point they each had a little trouble breathing and they asked that I go back to be with Chris -- a frightening thing for any parent to hear, but I knew they were in the best possible hands.  The nurses treated the girls by pumping a little bit of air through a hand pump and they didn't need anything further.  A few minutes later the girls were ready for the trip up to the NICU.  They boxed them in the same carrier, what appeared to be a large tupperware container, and we took off for the NICU.  Mops was waiting outside the OR and snapped a few pictures of the girls in transport.  I stayed in NICU long enough to see that they were ok and get weights and measures, and then headed back down to check on Chris.

Chris: Leah was able to go from the OR where the girls were born to the NICU to see them get weighed and "checked over".  Mom & Leah came back to Recovery to be with me for a few hours while I willed myself to try moving my legs.  Ha!  Didn't really happen yet.  Turns out, spinals really are pretty effective.  We then got moved to our 8th room of this adventure at Seton, my Postpartum room (#212).  I pumped for the first time 3 hours after surgery began, around 9:30.  Obviously I didn't get anything, but it started me on the road to having a good milk supply.

Dr. Reich said that if I was stable and could move my legs, I would be allowed to go see the girls at noon.  I had some serious determination to leave the room not a minute after 12:00pm and spent the entire time following surgery trying to wiggle my toes, flex my knees, and get that spinal medicine out!  I was cleared right on time and Leah and I went up to NICU together.  Everyone got a lesson in proper scrubbing in to be allowed in.  It was a totally surreal experience to be handed Em and Char.  I'm not sure how to even begin to describe it.


Pat and Jim sent the most amazing & biggest bouquet of flowers I think I've ever seen.  It's truly gorgeous.  It has sat on top of the mini fridge in our room since then and continues to make the room so cheerful.


The girls are connected to monitors to measure heartrate, blood pressure, temperature and blood oxygen level, as well as IVs for glucose feeding.  We met with Belinda, the lactation consultant in the NICU.  I was able to pump 10mL of colostrum throughout the day, and at 8pm, each girl had their first 5mL meal of liquid gold from a little plastic bottle!  What an amazing feeling to feed each girl.  I also tried breastfeeding the girls, which was earlier than any of us expected, and due to their stable conditions.  It was really neat.  They didn't really get much out, but we all spent time getting used to the process.

Day 2 - Sunday.  
Happy Easter!  Mops came over bright and early in the morning and made the room even more cheerful than it already was with the Campbell's flowers!  She brought two white Easter lilies that made the room smell amazing, and a brightly colored mum plant, as well as the girls' first easter basket!  :)

Since the only family we had in town for the birth was Mops, we were wanting a little more on the visitors side, so our great friends Sarah and Maddie came by for a visit.  We didn't think to snap some pictures of the girls with them, which I really regret, but such is the life of totally-sleep deprived parents!  :)  Maddie made some lactation cookies recommended to us by Aunt Moira and Sarah brought a giant Easter egg for the girls.  I think there's supposed to be some posing in the egg at some future point.  We'll see... I am a HUGE fan of Anne Geddes baby portraits... ;)

Leah: True confessions -- I am not above placing my children inside of large Easter eggs with the caption "just hatched".  I may have suggested this to Sarah, not really thinking she would make it happen.  That being said, it is important for this to be seen as ironic, not whimsical.  I think there is a brief window in which it is ok to dress your kids up "funny" and take pictures.

Leah:  The girl's feedings in the NICU were increased to 10 mls volume, and they began introducing formula to make up the difference from what Chris was able to pump.  We were waiting to see if they tolerated it.  The girls were then officially moved into the category of "feeders and growers," meaning they had to remain stable, and prove they could eat and put on weight.  They will decrease the IV glucose as their food increases.  It was at this point that Chris referred to their beds "warming trays" (she meant "warmers), which cracked up the nurse -- though in all honesty it is a little like a baby buffet up there.  So, they are still in the open beds with a warmer.  They are monitored for temp and if they drop below 98 the warmer goes on to make sure they are not burning too many calories trying to stay warm.

Day 3 - Monday. 

Chris: Sleep, eat, sleep, eat.  We practiced our routine with the girls.  My colostrum has disappeared and we are waiting for milk to come in.  More visitors!  Kelly & Kathrin came for a visit to tuck the girls in for the night.  It was really great to see them and have them meet the munchkins.  Feedings were increased to 20 mls.

Leah:  Thanks to K & K, there was a lot of laughter in the NICU tonight but nobody got kicked out.  They also brought pink cigars.  El Bubble, pink cigars.  I'm thinking they picked them up on their last trip abroad because it is hard to find cuban bubblegum in the states.

Day 4 - Tuesday.  

Chris: Today the girls got moved to a new bay in the NICU.  New sights and sounds!  Since they are becoming more and more stable, they are downgrading in "priority" in the NICU, which is a great thing.  The new bay doesn't mean anything other than they try to balance the number of high-care babies and low-care babies given to each nurse during a shift.  The girls also got their IVs removed!  They are completely off of glucose supplementation and are now on what are called "full feeds" - getting all their nutrients from a combination of breast milk & formula.  One more step towards going home.

They are having some issues keeping their body temperatures up, so they had to have their warmers turned back on overnight, but that is ok.  They have dropped from their birth weights to just under 4 pounds, but they'll gain it back in the days to come.

Pops is in town and got to meet the girls!  It was a really sweet visit.  We all went up to the NICU for their 5pm feeding.  I breastfed the girls, Leah bottle fed Emerson the rest of her meal and then snuggled for some serious kangaroo care time, while I did the same with Charlotte.  That's pretty much been our routine at feedings so far, and it was really neat to share it with Pops.

Leah: We stayed for rounds, and the doctor said that we'll talk about them possibly coming home next week!  Feedings are getting easier on the breast, but the girls are hungry and waking up early each time...  oh boy!  Still supplementing with formula.  

Day 5 - Wednesday

Exciting events of the day...  

Two successful tandem breast feeding sessions!  Yes, that would be both babies on the boobs at the same time.  Despite getting my PhD and all the awesomeness that that entailed, I can without hesitation say that this was by far the most amazing thing I've ever done in my life.  Words can't describe it.  These two perfect creatures do not cease to amaze us.

I got discharged and L & I are now officially "nesting in" at the hospital, which basically means staying in my room, but not as a patient.  We get to stay close to the girls and it'll be easier for me to bring milk up 6 floors than across town.
The girls also had their food allowances increased again, which is a sign that they are tolerating more and more food in their systems.  They are on the "Chris pregnancy diet" - eat whatever you can and lots of it!  :)  Although, they don't get nearly as much chocolate cake as I did.  


It's been an incredible first 5 days.  I can't believe how fast it's flown!  I'm sure I'll be saying the same thing when they are 18 and headed off to college...