The girls are doing great at home. They keep us busy, they keep us happy and they keep us sleepy. We had the girl's follow up appointment at the hospital yesterday. It's mainly an appointment with the apnea clinic, but while they're there Dr. Kamtorn does a full assessment on them after we go over the memory downloads of the monitors. Melia's monitor looks great. While she's having apnea alarms sound here and there, it turns out that they are nearly all false alarms. Madison continues to have the brady alarms and you could see the heart rate dips on the monitor screen when it was downloaded onto the computer. Again, we're chalking this up to her acid reflux. They were both weighed and I'm happy to announce that we have a 6 pounder on our hands! Yup, Melia has hit the 6 lb mark! She's gained 8oz since being discharged from the hospital which is a great gain. Maddie has gained 6oz since her discharge and now weighs 4lbs 9oz - so she's gaining about an ounce per day, which is exactly what they want to see - so while she's still behind her sister by about 1 1/2 pounds, she's gaining as she should be. To help her gain a little more Dr. Kamtorn suggested that we add a bit of powdered formula to each of Maddie's bottles, rather than just giving her 2 bottles of straight formula per day. So we started that yesterday and we're hoping that the extra calorie boost does the trick. As a part of the follow up, Dr. Kamtorn ordered that blood work be done on both girls. So immediately after our appointment we went to the lab (within the hospital) and had their blood drawn. You know, while they were in the NICU we could usually leave the room when the girls were getting blood drawn or having some procedure that was painful or made them uncomfortable - in fact, it was suggested and sometimes requested that we leave for such things. Taking the girls to the lab and watching them scream as their blood was taken (by a prick in the heel) was so hard. Mike nearly cried watching Maddie get so upset. I was on Melia duty and it was definitely hard to watch. It's just another thing that makes it so different to have the girls home.
I got the blood work results today and all of Melia's blood counts look good. Madison, on the other hand, still has a low hemoglobin level. While her body is making platelets at a good pace for her gestational age, she just doesn't seem to be making them quite fast enough. So they're going to give her another few days and have us go back to have blood work done again on Wednesday. If her levels are still low she'll need to be readmitted into the NICU for a couple of days to have another transfusion. The nurse I spoke to said that looking at her levels at first glance she's estimating a 70% chance that she won't need the transfusion. I can deal with those odds. I'll be so upset if I have to bring her back and leave her there. My poor Maddie. Even at home, she just can't catch a break.
So the girls have been home for one week already. I can't believe how quickly it's gone by. It's amazing how one week at home can nearly erase the memories of 8 weeks in the NICU. Okay, that's an exaggeration - I'll NEVER forget any of what I experienced and what the girls went through during those 8 weeks. I guess what I mean to say is simply that it feels as if the girls have been home all along. Almost immediately after they were born I couldn't imagine life without them - in a way that made me feel like I almost couldn't remember a time when they weren't here. Now, I can't imagine being home without them - it's like they've always been here. I guess that's because this is exactly where they belong.
- Mike and Amanda
- I am a 29 year old mother of identical twin girls, Madison and Melia. They were born at 29 weeks, 1 day gestation and spent 8 weeks in the NICU at St. Barnabas Hospital in Livingston, NJ. They hit 40 weeks gestation on August 20, 2009 and are now considered full term. Even though they are actually 11 weeks old, they are just now considered to be newborns. I started this blog as a way to keep friends and family informed on what was going on with the girls while they were in the NICU. It has turned into a keepsake and a therapuetic outlet. I hope that everyone continues to follow along and enjoys sharing this first hand experience of first-time parents of premature twin girls.
Words that I came to live by while on strict bedrest for 6 weeks during my pregnancy, 4 of which were spent in the hospital ~ Redirect the substantial energy of your frustration and turn it into positive, effective, unstoppable determination. Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you'll start having positive results.
