Our NICU Story in a NUTSHELL

OMG!! I feel so bad, I have been absent for so long since the girls have arrived and it has not been easy by far... We have been very very busy with the little ones; we thank God for the help we are getting from both our families...

This is going to be a long one….

So to go back in time almost 2 years now and I can still remember the rest of the girls NICU stay as I can remember everything that they went through during their 17 day stay. I will summarize it so I can then post all the updates and bring you all up to speed... (I'm so sorry for being absent, but being full time working mommy and wife is very hard to do - I give respect to all women who have done this and are doing this on a daily basis!)

Day 1

After leaving the hospital and going home, it was all about going back to the hospital in my brain, nothing else mattered but to go back and be with the girls. I called before bed and as soon as I woke up. Heard that Imani had an apnea over night (she forgot to breath) oooh NO BUENO!! Mommy made me some oatmeal - hubby went to work - I pumped milk - hubby came home - hospital bound! Got there and heard all the details of the apnea - she recovered well and had a bit of oxygen and back to normal. Isabelle was good. We got to kangaroo and hold them both today YAY!!! It was the most amazing feeling ever! Stayed till late went home - called again - all is well.

Day 2

Woke up - called NICU - this time Isabelle had apnea and a bradycardia again but that all got well once she got some oxygen - hubby went to work - mommy made oatmeal (I was eating oatmeal everyday when my mom was here, it was great for milk production but I was getting disgusted) called again - everything was fine! Pumped breast milk - Woohoo 2 oz per boob (AWESOME!!) Hubby got home - went to Hospital got all the details that they ate very well a lot of ounces, and no more apnea no more brady's and they had a small bath at night before. We got to carry them and hang out, talk and learn from the nurses and start trying bottle feed or latching on, but no go on that one. Stayed till late night went home – called again – all is well.

Day 3

Spoke with their Dr, and we were advice that Isabelle was going to be tested to see if she could regulate her body temp the following day as she has been doing very well in the incubator. Imani is developing bit slower but is coming along very well. They were not worried about the apnea’s or brady’s anymore as they tend to happened with preemies. Both girls were passing all their tests very well and all was coming up normal, the main thing now was weight gain and bottle feeding. After hearing all this great news! We got to hang out and kangaroo the babies, try to bottle feed which was going surprisingly well to begin but they would get tired fast. They were getting a mix of breast milk and formula to help them gain weight.

Day 4

At this point the nurses already knew the times I was calling, and would give me all the details over the phone – which was so helpful seeing that I was at home on the 3^rd floor not being able to move around much and drive yet. This was keeping me very calm. Today we did a bit of shopping to stock up and buy all the babies stuff – bottles, diapers, sheets, clothes, car seats, stroller, etc etc etc – we had to get everything done after as we could not do it before – just paint. We ordered the furniture got a great deal at Walmart and order stroller also from there we got the Contours Optima Tandem Stroller. Then to the hospital for my daily visit – and to take in all the breast milk I had been pumping. These are always the highlight of my day! Got there and Isabelle was still in her incubator, we asked the nurses how the test go, and they said that she didn’t do well so it has to be a few more days. We got to feed and kangaroo both girlies.

Day 5

This was 4^th of July my hubby worked, the Florida weather was HORRIBLE and I couldn’t drive we had one car only during this time so it was very difficult to be able to make it to the hospital. It was the worst day ever! Not being able to go see them was the WORST ever! I must have called the nurses like 100 times that day (exaggerating a bit). But all went well and it was all good.

Day 6

My mom went back to Aruba this day, but she came back later on when the girls got out to help me take care of them before I had to go back to work. So took mom to airport, then went to hospital to visit and relax at church as all was going well, they still had feeding tubes, but taking the bottle much better, and were doing better with their body temps might get out soon from the incubator. And they were growing so big. It was nice even seeing them sleep.

Day 7

Surprise Surprise! Isabelle was out of the incubator – she was regulating her temp very well and was taking the bottle also so no more Gavache tube either.. Wooo hoooo!!! Imani however still had a little bit of delay but was taking the bottle very well, neither of them were latching on for breast feeding unfortunately but I was pumping and producing like a cow – even the nurses said to me they had sufficient and that I could hold on to them at

Day 8

Imani did not wait too long to get out of her incubator either, by the following day, they were testing her, and she was doing well!! So she got out a well. And then they removed her gavache tube as well, seeing that she started pulling it out and was taking the bottle very well. Soooo both girlies were out and gaining weight!! Yayyy!! Wooohoooo it was such an amazing things seeing them like that… and growing so much… God truly blessed us when he gave us these little angels. Beautiful and amazing little angels.

Day 9 – 12

So they let Imani and Isabelle chill separately for a day or so, to make sure that they really regulate their temps on their own. Then they placed them together in one crib! It was so nice to see them laying and sleeping next to each other. They kept progressing and taking the bottle, and feeding more and more and gaining weight on a constant. As for us we just kept going with the finishing touches at the house and just kept visiting them daily and spending all free times at the hospital.

Day 13

Second time I was not able to make it in to go see the girls – no car, hubby working, can’t drive.. booo hooo.. Also hubby was exhausted of the back and forth, working early mornings and then getting home late nights.. It was wearing both of us out… I called all day to check up on them, they told us to register for the car seat education class as they are reaching the weight for discharge very fast and we should be prepared.

Day 14

Took in the car seats and took the car seat safety class to get prepared for the home coming of the girls!! We just started counting the day!! The release weight was 5 lbs and both girls were already in the 4 lbs range so it was a matter of days.

Day 15 – 17

As the girls kept gaining weight we kept counting the days, on day 15 they did the car seat test with Isabelle, and she did not pass. So they tried again on day 16 with both of them. And all went perfect!!! We were so happy and excited what that meant was that soon they will be home and it turned out to be the very next day on July 15, 2014!! Our babies were released on we were on our way home!! Whoop Whoop!! Our family was complete!

There you have it the entire NICU story in a very long nutshell, I will provide pictures as soon as  I can so you can see the progress in pictures. It has been a very eventful 20 months and we are just a couple of months away from their second birthday, and I am back to blogging and will do my best to keep it up as much as I can.

God bless.

Ciaooooooooooooo

Our NICU Story – First 48 hours

Sorry for not being so active since the girls were born, but it has been a little busier around with them here…

So going back in time to when the girls were born, and we already knew that they were heading to the NICU for further development, as they left mommy’s warm belly 6 weeks too soon… This was the best thing for both mommy and babies…

After birth they were wheeled away to the NICU with Daddy by their side as they were finishing up on Mommy. By the time I left recovery (after gaining feeling back in my legs and being able to lift my bottom up on my own) I was rolled down to NICU to see the girls, and they were soooo tiny, in their separate isolates, to regulate their temperatures. The nurse came in and said “these are great babies, they paste the APGAR and have no need for any of the regular instruments just the gavache tube for feedings” I was so happy to hear how well they were doing. They were hooked to monitors to keep track of their vitals; heart rates, and oxygen in take. I was rolled away to my new room on the 7^th floor and this was crazy!! (side story)

So being on the 7^th floor which is the recovery for C-sections and having left my nice cushy comfortable spoiled care in ante-partum on the 5^th floor for 6 weeks, I was shocked at how they treated me up there, I could barely move because of the C-section and my best friend was the button for the pain killer to keep flowing into me as much as I needed, which was A LOT!! The nurses and techs were nice but very abrupt and a bit invasive. They would come in while sleeping to change the pads and other things and check vitals and drain the catheter and leave the light on! How I hated this!! I could not rest!! Then my nurse came in at 1:00 AM to tell me that I need to walk!! What do you mean walk?!? I just had mayor surgery?!? But in all true reality this is what helps the healing process go better, it is to get up and walk and take the pain to recover faster. It does help, it really does this is what makes you heal faster, walk and stay on top of the pain DO NOT LET IT GET TO YOU! So after a very longggg night the day came and I was looking forward to go and see MY BABIES!!, however the nurses had a different plan I was not allowed to go as I had the epidural/spinal tap thingy still in my back and I was not allowed to go down to the NICU with this in. So the anesthesiologist had to come in and take it out, well this took foreverrrr! Finally they took it out and I was wheeled away to go see MY BABIES!! YAY!!!

Reaching down to the 3^rd floor and checking in with the nurse at the front, I get to go in and see my girls but before that everyone has to do a 3 minute scrub and then some hand sanitizer before going into their room, and seeing them through the isoletes. They were so precious and so tiny. We spoke to the nurse and she explained to us that Isabelle (Baby B) had a Apnea and a Bradycardia or Brady as they call, this happens since they’re brains and nervous system is not full developed they forget to breathe and this lowers their heart rate, they put a bit of oxygen and she got back to normal. We were scared to hear about this happening even though we knew that things like this would happen, being that the girls were premies. She then asked us if we wished to carry them and I didn’t hesitate at all she took the babies out of the isoletes and we got to Kangaroo them which were AMAZING! I was so happy to be able to hold them and kiss them and give them all my love and warmth. We stayed with them for a long time until we got hungry and had to go back upstairs to eat. I would go back late that night to see them again and touch them and say goodnight to them.

The next morning I was told by my nurse that I was cleared for discharged. I was shocked it had not even been 48 hours since the C-section and it was already time to go home, and then my babies are still here, I don’t want to leave them… I want to stay with them at all times… Reluctantly I went home later in the day after I spent time with the girls and felt in a good state of mind to leave them and go home calmly.

The girls were doing really great according to the nurses again I got to hold them and Kangaroo them I even got to try to see if they would latch on my breast to feed them, pumping was hard as the milk did not come through yet as it thought the babies were still in, and I had not gone into labor. Unfortunately they could not latch on yet, and I was only pumping out drops of colostrum, they would always say any little bit helps so I would send down drops of milk to mix in their formula which they were eating through the gavache tubes. After spending the day with the girls, we decided to head on home, as I was being discharged and we would come back and see them the next day.

I was very somber and quiet on the way home all I kept thinking about was the girls, and also I was in pain because of the C-section, to make matters worse, there were no pharmacies open so I could not fill my prescription for the painkillers. We ended up at Walmart and getting the most extra strength Motrin type pills they had to mend the pain until the next morning to go get the pills. My lovely adoring husband had set up the room so it will all be easy for me to be able to reach things, sleep with making mayor movements, as we have a platform bed and it takes a lot of abdominal movements getting in and out of the bed.

Will be back soon to continue with Our NICU Story as the girls were in the NICU for 17 days…

Ciaooooooo

Welcome Imani & Isabelle

I know... Its been a while since my last post, with good reason I have been absent to be with our new addition to our family Imani & Isabelle...

Soooo to follow my last post the day came and went and now I will tell about how the day went... Going back to June 28th the day was CRAZY... I was sooooo NERVOUS and AFRAID of the surgery just the thought of the c-section was driving me BONKERS!! So it started at 12:00 AM with one of the nurses coming in the room to put in the IV which she placed in the worst spot ever, right in the middle of my elbow.. UGH :-S... Then back to bed, for a few hours and then a wake up at 5:00 AM to take a shower which is needed before going in for the surgery (side note: will go more than 24 hours without a shower) and then at 6:00 AM my nurse came in for some final good wishes and the waiting game began until the call came in to go down for the surgery...

I was scheduled for surgery at 9:00 AM however I was not taken down to the Labor/Delivery floor until like 8:00 - 9:00 ish... It was nerve wrecking dealing with the time its like it took forever!!

Once I got down to the L/D floor it was time for a few questions, my pressure was really high due to nerves I was going crazy in my mind... The anesthesiologist came in to explain the epidural which was sooo scary for me, THANK GOD for my HUSBAND that was there with me at all times, talking me through the whole ordeal as he knew I was very scared of everything (never had any major surgeries) she was wonderful and super helpful as well through the pre-op, op and post op... so now we wait until the meds kick in and numb the lower half of my body, which felt sooo WIERD.. took a while for this to happen completely... I was rolled into the operating room at 9:48 AM I looked at the clock when they rolled me in.. LoL...  After a few minutes, my hubby came in an huge team of doctors and nurses it was a lot of people in there, I had my Hubby next to me, the anesthesiologist that placed it in, and another anesthesiologist, that I believe was like higher then the lady that did the injection... at 10:14 AM he tells my husband look over and take the picture Baby A is coming out and after a few seconds I heard her cry, and my heart melted as tears were rolling down my face... Not even a minute after I hear the second cry of Baby B which was born at 10:14 AM which is soo cool... still crying as I hear their first cries, it was the most amazing and wonderful feeling in the entire world...

Imani
(ignore time and date)

Isabelle
(ignore time and date)

While on bed-rest I kept hearing about the cords, the cords and the cords, that is all that we kept hearing the doctors and nurses kept talking about, the entanglement of the cords and here is the proof of how bad the cords got with these little ladies...

After the girls were out and the doctors were doing there thing and putting me back into one piece our family has now grown from a party of 2 to a party of 4...

Proud Mommy & Daddy with Imani & Isabelle

The girls were so great Imani was born with 3 lbs and 6.4 oz and was 16.5" long and Isabelle was born with 3 lbs and 10.8 oz and was 15" long, they were so tiny and so beautiful, our hearts were filled with joy, happiness and love for our little girls... They passed the APGAR test and did not need to be put on oxygen at all and were placed into their isolettes for body temperature control and gavache tubes for feedings...

The healing process began immediately after being sown back up and the girls taken away to the NICU with daddy following them, at exactly 10:48 AM I was rolled out of the OR and placed into the PRE-OP/Recovery area, where I and the nurses waited for the meds to stop working and to be able to gain feeling in my legs and start moving them around, so I can leave that area, rolled up to NICU to see the babies and then rolled up to the recovery floor... The wonderful button connected to my back was the BEST thing ever to help with the first 24 hours of recovery, also walking... YES it HURTS LIKE HELL!! I will not lie it hurts!! But it helps it really helps... Staying on top of my meds and walking helped me to quick recovery while in hospital... I was able to see my girls after the first 24 hours... 

So that was the story of how our girls came into this world and what a whirlwind of a journey it has all been since we found out about our MoMo Girls Imani & Isabelle... Now we have a great future ahead of us and I will keep you all posted as things happens and they grow... Will be back soon with their NICU story...

Baby A - Imani & Baby B - Isabelle

Ciaoooo....

The Decision has been Made!!

Sooooo... we have 33 weeks and we are still going... The Dr.'s have a made a decision and we will be welcoming our girls on Thursday, June 28, 2012 at 34 weeks...

The decision behind it is due to the spacing for the girls as they are growing and losing space in the oven, and the tangles are getting really bad, they are having more and more decels when I sit up, or when I get into bed we can see their heart rates drop every time... Also they are still head down, so that also makes it hard for me to sit up without putting pressure on them...

On Monday night me and my darling husband entertained ourselves by doing a belly cast of my belly, it is great to finally have some kind of keepsake, as I did not have a baby shower or get to take my preggo pics but I will have a belly cast. It was really fun to do and it came out really nice...

Yesterday they did a doppler ultrasound for the cords to make sure that everything is still flowing well to them, and all seem to be flowing great... We are very happy and excited to have a date finally and we will get to see our little girls... Also my mommie got in yesterday from Aruba, and I was soooo happy to see her and have her be here with me during the next couple of days...

Today we will be getting all of my personal items ready to change rooms, as after the c-section I will be moved to another floor, and the plan is to have all of that set before hand to make it all easier...

As for tomorrow our schedule will start around 12:00 AM when they will come in to put the IV in, for all the medicine needed for the surgery, at around 4:00 AM I have to wake up and take a shower to then let the nurses do bloodwork and then head downstairs to labor and delivery to get the spinal tap and to then get the BABIES out!! YaY!!!

Will keep you posted on how it all went after the surgery and all the details on the girls...

Tomorrow is the BIG DAY!! YaY!!!

32 weeks and counting....

We have officially reached 32 weeks and 4 days that our girls have been baking in the oven, and we have also reach our 31 days on bed-rest... We are reaching great milestones and we are staying extremely positive throughout our entire journey...

The doctors have a made a few changes to my patient care since my last post and we are very aware of their state and keeping the positive thinking flowing...

I had an ultrasound done this past Friday and I was so happy I got to see the girls, and learn of how their growth is progressing through the weeks... So Baby A is now 3 lbs 3 oz and Baby B is now 2 lbs and 12 oz they are making progress as the weeks go by they are only 7 oz apart which is nothing to be worried about so are the nurses and doctors saying...

After a few days and the babies doing very well on the monitor, with their occasional variables that seem to be common, the doctors did feel the need to check the cords, so on Sunday we did another ultrasound however only to check on the cords, the tangles and how everything is flowing through the cords..

I wasn't giving a clear explanation until the night doctor came in and explained that they will be doing these every 3 days, as they feel that the babies are a bit on the smaller side and would like to make sure that everything is flowing well through the cords, we are always happy to hear a detailed explanation from our Dr.'s and RN's as it makes the process for us more easier knowing all that is going on with or MoMo Princesses...

Also mommy and daddy have started to spoil the little princesses we got them their first little outfits for them to wear when they leave the hospital... we are very excited and can't wait to meet our little darlings...

Tomorrow is another day... Ciaooooo

Updates... Updates...

Soo after my last post, a lot has happened and it has been a bit of a roller coaster with all the occurrences that have led up to a lot of new things in my in-patient care...

Friday, we had a bit of an incident happen, me and my hubby were enjoying lunch when Baby B had a drop in her heartbeat (as I was sitting up to eat) and then she moved away from the monitor (she tends to do a lot) my RN for that day came in with a group of nurses (keep in mind I was mid bite of my food) and started to lower the bed, take out the oxygen mask, move my food out of the way and were acting as something was going really bad, my husband moved out of their way and let them do what they needed to do, all I kept doing was look at my husband with a face of what is happening... She started moving the monitor around searching for Baby B after like 1 min, she called the doctor in with the sonogram machine to search for the baby, the Dr. came in and in like 30 sec he found the baby, around the same area she has always been posted, and the gave me a face like, this was a waste of time and smiled, after they got Baby B back on the monitor my RN dropped the most insane comment: "I don't have the patience to search for babies heartbeat," my response was "I noticed" she apologized for what happened and left the room. I was just SO MAD and ANNOYED with the whole situation that just took place, it was all because she got paranoid and had no patience!! Later on the day one of my favorite RN's came in and we told her what happened, she looked at my strip for the day, and said "They did all of that for a regular decel," and she apologized for them putting me through all that stress over nothing that was extremely urgent.

This incident was a snowball effect for a bunch of weird events....

Saturday, got woken up at 6:30 AM to be put on oxygen, and to get like buzz shocked on the belly, because the girls were not moving enough for them, then went back to sleep got re-awaken at 8:00 AM to an ultrasound machine being rolled in my room, and being moved around on the bed from side to side  to accommodate this machine for my first BPP (bio-physical profile) ever... The girls were suppose to get and 8 out of 8 meaning, good heart rate, muscle tone, movement, amniotic fluid and breathing exercises. They did great on all aspects except for the breathing only Baby B did a bit and the other one was chilling, after being poked a bunch of times to get them to wake up quiet an experience.

Sunday, another day another early morning wake up at 8:00 AM for another BPP this one was way better then the one they did the day before, according to the ultrasound tech, this was suppose to be done on a daily basis until the doctors felt that there was no need for it anymore, and on this morning the girls were way more cooperative and did they perfect and scored 8 out of 8 all across the board, so no more BPP's after that day. The rest of the day was to relax as much as possible and try and make sense of all that happened...

Monday - Thursday, were all great days for the girls... They were doing great on the monitor and didn't  have to do any additional testing just back to the normal patient care of being on the monitors and keep things going as we were doing before "the incident" as mentioned above....

Well that's pretty much it for now... will have more to tell soon...

Tomorrow is another day... Ciaoooo....

31 weeks and counting...

We have now reach 31 weeks, and we are very happy to in the hopes of reaching our goals...

I haven't been posting much lately since my days are very repetitive... However this week we got some great news, this is... The doctors have made the decision that they are very optimistic about having the babies at 34 weeks, and since we are all doing such great progress this is great news to hear, as when we first got admitted they were thinking more along the lines of 32 weeks... Which I was SO NOT happy with...  But now we are more calm and happier knowing that they know the babies are doing well enough to go longer...

Both me and my husband are hoping to do the c-section on July 4th, that would be such a great celebration for our MoMo Girls having a grand celebration every year on their birthday!! And also we'll be pushing more towards our goal 35 weeks as by then I will be 34 weeks and 6 days... HiHiHi... trying to sneak in some more baking time... LOL.. ;-)

And to make this better for our girls I have to get another round of the BETA steroid shots for the girls lungs... MAN I HATE THEM SHOTS!!! I got my first shot yesterday, and it was painful!! I just hate needles anything that has to do with medical needles I despise... I'm getting the second shot today, and I will not doubt that it will be just as painful as the first one... I know I'm being a big baby about these shots, and it is best for the girls, but  I just can't stand it.. hahaha... Staying in the positive that is all I'm trying to do is just staying in the positive...

I am still on continuous monitoring, and the girls are doing great on the monitors, they go in and out as they are very much some wiggle monsters, especially Baby B.. this habit has now reached Baby A which was more laid back and now is wiggling more and more everyday... They like playing hide and go seek with the nurses, which we think is hilarious... The pics show me connected to to the monitors with the girls heartbeats...

I appreciate all of my visits I got throughout this week!! THANK YOU!!

Things I know:
- Speak up about your nurses it helps more than you think!!
- When inpatient, having a rooms with a view is AWESOME!! It helps so much!!
- Cleaning ladies here make swans!! And have been real nice...
- I got tired of the food after 3 weeks... LoL
- Movies helps the time go by a lot, BTW knitting is not bad either, I'm doing a scarf for winter :-)

Will keep you posted... Tomorrow is another day... Ciaooooooo!!

30 weeks and counting...

So I am 30 weeks today, and counting to reach our goal of 35 weeks...

We had our ultrasound today, and the girls were behaving pretty well, they have been very good girls the past few days, they are cooperating allot to being on the monitors all day even though they still move around like CRAZY... hahaha... they love to kick and move when the nurses come in to do readjustments or just need to get them back on the monitor after a shower...

So here is what we got from the ultrasound.. Baby A which is located on the bottom, is 2 lbs and 12 oz and Baby B which is located on the top is 2 lbs and 6 oz, that means they are still growing getting all the nutrition that they need from Mommy...

Baby B is the wiggle monster, she is always moving around and being extremely active and as for Baby A, she is way more laid back and chilling on the bottom still wiggling around but not as much as her sister....

Today has been a great day, and we are very happy and excited to hear the momo's are doing well... We're going to keep counting and hope to reach our goal of 35 weeks...

Will keep you posted... Tomorrow is another day... Ciaoooo