Everybody's Home

It's been quite a week. Mattea came home on Monday and now the trio is complete. We are so thrilled. It has been such a joy to take care of these babies. It's amazing to see them together, to snuggle with them and nibble on their little cheeks. I love giving them baths, feeding them, getting them dressed up and all that fun stuff that goes along with being a mommy.

They are all getting so big before our eyes. Mattea was 5.14 at her appt. and David was 6.11 at his so they are far from being preemies by size. Frankie is probably a little bigger than Mattea. David is growing fats-his cheeks are so chubby, perfect for kissing, the poor child must be so tired of me attacking them.

We are busy trying to get in the routine of having all this extra life around. Night time has been tiring but not that much worse than having one (in my opinion anyway). This is all new for David and he is uber exhausted.

I hope you enjoy the photos of Mattea. I figured we needed to catch up on photos of her. These are her first wardrobe photos. Frankie's picture shows how he likes to drink his milk and pass out and then there is the one of all three of them. Stay tuned for a video of Mattea and Frankie's billy goat behavior-you'll see what I mean.

Missing Mattea

Well, the good news is that both of our boys are home with us. Frankie came home last Friday and David joined him this past Monday. So far, life with babies in the house has been such a blessing. Yes, it is very busy and tiring of course but no matter how tired I am I can't help but smile at how beautiful my little sons are. I love nibbling their cheeks and foreheads. They are doing well, eating, sleeping a lot during the day and a little at night, gaining weight, getting to know their new home.

Mattea on the other hand is still in the hospital. She is eating like a champ. She is so alert and doing so well. She was scheduled to come home Wednesday morning but we got a call from our favorite nurse Joyce telling us she had a spell (bradycardia-low heart rate dip) and will have to be there for at least another 5 days. Each time she has a spell she buys herself an additional 5 days there. This is heartbreaking. As much as I understand things could be much worse and that this is something she will grow out of, not having her here is really hard. She will be a month old on Sunday and the guilt of her still being in the hospital is starting to eat away at me. I always ask myself if we would be in this situation if I could have held out another week. It's hard. Luckily she gets a lot of visits from her grandma and grandpa and we try to get up there when we can. I can't wait until they are all here together, as exhausting as I know it will be. We have no pictures of her because when I am there I just want to spend time with her, not take pictures. BUT, she is as beautiful as anything I've ever seen and I will take some soon. Until then, here are some of the boys.

Progress...but too slow for an impatient mama....

The babies are all doing so well but I am growing more impatient by the day. Having your babies at the NI CU is not a fun experience. After I've had a couple of weeks to deliver and time for the reality to set in, I have more time to think about how much I wish they were here. It's a bizarre feeling to have carried them so long and have nothing to show for it when I'm home except for a pump at the bedside and a bag of empty bottles waiting to be filled.

All they need to do is to learn how to coordinate their sucking, swallowing and breathing well enough to be able to take all of their feedings through a bottle. This sounds easy but when you are premature it can be quite a challenge. They are 35.3 weeks today corrected. Frankie is doing best with his feedings. He bottles really well and breastfeeds really well. If we are lucky, he may be making his way home by this weekend. Yesterday he was 4lbs9oz so he is growing but is still a little guy and may need a whole new car seat to come home in which rots because we have already bought our car seats, thrown out the boxes and set them up. Oh well, I guess at this point I would be willing to pay a zillion dollars for anything just so they could come home. He is my funny guy. He likes to crack half smiles and loves snuggling. He reminds me of a little elf, hence his new possible nickname, Keebler.

David is getting better with his feedings but is having more trouble. He was the sicker one out of them and so his lungs still need more time to develop in order for him to perfect his feedings. He has no spells though and is growing well and is a trooper otherwise. He also loves snuggling and smiling and also trying to eat his hands. He is the biggest at 5lbs7oz. He needed a little extra time to catch up but he's doing well. He never fit any of his preemie clothes.

Mattea is also feeding really well most of the time. She loves to guzzle her bottle and does so so at breastfeeding. She is almost always alert and as soon as she hears my voice when I come in she starts to wake up and look around. She loves to socialize. Yesterday she weighed 4lbs5oz so she may need a new car seat too the little turkey. As of yesterday she hadn't had a spell in 2 days. Her heart rate had been high for a few days so they decided to run some blood work to see if she was anemic. It came back normal so they did an ECG which also came back normal so they will be watching her. It is probably nothing but he reaction to stimulation. She has also had a little periodic breathing, taking breaks from breathing sometimes but remembering on her own that she needs to do that. She is a rock star otherwise and will probably be the next one home provided she straightens her little self out.

I can't wait for them to come home. David put the first swing together yesterday. We are so ready for them to be here and not there. Everyone says they'll be home when the time is right and la dee da but unless you've been separated from your babies you really can't understand how it feels. So even though I am SO thankful for healthy, beautiful babies it is a rough time with lots of tears and I can't wait for it to be a distant memory.