Two Months – Harper’s Discharge & Getting Settled

Once again, I have sinned. These kids are ridiculously time consuming, hours and hours slip away and we are just to in love to remember all the things we are supposed to be doing! Harper came home to us on December 29th, one year to the day from the day we were discharged home at 3am without our son. She spent a total of 51 days in the NICU, 51 nights without her mothers. Harper continued to have issues feeding in the NICU, we felt like we were fighting a losing battle with her when it came to her bottles. She would take between 5-20ml at each feeding though she should have been taking about 45. We had even spoken to the doctors about possibly sending her home with her NG tube and continuing tube feeds at home just so we could get her out of there. As it turns out, that wasn’t necessary! A couple of days before Christmas, she began to take a couple of full bottles. The first time, our nurse was so excited that she actually made her a “congratulations!” card to encourage her to keep it up. By Christmas day, she had been taking her full feeds for a full 24 hours. We spent Christmas traveling around among family. Christmas morning was with Ashley’s family, we opened gifts with Elliott and had breakfast. Afterwards, we headed over to my mom’s house for some more gifts and left Elliott with her to visit Harper. At the hospital, we got to spend the day with our primary, Jami, and we took Harper’s NG tube out as soon as we arrived. Harper continued taking her full feeds and never looked back, she has been doing very well ever since.

We had a very awful last couple of days… Harper started having terrible gas pains and her feedings really suffered. She was crying nonstop and would not relax unless she was being held upright. We were told that they would not give her anything for gas in the NICU because there is “no proof that it actually works.” We had been consistently told that she would be discharged after her mandatory 5-day bradycardia-free period, which would end on the 28th, so we expected her to be discharged then. On the 28th, the doctor who was covering the weekend blatantly told us that he would not discharge her as he was not familiar with her case, and we would have to wait until Monday morning. Granted, I understand to an extent. However, our primary was insisting that Harper was ready to come home. Two physicians (his colleagues) who had been seeing Harper for weeks and were very familiar with her case were present in the NICU that day and could easily have shed some light on Harper’s case had he asked. We were furious, not just because we wanted her home THAT DAY (Rohen’s birthday) but because she was still in awful pain and we would have to leave her there overnight in pain again when there was no medical reason to do so. We asked if we would be able to pick her up first thing in the morning and were told that she would not be able to leave until after noon. Thankfully, our nurse that night was one of our primaries and we grudgingly left her there for one more night. Of course, one of our favorite doctors was on call the next morning. He had her discharged by 7am and told us to give her gas drops in the parking lot if we had to! We said our goodbyes to our other day primary, Nancy, and we were finally free. We did speak up about the way Harper was treated the last days of her stay… we felt that leaving her overnight in the hospital with no medical reason to do so was completely inappropriate. We have also decided to join the Parent Advisory Board, a group of NICU moms who set up meet and greets/support groups. We’re excited to connect with other parents who are just starting out on the journey we have finally finished. Now that we are both home, we get to start looking for those milestones every new parent is so eager to see. The twins were due on January 1st, and they turned two months on January 8th. Here is what they have been up to!

– Harper –

Harper on the left, Ashley on the right. Creepy, right!?

All bucked up for her ride home! ❤

Weight: 5 pounds, 9.5 ounces (update: 5 lb 14oz on 1/16)

Length: Diaper & Clothing Size: We are finishing up the last of our preemie diapers but she does fit into newborn now. Her preemie clothes are officially outgrown and we have donated all of her sleepers to the NICU. Her newborn clothes are a little big, but she’s filling out nicely.

Nicknames: Harpee, War Bird, Harpina, Turkey

Health: We want to see a little more weight gain from Harper. At her first pediatrician appointment after discharge, she weighed 5 pounds, 4 ounces. 9 days later, she was only up 5.5 ounces when we would have liked to see 9. We’re working really hard to get as much fortified breastmilk in her as possible. She’s taking Mylicon for gas and Poly-vi-sol (multivitamin) to keep her from becoming anemic. She passed her hearing exam, her followup eye exam was normal and her last head ultrasound was normal. Her small heart murmur has resolved. If we can get her to gain the right amount of weight, we will be golden!

Sleep: We are still finding our routine. We usually start them out in our Arms Reach cosleeper, and then at their middle of the night feeding we will occasionally bring them into bed with us. We wanted to avoid bedsharing at first, but it really is a lifesaver on the nights when they just won’t relax. We don’t have to resort to it every night, but all four of us sleep so well that we feel it’s the right choice for us in those situations. We wake her up when Elliott wakes up so we can keep them on the same schedule (it’s way easier to change/feed/get them back to bed when we can tag team them and get them and do them at the same time) but the record for length of sleep is about 5.5 hours. Pretty good!

Diet: Harper takes about 65-70ml of breastmilk fortified with Neosure to 26calories/ounce every three hours, though we only wake her to feed during the day.

Baby Gear: Harper has been in her Moby wrap once and loved it! She isn’t sure about her DuetConnect swing, she would much rather be closer to moms. She isn’t a huge fan of her carseat, but she does pretty well once we start moving.

Loves: Snuggles, being sung to, taking showers and baths with moms, eating big bottles, eye contact.

Dislikes: Being moved while sleeping! Yikes…

Milestones & Firsts: First Christmas, discharged from NICU on December 29th, reunited with brother, first pediatrician visit on December 31st, 2 month shots.

-Elliott-

Weight: 7 pounds, 5.5 ounces. (Update: 7lb 14oz on 1/16)

Length: Diaper & Clothing Size: Newborn for both! Preemie clothes are OUT!

Nicknames: Smelliott, Monkey, Drama Queen

Health: He’s just fat and happy! Elliott is gaining the correct amount of weight, about 1 ounce per day. His ear and eye exams were normal, the small bleed that was present on his first head ultrasound at a few days old has resolved, as has his heart murmur. He takes mediation for GERD, gas and also takes Poly-vi-sol for anemia.

Sleep: 5.5 hours overnight is our record, and we are very happy with it! He will sleep so soundly until he realizes that he’s hungry, and then it’s time to sound the alarm. It would be impossible to starve this child or sleep though him fussing 😉

Diet: Elliott takes about 80-90ml of breastmilk fortified with Neosure to 24 calories/ounce about every three hours except for overnight.

Baby Gear: Elliott loves the Moby wrap and the Ergobaby. He is not a fan of his swing, he just prefers to be held or just be near us. He doesn’t mind his carseat, especially while he is in motion.

Loves: Being sung to, being held closely! He loves to be snuggled and can just sleep forever in our arms. He also loves baths and taking showers with us, especially when we run the water over his head or belly. He loves tummy time and is practicing holding up his head like crazy. He loves to look around and is tracking very well, especially things that light up.

Dislikes: Being left alone, waiting for a bottle to warm up.

Milestones & Firsts: First Christmas, due date, reunited with sister, 2 month shots, first overnight stay with Grandma.

Elliott and Harper meeting our doctor, Shane, for the first time!

Meeting our OB, Dr. Bullaro

-Moms-

Ashley is still home with the babies for now, and I went back to work on Monday the 5th. It’s been hard and I have been very sleepy, but we are making it work. I am starting classes again on January 20th, and once that happens I will be away 5 days a week from 8-12 hours each day. It’s going to be very challenging, but we are ready to make it work.

Our friend Lisa turned 40 on Saturday, so we went to dinner with her and ended at a bar for a giant surprise party for her! My mom watched the twins overnight so we could stay the night at Lisa’s house, and they did very well (other than not letting her get much sleep.)

We just fall more and more in love with the twins everyday! We are looking forward to being able to take them out more (once RSV season is over) and have some vacations in the works already. Our friends Jeffrey and Michael are getting married in Utah in July and we are both in the wedding, so that will be the twins’ first plane ride and out of state trip! So exciting! We are also trying to work out a trip to New York and Pennsylvania to visit friends and family, and of course Disneyland in December to celebrate their first birthday.

Ashley already posted her Facebook information, but if you aren’t already my friend on Facebook please add me! We love staying in touch with everyone! My Instagram is Devanshirr and my Facebook is here.

I hope everyone is doing well out there! I love hearing your news, especially the good ❤

– Devan