Milestones

I remember the milestones the babies had to reach before they could be discharged. I was at the hospital daily. I timed my visits around the doctor’s rounds and their feeding times. The first week I arrived in time for the 8:30am feeding and stayed until after the 11:30am feeding. The neonatologists commented to me about how present I was, but I thought where else would I be?! Grant went to the NICU every day after work for the 5:30pm feeding. They babies were kept on a strict 3 hour schedule.

I was quickly able to pump enough milk to support the babies 100%. That meant I had to be pumping  milk for the babies every 2 hours at home and sleeping about 5 hours a night. I was running on adrenaline. The first time I spoke to Dr. Alveido I asked him when the babies would be discharged. The nurse advised the doctor not to give any estimate to me. I was devastated. I just wanted to know, but I knew that if they gave me a date and the babies were not home by then I’d be even more upset. Instead, they discussed with me the milestones the babies would have to meet before they could come home.

1. Breathing on their own. Both Reese and Zane had issues with this initially. Zane's were more severe than Reese's. His heart rate dropped dramatically on its own the first night he was in the NICU. They call that a "Brady." It's like a mini heart attack. We learned about that and many other things through our time in the NICU. Both babies were on oxygen tubes pumping room air into their little lungs, helping them breathe. This was the first milestone the both reached.

Changing Zane's diaper :)

Zane (front) Reese (back)

Father and son

2. Maintaining their body temperature. Zane was able to do this quicker than his sister. I was SO excited when both of them could maintain their body temperature (a solid 37 degrees Celsius). At that point both of the lids on their beds were raised and we could touch them. That was a big step for me and for them. Reese took a step back and her lid had to go back down after a day of trying to maintain her temperature on her own. Every time they took even the slightest step backwards I cried and wondered when they'd ever come home.

Changing Reese's diaper in her incubator.

Father and Daughter

We took their temperatures every 3 hours with the goal of them maintaining 37 degrees Celsius

Taking Reese's temperature.

Dad taking Reese's temperature.

3. Feeding. This was the hardest milestone to meet. They both started out with IVs and feeding tubes. The IVs were in all different places...their feet, arms, hands and even in their heads. It was so hard to see them with these IVs and having to be re-stuck all the time because it would come out. Luckily, they lost the IVs pretty quickly and then just had to work on feeding out of a bottle. The nurses said it would take until 36-37 weeks for them to learn how to really eat out of a bottle. Reese seemed to catch on really quick, within a few days of birth. They removed her feeding tube. I was THRILLED! Until I came to visit and they replaced her tube and she was yet again a few steps back. The nurses were right. At week 36 a light seemed to switch on first with Reese then with Zane. They started eating their bottles consistently, rarely needing their feeding tubes.

This goal took a while to reach!

Reese sleeping with her feeding tube.

Zane and his tube.

Feeding time for Zane.

Feeding Reese for the first time.

Dad and Reese.

More fun times feeding :)

At the NICU all babies have to pass a carseat test before they are discharged. This is the last step before discharge. Whenever I saw parents bringing in carseats I was envious. I was waiting for the day I could bring in my carseats. I always had them in the car.

After the babies passed a carseat test they were usually discharged the next day. When they’re discharged they nurses bring a red wagon and put the babies in a carseat and put the seat into the wagon and wheel them downstairs. I couldn’t wait to see the red wagon in my babies rooms.
I remember going to the NICU on day 15. Reese was eating so well and Zane was starting to eat consistently as well. The nurse manager told me how well Reese was doing. Here is our conversation:

"Reese took all of her bottles yesterday, last night and this morning," said Nurse Jennifer.
"Wow, I am so proud of her. How long does she need to consistently take her bottles?" I said.
"Until discharge."
"And...when might that be?!"
"You can bring in your carseat tomorrow."

I died! I got emotional and had goosebumps. I knew Reese was now just a couple of days away from discharge. I knew for a while that she would probably be discharged before Zane as she was doing better with her feedings than he was. I knew it would be hard to leave him and take her home. But the thought of me being able to bring in a car seat was so exciting. We were one step closer to having our whole family at home.