Days 127-130, then home! - May 30-June 8

After 130 days, the girls finally got to come home.  Here we are leaving the NICU as a family on Sunday June 2.  They were born on January 24 and are the equivalent of a 6-week old baby.

While we're extremely excited to be home, it's kind of sad to leave the NICU.  We became good friends with a lot of the staff at the NICU, especially some of the nurses that frequently took care of our girls.  Now that the girls are both home, we miss the around-the-clock care that allowed us to get so much sleep at night :)

We also want to thank everyone who has helped us out in any way during our long antepartum and NICU journey.  Andrea and I truly appreciate everything that you all have done for us, and this would have been much more difficult without your help.

As you can see from the oxygen tank in the picture, Paige came home on oxygen.  We're not sure how long she'll have to be on it, but it will probably be at least a few months before she's taken off of it.  We now have a bunch of oxygen tanks in our home.

Before we left the NICU, both girls had hearing tests and passed.  Here's Paige with all the sensors attached to her head during her test.

Aubrey's heart rate and breathing monitor machine kept saying that she would stop breathing for about 20 seconds every few hours.  Anyone accustomed to hospital monitors knows that those things give off false alarms ALL THE TIME, and every time that alarm went off while we were in the room, we saw that she was clearly breathing just fine.  However, to be on the safe side she had a 12-hour apnea test performed.  Basically, the test made sure air was moving in and out of her nose.  Here she is with her mustache sensor.

That test showed she was fine.

After both girls were cleared medically, we went home.  It was strange having both of them home the first few days.  It was almost like we were just taking a field trip from the NICU.  Now that we've been home for almost a week, being home with them is starting to feel normal.  Here's Aubrey (L) and Paige (R) being held by me the day they came home.

Both girls, but especially Paige, have been much more calm since we've been home.  Paige would get really agitated any time anyone at the hospital messed with her, and she doesn't get messed with so much at home.

The one good thing about being stuck in the NICU for 4 months is that I think our transition to being new parents at home has been easier than the experience of most new parents.  Andrea has long since healed from her C-section, so we don't have to worry about that.  We already know our girls very well, so we're usually able to figure out what their problem is pretty quickly when they squawk at us.  We also already know how to comfort them and help them fall asleep.  I can't imagine how crazy being home for the first few weeks would be if our girls were born full-term and came straight home.

Here the girls are posing for a picture in the same bassinet (or whatever they're called).  This is against NICU rules, so naturally it was one of the first things we did after we got home, haha.  Paige is on the left.

The girls are kind of weird in that they make great eye contact with adults and seem interested in whomever holds them, but they seem to ignore each other for the most part and never look at each other even when they're side by side.  Maybe we're noticing the aftereffects of a womb feud or something.  Here's another picture of the two girls, Paige on the left.

We went on our first walk with the girls on Tuesday.  The legs and arms you see belong to Paige, the head belongs to Aubrey.

Nurse Kristen, one of the nurses that we became good friends with during our stay in the NICU, came over one morning for a quick visit with the girls.  Aubrey is on the left in the picture.

Here's mommy holding the mute button on both girls.  (Paige on left)

Andrea's mom has been here the past week helping us out with stuff.  Here's grandma holding the girls.  Aubrey is on the left.

If you remember from my last few posts, the thing holding the girls back from coming home was inability to eat enough.  Since she's been home, Aubrey has been eating a ton.  Our nickname for her has become "little piggy."  She's still getting Enfamil AR fortified to 24 calories per ounce, and she eats 17 to 20 ounces each day (her required minimum in the hospital was 16 ounces).  Paige has been having a little bit of a harder time.  She was getting fortified breast milk in the hospital, and a few days before we were discharged her milk was increased from 24 to 26 calories per ounce.  The 26 calorie milk ended up being extremely constipating for her, so after a few days of watching her scream every time she tried to poo, we gave her plain breast milk for a few days to get her system flowing again.  It has seemed to do the trick, so we're going to slowly fortify her milk again to as strong as possible without plugging her up.  She's been an ounce or two short of her daily NICU goal of 15 ounces, but the pediatrician doesn't care as long as she is still gaining weight on track with the weight curves.  Here's Paige's typical look after getting what she thinks is a full meal.

We were trying to wake her up so by letting a little cool air hit her skin so that she would eat more.  It didn't work out for us, so we got our revenge and got a picture of her.

We had our first pediatrician appointment on Thursday and both girls are gaining weight, so that's a good thing.  We also had an eye exam this week, and both girls' eyes continue to improve.  The ophthalmologist thinks the ROP will be resolved in a month or two.

I thought I would end the post with some general "stats" and other random info:

Number of consecutive days someone in our family was hospitalized (Andrea then girls):  157

Approximate number of miles Andrea and I drove to and from the hospital:  10,000

Approximate number of X-rays each girl had:  100

Approximate number of blood transfusions each girl had:  15

Approximate amount this would have cost us if we didn't have medical insurance:  $1.4 million

Actual amount this cost us:  about what you would pay to get a nice 10-year old used Honda Civic, plus food and gas for a strange 157-day 10,000-mile-long road trip in which you slept in the car so as not to accrue lodging expenses

Height and Weight time!  Their age-adjusted weight is around the 5th percentile, with Aubrey being a little above and Paige a little below.  Their height is like their weight, right around the 5th percentile. Aubrey has a big head compared to the rest of her body, it's at the 25th percentile.

Aubrey:

     Day 1 -     2 lbs 2 oz     14 inches
     Day 8 -     2 lbs 7 oz
     Day 17 -   2 lbs 11 oz
     Day 27 -   3 lbs 1 oz
     Day 36 -   3 lbs 4 oz

     Day 46 -   3 lbs 7 oz     16 inches

     Day 56 -   4 lbs 0 oz

     Day 62 -   4 lbs 9 oz     16 1/2 inches

     Day 72 -   4 lbs 14 oz   17 1/2 inches

     Day 80 -   5 lbs 5 oz

     Day 88 -   5 lbs 14 oz   18 inches

     Day 102 - 6 lbs 6 oz

     Day 110 - 6 lbs 15 oz 

     Day 118 - 7 lbs 6 oz     19 1/2 inches

     Day 126 - 7 lbs 8 oz

     Day 134 - 8 lbs 0 oz     20 1/4 inches

Paige:
     Day 1 -     1 lbs 13 oz   14 1/2 inches
     Day 8 -     1 lbs 12 oz
     Day 17 -   2 lbs 2 oz
     Day 27 -   2 lbs 10 oz

     Day 36 -   2 lbs 13 oz

     Day 46 -   3 lbs 5 oz     16 1/2 inches

     Day 56 -   3 lbs 10 oz

     Day 62 -   4 lbs 1 oz     17 1/2 inches

     Day 72 -   4 lbs 4 oz     18 inches

     Day 80 -   4 lbs 14 oz

     Day 88 -   5 lbs 0 oz     18 inches

     Day 102 - 6 lbs 2 oz

     Day 110 - 6 lbs 7 oz

     Day 118 - 6 lbs 12 oz   19 inches

     Day 126 - 7 lbs 1 oz
     Day 134 - 7 lbs 4 oz     19 3/4 inches