For the first two weeks of their NICU stay, the babies were downtown at the main Rady Children's hospital. The babies were in a two bed room, and most of the other babies were in single rooms. For the first little while, the babies were very closely monitored. They started off being intubated, but were put on CPAP the same night. They were doing well. Besides monitoring their oxygen levels with an O2 monitor, the babies had their blood gasses checked often, and minor adjustments were made nearly every day. They were put on caffeine to stimulate their hearts and their breathing, because babies so small aren't able to regulate their own heart rates and breathing very well. We spent many days tracking bradys (bradycardias) and desats (O2 saturations) closely. I can't tell you how many times we talked about brady/desats. We also got really good at telling what the different dings and beeps were from the different machines. The babies had to be under the blue lights for jaundice for just a short while, and after a few days they were able to ditch the lights. They received some nutrition through their IV lines, and both had small PDAs (patent ductus arteriosis) in their hearts that needed to close. Despite being so early, the babies were relatively healthy and just had to overcome the common problems preemies are born with.
Matt was able to take two whole weeks off right after the babies were born, and it was much needed. My mom was in town and watched the kids while we went down to the hospital every day. We'd get to the hospital in the morning, and sit with the babies. Because it was such an ordeal to hold them in the first few weeks, we usually held them for a long stretch in the afternoon. After lunch, we'd get the babies out and sit with them, which was no small feat. The nurse would fetch the respiratory therapist, and the two would help get the babies out. they had so many wires and tubes it was a four person job just moving the baby two feet. Every once in a while, the babies wouldn't tolerate being out for too long and their respirations and heart rates would fall. The majority of the time, though, the babies would do great and loved being held. It was great just to hold them and snooze in the chairs by their beds.
Here's Molly getting an echocardiogram, checking on her PDA. Hers stayed open a little longer than Emmett's.
I didn't see the babies for two days after they were born. In the hospital, I had a side view of Emmett's incubator, but only for a few minutes.
My first time holding Molly.
...and Emmett.
While the babies were being treated for their PDAs, they received indomethacin, and didn't get any feedings while on the the medication. They were also not taking anything by mouth, so the whole time they had feeding tubes, we were able to do oral care with them, and swab the insides of their mouths with milk at each care time, which was every three hours.
Matt's first time holding Emmett. Matt got sick the day the babies were born with the same sickness the kids and I had the week before. Up to this point, he wore a mask when visiting the babies.
We did lots of kangaroo care.
The little cloth hearts in many of these pictures are called lovies. One stays with mom and one with the baby, and when you leave, you trade them. That way the babies have something that smells like you, even when they have to stay in the hospital.
When the babies were two weeks old, they had reached what the doctors and nurses call the feeder and grower stage. The babies were healthy, didn't require much medical intervention, other than occasional labs to test their blood counts. Their jobs were to sleep and eat. We didn't think that we wouldn't be at the main Rady's hospital, but the babies were going to be transferred to one of the Rady satellite NICUs in San Diego county. These are the babies on their way out of the hospital, sharing an isolette, before their ambulance ride from San Diego to Escondido.
This was the first time the babies had been together since they were born. It was so cute. We had a very good experience at Rady Children's. The nurses and doctors were so nice and caring. It was so hard leaving them at the hospital every night, but it was reassuring to know they were in good hands.
