Hi all. I have a feeling this post will be much more brief than most of the others, as I have to grab a couple minutes here and there to create this entry. After 19 days in the NICU, on Monday night the boys joined Jeff, Charlotte and I at home. Our family is now complete! Jeff returned to work Monday as well, so we didn't go pick them up until the evening, and after all the discharge paperwork and the drive back from the hospital, we didn't get home until after 10:00pm, and entered a VERY long night of learning how to take care of three babies at once. Jeff took the midnight feeding, and I took the 3am and 6am. Even just in the last couple of days we've refined our "systems" to be more efficient and organized. I'm sure we'll get better and better as time goes on. For me, life almost entirely revolves around bottle preparing and washing, changing diapers and hugging and kissing these beautiful little people as often and possible. Jeff is learning how to balance the work that is now our entire livelihood while enjoying the kids as much as possible in the off hours. We are blessed with help, too, as we have childcare assistance 4 days a week. We also started with our night nurse last night for 2 nights a week. Not sure how long we're going to want to make the investment for this much help, but for now it's the best way to maintain our sanity.
Before the kids were born, I had decided to try to breastfeed. In the early days in the NICU the kids took all their feedings via tube, so I had to pump to provide the milk. Then Charlotte came home and the logistical nightmare started where we were caring for her at home and making one or two trips a day to the hospital, and I continued to pump so that I could deliver milk for the boys each day. Although I eventually had the option to breastfeed Charlotte at home and Sean at the hospital, I still had to pump for Luke because he requires a fortified milk as a reflux precaution. It was also a control thing - by pumping and then feeding by bottle, I could be assured of how much they were eating. Needless to say, after about 2 weeks of this I was starting to lose my mind a bit. In order to keep the supply up, I need to pump 6-8 times each day for 15 minutes...nearly 2 additional hours in my day that I wasn't resting or sleeping. My fatigue and mood were seriously affected. So just in the last few days I've accepted that I need to switch to formula. The pediatrician has assured me I'm NOT a bad mom for doing this, and that most of our generation was raised on formula and we're just fine. My goal is to finish out the month, and be done with the pumping. I have moments of guilt, but am trying to feel good about giving them the benefit of breast milk for the first month of their life.
Most importantly, all the little storms seem to have passed regarding everyone's health. Luke has definitely turned a corner and is even challenging his brother in the growth department! Each baby has visited the pediatrician for a weight check following discharge from the hospital. Charlotte is nearly 5 lbs now, Luke is 5 lbs 11 oz and Sean is 5 lbs 14 oz. They're all eating well, although we're trying to get Sean to eat his entire meal at one sitting. He still takes part of his bottle, poops out, and then seems to want to have a snack an hour later. Obviously we can't indulge that behavior very often because we would never sleep! Otherwise they're doing great and we are having great fun learning each one's personality.
Finally got the picture upload to work again, so I've attached a few pics. Enjoy! We thank everyone for their continued thoughts and prayers as we find our way through these challenging first few months.
Hi all. I have a feeling this post will be much more brief than most of the others, as I have to grab a couple minutes here and there to create this entry. After 19 days in the NICU, on Monday night the boys joined Jeff, Charlotte and I at home. Our family is now complete! Jeff returned to work Monday as well, so we didn't go pick them up until the evening, and after all the discharge paperwork and the drive back from the hospital, we didn't get home until after 10:00pm, and entered a VERY long night of learning how to take care of three babies at once. Jeff took the midnight feeding, and I took the 3am and 6am. Even just in the last couple of days we've refined our "systems" to be more efficient and organized. I'm sure we'll get better and better as time goes on. For me, life almost entirely revolves around bottle preparing and washing, changing diapers and hugging and kissing these beautiful little people as often and possible. Jeff is learning how to balance the work that is now our entire livelihood while enjoying the kids as much as possible in the off hours. We are blessed with help, too, as we have childcare assistance 4 days a week. We also started with our night nurse last night for 2 nights a week. Not sure how long we're going to want to make the investment for this much help, but for now it's the best way to maintain our sanity.
Before the kids were born, I had decided to try to breastfeed. In the early days in the NICU the kids took all their feedings via tube, so I had to pump to provide the milk. Then Charlotte came home and the logistical nightmare started where we were caring for her at home and making one or two trips a day to the hospital, and I continued to pump so that I could deliver milk for the boys each day. Although I eventually had the option to breastfeed Charlotte at home and Sean at the hospital, I still had to pump for Luke because he requires a fortified milk as a reflux precaution. It was also a control thing - by pumping and then feeding by bottle, I could be assured of how much they were eating. Needless to say, after about 2 weeks of this I was starting to lose my mind a bit. In order to keep the supply up, I need to pump 6-8 times each day for 15 minutes...nearly 2 additional hours in my day that I wasn't resting or sleeping. My fatigue and mood were seriously affected. So just in the last few days I've accepted that I need to switch to formula. The pediatrician has assured me I'm NOT a bad mom for doing this, and that most of our generation was raised on formula and we're just fine. My goal is to finish out the month, and be done with the pumping. I have moments of guilt, but am trying to feel good about giving them the benefit of breast milk for the first month of their life.
Most importantly, all the little storms seem to have passed regarding everyone's health. Luke has definitely turned a corner and is even challenging his brother in the growth department! Each baby has visited the pediatrician for a weight check following discharge from the hospital. Charlotte is nearly 5 lbs now, Luke is 5 lbs 11 oz and Sean is 5 lbs 14 oz. They're all eating well, although we're trying to get Sean to eat his entire meal at one sitting. He still takes part of his bottle, poops out, and then seems to want to have a snack an hour later. Obviously we can't indulge that behavior very often because we would never sleep! Otherwise they're doing great and we are having great fun learning each one's personality.
Finally got the picture upload to work again, so I've attached a few pics. Enjoy! We thank everyone for their continued thoughts and prayers as we find our way through these challenging first few months.
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