A Rough Day...to be had by all...

You know it's a bad sign when you call in at 7 am to check on the girls and your night nurse tells you that one of your babies is 'beside herself', so be prepared that things may not go as greatly as planned (i.e. nursing may be a little difficult). When I called this am, our night nurse (Kelly) reminded me that the girls were having their eye tests and head ultrasounds today...all routine NICU tests. Apparently, when they came into dilate the girls' eyes, Olivia got herself so worked up that she was inconsolable. SO upset in fact, that they had to move her to her stomach to get her to calm down. Sydney, I ask? She's doing great. Okay, so I go about my day, run to Sam's to get some staples that we have run completely out of (the first time this has EVER happened to me). I thought I did pretty well at Sam's, and I ONLY bought the girls 3 outfits (Carter's...super cheap at Sam's, size 6 and 9 months). :) What can I say? I have an addiction. At least the girls will be dressed super cute, right?

I arrived down at the NICU to discover that Olivia was so upset this AM that she actually pushed up her ENTIRE feeds and therefore didn't actually eat her breakfast. :( Sydney did well. Both girls had already had their eye tests and were having their head ultrasounds as I arrived. YAY, more things for me to ask the Dr and Nurse Practitioner about. After their head ultrasounds, I checked both girls before I started Sydney's assessment (diaper change & temperature check that she gets before each feeding), ONLY to discover that BOTH girls had majorly spit up (great another thing to talk to the Dr and NP about... do they have reflux?). SO, after I changed Sydney's diaper, I had to change her entire outfit and then nurse her. She did a great job for a baby that was 'stressed' out. I really probably should have not practiced with her, but she did do a great job! Then it was on to Olivia. Her spit up was bad too, so I was prepared to changer her outfit as well. What I was NOT prepared for was the poop. It was ALL OVER. So all over that it was under her armpits, up her back, and in her hair. It was AWFUL. I had to use 15 wipes (this includes the ones that were soapy to bathe her with). Gross! Her entire bed needed to be changed (3 receiving blankets were used, plus her outfit was ruined... Well, I'll know for sure after our laundry is done). As I was getting ready to practice with her the DR and NP showed up to discuss my concerns (I'd asked our nurse to page them for me)...

My concerns:
1- the girls new habit of spitting up after meals (welcome to the world of Reflux :( the Dr tells me)
2-Sydney's weight loss over the weekend a whole 10 grams, but I'm eager for her to gain weight 3-Eating/nursing difficulties (they aren't 'getting' it so far)
4-Ideas on WHEN they would potentially see them going home (3 weeks if not longer)
5-Eye Exams (The Eye Dr wanted to see Olivia in 2 weeks for a follow up, is this normal...yes it is. What was not normal was his not wanting to see Sydney for 6 months)
6- Results of their head ultrasounds (not in until tomorrow, but the tech had told me that they looked great)
7- We WERE going to also discuss the fact that Olivia hadn't pooped since Sunday AM and if this was normal (It is for breastfed babies to have poops every other day as they get older)

As our conversation rounded to an end, we also discussed my issues with the nurse this weekend and they both agreed with me that I was NOT overreacting and that all my issues would be addressed. They did tell me that since the girls were so steady they would more than likely be getting float pool nurses more often. BOO. But that I wouldn't have this nurse again, they promised and that they'd address her issues with the charge nurse.

Little Miss Olivia didn't end up nursing for this feed, mainly because she was so worked up from her day that she was exhausted and feel asleep before I could get her to nurse. She just needed some mommy time.

In my 2 hour break from nursing the girls, I washed out the receiving blankets and onesie that Olivia had been wearing and sprayed them down with Dreft spray, pumped, and called a couple friends. One of the friend's I talked to was my friend Stephanie. I called to see how the first day of school went...gotta love the first day. Sounds like it was pretty typical. The end of summer and beginning of the school year is bittersweet, and I am sure next year will be even more bittersweet to me when I go back for the first day. :(

Matt joined us for their 5 and 6 feedings and assessments for which neither girl had another poop of gigantic proportions, THANKFULLY! Nursing went well, not as great as over the weekend but it was a rough day for them. In addition to all this, their Uncle Mike and Aunt Nozomi came to see the girls as well... fun, fun times. :) Thankfully we had a dinner casserole to go home to, after a quick run to Babies R Us for MORE baby stuff. And to think I thought we had enough...not! The girls went through 9 receiving blankets today. Craziness. So I needed to purchase more, the first of many of these discoveries I am sure.

Tomorrow I have my follow up appointment at Dr. Paul's office (where I will get released), so hopefully I can start walking and lifting some light weights to work off all this pregnancy and bed rest fat. :( Then, when I see the girls I am going to have the lactation consultant help me with the girls during their nursing sessions. We need to get working on this eating thing so that we can move onto bottles and get home. Now if only they'd stop having brady's (heart drops), we'd be even closer to being home free. They have to have 5 days FREE of brady's before they will be discharged. This seriously stinks b/c some days they have 4 or 5 still. :( And we need to get Miss Olivia off of her oxygen. In good news, the girls are official! We received their Social Security Cards today! So cool.

Hope all is well,
J