The boys are all starting to take the bottle. Of course, Samuel is our superstar as he started before his brothers but they are catching up. At the beginning of the week, Jacob was showing signs of hunger and wanting to suck but when we put him to bottle, he would suck but didn't know how to swallow so all the formula would end up in his little cheeks and the all over my hands. He'd just look at me as if to say "What mamma?" with the most confused look on his face... poor little man! He's gotten so much better, he had two full bottles in the last 24 hours, so that's 2 out of 6 feedings!! I'm so proud of him! He still has his feeding tube because it takes him two tube feedings for him to recover enough energy to suck and swallow a full bottle. But he's getting there! He wants to catch up to his brothers!! Zachary and Samuel decided they didn't want their nose tubes anymore, they pulled them out! haha... So yesterday we let Samuel spend the day without his to see if he would bottle every feeding and did he ever! Today was Zachary's turn, he's also doing well! Our dream of having them home by the date the doctor is predicting (next Saturday!!!!!) is become more and more real!
They all had their hearing and eye tests done, all three passed :-). I was there for the hearing test but boy am I glad I wasn't there for their eye tests! They had to take a speculum to keep their little eyes open, put a solution to dilate and then another numbing cream so that they could take pictures of the eyes without them moving around too much! Preemie babies are susceptible to some type of special eye disease because their retinas weren't fully developed before they were taken out of the womb but they aced their first test. Go boys!
So as you can imagine, being a mom of 8 weeks premature babies, you're always waiting for a shoe to drop... my babies are very little and have much catching up to do development wise but they are doing amazing, considering. My "shoe" came on Tuesday when the doctor was doing his rounds... and it had really nothing to do with the babies! I asked him how I should prepare my house to see how much sanitizing I should be doing before I bring the boys home. He told me that I didn't need to sanitize anything, just make sure everything was clean as the boys have to adapt to our environment and this will help develop their immune system. He then asked if I had a dog and I said yes, he asked if she was an outside dog to which I said no and then he asked if she shed and I said oh yes, lots. He then looked at me and said "I would think long and hard before bringing premie babies home to your dog"... as tears started pouring down my cheeks, his reasoning behind this devastating statement were a blur as I imagined getting rid of Roxy. If you know me, you know how much I love my dog. I got her when I was single and living alone and she became my everything. She's my baby girl and those of you who have never had a pet can't understand the kind of love that can develop between a dog and its owner and vice versa so losing her was something I couldn't even fathom. I texted Gab saying that I was going to call him and I was crying but that the babies were ok. We did some research and talked to other premie moms and decided to keep Roxy. The boys have had zero lung problems and have been as healthy as premie babies can be. Do not get me wrong here, if there is anything that develops with the boys after we bring them home, we've already found a great home for Roxy but we are willing to take the chance. Judge us if you must.
I have found my place in the NICU and I feel like I'm part of the team. Well I'm at least part of my boys' team! The Family Integrated Care program they are running at the hospital is amazing. I even developed a tool to help the program. Of course, I developed it for myself as I was finding it annoying to write all my data on post-it notes and losing them and the nurses assigned to my boys not finding them or asking where I put them... The nurses were really impressed by it but to me, it just made sense. They are even going to send it to Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto (the hospital where the program was initiated) as the program directors there were saying that they were having a hard time with the exact thing I was having a hard time with. So GO ME I guess! The mom helper that I talked about last week came to talk to me again to ask me if I'd consider joining her team. In a year's time, when the boys are older and I have more time, I might be asked to become a resource mom. This means that I would go to the NICU like she does and listen to moms and try to help them get through this difficult time in their lives. This is right up my alley and I would absolutely love to give back so I really hope that I can do this!!
Yesterday we left the hospital early to have our Christmas dinner as it was the only time that my whole family could get together to celebrate. Of course I missed the kids, but it was a different feeling. Most of the other times, I wished I could be with them at the hospital but last night, I wished they could be with me. I'm not sure if that makes sense but it was a nice feeling. Makes me feel like I'm ready to have them home with me. So this next week is going to be about figuring out our life and home to welcome our sons home!!! If they actually do get to come home on Saturday, they will be exactly a month old, that's pretty sweet! It has been a long road, but I see the light at the end of the NICU tunnel. I will miss the staff (so much!!) and even my little routine life I've created for myself there. I will miss the other moms that I've come to know and connect with but it's time for our children to come home... where we will quarantine them for another month! haha...
We asked my step-brother Jeff and his momma to be girlfriend Erin to be Samuel's God parents, they happily accepted. Here's their first photo all together :)
More pics of the week:
Finally, just in case you wanted to see it and you missed it, here is a way to get to the interview we did on Sunday... Just go select "Emission du 8 decembre" (the little video camera). We are about 12 mins 30 seconds in.
http://www.radio-canada.ca/emissions/telejournal_acadie/2013-2014/integrales.asp
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