Coming Home!

     The boys decided to straighten up and not have any more spells after I blogged last. They had "harsh" talking to's from both Alan and me and all of their nurses - I am glad they listen! This, also, meant that they got to come home together, which is rare we were told! God answers prayers. The process of being discharged from our NICU is pretty strict, which I love. The babies had to meet a list of criteria and Alan and I had to watch three films, one including CPR training. Also, part of the discharge process is "rooming in" with the babies. This entails us in a room in the hospital with both babies, a refrigerator, a breast pump, and two rocking chairs for the night. The nurse comes in every few hours to check the babies and make sure we are able to handle it all. I personally think this would be great for every mom who delivers a baby to have to do (but then again I guess most parents have their babies in the rooms when they are born and we hadn't, so never mind).
     The day before the boys were discharged they had their circumcisions and because they were somewhat tongue tied, they had frenulotomies, as well. They did so well and are much like their mom in not going to miss a meal, even after being cut on top and bottom! We had a wonderful doctor in the NICU who decided to come back to the unit after her last day, just to discharge our babies. We felt blessed by this. So, we roomed in, everything went smoothly, we were visited by our favorite nurses to say good bye and given our discharge instructions to go home.
      Now coming home with a NICU premie is different than coming home with a full term baby. Little did I know how restrictive things would be! I mean, I figured on some of it, but not all. I learned that babies usually gain the majority of their ability to fight infection during the last trimester of pregnancy. Due to our boys lacking in a good portion of this being in utero, it is easier for them to get sick from people. So, that means that there are limitations on people holding them and them being in large groups. (This is awful for me because I want everyone to hold my babies and to show them off to everyone!). We have to wait to go to church and can't go out to Target or Walmart or even grocery stores with the boys. On top of that, everyone who is planning to spend time with them has to be vaccinated against Pertussis, which I knew this already. I just didn't realize how serious it was until some of the nurses were talking about babies who had returned to the PICU with this infection. It was awfully sad. Also, due to RSV, after October 1st, we will be home bound until February (for the most part). Because of their premie state, the RSV infection is easier to get and harder to fight. They will be getting a shot to hopefully help with this once a month from October until February. And of course, hand washing is a must before they are touched or held by everyone!
      Those are the starts of our exciting rules over the next few months. It is disheartening to not be able to go show these cuties off, but I want my babies to be healthy and continue to grow strong. So, for that, I will make sacrifices and hopefully you will bear with me as I post probably way too many Facebook pictures!
       We were truly blessed in the NICU. I miss seeing the familiar faces of nurses and I never thought I would say that. We made some friends of other NICU babies' parents and that is a blessing, as well. We are very thankful for the things that our nurses did and thankful for the schedule they put these kids on! We have been able to continue the schedule and the boys sleep almost 4 hours at a time at night, which is great for mom and dad! It has been an adjustment to bring them home and we are so glad we got to bring them home together because that made it so much easier. Alan is beyond wonderful and has gotten every bottle ready for the boys. My Momma has been beyond a blessing in serving us and we would not be able to have survived without her (still not able to).
     So now it is onto the trek of being a wonderful family of six (though four under this roof). We have truly been blessed by our God in this whole situation and looking back on it, I wouldn't have it any other way. The testimony of God throughout this whole thing has just been rampant and vivid. We thank you for the prayers for the boys and can't wait for a time we can really show them off. Until then, we will just be hanging out at home, getting our snuggles in.