First, the boys. I was able to spend several hours with the boys today. They are in an actual room, well, two adjoining rooms actually. The NICU currently has three sets of twins, so after the set currently occupying the twin room vacates, Brady and Cohen may get that room. Its a larger room where they can be in the same area and not have a partial wall separating them. They both have spent the day under the blue billi lights and are doing well with them. They both have had their feedings increased; Brady is up to 12mL every 3 hours, Cohen is up to 10mL every three hours. (If you are wondering, 5mL is equal to 1 teaspoon.)
I spent the first part of the morning in Brady's area and enjoyed watching him kick and move. Wow, is that little boy active! Later in the morning, I was in Cohen's room for a good chunk and was treated to him fussing and spending quite a bit of time with his eyes open and looking around. I was given a good treat and was able to hold him for about 45 minutes. He is such a snuggle bug and settled down so easily. What a little sweetie!
Snuggling with Cohen for the first time.
I've been told to rest this afternoon and can go down to see the boys again this evening if I'm feeling better.
When I came up from visiting the boys, my nurse and I discovered that I had a little bit of drainage and a significant increase in bruising around my incision. It's nothing that should prevent me from going home tomorrow nor is it unsafe for me. It's just an indication that I probably bent or rose in a wrong way, and now I need to let it calm down. The pain meds are working, but I've learned that I need to stay on top of their schedule. I've done a pretty good job of that today and have been feeling better today than yesterday.
On to the questions and answers I've apparently missed blogging about, I'll try to fill in some of them. They may seem a bit random, but I'll see what I can do.
On Monday when I arrived at the hospital, R had not arrived yet. Shawn and I had our girls with us, but as the nurse was taking care of me, R arrived soon after. R offered to stay with the girls so Shawn could be with me. B was not yet in the state, but was making arrangements to get here ASAP. Unfortunately, that meant that B didn't get here until 2pm due to flight schedules.
Neither B or R were present in the OR when the babies were born. Things happened too fast with Brady's delivery to get R in the room to watch the birth, and as Cohen's delivery was an emergency c-section and I was knocked out for it anyway, Shawn was required to leave the room and wait in the hallway.
After I woke up, Dr Wagner explained what happened during Cohen's birth to require the c-section. Apparently, after Brady was delivered, Cohen was still very high in the uterus. The contractions were very gentle and were not strong enough to bring Cohen down, so they gave me Pitocin to strengthen the contractions. Meanwhile, Dr Wagner and the bedside nurse attempted to manually move Cohen by reaching inside and pushing on my belly. What ended up happening was that Cohen did move, however, he moved transverse, which is sideways. Because of the Pitocin, my uterus contracted so much that Cohen wasn't able to be moved and was basically held in that transverse position. This required the c-section.
The first time that I talked with B & R, I told them I would be willing to attempt to provide breast milk for a time for the babies. I have started pumping while in the hospital and am happy with the production I am getting right now. The boys are being fed the breast milk through their NG tubes. No, I don't know how long I will be pumping, it would be easy to say that I will pump for 6-12 months. I would love to be able to pump that long and provide milk for the boys. It's so good for them and it is good for me as well. However, I haven't pumped for twins and I don't know how my body will respond to keeping up with this demand. I'm optimistic and will pump as long as I am able.
I have had a couple of people ask if I have or will breast feed the boys. The answer to this is no, I will not. That particular act is a very personal, bonding act, and I wish to not cross any boundaries as a surrogate. I am not their mother, nor do I want that responsibility, and I know that actually nursing them would cause my emotions a lot of confusion. By pumping it protects me emotionally from crossing the proper relationship boundaries I will have with the boys.
How have things changed with us? B & R, Shawn and I have all been through a lot these past 8 months. We have had a lot of extremely happy moments, a couple of stressful times, and a lot of fun. I think we all would say that we have all made lifelong friends and look forward to watching these beautiful little miracles grow.
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