Friday, June 13, 2008

Day 3

My sense of time and place is a bit off right now where I'm getting confused on the day and each day is basically non-stop except for a few hours of sleep at night. Today, was my "sore" day as things are settling and healing so I took a bit more pain meds than I had been. Once I'm up and going, I'm fine, but slow. The getting up and going and down and stopping that had me wincing a few times. All normal. I expect a bit of more of the same tomorrow, then Sunday to be on the up curve.

I came off the IV line this morning. Granted, I asked the nurse to call the OB's office to get permission and it was granted. It was so much nicer to just be able to walk (granted slowly) where I wanted to go. Met with the OB about lunch and things look fine with me. We agreed I would stay the maximum I could which will be Sunday afternoon/evening even though I could probably go home tomorrow. However, I want to be able to stay as close to my NICU babes as possible for as long as possible so I can continue to bond with them and the NICU staff. The OB on call is the newest OB in the practice and, as is my style, I told her that I planned to blatantly ignore the no driving for however long rule. We went through the risks (which I have done with past docs as well) and easily agreed that I would not drive if I was still taking narcotic based pain meds or in pain such that it would affect my ability to break hard if needed. Both easy things for me to agree to as I would not put my life or that of my children at risk. I didn't come this long and far to be stupid. Anyway, exit plan is in place which makes me happy. She also told me of some rooms here that can be used to stay over night if needed. Probably, I wouldn't use one of them because of the Max situation, but something to keep in mind.

On my first visit to the NICU today, I found out that both babies had moved into Room B. It's an upgrade or sorts (or would that be downgrade?) basically they were doing well enough to be moved to a more calming environment. I still got a bit weepy once or twice, but over all am getting more used to everything and not being afraid I'm going to kill them if their alarms go off when I'm touch them.

Ray is doing really well. I'm too tired to get into the details, but he's being upgraded to a feeding line and they are going to start feeding him tonight. This seems to be the next big milestone. And, if that all goes well, I think I may get to "cuddle care" with him soon.

Nora isn't doing horrible, but she's days away from the feeding line and feeding. The neonatologist heard a heart murmer and she had an u/s by a cardiologist who was still there at my last visit and drew a picture and explained everything to me. Bottom line is that what he saw is very common in babes of her age and treated by medication tonight for treatment and she will be re-evaluated in a few days to see if another dosage is needed. He saw another mild issue that should resolve within the first year if not sooner. Anyway, this heart thing and breathing thing have to be resolved before she can even get to where Ray is.

Anyway, I'm really tired so not sure if this is making sense, but things are getting easier and less scary for me in the rooms. Overall, they are both doing great. Overall, it was a good day for us all. Oh, and Max came to visit me and I hoped that he could at least see his brother and sister through the window. Mostly, because I want him to understand that they are no longer in my tummy. I think he and I could have was visited a bit longer, but alas...the time to go happened all too soon. Must go to sleep soon before I nod off my sentence.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Deb, I can only imagine how hard it is to have your babies on the outside but so relatively inaccessible. I'm so glad they are doing well, all things considered. Sounds like Nora has a patent ductus arteriosis? That little connection between the pulmonary artery and the aorta that closes at birth, but sometimes doesn't with preemies? I hope the meds resolve the issue, and she's right alongside Ray soon, getting all that good Mama's milk and feeding and growing so they can both come home.

I'm thinking of you guys all the time.

Jo

Anonymous said...

P.S. I blatantly disregarded the no-driving thing too, although I can plead ignorance because no one bothered to tell me NOT to drive, so I drove the girls to the ped 4 days after birth (got sprung from the hospital on day 3). We all survived. :)

Jo