I thought I'd share some interesting things I've learned during my stay at NICU.
Sorry for not being in touch sooner but the last six weeks are a bit of a blur. Tim and I were expecting our twins to arrive (as planned ) on the 17th of March. However, nothing went to plan. Thankfully our twins have fought the odds and survived. At 16 weeks a routine scan identified our problem. Called twin-to-twin transfusion, one twin thrives while the other is deprived of nutrition and blood through the shared placenta while in the womb. It's a rare syndrome that affects just 5 to 10 per cent of identical twins. (About one in 250 pregnancies results in identical twins). We were told that our little twin would probably never make it past 24 weeks. But little Toby defied all odds and kept hanging on. The decision was to get me past 28 weeks and deliver. On New Years Eve we had a routine growth scan. The specialists decided that we needed to deliver the twins in order to save Toby, so on New Years Eve, 11 weeks early, Toby (480g) and Finn (1310g) were born. Both boys are doing well in NICU (Newborn Intensive Care Unit) at Auckland Hospital. Finns already put on a kilo and Toby's doubled his birth weight. I'm spending all of my time with the boys, leaving poor old Tim to man the shop.
PS - we'll post some pics when all of the tubes and monitors are off.
I thought I'd share some interesting things I've learned during my stay at NICU.
- C-Sections hurt like hell
- Morphine is great
- Prem babies take lots of supplements, nurses fortify their milk with vitamins and whey protein
- Probiotics do transfer in the breast milk
- Taking probiotics and Vitamin D does help your baby if you are breastfeeding
- Finn is the only baby in the infant nursery without nappie rash, and I reckon its because I take Omega 3, Vitamin D, a Multi and Probiotics.
- Nurses talk about diets all of the time.
- Sugar is like morphine to babies.
- 480g babies do not fit nappies.
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It Was a Mr Bean Day
So (you know where I'm going on this)..back inside, switch over the oxygen tank, take my muddy shoes off, and find out our AA membership has expired. CRAP. Then figured out that I have free roadside assistance with Hyundai. (Thank God). OK, so waited for man to come.. charge battery and told us to drive for 45 minutes to recharge battery. So, again - 2 babies in capsules ( we had to feed them again), change over oxygen tank, set up oxygen tank and load car..we are finally going. We go for a long drive and all is good until we get to the mall 2 hours later to grab a coffee. After waiting 20 minutes for a park, then getting the twin stroller out, the babies out and the tank out, I notice that Toby is 10 breathes away from running out of oxygen!
So back in the car, fold up the stroller, babies back in their car-seats and back home to get another tank at high speed. New tank attached - back to the mall, another 20 minutes for a park ( I'm busting for the loo)- unloading -20 minutes and guess what...that was the best coffee I've ever tasted. Took us so long to get there we stayed until after dark. It was so nice to be out. DIET WISE - I missed lunch, but took a carbrite bar to the mall. I had half a pecan slice at Eve's pantry, but I'm absolutely sure I came in within my calories today.
How was your Sunday, did you run out of air?