Fourteen Days in the NICU

**I have really considered not posting on the internet any photos of my sweet boys from their NICU days. They are a little difficult for me to look at still. But, I decided that I will eventually want to remember the details and since this is my family journal - here it goes.

DAY 1 - X-rays, Ventilators, IVs & IncubatorsOur boys were both admitted to the NICU immediately following their delivery. They were born premature at 34 weeks and 4 days. Both were placed in temperature controlled incubators, had IVs put in their arms and x-rays taken of their lungs. They were hooked up to monitors that showed their respiratory rate, blood oxygen level, temperature, and heart rate.

Ty was placed on a CPAP which is a ventilator that helped Ty breathe by continuously offering pressured oxygen. Premature babies with underdeveloped lungs often can't breathe very well on their own, and even if they can, they sometimes fall into such a deep sleep that they forget to breathe. Breathing is somewhat of a learned art that many little babies have to master. Dax was on an actual ventilator that was breathing for him. His lungs were more underdeveloped than his older, smaller brothers. Dax also had a tube down his throat into his lungs that the nurses were periodically draining. He had a lot of amniotic fluid still inside his lungs that made it difficult for oxygen to get inside.This is me touching my son Ty for the very first time. I stuck my hand inside a hole in the side of the incubator and one of his nurses about had a panic attack! Apparently, there were some strict guidelines on the care of all NICU babies. They philosophy is that since premature babies are technically still supposed to be in utero, any unnecessary stimulation can hinder their growth. The NICU has specific 'Touch Times" at which point the babies diapers are changed, medicines are administered, weights or measurements are taken and feeding is given. The nurses do not touch the babies outside of these set aside times and they discourage parents from touching their own babies outside of these times also. Well at this particular time of the day I didn't really care what the nurses thought - I had just delivered this sweet baby and had not even held him or touched him or really even seen his sweet face. I longed to hold my newborn babies! So I stuck my hand inside that incubator and I laid one finger on Ty's hand (as the nurse instructed). Then I waited. A few seconds later, Ty's little hand opened up and his tiny fingers reached around and gripped my finger. We were holding hands. I cried.

DAY 2 - Room Air
Amazingly, our boys were rock stars. They both were only on the ventilators for ONE day before the doctors took them off. They were now breathing room air! They still had little oxygen tubes by their noses to help remind them to keep breathing - but their little lungs were working on their own! The nurses told us that every step in the NICU is usually a long process. They said that what most often happens is a 'two steps forward, one step back' type of deal meaning that the doctors try one day to take your baby off of a ventilator or something and then maybe they can't handle it after a day or two and have to go back on some oxygen for a little bit. Well, not these Wernli boys! They continually made progress and never once regressed!! They really astonished many of the nurses and doctors and other parents in the NICU. Ty

Dax

Chris and I with Dax. Our first family photo - sort of.

DAY 3 - Photo-Therapy Lights

Both of our boys' bilirubin levels tested high today so they had to be placed under photo-therapy lights. The light works as an artificial sun to penetrate their skin and help combat their jaundice by helping their red blood cell count go down.The lights were on the boys 24 hours a day and all of their feedings and diapers were done under the lights. Poor little guys! How awful!

Smooth Operator - Mr. Tycen. He was under the lights for three full days.

The boys wore these special 'sunglasses' the entire time they were under the lights. These soft, cloth glasses were Velcroed to a circle that was stuck like a band-aid on each of their temples. They were kinda cool, actually.Sly Guy - Mr. Daxon. Dax was under the lights for FIVE days. His bili levels were pretty high. Three weeks later and he still looks a little yellow!

Dax kicking back, yawning and soaking up some rays :)

DAY 4 - Blowout

Ty had his first major blowout today! Fortunately we were there because it was the perfect opportunity for Christopher to help out...

Chris holding Ty for the first time EVER! Chris was allowed to help the nurse by picking up Ty for a few seconds while she changed the blankets underneath him that he had pooed on. Yay for blowouts! Chris was thrilled :-)

I literally snuck this kiss in when the nurse wasn't looking. I just could not help it!! This guy is incredibly irresistible!!

Me and Ty.

Me and Dax. Isn't Dax so handsome? And look at all of those annoying hospital bracelets that I had to wear. Yuck. We weren't allowed to take them off until our boys were discharged from the hospital!

Are these boys so good-looking? I love this picture!

Chris is burping Dax. This guy always had a chubby face, even when he only weighs 5 lbs!!

DAY 5 - Diapers
This is how we found Ty.
The scrawny little guy has his head smashed up against the side of the incubator.Today I changed Ty's diaper for the first time, just to say I did it. But I don't really need the practice - diapers are totally Christopher's job :-)My mom and Ty. My mom came to the hospital with me almost every day but wasn't able to hold or feed my boys hardly at all! Our touch time with the boys was just so limited she didn't want to take any bonding time away from me and my babies. So she just sat with me and supported me. What a great mom.

DAY 6 - Holding Ty

Today I held my son Ty for the very first time EVER. And I was able to feed him a bottle (my milk) while I was holding him. I cried the whole time. Seriously, Ty had tears all over him. I couldn't believe I had delivered this baby six days ago and was now finally getting to hold him!! He was sooo tiny and fragile, I was very nervous but extremely thrilled :-)

Later that day Chris and I came to visit our boys. This is Dax's incubator with the photo-therapy light turned off. Lots of machines still.

Chris talking to his son Dax.

Chris 'wearing' Dax's sunglasses.Looking down the wall of incubators. There are 5 against this wall. Chris is standing by Dax's incubator and Ty's is two down to the left.

Chris talking to his son Ty.

Our cute little 4 lb something Ty.

DAY 7 - First Time Nursing

I was able to nurse both of my boys this day for the first time. The only time you can really get close to your babies in the NICU is if you are nursing them or doing Kangaroo Care. Otherwise you pretty much have to leave them in their beds or wear a gown to hold them.Nursing my babies was so fulfilling. Finally, something that I was actually able to do for my babies that no one else could. For seven days I had been following orders from doctors and nurses on how to care for MY babies - and now I was the one who finally knew what to do! The nurse was standing over me all nervous as I took Ty from her arms. She was trying to give me some instructions and I just grabbed my baby and started nursing him. He was awesome right away. This was a very special day :-)My sweet boy Ty.

Dax was just as awesome at nursing, right away. I can't describe how good it made me feel to be able to provide for and comfort my babies in a way that only I could. I felt like I was finally special to them for the first time, different than any other nurse or doctor who had been caring for them their entire little lives.When the nurse walks away for a moment I sneak in as many hugs and kisses and cuddles as I possibly can. I am in heaven!Then a few short minutes later, it is back to the incubator under the lights again.

My adorable boy Dax.

DAY 8 - One Week Old

Ty - One Week Old.
(I bought these stickers to go on the boys shirts, one for every month, then I'll photograph them every month for their first year of life. I was planning on starting with this sticker - zero months - on their delivery day. Oh well.)

Dax - One Week Old.

Me looking at my son Dax through the incubator.

DAY 9 - Open Cribs

Today the dr took the top off of the incubators and turned off the heat lamps on both of our boys cribs. Now our boys had to prove that they could regulate their own body temperatures without the machines.

Me holding both of my boys together for the first time ever! Best feeling.

Grammy holding Dax for the first time!

Ty all bundled up

Dax sporting his GO OSU BUCKEYES hat! Not the best face though...

DAY 10 - Car Seat Test
All babies that are in the NICU at this hospital must pass a bunch of tests before they can be discharged (even the parents must pass a test: CPR). One of the final tests is a car seat test. The baby is strapped into their own car seat, still hooked up to all of their monitors and they have to sit in there for about 45 minutes. The baby has to prove that he can survive a car ride - like that he won't stop breathing or choke or have some other problem while sitting up for the first time.Here is Dax during his car seat test. He passed! Isn't he hilariously small looking though? Well, Ty failed his first car seat test. He was too small for the car seat! The straps wouldn't tighten enough around his tiny body so his little head would flop over cutting off his air supply.

DAY 11 - Twin Suite!

Our boys were finally upgraded from their high-needs incubators to these low-needs bassinets. And they were placed in a special area that was curtained off for just the two of them, next to each other! The nurses call it the Twin Suite.

Ty finally passed the car seat test! Yay! (We had to borrowed a different car seat and buy a special insert to make Ty a little beefier)I mean, look at that tiny little peanut with his daddy! Ty is just the spitting image of Chris. I LOVE IT.

Day 12 - Shot Day

Ty sleeping peacefully, recovering from some unpleasantness earlier.

DAY 13 - Circumcision Day

Chris is getting some instructions from the nurse on "wound care" -- OUCH!Our poor little boys... but now they are Men! ;-)

DAY 14 - DISCHARGE DAY!!!

Chris and I are getting in our car to go to the hospital and pick up our boys!! We are sooooo excited!!

Waiting outside the security entrance to the NICU with empty car seats...hope they let the boys leave with us!!

Chris is actually crossing the yellow "do not cross with baby" line - with our babies!! We're heading out the exit!! Adios West Boca Medical Center!!

Chris and I are finally leaving the hospital with our boys :-) On our way home where Jada & Kalle anxiously await outside for the arrival of their new baby brothers - whom they have NEVER met or even SEEN before ever!!!

Our first family of 6 photo ever :-)

The twinners first night at home with our family :-) Good Night Boys!

14 days in the NICU. What a learning experience. One of my cousin's said "Welcome to the NICU club." I never thought that was a club that we would join! The more I talk about my boys' experience in the NICU, the more I realize that this club is ENORMOUS! I feel like practically every other person with children has had a child spend some time in a NICU. My experience is not unique to a large population of parents, but it was very unique to Chris and I.

We feel very blessed that the NICU our boys were in was wonderful and the hospital staff was excellent. And more than anything, our boys were extremely healthy. So maybe they needed a little help breathing at first and then they were a little yellow for a few days. But all in all, they are very healthy boys. There were some babies in the NICU who weighed literally a THIRD of what Daxon weighed. And there were many babies who had lots of other, serious health problems. Most of the babies who were in neighboring incubators with our boys had been there before our boys were admitted and were still there when we left. I felt guilty as we were leaving the NICU with these TWO healthy boys, when some of the parents we were saying goodbye to had one baby that might not be leaving the NICU for quite some time.

Thank you for all of your love and prayers. We know that there have been and still are many many people who care about our boys and are praying and thinking about them and us. Thank you.
Love, The Wernli Family