Ten Days and Counting Down...

Today our boys have been in the NICU for ten days. But they are doing awesome. Seriously. They rock. Plus they are super adorable. They are most likely coming home very soon :-) We couldn't be happier. We have loved the nurses and staff in the hospital and have had such a positive experience. I am soooo glad that these boys were not my first kids because this would've been much more difficult for me I think. I have been super emotional, mostly I've been extremely happy and feel very very blessed. I have cried almost every day I have been at the hospital and almost every time has been out of joy.

Both boys have quite a few tests to pass before they are discharged. They have to prove that they can... breathe on their own, eat on their own, regulate their own body temperature, keep their bilirubin level down, gain regular weight, go to the bathroom, be over 35 weeks and back to or close to their birth weight and probably some other stuff I'm forgetting. Our boys are now doing all of these things! Yay!

I have sooooo many things that I want to write about so I don't forget. But, I'm tired. These last 10 days have been busier than I could've imagined. Everyone keeps saying that I need to get my sleep now - I'm trying! But I have been pumping every three hours around the clock to try and build up a good supply of breast milk because I'm feeding two babies. So far I have been extremely successful in my efforts and have a huge supply of milk both at home and the hospital. My twins have been fed exclusively my milk (except for one day before my milk came in) and I'm even nursing them once or twice a day! I'm not saying that I will be able to nurse these babies forever but at least they have been given a good start - I'm so happy about it :-) I have been suffering from some clogged milk ducts though, what a pain. This never happened with Jada or Kalle, must be the breast pump or something. Ugh. It has been painful and has kept me awake at night using heating pads and all kinds of remedies. I really am trying to get sleep though, its just not possible for me to get more than 2-3 hours of consecutive sleep before I have to wake up and pump again. Oh well. At least I'm not consoling crying babies! But from what I've seen and what the nurses have told me, our boys have been stellar - they RARELY cry. They are on this strict schedule right now and I hope we will be able to maintain it when they get home. I am not naive enough to think that they will always be such good babies or that we will be able to have a fabulous routine right away. But, we can shoot for it anyways :)

Really, I have so much to say... plus I'm still working on my birth story - I really can't believe how everything is and has been working out so amazingly well. We are so blessed. So incredibly blessed. Actually, we are doubly blessed! Haha!
Here I am holding my two boys at the same time for the very first time ever! This was yesterday, the first time that my boys have been next to each other since birth. One of our favorite nurses Emmy snuck Ty into Dax's incubator area after Ty had left his bedside for the first time ever to get a hearing screening done. In that very brief moment (we're talking like 20 seconds, maybe) it finally hit me that I literally had my hands and arms full. I cried my eyes out. Out of joy. I have never felt so blessed in my life. Four healthy children, a fantastically incredible husband, countless supportive family members and friends, and the knowledge that we can be a family forever.

Doubly Blessed? Nah, I think we are Infinitely Blessed :-)