We're Home!

I haven't had a chance to blog in the last few days, but we have great news - the boys are home!!!  We been busy making bottles, changing diapers, and taking care of the two little guys, so I'm sorry this is late.  Andrew and John were discharged from CDH on Sunday night and have been doing extremely well at home. It's taken us a little time to get in our groove and figure out things like "Where's the most convenient drawer to keep burp cloths?", but so far, so good! The boys also had their first pediatrician's appointment and she thought they both looked exceptionally well. 

When they left the NICU, they were starting to be on a 4-hour feeding schedule, but our first night was closer to every 2.5 hours.  I think it's from all the late-night partying that Nurse Bethany had them doing!  We have some hilarious pictures from their last night in the NICU that I'll post when I have a chance.  For now, we're trying to catch winks of sleep whenever we can and last night seemed to go a little better.

For now, both the NICU and our pediatrician have told us that we must be extremely cautious about germs, so we're not able to have visitors yet.  Unfortunately it'll still be a few weeks before they make their public debut.  Below is some detailed info specifically about RSV that the doctors stressed to us.  We'll let you know as soon as visitors are able to come to the house and hold them!  Here are a few pictures from our trip home...

Now it’s time for us to make an important public service announcement regarding visiting the babies and RSV. (RSV info borrowed from the blog of a fellow mom of multiples)

Most people have not heard of RSV, which stands for respiratory syncytial virus, even though nearly every child has had it by age two. For full-term babies, RSV typically isn't any worse than a common cold, but for preemies, RSV is quite serious. Babies born earlier than 36 weeks are at the highest risk for serious complications from RSV such as pneumonia, bronchitis and other sometimes fatal complications.


Preventing the spread of RSV is very difficult, so although we want all of you to meet the babies, we're going to have to be extremely vigilant about keeping them safe during RSV season (October through April). The virus is spread through physical contact, in the air via a cough or sneeze, or by touching an infected object. It can live as long as six hours on hands and up to twelve hours on objects and it spreads very easily, especially from child to child. Studies have also shown that infants pose an even higher risk of spreading RSV to others. You may ask “Can’t they fight it off and build up their immune system? Kids need to get sick, right?” The simple answer is NO. Since our babies were pre-term, they did not acquire the necessary immunities to fight off infection. If they contract RSV, they could be hospitalized and develop one of the complications mentioned above.


In order to try to prevent the babies from getting RSV or any other illness, our doctors recommend that all visitors follow these guidelines when coming to see them between now and April:


1. When you arrive, please wash your hands and use hand-sanitizer.
2. Please refrain from coming over if you are sick and have not been symptom-free for at least 5 days, if you live with someone who is sick, or have been in close contact with someone who is sick.
3. If you smoke, we ask that you change your clothing and refrain from smoking prior to visiting, as a preemie’s lungs are very sensitive to smoke. Most RSV sites recommend against passive smoke exposure.
4. If you are parents to a baby or toddler, please refrain from bringing them to our house during RSV season.
5. Please refrain from touching the babies. For the time being, only the babies’ grandparents and caretakers will be able to handle and hold the babies.

Please know that this is not meant to offend anyone, but we wanted to provide an explanation as to why the doctors are incredibly paranoid with the babies. Due to the mild winter we've had, the peak of RSV "season" seems to be hitting now.  Thank you all for your understanding! We have to be hermits for awhile, but it will be well worth it in the end!