Snuggles X 2

Okay, so being the "guest blogger" is a lot of pressure! But to be fair, I have to admit that I've blogged before. The riveting blog titled "Donor Club for Parker & Tyler" was from yours truly - exciting...no? I agree that John would've started that blog with a tale about vampires or an analogy to leeches, but as you'll most likely realize, my blogs may be less "colorful" - but with JUST as much heart! ;o)

So mommy and boys had a wonderful day! Yes, I snuggled two precious little guys today - a mother's dream. When I arrived Tyler was resting peacefully on his tummy. I immediately noticed that he had on big boy clothes! He was no longer sporting his diaper speedo (pic below in his FIRST outfit - thanks to those who donate preemie clothes to the hospital). His oxygen was around 36%, pressures good and little desats - these are good things. After his assessments (where he offered a lovely poopy gift to mommy), I held him for over an hour with no REAL desats (meaning he didn't fall below 70 without immediately coming back up on his own). In fact, he looked rather peaceful - as was I. After Tyler was put back in his bed, the nursing shift changed and a lot of commotion ensued - baby crying, nurses talking, bells ringing (including Tylers). Well, besides missing mommy, I think Tybug was just plain irritated - he began fidgeting and desatting. The night nurse, one of the more experienced nurses, talked about giving Tyler a sedative but was going to try some other techniques first. She suctioned out his mouth and tube, gave him a warm bath, swaddled him tight, laid him on his tummy and covered his head. He was a happy camper the rest of my stay. Relief...I could relax.

Parker time today was also magical. After my time with Tyler I wasn't about to NOT hold Parker (who was sitting at 33% oxygen...talk about ROCK STAR!). The night nurse seemed a bit hesitant to let me hold him...no, actually she asked, "Are you supposed to hold him when he's all hooked up like this?" I confidently said, "You bet!" Her eyes grew wide and she knew I wasn't going to take "no" for an answer. Well, the fact that I had already pulled up the rocking chair and had my boppy and pillows ready to go was a pretty BIG sign as well. She quickly said, "Let me go get Sharon to help". So Tyler's nurse came over to help place him on me with a little different hold this time - Parker was kept swaddled in his blankie. It wasn't skin on skin contact (good for preemies to get used to mom and dad smells, heartbeats, etc.) but because he was "burritoed up", I had a much better view of his face and he was EXTREMELY content. In fact for the hour I held him he desatted twice into the high 70's (only because he wiggled a little) and pulled himself right back up. It was more satisfying than you could POSSIBLY imagine.

The only concern I had before leaving was Parker's hernia. His testies are probably four times bigger than Tyler's right now...a little scary. This hernia is caused by part of the bowel protruding into an area that it doesn’t belong because the muscle that would normally close off the area hasn’t fully developed. The reason that hernias are serious is because it is possible that it could cut off blood supply to the intestines (this would cause the death of tissue in the intestines, which is a much more serious condition). The doctors try to wait until a baby is of a certain weight before performing surgery (not sure what that weight is) – so for now it’s watch and wait.

So...a thumb's up day for me and the boys! I know it's just KILLING John that he is missing two days without them. It just seems like every day is such a milestone - but actually at this gestational age every day is pretty major. It's amazing that the boys came only 4 weeks ago - in some ways it seems like forever. And it's unexplainable how I can't imagine my life without these little souls. I guess it's this magical thing that happens to parents the second their child is born - or at least it's happened to me.