Any Volunteers?

I'll keep this plea at the top of the blog for a bit...

If you have a few hours to spare over the course of your week and you'd like to give us a hand, please drop me a line at diagriene @ hotmail.com (**no spaces on either side of the the @ in the actual address**) and I'll forward my mother's telephone number. She's organizing a schedule and knows first hand what needs to be done.

Due to the babies' prematurity and their extreme risk for catching colds/flu/RSV, at present there probably won't be a lot of baby handling - what we need most is peripheral assistance with groceries, laundry, etc. However later on, we fully expect that baby cuddling will be on the agenda!

Reunited

Colin... being reunited with his bath at home in a small recycling bin (it is juuust the right size; for now!)
Grammy (Edward's mother)... being reunited with Keith
The babies... being reunited with each other on Edward's lap last night. From left to right, Evelyn, Keith and Colin.

Even Shorter Update... and Sad News

Evelyn came home today!! In fact, she was supposed to come home yesterday, but due to the doctor's admin burden, it got put off until this morning. We are soooo thrilled to see little Sweet Pea cosy in her bed under the window... she is eating well, and we'll see how she does over her first night. Pictures to follow!

The discharge did not go too smoothly, but not because of Evelyn. There was a crisis in the NICU overnight and everyone was extremely stressed. The doctors were delayed with their rounds and it took 2.5 hours to get to Evelyn, look her over and sign her paperwork. The baby who was in crisis was born just a day before our brood and we got to know his parents quite well over the past 5 weeks - they are a lovely couple and have a little guy at home, too. Their little one started to look "off" when his mother was feeding him last night, and by the time I got there this morning he was being prepped to be airlifted to CHEO. He is very, very sick. His parents are beyond distraught and the mood in the NICU was very somber. I managed to give his mother a hug as we both cried in the hallway, but what do you say to someone in that situation? It's an unspeakable sorrow. So please, keep the little one and his parents in your thoughts. He was due to be discharged today...

Short Update...

No pictures this time, sadly. We'll have to take a few more :)

The boys had their second pediatrician's appointment this morning, and Colin has gained a whopping 11 ounces since last Wednesday!? If they weren't recording it, I simply wouldn't believe it... that's absolutely shocking. Keith is now up over 5 pounds, and both are starving most of the time - we're trying to keep up with them. The NICU had suggested we start feeding them every 4 hours, but as the boys are demanding to be fed up to an hour before they're due to be fed, I doubt anyone of us could last that long!

Miss Evelyn is still in the hospital. She had another spell on Monday, and her release date has been changed accordingly. She looks so amazing and alert :) They aren't sure why she's still having her apnea episodes. It could be nothing more than her prematurity, but she also has a lowish hemoglobin count which could be a contributing factor. They would like to see her resolve this on her own and aren't planning to intervene medically at the moment. While most preemies are supposed to outgrown their apnea spells at 35 weeks (and the babies are now 36 weeks 3 days), the fact that she's one of three means that she generally acts about two weeks behind her gestational age. We'll see how she does over the next few days...

I'm up to my ears in overdue thank-you notes, and I'm hoping I can squeeze a few in before the 2pm feed. Edward's mother has been here since Sunday, and it's a great help to have food prepared, the mountains of laundry done and the house tidy so we can focus on getting our act together with the babies. Edward is starting his 6 months of leave on Monday and I can hardly wait!! It is a financial hit, because at the moment, EI will not allow him to claim parental leave alongside me but it's a sacrifice we're willing to make. We're very fortunate to even have this option, and I'm so thrilled that Edward will have the opportunity to spend so much quality time with the babies :)

Pictures!

Keith at the back, Colin in the foreground. Colin looks a little worried... he often does, and not necessarily without reason! Right over his ear you can see a little shaved patch where they had a scalp IV line placed in the NICU.
The choir...
Colin with Daddy
Keith with me
The other side of the nursery!

Babies in the Nursery...Finally!

That is Colin under the hat! Here he is at home, fast asleep, holding his pacifier in his mouth (perhaps coincidence, but he does this very often) and striking a stylish pose. One of the reasons we call him Monkey is because he's very tactile - as you may recall from some of his NICU pics, he has to have his hands on something!

Keith chilling at home on his puppy blanket. The NICU told us that fleece is the best at keeping the heat in, so Edward went to Fabricland and bought enough in several patterns to make nine blankets of a very generous size.
Evelyn in the NICU. She was the first of the three to hold her head up. She is one curious and alert little girl :)

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Just a quick update - Keith came home Monday afternoon and Colin came home Tuesday. The first night was a bit wild, as Keith had some "intestinal issues" and was very hungry, not to mention trying to cope with a completely new environment. They both did well last night, although the intestinal issues persisted until this afternoon, so they weren't very comfortable. But they didn't stop eating! In fact, at their first pediatrician's appointment yesterday, Keith had gained an incredible 4 ounces since he was discharged and Colin was up to 4lb 4 ounces.

We're feeding them on their 3 hour schedule. Edward and I usually take turns doing the feeds on our own, with the exception of the 8am and 8pm feeds; the latter because 2 nights out of three we have to squeeze in a bath. I usually do the 2am feed and Edward does the 5am, which means that once everyone is fed at 8pm I have an hour and half to rest before the 11pm feed, and another hour and a half until 2am and then a blissful 4 hours or so until I get up for the day. It's been working out quite well (knock on wood) in part because we have a great nursery set-up, a workable (but rigid!) routine, and because the babies are unusually good feeders in spite of their age. Last night, our doula took the 11pm feed so we got to bed at a really reasonable hour and I even got to read a few pages of a magazine. Tonight, Edward is taking that feed and I'm envisioning a longer shower!

Edward is in charge of preparing and sterilizing 16 bottles a day which takes the better part of three hours to complete. Keith and Colin are on different formulas and the bottles are colour-coded to ensure that Keith doesn't get Colin's milk-based grub. Our kitchen looks like some sort of commercial production outfit with pots boiling away at all hours, cookie sheets, tongs and clean tea towels neatly arranged on almost every counter.

And what about our Sweet Pea, Miss Evelyn? Unfortunately, she had an apnea spell last Thursday which was her first in 12 days. It took everyone by surprise, and meant that she had to stay an extra week to ensure it was safe to her to come home. She had two more yesterday and last night, so the clock has again been reset for another week. I managed to get in to see her this morning (oh, to be able to drive again post c-section! Perhaps on Monday...), but we miss having her here. It's hard to get our scheduled meshed to feed her when we're doing feeds at the same time at home. She looked at me so soulfully this morning, and my heart broke. She is the most alert and developmentally advanced of all three, and I'm positive she knows she's alone in the NICU. This is truly the hardest part so far :( Obviously, we don't want her having spells at home, but our family simply isn't complete without her sleeping in her crib alongside her brothers.

Well, I'm off to take advantage of my early night! 2am comes around sooner than one thinks...

The Nursery... Finally!

The fabric book slings that I sewed... by hand. For some reason, the photo is crooked. At least, I hope it's the photo and not the slings! Those books will look familiar to some of you. We looove books, so thanks for adding to our fledgling library :)
The nursery at night. I chose the fabric for those huge pillows (they will go on the floor once the babies are home), and I made the paper star mobiles. Hanging them was a bit of a chore, but I think they look pretty good. There are another three stars on the other side of the room. I found the organic pillow fabric, the custom-made quilt and the adorable animal prints on the wall on Etsy (aka my secret ingredient!). The cribs are IKEA, and were very easy to assemble. They will convert to toddler beds, too.
A more telling shot. We only have fitted sheets on the cribs at present. At the advice of the hospital staff, we're going to wrap the babies in fleece and cover them with one blanket. The basic rule of thumb for preemies is as much clothing on the baby and as little covering the baby as possible.

So after a very frantic effort on my part, the nursery is pretty much finished! Well, this side of the room. You may recall we added a built-in unit on the other side. It's fully loaded with diapers, blankets, bath stuff, bibs, baskets for booties, sweaters and hats, etc. However, it still needs some final tidying up before I post a few pics, so stay tuned.

The only nursery project I didn't finish was the sampler. I'm really sad about that, as it features one of my favourite poems, Children Learn What They Live. It is very labour intensive, and although I plugged away for over 50 hours, it's only half done. I doubt at this point it will ever get finished, but such is life - and the mere beginning of many unfinished projects to come, I'm sure! But apart from that, I'm really pleased with the finished product. Many people told me that gender neutral nurseries would have to be green or yellow (read: boring), but I knew that I could pull it off with a myriad of bright colours, and even a little pink and blue. I wanted a cosy and vintagey feel, and of course, knowing the number of hours I'd spent staring at those walls, I'd have to love it. And I do!