Month Three

The last month in the NICU was by far the best. I had gotten into the rhythm of taking care of them. Every morning I would drop my husband off at work and arrive at the NICU at 8:30am. I would spend my entire day breastfeeding and bottle feeding the babies. I would change their clothes and their diapers. They were growing well and we were just waiting for them to be big enough to go home.

On Christmas Eve the babies got to be back together for the first time and enjoyed wearing their first Christmas Eve pajamas.

We celebrated Christmas. The NICU was great they even brought in Santa to be with them.

Alaric

 Phyllis

 Alaric

 Phyllis

They were doing really well Phyllis had been off oxygen for several weeks and was eating fine on her own. Alaric continued to need oxygen support but was working his way off of it. He was on low enough pressure to begin learning how to eat. Once he was able to breastfeed and use a bottle he just took off. He progressed quickly. I was told it wouldn't be long before they would be home with us.

We celebrated New Years.

 Alaric

 Phyllis

When I arrived the morning of January 2nd I was told that they were ready to leave tomorrow. Alaric still was in need of oxygen support. He would be going home on oxygen and a monitor. The feeding tubes were removed and we began getting things cleaned up. Later that day I was told Phyllis actually would not be going home because her eye exam had shown signs of ROP. I was very upset that they would not be going home together but they couldn't get the eye doctor in to release her until the next week.

That night I stayed in a room at the hospital and took care of both babies on my own. I did this so I could learn how to manage with both babies particularly with Alaric needing extra care with his oxygen. It was great to have a test run, and to have that peace of mind that I could call a nurse at anytime. 

The next morning we began to prepare both babies to leave so that Phyllis could go as soon as the eye doctor released her. We did the car seat test. They passed their hearing tests. The each had another ECHO to check their hearts which showed no more signs of a murmur. We had pictures taken.

 Alaric

 Phyllis

Alaric & Phyllis

After 79 days in the NICU, which was 1 day before his twin due date, we took Alaric home.

While Alaric was home and Phyllis was still in the NICU. I would spend my days with Alaric. Then at night when he was in bed I went to the NICU and stayed with Phyllis until the morning.

On Wednesday the 8th the eye doctor came in. Phyllis would be able to go home but would need a lot of follow up. Her ROP had progressed to a point that if we did not follow up she could go blind. They got her ready to go while I took Alaric to my sister's house. Alaric was not allowed to come into the NICU so we had to have someone watch him. That night everything was ready. She had spent 84 days in the NICU.

 Phyllis and Shannon

Alaric, Phyllis, and Shannon

We were finally all together again. The time in the NICU was hard but some very special nurses made everyday easier. With the nurses help I was able to survive my first few months home with some sense of calm. Raising twins is hard and raising a micro preemie is hard. Together I thought it was going to be impossible. Our story doesn't end here but I would say it gets better from here. There is a lot of work that goes into trying to get a micro preemie on track. It also takes a lot of work to keep a micro preemie healthy. I am eternally grateful to all of the people that have been involved in our story and those that are still working with us. It took a lot of hard work from a lot of people to make their lives possible. Although we still do not know what the future will hold for them or the challenges they will face. They are here. They are healthy. They are happy.