Happy 1 Week Birthday

I'm home from the hospital and had a minute between my 8-10 times a day pumping to give a quick update. I came home on Sunday afternoon and have not been back because I'm so tired between pumping and trying to recover but I'm going back this afternoon. Rich has been there 3-4 times a day to hold the babies and change diapers.
I knew to expect coming home without the babies but no one can prepare you for how unimaginably heartbreaking it is to get in the car and leave the hospital without the 3 that you have been attached to and nurtured for so long. It was the hardest thing I have ever done but I know they are in good hands and we can go and visit 24 hours a day.
Here are some pictures that I believe were taken by my mom within the first 24-72 hours. I didn't have time to label the pictures and this is my first attempt at embedding a slideshow so bear with me because some might be duplicates.



We of course can tell each baby apart but I can tell you that in the beginning, Beckett and Adeline are the ones with the CPAP on their faces and Eloise just has a nasal cannula of oxygen. She is also the one with all the hair. These pictures were taken through June 12th and as you can see, Rich and I celebrated our anniversary on the 12th with a red velvet cake. Happy 5 Year Anniversary! That was also the first day that we were able to hold any of the babies and the pictures are of me holding Eloise for the first time. That was the best anniversary present I could ever get. Since then, both of us have been able to hold each of the babies. In all the pictures I'm wearing my nerd glasses because I accidentally threw away my contacts while at the hospital. And there are a few pictures of my brother Isaac who was there with my mom for the first 4 days.

All of the babies will have a feeding tube for quite some time until they can learn to feed from a bottle which is usually at 34 to 35 weeks. At first they were getting donated breast milk until I could provide it (no problem with that anymore!) They also all have IV's to supplement their feedings with extra fat and nutrients. They all also started off under the bili lights because of jaundice which is why in some pictures they are wearing purple sunglasses. All of the babies lost weight in the beginning which is a little scary because they are so small to start with but it is expected especially since they were under the lights which makes it harder to maintain or gain weight.
Here is a quick update about each:

Beckett:
He is our wrinkly little man. He started off on CPAP to help with his breathing but was taken off of that a few days ago and now is just getting oxygen via nasal cannula. In the pictures you can see the CPAP is pushing up on his little nose but it is back to normal now. He also didn't need the bili lights a few days ago but had to go back on it this morning. He is pretty relaxed and likes to be snuggled up. He also has really long feet and toes and I personally think is a dead ringer for a Rich-look-a-like. At his weigh in this morning he is only 1 oz off of his birth weight but that may change now that he is back under the lights.

Eloise:
She is the wild one with all the dark hair. In the beginning she just needed oxygen and now is off her bili lights, oxygen AND IV so all she has now is her feeding tube. She is so little but so strong. She was getting herself into little predicaments by kicking herself in the head with the IV in her foot, constantly pulling off her oxygen, and wriggling her way to the side of the isolette. We think she is going to be our escape artist because they had her on her stomach and we swear that she hoisted herself up and was trying to crawl out. She is also within 1 oz of her birth weight which is amazing given how active she is. She was giving all the nurses a run for their money.

Adeline: (or Addy as we have started to call her)
She started off on CPAP just like Beckett and actually looked a lot like him in the beginning. She is now off CPAP, oxygen and her bili light so now just has her IV and feeding tube. She is the most relaxed and just snuggles up in her isolette, is easily comforted and just likes to hang out. She had a rash around her neck and legs which has cleared up and they said it was just because her little skin was so sensitive not ready for this big world. She is within 2 oz of her birth weight and hopefully she will keep gaining now that she is off her bili light.

As for my health, it will take some time for the effects of the preeclampsia to go away and they started me on blood pressure medication. Luckily my pain from the surgery is pretty minimal and I can get by on the equivalent of ibuprofen. I go back to the doctor tomorrow.

One week ago tonight at 7:48, our first little one came into this world. Happy One Week Birthday to our beautiful babies.
What a difference a week makes.