Sophia and Watson's Stories: Catching Up

Sorry again for the delay. Life is so hectic that I haven't been very good at keeping up with the blog. I stayed at the hospital most of last week and was just completely exhausted. Last week was a little rough and I think part of it was hitting the 17 day mark. Sophia went home from the NICU on day 17, and having that day come around and knowing that Watson would not be going home made me a little sad. With Sophia, we had no idea how long her stay would be and initially we were told that most babies go home by there due date which freaked me out because that would have been 8 weeks! We were very lucky that her stay was so short, but this time around I think my expectations were more along the lines of Sophia's stay even though I knew it could definitely be longer, particularly because boys in general mature more slowly and have longer NICU stays. I had a time where I got emotional during Sophia's stay when I thought she would never eat enough to be able to go home, but within a few days, she was out. I told myself that this time I wouldn't freak out as much, because I knew that everything would come in time and he would progress and eventually come home. But, of course, I didn't follow my own advice and started to get upset when Watson was not eating all of his feedings by mouth and was still requiring the NG tube. And just like Sophia, within a couple of days of me freaking out, Watson started taking all of his feeds by mouth this weekend and as of Sunday night the NG tube is gone!! He actually pulled it out himself, but they didn't put it back in because they were planning on taking it out on Monday anyway and he has been eating great ever since. He continues to grow like a weed and as of last night he weighed 5lbs 10ozs! I'm pretty sure he is the biggest baby in the NICU and is trying to surpass the 6 lb mark before he goes home.

So, we have the eating thing down, but he continues to have "spells" where he drops his oxygen saturation and heart rate. Most of these spells are very short and he recovers on his own with no intervention. The only ones that they really are concerned about are ones that last longer than 20 seconds and require stimulation. He has really only been having these requiring stimulation maybe once a day or so and he hasn't had any in the last 24 hours. Once these are under control, he will need to have no spells requiring stimulation for several days (48-72hrs) and then will be ok to go home. Like the doctor and nurse practitioner have said, these small "spells" that resolve on their own are really nothing to worry about, and if you were to put monitors on all of the babies in the regular nursery, they would probably have them too. These spells are basically just an indication that his brain is not completely mature, but they are improving which is the important thing. The spells are only frustrating because they just come so randomly and there isn't a good reason, and it means that we just don't have a good idea when he'll be able to come home.

Despite the spells and the uncertainty, I'm feeling much better this week. I spent a lot of time at home this weekend with Nick and Sophia and slept in my own bed which was a big help. Nick and I got some things done around the house and are trying to get things ready at home for Watson's arrival. I have also been staying at home so far this week as well just to get to see Sophia and get some much needed rest, but I'll probably go and stay with Watson tomorrow and Thursday night. I can't wait for the day where I can be in one place with both of my children and not have to choose between the two, because there is guilt either way. I know this is temporary though and neither of them will even remember this in the future, so really, it's only me who this is traumatizing! Ha!

Here are some new pics with and without the NG tube!