Home

Home. Finally. I don't think I can do justice on describing how wonderful it is to be home! It is by no means glamorous. We eat, sleep and watch TV all day long, but it is wonderful!

Justin and I have worked out a pretty good system for now. The kids eat every 3 hours. Justin takes the early morning shift. He wakes up at 2:00 am and feeds the kids until he goes to work. I then wake up at 8:00 am and take care of them all day. Justin gets home from work around 3:00, and then goes to bed at 8:00 pm and I stay up until 1:00 am or so.

One of the good things about being at the hospital is the kids are on a great schedule already. And because we spent so much time up there, the transition from hospital to home and been really smooth. I thought my days would be crazy, and I would need my Dad over hear all the time to help me out. But the kids have been little angels. They are starting to wake up more and more by themselves every 3 hours. They are able to put themselves to sleep (most of the time). I just wrap them up tight and put them either in their mamaroo's or their crib and they snooze all day in between feedings.

The one thing I was really worried about was the dogs. I was not sure how they would handle having the kids home. After 3 months of us being at the hospital, I figured the dogs knew their smell from us. And to my pleasant surprise the dogs have done great with the new adjustment. Helo especially loves the babies and is really protective of them already. When they cry in their bedroom he will run in and check on them. He loves to give them kisses (I'm sure they are tasty). He also loves to steal their blankets, and take rides in their mamaroos. Bridgette on the other hand is pretty indifferent to the whole thing. We expected as much, and she has been through the whole new baby thing before.
I think Helo and Bridgette have a pretty cushy life right now. We all hang out on the couch all day long. And since we are worried about them acting out we have let them sleep in the bed with us pretty much every night now. I don't mind as much anymore because I have now become a much better sleeper. I used to toss and turn all night, with the dogs annoying me all the time. Now I can fall a sleep within minutes, and wake up without ever having moved. That is one change that I am really liking.

The night before they came home I was in a bit of a panic. I kept thinking of all these things that I needed to do. Lots of little things that really didn't matter. Justin gave me the best advice. He said, "come to bed, we will learn how to live again tomorrow."
You never know what life is going to throw at you. Who would of guessed that I would have gone through everything we did to get here. But like the title of my blog, we just have to take it one day at a time, and do our very best. One of my very favorite quotes is "tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it...yet" I'm sure I will make lots of mistakes, but I am doing the best I can, and with my Heavenly Father's guidance I know that I can accomplish anything.

This is probably my last post on this blog. I decided to switch back over to our family blog. You can continue to follow our story if you so desire. http://justin-megan.blogspot.com/ (be aware this blog has not been updated since 2012)

Day 101

101 days in the NICU! I asked the doctors if I got a prize for making it to 100 days. They just laughed at me.
We were so incredibly blessed to be able to have both of our babies come home on the same day.
I don't even know how I would of been able to have one baby home, and one at the hospital. luckily I didn't have to find out.

We were also really lucky to be able to bring them home at all so soon. They were not really eating all of their food yet. However, they let us take the kids home on their NG tubes. So that meant we had to learn how to put the tubes down there little noses, and feed them the remaining food that they cannot take orally.

Wilson HATES his tube. The night before we took him home, he pulled his tube out 3 times. It took me a few times to get the tube in the right place, but its really quite easy (besides the horrible screaming coming from your baby in the process.) The goal is to have them eating their food within a month.

It was a bitter sweet day taking them home. We were able to meet so many wonderful people in the NICU.There is no way I could ever repay them for taking care of my sweet babies. I would not even have them if it was not for the great staff.

Being home is wonderful. Seeing my cute babies in their cribs sleeping, or playing is the greatest feeling in the world. My Heavenly Father has blessed me so much this year. For so long I have felt almost useless. Not being able to have children was like having no purpose for me. I felt in a total slump, like my life was not going to move forward. I know its not true, and that if I was not able to have children in the end, their is still purpose. But I can't deny that is how I felt. I have never felt so fulfilled as I do having my babies.

People have been telling me to get ready to have no more time for myself, and this and that, and basically my life will never be the same. You know what I am glad. I am ready for my life to change. I am ready to have no privacy, having no time to shower, or brush my teeth, smelling like sour milk, and being sleep deprived. If that's what has to happen to have this little ones in my life then bring it on. I have never been more ready.

Christmas Photos!

One of the great things we got to do in the NICU was get some Christmas photos done. Its one of those things that make you feel like your life is semi-normal.
The results were fantastic!

December 4th

The day finally arrived that my babies were suppose to be due. Everyone was telling me that it would probably be a hard day. I thought it might be as well, but in the end the day was just another day. I barely even thought about it.
I am so happy that my babies are hear and doing so well. I definitely would not have liked to spend all this time at the hospital, but its not all bad. I have met some really wonderful people along the way, and I have been able to see my babies grow in a way that most mothers don't get to see.

The last week was probably one of the toughest I have had in a while. I watched 2 babies go home in a couple of days. It is so wonderful to see the joy of a family taking home their baby. But, on the other hand it totally sucks. What about my babies? I want mine to go home. Why are they not going home, that baby has only been hear for a few days.
The rush of emotions that went on for a couple of days was pretty overwhelming. In the end I just had to remember that my babies were in the best place possible, and the doctors and nurses were doing everything they could to get them home.

Wilson and Ella are still doing great. They we are still working on eating all the food that is required. Today we were able to decrease the amount of food that they are eating in hopes that it will wake them up more,  and they will be more hungry, thus eat better. I hope this is the change that gets them home.

Justin and I are also trying to spend more time at the hospital with them. I have started to go up at 8:00am, and staying until 5:00pm or so. Justin then will then come up and stay until 10:00pm. The reason behind this is the kids eat better for us. When we are up there we have more time to spend with them, and work with them on eating.

Hopefully only a couple more weeks at the most and my kiddos will be home!

Together At Last

I'm sure Wilson and Ella have no idea the other one exists, but I still feel bad that they have not been together really at all since they were born.
Justin and I really wanted to take some pictures of them together, so one Sunday we got them all dressed up and took some pictures.

These are just a few of my favorites.

Spa Day

A few weeks ago we were able to give the kids their first baths.  It was so much fun, and luckily they liked it too.

Our awesome nurse Traci was there to assist us, and with her help it was a success. We bathed Wilson first, and he was a little unsure at first, but ended up really liking it and making lots of bubbles for us, but luckily there was no "code brown." (Yes I am referring to poop in the water).
They are bathed a little differently so they don't get cold. They are swaddled in a blanket and then put in the water. You then wash one limb at a time and tuck it back in the blanket when your done. We then got to dress him up in some cute clothes for a few hours. My aunt Kim got him the cute outfit. He was so stinkin' cute! And smelled so yummy. ( I don't think he was excited as me).

 Ella had her bath second. She was in heaven right from the very beginning. I think this was the start of a lot of spa days. Her cute outfit was from my Mother. She looked so cute!