For about the past week and a half or two, Rylin has been the star eater and we’ve been told she might be coming home in the next week or two. Well, she is still eating well, but is not completely consistent with it. She takes many full bottles each day, but sometimes still leaves milk and on occasion needs some in her gavage tube(this is similar to an IV bag but instead of going into a vein it goes directly to a tube in the nose). Before she can come home she has to be gavage feed free for a while.
While Rylin has been working on getting to that point, her brothers started figuring it out. Harper learned the feeling of hunger pangs this week and really lets us know when it is mealtime. The downside to this is that he sometimes tires out from being so vocal and dozes off while eating. Falling asleep doesn’t always bring his feeding to a complete halt as he can sleepily eat too. Mason is also getting the hang of eating, but is sort of all or none. Many times he is completely asleep when it is time to eat while at other times he will guzzle a full bottle without problems. This means that whoever decides to consistently feed and not need a gavage will be the first one home. They are all at various stages of this so really it is anyone’s game.
Sydney is not to be forgotten in this whole feeding race. She had a huge setback this week with her reflux and mild pneumonia, but is improving. After a few days of IV antibiotics and being propped in a “Danny” sling she started to sound better, but still needed continuous gavage feeds to keep it under control. Two days ago, Sydney had a HUGE blow out diaper, which prompted a full clothing change and sponge bath. In the midst of it all, her transpiloric feeding tube slipped out, which put her in a precarious position. She was getting close to not needing it, but wasn’t there yet. After much talk and consideration, her doctor opted to leave it out and use a regular NG tube to her tummy. She still needs to take it easy with feeding so we don’t take steps back again, but is allowed to try a bottle feed twice a day if she is up to it. Despite all of her struggles, Sydney has tons of desire to feed. She is amazing with her pacifier and is the only one who can keep it in unassisted. Nurses like to call her “Baby Maggie” (as in Maggie Simpson). Go Sydney!
These adorable outfits were sent to us from a sweet blog reader that is in Germany. H & M of Germany knows how to make the perfect onsie, they snap up the side so they don’t go over the head!
Rylin is whispering secrets to Harper. I asked them to please coordinate with each other about what order they would like to come home in.
Mason finally got to enjoy sitting in a bouncy seat and he loved it. We didn’t tell him Sydney’s pink blankies were still in it.
Our sweet OT Betsy and PT Kim brought Sydney this duck wubanub pacifier.
P.S. I started writing this blog post two days ago, but never got to finish it. Since that time, one of the babies really took off with feeds and will likely come home early in the week. Can you guess which one???
hugs!
Amber
Four to Adore 
I’m so excited for you guys!!! Go babies go!
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Yeah, Yeah, Yeah Amber!!! I think all our kiddos are having an 8-way race to see who will be the first one home! Is it… Rylin??? Maybe her along with my Lauren?
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LOL, they really are having an eight way race. It is so funny how there seems to be one of yours and one of mine that are similar. Rylin-Lauren, Harper-Tanner, Mason-Tyler, and Sydney-Hannah!
PS….it’s not Rylin yet =)
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Gotta be laid back, eat in his sleep Mason?!
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Not yet, but he does sleep eat well! Only problem is the nurses don’t always let him sleep eat 😦
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Well, I was going to guess Rylin too but I see that’s not right. I think she’s a competitor so you may be bringing at least two home at the same time! That is just awesome and amazing that one or more is so close to coming home. I recommend you all get as much sleep as you can before that time. Congratulations!
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Well since the one who was going home failed the cars eat test, maybe Rylin will come home with that one. She has been close to coming for weeks now!
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So excited for you!! I’ve been stalking the blog to see when any of the kids were getting to come home. Do you have a plan for how you will handle your split-up family for a while? Discharged babies can’t go back into the NICU, right?
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Well, this one failed the car seat test so I hope its not too much longer and the others follow suit. They actually changed sibling visiting policy because of us! Siblings of multiples can visit we just take care of all of their needs (common sense there). It will be a challenge though especially when more than one are home.
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Yeah, definitely… hard to not see all of them constantly, and hard to leave the house with babies! I’m glad you get to take the “free” babies back though. And I know it will be a short time in the long run, but… still not easy. Heh, honestly–I guess “easy” isn’t a word you’re going to be able to use very often to describe your parenting experience. Lots of other great words, but…”easy”…? 🙂
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What a sweet thing to do. I can’t believe you got those clothes from complete strangers in Germany. We are all truly brothers and sisters in this world. Thank you to our German friends for your thoughtfulness. Go Sydney. I can’t wait to see these little ones.Love you all Aunt Linda
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