The babies decided last Sunday night that it was time to make their grand entrance a little early. Well, Silas made that decision because it was his water that broke. As we have learned this week, Zoe was not quite ready...
First, the stats. Silas Maxwell Westerlund Dutra arrived at 1:06am on Monday, October 5th. He weighed 6lbs, 14oz and was 19-1/2 inches long.
Zoe Lee Westerlund Dutra arrived at 1:08am, weighing in at 6lbs, 3 oz and was 18-1/2 inches long.
There is much to tell between how I went into labor, my emergency c-section, our week in the hospital, etc. And there are many cute pictures to share. However, since Zoe is still in the hospital I am taking a minute to post an update about our transition home with Silas and how Zoe is doing.
We came home with Silas on Friday afternoon. We were VERY sad to leave the hospital without Zoe, but we are trying to look at the positives. For example, each baby will get their own special homecoming with mom and dad!
Zoe has been on the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) since she was born early Monday morning, initially due to problems she was having with her breathing. Since the babies were born at 35 weeks, 4 days they are technically considered premature. Everyone describes them as "late preterm/early full-term". Babies born between 34 and 36 weeks often have problems with breathing and feeding, and Zoe has fit that profile perfectly. Thankfully her breathing problems straightened out on Monday after being treated with surfactant, but she has developed some feeding problems that have kept her in the hospital.
When they started oral feedings with her on Tuesday, it became clear that Zoe has problems with her suck-swallow-breathe reflex. She was initially unable (or unwilling) to take any milk by mouth so she had a feeding tube inserted on Wednesday. Within a short time, however, she began drinking expressed breast milk from a bottle. Because of her improvements, she was moved to the intermediate nursery on Friday morning before we left. She is now taking anywhere between 50% to 100% of each feeding by mouth. If she doesn't finish her bottle, the remaining milk goes into her feeding tube.
Because Zoe is doing so well with her feedings, they removed her IV yesterday. As soon as she gets closer to 100% oral feedings, her feeding tube will be removed. Her last milestone will be maintaining her own body temperature once she is moved from an incubator to a crib. If she continues improving today as she has slowly and steadily all week, we are hoping she will be coming home with us in a few days (Tuesday or Wednesday?).
We didn't expect to be going on "outings" within 24 hours of our discharge from the hospital, but we want to visit Zoe every day now that we're not in the hospital and we were excited to re-introduce Silas to his sister. After a quick weight check for Silas at the pediatrician's office on Saturday morning, we headed back to the hospital.
Since we don't have a single stroller, we decided to test out the Moby Wrap as a way to transport Silas from the car to the nursery. Here we are practicing how to use it. As you can see, Silas loves its coziness!
Here are the babies together during our visit yesterday. We'll be sure to get lots more pictures of them together very soon!
Silas slept while I tried to breastfeed his sister.
Zoe was also pretty sleepy and wasn't interested in breastfeeding, so Dad got to give her a bottle.
We have now had a chance to get the house ready for two babies and we are in a great position to welcome Zoe home whenever she's ready. Even Serena is getting used to the new additions to our family!
It is mine & Derek's one year wedding anniversary today. I cannot imagine embarking on this wonderful journey with anyone else. He is already a fabulous dad and he has given me two amazing gifts. We will be celebrating together as a family this afternoon when we visit Zoe!
First, the stats. Silas Maxwell Westerlund Dutra arrived at 1:06am on Monday, October 5th. He weighed 6lbs, 14oz and was 19-1/2 inches long.
Zoe Lee Westerlund Dutra arrived at 1:08am, weighing in at 6lbs, 3 oz and was 18-1/2 inches long.
There is much to tell between how I went into labor, my emergency c-section, our week in the hospital, etc. And there are many cute pictures to share. However, since Zoe is still in the hospital I am taking a minute to post an update about our transition home with Silas and how Zoe is doing.
We came home with Silas on Friday afternoon. We were VERY sad to leave the hospital without Zoe, but we are trying to look at the positives. For example, each baby will get their own special homecoming with mom and dad!
Zoe has been on the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) since she was born early Monday morning, initially due to problems she was having with her breathing. Since the babies were born at 35 weeks, 4 days they are technically considered premature. Everyone describes them as "late preterm/early full-term". Babies born between 34 and 36 weeks often have problems with breathing and feeding, and Zoe has fit that profile perfectly. Thankfully her breathing problems straightened out on Monday after being treated with surfactant, but she has developed some feeding problems that have kept her in the hospital.
When they started oral feedings with her on Tuesday, it became clear that Zoe has problems with her suck-swallow-breathe reflex. She was initially unable (or unwilling) to take any milk by mouth so she had a feeding tube inserted on Wednesday. Within a short time, however, she began drinking expressed breast milk from a bottle. Because of her improvements, she was moved to the intermediate nursery on Friday morning before we left. She is now taking anywhere between 50% to 100% of each feeding by mouth. If she doesn't finish her bottle, the remaining milk goes into her feeding tube.
Because Zoe is doing so well with her feedings, they removed her IV yesterday. As soon as she gets closer to 100% oral feedings, her feeding tube will be removed. Her last milestone will be maintaining her own body temperature once she is moved from an incubator to a crib. If she continues improving today as she has slowly and steadily all week, we are hoping she will be coming home with us in a few days (Tuesday or Wednesday?).
We didn't expect to be going on "outings" within 24 hours of our discharge from the hospital, but we want to visit Zoe every day now that we're not in the hospital and we were excited to re-introduce Silas to his sister. After a quick weight check for Silas at the pediatrician's office on Saturday morning, we headed back to the hospital.
Since we don't have a single stroller, we decided to test out the Moby Wrap as a way to transport Silas from the car to the nursery. Here we are practicing how to use it. As you can see, Silas loves its coziness!
Here are the babies together during our visit yesterday. We'll be sure to get lots more pictures of them together very soon!
Silas slept while I tried to breastfeed his sister.
Zoe was also pretty sleepy and wasn't interested in breastfeeding, so Dad got to give her a bottle.
We have now had a chance to get the house ready for two babies and we are in a great position to welcome Zoe home whenever she's ready. Even Serena is getting used to the new additions to our family!
It is mine & Derek's one year wedding anniversary today. I cannot imagine embarking on this wonderful journey with anyone else. He is already a fabulous dad and he has given me two amazing gifts. We will be celebrating together as a family this afternoon when we visit Zoe!
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