The Zoe and Silas Show

11/5/09 Here are the stats from the little munchkins' well baby visit on Friday: SILAS 21.25" long 9 pounds, 7 ounces 38.25 cm head circumference Silas has gained TWO OUNCES per day since Operation Fatten the Baby! ZOE 20.5" long 7 pounds, 9 ounces 36.50 head circumference Zoe has gained one ounce per day since Operation Fatten the Baby, Part II! This is the typical weight gain for babies at this age, so she is right on track.

We have made HUGE progress in figuring out the two baby problem in a mere six days. -We have cooked dinner 2 of the last 3 nights. -We are each now getting 3-5 hours of sleep at a time. -Derek has run several errands and I've managed to hold down the fort. -We've gotten all of us out of the house multiple times since Thursday a) in a timely manner, b) in between feedings and during naptime, and c) without Derek and I killing each other. This has included two trips to the pediatrician for Zoe to have her weight checked, one trip to Babies 'R Us, and one grocery shopping trip. We are quite the spectacle with the snap-n-go double stroller, but we keep their carseats covered with "bundle me's" in order to keep random strangers from trying to touch them and from gawking too much. Kristin was visiting from Wisconsin this week, so we took them out for a walk down to the Village on Saturday afternoon when it was a lovely 70+ degrees outside. We even had lunch at a sit...

Zoe gave us a run for our money her first two days at home when it came to feeding. We were given a minimum amount that she needed to eat each day, and we barely met the minimum on Tuesday and Wednesday. In addition, Derek and I went from getting 5-6 hours of sleep per night to less than 2 hours. Needless to say, we were quite stressed when we went to the pediatrician on Thursday. The bad news was that she had not gained any weight since discharge, although she did manage to maintain her discharge weight. The good news was that she decided to start eating when we got home from the doctor's office on Thursday afternoon. Zoe's shift in eating was probably related to a combination of things: settling into a new environment, Derek and I calming down a bit, and starting back on Prilosec (prescribed for reflux) after not taking any since Tuesday. It's been interesting seeing the differences in Zoe and Silas' personalities when it comes to eating. Silas also didn't want to...

I was wrong when I said in my last post that life doesn't get better than that. It does. And it definitely got better today! Zoe is home. Home. Sweet. Home. Her discharge from the hospital was unremarkable, aside from the fact that her team ordered a few final tests in the Nth hour, which prolonged her discharge until almost 3pm. Considering I had been up since 3am, I was more than a "little" ready! Apparently Zoe was ready as well, because her eyes were as big as saucers and she was so curious about the whole process! Vanessa came over with Oliver and watched Silas for us while we picked up Zoe, so she snapped a few pics of us settling in. Serena seemed unphased by the addition of baby #2. Derek and Zoe got some father-daughter time. And before I knew it, he was holding down the entire fort! We decided it was bath night so that was quite the whirlwind of activity giving baths x2! Whew. It will be awhile before either of us can do that alone! After baths and feeding, Sila...

Tuesday is discharge day for Zoe, barring any unforeseen problems cropping up overnight. I left her at 5pm today and will be calling just a few hours from now to confirm what time we can pick her up. I am relieved and excited and nervous. Due to H1N1 and predictions of a brutal flu season, the NICU is no longer allowing siblings under the age of 18 as visitors. This meant that Sunday was our last visiting day as a family. The policy change is thankfully coincident with us blowing this pop stand, but I really feel for families who still have long recovery roads ahead of them. As awful as it has been to have Zoe separated from us, I will always remember these 15 days we spent together on the unit as a new family. In celebration of our impending departure, we were allowed to leave the unit and hang out in a family room on Sunday afternoon. It was so wonderful to be away from the noise and monitors and crying babies and do something as normal as feed them, change diapers, and watch the Pat...

While we wait for Miss Z to come home, we all are enjoying lots of snuggle time... Serena loves getting in on the action! We are hoping to have a more definitive update about Zoe's discharge very soon -- please stay tuned!

I was bound and determined to get pictures of the babies wearing coordinated outfits yesterday during our visit with Zoe. They wanted NOTHING to do with it! Zoe rolled one way, Silas rolled the other, Zoe's pants were falling down, their hats were falling off, they screamed, etc. Derek and I laughed the whole time that this was the first of many instances of them saying, "Oh Mom, please STOP!"