Good lord, I hate pumping. Especially at 4am. Oy. I've gotten lots of my problems sorted, but it's just kind of crappy. I ended up renting a second pump because I realized that the right breast is a lot more sensitive than the left and the left was literally under stimulated. The lactation consultant had never seen this solution employed, but it does seem to be working, and that is what counts.
Ok, enough with the complining.
Let me tell you about my boys. Baby a is named Asa (pronounced Aysa), and baby b is named Judah. I'll eventually give them disguised names, but I thought you all deserved to know.
They had a really rough first week, well, 4 days. The were large in size, but had quite immature lungs. Turns out if you stress a fetus, their lungs develop faster (smoking, doing drugs). Guess my clean living backfired on all of us.
As a result of their immaturity, thy both had respiritory disease, and a form of baby emphasyma (sp?), called PIE. J, being smaller and less mature, got it worse than baby A, but they were both on the occilating, or jet ventilator. On wednesday the doctor prepared us for J staying on it for a month. That was an awful day and evening. The next day we spent time with the boys, worrying and crying. And then on Friday morning the doctor called my room to say that J was giving them a window to move to cpap, and she was taking out his tube. That's right a month turned out to be two days! His brother was a day behind, but by Sunday they were both on nasal canula.
Knock us all over with a feather.
On Thursday morning I realized I felt the beginnings of a cold, and so did husband, so we had to stay home until we are symptom free for 24 hours. The virus never fully manifested. On thurdsday I was a weepy mess, but I rested, and on Friday, felt much better, which means today it's back to my boys! I'm pretty sure we had "raveitis"--when you stay up too many nights in a row and you feel vaugly ill.
Now that I have a pumping bra, I'll try to post more often. Spending 1/2 of my waking hours clamping the pump to my breasts was sending me round the bend!
The first picture is of me with J, and the second is of husband with A.
Pumping sucks!! And I think a good LC is hard to find. I never did find one who could help me properly. A lot of times, you just have to figure it out yourself and that sounds like exactly what you are doing. The important thing is to do what is right for you no matter what anyone says.
So happy to hear that J moved onto the cpap so quickly! I have always heard that life with babies in the NICU is a lot of a few steps forward and a few steps back, so hang in there.
Thanks for sharing the pics of your lovely boys!
Posted by: Summer | December 18, 2010 at 07:03 AM
Oh they are beautiful! And it's wonderful how well you're all doing. So happy for you, and hoping they'll be breastfeeding soon, so you get a break from the pump!
Posted by: Sprogblogger | December 18, 2010 at 07:18 AM
Such beautiful beautiful boys! And I love their names. So glad they (and you!) are doing so well. Prayers for continued growth and progress.
Posted by: Rebecca | December 18, 2010 at 07:52 AM
They are precious. Keeping them in my prayers.
Posted by: Debby Pucci | December 18, 2010 at 08:12 AM
So tiny and beautiful! Glad to hear that they're doing so well.
Pumping does suck...
Posted by: a | December 18, 2010 at 08:16 AM
THey are gorgeous!!! And you are doing great! :)
Posted by: Michele | December 18, 2010 at 10:42 AM
wow, congratulations on the boys and how amazingly well you're doing. I am now only pumping twice a day and my twins are only 4 months old!!
Sending growing healthy vibes to your boys.
Posted by: EB | December 18, 2010 at 03:25 PM
They are gorgeous and I love the names! Good work figuring out the pumping. I know it sucks but every day that you can stick with it at this point will help your boys get home sooner. I definitely set 2-day goals when I started pumping, and I"m glad that I didn't set myself up for failure by promising to continue indefinitely (although all worked out very well for us in the end). So glad that they are both breathing better.
Posted by: Rachel | December 18, 2010 at 06:34 PM
They look beautiful! Hang in there!
Posted by: Cat | December 19, 2010 at 01:09 AM
Wow, so, so precious! Grow little ones, grow.
Lovely to see them so peaceful with mommy and daddy.
Posted by: It is what it is | December 19, 2010 at 10:31 AM
This post made me cry. Just seeing you with your boys... honey. Gentle joy for all of you.
Posted by: Cecily | December 19, 2010 at 03:56 PM
How beautiful! I love their names and am so happy that they are doing so well. I know the NICU is stressful (and we only had to live through it for 2 weeks). I have many a picture with tearstains on my shirt from when my J and A were in the NICU. Much love to you all.
Posted by: Brenda | December 20, 2010 at 07:28 AM
Sounds like you are being a trooper and doing everything that you're supposed to be doing. Hopefully your guys will be out of the NICU in no time at all!
Posted by: Sweet Georgia | December 20, 2010 at 09:28 AM
Good for you for lots of skin to skin! Keep up the good work. Your babies are doing so well because of the attention and milk you are giving. They are super adorable!
Posted by: Kami | December 21, 2010 at 01:48 PM
Gorgeous! Though you must be damn tired. Welcome to parenthood. You go girl!
Posted by: Eva | December 24, 2010 at 05:34 PM