Finley's HOME!

 

Finley, aka Bits, BAB's, baby B, Trouble, Fin....she had many names throughout my pregnancy, is HOME! She came home last Friday. Luca is still in he NICU because she had to be put back on oxygen as her lungs are not as developed as Finley's. The original plan was for Luca to come home the day before Finley but she just tired out too easily when eating & ended up needing the oxygen to help. 

Some of my nurses at the hospital

Finley is doing quite well at home. We have a feeding plan from lactation services at the hospital for her which entails her breast feeding twice/day & bottle feeding (with pumped breast milk) for the other feedings every 3 hours. She sleeps most of the time when not eating but when awake, she just loves to look around at her outside world...it's so cute! She is sleeping in a pack n play in our room for now. She was in the NICU for 6 weeks & 3 days. Anika & Brody love having Finley home! They love to sit by her & Ani wants to hold her & see her "tiny feet" all the time. 

Luca is doing well at the hospital & is weaning down on her oxygen. She should have weaned off by the end of yesterday so they can try her on room air today. If she does well, she'll probably come home by mid to end of week. If she needs to be put back on oxygen, the doc's will order her home oxygen & she'll come home. She would be on a monitor at home & would need follow up with a Pulmonologist. We are leaving it all in God's hands to lead the way. We have rolled with it all this far & continue to trust in The Lord. Has it been easy to do so, not exactly but we know He has a plan for our family. We can only pray that His plan is for us to bring home 2 healthy babies & that he will guide us along the way.

How old are they really? 38 weeks, 1 day gestational age or 6 weeks, 6 days old, or -2 weeks adjusted age....it's all so confusing. Their original due date (full term @ 40 weeks) is March 8th. That's our go to date for when we can start doing things normally, such as...well I'm not sure what normal means :). When we bottle feed them, we have to hold them at a sitting, angled position & pace them. This way the milk goes into their cheek & they can control the amount they are swallowing so they don't choke. We watch them take about 5-7 gulps & then point the bottle down to remind them to breathe. This decreases their chances for brady's (drop in heart rate) or decelerations (drop in oxygen levels). We watch the color in their faces to make sure they are not in distress. Finley is not on monitors at home so it is especially important to watch her. By their due date we can feed them laying down as you feed most babies. Their development by March 8th should be that of a full term baby. They will likely develop a little bit behind other babies their same age (6 weeks, 6 days) but by age 2 they should be caught up. They will need to follow up with the developmental group that saw them at the hospital for the first 2 years. We will go with their birth age of 6 weeks 6 days when saying how old they are, not their adjusted age or due date. They were born January 7th & that's how we'll track them.