The Hospital Stay

Welcome Abby and Jimmy!



We stayed a total of 5 nights in the hospital; from Monday, August 23 until Saturday, August 28. The babies were able to room in with us in the mother/baby unit since, thankfully, they were completely healthy and didn't need to spend any time in the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit).

Unfortunately, it was a tough couple days since both babies developed jaundice and the doctors determined that they needed to be under UV lights in order to reduce the bilirubin in their blood. So from Wednesday morning until Friday night, both Abby and Jimmy had to lay in their bassinets under huge UV lights and were only allowed out from the lights for a short time to take a bottle.

I initially was attempting to breastfeed, but it didn't go as planned and since both babies needed to eat as much as possible so that they would be able to poop, which gets rid of the bilirubin quicker. So, we fed the babies formula right from the beginning. I still worked with the lactation consultants thinking that maybe I would do some breastfeeding (or at least pumping) in combination with formula, but after realizing how much work it would be to maintain my supply (which hadn't even arrived yet) and feed both twins by myself, both Jim and I decided to stick with just formula. I didn't have the heart to tell the lactation consultants though. :-(

It was quite sad to not be able to cuddle with Abby and Jimmy throughout the days and I was upset to see them under the UV lights. They were unable to lay in any clothes or be swaddled, so they just laid there, with eye masks on to protect their eyes, in nothing but a diaper. I was heartbroken for them. And both Jimmy and Abby, but mostly Jimmy, had bouts of uncontrollable shaking. The doctors explained that most likely it occurred because of an underdeveloped nervous system and it would get better with time. It was so hard to see. Especially since they both would do so much better when they were swaddled and/or were being held- but we couldn't do either.

I won't post many pictures, since it is so sad to see, but here's one just so you have an idea of what they had to go through.



Luckily, on Friday both Abby and Jimmy were cleared to be only on the Biliblankets so we definitely made up time with cuddling them at that point. See below for proof!





Every night Jim and I decided to send both babies to the nursery so that we were able to get a little uninterrupted sleep. We usually would send them around 1pm after they ate and would go pick them up (or have them brought back) around 6 or 7am. Little did I know at that point, that that would be the longest stretch of sleep I would get for a long time!

My recovery from the c-section went well. I was in a lot of pain off and on, and usually it occurred when I forgot to request pain medication. I had a lot of trouble getting into and out of the bed the first couple days and would need Jim to help pull me up into a sitting position so that I could attempt to get out of the bed. So the first couple days, Jim did most of the diapering and bottle preparations since I was kind of tied to the bed.



While we were in the hospital, we had a lot of visitors stop by to meet Abby and Jimmy and check in on us. Jim's mom and my parents stayed at the hospital for most of the labor process (sorry guys, that was a long time!) so they were there to meet Abby and Jimmy just an hour or so after their arrival. Then thoughout the next couple days, my parents (Grandma and Grandpa Balow), Jim's mom (Grandma Frybarger), Jim's dad and step-mom (Grandpa Frybarger and Bubbe), Jenny and Ed (Aunt Jenny and Uncle Ed), Shannon, Andrea and my uncle Tim (Great Uncle Tim) stopped by to visit. It was so nice to be able to visit with everyone and to introduce them to the babies. Unfortunately, most of the time the babies were under the UV lights and weren't able to be held for too long. But we did sneak in some cuddle time for the babies! Shhh...don't tell!

Here are a couple pics of our company:













The last night we were there (Friday), Jim and I took advantage of the education opportunities the hospital provides and watched the "Happiest Baby on the Block" video on the television in the room. We learned all about the five "S"s and how to put them to good use when the babies were fussy. I can't believe how loud they want you to SSSSHHHH in the babies' ears. Oh my!

And then it happened... the day we were released. OMG - I cannot believe they let us take the babies home. We had no idea what we were doing, didn't they realize this?! We are solely responsible for these two little miracles - OMG it was scary, but oh so exciting to be going home!

Here we are on our way out!



Oh and I should mention that it is shocking all the attention that twins create . On the way out we had a ton of people point and make comments about the "twins" and even had people stop us to chat with us about them. It was only just the beginning, I have learned!