"Rooming In" meant that we could spend one night in the hospital with the babies to see how we all coped and, pending no difficulties, we could be discharged the next day.
It was scary, and I didnt sleep a wink. (That's my husband sleeping happily in the bed) All the monitors were gone! How would I know the rate of their heartbeats?
One of the nurses reminded us that they were not sick little babies any more and we should treat them like any other "normal" full term baby! (Except for the fact they there were still only around 2000 grams!) But she was right, we had to make that transition from parents of sick premmies to parents of healthy twin babies and it was time to go home.
Standing outside the doors of the maternity unit was a HUGE step. They really were 100% our responsibility now. They were OUR babies!Later I thought about this photo. We didnt have any flowers or gifts to be taking home like all the other parents we had seen come and go from the hospital with babies over the six weeks - all our flowers had wilted long ago and the gifts were unwrapped, washed and packed away in the nursery. In a way it took away the celebration feeling of this moment but we were still excited!
Getting everyone into their car seats was the next challenge. We had asked one of the midwives if our convertible car seats would be okay for the girls to travel in and her response was that if it was designed for "From Birth" and no weight limits, than it would be fine. When we saw how big those seats were compared to our tiny little babies, I was concerned. I padded them up with blankets and they still seemed to disappear down into the seat. Needless to say, this was our one and only trip in the car with the girls until they seemed big enough to fit their car seats properly. In hind sight, I would recommend that ALL premature babies ride in a capsule until they are bigger.
Yes, we are at home in this photo! We hired some baby hospital bassinets for home. I figured that it might ease the transition and help the babies to settle in better if something was familiar. As it turned out, they were a God send! The positives were numerous. Not only were the babies VERY content to be in these, but the large wheels made for easy and smooth transport for the girls all throughout the house. They were especially good a couple of weeks later when I was feeling like a complete sleep-deprived zombie and practically walking myself into walls! They were also easy to rock backwards and forwards to settle the babies to sleep.
Yes, we are at home in this photo! We hired some baby hospital bassinets for home. I figured that it might ease the transition and help the babies to settle in better if something was familiar. As it turned out, they were a God send! The positives were numerous. Not only were the babies VERY content to be in these, but the large wheels made for easy and smooth transport for the girls all throughout the house. They were especially good a couple of weeks later when I was feeling like a complete sleep-deprived zombie and practically walking myself into walls! They were also easy to rock backwards and forwards to settle the babies to sleep. It was great to have family there to help out at home for that first week. (Actually my parents were with us for alot longer than that!) Not having to worry what's for dinner and help with all the laundry makes a huge difference to coping in those early days.
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