a minute or two...

So it's been awhile and I have thought many times of updating this blog but then a baby cries, needs to be fed, poops, chokes, or grunts/groans (more on that later) and I need to attend to them.   It's been a wild couple of weeks, good but wild and I seem to have a minute or two so here goes...

WE ARE HOME.

On Tuesday January 29th, Quinn came home.  I stayed in the hospital the night before she was discharged to practice feeding her through the night.  She and I had our "sleepover" in a quiet hospital room at the L&D center at St. Johns.  She fed well and frequently.  But, throughout the night, she groaned and grunted... ALL. NIGHT. LONG.  Needless to say, there wasn't a whole lot of sleeping going on.  I thought maybe she had gas or was still hungry.  Nope. She was just super noisy and IS still super noisy... ALL.NIGHT.LONG.  That next morning, I brought her home.

The weather was brutally cold for the next couple of days so I wasn't able to go see Rohan.  Quinn and I spent much of the next two days like this.

We continued to learn each other and bond in preparation for Rohan to join us.  Quinn is tiny and so when she wasn't gaining enough weight to be on the "spectacular" end of the growth curve, we had to do a couple of repeat visits to the pediatrician.  Again, I wasn't worried about her.  I am much more laid back this time than I was with Gemma.  Maybe I'm just devastatingly sleep deprived... who knows?  

On Saturday February 2nd, our Rohan John joined his sister at home.  He seemed to be less ready to go home and I was a little concerned that his feedings would be inconsistent at best.  He came home and Abe and I switched into partner parenting.  There is not a feeding that I do solely on my own yet- though I try.  So, Abe is either burping a baby or bottle feeding a baby depending on the time of day.  

So even though once Rohan arrived home, we seemed to do every thing in twos, there has been time for a few moments of this, however:

And of course, we had to introduce Gemma to her two newest family members.  As you can see, she's over the moon!  She had a bit of a cold when they first came home so I spent a lot of time making sure she wasn't touching them, coughing on them, breathing on them etc.  She has been really good about washing her hands and asking to touch them, but she is 2 and still requires constant monitoring!

 Since then, we've just been feeding babies and changing poopy diapers.  We've had both babies in to the pediatrician for their checkups and Quinn is growing super well now.  Rohan's eating has been excellent- although he seems to never be fully satisfied.  They are both on the high end of 5 pounds and Rohan may be breaking 6 pounds by now.  It's possible that Quinn is the noisiest baby ever- she just groans, grunts, and growls all the time: through feedings, while sleeping, while cuddling, ALL.THE.TIME.  And Rohan seems to be the gassiest baby ever.  You can hear him across the room. It's constant and NOISY! I'm sure that someday he will love that I just wrote that for everyone to read!

Then just this past Saturday, Heather Hanson of Heather Hanson Photography (and my best friend) did family pictures for us.  Below is a preview from my phone camera.  I can't wait to see the finished products.  We did family pictures first and then Abe took Gemma home and we did just the babies.  It was a long and tiring day but so wonderful to capture their smushy little faces and bodies at this tender age.

So we are well.  We are concerned with all the normal things that full-term healthy babies deal with: germs, feedings, lack of sleep.  Beyond that, even though they are preemies, they are doing really well.  We are still limiting visitors so that they stay healthy but so far, they've been really doing well.  I have some feeding stuff that I'm watching with them but other than that, our days consist of wake up, change nasty poopy diapers, feed two babies either by breast or bottle, console, burp, feed some more, burp some more, console and hold upright until they are comfortable enough to lay down, lay them down somewhere (pack and play, crib, bouncy seat),  sleep for 30-90 minutes and REPEAT 24 hours a day.

We are tired but hanging in there... Abe as been off for the past week so we've been tag-teaming it and that's been so helpful.  It also gives me a little bit of time to transition into having to do it all by myself once he goes back to work.  Keep an eye out for family pictures- I'll post them on here as soon as we get them! Thanks again for all the love, meals, prayers, and well-wishes.  We greatly appreciate how our "village" has shown up for these babies and us!  You are remarkable and wonderful!

Memorable dates:
1/29/2013: after 21 days in the NICU, Quinn Noelle Wolfe spends her first night at home!
2/2/2013: after 25 days in the NICU, Rohan John Wolfe spends his first night at home! AND the Wolfe family is all under one roof!

2/7/2013: Quinn and Rohan turn one month old.

Love,
Sarah
(for all: Abe, Sarah, Gemma, Quinn, and Rohan)