Home Sweet Trailer
The past couple weeks have been a whirlwind. As we were getting word that Elan was almost ready to come home, we were also notified that Quin needed hernia surgery. As you can imagine, this was a lot to digest. Even though surgery on our little baby boy sounds awful and scary, we knew it needed to happen. He was clearly uncomfortable and having a very hard time eating and digesting food because his intestines were in the scrutum. This is a common problem for preemie boys because their muscles are not developed enough. Quin got the hernia in the first couple weeks of life and man was it bad. It was huge and looked incredibly uncomfortable. Before the surgery the doctors were making lots of not so subtle hints about the possibility of Quin needing a G-tube, which is a surgically implanted tube to his stomach because eating the volumes he needed were very challenging for him. So, we decided to go for the surgery in hopes that having all of his organs in the right place would help him eat. On Friday, October 25th Quin was wheeled into surgery. Geoff and I decided to get out for a walk during the surgery because the thought of sitting in a little cramped room for over an hour worrying about our boy was not going to be helpful. When the surgeon came in, the news was all positive. The surgery went well and he was recovering really well. Surgery on infants is especially hard because they cannot be expected to breathe under anesthesia. They have to insert a breathing tube, which is hard on their throat and lungs, so the quicker they can pull it out the better. They had debated pulling the breathing tube in the OR, but decided to get him upstairs and see how he did before pulling it. I followed him up to the Intensive Care Unit and they immediately decided to pull it, which is a very good sign. They kept him on a high flow of oxygen, but quickly weaned him back to his typical settings. These were all very good signs that his body handled the surgery very well. He continued to improve over the next day and they moved him back down to the Intermediate Unit the following day.
While all of this was happening, Geoff and I were rooming in with Elan, which basically means staying with him to practice going home. The ticket to going home was weight gain. On the Friday night after Quin's surgery, Elan gained a good amount of weight, so we knew he would be discharged the following day. This was day of life 124. We were not quite ready to leave Quin by himself, so we decided to spend the night in one of the parent sleep rooms that night.
The next morning we took Elan outside for his first breath of fresh air. It is crazy to think that he had been alive for over four months and has never had a breath of fresh air. He took to the stroller well and we wheeled him all around Capital Hill, with a cover over him and hand sanitizer at the ready.
After surgery, Quin did a 180 with his eating. Now that all his organs were in the right place, eating was much easier and more enjoyable for him. He blew through the eating phases and was slated to discharge the following Monday. By Sunday, day of life 132, we were all ready to be done and he had met all the criteria for discharge, so we asked the doctor if we could please take him that night. She was fine with it, so we frantically ran around Seattle buying thank you gifts for all of the amazing people who have cared for our boys the past four and a half months. Writing these thank you cards was an emotional task because there aren't any words to express the gratitude we have for all of our nurses that fought, loved, and cared for our boys like they were their own children.
On Monday, we packed up our things and made the trek back to Bellingham. We had to drive two cars, so I went ahead, while Geoff made a stop along the way to get a power cord for the trailer. I knew I was pressing my luck by pushing all the way to Bellingham without feeding them, but they were both asleep, so I figured I would try. That decision backfired. When we arrived, they both started stirring. I went into the trailer and turned on the space heater and a little flash light that Geoff had hooked up. By that time, they were both starting to cry from hunger. I brought them both inside and started feeding Elan, but Quin was way too mad to leave alone. I figured I would try to tandem breastfeed for the very first time, which failed miserably. So I sat there in the cold and dark trailer with them screaming bloody murder until dad came to the rescue. I guess this was a nice welcome to motherhood with two babies.
Now that have power and heat, things are going quite well in the trailer. Both boys came home on a very low flow of oxygen. This means they have to be hooked up to oxygen tanks and monitors. Being in a small space makes this much easier.
Our days are now spent feeing them, changing lots of diapers, cleaning bottles, snuggling our boys, and trying to get a little sleep when we can. Even though they are technically 5 months old, they are not a typical 5 month old. This is a hard thing to explain when people ask how old they are. Even though they were born, their time in the NICU is like being in utero. Their term date was October 11th, so whenever we are looking at milestones, we use that date, not their birth date. That means that they are developmentally like a one month old. I would say that they may be a little stronger than a one month old though because they are our kids (duh) and because they have been practicing their push-ups and have had a lot to see.
I am so happy to have this all behind us. The NICU is one of the most amazing and terrifying places. On the one hand, I am so grateful for the time we have gotten with our boys, but on the other hand, there isn't anything I would do to change the circumstances around their birth. I am just so grateful that we brought home two healthy boys. Sure, we are going to have lots of doctors appointments and will need to be extra carful to protect them from germs, but as of now they are pretty normal one month olds.
Thanks again for all your support and encouragement through this challenging time. We love and appreciate all of you. We are not sure if we are going to be able to do any form of a party to celebrate the boys homecoming because we need to be super careful about keeping them safe from illness, but we promise we will do something at some point. Maybe their 1st birthday in our complete house! At least lets hope its done by then.
A lot of people have been asking how they can help. I put together a public registry on Amazon and will add a few things from other places on our Babylist site. These are some of the things we need right now and will need when we get closer with the house. I will continue to add things as our needs change and as I figure out what we actually need. If you can think of anything that might be super helpful, please feel free to send it along or let us know. We are new at this whole parent gig, so the registry is our best guess at what we need. We also need 0 - 3 or 3 - 6 month clothing. The newborn stuff we have is getting a little tight. This does not need to be new! We are totally cool with hand me downs!
While all of this was happening, Geoff and I were rooming in with Elan, which basically means staying with him to practice going home. The ticket to going home was weight gain. On the Friday night after Quin's surgery, Elan gained a good amount of weight, so we knew he would be discharged the following day. This was day of life 124. We were not quite ready to leave Quin by himself, so we decided to spend the night in one of the parent sleep rooms that night.
The next morning we took Elan outside for his first breath of fresh air. It is crazy to think that he had been alive for over four months and has never had a breath of fresh air. He took to the stroller well and we wheeled him all around Capital Hill, with a cover over him and hand sanitizer at the ready.
After surgery, Quin did a 180 with his eating. Now that all his organs were in the right place, eating was much easier and more enjoyable for him. He blew through the eating phases and was slated to discharge the following Monday. By Sunday, day of life 132, we were all ready to be done and he had met all the criteria for discharge, so we asked the doctor if we could please take him that night. She was fine with it, so we frantically ran around Seattle buying thank you gifts for all of the amazing people who have cared for our boys the past four and a half months. Writing these thank you cards was an emotional task because there aren't any words to express the gratitude we have for all of our nurses that fought, loved, and cared for our boys like they were their own children.
On Monday, we packed up our things and made the trek back to Bellingham. We had to drive two cars, so I went ahead, while Geoff made a stop along the way to get a power cord for the trailer. I knew I was pressing my luck by pushing all the way to Bellingham without feeding them, but they were both asleep, so I figured I would try. That decision backfired. When we arrived, they both started stirring. I went into the trailer and turned on the space heater and a little flash light that Geoff had hooked up. By that time, they were both starting to cry from hunger. I brought them both inside and started feeding Elan, but Quin was way too mad to leave alone. I figured I would try to tandem breastfeed for the very first time, which failed miserably. So I sat there in the cold and dark trailer with them screaming bloody murder until dad came to the rescue. I guess this was a nice welcome to motherhood with two babies.
Now that have power and heat, things are going quite well in the trailer. Both boys came home on a very low flow of oxygen. This means they have to be hooked up to oxygen tanks and monitors. Being in a small space makes this much easier.
Our days are now spent feeing them, changing lots of diapers, cleaning bottles, snuggling our boys, and trying to get a little sleep when we can. Even though they are technically 5 months old, they are not a typical 5 month old. This is a hard thing to explain when people ask how old they are. Even though they were born, their time in the NICU is like being in utero. Their term date was October 11th, so whenever we are looking at milestones, we use that date, not their birth date. That means that they are developmentally like a one month old. I would say that they may be a little stronger than a one month old though because they are our kids (duh) and because they have been practicing their push-ups and have had a lot to see.
I am so happy to have this all behind us. The NICU is one of the most amazing and terrifying places. On the one hand, I am so grateful for the time we have gotten with our boys, but on the other hand, there isn't anything I would do to change the circumstances around their birth. I am just so grateful that we brought home two healthy boys. Sure, we are going to have lots of doctors appointments and will need to be extra carful to protect them from germs, but as of now they are pretty normal one month olds.
Thanks again for all your support and encouragement through this challenging time. We love and appreciate all of you. We are not sure if we are going to be able to do any form of a party to celebrate the boys homecoming because we need to be super careful about keeping them safe from illness, but we promise we will do something at some point. Maybe their 1st birthday in our complete house! At least lets hope its done by then.
A lot of people have been asking how they can help. I put together a public registry on Amazon and will add a few things from other places on our Babylist site. These are some of the things we need right now and will need when we get closer with the house. I will continue to add things as our needs change and as I figure out what we actually need. If you can think of anything that might be super helpful, please feel free to send it along or let us know. We are new at this whole parent gig, so the registry is our best guess at what we need. We also need 0 - 3 or 3 - 6 month clothing. The newborn stuff we have is getting a little tight. This does not need to be new! We are totally cool with hand me downs!
- AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/baby-reg/emily-thilo-september-2019-bellingham/MSPOBGBFRZZ7
- BABYLIST: https://www.babylist.com/thilo-boys
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