Adalyn and Paisley's first week of life was spent at Fairview Southdale hospital. Adalyn was able to come back to our room right away after I was out of recovery, but Paisley was in the NICU for the first night, which was really hard on Michael and me. She had swallowed some of my blood on the way out and they wanted to run x-rays and tests to make sure that it was my blood and that she wasn't bleeding internally. The tests came back just fine and there were no concerns that anything else was going on, which was a huge relief. I was still recovering from my c-section and really wanted to see my baby girl, so they wheeled my bed right in there after my surgery to see her. Then, in the middle of the night, I was able to go back in a wheel chair and spend some time with her and Michael. She was a trooper and doing so well. Michael continued to go back and forth checking on his baby girl and cuddling with her. Finally, she arrived in our room around 11:30 the next morning and we were so happy to have our entire family together in one room.
Both girls had jaundice, so they remained under billi lights for most of the week. We were just thankful that they were able to stay in our room so we could spend 24-7 with them. They were fed every three hours from the start of one feeding to the start of the next, so it felt pretty constant with non-stop diaper changes in there as well.
We were hoping all of us would be discharged on Thursday, but the CNP came in and told us that Paisley should stay under the lights for at least another day, maybe two. And not only did she need to stay under the lights, but they wanted to put her in a full incubator to keep her body temperature up. Both girls had some temperature concerns, which was another reason for staying extra time. We had lots of skin to skin time to try and keep them warm:) Thursday was definitely the most emotional day that I had so far. When they told me that they weren't going to be discharged with me, I just began to sob and it didn't stop. I cried the entire day!!! No kidding, the entire day! At least we were able to stay with them even though they discharged me. The light at the end of the tunnel was a mini date night with Michael which included Carbones pizza and cheese bread and the season premiere of Big Brother 13:)
By Friday night, Michael and I were exhausted. All week, the nurses kept asking if we wanted them to take them overnight in the nursery so we could get some sleep and we kept saying no. We knew we would probably be heading home on Saturday, so we finally decided to take them up on it Friday night. I think we got about 4 hours of sleep and that was the most we had all week. I think we were running on complete adrenaline the entire week. We were slightly delusional and I really don't think we have laughed as much as a couple as we did the past week in the hospital. Michael, remember "Rick James?" Bet you miss her:)
Michael was so amazing the entire week. He changed all but one diaper, I think the entire time, which was so amazing while I was trying to recover from my surgery. I definitely fell more in love with him this week seeing him with his baby girls. I think I will have some daddy's girls on my hands for sure:) He is so sweet with them!
The girls were finally discharged Saturday morning and were so excited to make it home to start our life as a new family!
