Evelyn did amazing in the nicu and came home last Wednesday the 3rd after just a week in the nicu! That was a wonderful surprise but as you can imagine we have been busy! She came home weighing 5 pounds even, so just under her birth weight. She is such a sweetie but can be quite demanding! It was hard to bring her home without her brothers and I think she missed them. But it was also nice to start adjusting with just one baby at home while recovering from the c section.
The boys did well too, they just took a bit longer. It came down to being able to finish their feeds and put on weight. I was there for all their day time feedings with Patrick and Evelyn here and there, and I pumped for their night time feeds. I will do another post on how we handled the nicu later. They finally had 2 days of eating really well and gaining a lot so they got to come home yesterday afternoon! Declan weighs 4 pounds 14 ounces and Owen weighs 5 pounds 2 ounces! Both almost up to their birth weights as well! They have quite the personalities, and couldn't be so different for identicals! Owen is always awake and is the loudest. But he seems to be quite the charmer. He knows just how to make you pick him up and get your attention! Declan is much quieter, even his cry. I think he will be the one that sits back and just watches. But he can just melt your heart! All his faces and cries are too sweet!
They all just ate and have new diapers. Declan and Evelyn are sleeping peacefully but Owen is wide awake. He is so alert for only 2 weeks old!
So before I forget it all, here is the long birth story!
All day on Tuesday the 25th, I just felt weird and off. I didn't think much of it until that evening. Around 4 pm or so I started to have a few contractions. I had been getting a few every day for weeks but I had 3 just in that hour. I wondered if something was starting but I didn't say anything. We sat down for dinner around 6 and by 6:20 I had 2 more contractions. They were strong but not bad but figured it was enough for Patrick to call our doctor and he said to meet him at his office to be checked since he didn't think it was labor yet but he wanted to see me. So we were going to finish eating and then leave since he still needed to get there and we were pretty close. But In the span of about 20 minutes I had 5 more each stronger than the last.
So we called back and he said to meet him at the hospital instead. Then we freaked out and made a lot of calls and got the last few things in the bags. We left around 7:30 and it takes about 15 to 20 minutes to get there. When we got the the car almost 15 minutes had past since the last contraction but I did not think of it. I had another but it felt more like a bh and wasnt strong. Patrick was asking as we drove and when I said they were not as strong he said to call back. I did and when we explained it all he decided to go back to the original plan of meeting at the office instead.
We got there around 8 and I was checked. I was almost 3 cm and 50% effaced but contractions had stopped. They monitored the babies for about an hour and since they looked fine we decided it was best to go home and try to get some rest. We got home around 10 and neither of us could sleep. I was running around cleaning and such and I think Patrick was just anxious. He didn't want anything to go wrong. Everytime I layed down I either moved a ton or had to get up to pee. We didn't sleep at all. Around 3 am the contractions started again. Patrick called the doctor and he said to go in and he would be there. We left and got there around 4 and they hooked me up to all of the monitors. By 5 am the contractions stopped again. The babies were still looking great so we were just going to wait it out. I was able to get some sleep them but Patrick was up making phone calls. They did a few more tests and an NST to check the babies again. The babies were doing well. After a few more hours we decided to go ahead and deliver because the babies were measuring big and I was very uncomfortable. They didn't want us to keep going back and forth and we had made it very far already. We were able to get into the OR around 1 pm!
I was nervous going into the surgery but we were both very excited to meet them! Patrick was a bit nervous as well. He hates seeing me in any kind of pain. After everything was set up and ready he was brought in which calmed me down. It was amazing how crowded it was! Each baby had a team plus my own. All together there were 10 doctors and nurses plus the anesthesiologist and Patrick and myself.
At 1:47 pm Declan Seamus was born kicking and screaming and looking very pink and healthy. It was such and amazing sound! In less that a minute at 1:48 Owen Tadhg was born also screaming. I couldn't believe it. They were beautiful. Then just over a minus after that, Evelyn Aoife arrived with a much sweeter noise. She's definitely a girl! After examining them, they looked great! Declan needed a bit of oxygen right away but the others were brought right to Patrick and we got to see them. They all came with us to recovery and we got to spend a good hour with them before they needed to go to the NICU.
We were able to hold all three of them and introduce them to all of the family. After a while Owen needed a bit of oxygen, and then they took them all to the nicu. I was able to try to breastfeed Evelyn right away and she did great. My milk didn't come in for 2 days though. I was pumping a lot to make sure I would have enough for all three.
Patrick and I spent a majority of the first night with the babies just enjoying hem and letting it all soak in.
In original A, B, C order: Owen, Declan, Evelyn
Top to bottom: Evelyn, Declan, Owen
Evelyn, Owen, Declan
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| I just love their tiny feet! |
I'm so glad to hear everything is going well! They all look great, beautiful & healthy!!! I love that you are all home together already :)
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