Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Lilah Update

Yesterday was such a stressful and trying day. There were many tears. Many. One hour before surgery, Lilah's kidneys started working and her levels are started improving. They called off the surgery. Al and I were SO relieved. Seeing all the IV's in her just made me sick to my stomach. My poor girl has been through so much in her short two weeks of life. I look at her and see so much of me in her. She is SO strong! By this morning her levels were all improving dramatically and her blood pressure was back within normal ranges. They did schedule her for another echo of the heart and u/s of her kidneys to make sure no more damage was done from the medication. She was smiling and moving all around.

Olivia is still doing very well and as of today weighed 3 lbs 6.9 oz. The nurse mentioned she might be losing her IV within the next day and then she will only have her feeding tube. She is such a mellow happy baby and both of them are so beautiful. As of tomorrow my girls will be 2 weeks old. I can't believe they have been in the NICU for two weeks already. We have many weeks to go, but I want them to be healthy and strong before coming home. No rush.

Breast feeding isn't going to great. It is very hard to get supply for two babies. I am pumping about 1 1/2 - 2 ounces per pump and that is not near enough to support the girls. Right now they are on my milk and donor milk + fortifiers to help them gain weight.  At first I wasn't happy about them on donor milk, but now I don't care. Whatever is the best thing for them.

I also want to thank everyone who has reached out to me privately. I haven't been able to respond to all the emails, text messages, but truly am overwhelmed by the support we have received.

Hopefully I will have some pictures to upload tomorrow. I didn't want to share pictures of Lilah while she was going through everything for the past few days.

9 comments:

  1. This is amazing news!!! The power of prayer is just beautiful!! So glad to hear that Lilah is doing better :)

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  2. Praise God for such a wonderful recovery. Praying He heals her heart too. Hang in there - I can only imagine how hard all of this is!

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  3. So glad Lilah is doing better and great news that she didn't need the surgery! Will keep praying for both girls to grow stronger!

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  4. Amazing news!!!! I am so happy the babes are seeing improvement and gaining weight and being healed! YES, love this!

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  5. So happy to hear the update about Lilah. Continuing to keep you all in my thoughts!

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  6. I'm beyond relieved to hear the news about Lilah. She is truly a fighter! My thoughts are with you as you continue down this road. And IV free day for Olivia!! That is worth celebrating (I'm certain Lilah will be not too far behind if she has her way).

    Regarding breastfeeding: remember that what you are giving your girls is making a difference. That said, don't kill yourself to produce milk. I know plenty of NICU moms who pumped through the NICU experience, supplementing with donor milk (and later formula) the whole way. And then there are others who couldn't produce milk (Mel at SQ comes to mind) or chose not to go that route. All their children are thriving and taking on the world. So do what you feel is best. If breastfeeding is what is good for your family, that pursue it. But don't allow anyone to guilt you either way.

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  7. Incredibly happy to hear this. Keeping you all in my thoughts.

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  8. Ditto to Cristy's comment. I stressed out about giving up pumping. I wanted to stop but I also wanted to feel like I did everything I could for them. I stopped when they were 4 weeks old and I'm so glad I did. What a pain in the ass!!! I got a lot more sleep once I did that, which was worth it to this twin mama.

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  9. I didn't realize it was down to an hour before surgery that they called it off! Whoa. I'm so glad it wasn't needed. 1 1/2 - 2 ounces at this point is pretty good I'd say. I know it's not enough, but your body wasn't planning on needing it quite so soon and having a c-section slows it down too. Don't beat yourself up. You are doing an AMAZING job by simply giving those girls what you can.

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