Saturday morning update

After a great night sleep for Jen, the morning got off to a frustrating start. First, our pediatrician came in and told us that she thought the twins could "probably go home by Tuesday". Our expectation was that they could be discharged Monday, and maybe even tomorrow. My read all along has been that they are in great shape, and were sent to NICU out of an abundance of caution. I appreciate taking the safe route when it comes to premature babies, but we're starting to feel like red tape and maybe even fear of litigation is taking precedence over the twins best interests. In this case, the NICU doctors require observation for an additional 3 days after James and Owen are taken off of their IVs. Seems like a long time when they have been observed to be fine for the 3 days that they were on an IV.

Anyway, we went down to the NICU ready to battle with doctors to speed up the twins' processing. Once we got there, Jen needed to nurse James right away, which left me hanging out with Owen. My bad mood was heightened when I saw a very intrusive-looking IV in his head, instead of where it had been in his hand. To make matters worse, their first two attempts at putting the IV in were unsuccessful, which made his poor head look like a bruised pincushion. Seeing him beat up was enough, and I felt like demanding that the nurse pull his IV's, and let me take him home immediately. 

Then things started to get better. James ate like a champ, and had his best nursing session. I talked to the nurse and found out that Owen's IV came out of his hand last night, and after attempts to hook him up on a few different spots, they had to settle on a vein in his head, which is normal with babies. Finally, I talked to the neonatalogist and he said that the babies would "grow up" later today, which means their IVs will be removed, and they'll be wrapped up (they are currently diapers-only under a heat lamp), and be put together in a crib. Then they'll go under observation. I'm not happy about 3 days of further review, and I may choose to go to battle to get them discharged after 24 or 48 hours, but decided not to fight that fight this morning. 

So, the latest is that the the twins will be here until Tuesday. Jen and I will most likely go home tomorrow.  It sucks that we won't be bringing babies with us, but they'll follow soon enough, and still seem to be doing great.