On the way home

I can't believe it's been 3 weeks since my last post. It's been a sleepless blur. On Sunday 2/7 both babies were discharged from the NICU and we brought them home to Grandma's house in South Weber, UT. I barely remember anything after that:) This is so much harder than I thought it would be. It's good to be humbled. I know babies are noisy sleepers but I think these guys could win a prize. Liam grunts constantly and Chloe snorts. It sounds like a zoo in our room. They are adorable and so much fun. We still can't believe this is real. Liam is still on oxygen and we can't wait to get rid of all his equipment. Chloe is our wireless baby and Liam is our landline.

After a couple weeks of taking care of the twins ourselves we're settling into a rythm. When everything goes right we both get 5-7 hours of sleep. We take turns sleeping and feeding in the middle of the night. I do all the feedings in the day. The twins have really small mouths and tire easily so it takes them each an hour to eat. I spend 10 hours a day feeding them. That's my excuse for not blogging for 3 weeks.

We are finally ready to go home to Seattle. We can't wait to get back into our house and get settled. We will leave UT on Sunday and take 3 days to get home. We can't drive more than 2 hours at a time with the babies. It's going to be quite an adventure feeding, diapering and caring for them on the road. We hope to be at home by Tuesday evening.

We are so excited to introduce the twins to all our family and friends but it's going to be a slow process. Both twins have seriously compromised immune systems and Liam has lung disease. A common cold would send them back to the NICU and could result in something worse. So we won't be taking any chances with their health.

Here are the Dr.'s rules for us:

1. Don't go to church, restaurants, malls, public places or anywhere with crowds until RSV/Cold/Flu season is over. This stands for the next 3 winters.
2. Don't allow any children (other than Isabel) into our home until RSV etc. season is over. This stands for the next 3 winters.
3. Don't allow anyone with a sniffle, cough, cold sore, fever, or rash into our home or near the twins until they are 3 years old.
4. Limit healthy, adult visitors to 3 per day.
5. Visitors should come into our home wearing a clean shirt that hasn't been worn anywhere else that day. As soon as they come inside they should wash their hands and arms up to their elbows with anti-bac soap. Before touching the twins they should apply anti-bac lotion/gel to their hands.
6. No one but Mom, Dad, and Isabel should kiss the babies.

We know this may seem extreme and especially hard to explain to all the cousins and child friends who are waiting to meet the twins but we just can't take any chances. These babies have fought so hard to get here, we want to keep them safe and healthy. We will be happy to bring the twins to our front window for any children who want to look at them from outside.

If you'd like to visit us at home, please call to schedule a time. We'll need a couple days to get settled in and then we'd love to see you. We've missed everyone in Seattle so much and can't wait to see you all.

Jen won't be at church regularly until RSV season is over but Kelly and Isabel will.

Thanks for understanding our situation!

Jen