We Have a NICU Graduate on our Hands!

If you didn't already know, Evelyn Joy has joined her Mommy and Daddy at home after 38 days in the NICU!

We were told on Monday that, since Evie had been nippling for 24 hours straight and was doing well with everything else, she would be able to come home on Tuesday if she finished her 48 hours of nippling. While we knew this was coming, it seemed like a bit of a shock to us and we were a little overwhelmed (but excited!!) We left early on Monday evening to make sure we had everything in place and enjoy our last night at home with just the two of us. We figured out how to use the stroller, assemble the pack n play, and use the Ergo carriers, in addition to doing some laundry, stocking the diaper bag, and making sure the nursery was ready. It was a late night for us!

A selfie in honor of our last childless night at home

Boiling/sterilizing a pot of pacifiers in preparation for Evie's homecoming :)

When I got to the hospital on Tuesday morning, Evie's room had already been packed up. When she finished (well, almost...but the doctor gave her a break) her 11am bottle on Tuesday, we knew we were officially going to take her home!

After getting the discharge paperwork from the doctor, we gave her a good bath and moved her into Sophie's room, where the night nurse had already set up a bassinet for her. Evie's wirelessness gave us a little freedom to hold her when and where we wanted... so, of course, we put the girls together for some sister time.

After we took this picture, Sophie reached over and put her hand on top of  her sister's :)

I love these girls so much!!

We packed Evie up and put her in her car seat early that evening and took her home. It was such a bittersweet moment to leave Sophie and take Evie with us, but we know Sophie is in excellent hands here and will be taken care of until we can take her home too (I can't wait!)

Evie's first car ride... besides the ambulance ride from Ann Arbor to GR.

First bottle at home

Watching her favorite show (Seinfeld) with Daddy

Evie has been doing great at home! She loves looking around at all the new things there are to see. She has slept about 9 hours each night at home, only waking up twice to eat (we would wake her up to eat that many times anyways!) We are pretty impressed with how she's doing, and happy that she's allowing us to get some sleep so far too! She saw her pediatrician yesterday, and everything is checking out so far. She weighs 5 lbs. 8 oz.! We love having her home, and we just can't wait til Sophie can join us too.

Miss Sophie is making a lot of progress since my last post as well! She has now gone over a week without any feeding intolerance issues!! As of today, her feedings will be at 35 mL every 3 hours, and if all goes well, tomorrow she will be at full feeds! There is talk of pulling her PICC tonight if she is still doing well. The PICC line puts her at risk for developing an infection, so we're so happy it is most likely coming out soon! Sophie is now off caffeine (I believe this is day 4) and she has not had an increase in alarms, which is more good news! She has been practicing her nippling skills and is improving there too. Last night, she weighed 4 lbs. 14 oz. We haven't talked yet about her going home, but we are hoping she will improve even more in the next week or two and be able to come home soon!

Well, both girls need to be fed, so I'll leave it at that. Thanks, as always, for praying for our sweeties!

Love,
The VPs