Happy 4th of July... And Corbin is home!

Today was a big day! We spent the afternoon at the NICU for 4th of July, and then Corbin got to come home!! I could not believe he was coming home, and did not believe it until we got into the car with him!

In birth order: Abby, Allie, Corbin, and Carson

Ella refused pictures, and this was the only way to get her in.  :)

 Corbin has been our little rockstar baby the past month. As soon as he got his first bottle, he downed it like he had been drinking bottles forever, and he never stopped. He was up to full bottles (no tube feedings) within 4 days. He pooped out after that for a few days and had to have his tube put back in, but it came back out a few days later. He is even starting to nurse like a champ, he likes his milk in any form! He had his first formal developmental assessment yesterday and they said he look great, and do not recommend any type of therapy at this time. He (and the other 3 babies) will be followed by Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) when they are home, to continue to be assessed for any types of delays, and therapy will be provided if needed (occupational therapy, physical therapy, ect.).

Corbin getting ready to come home!

I had made a mistake in the last post saying all had PDA's. Abby did not have one, but the other three DID... but they have all closed on their own!! So happy about that, because they ended up causing a lot of problems when they were about 1 month old. They had to go back on CPAP's after they were taken off because it was causing respiratory issues from fluid in their lungs. They were on diuretics and fluid restrictions for a while because of it. But all that is gone now thank goodness, although I know it added a bit to our NICU stay, especially for Corbin. Even though he has been doing everything he needed to do for weeks to come home, they had to gradually increase his volume of feeds and decrease the fortifier (extra calories/nutrition) in the breast milk, and they sure took their time doing it! They also have to have 2 bottles of preemie formula (with high calories/nutrition) in addition to the breast milk, so they had to make sure he gained well on that milk combo before sending him home.

Abby is our chunky money! It's amazing how she went from the smallest to the biggest. She is doing great, a little lazy with eating but she is getting much better. She gets 4 of her feedings by bottle and the other 4 by feeding tube. She doesn't always finish her bottles, she tires out very easily. She hasn't quite learned to nurse yet, but she is getting there and getting better. She is unfortunately still on oxygen, and there is a high possibility of her coming home on it. There was also talk today of her coming home with a feeding tube in her belly if she doesn't learn to eat within a month or so. I am a little disappointed, but all things considered, it could be much worse. I thank the Lord for calling me to the nursing profession, because I feel very equipped to handle it. I am nervous, but I know she will only be on the oxygen (and possible feeding tube) a couple of months probably, so it is very short term.

Chubby Abby at 10.5 weeks

Allie is doing great as well. She is our smallest but is getting big, too. She is a little bit of a lazy eater as well, she gets 6 bottles a day and 2 tube feedings, and she finishes about half of her bottles and almost finishes the rest. She is not on any oxygen thankfully, and doesn't have anything going on other than learning to eat. She has NO interest in nursing, but she will get there eventually I am sure! Although Allie's PDA closed, she also had a hole in her heart called a PFO that did not close. She had a couple of whacky blood pressures, so they are closely monitoring her blood pressure for 48 hours just to make sure it was a fluke and not the PFO causing issues.

Allie girl at 10 weeks

Carson is also doing well. He has always been our "fragile" baby, but he caught up quick! No more oxygen, but he is also a lazy eater. He gets 4 bottle attempts a day, and finishes one or two of them. I don't know where all of these lazy eaters come from, but I wish they would get with the program, because I am ready for these babies to be HOME! I'm sure the light bulb will go off eventually!

Carson at 9 weeks

Current weights:

Abby- 7 pounds 5 ounces (up 4 pounds 15 ounces from birth weight!)
Allie- 6 pounds 11 ounces (up 3 pounds 14 ounces from birth weight)
Corbin- 7 pounds 5 ounces (up 4 pounds 8 ounces from birth weight)
Carson- 7 pounds 3 ounces (up 4 pounds 8 ounces from birth weight)

Ella has been such a great big sister. She has always asked to hold the babies, and once I felt they were big and strong enough, she finally got to! She has held them all and loves it, although now she usually says they are too heavy to hold, ha. She loves holding their bottles, kissing them, and loving all on them. She has done great so far with Corbin coming home, she is such a little mommy!

Ella holding Abby for the first time!

Ella and Carson, the first baby she held.

First family photo- Babies are 8 weeks old

We are so excited that our babies are starting to come home! We are looking forward to ending the NICU journey and starting our new journey at home. Thanks again to everyone who has supported us and prayed for us! I know I say it all the time, but we are so extremely blessed!