We Were Just Getting Used to This Place

After 67 long days in the NICU, our miracle 26 week preemies will be coming home on THURSDAY! We got the official news today that both Max and Tyler are ready and will be starting their life outside the NICU in 3 days. As expected we have a wide range of emotions, but we are so excited to bring our boys home! Because their lungs still need time to fully develop due to their extreme prematurity, they will both be going home on a little oxygen. Each boy will have a portable oxygen tank and apnea monitor, which is somewhat of a relief for us since we have become so accustomed to keeping track of their heart rates on the monitors. They will start off receiving .1 liters of oxygen, which is really not much at all, and will be assessed by specialists at Vanderbilt until they are completely weaned off the oxygen. This could take anywhere from one month to six months or more, depending on how well their lungs continue to develop. Going home on oxygen is very common for micro preemies like Tyler and Max, so we are comfortable with the arrangement. Of course we will also be trained to use the monitors and oxygen tanks and adjust the flow if necessary. The tanks and monitors come with carrying cases, so we won't be confined to the house. Talk about a spectacle when we load up two babies, two oxygen tanks and two monitors!

On Wednesday night we will be "Rooming In" at the hospital. This is a courtesy of the hospital to ensure we are comfortable on our own for the first time. We will stay in a hospital room (hello bedrest flashbacks) with the boys and do everything as if we were at home. Nurse Karen will check on us periodically and assess the boys to make sure everything is going well. Thursday morning we will sign some papers and be sent on our way! Oh, both boys passed their carseat tests with flying colors. I have a feeling we will be driving about 20 miles per hour on the car ride home ;)

As we know things can always change, but assuming everything continues to go well, our family of four will be together at home on Thursday. Please keep us in your prayers as we embark on the newest leg of our journey. It certainly has been quite the ride thus far and we couldn't have done it without the tremendous love and support from family, friends, coworkers, and so many others that we don't even know. Thank you!

Here are some pictures of the nursery and a few of Tyler and Max. We're sure there will be many more fun pictures to come (and yes, we will be continuing the blog once the boys are home!)

Since we will be having several out-of-town visitors in the next few months, we are keeping the full size bed in the guest room/ nursery while the boys share one crib. Once they start kicking each other and waking each other up at night (hopefully not for 4-5 months), we will remove the big bed and put in a second crib.

Artwork courtesy of Andy

Tyler (on the left) and Max (on the right) in their open cribs

Max

Tyler