Together Again....FINALLY!!

Hooray! We have our family together again for the first time since December 21st (when Carson came home).

Mike and I brought Majkin home from OPRMC NICU (like all those letters?) on Thursday, January 14th. She came home with a monitor so that we can tell when she is having trouble with her heart rate (oxygen level) increasing or decreasing, and so we can tell when she isn't breathing enough per minute. When her heart rate increases or decreases too much, or she doesn't take a breath for over 20 seconds, the monitor alarms with a LOUD beeping sound- which stops once her levels have regulated. (We ALL can tell when her heart rate goes up because she grunts and turns red in the face- we don't need the monitor for that!) We're more concerned about the times that her heart rate decreases or she isn't breathing enough per minute. There have been a few alarms for the breathing issue- all of them when she is sleeping and looking a little "too comfortable"- but the alarm we hear most is when her heart rate increases because she is mad! ;) She wears the monitor at all times right now- but we're considering taking it off more during the day when we're watching her closely. We hope she only needs to wear the monitor for a month or so.


Overall- she is doing extremely well here at home. She LOVES to be held and LOVES to be near her brother. Majkin likes it best when Carson is laying next to her. She gets mad when he is picked up and she is left laying alone. When she fusses- Carson gets fussy. When Carson fusses- Majkin almost smiles! :) Silly girl!


It is so fun to watch the babies interact. They look at each other and "swing" their arms around- sometimes looking like they are holding hands! So sweet! Sadly- they don't seem to be on the same "awake" schedule yet so it is hard to catch them "playing" together. We are anxious for that time to increase so that we can watch these kids interact even more!


Speaking of schedules- we are still working on getting the babies on OUR schedule. They eat 30 minutes apart right now- which is great when we have more than one set of hands. However, when I go back to work and the grandma's are watching the babies alone- the schedule might not be so ideal. Carson is still nursing- and Majkin is taking a bottle of breast milk. Since being home- we have tried to put her on the breast a few times. She has done a good job- but is not efficient enough at this point to do it exclusively. We'll keep trying!! I'd love to get them both to nurse at the same time! (Nights would be so much easier!!!)


I will try to post again soon with more updates- but seeing as this post is just now being written and we've had Majkin home over a week and a half....that just might not happen!! I promise I'll try!!


Thank you all so much for your sweet cards, prayers, and thoughts!! We appreciate them all so much! We would not be where we are without the love and support from friends and family.