Birth Story Part 2!

The nurse kind of stayed and helped me try to get the girls to latch on. Bria was a champ and latched on right away. Ella was much harder because she was much smaller and obviously she wasn't getting it. The nurse left and we decided to let everyone go ahead and visit, all of our family was probably dying around this point because it was after 9pm.. Everyone left by 11- I think. I kept saying how weird I felt. I didn't feel like myself, it didn't feel real and I wasn't exactly sure what I was saying and if it made sense. 

Next a nurse came in and said I looked super pale, well I always look super pale- thank you. I felt dizzy so she helped me to the bathroom and helped clean me up. She put me back in bed and said she would check on me in an hour. She came back and said that we were moving into a different room, it wasn't as big but still was big enough. She wheeled me down and we entered this superrrrr small room! She said someone took my other room in the meantime so this is what we got. It was tiny. No bed for Andrew. Only a chair, and no room for 2 bassinets and all of our stuff. I kept having to move one of the girls to go pee or go around the bed. It was miserable. It was even more miserable when guests tried to come visit. They were standing out in the hallway most of the time because I was breastfeeding one or the other. 

The next night, we had two nice nurses who noticed our babies looked yellow. They decided to do a quick bilirubin test and both of them were high for their age. So, we moved rooms again. For the 3rd time. This time, it wasn't for the best of circumstances. Our girls had to be places under bilirubin lights. It was miserable. They were uncomfortable and poor Ella has no meat on her bones so she was freezing in her little diaper! 

They were under the lights from 2am until 830pm that next night. They rechecked their levels and it was at a 5 for both! So they got to come off. At this point we were hoping to leave the next day, however they decided to check my hemoglobin level because it was low the day before and if it dropped again I would have to have a blood transfusion. My level was 7.5 (above 12 is normal), they just didn't want it to get any lower. Of course, it goes to 6.7... 2 blood transfusions later, our pediatrician comes in. Ella and Bria have lost the max weight they could lose. Their bilirubin levels also went up again and rebounded. She came in and said we could probably go home tomorrow (Saturday) but we would have to promise to come back Sunday for an appointment, weight check and bilirubin check. 

I was all for that idea. Neither of us had any more clean clothes and j was dying to be outside again and sleep and shower in my own home! So at 2pm on. Saturday August 17th all three of us were discharged from Hotel Ruby! On my to return in less than 24 hours and If there was one thing they didn't like we would be readmitted. So we packed out bags again, and left for Ruby. Weights went up, by an ounce or two but that was all we needed. Bilirubin levels also went up, Bria's didn't go up as much so nothing to be alarmed about. Ella's however, was 15.8- the cutoff for treatment is 15. They needed to do a heel stick blood serum to get a more accurate measurement. We ate at the cafeteria and waited the hour for the results- 12.4!!!!!! 

We walked out of there knowing we were in our way home for good!