Life of the Lewis's: Pure Exhaustion & Adrenaline

Wednesday morning started off well. After the babies were born, Emily was not able to go to their room until the next day because of her condition and the need for rest after surgery. However, she convinced the nurse to allow her to visit the twins at 1am on Wednesday morning. So Emily and I went up on Wednesday and she got a good look at the twins for the first time since their birth. We stayed up there (they're on the 6th floor and were on the 5th) for about 20 minutes, then we came back to our room and went to sleep for the first time. . . as parents!

But, with the nurses coming in to check on Emily every hour, neither one of us got much sleep. The anticipation to spend some substantial time with the kids on Wednesday provided too much anxiety and anticipation to rest for very long. We were up the next morning and went up to visit the kids. They were in good condition and continued to breathe on their own. Their first night was uneventful and peaceful.

Emily's condition began to improve immediately after birth. She began to lose a lot of the fluid that the pre-eclampsia had caused her to retain. The doctor continued to give her antibiotics via IV and they continued to monitor her weight, blood, and urine.

Since Emily was improving and the babies were stable, I was able to run home and shower for the first time since Monday morning. I grabbed some clothes for myself, showered, and headed back to the hospital.

At this point, Emily and I were running on pure adrenaline. I got back to the hospital and in time to see Emily's catheter get removed. This allowed her to go to the bathroom once again. She had shed 8 liters of fluid since her surgery and had only consumed 4 liters in the same time frame. Even though she was still mostly confined to her bed, Emily began improving.

We visited the girls several times throughout the day on Wednesday. They maitained their stabilization throughout the day and night and continued to impress everyone with their fantastic progress.

I was finally able to get some good sleep on Wednesday night. I didn't completely catch up, but the rest and the shower certainly improved my demeanor and mental and physical condition. Emily was able to rest and began to feel better as well.

Thursday rolled around and brought some new and great events with the girls. They began feeding on breast milk on Thursday. This greatly improves their stability and immune systems. Emily and I were also able to change their diapers and interact with them even more on Thursday. We're hoping to be able to hold them by the weekend. Their progress is awesome and we hope that it continues.

Emily was able to take her first shower on Thursday morning. She said that it felt wonderful, even though it was a bit difficult. She's still struggling to bend at the hips and she has some pain from the surgery, but she is able to walk around more and more every day. Her swelling has subsided in her upper body, but her legs and feet are still swollen. She's disconnected from the IV's and she's only taking pain medication orally. She's been extremely tough throughout this process and her health is better for it.

Aunt Jenny and Uncle Rick brought us lunch on Thursday. They visited the kids and saw Madison open her eyes. Jenny got some great video of the event that can be seen on youtube via the link below.

Grandma and Grandpa Lewis stopped by to visit the kids on Thursday night. Grandma got to change Taylor's diaper. She did a great job, but promised to get better as they get bigger.

Thursday was a great day to be Taylor and Madison's parents. We're getting to interact with them more and more everyday and can't wait to see what tomorrow holds.

I'll let you know how it goes!