Life in Limbo | A Day in Images
As many of you know, we are currently living a life-in-limbo. For the past few weeks, we have called Fort Smith Arkansas and the Mercy Hospital here, home. We've slept on hospital cots, hospital beds, a few different hotel beds and finally, a more permanent (and comfortable) bed at the Candlewood Suites. Our hotel is about a 2 minute drive from the hospital where our kiddos are currently living. We have settled into a bit of a daily routine and today by way of images, we thought it appropriate to walk you through a typical day and also, give you an update. Off we go.
Thanks to a wonderful friend and recent wedding client, we have this lovely place to sleep and work while we are here.
I've been journaling a lot and it's been fun to look back on the past few weeks and months and reflect on where we've been. It's also a great way for me to start my day.
Thanks to dear friends who raided our house and brought us a few choice items that we couldn't live without, we have our trusty milk frother so our morning coffee routine and tradition has gone someone uninterrupted.
I'm very thankful for a nice desk, a good chair and great wifi. I try and spend some time working every morning before heading to the hospital.
Around lunch time everyday, we head to the hospital for our first bottle feeding. Sometimes, we get lucky and score a parking space up front.
This is our other home away from home. We come here at least 3 times a day, either to feed or just to be with the kids.
We're allowed to feed the twins from a bottle twice a day for half an hour each time. If they don't take all of their food from a bottle, the remaining portions are given to them through a feeding tube. Right now, the kids eat every 3 hours and we'll gradually be feeding them from a bottle more and more as they develop.
Feeding Tube Fancy Machinery
Diaper changes. We've been doing a lot of these.
Miscellaneous crib items.
One of my favorite parts of the day. After lunch, we'll just sit and hold the kids for awhile. Sometimes, we carry on conversation. And sometimes, we just sit and stare at them, only half-believing these wonderful kiddos are ours.
On the way out of the hospital to the car, I'm always staring at the ground looking for, what I consider to be art.
We allow ourselves one meal out every day. We've tried all kinds of places here in Fort Smith. But no matter where we go, I always have the best view in the house.
Back to work for the afternoon.
The view out our hotel window. (clouds subject to change)
It's often therapeutic, especially when we're discouraged or tired or worried about the kiddos, to go through our collection of notes, cards and well-wishes. We truly can't thank you all enough for the love and support you've shown us during this time in our lives.
A little finger picking is also good for the soul.
Back to the hospital for our nightly feeding. Our carriage awaits.
The twins occupy a crib and a back corner in the NICU. The nurses know us well and many of them have gone out of their way to help us, instruct us and give us advice on taking care of our kiddos.
Tonight, we were able to assist the nurses in giving the kiddos a bath.
Summer loved the part of the bath that involved washing her hair. She was not however, crazy about the rest of the bathing process.
These monitors have been a constant source of visual aid while being here in the hospital. Of course, the fact that we don't know what a lot of the information means combined with the fact that every little out-of-order nuance triggers the machine to beep, whistle and honk is oftentimes, nerve-wracking.
Every night, we say goodnight and make sure they are in close proximity to each other.
Our hotel room is fairly well-organized. We've taken the necessary steps of removing our clothes from the suitcase and storing them neatly in the provided drawers. We've hung clothes in the closet and also, organized the bathroom. But my night stand is still a dump.
We don't have cable television at home. Instead, we watch Netflix or read books. And while we still find some time to read in this season of life, we have admittedly made a habit of watching the show Friends every night before bed. Our favorite episode is where Joey tries to learn French.
UPDATE:
We learned today that we will be here a couple more weeks. Weston is still having Apnea episodes where he forgets to breathe. Oftentimes, he recovers by himself. But this morning, a nurse had to step in and assist. Summer on the other hand, is actually breathing too fast. At first, it seemed as though she might have pneumonia but an Xray showed her lungs to be clear. The nurses are monitoring her carefully as this is somewhat abnormal. As you see from the photos, we've got it pretty good here in Fort Smith. But to be brutally honest, there's no place like home. If we've learned anything over the past few weeks, home is ultimately where we are as a family. And right now, that's here in a hotel and a hospital. Thanks so much to all of our wonderful clients, friends and family for making it possible to be here with our kids.
Happy Friday.