Rex Time

Whelp we got a call today that Duke needed more room and our girls were doing so well they wanted to move them to Rex.  So we gave them the ok/ they said they had to go.  Maybe these little ones were just too rowdy for them to handle :).

They were suppose to be transported at 8pm, but when we got there at around 9:20p they had not left Duke.  I'm not sure what the hold up is.  Most likely there is some other child that is more sick that they need to deal with.

During the transport the girls will be in the same isolette.  It will probably be the first time since birth that they have touched each other.

Joy and I did do the paper work for them while we were there, but we didn't stay to wait for them.  Joy was not feeling so good after having an upset tummy for the past two days.  Now she is in pretty ruff shape and has a fever.  So thank goodness we didn't stay.  I guess we will both have to stay away from them until we are sure our health is in order.  A stomach bug at their age would be devastating.

While there we did got a quick run down on how things work.  They are way more locked down than Duke was.

• The first 3 days or so after transport we have to wear gowns and gloves.  This is to quarantine them in case some nasty bug like Mursa got transported in.  I guess we may now miss that in order to make sure we are both healthy.  
• We must also wear wrist bands for each child for the duration of the girls' stay.  While at Duke they said we could take these off.  Not so with Rex. 
• They don't allow any visitors between 6:30-7:45 morning and night.  Duke didn't have this limit, but only parents were allowed and we could not talk to the nurses during this time.
• We are only able to designate a total of 4 visitors, period. Once picking these 4 visitors we can not change the list and we can not take any other people in expect those listed in the 4 slots. Joy and I don't know what to do about this.  We may not fill all four because we don't know who to cut when you have such a close knit family.  Although, several people have already visited we were a little apprehensive.  We want to share our girls, but we also knew the more visitors the more germs.   
• It is a little sad to not see the same faces we have been seeing everyday for the past 6 weeks at Duke.

On the plus side, 

• The girls don't have any complications to keep them in a higher level NICU.
• They will be in the same room!  In fact for now, they are the only two in the room because there is only room for 2 in their room! Privacy! 
• At some point they will get moved into sharing a crib which is shocking since it is not recommended when coming home. 
• Rex doesn't have a hard fast weight that they must achieve, but they must meet similar bench marks to go home.  It sounds like if they can start gaining weight they may still be home at around a 36-38 week gestational age and of course the safe bet is to not expect them home before their 40 week gestational age.  In short we really have no idea of when they will come home.
• They plan to get them on a closer schedule for feeds.  This way we can change diapers, feed, maybe hold one then the other back to back.  At Duke we seemed to only catch one baby then miss the other.  Which meant we lost the opportunity to participate in their care.
• The staff seems just as nice.
• The drive is shorter
• No paying for parking