Chapter 156
Tegan woke up and rubbed her eyes. It was morning and there were some people around the incubator. "What's going on... are they okay" she said getting up. "Morning Tegan, they're fine. They had a good night. We're just doing our normal morning assessment" said a nurse. Tegan let out a sigh of relief and lay back down. She looked over at her mom still sleeping next to her. For the first time she really appreciated Sonia. She really understood what it meant to be a parent. She smiled and rubbed her hands over her face. Kate came in a few minutes later. "Morning Tegan" she smiled. "Hey doc" smiled Tegan. "I heard the little super stars are doing really well! How are you feeling?" asked Kate. "I'm feeling a lot better than last night, that's for sure" said Tegan. "Glad to hear that. I'm going to take another blood sample real quick and then you can go take a shower and wake your wife up. She's doing well. We'll be moving her to the normal maternity ward today" said Kate. "Fantastic" said Tegan scratching her head. "You look a lot fresher yourself. Did you get some sleep?" asked Tegan. "I slept like a log, thank you" smiled Kate. "Excuse me... doctor" said Tegan trying to get the paediatrician's attention. "Yes Tegan" he smiled. "How are they?" she asked. "Dr Morgan and the nurse didn't lie to you, they're doing well" he said. "Thank God" breathed Tegan. "Casey had a bit of a busy night. She was awake quite a bit but she's fine. Ryan slept really well" he said. "Typical male... makes the girls worry about them and then passes out while the girls keep fretting" joked the nurse. "We're going to try and get them off the ventilators later this morning" he said. "Are they... I mean... are they ready?" asked Tegan as Kate took a blood sample. "They're ready" said the doctor. "Thank you" said Tegan grinning.
Tegan said goodbye to her babies and walked out of the NICU. "Tegan" she heard somebody call. She looked around and saw the dad from the pre-natal classes that gave them shit standing in front of her. She stopped and sighed with her hands in her sides. "This all all that I need right now" she mumbled to herself. "I'm sorry... I really don't want to fight today" she said shaking her head. "I don't want to fight either" said the guy. Tegan stared at him. "I just... I wanted to apologise... for... jeez... I know I was an asshole okay... I'm sorry" he said looking down. "Oh... um... apology accepted" said Tegan and started walking again. "Tegan" he called again. "I really am sorry. I had a lot of time to think about it. I was a prejudice prick. I know that you are going to love your baby just as much as I love mine and I know that you're going to be amazing parents" he said. "Thanks... it's babies by the way" said Tegan. "You had twins? Shows you what a self involved jerk I am" he said looking embarrassed. "Dude, let it go. Thanks for apologising... I appreciate it" said Tegan. "I'm so embarrassed... my wife was mortified. She had me watch that show you did last week online. I didn't even know you were in a band. You were great." he said. "Thank you" said Tegan. "And... I didn't realise everything you went through... that must have been rough" he said. "It's okay man... glad you came around. Has your baby arrived?" asked Tegan trying to change the subject. "Yeah... here he is" he said pointing at a baby bed. "Wow... he's gorgeous, congratulations. Is he okay?" asked Tegan. "Thank you. Yes, he's fine" he smiled. "How are your twins?" he asked. "They're going to be fine... they were a bit early but they're doing well under the circumstances" smiled Tegan. "Congrats again Tegan, and good luck... I wish you guys well" he said. "You too... take good care of your little tyke" said Tegan before leaving quite awkwardly. "Wow... that came out of nowhere" she mumbled as she walked to Lindsey's room.
Tegan kissed Lindsey softly on the forehead. "Morning baby" Lindsey mumbled. "Morning gorgeous" said Tegan softly. "How are our babies? Why aren't you with the babies" asked Lindsey. "They're doing so well... they had a good night. Doctor said he's going to try and get them off the vents today. Kate told me to come wake you. Mom and Sara's with them" smiled Tegan. Lindsey gave a sigh of relief. "Thank god... did you sleep okay?" she asked. "Yeah I slept well... thanks to Kate's big needle. Did you sleep okay?" said Tegan rolling her eyes. "Ditto... I was drugged up quite well" said Lindsey laughing. "When can we see them?" asked Lindsey as Kate walked into the room.
"Soon... morning Linds" she smiled. "Hi... sorry didn't want to put pressure on you" said Lindsey. "I'm sorry I was moody last night guys... but I'm going to make it up to you by firstly having this horrible catheter removed and then I'm moving you to the normal maternity ward. That place is like the Hilton. Even has a double bed to make it feel like home" said Kate smiling. "Thank you Kate!" grinned Lindsey. "Had a chat to the nurses and the docs that were on duty last night and they report that you're doing just fine. No infection, no fever, no bleeding" said Kate. "Thank goodness... I'm sick of medical drama" sighed Lindsey. "Don't get too excited... you're going to be a patient for a few more days. Tee... why don't you go back to the babies. I'll bring Lindsey over for a quick visit as soon as we have her off the cath before getting her settled in her new "suite". After that you're both having a good breakfast" said Kate. "Go Tee... It's kind of embarrassing watching somebody pull a tube from your wife's you know what" said Lindsey. Tegan shook her head and sighed. "Okay... love you" she smiled and gave Lindsey a quick kiss.
Tegan walked back into the NICU and found Sara next to the incubator. "Morning Sar" she smiled. "Hi, how are you feeling?" asked Sara. "I'm great thanks" said Tegan before being interrupted by one of the paediatricians. "Okay guys... big day... let's try and get these nasty tubes out of you" he said softly. "Mommy's right here peanuts" cooed Tegan. "Tegan, we did some chest X-rays earlier. Everything looks fine. I think it's best if you wait outside for this though" said the doctor. "No I really want to stay" said Tegan. "It really isn't the nicest thing to see... I think you'll be better off outside" he said. "I'm staying, they need to hear my voice. It soothes them" said Tegan. The doctor shook his head. "Okay... your choice" he said. Some more medical personnel joined him. "Okay guys... let's get Casey out of the incubator and onto the radiant warmer" he instructed. "You want me to stay Tegan?" asked Sara and put her arm around Tegan's shoulder. "Yes please... if you're up for it" said Tegan. "Sure" smiled Sara.
The team opened the incubator and swiftly lifted Casey onto another bed. "There we go little one... let's get you a little hat to keep you warm" said a nurse and put a tiny white beanie on Casey's head. "They lose most of their body heat through their heads" said the nurse looking at Tegan. "Damn that's cute. Very stylish girl" laughed Tegan. "Hey Case... mommy's here" she said softly.
The team proceeded to suction some gunk out of Casey's mouth. Her arms and legs were moving around. "Hey you're quite active today baby girl" said the nurse. "Okay team are we ready with the O2?" asked the lead doctor. A nurse removed the tape on Casey's face. "Everybody seemed super calm and as if they knew exactly what to do. It calmed Tegan a bit. "Okay Casey here we go" said the male doctor. He swiftly pulled out the tube whereafter a nurse suctioned some more. "There we go... look at you pretty girl... there we go take a nice deep breath" said a nurse holding a tiny oxygen mask over her face. "Is she okay... I she breathing?" asked Tegan. "Yeah she's doing great, aren't you sweetie" smiled the doctor. The nurse wiped Casey's face before sucking some gunk out of her nose. "Let's get rid of those boogers" she cooed. Casey didn't like this one bit and opened her mouth as if crying but let out the tiniest whimper. "Okay honey... mommy's here... you trying to cry baby girl? What happened? What are the doctors doing?" cooed Tegan holding Casey's tiny hand. Casey seemed to calm down a bit when she heard Tegan's voice. She scrunched her face up and touched her cheek. Tegan melted. "Oh my gosh Sara how cute is she!" she said. "She's adorable alright" said Sara. "Sats are at 98. Pulse is 120. BP holding just fine" said a nurse. The doctor listened to her lungs for a minute. "Good job Casey... sounds great" he said. One of the monitors gave a few weird beeps a minute later. "Come on Casey breathe for us?" said a nurse sounding concerned and rubbed Casey's back looking at the monitors. Casey's heart rate dropped a bit before picking up speed again. "There we go. She's breathing" said the doctor. "Tegan we're going to put her on CPAP. Don't worry, no more tubes down her throat, it's just some nasal prongs. This machine will just gently blow some air into her reminding her to breathe" he said. Tegan nodded.
"Almost done superstar... you're so pretty without that tube... yes you are... prettiest girl in the world" said Tegan softly. Casey gave a sneeze, then another and another. "Oh cutie... that's it... nice big sneeze" gushed Tegan. "I'm melting" smiled Sara. The doctor put some stickers on Casey's face to hold the CPAP in place and gently put the nasal prongs in her nose. "There we go... all done... let's get a roll behind her back" he instructed after the procedure was done. Tegan was in tears again. "You did it honey... you did it" she whispered.
"We're going to keep them on the radiant warmer for today. Just until we're sure they're stable and then we'll move them to the incubator again" said the doctor. "But you said she's fine" said Tegan looking scared. "She is... radiant warmer works even better than an incubator but there's no box around them so we can treat them a bit easier. She's fine though Tegan. This is a bit of a treat for them. Will allow them to hear you better, you'll be able to bond much better" said the doctor. Tegan watched the team get Casey settled on the new bed. It had some sort of heater above it and it heated them from below. The nurse rolled up some blankets and put it around Casey's body. "There we go... Ryan will be with you soon but in the meantime these blankets will have to do" she smiled. "Shouldn't you put a blanket over her? Isn't she cold... naked and all?" asked Tegan. "Nope, this bed will do all the work. As the doc said, works better than an incubator. Guarantee she's not cold Tegan, we are monitoring their temperatures all the time though" smiled the nurse. Tegan put her hand over Casey's body. It did feel nice and warm with heat coming from the top section of the bed a meter or so above Casey.
"Alright... your turn big boy" said the paediatrician. He lifted Ryan onto the bed Casey was on a few minutes ago. "Sara stay with Casey please" instructed Tegan. "You got it" smiled Sara and let Casey hang onto her finger. "Hey Ryan... mommy's big boy... let's show them how it's done tiger" said Tegan taking Ryan's hand. "Sorry for waking you sleepy head" said the doctor as Ryan's arms and legs started moving. "Who's a sleepy baby... do you take after mommy... yeah... I know it sucks waking up in the morning right" said Tegan. The nurse put a cute little powder blue hat on his head. The first part of the procedure was very much the same as with Casey. The nurse suctioned and the doctor pulled the tube out. He immediately put his stethoscope on Ryan's chest and looked at the monitor. "Breathe big boy" he said softly. "I'm not hearing breath sounds can we bag him for a minute" he instructed. The nurse put a tiny mask with a small ambubag over Ryan's mouth and nose and lightly squeezed the bag at quite a fast rate. The doctor listened again. "Lungs sound clear, let's just give him a bit of help before reassessing" he said. Tegan was freaking out by now. "Come on Ryan breathe for mommy... you can do it" she said holding his hand. He seemed a bit more lethargic than Casey and wasn't moving around too much. "Okay let's see if that worked" said the doctor calmly. The nurse removed the bag and the doctor listened again with a concerned expression on his face. Tegan held her breath, her heart racing. "Come on Ryan" she whispered.
"There we go... good breath sounds. Great job Ryan" he smiled. Tegan let out a sob. "He's okay Tegan" said the nurse. Ryan started moving a bit more and slapped the oxygen tube in front of his face. "Hey calm down buddy... are you annoyed with us?" joked the nurse. "Pulse 126, pulse ox looking great... 100%. BP holding" reported another nurse. "Yes! That's it big guy. I'm so proud of you" smiled Tegan. Ryan also seemed to start crying as the nurse suctioned his nose. "Okay baby... they're just cleaning the boogers out so the machine can help you breathe a bit better" said Tegan. "When will they be able to cry... I mean cry a bit louder?" asked Tegan. "Vocal chords are still developing. They should be crying your ears off in a couple of weeks" winked the doctor. He repeated the procedure of getting the CPAP machine attached before moving Ryan next to his sister who seemed to be sleeping peacefully, still holding Sara's finger.
"Hey guys... mommy Lindsey's going to be so proud of you" said Tegan softly. The doctor checked their lungs again before giving Tegan a pat on the back. "They did well Tegan. You can relax now. Everything fine" he said. "Thank you so, so much" breathed Tegan relieved.
Kate pushed Lindsey into the NICU in a wheelchair a few minutes later. "Lindsey... we've got a surprise for you" grinned Tegan taking Lindsey's hand. Lindsey got up slowly. "You okay honey?" asked Tegan. "Yeah I'm fine... Kate wants me to start moving around" said Lindsey. Tegan slowly led Lindsey to Casey and Ryan's cubicle. "No more breathing tubes!" exclaimed Lindsey. "Yep... they were such stars. Look at that... breathing all on their own" said Tegan proudly. Lindsey burst into tears. "That's awesome... hey guys... heeeey... It's mommy. Look at you... wow... you did it little ones" she said while touching her babies. "I'm so happy and relieved" smiled Lindsey and put her head on Tegan's shoulder.
Kate had to drag Tegan and Lindsey back to the maternity ward so they could have breakfast. "No Tegan. It's not up for debate. Have some breakfast and relax for an hour or so and then I'll allow you both back in the NICU" said Kate. "But Kate" Tegan tried her luck. "You need to eat or you'll pass out. Shh now" said Kate. Tegan looked around the beautiful maternity ward room. "Wow... this is swanky" she said. "Only the best for our new moms" said Kate. "And look at that a double bed" said Tegan. "We try and make it feel a bit more homey... we allow partners to stay over too... lucky you" said Kate. "Cool" said Tegan sitting down on the bed. "Here's your breakfast. Eat up if you want to hold your babies today" said Kate. "Really? They're going to let us hold them?" grinned Tegan. "Maybe. If they remain stable. And if you EAT YOUR BREAKFAST" said Kate shaking her head. "Deal" said Tegan and started digging into her breakfast with a smile. "Linds, you feeling okay?" asked Kate watching Lindsey intently. "Yeah... kind of awkward having somebody stare at you while you're eating though" said Lindsey. "Sorry... I'll be back soon. Relax when you're done. I'll make sure you get to see your angels again soon" smiled Kate. Tegan looked at Lindsey and smiled. "Today's a good day Boo" she said. "Today's a great day" smiled Lindsey.
A/N: Phew, finally some really good news. Everybody's on track and doing well. Remember there were two chapters today (Some people seem to just check the last chapter and don't realise when I post two so they miss the first one) Hope you enjoyed it!