Here's a snippet of the boys' current daily doings:
Both boys are sucking on their hands more now-a-days. Especially when they are hungry, of course, but just in general, they do it more.
Neither of them is rolling. I wonder when this will start.
They both coo, but Joel does it more. Henry grunts more. He only sometimes neighs like a horse now. I miss that.
Sometimes when I get them up from their crib in the morning, they have big toothless smiles for me. Joel's smile includes his tongue.
Joel likes to stick his face in crevices, like Benjamin's armpit. I think it makes him feel safe. Or he likes the smell of Benjamin's deodorant.
I have caught each of them looking up, mesmerized, at the bear mobiles above their swings. I've thought about putting a Cal Bears sign in the middle of each of the mobiles.
Henry often sleeps through the night -- as in, 8 hours at a time. Awesome. Awesome, awesome, awesome. He's putting on weight like a champ, so I'm not too worried about the lack of feeding at night.
Joel's peach fuzz on top is getting longer, while Henry seems to be losing some of his hair and has intense "cradle cap".
Sometimes we'll hear a sort of clicking sound when Joel is asleep. When we look at him, his tongue is just a little bit out and he is sucking as if he's drinking a bottle in his sleep.
Each boy is getting better at holding his head up, although they are also really good at smacking it against the shoulder or collar bone of whoever is holding them.
I think they recognize their parents. Or at least that we are people.
They will look at us when we are right next to them, and will follow us
with their eyes when we walk out of the room. Unless they're looking at
the bears.
Monday, September 24, 2012
Friday, September 21, 2012
Weighing in
Good job Joel! We went to Kaiser for a weight check today, and Joel has gained 5 ounces since last Thursday. I was worried that he wouldn't gain weight (or would even lose some) without the tube in. The pediatrician asked for another weight check in a week, but is okay with us continuing on without the feeding tube. Yay!
And Joel is telling me he's hungry... Please excuse us.
And Joel is telling me he's hungry... Please excuse us.
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Two month visit: follow-up
Speaking of growth, let's give some stats from the two month visit: Joel weighed in at 11lb 9oz and measured 23.25". Henry weighed in at 14lb 1oz and measured... 23.25" too. Joel's noggin is 15.5" and Henry's is 16.75".
You'll notice that Joel does not have his nose tube in the picture above. With the approval of his doctors (cardiologist, pediatrician, and nutritionist), we decided to do a trial week without the tube. Joel is letting us know when he is hungry, but is not taking as much food as the doctors would like. He will weigh in tomorrow, and we'll see what happens from there.
Henry was a champ with his first round of immunizations. I was impressed with the nurse that administered the three shots; she was quick. He cried each time when he got stuck with the needle, but calmed down quickly. It took me a little longer to dry my eyes. Such a mom. But hey, a needle prick sure beats having polio! Isn't modern-day medicine amazing? There are so many illnesses and diseases that were once debilitating or fatal, that we can now avoid entirely or at least manage REALLY well (right, Joel?).
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Two months
Wow, it must be early: I just saw the word "blogger", but read it as "booger". Anyway...
Can you believe the twins are two months old already? Crazy business. They have their two month check-up(s) later today. Any guesses on weight? I'm nervous for Henry to get his shots (Joel has to wait until two months post-surgery for his). Henry will probably do fine, but I might be a basket case. I'll see if I can post some pictures later.
Why am I up at 3:30am? Pumping between feedings. I'm grateful that at two months, the boys are still on breastmilk only. Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!
Okay, I'm sleepy. 'Night.
Can you believe the twins are two months old already? Crazy business. They have their two month check-up(s) later today. Any guesses on weight? I'm nervous for Henry to get his shots (Joel has to wait until two months post-surgery for his). Henry will probably do fine, but I might be a basket case. I'll see if I can post some pictures later.
Why am I up at 3:30am? Pumping between feedings. I'm grateful that at two months, the boys are still on breastmilk only. Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!
Okay, I'm sleepy. 'Night.
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Let's start with now
I guess if you're not in the habit of blogging, it might not make the top three on the postpartum twin parent "To Do" list (top three being #1: feed the babies, #2: change their diapers, #3: sleep or eat or take a shower or pump or get dressed or... whatever you feel is most pressing, because it's almost time to take care of #1 and 2 again).
And then with two babies at almost 7 weeks old, where do I start?
Let's start with now.
Joel is asleep (or at least faking it really well) on my lap. He has a nose tube to help with his feedings until he can take the full feed by mouth. Right now, his prescribed amount of breastmilk is 90mL (3 oz). Sometimes he drinks an ounce, sometimes two; we get really excited when he drinks all or almost all three ounces. The sooner the tube can come out, the better; it is no fun to replace it when the tape has come off and the tube is hanging out.
Joel has a fair amount of hair on the sides of his head, but just peach fuzz on top. This makes him look a bit like an old balding man (more so when he has a frowny face on). My memory of him at birth is pretty hazy, but I seem to recall him having dark hair all over his head. I'm trying to look through pictures to see when the thinning occurred, but I can't tell.
I can hear Henry in the crib; he's probably wide awake. Sometimes he sounds like a little horse. It's very cute. Hmm, now he's quiet. The boys are pretty good sleepers, as long as they aren't hungry or poopy. Daddy has mastered the art of the Blanket Swaddle, which helps a lot when they are tired but keep fidgeting and won't let themselves fall asleep. But beware, if Henry is swaddled when he is wide awake (or wants to be wide awake), he will not have it. He and Joel can kick their way out of most of my swaddles.
Henry still has his full head of hair -- red hair. I think I was a little confused when I was coming out from under anesthesia, and Benjamin showed me this cute baby with a full head of red hair. "That's ours? But he has lots of hair. And it's red. I want more ice chips." I guess we're attributing the redness to Grandma Marian (not really many other options).
The boys are getting better at lifting their heads up. They aren't usually excited about spending time on the floor on their bellies, but lying on Mom or Dad's belly on the couch is just fine.
Joel can keep his pacifier in really well (he uses the orange "Gumdrop" pacifier from the hospital; the nurses in the ICN & Cardiac ICU used it a lot to comfort him... and keep him quiet too, probably). Henry will take his Nuk pacifier (I believe also from the hospital, but from the Well Baby nursery), but he will spit it out after a few sucks, generally. I used to be against pacifiers, I guess thinking that the babies would come to prefer the bottle-style nipple to the breast, hence sabotaging breastfeeding. ...I probably read something somewhere. But then, we experienced a lot of Crying Baby #1 and Crying Baby #2, and pacifiers didn't seem quite so bad.
Yes, there are many ideas out there on what to and not to do, and pre-pregnancy or pre-babies, we thought "this is the way to do this!" or "we would never do that!". Introduce: babies. Now we find that some of these "ideals" are nice, but not always practical or prudent.
NOTE: We are taking good care of our children. I'm not talking about slacking off on feeding them, changing diapers, making sure they are warm enough, or snuggling them. We even tip-toe into the nursery when we should already be asleep, to make sure they are still breathing, and see how cute they are.
No, I'm talking about things like baby swings. I thought they were an "extra", but totally not necessary. I may have even mentally ranked them near "baby wipe warmers", and no, our kids will not be indulged in that kind of pampering. Then we experienced Crying Baby #1 and Crying Baby #2 again, while I was unable to help in consoling. Ben and I just looked at each other as this moment of "whoooa" dawned on us. In just seconds, we had a deeper understanding of being parents to twins. Benjamin bought two swings off of CraigsList the next day. It's amazing what crying babies will get you to do. And amazing how great those swings are, especially when I'm the only one home, and both babies need me right now.
I just tried to bundle sleepy Joel up and put him in bed, but he told me thanks, but no thanks, he wasn't particularly interested in being in the crib right now, and would I please bring him his pacifier? So he's back in my lap. But Mommy is sleepy, so perhaps we will try again. Yes, they train us. They train us well. And we let them. And we like it.
And then with two babies at almost 7 weeks old, where do I start?
Let's start with now.
Joel is asleep (or at least faking it really well) on my lap. He has a nose tube to help with his feedings until he can take the full feed by mouth. Right now, his prescribed amount of breastmilk is 90mL (3 oz). Sometimes he drinks an ounce, sometimes two; we get really excited when he drinks all or almost all three ounces. The sooner the tube can come out, the better; it is no fun to replace it when the tape has come off and the tube is hanging out.
Joel has a fair amount of hair on the sides of his head, but just peach fuzz on top. This makes him look a bit like an old balding man (more so when he has a frowny face on). My memory of him at birth is pretty hazy, but I seem to recall him having dark hair all over his head. I'm trying to look through pictures to see when the thinning occurred, but I can't tell.
I can hear Henry in the crib; he's probably wide awake. Sometimes he sounds like a little horse. It's very cute. Hmm, now he's quiet. The boys are pretty good sleepers, as long as they aren't hungry or poopy. Daddy has mastered the art of the Blanket Swaddle, which helps a lot when they are tired but keep fidgeting and won't let themselves fall asleep. But beware, if Henry is swaddled when he is wide awake (or wants to be wide awake), he will not have it. He and Joel can kick their way out of most of my swaddles.
Henry still has his full head of hair -- red hair. I think I was a little confused when I was coming out from under anesthesia, and Benjamin showed me this cute baby with a full head of red hair. "That's ours? But he has lots of hair. And it's red. I want more ice chips." I guess we're attributing the redness to Grandma Marian (not really many other options).
The boys are getting better at lifting their heads up. They aren't usually excited about spending time on the floor on their bellies, but lying on Mom or Dad's belly on the couch is just fine.
Joel can keep his pacifier in really well (he uses the orange "Gumdrop" pacifier from the hospital; the nurses in the ICN & Cardiac ICU used it a lot to comfort him... and keep him quiet too, probably). Henry will take his Nuk pacifier (I believe also from the hospital, but from the Well Baby nursery), but he will spit it out after a few sucks, generally. I used to be against pacifiers, I guess thinking that the babies would come to prefer the bottle-style nipple to the breast, hence sabotaging breastfeeding. ...I probably read something somewhere. But then, we experienced a lot of Crying Baby #1 and Crying Baby #2, and pacifiers didn't seem quite so bad.
Yes, there are many ideas out there on what to and not to do, and pre-pregnancy or pre-babies, we thought "this is the way to do this!" or "we would never do that!". Introduce: babies. Now we find that some of these "ideals" are nice, but not always practical or prudent.
NOTE: We are taking good care of our children. I'm not talking about slacking off on feeding them, changing diapers, making sure they are warm enough, or snuggling them. We even tip-toe into the nursery when we should already be asleep, to make sure they are still breathing, and see how cute they are.
No, I'm talking about things like baby swings. I thought they were an "extra", but totally not necessary. I may have even mentally ranked them near "baby wipe warmers", and no, our kids will not be indulged in that kind of pampering. Then we experienced Crying Baby #1 and Crying Baby #2 again, while I was unable to help in consoling. Ben and I just looked at each other as this moment of "whoooa" dawned on us. In just seconds, we had a deeper understanding of being parents to twins. Benjamin bought two swings off of CraigsList the next day. It's amazing what crying babies will get you to do. And amazing how great those swings are, especially when I'm the only one home, and both babies need me right now.
I just tried to bundle sleepy Joel up and put him in bed, but he told me thanks, but no thanks, he wasn't particularly interested in being in the crib right now, and would I please bring him his pacifier? So he's back in my lap. But Mommy is sleepy, so perhaps we will try again. Yes, they train us. They train us well. And we let them. And we like it.
Friday, July 6, 2012
I guess I'll try my hand at this blogging thing...
Well, we're scheduled to go to UCSF at 8am on Monday, and depending on Baby A's position, I will either be induced or have a C-section. I'm hoping for induced labor (well, natural labor would be best, but induction is the next best thing). The boys have been in the optimal position (both head down) for the last week or so. But the week before that, we had three appointments over three days, and the boys were in different positions each time! Thus, I am a little nervous that they will have moved around again, but hopefully they're sticking with their current position.
Meanwhile, Ben and I have been up to some fun things:
We had a picnic on our little lawn on Benjamin's birthday. I made BBQ chicken using a recipe from the America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook - yum, yum, yum. Round that out with some corn on the cob, coleslaw, and raspberry lemonade, and you've got yourself one tasty picnic.
After the picnic, we headed out to Ben & Jen's to have some pineapple upside down cake with them and Mom & Dad. We capped off the evening with the fireworks show in Pleasant Hill by DVC.
Today proved to be another good picnic day, so I picked Ben up from work and we ate a lunch of leftovers in Codornices Park.
We're getting excited for these baby boys to join us. It's a little surreal and a bit unnerving to have a set delivery date - to know that we WILL be parents by mid-week next week. But we're going to do it (haha, not really another option at this point). And I think it will be amazing.
Well, we're scheduled to go to UCSF at 8am on Monday, and depending on Baby A's position, I will either be induced or have a C-section. I'm hoping for induced labor (well, natural labor would be best, but induction is the next best thing). The boys have been in the optimal position (both head down) for the last week or so. But the week before that, we had three appointments over three days, and the boys were in different positions each time! Thus, I am a little nervous that they will have moved around again, but hopefully they're sticking with their current position.
Meanwhile, Ben and I have been up to some fun things:
We had a picnic on our little lawn on Benjamin's birthday. I made BBQ chicken using a recipe from the America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook - yum, yum, yum. Round that out with some corn on the cob, coleslaw, and raspberry lemonade, and you've got yourself one tasty picnic.
After the picnic, we headed out to Ben & Jen's to have some pineapple upside down cake with them and Mom & Dad. We capped off the evening with the fireworks show in Pleasant Hill by DVC.
Today proved to be another good picnic day, so I picked Ben up from work and we ate a lunch of leftovers in Codornices Park.
We're getting excited for these baby boys to join us. It's a little surreal and a bit unnerving to have a set delivery date - to know that we WILL be parents by mid-week next week. But we're going to do it (haha, not really another option at this point). And I think it will be amazing.
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