Naomi and Evan had a fourth month checkup at the doctor on Monday. Poor little things, they had no idea going in that this particular visit was immunization time. I guess in order to get it over with a little quicker, the nurse actually brought in a helper and on the count of three both nurses hit a leg of one baby with one of the immunization shots. Needless to say, this didn't go over well. Erin described it as something akin to a grenade, "You could just see it in their faces. They would get the shot, then a huge wide-eyed expression, then nothing but screams."
Other than immunization trauma everything went well. Naomi weighed 13 lbs. 1 oz. and Evan was 11 lbs. even, maintaining his two pound disadvantage. Naomi's weight has actually pulled her up into the middle of the pack in the magic children's growth chart that all doctors have showing national percentiles of growth. Evan, on the other hand, is maintaining his "1%" status. The good thing is that both are tracking well to the curve, and maybe are even faster, so there aren't any concerns about their growth.
Probably the biggest change since the last time I posted is we now have full-blown smiling from both babies. To all you new parents out there not yet to this stage, I can only say hang in there. It really is a pretty dramatic difference just in our mental state, being able to interact with them and actually get a response if they like it. It's just a little easier to take when Evan is refusing to drink from the bottle, but laughing at you while you're scowling at him.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Monday, April 02, 2007
New Baby Photos (Described)
The local camera shop in Lexington rents studio lights for the weekend, and since light kits tend to be pretty darn expensive, this seemed like a fun way to experiment with some "real" lights.
All in all it was definitely a good experience. There's a pretty large learning curve with using light that bright (at least there was for me). The rental kit came with three lights but I only ever used two at most for the kids, sometimes even just one. My rickety home-made backdrops filled that role once again, with the addition of a king size white sheet that desperately needed ironing. The lights were strobes with modeling lights, but taking the light that emanated from the modeling lights and conveying that into what showed up on the camera was a pretty big jump. Thank goodness for digital, there's no way I could have done anything otherwise. My main method of getting the right exposure was just to pick an arbitrary starting point and watching the little view-finder until it looked about right.
Evan and Naomi are both doing well. Naomi's turning into quite the little chunk, she's up over 12 pounds now and happily drinking the bottles we give her. Evan's about two pounds behind her, about to crack the 10 pound mark and still being a squeaker when he drinks his bottle. The best news though is that both have started to interactively smile back at us, an extremely positive breakthrough that I don't think you could explain to anyone who wasn't already a parent. They're definitely very aware of their environment and love watching their mobile go round and round or just kicking back and watching the fan turn. Naomi is our lazy baby; she typically falls asleep shortly after eating and stays pretty conked until the next feeding time. Evan, on the other hand, well, Evan's not real big on sleep during the day. He'd much rather lie awake, or wave his arms, or look at the mobile, or suck on his pacifier, or really do just about anything else BESIDES go to sleep. Well, that is until about 30 minutes before it's time to eat again. Then he's out like a light. Figures.
In addition to the seven pictures in the slide-show I posted, there are a bunch more in the main Photobucket site. I tried not to be as picky as I normally am and just get some posted; let me know what you think!
All in all it was definitely a good experience. There's a pretty large learning curve with using light that bright (at least there was for me). The rental kit came with three lights but I only ever used two at most for the kids, sometimes even just one. My rickety home-made backdrops filled that role once again, with the addition of a king size white sheet that desperately needed ironing. The lights were strobes with modeling lights, but taking the light that emanated from the modeling lights and conveying that into what showed up on the camera was a pretty big jump. Thank goodness for digital, there's no way I could have done anything otherwise. My main method of getting the right exposure was just to pick an arbitrary starting point and watching the little view-finder until it looked about right.
Evan and Naomi are both doing well. Naomi's turning into quite the little chunk, she's up over 12 pounds now and happily drinking the bottles we give her. Evan's about two pounds behind her, about to crack the 10 pound mark and still being a squeaker when he drinks his bottle. The best news though is that both have started to interactively smile back at us, an extremely positive breakthrough that I don't think you could explain to anyone who wasn't already a parent. They're definitely very aware of their environment and love watching their mobile go round and round or just kicking back and watching the fan turn. Naomi is our lazy baby; she typically falls asleep shortly after eating and stays pretty conked until the next feeding time. Evan, on the other hand, well, Evan's not real big on sleep during the day. He'd much rather lie awake, or wave his arms, or look at the mobile, or suck on his pacifier, or really do just about anything else BESIDES go to sleep. Well, that is until about 30 minutes before it's time to eat again. Then he's out like a light. Figures.
In addition to the seven pictures in the slide-show I posted, there are a bunch more in the main Photobucket site. I tried not to be as picky as I normally am and just get some posted; let me know what you think!
New Baby Photos
To stop the slide show, just hover over the picture and you'll see three buttons, back, stop, and forward.
Monday, March 19, 2007
Two Steps Forward..
(Disclaimer: This blog entry contains some yucky descriptions of baby poopy. You've been warned.)
We had our first non-scheduled doctor visit with Naomi two weeks ago last Monday. Over the weekend, she started having some issues with her digestive system. She went from a bowel movement (BM, the common euphemism for "pooped" from the hospital) maybe once a day or so to a dirty diaper before every single feeding, plus typically one while she was being fed. Tack on to this that the, shall we say, substance of these BMs changed as well. The color changed to a more mucousy green, then what really panicked us were little specks of red mixed in. Well, blood in the poopy is one of those, "Call the doctor now" signals that they tell new parents, so in she went on Monday morning.
The doctor poked and prodded her a bit, and diagnosed her with an inflamed colon caused by cow milk protein sensitivity (not the same as lactose intolerance). Hmm, that doesn't sound good. She was placed on this special formula which has broken down these proteins so they're easier to digest. As a bonus, Erin is now also off all milk products as well so that Naomi can continue to get breast milk. After about 36 hours her condition cleared right up and she's been cruising right along since then.
There's two things that are really a drag about this new formula, though: first, it smells bad. Not necessarily iron-infused poopy diaper bad, but still pretty nose-turning. And it's a bizarre smell, something along the lines of "burnt brussel sprouts", a strange vegetably odor that you are not expecting from this white liquid. The other bummer: it's the most expensive formula (of course), by far. We were already on expensive formula with the Enfamil Enfacare for premature infants at $13 for 12.8 ounces. This new stuff (Similac Alimentum): $25 for 16 oz. Ouch.
On more pleasant news, there has been one unconfirmed sighting of a smile on Evan's face playing in his blue bouncy chair. We're waiting for follow-up news reports but clearly this is an exciting development. If any photo- or video-graphic evidence emerges it will certainly be reported here.
We had our first non-scheduled doctor visit with Naomi two weeks ago last Monday. Over the weekend, she started having some issues with her digestive system. She went from a bowel movement (BM, the common euphemism for "pooped" from the hospital) maybe once a day or so to a dirty diaper before every single feeding, plus typically one while she was being fed. Tack on to this that the, shall we say, substance of these BMs changed as well. The color changed to a more mucousy green, then what really panicked us were little specks of red mixed in. Well, blood in the poopy is one of those, "Call the doctor now" signals that they tell new parents, so in she went on Monday morning.
The doctor poked and prodded her a bit, and diagnosed her with an inflamed colon caused by cow milk protein sensitivity (not the same as lactose intolerance). Hmm, that doesn't sound good. She was placed on this special formula which has broken down these proteins so they're easier to digest. As a bonus, Erin is now also off all milk products as well so that Naomi can continue to get breast milk. After about 36 hours her condition cleared right up and she's been cruising right along since then.
There's two things that are really a drag about this new formula, though: first, it smells bad. Not necessarily iron-infused poopy diaper bad, but still pretty nose-turning. And it's a bizarre smell, something along the lines of "burnt brussel sprouts", a strange vegetably odor that you are not expecting from this white liquid. The other bummer: it's the most expensive formula (of course), by far. We were already on expensive formula with the Enfamil Enfacare for premature infants at $13 for 12.8 ounces. This new stuff (Similac Alimentum): $25 for 16 oz. Ouch.
On more pleasant news, there has been one unconfirmed sighting of a smile on Evan's face playing in his blue bouncy chair. We're waiting for follow-up news reports but clearly this is an exciting development. If any photo- or video-graphic evidence emerges it will certainly be reported here.
Saturday, March 03, 2007
Cruisin' Right along
Everything is well here in double trouble land. The twins had a doctor appointment earlier this week, nothing major, just some little issues we wanted to clear up. While we were there we got an update on their weight and Naomi is up to 9 lbs. 13 oz. (!), and Evan is 8 lbs. 3 oz. So we almost have a 10 pound baby!
They're both slowly learning how to do their yoga positions, particularly the Downward Dog and the Cobra. We're supposed to give them tummy time when they're awake and alert, but not panicked or hungry, which seems like it's a grand total of about five minutes every feeding period. Oh, did I mention if we put them on their tummies after they eat there's about a 90 percent chance they'll spit up? So that's out too. Sometimes, we just have to put Naomi or Evan on their tummies when they're awake AND hungry, which ends up with an angry baby. This has the ironic effect, though, of really getting them up in the air! So, it's not a totally bad proposition.
In other news, I've always enjoyed photography but shooting people has never been my strong suit. My previous vacation photos were all about the scenery, but never had anyone actually IN the photo. In the last few years I've started to really pay more attention to photographs of people and what makes some photos seem so compelling and full of emotion. Hopefully I can capture some of that with Naomi and Evan.
In that regards, I've been slowly constructing a poor man's version of a studio. I constructed a frame out of PVC pipe and went to a local fabric store and bought some cloth. The basement project is at a point where the room is basically finished (carpeted, doors are up) but there's no furniture at all in the entire room, so I could use it to spread out and set my area. I've had one session with Naomi and some of the pictures came out pretty good. My biggest problem/challenge right now is that I don't have any real studio lights, so my choices are limited to the flash on the camera and the overhead lights. I'll keep working on it, though, I'm liking where this is headed.
I've put up a new set of pictures on the Photobucket site (http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n171/benjamingold/Twins/), look for the pictures named "babies_03_04_07_xx.jpg". They are mostly of Naomi, who like I said was my first test subject, but there's a couple impromptu shots of Evan in there that I think will be keepers.
They're both slowly learning how to do their yoga positions, particularly the Downward Dog and the Cobra. We're supposed to give them tummy time when they're awake and alert, but not panicked or hungry, which seems like it's a grand total of about five minutes every feeding period. Oh, did I mention if we put them on their tummies after they eat there's about a 90 percent chance they'll spit up? So that's out too. Sometimes, we just have to put Naomi or Evan on their tummies when they're awake AND hungry, which ends up with an angry baby. This has the ironic effect, though, of really getting them up in the air! So, it's not a totally bad proposition.
In other news, I've always enjoyed photography but shooting people has never been my strong suit. My previous vacation photos were all about the scenery, but never had anyone actually IN the photo. In the last few years I've started to really pay more attention to photographs of people and what makes some photos seem so compelling and full of emotion. Hopefully I can capture some of that with Naomi and Evan.
In that regards, I've been slowly constructing a poor man's version of a studio. I constructed a frame out of PVC pipe and went to a local fabric store and bought some cloth. The basement project is at a point where the room is basically finished (carpeted, doors are up) but there's no furniture at all in the entire room, so I could use it to spread out and set my area. I've had one session with Naomi and some of the pictures came out pretty good. My biggest problem/challenge right now is that I don't have any real studio lights, so my choices are limited to the flash on the camera and the overhead lights. I'll keep working on it, though, I'm liking where this is headed.
I've put up a new set of pictures on the Photobucket site (http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n171/benjamingold/Twins/), look for the pictures named "babies_03_04_07_xx.jpg". They are mostly of Naomi, who like I said was my first test subject, but there's a couple impromptu shots of Evan in there that I think will be keepers.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Two Months Old
Naomi and Evan had their two month old doctor's appointment last Wednesday. Everything went very well, and I guess our questions weren't too odd-ball since the doctor didn't laugh at us too much. Naomi weighed 8 lbs. 5 oz. and Evan is holding his own as well at 7 lbs. 5 oz. An assortment of our random questions:
1) Is his head supposed to be that shape?
2) Is her ankle at that angle normal?
3) How often are they supposed to poop again?
The doctor assured us, everything was perfectly normal. The biggest trauma was when they had to get their immunizations. As my sister Alea put it (she went with Erin to the doctor), it hurt so much they couldn't scream at first! Their mouths twisted into a grimace, then it was just a timebomb.."3, 2, 1...WHAAA, WHAAA". But everything went well, they got some baby Tylenol for a day or so, and now we're back in rhythm.
Otherwise, we're well into the grind now. Everybody's changed and fed every three hours, though we're experimenting with letting them sleep a little longer late at night. There's a feeding at midnight, then they'll sleep for around four hours before one of them (typically Naomi) wakes up and is ready to eat.
Since everything is pretty stable right now (and I don't imagine anyone wants to read in intricate detail descriptions of dirty diapers), my plan is to post every two weeks, probably over the weekend. So check back every couple of weeks for an update on the wee little ones!
1) Is his head supposed to be that shape?
2) Is her ankle at that angle normal?
3) How often are they supposed to poop again?
The doctor assured us, everything was perfectly normal. The biggest trauma was when they had to get their immunizations. As my sister Alea put it (she went with Erin to the doctor), it hurt so much they couldn't scream at first! Their mouths twisted into a grimace, then it was just a timebomb.."3, 2, 1...WHAAA, WHAAA". But everything went well, they got some baby Tylenol for a day or so, and now we're back in rhythm.
Otherwise, we're well into the grind now. Everybody's changed and fed every three hours, though we're experimenting with letting them sleep a little longer late at night. There's a feeding at midnight, then they'll sleep for around four hours before one of them (typically Naomi) wakes up and is ready to eat.
Since everything is pretty stable right now (and I don't imagine anyone wants to read in intricate detail descriptions of dirty diapers), my plan is to post every two weeks, probably over the weekend. So check back every couple of weeks for an update on the wee little ones!
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Two Weeks Already?!
I can't believe it's been two weeks since I've posted to this blog, they're going to kick me out of the blogosphere. Needless to say, Erin and I are well into the grind of two babies.
A couple of things have transpired to keep me from posting. Certainly sleep deprivation has been a part of it. I will be in the shower or driving home from work and come up with a great topic to write on, only to have the thought completely escape me by the time I get to pad and paper. I feel like Leonard from Memento, zero short-term memory. This is accompanied by the fact that I feel like my .. you know, words are down to nothing when I'm tired.
The second part is that I've found that we now have two newborns. This is actually an important distinction! Before, we had two preemies. Preemies in one way are great: they sleep ALL the time. You wake them up to feed them, then they immediately go back to sleep and stay asleep until the next feeding. Newborns, on the other hand, well, newborns don't stay asleep. They might go to sleep right away. They might go to sleep after an hour. They might stay away the entire time. Lest you're unaware, our awake babies are very rarely not needy babies. Being awake probably means they don't want to be swaddled, they probably want to be held, they might be hungry..well, you get the picture.
I've put a few new pictures up on photobucket, you can get to them here. Here's a quick taste:
A couple of things have transpired to keep me from posting. Certainly sleep deprivation has been a part of it. I will be in the shower or driving home from work and come up with a great topic to write on, only to have the thought completely escape me by the time I get to pad and paper. I feel like Leonard from Memento, zero short-term memory. This is accompanied by the fact that I feel like my .. you know, words are down to nothing when I'm tired.
The second part is that I've found that we now have two newborns. This is actually an important distinction! Before, we had two preemies. Preemies in one way are great: they sleep ALL the time. You wake them up to feed them, then they immediately go back to sleep and stay asleep until the next feeding. Newborns, on the other hand, well, newborns don't stay asleep. They might go to sleep right away. They might go to sleep after an hour. They might stay away the entire time. Lest you're unaware, our awake babies are very rarely not needy babies. Being awake probably means they don't want to be swaddled, they probably want to be held, they might be hungry..well, you get the picture.
I've put a few new pictures up on photobucket, you can get to them here. Here's a quick taste:
Friday, January 26, 2007
Quick Status Update
We're well into the grind of caring for two newborn babies and Erin and I seem to have found a pretty good comfort level for taking care of them. Baths are every third day (which means this is an off day, yaay!) and they get fed every third hour on the "3s" (3, 6, 9, 12). Evan showed up a little anemic at the last blood check before being released from the hospital, so he also gets a little dose of ferrous sulfate (read: iron) at noon each day. It makes him smell a little rusty but he doesn't seem to mind to much.
They had their first pediatrician visit and everything went fine. I think it was probably more harrowing for Erin and I since it was our first sojourn anywhere with both babies. Naomi weighed 6 lbs. 5 oz. and Evan weighed 5 lbs. even, so they're both gaining weight pretty equally (he started out a pound smaller than her and has pretty much stayed there). We just remembered this morning that we have a food scale that reads up to 7 pounds in ounce increments so we're hopeful we can get a few more weight readings before the next doctor visit.
I've taken a few more pictures in the past week, so if I get a chance to cut through the cloud of confusion from lack of sleep I'll try to get the processed and posted. If not, everyone have a good weekend!
They had their first pediatrician visit and everything went fine. I think it was probably more harrowing for Erin and I since it was our first sojourn anywhere with both babies. Naomi weighed 6 lbs. 5 oz. and Evan weighed 5 lbs. even, so they're both gaining weight pretty equally (he started out a pound smaller than her and has pretty much stayed there). We just remembered this morning that we have a food scale that reads up to 7 pounds in ounce increments so we're hopeful we can get a few more weight readings before the next doctor visit.
I've taken a few more pictures in the past week, so if I get a chance to cut through the cloud of confusion from lack of sleep I'll try to get the processed and posted. If not, everyone have a good weekend!
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