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!
Friday, January 26, 2007
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Diapers Diapers Everywhere.
(quick note: to view a larger version of any of the pictures in this blog just click on them)
I'm scared. Scared because I've been lied to by all those parents who said, "The newborn diapers are great, they don't smell at all." Because, here's the thing, they do smell. They smell bad. Yankee Candle is not going to introduce a new scented smell next week, "Newborn Diaper". But I don't think all these parents have misled me deliberately. They truly have in their minds that newborn diapers smelled okay when little Junior was in them. Which can only lead me to one conclusion: post-newborn diapers must smell REALLY REALLY bad. Even now when we hit a poopy diaper (and you'd better believe we're tracking that, um, poop) it's really more about cleaning up the mess than enduring the smell. I have a feeling once the dynamic duo start eating Cheerios we're in for quite the whallop.
In other news, people want pictures. I am happy to oblige as I can assure you these two are most willing subjects. Well, maybe not this one:
But let me assure you, a shot like that doesn't make itself! Oh no! Here's a few shots of my talented assistant helping to maintain the pose:
Some people have asked, "How do the babies stay on their wedges?" The answer: velcro and straps.
There are about 15 new pictures put up on Photobucket, I won't link to all of them here, you can get to the album by following this link. Photobucket arranges the pictures so that the newest ones are first, so they should be easy to find. If you like any of the new pictures, post a comment and let me know which one!
I'm scared. Scared because I've been lied to by all those parents who said, "The newborn diapers are great, they don't smell at all." Because, here's the thing, they do smell. They smell bad. Yankee Candle is not going to introduce a new scented smell next week, "Newborn Diaper". But I don't think all these parents have misled me deliberately. They truly have in their minds that newborn diapers smelled okay when little Junior was in them. Which can only lead me to one conclusion: post-newborn diapers must smell REALLY REALLY bad. Even now when we hit a poopy diaper (and you'd better believe we're tracking that, um, poop) it's really more about cleaning up the mess than enduring the smell. I have a feeling once the dynamic duo start eating Cheerios we're in for quite the whallop.
In other news, people want pictures. I am happy to oblige as I can assure you these two are most willing subjects. Well, maybe not this one:
But let me assure you, a shot like that doesn't make itself! Oh no! Here's a few shots of my talented assistant helping to maintain the pose:
Some people have asked, "How do the babies stay on their wedges?" The answer: velcro and straps.
There are about 15 new pictures put up on Photobucket, I won't link to all of them here, you can get to the album by following this link. Photobucket arranges the pictures so that the newest ones are first, so they should be easy to find. If you like any of the new pictures, post a comment and let me know which one!
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
2 Babies = 0 Sleep
Great news on the baby front, Evan did get released so we now have the whole family under one roof. I think there will probably be nights where we yearn for the days when we could just visit them in the hospital a couple of times a day and then head home, but for now it's much better to be home.
I've decided that exhaustion is something like a five o'clock shadow. You don't really notice until your face is scraggly and itching. For all those prospective parents out there who want to know what its like, here's my 5-step plan to re-create having a newborn in the house: first, don't even think that one night will cut it. That first night that Naomi was home I fell asleep for an hour around 10, then got up and STAYED awake until 6 a.m., waking Erin just to pump and then letting her go back to bed. That worked great, the first night. Then the second night rolled around. Then Evan came home. And it's not even that these are fussy babies; they are on a clear schedule and really stick to it very well. The trick is that schedule dictates that the twins are to be fed every three hours; I can assure you they are most impatient if that deadline is not reached. So, step two is every three hours, get up. Do some trivial tasks (because there's really not anything all that difficult in baby-care: change the diaper, feed the bottle, lay back down). After an hour, lay back down for two hours, then get up, rinse, and repeat. Naomi and Evan are on the 3-6-9-12 schedule so at each of those hours we have to get up.
Other than the sudden departure of regular circadian rhythms all is well. We seem to be keeping them content and they are both feeding well. Our first appointment with the pediatrician is tomorrow, which will also be the first time we will attempt to leave the house with both in tow. It should be exciting.
I'm off to catch a few (as in two) hours of sleep, so I'll leave you with a picture of the dynamic duo, asleep on their home wedges:
I've decided that exhaustion is something like a five o'clock shadow. You don't really notice until your face is scraggly and itching. For all those prospective parents out there who want to know what its like, here's my 5-step plan to re-create having a newborn in the house: first, don't even think that one night will cut it. That first night that Naomi was home I fell asleep for an hour around 10, then got up and STAYED awake until 6 a.m., waking Erin just to pump and then letting her go back to bed. That worked great, the first night. Then the second night rolled around. Then Evan came home. And it's not even that these are fussy babies; they are on a clear schedule and really stick to it very well. The trick is that schedule dictates that the twins are to be fed every three hours; I can assure you they are most impatient if that deadline is not reached. So, step two is every three hours, get up. Do some trivial tasks (because there's really not anything all that difficult in baby-care: change the diaper, feed the bottle, lay back down). After an hour, lay back down for two hours, then get up, rinse, and repeat. Naomi and Evan are on the 3-6-9-12 schedule so at each of those hours we have to get up.
Other than the sudden departure of regular circadian rhythms all is well. We seem to be keeping them content and they are both feeding well. Our first appointment with the pediatrician is tomorrow, which will also be the first time we will attempt to leave the house with both in tow. It should be exciting.
I'm off to catch a few (as in two) hours of sleep, so I'll leave you with a picture of the dynamic duo, asleep on their home wedges:
Sunday, January 14, 2007
One down, One to go!
Naomi has left the hospital! I repeat, Naomi has left the hospital! We got the call today a little after noon, and she made it home around 3:00 PM. All her vital signs had been very good since they put her on the wedge and she's been feeding very well, so they sent her home to us today. So far so good, her schedule right now is on the 3s (3/6/9/12), so we changed her diaper and fed her as soon as we arrived. As I write this she's sleeping soundly, with an occasional coo over the baby monitor.
I guess our adventure has officially started now, wish us luck!
I guess our adventure has officially started now, wish us luck!
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Home Soon?
We're picking up momentum on Naomi and Evan leaving the hospital and coming home with us. It turns out, they just needed to sleep like they were in Mom for a while: upright. The doctors have decided that their troubles were both based on reflux, so Naomi and Evan are both sleeping on these pillows that keep them lying at a 45 degree angle. It's pretty funny, like they're on a mountain climbing expedition, but they don't seem to mind. Given Naomi's position in the womb for so long, she probably wouldn't mind being hung upside down!
They're both growing well, the last time I checked Naomi weighed 5 lbs. 8 oz. and Evan was 4 lbs. 5 oz., so eating isn't a problem with these two. The current plan at the hospital is for Naomi to come home on the 14th and for Evan to follow a day later on the 15th. They've both looked very good on the monitors for the last three days so Erin and I are being cautiously optimistic.
Here's Evan on his angled pillow:
And here's Naomi on hers:
They're both growing well, the last time I checked Naomi weighed 5 lbs. 8 oz. and Evan was 4 lbs. 5 oz., so eating isn't a problem with these two. The current plan at the hospital is for Naomi to come home on the 14th and for Evan to follow a day later on the 15th. They've both looked very good on the monitors for the last three days so Erin and I are being cautiously optimistic.
Here's Evan on his angled pillow:
And here's Naomi on hers:
Friday, January 05, 2007
One Step Forward, One Step Back
We continue to progress towards getting Naomi and Evan home, but there are some small problems that keep cropping up that are keeping them in the hospital.
Naomi is growing very well and at her last weigh-in was 5 lbs. 2 oz., a rather dramatic increase of 8 oz. over her original birth weight (plus the initial drop after birth). So on that front she's making good progress. In fact, I think the doctors were just about ready to send her home yesterday, but I guess the news sent her into a bit of a panic. She started to show the similar signs of her apnea again yesterday and her oxygen saturation levels kept dropping, so she's now back on a little bit of oxygen (and probably guaranteed another week in the NICU).
Evan is also progressing well, he's up to 3 lbs. 13 oz., a gain of 5 oz. over his birth weight. He's gotten much better at taking a full bottle too, and so they took out his NG tube (the feeding tube) yesterday. His biggest issue? Occasional drops in his heart rate (the doctors had a very large word that I don't think I could repeat orally much less attempt to write down), about once a day. The hospital likes for the baby to go seven days without one of these events, and he's not making it 24 hours. So, he's also looking at least another week.
Both of the problems they are having are very common in preemies, so we're not concerned about their health at all. It's just a matter of giving them enough time to grow up.
Everyone have a good weekend!
Naomi is growing very well and at her last weigh-in was 5 lbs. 2 oz., a rather dramatic increase of 8 oz. over her original birth weight (plus the initial drop after birth). So on that front she's making good progress. In fact, I think the doctors were just about ready to send her home yesterday, but I guess the news sent her into a bit of a panic. She started to show the similar signs of her apnea again yesterday and her oxygen saturation levels kept dropping, so she's now back on a little bit of oxygen (and probably guaranteed another week in the NICU).
Evan is also progressing well, he's up to 3 lbs. 13 oz., a gain of 5 oz. over his birth weight. He's gotten much better at taking a full bottle too, and so they took out his NG tube (the feeding tube) yesterday. His biggest issue? Occasional drops in his heart rate (the doctors had a very large word that I don't think I could repeat orally much less attempt to write down), about once a day. The hospital likes for the baby to go seven days without one of these events, and he's not making it 24 hours. So, he's also looking at least another week.
Both of the problems they are having are very common in preemies, so we're not concerned about their health at all. It's just a matter of giving them enough time to grow up.
Everyone have a good weekend!
Monday, January 01, 2007
Happy New Year!
Welcome to 2007 everyone! I know we are looking forward to the new year with great anticipation and maybe just a bit of trepidation as well. If I felt like we were hovering on a cliff when Erin was pregnant, well, I think we're headed rapidly downward now.
Both babies are still doing very well and continuing their progress towards being released from the hospital. They were moved out of their isolettes (the incubator-like boxes they were in) and into an open crib together today, so that was an exciting development. They are also both off their IVs so we are able to move around the NICU area freely with them when we visit. In fact, the only cords they now have are the little wires stuck on them that measure heartrate and respiratory rate, and those will be on there until they are released. They are also back up to their birth weights and have even surpassed them, so they should start growing well in the next few days/weeks.
Naomi is pretty much over her early set of problems and is really making strides developmentally every day. Her early signs of apnea are gone, and she's now eating more than her little brother. Naomi's definitely a better eater than Evan and shows pretty vigorous sucking when she gets her bottle. In fact, the nurses and doctors felt she was doing well enough eating that they've removed her NG tube (the tube running from her nose down to her stomach).
Evan's also doing well, though his size is allowing big sis to pull ahead of him. He has a very preemie habit in that he will fall asleep very quickly after feeding begins, so the meal process can be quite drawn out with him. Because of that, he still has his NG tube and will until he better gets the hang of finishing the whole bottle.
I took a few more pictures yesterday and today, so if you go back to the photobucket site you can see the new ones. Here's probably my favorite:
Both babies are still doing very well and continuing their progress towards being released from the hospital. They were moved out of their isolettes (the incubator-like boxes they were in) and into an open crib together today, so that was an exciting development. They are also both off their IVs so we are able to move around the NICU area freely with them when we visit. In fact, the only cords they now have are the little wires stuck on them that measure heartrate and respiratory rate, and those will be on there until they are released. They are also back up to their birth weights and have even surpassed them, so they should start growing well in the next few days/weeks.
Naomi is pretty much over her early set of problems and is really making strides developmentally every day. Her early signs of apnea are gone, and she's now eating more than her little brother. Naomi's definitely a better eater than Evan and shows pretty vigorous sucking when she gets her bottle. In fact, the nurses and doctors felt she was doing well enough eating that they've removed her NG tube (the tube running from her nose down to her stomach).
Evan's also doing well, though his size is allowing big sis to pull ahead of him. He has a very preemie habit in that he will fall asleep very quickly after feeding begins, so the meal process can be quite drawn out with him. Because of that, he still has his NG tube and will until he better gets the hang of finishing the whole bottle.
I took a few more pictures yesterday and today, so if you go back to the photobucket site you can see the new ones. Here's probably my favorite:
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