Wrapped Around Their Little fingers

New parents that we are, Natalie and I are unschooled in the finer points of infant care. The girls have begun waging an ongoing behavior modification campaign on their parents.

Sometimes, in response to a particularly egregious lack of parenting skill, one of the twins will fire back with an all out, four-diaper poonami assault. Most grievances, though, seem to warrant a more subtle response, akin to psychological warfare, in which the offended child holds her breath until she turns beat red, culminating in a cathartic raspberry when her little lungs can wait no longer to breath in the dank air of infant oppression that permeates the NICU (that might just be poop; jury is still out). Natalie and I have taken to calling the impetus for such behavior a "RED FACE OFFENSE".

Harper, in particular, is quite adept at employing the RFO strategy.



We asked Harper to describe some of her top level red face offenses:

• Making me wait for my bottle ... that's a red face offense.
• Talking too loudly ... another red face offense.
• Chubbing my cheeks ... red face offense.
• Changing my diaper ... red face offense.
• Not changing my diaper ... also, red face offense.

We're certain that there are many more RFO-worthy scenarios, but Harper wouldn't tell us about them. Asking too many questions is, apparently, a RED FACE OFFENSE!

Why Dave is already a great dad.

In honor of Father's Day, I wanted to post the reasons why my husband is already an awesome dad...

PATIENCE -
We are currently trying to teach the twins to eat, both at the bottle and the breast. Obviously Dave can't feed them on the breast, but he is basically the Baby Whisperer when it comes to feeding them with the bottle. The girls don't quite know how to suck-swallow-breathe yet so feedings can be a bit frustrating. The girls will get excited about eating and suck for a minute then forget to breathe. The monitors will start beeping and their heart rate and blood oxygen levels will drop. A lot of times the girls lips will turn blue and we will have to pull them off the nipple and rub their backs until they remember to breathe. Then once they come back around, the whole thing starts all over again. It is possible to get them to eat their whole feeding from a bottle, but what usually happens for me is that I get really frustrated after a few apnea episodes and then I get the nurse to feed them the rest through their feeding tube. But Dave is as patient as they come. He regularly gets both girls to finish their bottles by continuing to coax them to keep eating after every episode. He wipes their mouths, rubs their backs and then starts out all over again. Like I said - Baby Whisperer. Which brings me to my next reason...

ENTHUSIASM -
Going back and forth to the NICU is pretty brutal. You can't eat in there, can't drink in there, there are alarms going off and babies crying and it is so frustrating that you can't take your kids home with you when you leave. Add that to the fact that Dave is working full time and you can understand how difficult this experience could be for him. But, at the end of the work day, when we are headed back to the NICU at 8pm, I look at Dave and I say, "You must be exhausted." And he just smiles and says, "Nope, I'm just really excited to see our daughters!"

CULINARY PROWESS -
Dave is a kick ass cook. He makes all kinds of stuff from recipes all the time and it's always delicious. He makes his own chili powder. He has tackled tamales, saurbraten and samosas. He loves to cook whole fish. But, his biggest talent in the kitchen is being able to throw together whatever he finds in the fridge and pantry into a delicious meal. He has been making food for me all during my pregnancy and even now that the girls are here and he works all day, he still comes home and throws together something delicious for me before we leave the house to go back to the hospital. By feeding me nutritious meals, he is providing nourishing breast milk for our girls and I know he will continue to cook delicious things for them as they grow up.

So, that's why today for Father's Day, Dave got a brand new iPhone!

Don't get used to it honey. This was just because it's your first Father's Day. Next year, we'll have to reexamine your credentials. But, I expect you will pass the "Awesome Dad" test year after year with flying colors. Keep up the good work!

Q Time in the NICU

Since the girls are still tucked away in the NICU, Nat and I are spending a lot of quality time there. It's a pretty surreal scene in there and it's taken me a while to acclimate to the steady din of babies crying, nurses chatting, heart monitors alarming, etc. Of course, we do have the occasional moment of calm down time ...




Heading to the NICU every day is inconvenient, but it does have its upsides. The nurses that work there are pretty amazing women (and men) who have already taught me a thing or two, like "always, always have a backup diaper." When Nat and I leave for the night, we're grateful to know that our girls are in good hands!

Peas in a Pod.

So, the girls are in the same bed now! They are both done with their IVs and light therapy for their jaundice so they get to be two little peas in a pod! It is pretty crazy when they are right next to each other to see how much they look alike! Definitely identical...






My mom is here now and has been a great moral support and help around the house. Plus, the girls love their Mimi!



One of the nurses made cute little name tags for the girls isolette - you can see them in the photo above. The staff here is so caring and nice. It is easy to get overwhelmed by the alarms and noises in the NICU, but the nurses are all very patient and explain things constantly so I'm not having a heart attack every time one of the girl's heart rate drops.

I definitely can't wait until they are home. It has been grueling trying to pump every three hours and be at the NICU as much as possible. I hope they will make good progress this week with learning to bottle and breast feed and hopefully they will be allowed to get into a regular crib as opposed to the isolette so we can hold them more.

Thanks to everyone at my office who has been bringing food - it is a huuuge help. And all the comments here, on Facebook and notes I have received via email are great. I am trying to stay connected with the outside world, but, man, it's hard!

Can't wait for everyone to be able to meet my sweet girls. More soon...

Stop. Bottle Time!!

Dave and I have been busy shuttling between the house and the hospital to see the girls. We are now able to hold them twice a day each for 30 minutes during feeding times. One of those times they get to nuzzle at my breast and one time they get to try to eat a bottle. I say try because they don't quite know what to do yet. We are told that the suck/swallow reflex does not develop until around 34-35 weeks gestational age. The girls are just now 33 weeks. But, the NICU nurses and doctors are big proponents of exposing the babies to the breast and bottle early on so they will start to know the different ways to feed. Just so you can see what I mean, here are videos of both Harper and Eliza trying to eat their bottles. You will see the looks of utter confusion on their faces. They are definitely starting to show different personalities. Harper is very tactile and is always flailing around her hands and wanting to grab onto things. Eliza is very calm and rarely gets upset - even when they are putting in an IV!

More soon...

Eliza:




Harper:

Babies are like 'good ideas' ...

... so far I've got two! Hmmm, pretty corny title, I'll admit. But I'm eschewing my inner blog editor and letting the title stand.

In seriousness, though, I want to thank all of the folks who have helped us turn our lives upside down to welcome Harper and Eliza into the world.

While it's disappointing that the girls have to bake in the NICU for a while, I am definitely relieved that they made it into the world and seem to be getting stronger each day. Here's proof .... see, fewer wires than last time!