#10. 4652 Grams of Awesomeness!

Our first family selfie!

Luke and Clare are now over 30 hours old and all is going well.  The last 24 hours have been quite hectic for us. We switched rooms at our long term stay hotel only to be put in a room that wasn't going to work (to put it mildly).  Unfortunately, we didn't realize this until we unpacked completely.  Things have since worked out, but we have been in 3 different rooms in 3 days at the same hotel!  We are now happily, and finally, unpacked and ready to 'live' in the same place for awhile.  Phew.

Visit #1

Everyone is most likely here to see photos and updates on the twins.  I promise not to disappoint.  We have had two visits with the newborns.  Visit #1 is what I call 'The Viewing'.  After their births yesterday (and the change to our 2nd of 3 different rooms in 3 days) we went back to the hospital to see Clare and Luke.  For this visit we were allowed about 30 minutes or so to see the babies in their carts through the glass wall,

Clare and Luke behind a glass wall

although, at first it was only Clare,

Our peaceful little girl

because it was Luke's time for a bath.

He wasn't too happy about this

We eventually had both babies in view and enjoyed time looking at them, comparing their features (they are very unique), and gazing at the miracles behind the glass.

Luke all cleaned up

As much as we wanted to break through the glass and hold them, we enjoyed all the time we had with them during this visit.

Chris with Clare

Me and Luke

I took a snapshot of their 'info' and eventually translated their official numbers.

Miss Clare Pamela Knapp-Heald
Born on 19 July 2557 at 7:19
Weight 2280 gms (5.0 lbs)
Length 47.5 cms (18.7 in)

Master Luke Stephan Knapp-Heald
Born on 19 July 2557 at 7:20
Weight 2372 gms (5.2 lbs)
Length 46 cm (18.1 in)

We looked up the 2557 part and, indeed, it is 2557 based on the Buddhist calendar which is 543 years different than ours.  Once they translated these info sheets to English today, the dates are what we typically recognize but we thought it would be interesting for Luke and Clare to see the Thai version some day.

While Visit #1 was taking place, we had the chance to meet two other couples (both Australian) who had babies this week (both boy/girl twin sets like us) and who have been working with Kim, the same surrogacy coordinator as us.  One couple had babies on Wednesday and one had just finished up Visit #2 with their babies that were born the day before ours.  It was interesting to meet other folks going through the same process and emotions as us.  We are so happy for the other couples and their success.  Maybe we will have to set up a twins mixer before we all head home!?!

One might wonder what two dads do the night their babies are born.  Even though we had nothing to do with the actual birthing process physically, we were remarkably exhausted by the day. Still, we managed to treat ourselves to dinner out (pizza), then went for massages (me the feet, Chris the shoulders...Chris says he feels like he was beat up!), and then out for drinks at a bar down the street, where we enjoyed looking back through the day's photos and talking about our new family.

Trading excited texts with Lisa-Marie

Visit #2

Today, we woke up, repacked (to head to our 3rd and FINAL room in 3 days), and then headed over to the hospital for Visit #2...'The Feeding'.  For the second visit (we are learning this as we go...as different as this may seem, the nurses and staff at the hospital are kind, helpful, professional, and amazing), we were allowed into the nursery area and time to hold, bond with, and feed our babies.  Having Clare handed over to me was like being given the biggest trophy in the world (Wimbledon??) and I had to hold myself back from holding her up in triumph!

The first hold!

Both babies were very relaxed today and, mostly, sleepy.  I already get the feeling Clare will be the one that keeps our family calm.  She is so laid back and seems unphased by the change in her environment in the past day.

Clare, calm as can be

Chris took Luke for his first hold.  

Papa Chris and Luke

Yesterday was a rough day for Luke but he showed good progress today and was much more relaxed.  Luke seems likely to be the explorer in our family.  As our visit lengthened, he began to open his eyes to observe who and what was around him. 

Luke lookin' around

Today, Chris and I did start to think the babies were showing some recognizable features.  Clare has long eyelashes (like daddy) and her grandma's chin.  Luke likes to stick his tongue out while he looks around and is quite gassy (both family traits)!  We can't wait to see more of their physical and personality characteristics begin to appear.

In all, we had about a full hour of time with the babies.  One of the nurses came over to help us feed the babies.  She showed us some moves (we will take all the help we can get!) to tuck away for the future. Clare wanted to sleep more than eat, but slowly downed most of her bottle.  Luke sucked his down in a couple of minutes...what a champ!  I think that's why he got the hiccups and then the gas.  

At least they are getting along now!

We can't wait for tomorrow and Visit #3...'The Bathing'.  We will head back to the hospital tomorrow at 11:00.  We also hope to pop in and see our surrogate for a few minutes.  We hope she is recovering well from her surgery.  While it may be difficult to communicate with her (due to the language barrier), Chris and I can't thank her enough for being a part of helping make our family dream come true.  I'll sign off from this post with a couple of photos of two very happy dads.

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe...

Hangin' at the hospital with the Class of 2575