Well, we all survived our first night together! We did learn that apparently Clare is nocturnal. Papa Chris got suckered into spending a good deal of the night laying with her while she cooed with eyes wide open.
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| Papa's little girl in the making |
Two ounces. Just a tiny bit more than a shot. I've never timed myself throwing back a shot, but I've been timing our children every three hours. Sometimes it takes 30 minutes, sometimes an hour, and sometimes the two ounces aren't even finished (we've settled for one a couple times). Our whole lives right now are consumed by trying to get these preterm babies that weigh about 5 lbs. to swallow two damn ounces of formula. Ah, the joys of the beginning of parenting.
Once we fill the bottles up, it's go time. (Insert Rocky theme song) We immediately turn into bottle sucking cheerleaders and get excited for every painfully slow quarter ounce that goes down.
Clare showing her stuff
Luke suckin' it down
We've been reading that preemies are particularly difficult during early feedings. Their stomachs are smaller as well as their attention spans (Clare!). Our kids don't have trouble latching on, but then they stay attached and fall asleep. We've tried various forms of awakenings. Sometimes they wake up and sometimes they don't. They don't seem to like the bottles we brought for the trip, either. I don't know if it's the softer nipple, the color, or if they just don't like the brand Playtex. Luckily, having won the array of parting gifts from the hospital yesterday, we have found Clare prefers her Pigeon bottles (no surprise given her nocturnal chirping)
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| She also likes to help hold the bottle...or her face |
and Luke likes his Avent.
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| Two ounces or bust |
It's actually a blessing they like different ones since we currently only have two of each!
The highlight of our day was our first family outing to visit a Thai lawyer. So, we packed everything up and set out for the office building...about a 20 minute walk.
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| Im driving today |
Things weren't quite as difficult as yesterday when we played Frogger crossing a major street, but there were still a few hurdles. We had the uneven pavement you seem to find in every big city,
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| Staying the course |
motorcyles driving towards us on the sidewalk (this is actually legal here...and people complain about bikes on the sidewalks back home!), and not enjoying the pedestrian luxuries we are accustomed to where the green walk light actually means we can cross a street without fear of being steamrolled. Despite the obstacles, we made it to the office building to visit with the lawyer.
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| Luke and Clare's first photo with an elephant |
We were even a few minutes early.
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| We slept through the whole walk |
After visiting the lawyer, we headed back to the hotel and found our new favorite place...a nice coffee shop next door with comfortable couches. This will prove to be a convenient (and comfortable) place to conduct some of our future feedings (and get us out of room 2505!). We also had a lot of people coming over to have a look at our babies. Thais love little children and we are enjoying the interactions. Papa fed Luke,
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| I'd rather be drinking that berry smoothie |
and I worked with the fussy eater, Clare.
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| I won't let you down, Daddy |
Both kids downed their two ounces (woohoo!) and we are already seeing improvements with their feedings. It's crazy how one week ago excitement was foot massages and having drinks on a road called Bar Street, and now it's all about watching the amount of liquid in a plastic bottle disappear, sometimes slower than an hourglass, so our babies can gain their weight! Chris and I left the coffee shop beaming over the progress.
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| Don't worry baristas, we'll be back! |
When we got home, we had to tend to some diaper changes,
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| Oops! Someone wasn't finished yet...at least he managed to launch it to a good spot! |
and then we spent some time cuddling.
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| Feelin' safe with that diaper on |
A storm came through the city tonight,
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| Luckily, got my swim in before we got hit |
but, like most, it didn't last too long.
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| Same view a few minutes later |
For dinner tonight, I took about 350 baht (about $11) to the food stalls on Convent Road. It was kind of like a game to find us something to eat on the street with the budget. Convent was full of bargains tonight! I found us some chicken and then ran into 7/11 for some 'supplies' (buy one get one free on paper towels tonight...I couldn't read the sign but luckily the kids at the store filled me in), and was able to stay under budget. Tomorrow, Chris and I will attempt our first non-nurse aided baths (this will likely prompt a blog post). We will also head over to the hospital in the afternoon for a Day 6 checkup with the pediatrician. We are hoping to see some weight gain and have a good report on the twins!
