#16. Size Does Matter

Angels....well....almost.

Someone must be foreshadowing...'We swear we didn't do it!'

Being a Friday night (which with Bangkok TV means watching CNN news on repeat, TLC reruns...yeah for Friday Bride night...or a few other limited options), I decided to take a night off from blogging. This ended up being a good thing given our soon-to-be first 'rough' evening. Though I am pleased to report the little ones are feeding much better now, I also must state they are beginning to dictate their own feeding schedule. Apparently, they don't like the 9AM, 12PM, 3PM, (every 3 hours), etc. schedule we have designed, especially Miss Clare. We had a lot of crying last night well before feeding times. I was 'lucky' to draw the 3AM (more like 2:30 AM) shift and it felt a little like playing the carnival game 'Whackamole'.

This is how I feel during a rough day of teaching as well

Things were non-violent, of course, and we only had two moles to 'Whack', but we had some very pesky moles to deal with that wanted their feed and wanted it NOW! At one point I literally had two bottles simultaneously in the air. Later, it was one down with bottle and one on shoulder to burp (this will be impossible in a couple of weeks when they gain weight, but works for now). Dazed in the middle of the night, I kept directing an extra arm I don't actually have with my mind to help and was frustrated when it didn't assist. Clare wiggles and chirps her way through feedings and Luke usually downs his bottle with eyes shut. Somehow, I/we survived our frantic feeding with 'Squeaks' (Clare must be destined to be a female tennis star) and 'Bubba' (what I have been calling Luke) both taking down 2 oz. What a night!

Yesterday, we had our first official check up appointment at the hospital. Chris was extremely anxious, of course. For once he was full of excitement and interest in numbers, as in grams of weight gain. Before we headed out, we took our first baths in the kitchen sink. We must be showing improvement, because Clare

Hey, this isn't so bad!!

didn't seem to mind this time and made it to her towel with little resistance.

All clean!

Luke, on the other hand,

went back to birth mode and was not as impressed. However, once we got washing his backside,

'Bubba', our little Butterball

he settled down.

Nothing like my terry cloth towel...thanks, Aunt Amy C!

Once everyone was clean, we loaded up the stroller (it's getting a little more snug with both every day) and made our short walk to BNH.

Today's obstacle...a kilometer of power lines, which the workers kindly moved to the side so we could pass

On our way, we stopped off at the food stalls for lunch. This is something we have been wanting to do and we took advantage of a cooler (only high 80's today...the polar vortex is here!) day to grab a bite for only 100 baht (meaning, we had lunch for $3).

Daddy Scott's happy he got his bowl of tom yum gai (spicy Thai chicken soup)

Once we arrived at BNH,

Thais love their royalty

Pictures like this one (on our pedestrian bridge) of the King are everywhere with the message 'Long live the King!'

we had Clare and Luke's temperatures taken and then the all-important weigh-in. Here are the results (with past weights):
                      Birth weight                             Day 4 weight                        Day 6 (today) weight

Clare             2280 grams (5.0 lbs)               2096 grams (4.6 lbs)             2140 grams (4.7 lbs)

Luke             2372 grams (5.2 lbs)                2260 grams (5.0 lbs)            2290 grams (5.04 lbs)

You should have seen the look on Chris' face over the combined gain of 74 grams (that's 74 paper clips!). When looking at the numbers, Dr. Thidawan said it was good progress and we are headed in the right direction. She asked about the feedings and poops and then gave each baby a good look. According to her, things are looking really good for both Bubba and Squeaks....another successful parent/teacher conference! We made a tentative (only if concerned) appointment for next Friday. When Chris paid our bill (a mere 1800 bath...$56.52), we decided we would definitely come back concerned or not (meaning, we will pay $50 for them to tell us we aren't screwing things up again next week!).

In the afternoon, Chris headed to a translator to have our birth certificates (currently in Thai) translated into English, while I stayed home to watch over the little ones.

I totally got the better end of the deal

We will need the English versions of the birth certificates for our appointments next week with the US Embassy (I will be making a blog post soon about our exit process and potential timeline to keep everyone updated). Both Clare

She is all arms and worked very hard to get into this position laying on top of Daddy

and Luke were such cute sleepers during their nap and when Papa Chris came home to help feed them.

Usually sleeps through a 2 oz feeding...what a talented boy!

We thought it might be an appropriate time, before the twins get too big, to give an idea of how tiny they are. So, we had some fun taking pictures with Luke and Clare and here are some of our favorite shots.

Luke and his pink lady (hi, Uncle Jeremy!)

Clare's for dinner

Luke's not impressed with old technology...

...he prefers Papa's laptop with mouse pillow instead

I-phone addict at 7 days...

...we hope she reads books instead (and she hopes we read this one!)

Luke's about the length of Daddy's running shoe

Clare is all abaht the baht

Our two little peas in their Swaddle pods

Clare's head is not quite a handful

Luke's teeny tiny hand

We are headed out for a quick stop next door to get some passport photos for the babies. Given that Luke is awake only about 5% of the day, this should be interesting!

#15. Feeding Frenzy

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.

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)

She also likes to help hold the bottle...or her face

and Luke likes his Avent.

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.

I'm 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,

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.

Luke and Clare's first photo with an elephant

We were even a few minutes early.

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,

I'd rather be drinking that berry smoothie

and I worked with the fussy eater, Clare.

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.

Don't worry baristas, we'll be back!

When we got home, we had to tend to some diaper changes,

Oops!  Someone wasn't finished yet...at least he managed to launch it to a good spot!

and then we spent some time cuddling.

Feelin' safe with that diaper on

A storm came through the city tonight,

Luckily, got my swim in before we got hit

but, like most, it didn't last too long.

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!

#14. Finally Ours!!

Ahhhh...the life of a stay at home dad.  I just wrapped up making our delightful spaghetti dinner (the equipment in this place is pretty sad...flat top electric burners and only 1 pan and 1 pot).  I also snuck in a run right after our last feeding.  There is a really nice area called Lumphini Park (named after Buddha's birthplace in Nepal) just down the road about half a mile. Lots of people out and doing different things...tai chi, running, biking, outdoor gym, swimming, etc. The weather here is brutally hot this time of year, but when the sun starts to go down you can actually get out and exercise.  There were so many people out running around the park path that it felt a bit like running in a marathon.

We are happy to announce that the twins are now officially in our possession!  We woke up a little anxious this morning.  Chris tended to some work emails while I had a swim at our hotel's 25-yd pool.  At 11:00, we headed over to the hospital for what we hoped would be the last time there outside of checkups.

There better be babies in this buggy when we get back

We headed to the 2nd floor of the hospital to meet up with Clare and Luke's pediatrician, Dr. Thidawan. Yesterday, we asked if we should schedule an appointment and she said 'no', but when we tried to check in to today they were so busy they told us to come back at 2:00!  We kept our cool, but you can imagine our tension raised a few levels. Luckily, Dr. T was walking through the busy waiting area a minute later and the receptionist talked to her.  Dr. T waved us into her office and said 'All fine!' meaning we would be a quick 'in and out' appointment and could be on our way.  Phew. Dr. T shared updates and her usual 'na ha's' (this is what some Thais say at the end of a phrase like saying 'ok' or 'understand?').  Clare got straight A's, like usual, and Luke cleared up all of his jaundice issues.  So, she sent us up to the 5th floor nursery to pick up the babies.  Na ha to that.

Once we got to the nursery, we had a little wait for the nursing staff to process our discharge.

One anxious Papa

Our friends were actually in the nursery feeding their babies so we got the chance to see them with their new boys. Soon, we were placed in the feeding area and a nurse shared a lot of information and documents they had prepared for Luke and Clare.  This will be great for when we head home and see our Chicago pediatrician. Then, we were showered with parting gifts.

Did we just lose on a game show??

We actually got a lot of good stuff...diapers, wipes, formula for a couple of weeks (wow!), bottles, entire sets of Johnson's products...and TWO of everything!  Score.  We were a little overwhelmed to be honest. Next, they brought in the cashier to make sure we were paid up.

No pay, no babies

Then, FINALLY, they rolled out Clare and Luke.  At first, Clare seemed sad to be leaving BNH Hospital,

'Dont' send me home with the guys that can't do the bath right!'

but as Chris and the nurse packed the babies into our stroller (we picked this up last night because they are so tiny and won't fit in the equipment we brought...they both fit in the same stroller for now!), she relaxed and realized how lucky she is to be moving in with her two dads.

Away we went!  The hotel is only about a quarter mile from the hospital.  

Bye, bye, BNH

We walked past a bunch of food stalls on the way,

We will have to wheel back here for lunch sometime

and then had to cross our busy street, Thanon Sathon.  

Glad I wore my red polo for today's photo shoot

It was a little like playing 'Frogger', but with Papa 'driving' and Daddy 'navigating', we made it home safe and sound to room 2505.

We slept through the whole thing

We spent the next couple of hours watching them sleep.  We popped in one of our recently purchased videos (I have a feeling we will be doing this a lot and I will be making a trip back to the video shopping place soon).

Making Uncle Jeremy Heckman proud

and watched while waiting for our 3:00 feeding time.  It was funny how we jumped from the couch at every noise coming from the stroller.  I think we were more excited at them waking up at home than worried something was wrong.  Soon, we had eyes opening and it was time for our first 'home' meal. Luke was the first to stir,

Where am I??

and then Clare came to.

Whatever you do, don't give me a bath

We had a couple diaper changes.

There's a lot more where that came from

Then, we did our best to feed them.

Papa and Clare

Daddy and Luke

Unfortunately, at 36 weeks and 4 days (their gestational age) they are two sleepy little babies.

No lullabies needed

Before they completely crashed, we got Luke and Clare together for a sibling picture,

Wearing puppies because we can't wait to meet our dog Trig!

even though they wiggled their way through most of the photo shoot.

All in all, it was a great first day home.  Let's hope it's a great (fingers crossed) first night!

#13. No Luke? No Clare.

It's hard to believe that a week ago today we thought today would be the day that Clare and Luke would be born. They have now been with us for 3 days already.  Today, however, was not as exciting as we hoped it would be. After chasing down the Reclining Buddha and checking out some other sites in the morning, we headed to the hospital hoping to bring the babies home.  We met with the doctor who told us the previous day that it would depend on their numbers, both the weight loss/gain and the jaundice-related statistic (which she presented as anything under 10% is 'good and go home' and anything 10-12% is 'stay one more night').  Clare has lost a tiny bit more weight, but nothing to worry about.  Her jaundice measurement was 7%, so great.  Luke's weight was also fine, but his jaundice measurement was at 10.2%, and, unfortunately, that 0.2% does make a difference.  We were advised to keep him in the hospital overnight so he can be under the lamps and improve.  We were given the option of bringing Clare home today, but we couldn't leave Luke alone tonight. So, we left his sister in the nursery to keep him company.

This was disappointing news for Chris and me.  After traveling now for 2 weeks, we are really craving getting into some sort of routine (as crazy as that will look/be!).  We know staying at the hospital a 4th night is what needs to be done.  I think it will make their discharge from the hospital even more exciting tomorrow.  As eager as we are, we have to remember how fortunate we are they made it to 36 weeks.  Though we avoided having the kids need to stay in the NICU, they are still premature and need a little extra TLC.  Our time will come to be able to finally have these babies all to ourselves.

With the unfortunate news, we took our subdued spirits to the nursery to see the babies.  We 'bathed' Clare...meaning the nurse actually did most of the job...we failed!  We have some things to work on with the bath part for sure.  We sat and held both Luke and Clare for about an hour and tried feeding them. Clare was awake most of the time but was stubborn to feed.  We never saw Luke's big blue eyes today. The boy needed his sleep and had no interest in his bottle.  We are hoping this was our last hourly visit with the kids. As much as we've enjoyed the hospital and the nursing staff, it's time to bring these babies home.  

No pics today, but I did update post #12 Fathers Last Freedom with our morning adventure if you want some visual stimulation.  Hoping to have a more upbeat post with lots of pics tomorrow.