Life As Parents

When other parents say the first few weeks of your baby's life will be a blur, they really mean it. Especially with twins, I find it even harder to keep up and remember all the funny little things that have happened over the last 10 days.

Meghan bought us two Pooh Bear calendars that allow us to keep track of all the "firsts" that the twins will have. That has helped a lot but there are also other moments that I want to remember as well. For example, their "mah mah", grandmother on father's side, just informed me that while changing Daniel's diaper, he peed on his head............twice. Hehe!! Daniel also likes to sleep with both arms behind his head while Alexander will sleep on his side. We don't know how that happens but that's how we usually find them when it's time to wake them up for a feeding.

The hospital stay was not as pleasant as I would have thought it would be. Adjusting to the pain after a c-section and being a first time parent provides a very steep learning curve. Michael has taken up a lot of the responsibilities though. He is the best baby feeder and burper and he's the one who deals with bath time. In those areas, I'm only his assistant. Trying to breastfeed has also been quite a challenge. I'm resolved to pumping as much as I can and that sometimes leaves me feeling like a dairy cow more than a mother.

I do remember laughing a lot during our hospital stay. As new parents, there are a lot of things we tried figuring out as we went along and that usually resulted in some hilarious moments........and then me clutching my incision site, telling Michael to stop making me laugh. I wish I could remember what some of those moments were but they are now just a distant memory, replaced with exhaustion.

I think one of the moments that I will forever cherish the most is sleeping with both babies in my arms while in the hospital. Our room would get quite chilly at night and the babies could not keep themselves warm in their drafty little corner. So usually when they awoke, Michael would feed them and place one baby on each side of me in the crook of my arm. Then we would all get tucked in and snuggly under the blanket. With all the pillows propped up under my arms, there would be no way the babies could roll off or get smooshed in the side of the bed and they would be nice and warm next to me. And if one of the babies woke and started to cry, I could easily rock them back to sleep. Oh they're so precious! I'm so in love with them! =)

My So Called Birthing Experience

We arrived at the hospital a little past 9:00am on March 10, 2010, after getting the call that my C-section could be moved up. We were admitted and brought into the prep area for surgery. That is where they place the IV in you and the anaesthesiologist discusses with you about the spinal. I also saw my attending OB, who had just arrived at the hospital, and we chatted for a bit before she left to find out who would be assisting her on the surgery since there were no residents that day (academic day).

So first off, the IV.......I did freak out again because of the 16 gauge needle, but the nurse did give me a little local anaesthesia before inserting that IV. I also decided it was a great time to curse at Michael for all the pain I was about to be in, because I had missed the chance having not gone into labour. Once the IV was in, I was brought into the OR suite where the anaesthesiologist prepped my back for the spinal. Unfortunately, Michael was not allowed to accompany me into the room for the spinal. The doctor said it was standard procedure. The spinal itself is wasn't very painful. It did brush some nerves as it was getting to that sweet spot and that caused a sharp twang in my spine but it was all good once the numbness started to spread. The best way I can describe the feeling is like when you get freezing for a filling. You can feel movement/pressure etc. but no pain. I didn't even know they had started the procedure once the spinal kicked in. I did have some nausea and a terrible time with the shakes which is common.

Once I was all ready and the curtain was raised, they invite the husband to come in and sit by my head. The pediatrician who is on-call that day introduces himself. He was Michael's PBL tutor once upon a time. Everyone is chatting as the procedure occurs and Michael is talking with his fellow colleagues as it goes quite well. At this time, I'm told they are close to retrieving the first baby. Then all of sudden I heard the first cry and all I could do is cry myself. They quickly rush Daniel to his own observation area and move on to pull out the second baby. My OB did have a chance to lift the second baby over the curtain to show me once he was out........all I remember was seeing a head and then a little face covered in some grey gunk. He did not cry right away like his brother but eventually he did once they got him going.

Once the babies are all cleaned and swaddled they brought them over so I could kiss them and coo. At this point they had stopped crying and were just eagerly looking around at the world. Don't know how much they could see though.

Baby A is Daniel Wong and was born at 10:27am weighing 6 lbs 2oz

Baby B is Alexander Wong and was born at 10:28am weighing 5lbs 6oz.

Michael would go back and forth taking pictures, holding them, and wait for the OB to finish closing me up. The babies are given a clean bill of health and do not require any time in the nursery. Once they finished, I was wheeled into the recovery room with a twin in each arm. At that point, I could finally have something to drink since I was not allowed to drink anything since 3am the night before. They encourage you to try and breast feed quite soon after the delivery, and are actually quite militant about it. The also trumpet this "skin-to-skin" bullcrap a little excessively. Unfortunately, breastfeeding was not happening for me. The babies just would not latch. I think it's because they were so small.

After a little while, I was moved into our own small private room in the Dogwood ward and family was welcome to come and see the babies for the first time.

No labour but the babies are here and most importantly are healthy.

Today's the Big "C" Day!!

I've made it to 37.5 weeks!!! We got a call at 7:30am from the hospital to come in a little earlier because the previous patient had already delivered. So here I am sitting, waiting for Meghan and my mom to arrive at the apartment so we can head off for the c-section.

I have heartburn but I can't have any rootbeer. I can't eat but I'm craving a hit of sugar. The babies are already up and moving around. Maybe they're excited for today.

I won't lie, I'm kinda scared, even though Michael has tried to calm my nerves. The last time I was in the hospital for a procedure was when I was 4 years old so that doesn't really count. I had a meltdown a couple days ago about the IV already. I will try to be brave and keep reminding myself that this is all for the health and safety of my two unborn children. I'm not afraid to meet my maker should anything go wrong. Morbid, I know but it's the truth.

Oh my, I'm gonna be a mom!!

P.S.- Michael discovered our babies will share the same birthday and Chuck Norris and Osama Bin Laden. That's what he gets for cracking all of those jihad jokes.