In case you haven't heard yet, our twins baby girls were born by Caeserean section at 5:34 am on Thursday, November 9, 2006! We named them Savannah Nicole and Madison Janelle.
Savannah was the first one born, she was 4 pounds, 14 ounces, and was 19.1 inches long.
Madison was born about 30 seconds later, she was 5 pounds, 3 ounces, and was 18.9 inches long.
They are a little premature, born at 33 weeks and 6 days into the pregnancy, so they are little, and need the help of medical equipment right now, but nothing unusual for babies born that early. Twins are considered "full term" at about 38 weeks, but on average, twins are born at about 35 weeks. They are in incubators to help keep their body temperature up and keep them isolated from germs while their immune systems continue to develop, and are hooked up to oxygen machines to help their lungs continue to develop. They have a lot of monitors hooked up to them to measure their oxygen intake, their blood pressure, how many breaths they take per minute, their heart rate, all kinds of stuff. I knew what everything was and what everything meant the first day - we asked a lot of questions. It's hard to see their faces, cause they've got so many hoses and wires and stuff hooked up to them. No worries though, we've been assured that this is normal, and they're perfectly healthy, they just need to be in a controlled environment. We haven't been able to hold them yet, which is hard. They told us that maybe we'll be able to hold them tomorrow. There are doors on the incubator though, and after we scrub our hands thoroughly, we can put our hands through the doors and touch them.
I was surprised at how strong they are, and how they seem to have an understanding of what is going on. When I put my hand in, and I put my finger in their hand, they grab on, and they actually grab on surprisingly tight. And when you try to leave, they grab on tighter, like they don't want you to go. Amazing!
They have long legs like their mama. They have big feet and hands, long fingers and toes. Poor girls got their daddy's feet. But I think they got their mama's skin tone - lucky girls. They are already more tan than I am, and they've never seen the sun. I haven't been able to see their hair yet - they have little hats on to keep them warm, but Erica happened to be in the room when the nurses were cleaning them up, and she said they have light brown hair. Haven't really been able to get a good look at their eyes yet either. They've opened their eyes, but not very wide, and not for very long, and not many times. I think the light is still too much for them. They need more time to adapt.
They will have to be in the hospital for a few weeks, they can't really tell us how long yet - it depends on a lot of factors that are yet to be seen. Erica gets to come home on Monday. She's already had enough of living in the hospital. I don't blame her, it's not much fun. I finally came home tonight - felt like I'd been there for a week, but it was really only a little under two days. I'll be going back in the morning after sleeping in my bed, and getting a shower in the morning - haven't showered since Wednesday morning.
Erica is doing well. She was up and around sooner than most moms that have Caeserans. She's a little sore. I can tell she's uncomfortable, but she's handling it very well.
Hopefully I get to hold the babies tomorrow. I'm anxious to, but a little nervous. I'm 30 years old, and have never held a baby! Sounds impossible, but it's true. Maybe tomorrow's the day.
Since they will be in the hospital for a while, I think I might go back to work on Monday or Tuesday. I have almost 4 weeks of disability time built up at work, so I will take the time off when the babies are able to come home, so I can spend time with them, and help Erica take care of them for a while.
mike beard
Savannah was the first one born, she was 4 pounds, 14 ounces, and was 19.1 inches long.
Madison was born about 30 seconds later, she was 5 pounds, 3 ounces, and was 18.9 inches long.
They are a little premature, born at 33 weeks and 6 days into the pregnancy, so they are little, and need the help of medical equipment right now, but nothing unusual for babies born that early. Twins are considered "full term" at about 38 weeks, but on average, twins are born at about 35 weeks. They are in incubators to help keep their body temperature up and keep them isolated from germs while their immune systems continue to develop, and are hooked up to oxygen machines to help their lungs continue to develop. They have a lot of monitors hooked up to them to measure their oxygen intake, their blood pressure, how many breaths they take per minute, their heart rate, all kinds of stuff. I knew what everything was and what everything meant the first day - we asked a lot of questions. It's hard to see their faces, cause they've got so many hoses and wires and stuff hooked up to them. No worries though, we've been assured that this is normal, and they're perfectly healthy, they just need to be in a controlled environment. We haven't been able to hold them yet, which is hard. They told us that maybe we'll be able to hold them tomorrow. There are doors on the incubator though, and after we scrub our hands thoroughly, we can put our hands through the doors and touch them.
I was surprised at how strong they are, and how they seem to have an understanding of what is going on. When I put my hand in, and I put my finger in their hand, they grab on, and they actually grab on surprisingly tight. And when you try to leave, they grab on tighter, like they don't want you to go. Amazing!
They have long legs like their mama. They have big feet and hands, long fingers and toes. Poor girls got their daddy's feet. But I think they got their mama's skin tone - lucky girls. They are already more tan than I am, and they've never seen the sun. I haven't been able to see their hair yet - they have little hats on to keep them warm, but Erica happened to be in the room when the nurses were cleaning them up, and she said they have light brown hair. Haven't really been able to get a good look at their eyes yet either. They've opened their eyes, but not very wide, and not for very long, and not many times. I think the light is still too much for them. They need more time to adapt.
They will have to be in the hospital for a few weeks, they can't really tell us how long yet - it depends on a lot of factors that are yet to be seen. Erica gets to come home on Monday. She's already had enough of living in the hospital. I don't blame her, it's not much fun. I finally came home tonight - felt like I'd been there for a week, but it was really only a little under two days. I'll be going back in the morning after sleeping in my bed, and getting a shower in the morning - haven't showered since Wednesday morning.
Erica is doing well. She was up and around sooner than most moms that have Caeserans. She's a little sore. I can tell she's uncomfortable, but she's handling it very well.
Hopefully I get to hold the babies tomorrow. I'm anxious to, but a little nervous. I'm 30 years old, and have never held a baby! Sounds impossible, but it's true. Maybe tomorrow's the day.
Since they will be in the hospital for a while, I think I might go back to work on Monday or Tuesday. I have almost 4 weeks of disability time built up at work, so I will take the time off when the babies are able to come home, so I can spend time with them, and help Erica take care of them for a while.
mike beard
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