Curry in a hurry [DOH]

I picked up Dylan and took him to lunch at Curry House in Cupertino. We both ordered exactly what we shouldn't be eating these days - Me: masala curry chicken with a huge plate of Japanese rice sprinkled with some seaweed flakes; Dylan: plate of plain spaghetti noodles w/ tons of Parmesan and french fries. Anyhow, we were just about to chow down like gluttons when Jen called. "Good news! Jared went from oscillator to ventillator to CPAP in the last 24 hours. Blake is off the CPAP and doesn't need the canula. Come to the hospital and you can hold Blake while I hold Jared." Wow - these twins are kicking serious butt in week 2 (technically week 33). Dylan and I toasted each other and inhaled our carbs and lard.

I dropped Dylan at Tammie's then went to the NICU. The nurse wanted me to take Blake's temperature (fail!) and change his diaper (I'm a pro) before I got to hold him. Then she placed him in my arms and what can I say, it was pretty special. Blake on the other hand wasn't having me at first - turned all red and dare I say alien-like. After a couple seconds though he calmed down and slept on my chest for an hour - pure loveliness. I gotta say though that these guys are small and even though I've got experience holding newborns I still have that first-time parent trepidation because of their size.


Jared looks exactly like Blake did yesterday because he's wearing the same hat and mask for the CPAP. He's foaming at the mouth from the CPAP just like Blake did too. The nurse said, "they're doing really well now!" I told her that we are grateful for everyones efforts at the NICU.

Yesterday I read that 40,000 preemies with Respiratory Distress Syndrome (RDS) used to die every year (?) in the United States. But because of advancements in medical science in the last few years / decades over 85% of them survive now.

The description of RDS was chilling too - basically the baby comes out of the womb, breathes in and exhales. But since the lungs are immature there is no residual air left in the lungs - it's a complete exhale. The repetition of completely exhaling can exhaust the baby within minutes. In addition, the little sacks that would normally hold residual air collapse and stick together making it progressively harder to breathe. This is when the blood oxygen / CO2 levels start to get all crazy. The blood becomes acidic which constricts the blood vessels in the lungs... etc. etc.. - it's really a crazy downward spiral and the only reason I recount it is so I can better understand the last week. We really had (still do) a piecemeal understanding of what was going on...