OC SF Connect

Jared's Home

2009-04-17T20:31:00.000-07:00

Jared came home on Sunday April 12th. We've been late in posting the news because of course it's been too crazy to sit at a computer for any length of time (twitter is superior to blogging in this regard - I've been tweeting progress reports the whole time). First couple days we're not bad and we thought we were heading toward having a good system. The last couple of days have been rough because the twins are constipated / gassy / refluxish and grunt or cry pretty much all night - chaos. Everyone is cranky - so if you call and we bark please excuse us :)

Blake is Home

2009-04-10T18:10:00.000-07:00

Blake came home yesterday - wish I could say it was perfect, but Dylan woke up at 4:00am the night before and I had to hang out w/ him from 4-6:30am. I ended up catching a little bug. I've been sick 3 times in the 2 months the twins have been in the NICU!

Jen went to the NICU around 2pm and Dylan, Mrs. Chu and I followed soon after. Since I couldn't go into the NICU w/ my sickness Dylan and I went looking for ambulances - we ended up at the snack machine and I bought him some kettle corn. Next thing you know Mrs. Chu comes out and says there getting ready to bring Blake out. The double doors opened and out comes Jen in a wheelchair holding Blake in the bucket seat. Needless to say, we had an epic sleepless night w/ Blake not sleeping more than a 2 hour stretch. Beat down broken down to the very last compound... Uhh - we think he needs to adjust to the new environment and maybe misses his twin Jared. We called the NICU and they said that Jared had never slept better! More room to himself. Guess we know Jared is type A and Blake is type B. Stay tuned for the Jared's homecoming.

Best Picture Yet

2009-04-08T13:02:00.000-07:00

Jen's Mom took this one - too cute.

Finish Line

2009-04-05T22:35:00.000-07:00

We're getting close to bringing these boys home. I've been back to the NICU the last 2 days and the boys look a lot bigger than just a week ago. They're off the gavage and nippling all their feeds. Also they're "ad lib" feeding, basically feeding on their cue, instead of every three hours. It's almost been 2 months in the NICU - we plan to bring the nurses and doctors either Kara's cupcakes or pizza on discharge day. Very exciting.

More Time

2009-03-29T22:00:00.000-07:00

This is going to be another quick update since I'm not going to the hospital tonight and need to use this time to catch up some sleep! Its Dave's turn to be sick so he's been out of commission with a flu since Friday. I'm trying to hold up the fort, take care of Dylan and the boys and somehow manage to take care of myself....

This week started off pretty well for the boys. Feeding was moving along and we were kind of on a roll at 4 out of 8 nipple feeds so the doc increased them to 6 out of 8 nipple feeds. But then they started to have consistent choking episodes along with their desats and general fatigue for several days. I think it was just a little too much for them. We want feeding to be a positive and pleasurable experience for everyone so today the doc reduced them back to 4 out of 8 nipple feeds. They just need more time to mature their suck/swallow/breathe coordination and pacing especially during letdowns.

Jared was given a blood transfusion (his 2nd in the NICU) on Friday night. He also got a dose of lasic for fluid retention today.

Both are having another eye exam tomorrow to check for ROP.
Blake weighed 4lbs, 11oz on Sat.
Jared weighed 4lbs, 8oz on Sat.

Blake's also been off the nasal canula for about 3-4 days now. Seems like this time its for good. This is the 4th try.

Storytime

2009-03-23T00:03:00.000-07:00

Just got back from another late night at the hospital with the boys. They were both wide awake when I arrived and breastfed well but still had desats. Both are so hungry and suck well so sometimes they don't even stop themselves. I have to pull them off and stimulate them to remember to breathe.

Blake's taking 39cc and Jared's taking 37cc per feed.
Current weight is: Blake 4lbs, 5oz and Jared 4lbs.

They are both being given epigen (sp?) to increase the growth of red blood cells (shot MWF) and a diuretic (daily oral).

Our guesstimate discharge date is another 10 days? We'll see how far off we are or if we've guessed right! The docs and ourselves are taking their cues and watching them closely. They will let us know when they are ready. At the moment, they just need more time to coordinate suck, swallow and breathing with their feeds and are still weaning off the oxygen although the assistance is minimal at this point. In the meantime, we are getting their room ready and trying to tie up any other loose ends around the house. Lots of things to do and very little time!

Tonight just before I left, I had a short storytime session with them. I read 2 books Do You Love Me Mama and Going to Bed. Both guys were attentive and seemed to enjoy it. I gave them each a binky and wished them SWEET DREAMS. Good night Jared, good night Blake!

Back to the NICU

2009-03-17T22:54:00.000-07:00

I've been going back to the NICU to see the kids again. My first day back was Saturday. Blake and Jared are in the open plastic cribs that you see typical newborns in. They have a lot less wires attached and their color seems better in general. They've been sleeping like angels...

Today the doctor said they may be coming home as soon as two weeks from now (i'm convinced it'll be more like 3wks)! Truth be told,we were a bit taken aback. Of course we're excited too, but the twins are tiny and are still getting half of their feeds through a tube. They seem so fragile...Jen and I both said "Can't we all stay here longer?". It's funny because that's how we both felt when we had Dylan - on the day we were discharged we asked, "Can we stay another day?". They laughed at us.

Today when Jen was feeding Blake, he had a desat episode. His blood oxygen level gets low because he forgets to breathe or he does shallow breathing. The alarm goes on and if the level gets in the low 80 / 70's you have to pull him off and rub his back and wake him up so he starts to breathe again. He also turns bluish. I finished his feed with the bottle and it happened again. It's not uncommon for preemies to desat, but it is unnerving to see your baby turn blue. Thankfully it doesn't happen too often. Jen just got back from the NICU this very moment and said the night feeds went great!

We should feel more confident and we will by the time they come home - we've taken care of a newborn before. But this will be different and require more attention, care and of course worry. The nurse said, "(when you take them home) these aren't babies you can feed while talking on the phone. You have to watch them, pay attention to make sure they're doing okay." Jen and I will have to refresh our CPR and learn the techniques for bottle feeding these little guys. Over the next few weeks we'll be in preemie care bootcamp! Exciting.

The nurses took some pix of the twins after their bath w/ their fuzzy hair dos. Enjoy.

A Quick Update

2009-03-15T17:13:00.000-07:00

What's the latest and greatest with the twins?

These days the boys have just been busy feeding and growing! They have 1 feed every 3 hrs (8 total) each day. Beginning today, we will up their breastfeeds from 1 to 2 times a day. In addition to the breast, they are getting 1 bottle a night and the other 5 feeds are still through the feeding tube. This means I am now going to the hospital twice a day and spending lots of quality time(4 hours a day) with them.

Jared weighs 3lbs, 11oz and Blake weighs 3lbs, 13oz as of yesterday! They also had baths the other day and their hair was nice, clean and fluffy like little chicks! The nurses were nice enough to take pics, so cute.... I'll have to post them later tonight.

The boys will have eye exams on Monday.

I took my mom for a quick visit yesterday before her flight home around 5pm. When I returned at 10pm for their feeds, Jared's nurse informed me that Jared woke up shortly after I left at 5:30pm and hadn't gone back to sleep. It was quite a long time for a preemie to be awake. She said he's a smartie.... he knew what he wanted which was to be held and rocked and figured out how to get it! Uh-oh.

Two Peas in a Pod

2009-03-10T21:11:00.000-07:00

The twins are finally back together....last night they were moved into an open-air bed and are now co-bedding. All their official cribs are being used so they put us in a makeshift crib and we will wait for the next available one. They look so cute together!! I know they will encourage each other and keep each other company for the rest of their time in the NICU.

We weighed Jared for the first time today before and after his recreational breastfeeding session. He's usually the bigger eater so we wanted to see how much he is actually getting. Today he drank 7ml from me. They said that was a great job!! Go Jared!!

Last night they also took out both of the twins' nasal canulas. Blake is doing great without but Jared still needed just a bit so they put his back in this morning.

Steady Now

2009-03-09T19:53:00.000-07:00

Time is flying by these days..... the twins are technically 3 wks and 2 days old! We hope they will come home around 38 wks so I'm still counting by adjusted age which means they beginning their 35th week tomorrow!

We seem to be "last weeks news" now that they are completely stable and moving on a normal preemie track. A couple ways to tell your babies are getting better: 1) less nursing attention. Jared and Blake use to each have their personal 1 on 1 nurse 24/7 but are now sharing a nurse, sometimes even with another baby. I was also getting used to the nursing attention and now I find I'm having to help myself to footstools and nursing pillows. boo-hoo! I'm often wondering, Hello! Where is everyone? They must have gone on break? 2) less wires and equipment. Blake has been moved to a smaller, less complex isolette bed and Jared will be moving shortly. Both have nasal canulas for minimum oxygen and feeding tubes through the nose for breast milk and fortifier. Both had their PICC (IV) lines taken out as well.

I'm spending about 2hrs a day at the NICU. I recreational breastfeed each and spend time cradling them and inspecting them (trying to differentiate the two). The past couple days I'm also cuddling them chest to chest so they can hear my heartbeat. This is the closest reminder of being in the womb. I'm also changing diapers (poopy ones too) and taking their temperatures.

Breastfeeding is coming along slowly. They both latch, suck for a bit and draw out some milk but they just don't have the capacity to swallow. It then results in them pulling off and sometimes desaturating (a dip in their oxygen level or heart rate). The nipple shield has helped quite a bit and in due time, they'll get the hang of it. They are starting to gain weight now that they are on full feeds every 3hrs. As of today, Blake is 3lbs 11oz and Jared is 3lbs 8oz!!

First Feeds

2009-03-05T13:52:00.000-08:00

It's Thursday, March 5th. The boys are doing well, just coasting this week! Jared is still on his nasal canula with minimum oxygen and caffeine. Blake is still doing great with open air.

This week's focus is on feedings! Both boys are at full feeds beginning last night which means 28ml every 3 hours through a gavage feeding tube. One of the nurses told me that we would start recreational breastfeeding in a few days. But to my surprise, when i walked in on Tuesday they said," Want to try now?"
Basically, we are just introducing them to idea of breastfeeding, familiarizing them with the nipple and trying to stimulate them. Full term babies have this capacity but preemies need to be taught the process of latching, sucking and swallowing. It uses a great deal of their energy.

Blake was first up to bat! At first, he looked around. Still groggy from waking up and probably wondering what is this thing 1 inch from my face. He heard my voice and smelled my scent and was able to look at me with open eyes. He did a good job! He latched a few times with a little direction and was even able to take a few sucks. Then he did what he always does which is pass out and sleep peacefully for as long as you are willing to hold him.

Now Jared's turn. This little guy has a lot of fight in him. He was also able to latch and he actually sucked out some milk but then pulled back realizing it was going to be a bit much energy to swallow which he can't quite do on his own. The nurses were impressed with his intuitive decision to stop.

So this is what I've been doing the last couple days. My mom has been coming with me. We take turns cuddling the little guys and watching them make facial expressions, hiccuping, opening their eyes, and just sleeping. We've decided they are identical but Jared is slightly smaller and Blake has a dimple on his right cheek! Check out the pics!

Dave is banned from the NICU because he tried to take the babies home in his back pack. Just kidding... he has the cold that has been going around the Valley - he got it the first day he went back to work.

Milk

2009-03-02T23:15:00.000-08:00

Blake and Jared are both continuing to improve. Jared is on the nasal cannula and Blake is breathing on his own completely. Blake has some spurts where he tends to breathe really fast, but so far it's nothing to worry about. The twins are moving on to become "feeders and growers" say the nurses. We are ecstatic about that.

Jen will start offering the boob, oops I mean recreational breast feeding tomorrow. She has to pump first and then offer the breast as to not douse them with the fire hose of milk she's producing. We have an entire freezer full of frozen milk for these little guys. If you have extra freezer space and live in Mountain View let us know!

Right now, the nurses feed Blake 8ml every 3 hours and Jared 6ml every 3 hours through a gavage (nasal tube). They are increasing the feeds by 2ml every 12 hours. Afterwards they draw some of the milk back up the tube to check if there are any digestion problems. So far so good.

Yesterday my mom, brother and dad visited the twins (my dad sat outside cuz he has a cough). Today Jen's mom visited. I took Blake's temperature, changed his diaper and held him during my lunch hour (the hospital is 7 minutes away from work). Blake was alert and awake for the first 15 minutes, looking at me and checking stuff out - I'm sure he just sees fuzzy shapes for right now (they're only 34 weeks tomorrow). Every time there was a loud noise he would jump and make the cutest grimace. The nurse asked me to kiss his head before he went back in the crib. Jared's been really fussy lately when we visit. The nurses flip him in all sorts of positions to make him happy and we use our hands to sort of swaddle and comfort him. Today he was sleeping so angelically I didn't want to disturb him.

Curry in a hurry [DOH]

2009-02-27T21:55:00.000-08:00

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...

Diaper Day

2009-02-26T22:43:00.000-08:00

Today's visit was low-key. Both guys were sleeping very contently when we arrived at the hospital so we didn't want to bother them too much. Blake is doing well on his CPAP and they think he will move up to the nasal canula breathing machine very soon. Jared moved to the regular ventilator. They are going to remove his umbilical arterial since we are pushing 2 weeks and insert a peripheral arterial so they can continue blood gas measurements.

As I was about to leave, the nurse asked if I wanted to change Blake's diaper. Another milestone! Although I was successful at removing the dirty diaper, I wasn't so smooth in getting the new one on. I'm still very cautious and not confident in handling these little guys. It's going to take some practice.

Dave thinks they have his nose. I disagree, but you know these things change all the time the first few years.

Alright nighty nite.

Hold Em

2009-02-25T19:33:00.000-08:00

David and I took his mom for her first time to visit the twins at the NICU. To my surprise, the nurses asked if I would like to hold Blake?? "I'm scared," I said. "I think he would really like it," they replied. They disconnected all his wires and wheeled his CPAP oxygen machine closer to me and I held my baby for about 45 minutes. He slept peacefully and stirred just a bit. I was able to give him a pacifier which he absolutely loved. So tiny, so precious, so fragile but at the same time strong! It takes strength to endure everything they've gone through in the past 10 days.

It was a wonderful, unexpected milestone. Of course this is the only day we didn't bring our camera so here are pics from David's iPhone.

As far as updates, both are doing as good as can be, finally starting to kick the wicked nasty virus.

Jared will go from 2 lasic? doses to 1 lasic dose a day to decrease the fluid his body retained. He's currently being fed my milk by a dropper in the cheek but will start taking a 2ml every 6 hrs through the feeding tube directly to the stomache like his brother.

Blake had a xray and his collapsed lobe in his right lung is looking much better but he will continue his mist treatment for another day or so. His feedings are going well.

Steps Forward

2009-02-24T23:30:00.000-08:00

Blake ripped off his ventilator tube today. That was a sign for the doctors that he's ready to come off of it. Now he's using a CPAP which gives oxygen and makes it easier for him to breathe but does not breathe for him. Doc said that's a big step for him, but doesn't mean that he won't go back on the vent. Sometimes premies don't have the rib / chest cavity muscles to breathe on their own for a long time. They can get tired the nurses told me and have to work up to it. Everything else with him is the same. He got another transfusion today.

Jared is still on the oscillator but off his blood pressure medicine completely for now. That's progress too though it'd be great if he could get off the oscillator. He's looking a bit bloated and jaundiced. Lasic (?), the diuretic should help that. They gave him some tummy time today. I can tell he hates that big rigid tube sticking into his mouth and into his trachea...

I can tell we'll be spending lots more time at the NICU once J & B get a little more solid. I got to touch Jared's head yesterday and hold Blake's pacifier in today. So fun.

Update Monday 2/23

2009-02-23T22:27:00.000-08:00

We went to the NICU around 10:30am when Dylan was at preschool. This was Jen's first time back since being discharged. I'm sure the boys were happy to hear Jen's voice. We met with the social worker that gave us a good overview of what to expect in general with premies - lots of two steps forward one step back. She also gave us a load of good reading. Then we met with the doctor and he gave us our semi-daily update...

Jared is still on the oscillator - they had to turn the settings up a bit. They lowered his dopamine level from 10 to 8. This means his blood pressure is doing a bit better. Chest x-rays still cloudy. He's still being given the diuretic to get some of the fluid out of his body. They don't know when he'll be off the oscillator... could be days could be weeks. His infection was more severe than Blake's. They put some ear muffs over his ears so he's not so bothered by the sound of the oscillator... pretty cute - I should take a picture.
Blake is doing a bit better. However, a chest x-ray revealed that the upper lobe of his right lung is collapsed. They started some drug that's the more dilute cousin of the drug they give people with asthma to get the crud out (technical term). By the end of the night the drug seemed to be somewhat effective.. they'll continue this till the condition resolves. The ventilator settings are coming down so he's doing more breathing on his own. He's also on the diuretic and so looks less bloated today. The nurse says that "he's doing pretty well... and should tell his brother Jared how its done." The nurses are cool.
Both will need to get a peripheral arterial (???) put in... which is a quick way to draw blood for the numerous blood tests they both receive when monitoring there blood gases - they've been using an umbilical arterial but it gets all gross as the umbilical cord dries up... both are anemic and are getting blood transfusions... both need to start some feeding when they're 10 to 14 days old. Blake's getting some drops of Jen's milk in his mouth to stimulate enzymes and prime the gut (technical term). Jared needs to get off his oscillator before this can happen. Go Jared Go!
There's a couple of other things but I need to start bringing a notepad to write down everything the doctors say - its a lot to take in. We're starting to get to know the different personalities of the doctors and nurses. Some love to talk... some can't tone down the jargon... some are more serious.

That's it for today.

Roller Coaster Ride

2009-02-22T18:53:00.000-08:00

Looking back I feel so naïve. When Jared and Blake were first born everything seemed normal and fine. They were typical 31 and a half week old preemies that would just live and be cared for at the NICU until they reached their full term until we could bring them home. Little did I know that we were just boarding the wild NICU roller coaster ride.

The first 48 hours seemed pretty normal for the twins. Dave had to sign some consent forms to have an umbilical catheter type of device put in. They would administer a steroid to help the twins with lung development.

48 hrs after the birth more complications began. Here’s a list summarizing the issues the twins have or are dealing with this first week:

Respiratory issues started first. Both of the twins had to go on ventilators. Their lungs were not only premature, but they were dealing with a bacterial or viral infection (most likely my flu). The x-rays a week into it are still cloudy.
Received antibiotics in case infection was bacterial
Blood pressure issues. Both guys were given dopamine to regulate their blood pressure. Additionally they were give a blood transfusion to boost blood pressure and replenish blood levels. Additionally after that they were given fresh frozen plasma to stabilize their blood pressure. Jared is still dealing with blood pressure issues
High Levels of CO2 – related respiratory issue, both guys are switched to oscillators that helps them take 100 quick short breaths per minute instead of normal breaths
Jaundice. Both have jaundice and are being treated with phototherapy.
Echocardiogram confirmed PDA (Patent Ductus Arteriosus) – a duct in the heart that doesn’t close which is the most common heart disease for premies. Medicine was administered that helps the duct close. Jared’s opening closed after 1 round of medicine. Blake had 2 rounds of medicine and his has closed considerably but not fully. However, the doctor doesn’t feel surgery is needed at this time.
Fluid problems - Blake is retaining his fluids causing him to appear a bit bloated. They are giving him a diuretic. It's hard to find the balance w/ everything else going on.

At this point in time Blake is off the oscillator and the dopamine. His blood pressure is fine and he is on the ventilator until his lungs improve.

Jared went off the oscillator to the ventilator but had to go back on it. His blood pressure is still problematic.

So at this point our expectations for the 5-7 weeks Jared and Blake will stay in the NICU are more sobered. We anticipate hiccups and more challenges but hope for them to progress overall. We just have to wait and give them more time to recover. It pains us to see them in this condition at the start of their lives and accordingly will be spoiling them rotten when they come home!

Jared and Blake Have Landed

2009-02-22T18:50:00.000-08:00

The twins were born one week ago today! I can’t really say if the first week has gone by slow or fast cause I feel somewhat frozen in time. It’s definitely been a busy week, so much has happened and our lives are forever changed…

First things first – our birth story. I contracted some nasty upper respiratory flu/sore throat bug Tuesday, Feb. 10th and was pretty much bedridden with a fever and chills for 3 days. I can’t tell you how many times I coughed and blew my nose. I must have used at least 1 roll of toilet paper a day. This is the worst flu I’d ever experienced and of course, I happened to be carrying twins. My poor body! My poor babies! By Friday, Feb 13th the flu wasn’t letting up and my body just said ‘no more’. Jared wasn’t having it either – he wanted out! I went to bed at 10pm and then 15 minutes later my water broke. Houston, we got a big problem!! Jared had ruptured his sack in protest of the flu.

I went to the bathroom and of course Dave was geeking out online. I said “I think my water broke.” His face turned pale – his laptop couldn’t help us now. I called my doctor, he said to go to the hospital to have it checked out. Dylan was sleeping – sick with the flu from hell too. We called our neighbor to baby sit – thank god she was home. She hurried over and soon we were on our way to El Camino Hospital – no birth plan, no suitcase, no camera, no nothing. The drive over felt like the “calm before the storm” though it was storming heavily outside.

We got to El Camino Labor and Delivery around 10:30pm. They set us up in the private room and made us wait. We watched some crappy TV. They said that it was a busy night – tons of deliveries, seems to happen with the stormy weather and Friday the 13ths.

11pm or so the nurse comes in and does a check. “Yep. You’re water broke.” She then goes on to tell us that the sack is only ruptured and that they have drugs that can forestall labor. She thinks I’ll just have to stay in the hospital for 2 weeks or so till I deliver. We start to feel relieved – 2 more weeks would mean 34 weeks. The twins would be pretty close to full term by then. Big sigh of relief. We call Dave’s brother to come down to relieve the baby sitter.

Next, I get an IV line and my doctor shows up. He says that the plan is to administer steroids to develop the babies lungs and give me drugs to stop the contractions. He hopes we can get 48 hours until delivery. Whoa, that’s a lot less than 2 weeks but still 48 hours would give us some time. At first the medicine seemed to work, the contractions were slowing down and weakening. Dave went home to take care of Dylan because he’d been waking up in the middle of the night from being sick.

For about 3-4 hours (after midnight), I thought we’d be okay. My doctor had just left my bedside and said he’d check back in a few hours. Then all of a sudden, the contractions started to creep back and became stronger and then more frequent. Within a matter of hour or so, I was in excruciating pain asking for pain relief. The nurse checked me out and I was 6cm dilated. They paged my doctor back to the hospital. The twins were coming out and there was nothing anyone could do about it. Epidural!!! I call Dave at 5:45am… he’s groggy but wakes up in an instant when I tell him its show time.

Dave gets to the hospital and within the hour I’m fully dilated. They wheel me into cesarean room just in case. It’s a madhouse… there are 10 people in the room – 6 NICU people (3 per baby), 2 nurses, an anesthesiologist and my doctor. It’s the complete opposite of when we delivered Dylan, where it was mainly one nurse and Dave.

The delivery goes smoothly. I push Jared out. They show him to me and then wheel him off to the NICU. 15 minutes later I push Blake out and they wheel him to the NICU too. The only speed bumps during the delivery were when my doctors cell phone rang and he wanted the nurse to try to help him answer it (Ladies and Gentlemen please power down your cell phones!) and dealing with the placenta afterwards. Without going into too much detail, it was something out of an Aliens movie. I’d rather forget.

An hour later, I’m eating bacon and eggs in the recovery room. Whoohoo! I’m also still fluish – boohoo! Dave goes to the NICU to check on Jared and Blake. My legs finally stop shaking from the adrenaline and the epidural. Quite an 11 hours we just had.

We got a video camera!

2006-03-14T17:01:00.000-08:00

We're slackers... we were supposed to buy a video camera before Dylan was born - in fact it was on my list of things to do that got interrupted when Dylan landed early. Anyways, we finally broke down and bought a Sony MiniDV from Costco. Dylan is smiling a lot more these days - the authentic smiles - not just the 'I have released my gas so I'm smiling' kind. It really does give you the warm fuzzies when you see it.

I hate researching electronics because it can be endless... especially when you don't know anything about the class of product. What goes into a video camera purchase? MiniDV vs. DVD? What level of optical zoom? Battery life? Mounting options? Ugh. I'd rather be watching American Idol! ha.
My threshold for satisficing is pretty low w/ this stuff... i usually go off recommendations, whatever info i can get in less than 10 minutes and brand. Costco is the ultimate decision minimizer. COSTCO == never get ripped off. by the way have you tried their roast chicken - yum.

anyways, sorry for not posting everyone - we're busy being parents. look for some video clips reaaaaal sooooooooon.

Our Backpack

2006-01-30T23:29:00.000-08:00

Jen's mom went back to Irvine so we're flying Han Solo w/ Dylan. I'm 'work from home' this week to help Jen out while she gets a routine down.

We did a lot of prep stuff before Dylan came... thought i'd share this partial 'TO DO' list. If you're a nerd like me you probably enjoy 37 signals products. If not, check 'em out - great online todo list and backpack is tight.

See what I got for my bday this year.......

2006-01-24T01:00:00.000-08:00

Prior to Dylan's arrival, when I first started hearing people refer to such a term as a "birth story," I thought it was a little cheesy. But after my delivery, all of a sudden it all makes sense I am now in the "know" and have a birth story to tell............now I am hearing ladies telling their birth stories right and left and believe it or not, I find them very entertaining becauses each one is unique! So here's how mine goes:

I turned 33 on Wed., Dec. 29th and had a celebration dinner with my cousins at Los Altos Grill. This place serves huge portions of MEAT and I found myself not hungry even though before my eyes were mouth watering ribs, prime rib, coselaw to die for, and herbed mashed potatoes. After dinner David, Bryan and I headed over to the cousins house. On the drive over, Bryan nearly ran off the road - everyone in the car including Bryan screamed. Thank god for that patented Subaru handling! This event is one candidate for inducing the baby early. Then at the cuzins place, we got into a pretty detailed discussion of labor. Danielle and Todd recently had two kids and she was giving us the down low on the labor and delivery. Dave asked Danielle to describe the pain to him in order to give him some reference. She said imagine the worst diarrhea you've ever had, the kind where you're praying to god and times that by two. This event is candidate number 2 for inducing the baby early. Low and behold on our drive home at about midnight, I felt a serious stomache ache coming on... you know like I had eaten something bad and immediately thought it was the Arnold Palmer from the bar, maybe the lemonade was bad or something. My stomache wrenched like 4 times in 10 min. We came home, walked Mags and then I packed my hospital bag since I had decided to do it earlier that day. Got ready for bed and decided to try to sleep it off but found myself complaining to Dave that my stomache hurt and visiting the lieu every so often as the cramps progressed. I didn't think these were contractions because I had felt braxton hicks contractions before and these didn't have the pressure like previous ones.

Finally at about 2:30am, I looked over at Dave who was fast asleep and decided that there was no way I was going to be able to sleep so I got out of bed. At this point, I'm thinking to myself this cannot be a stomache ache no matter what I ate! And the cramps started to increase in intensity and timing as well as pressure so I knew something was NOT right and called the doc. They said NOT to come in unless the contractions or pain was consistent described as 5-1-1 (every 5 min, lasting 1 min, for at least an hr) which mine were not so I was convinced this was false labor. I remember in child birth class that they suggested a hot shower, which I did and rocking back and forth in the rocking chair, which I did. By now, its at least 3:45am and I'm in pain.... I wake Dave up and call the doc again and say, "my contractions aren't following the 5-1-1 rule." I hang up and decide I can't take this anymore and I don't care, we're heading to hopsital and they can send us back if this isn't for real!!!

It's 4:15am. I'm delirious since it's almost been 24 hrs since I last slept. We're driving on El Camino to Stanford Hospital, it's dark and almost eerie.... am I dreaming? This pain can't be real. I'm speechless and Dave is asking, "are you ok? what can I do? I can barely breathe, let alone respond. The contractions are coming fast and strong and I'm just trying to focus on something, anything! I got my legs up, trying to kick the pain into the dashboard of our CRV! It's not working!

We arrive at the hospital, find our way to the maternity ward and announce that I think I'm ready to deliver. The nurses take us to a room where I am hooked up to machines and examined by the doc to find out how far along I really am. The doc says suprisingly that I am already 6cm dialated (full dialation is 10cm). Holy moly! Then they ask, what would I like to do for pain relief?? I ask her honestly how much time lies ahead of me in order to complete this birth, she responds 3 hours and I instantly respond.... EPIDURAL!! There is no way I can endure this kind of throbbing pain for 3 more min, let alone 3 more hrs.

Ok. we're taken to a private delivery room and here comes the anthesiologist to administer the frightening needle, why did I watch that video in childbirth class that shows the process? I don't want to know, just do it as fast as you can. I'm not going to go into it any further but people ask, did it hurt? Well let's just say, its a walk in the park compared to the pain you're in at the moment so NO. Drip, drip, drip... I'm still feeling the pain I tell the doc so he cranks it up a notch. Don't be shy, I can take it. Ha ha. So by the time the epidural was administered and kickin in, I find myself 9 cm dialated. What the heck, I've done all the work on my own!! Why didn't I come in at 2am, silly me! It's a misbelief that the epidural takes away all the pain..... it doesn't. In fact, I still felt quite alot of pain but at least I could contain myself and remain somewhat still. Without the epidural I would of been kicking and screaming as we all imagined!! I finally reach 10cm dialated and find myself in some sort of peaceful state of mind. It's time to rest and prepare for the next phase of birth, PUSHING!

45 min goes by and the nurse and I decide I should start trying to push since what the heck else am I doing there or waiting for. The nurse is coaching me, deep breathe, grab your legs and push 3 times, then release with an exhale. I don't really feel anything but all of a sudden I hear jack hammers and pounding. What is going on? You won't believe this, there's construction on the floor under our room. You've got to be kidding me, this is silly. Good thing you guys got me on drugs or I'd be ready to kill someone!

[Jen is tired... so I'll be telling the rest of this story :) ]. The contractions are coming every couple of minutes. Every time they come, the nurse and I hold jen's legs up, jen pulls back on her thighs and she pushes with all her mightiness.... she takes a deep breath and then another huge push... then another deep breath and another push. Then we all take a break till the next contraction comes. I run to the bathroom and put a cold towel on jen's head. With each set of pushes the baby makes it's way further down. About an hour into it, i can see the baby's head and Jen is screaming like a Duran Duran fanatic w/ each push! I remember when i saw the crown come out... then the contraction passed... i knew that with the next set of pushes Jen would push little dylan out into the world... man that was crazy. And then it just happened... Jen pushed, dylan popped his head out, then his shoulders... the doctor asked, "Father do u want to cut the umbellical cord?".... "hell's no!" I said. Then they put the baby on jen's stomach and dylan jen and i had our first family cry. It was beeeyoutiful.

Schedules

2006-01-15T11:10:00.000-08:00

Everyone knows that caring for a newborn is tuff stuff. During the pregnancy my friends that have kids would say "Get all the sleep u can now" and "Be prepared to be a zombie". Now it's all toooooo real!!!!!!!!???!?!?!?!?!??!

We write down every time Dylan has a poo, pee or feed just to make sure we're hitting the mark. Poo and pee's are followed by diaper changes and comforting and feedings are followed by a burp and rocking until sleep sets in.

Yesterday Dylan was a bit fussy. So everything took a little longer.

here's the schedule from yesterday which has been pretty typical:

1:51am Feed
2:13am pee & poo
3:12am Feed
6:35am Feed
6:55am pee & poo
9:15am Feed
10:15am feed
10:20am pee
1:00pm Feed
2:10pm pee & poo
2:30pm Feed
3:15pm pee & poo
4:00pm Feed
4:30pm pee & poo
5:50pm pee
5:55pm feed
7:40pm feed
10:05pm pee & poo
10:15pm feed
11:25pm pee & poo
11:30pm feed

That's 21 events in a day with the longest break being 3hours and 25 minutes which is probably less given the burb / upright time. To all our friends considering having kids: "get all the sleep u can now!"

Technology == fun

2006-01-10T21:17:00.000-08:00

Jen is writing the birth story but is taking her sweet time. I wanted to write it, but I guess I'm just a supporting actor in it ;) . HOWEVER, I wanted to share my geeky anecdote...

A couple of weeks b4 Dylan was due Jen and I got new cell phones. I got my super duper SUV of a phone - the LG VX9800 - it's bigger than the avg phone but it's got everything but the kitchen sink of a feature in it. I fiddle with it whenever I have idle time - sitting in a waiting room, during commercials... Anyways, about 10 minutes after Dylan was born while we were still in the delivery room with Jen recovering and the nurse weighing the baby, etc... I snapped a picture of Dylan and Jen on my new cell phone and MMS'd it to all of my friends... My phone only took 10 contacts at a time so by the 3rd set or so the nurse was like "Father can you help bla bla bla" and I was like "I know this is geeky and I aplogize, but I just need to send this out real quick...". I finished up and then helped the nurse. She probably thought that i'm an idiot. I would.

About an hour or so later after Jen, Dylan and I moved downstairs to the maternity ward, I was walking back to our room when I saw 2 of our friends (Van and Lenora) standing outside our room with balloons and stuff. I was like "WTF r u guys doin' here?!". They got my picture message, called the hospital and got our room number and headed on down. That was freakin' cool.

The funniest part of this story has to do w/ Jen and my brother Bryan who has been staying with us. He had just gotten back from Japan two days b4 Dylan's birth and was pretty jet lagged. When Jen and I left that night / morning around 4:30am to the hospital he was passed out. On the way out I asked Jen if we should wake him and tell him that we were heading to the hospital but she said 'no' (since we thought it might be a false alarm). As soon as we got to the hospital and found out that it was the real deal we started calling Bryan out of excitement and to try to get him to be the point person who could tell Jen's parents, my brother and my parents that the birth was about to go down. We called his cell and the house phone at least 10 times but he was in a comatose like sleep and kept on asleepin'. When he finally woke up around noon the next day, he said he rolled over and looked at his cell phone. He saw a picture on the phone and thought "who's that?". Then it dawned on him... "holy shizznit they had the baby!"

The MMS heard around the world

Ha ha. Really though... I sent the picture message not to be a geek but out of excitement of wanting to tell the world that Dylan was here. That was the best feeling... ahh now back to diaper changing!

One Week and Counting.......

2006-01-06T17:09:00.000-08:00

Dylan Chillin'

Can't believe we passed the one week anniversary of Dylan's birth yesterday! It already seems like so long ago that I was in the hospital pushing with all my might. This week has been an overwhelming mix of emotions, test of physical strength, and ultimately, a time to reflect and ponder the real purpose of life but I think Dave and I are doing a great job. I think those first few days I experienced the ultimate adrenaline rush. How else could I have survived with that irregular sleep? The nurses were right, I feel 500% more confident in my abilities to care for Dylan than I did those first couple days. He's so fragile and precious and when he smiles at me or looks into my eyes, I can't believe WE created this little person.

I'm recovering fairly well considering... I was able to escape an episiotomy with just a second degree tear but between breastfeeding and that, you could say... I feel "jacked" up!! I can't wait to be in one piece again. My mom arrived Sunday to help with cooking and nursing me back to health. Dave took this first week off work to help me adjust to this insane schedule. We are basically feeding every 2-3 hrs followed by a burp session, diaper change or 2, and then possibly some sort of entertainment for Dylan if he can't fall asleep.

We had our first health issue with Dylan yesterday. We noticed he had eye boogers but only on the left eye and then it started to ooze and crust every few hrs so we called the nurse and made an appt to see the doc in the morning. Found out it was just a clogged tear duct and that it is quite common. Babies should resolve the condition by 4-6 months of age. Dr. Oro prescribed eye drops and suggested we massage his duct and continue our warm wipes. By the way, I love our pediatrician's office, Altos Pediatrics Associates in Los Altos Hills. The area is awesome and I keep telling Dave we got to some how find a way to move into that area even though houses must begin at over 1.5 mil. Sigh! After we win the lottery i guess :)

Dylan's first days in pictures

2006-01-04T22:39:00.000-08:00

I sent out a photo album of Dylan's first days, but it's hard to remember who u sent it to and who u didn't when your bouncing around 4 different email accounts.

So for redundancy's sake here's Dylan's First Days.

I'm turning into one of those types of parents that takes endless pictures of their kids - Dylan's first bath, Dylan in the cute onesie, Dylan's first visit to the pediatrician, Dylan in his new hat, etc. I wanna share them w/ everyone but then I remember that not everyone wants to be inundated w/ pictures of Jen and David's new baby in a new costume. So I guess we'll just pose the occasional awesome picture up here for the diehards to enjoy.

here's my favorite so far of Dylan being held by Jen.

More pics of Dylan

2006-01-02T10:15:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone... Jen, Dylan and I are back from the hospital and at home resting and getting used to each others schedules. Waking up every 2-3 hours to feed / change / burb / comfort is interesting...
We got a great new gift from Andy and Sarah called 'My Breast Friend' - used for breast feeding. It's a really handy pillow. Can you believe it was invented by a single male!
Thanks everyone for your kind words and well wishes... i'm sure you'll understand if we're slow to respond.
Here are some more pics from the first day of life.

Our baby boy

2005-12-31T00:23:00.000-08:00

What a suprise! We'll give the deets later, but Dylan Gee Louie landed on Earth on 12/30 @ 8:32am. Jen was a superstar... and I did okay as a coach. We're in the hospital till Sunday. So far so good.

Have a happy new year everyone! We'll be partying in Room 1836B or something like that.

Our Birth Class...

2005-12-27T23:35:00.000-08:00

Ok. So I've told this story multiple times already, but I thought I'd share it here.

Jen and I took a child birth class a couple weeks back. The class was held Thursday nights from 6pm to 9pm. On the second class, we watched 3 birth videos. Wow. This stuff was pretty graphic - basically you saw everything there is to see. Everytime the baby would make it out and be placed on the mother's stomach Jen would start crying. That was sweet.

There was one video where the Dad in the video started crying... it was pretty moving and my eyes got misty. Anyways, during the third birth video right when the baby landed and I was fighting back my tears, I glanced over and saw this guy in our class biting into a huge burrito that he brought for dinner. I nearly rolled over in my chair laughing... here we were in the birth class, everyone fixated on the miracle of birth, my wife crying her eyes out and this dude is macking on a foot long burrito. This was a classic Homer move.

Anyways, the kicker is that during introductions this guy said that he was a researcher at the esteemed Google. I thought to myself, 'damn homey, they don't teach you basic social skills over there...' haha. j/k... wait r u guys hiring? j/k

14 Days till Dylan's arrival

2005-12-27T22:37:00.000-08:00

We are finally succumbing to the pressure and convenience of the blog...... with
Dylan's imminent arrival, this will be the fastest way to share the experience and pics with all our homies.

Pregnancy is going. Some of you might not believe me but trust me, I am huge at this point. My belly is about to pop. The side view is most impressive. Everyone asks if I have had weird cravings and I really didn't until now.....not weird but sweet cravings; cookies, chocolate, cake anything sweet and fattening which is probably why I've ballooned a whooping 28 lbs! Nothing is fitting now but I only got 2 weeks left to go so I can't do that much damage. Dylan kicks, turns, hiccups and loves to party when I go to bed! I think he wants out ASAP.

Hope everyone had a memorable holiday..... we weren't very festive this year and even skipped out on sending the group ecard. It's just been too busy, considering. My parents decided to come up for a last minute, short visit so for Xmas Eve, we went to my relative's annual Xmas dinner party. Then for Xmas day, we had lunch at Hunan Chilli with both parents, Harry (Dave's brother), and Vivian (relative) in Mountain View. Pretty low key this year!

If you wanna see more pics of the pregnancy go here!

peace out. jen and david.