Random thoughts and observations from the last week

Today the girls have bows in their hair for the first time. The nurse last night wanted to make them look girlie. Here is Charlotte. She's our little burrito. I love wrapping her up tight in her blankets. You can't see it here, but all her wires come out the bottom of her blanket. It's like she is some sort of electronic devise being charged for use later. I'm told that one dad said, "Now I have my blue tooth baby!" when his baby was released from special care. (Get it - Wireless)

Lydia is getting weaned off of the incubator this week so expect to see some clothes on her in the next few days. Pretty soon she will become a burrito baby too.

Here is a pic of Lydia with her gloves on. The gloves are to keep her from pulling her NG tube out again. She looks like a little boxer. Her eye is a little swollen because it got irritated with all the tube drama. So she really looks like a boxer with a hit to the eye. (Sorry she wouldn't turn her head so you can't see the eye.)

I've had a lot of random thoughts over the past week. Here are some of them.

Living in the hospital

• I had tons of ultrasounds and NST tests here before the babies were born. I used to joke that the hospital was my "home away from home" I had no idea how true that would be. I now live on the other side of the wall from the room where I had all my NST tests.
• Living in a hospital is like living in a really low security prison where everyone is on the honor system.
• To get to labor and delivery, special care, or the post-delivery rooms you have to have the hospital staff open the doors for you. There are usually a lot of people in the waiting room that glare at me and Brandon when we show up and the lady lets us through the doors without even talking to us.
• Bringing groceries and home supplies into the hospital is a little odd. I'm sure there are people that look at us and think, "how long are you planning on staying?"
• Right now I am really spoiled because it is almost like I have a nanny (the nurses that take care of the babies) and a maid (the cleaning lady in charge of the special care nursery.)
• We randomly picked this hospital because it was where our Ob-gyn had rights. We've come to love the staff and facilities here.
• Every time a baby is born the staff plays a lullaby over the PA system. I love hearing it at random times through out the day.
• There is a whole drawer full of Oreos in the room for parents. I think I just might be in heaven.
• Obviously I'm loving the wireless internet here. It's going to be hard to go back to our internet-less apartment. I'm thinking of asking Santa for an internet subscription for Christmas.

Experiences with the babies

• New born babies usually freak me out because they are so skinny. I've always been afraid to hold them because they don't look very cuddly. However, I've never been afraid of holding my own babies. They are skinny, but I love their little arms and legs.
• Before the babies were born I hadn't changed a diaper in probably 15 years. Thanks to training by the wonderful nurses I am now a pro at it, and can change a diaper even with all the crazy wires and tubes.
• Our room has an elevator near by. We hear it go up and down all day and I imagine it sounds like what the babies heard during their time in me.
• When you have a baby you loose all your privacy concerns. After everything that was done during labor and delivery I have no issues nursing the girls while the nurses and lactation consultants help position the babies.
• I found out the common term for what Charlotte had when she was first born. Up until Sunday it was always referred to as a Nemo Thorax or just a Nemo. Now doesn't that sound cute? Then on Sunday I found out that is the scientific name for a collapsed lung! I'm glad I was blissfully ignorant for a week.

Other stuff

• We have been so blessed by all the gifts and donations given to us over the past few weeks. It's almost to the point where the only things I need now are stamps to be able to mail thank you cards to all the selfless people who have given to our little girls.
• I feel bad for women who have their babies and then go home from the hospital within the next day or two. I've learned so much from the nurses and doctors here. Sure I wish we could go home, but it's nice to have someone near by to answer questions like, "how long does RSV season last?," and "should she be making that noise?"
• As much as all the wires bother me I also appreciate them. I like that I can quickly verify that my little girls are breathing regularly with normal heartbeats and getting enough oxygen.
• On Sunday I went to church in sweat pants, because I didn't think to grab a skirt when I went home to pick up more clothes. No one cared.
• Brandon and I do get out. Yesterday we went downtown and rode tracks for the first time together. It's something we've always wanted to do, but haven't done in four years of knowing each other.
• We love visiting with those of you who have been able to stop by. Thank you for taking time out of your day to see us. And thank you to those people who have brought us food. We are very happy that we don't have to survive entirely on Cup of Noodles.