Twins Are Born

Adin Chanan & Miriam Rose were born at 7 AM on November 23rd at Swedish Hospital. They were 5’5″ & 5’2″ respectively & born at just over 36 weeks. Below you’ll find images from our five days in the hospital (I bought a new digital camera to better share the fun!).

Miriam exercised her lungs for the first hour or so after she came out (wanted to let us know she had opinions of her own!). Adin was placid & calm (though he too can let us know when he needs something).

Adin on Mom’s chest

Because they were both slightly premature, the staff monitored them closely. They had a little trouble keeping their body temperatures & blood sugar up in the first day so the staff put them in special care for 12 hours, which did the trick. They came back to us raring to breastfeed and sleep, which they proceeded to do until they were discharged yesterday. Their weight loss is in the acceptable range.

We had a terrific stay at the hospital (unlike our experience in the same hospital four years ago with Jonah). The staff were uniformly attentive, warm and helpful. Whenever we asked them to do something they did it. Whenever they told us they would do something for us, they did. Though it’s never fun to spend 5 days in a hospital, this was almost a pleasure. I stayed with Janis & slept over & even cranky old me didn’t find much to complain about.

Janis had a tough time of it throughout the pregnancy and the few days after delivery. But each day she feels a little better. She still has high blood pressure (normal for a delivery of twins) & is taking medication to control it. She’s so excited that after nine months, she can once again smell food & enjoys eating! Pretty soon, she’ll be able to tie her own shoe laces!

Miriam wrapped in swaddling clothes

We came home yesterday and had a delightful & peaceable first day home. The babies were calm and easygoing and Jonah did great. Todd & Rosalie were here to help us (thank God). Everything went beautifully until it came time for Jonah’s bedtime and then all hell broke loose! We decided to spend a day close to home so that we could do some more bonding with Jonah today.

Last night, we had a doula sleep over and care for the babies so Janis could sleep. It did wonders for her. The brit and baby naming will probably take place on December 5th.

As of today, they are eight days old. What wonders have I seen? Adin at the age of 5 days discovered his finger and started sucking on it. His fingers are unbelievably tiny. Their nails are even smaller–about the size of the eyelet of a belt if you can imagine something that small (see photo below). Adin is what his mother calls a “cuddler” especially at night. He generally won’t sleep in his bassinet and insists on sleeping with Mommy. Miriam has always been slightly more demanding, slightly more independent and insistent, slightly more cranky. She also was slightly stronger than Adin right out of the womb. It was Adin whose blood sugar sunk in the hospital causing the staff to move both into special care. But Miriam, even though she weighed slightly less than Adin probably didn’t need the special treatment.

They like to sleep much of the time in daylight. But nighttime is a different story. Lots of breastfeeding, lots of bodily functioning, lots of restlessness. All of which means that Mommy (and to a lesser extent Daddy) gets fitful sleep. That means a nap every day if she can manage one.

But considering we’ve just had twins, they’re making it remarkably easy on us. They sleep, eat and poop and that’s pretty much it. There are some intervals when they’re awake and those are precious. They only cry to tell us they’re hungry and when we change their diapers. Their behavior is completely different than our eldest son, Jonah, who didn’t take well to the breast, didn’t put on weight easily and generally had a tough time of it (though there was nothing seriously wrong health-wise).

For a full baby photo spread, check out my twins photo gallery.