Mon Petit Chou

So, I went to the supermarket last night to pick up a head of cabbage. Apparently frozen cabbage leaves are good for placing on nursing breasts (oh the things I'm learning). I marched confidently to the produce aisle. First dilemma, red or white cabbage? I decided the red might stain (possibly getting confused with beets), so went with white. Second dilemma, organic? Would organic cabbage leaves be better for Kate? Toxins, environmental responsibility, the extra 49 cents, the possibility of Kate ridiculing me for taking so much time waffling on this decision? I went with non-organic but it had me tossing and turning all night.

Day 3 (Friday) was a big day for our little family. Molly and Jacob moved from their incubators into cribs. They're still in the special care nursery but are gradually getting de-wired. They're taking turns being good breast-feeders. And, Kate came home from the hospital last night. So our new routine is to head into the hospital every 3 hours for feeding time, which takes about an hour. Then naps, food and other stuff in between. Good thing we live a block from the hospital!

Here are the kids in their cribs. Our tiny hats are too big for their little heads and of course, the hospital has the boy in blue and the girl in pink (but that can be the subject of a future blog post).

The Second Day

Great day with the kids today. We're in a routine of feeding every 3 hours, with Kate starting one of them on a breastfeed, and then they both get tube-fed. Jacob is taking to the breast like a natural, so when Kate's milk starts to flow he should be off to the races. Molly is a little more reluctant, but is getting more from her tube-feeds. As normal, they've both lost a little weight since the birth, but no problems. Molly was x-rayed today to get a good look at her feet and hands. She flies into a good little rage whenever the nurses poke, prod or discomfort her. Good to see the Rheault genes kicking in with her rejection of authority figures.

Molly and Jacob got to be held and fed by other family members today for the first time, and they got turns with Alison (their aunt and our old friend), Lois and Brent (Kate's parents), and Ben (Kate's brother). Plus Julia, who helped deliver them (and is Kate's medical partner in crime). My folks arrive on Sunday too, so the kids are definitely not lacking for enthusiastic cuddlers.

Kate after the delivery

Can you believe that my extraordinary wife is 2 hours post c-section in this picture?

3 more of Molly's 1st 24 hours

Top is Molly contemplating her first night. Middle, she actually has her eyes open yesterday pm. Bottom, she's being held by me and Jacob is in the incubator in the background.

More photos from the 1st 24 hours

Two photos from yesterday afternoon (27th). Jacob catching some zzzzs and Kate holding Molly for the first time.

First photos of the kids

Mere minutes after birth, here are Jacob (with the electrodes on his chest) and Molly in their incubators in the special care nursery.

Weight Correction and 1st day update

In the last night's chaos, Jacob's weight got miscommunicated to me in the grams to pounds conversion (there is a remote possibility that I wasn't thinking completely lucidly). So, at birth he was actually 4 lb 15oz, while Molly was 5 lb 5 oz, which makes sense because he didn't seem that much smaller than Molly. Sorry for the misinformation - never believe what you read on the web.

Today was great - much calmer than delivery day. Kate's recovery from c-section was remarkable as she looked fantastic and was able to walk to the nursery this morning, less than 12 hours after surgery. Besides some minor (easy for me to say) pain and discomfort she is not having any health problems and her energy level is great. The kids are in the nursery in incubators, hooked up to all sorts of monitors. They seem to be progressing well. They both started out on IVs for hydration and to keep their glucose levels stable. Jacob has already had his removed and both are being fed a combination of formula and Kate's pumped breast milk through a nasal-gastro tube. Kate did a couple of "practice" breast-feeds with them, but they'll be relying on the tubes for a while to ensure they don't lose too much weight. It's a little difficult having the kids in the incubators instead of with us all the time, but it does mean that Kate is better-rested, and most importantly that the pros are keeping a close eye on the kids during the fragile early days. We spend lots of time visiting them in the nursery, stroking them through the "portholes" in the incubators, and occasionally taking them out for cuddles.

I will try to post photos although I seem to be having trouble tonight. If it doesn't work I'll try again in the morning before heading back to the hospital. For now you'll have to trust me that the kids are gorgeous, Kate looks like she just stepped off a runway, and fatherhood hasn't made me any cuter.