The Hair

I understand that a significant proportion of readers come to this site to see pictures of my ridiculously out-of-control hair, rather than to read about my adorable children. One young reader tells his mom, "I want to see the man with the stand-up hair". Others have mocked me for looking like Carrot Top, Screech or Varejao. I'll let you be the judge.

Can you tell that I'm wasting time until 8:30pm, when we have the big weigh-in to see if the kids can come home?

Babies in Yellow

I know it's cutesy to have the kids in matching outfits, but I'm crusading against the emerging tyranny of the "yellow is the new pink" concept that yellow is exclusively for girls. Plus, the kids keep nailing me with the "wait until he's switching to the new diaper before pooping everywhere" tactic, so we're exhausting the hospital's supply of clothes. And damn if Jacob (on the right) doesn't look just as fine as his sister.

Exciting news - we find out at tonight's weigh-in whether we'll be able to bring the kids home tomorrow. The hospital has been great, and so supportive, but it is definitely time to get them home.

Tuesday Photos - Brent & Jacob

Molly's fingers

The proportion of breast-feeding has been increasing quickly over the past couple of days, and we're going to try going exclusively that route today in the hopes of getting the kids home soon. They're eating better and better and continuing to grow (although noone would describe them as chubby just yet). No health problems and we're all happy (if a little tired).

We had our first real parental pangs yesterday. The physio and OT came to look at Molly's hands. The 2 middle fingers on each hand are contracted so she can't straighten them on her own. They manipulated her hands for some time, making her howl. Then they put little splints on her hands to hold the fingers in an extended position. While I was tube-feeding her, her little body started shaking with the effort to bend her fingers back to a comfortable position. She managed to push the straps back and get her fingers to escape, then fell asleep exhausted. We decided not to put the splints back on. We have an appointment at Sick Kids next week for her feet (which is great news, to get in there so quickly), and we'll get them to look at her hands at the same time. It is going to be much more emotional than I had expected. These are correctable problems and she won't remember any pain but it hits you in the gut. It makes me feel for many of the other parents in the special care nursery, whose kids were born much more prematurely, who are dealing with serious worries and stress every day.

It's bathtime later today, so I'll try to post some splashy photos later today. If first baths are anything to go by, Molly has more of her aunt Beth's swimming genes, while Jacob is a sensible lad who prefers to keep dry.

Competitive Multi-Tasking

Earlier today, Kate managed the double-breastfeed for the first time. Not to be outdone, while Kate was pumping, I accomplished the never before attempted, (drumroll please....) double-gavage. In addition to feeding them and comforting with the occasional finger in the mouth, I avoided internecine carnage as Molly continually tried to swat her brother in the head.

I also think I deserve some credit for managing to take a tasteful photo of my wife double-breastfeeding.

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Not to be confused with one step forward, two steps back.

Kate attempted and succeeded in feeding the kids simultaneously this morning. They did so well that they didn't need to be "topped up" with the tube-feeding (also for the first time). We went back for the next feed 3 hours later, hoping to duplicate this effort. The kids were still passed out when we arrived, and never really woke up despite various creative efforts. So we went back to tube-feeding for that round (assisted by my folks, as pictured above). But, definitely making progress. The kids will likely stay in hospital until the tube-feeding is eliminated and they're growing on breast milk alone. All the doctors/nurses seem very impressed with their rapid improvement.

Canada Day at the hospital

Molly & Jacob's first Canada Day brought the arrival of the Hazel grandparents. The kids also slept in the same crib together for the first time last night, ostensibly to keep each other warm, but more to create good photo ops.

I'm beginning to understand why new parents are so dull (not our friends of course, but other new parents). Most of our conversations involve either: the colour of poop; the quantity of milk consumed; the degree of bias involved in our judgment of Molly & Jacob as the cutest and smartest kids ever; and how many minutes until the next feeding. Not a whole lot of Sartre or Dostoyevski.