Friday, March 23, 2007

backtrack to 15 september 2005 10:30pm


So, the babies came out - Evan saw them over the sheet. I asked what they looked like and he said long, grey squirrels. They were rushed away but I did have a chance to look up and see Baby Girl B open her eyes and lift her arm up in a wave. My sweet pea! During my pregnancy, the girl had always been referred to as Baby A and the boy as Baby B. (Although we referred to them as Moose & Squirrel or Boris & Natasha). That's just the way they do things in a twin pregnancy - it depends on their positioning. BUT when they emerge, their A or B status depends on who comes out first. So little Z was demoted to B status when Dr Polon, who was standing on my left during the surgery, removed Creed first . Everything I had read about bonding with your newborn, cutting the umbilical cord, banking the cord blood, burying the placenta under a tree in your yard (not!) went by the wayside. These were now critical times. The joys of childbirth were awash in blood transfusions, intubations, hyperbilirubin (that's jaundice), etc. I was a mess...feeling guilty, exhausted, confused and not fully aware of the severity of their condition. I was not ready for any of it!


Thank goodness for the morphine...as I awoke the next morning I was in a state of semi-shock. We had two 2 lb babies with no names who were in the NICU under pieces of plastic wrap held up by Styrofoam cups in a warming bed. They were furry and skinny and wore little goggles to protect their undeveloped eyes from the bright lights. They couldn't breathe on their own - never mind eat. They eventually inserted NG tubes into their nostrils. AND that's when the "lactation consultant" appeared at my bedside. Yes, I had to start pumping breast milk and I had to start immediately. Lord, I was miserable. To top it all off, our "Toast the Twins" cocktail party alternative to a traditional baby shower was scheduled for that night. You know - plan it 3 months in advance of the due date to be sure that I'd be there in case I delivered early. The irony of it all!


Evan went to the party that evening with photos of our micro-preemies Babies A & B. Boy, were there a shocked group of people!


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