Patience Dear Patient

One of the things I’ve learned throughout this round of parenting is that it is much easier to care for yourself than others. Before you roll your eyes, and express a giant mental “DUH!”,  allow me to explain. It is very easy to make your own decisions, especially concerning health matters, when they only affect you. However, it is quite a feat to make decisions on behalf of another human being, especially one who cannot talk or express their wishes to you. I’ve gained a lot of empathy for those caring for the elderly or sick children, or anyone incapacitated of their own free will. I was given various choices throughout my pregnancy and time in the NICU that I hated having to face- I never considered playing God as one of the hats that a mother must wear. Now I know that a mother must employ the most talented milliner.

Ari’s Newborn Photos

As promised, here are some of my favourite shots from our shoot with Melissa this past weekend. Since she is so amazing, Melissa not only shot Ari, but allowed Isla her own private shoot too! Also,  keep your eyes peeled for a sneak peek at Ari’s nursery as well as Isla’s big girl room:

Tiny Footprints- Week 40!

Yes, today was my official due date. However, once I found out I was carrying twins I knew I’d never reach it so I never really cared about the date. Now that Ari is here it happens to be a very important date because it is the date used to calculate his corrected age. You see, preemies have their actual age (just shy of 3 months in Ari’s case) based on their birthdate and their corrected age which is their actual age minus how many weeks premature they were so in Ari’s case that’s 12 weeks-12 weeks=0. So, according to his corrected age it’s as if Ari was just born today. Corrected age is considered when looking at baby’s milestones- basically their premature time would have normally been spent in the tummy so cannot be considered developmental time. Apparently they give preemies up to two years corrected age for all their milestones to sort themselves out since the developmental pattern will be different than a full-term baby. I was warned by the hospital to always notify any health practitioner of both Ari’s dates since they will use one or the other depending on what they are looking at (ie. His booster shots are based on his actual age).

Homecoming King- Weeks 37 & 38

No I have not fallen off the face of the earth. Worse still, no I have not forgotten about any of you loyal readers or my blog. You know what happened? I officially have two children that’s what happened! Let me just confirm what some of you may already know- life with two is nuts! So crazy in fact that it makes you look back on life with one and wonder how you could have possibly found that difficult. That was a breeze! In fact I’d like to travel back in time with a letter to pre-two me would with the following tips:

Week 34: Growing Guy- Week 6 NICU

The highlight of this week is something I didn’t anticipate happening so quickly, but am so thrilled that it has- ready for this? Ari has already grown out of his preemie clothing! Seriously, this little man is going to need a new nickname soon because he’s not so little anymore! Before he outgrows it, here’s a positive reminder to my baby boy (and myself!):

Week 29- Life in the NICU- Week 1

What’s life like in the NICU? The answer to this is not a simple one, since each experience is very individual depending on the gestational age of the baby at the time of the birth, how “mature” the baby and all its parts are at birth, and if there are any complications. This post, therefore, will simply speak to life in the NICU from my perspective.

Week 24: Day 4- TTTS Recovery

Day 4- Friday

6 a.m.- Nurse in to take my vitals and give me another oral dose of the contraction stopper.

10:00- Nurse in to take vitals and remove IV drip- ahhh!

10:30- One of Dr Ryan’s team members came to collect us for an ultrasound. We explained that he had stopped in last night and expressed that he’d be performing the u/s later today, but jumped at the opportunity to check on our babes sooner anyway.

Week 24: Day 3- TTTS Laser Ablation Surgery

Day 3- Thursday

A decent night’s sleep followed by a short but blisteringly cold walk to Mt Sinai Hospital at 6:15 a.m. Admitted to our private room (can you say “hello babymoon!”??) by 6:45. No eating or drinking anything until after the procedure (apparently no one cares about the cotton blanket I’ve been weaving in my mouth all night!).