I realize that I still need to write our birth story, but I just don’t have the time or the energy to start one right now. Let’s just say that everything went according to plan. The whole process was as smooth as possible minus some minor issues such as Okra’s O2 level fluctuating a couple of minutes after birth so I was concerned. Eventually his breathing stabilized and didn’t need to utilize the NICU, but it was enough to make me worry for the first hour after the birth.
Home life with the twins has been great especially with my parents’ help. Honestly, life would be so much harder if my parents weren’t here. Bob has been home on his parental leave so we take care of the twins together in the middle of the night. My mom comes to our room at around 6:45am to 7am so we can take a nap for a few hours while she takes care of the babies. She has become a pro in changing their diapers and feeding them. My dad arrived from overseas the day after we came home. Because he drives (and my mom doesn’t), he helps with running errands, buying takeouts, and doing grocery shopping when needed. We are so indebted to their help.
How about the babies? Every time I see their faces, my heart melts. They are absolutely beautiful. Each baby has already developed their personalities. Bunny is very eager when she eats and gulps down her food like there is no tomorrow. She often times has the hiccups after a meal and spits up some just because she eats too fast. She also doesn’t like restraints. When she wears the sleep sack, I let her arms out because she complains and fusses when her arms are wrapped inside. She is also the better sleeper. She has been eating the same amount of formula and sleeping about 3 hours stretches for a few days now. Bunny makes all sorts of sounds and has many many different facial expressions. It’s such a joy to just watch her face while she is lying on my lap and see all of her little movements. She especially likes to put her hands by her cheeks. It often looks like she is on the phone with someone. She has these very cute dimples. She looks a lot like Bob and seems a lot more Indian than Chinese.
Okra is my little Chinese dude. He looks a mixture of Indian and Chinese. The first few days of his life we called him Buddha because of how calm he was compared to Bunny. But he has already changed. When he is hungry, he screams bloody murder within a few seconds and won’t let up until a nipple is on his lips. When he eats, he paces himself well and does not leak like his sister does. Unlike his sister who flings her arms out whatever chance she has, he likes to be swaddled and probably doesn’t feel a sense of security if he doesn’t have any sleep sack on him. He’s a pretty good napper but has more of a difficult time at night. He often eats a little bit and then falls asleep. He will then wake up in a little while screaming because he is hungry again. He has been waking up a lot in the middle of the night so this mama has been having a fun time (!) consoling him.
We are proud owners of a mini-van. We were going to take our time in purchasing one. The first ride in our Subaru Forester with the babies changed Bob’s mind. Due to the car seats’ size and position, he couldn’t drive his car and could barely sit in the passenger seat. The same day we came home, he wrote our friend who is a broker for new and used cars and ordered our first new car together. Now Bob has room to stretch his legs in our new ride.
Our first doctor’s visit went very well. They are both very healthy. Our OB who did the C-section and our pediatrician both mentioned these twins and the twin pregnancy had been the healthiest they had seen in a while. Bunny was catching up nicely with her birth weight, and Okra was already almost there at his birth weight at that doctor’s visit last Tuesday. The babies eat well, poop well, and sleep quite well. We are truly blessed to have these healthy babies and Annie who carried them to term.
It’s been hard for Annie. With her hormonal fluctuations, she has been feeling all the feelings and missing the babies. Her incision is healing well but still hurts. All in all, she is doing well but it may take her some time to get used to not being pregnant anymore.
At times it still feels very surreal that we have babies at home despite them being 10 days old already. This whole fertility journey was so long that finally getting here feels very foreign to me. The babies do remind me of our donor, especially Bunny. She has extremely long legs and is very good at kicking especially during diaper change as she absolutely hates it. Our donor was a soccer player and a soccer coach. BUT, this reminder doesn’t diminish my love for my own daughter and son. They are mine (and ours) and no one can change that. Our newborn photo shoot the other day was also a reminder that yes, the babies are here to stay. The preview photo of the shoot takes my breath away. I look at the photo of the four of us and realize how blessed I am to be able to have my take home babies. It makes all the sleepless nights all worth it.
I will update when I have more time.
In Quest of a Binky Moongee 