{"id":334,"date":"2010-06-24T21:43:55","date_gmt":"2010-06-25T05:43:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/streamdoubletrouble.wordpress.com\/?p=334"},"modified":"2010-06-24T21:43:55","modified_gmt":"2010-06-25T05:43:55","slug":"chubby-babies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/chubby-babies\/","title":{"rendered":"Chubby Babies"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>During those last few days in the hospital before the babes arrived, all I could think about was having healthy babies. One of the key factors was birth weight.<\/p>\n

\u201cThink chubby babies!\u201d I kept telling everyone. We were pretty successful given how young they were \u2013 both muppets weighing in over two pounds. (I\u2019ve already discussed how one\u2019s perspective<\/a> changes to the point were two pounds can be \u201cchubby.\u201d)<\/p>\n

And I\u2019m sure you\u2019ve noticed, many of the recent posts talk an awful lot about food \u2013 both going in and come out. Well, weight is still a big deal. Before the boys can come home, they must meet three criteria:<\/p>\n

1)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Regulate their own temperature. Both Search and Destroy are off the temperature probe and may even start rooming together next week.<\/p>\n

2)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Remember to breathe all by themselves. We\u2019re still experiencing some A\u2019s and B\u2019s (apnea and bradycardia) but vastly improved.<\/p>\n

3)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Eating via bottle or breast. We\u2019re going to start seeing how they feel about bottles next week.<\/p>\n

All three significantly involve size. And so far, this seems to be their biggest strength. We have finally reached the point where both boys are soaring upward. After four weeks as residents of the Hotel NICU we are rapidly approaching three pounds.<\/p>\n

Each morning, Jon and I get an update. The medical staff use grams. I\u2019ve had several people ask me to translate to pounds. But telling you how much they\u2019ve gained in grams is so much more impressive! So I propose a compromise. I will continue to update everyone in grams since I like being able to say, \u201cSearch gain 50 grams today!\u201d (Also, that\u2019s what I\u2019m told their weight in each morning.) And you can use the nifty preemie grams to pounds conversion chart I have conveniently posted below. (Click chart to enlarge.)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

What I find amazing is that even though I see them twice a day, even I can see that they\u2019re really growing. They\u2019re starting to fill out and develop those classic chubby cheeks. They seem less fragile. (Although I\u2019m not sure if that\u2019s just because we\u2019re getting used to them.) Can you even imagine how big they\u2019ll seem when we bring them home at five humungo pounds?<\/p>\n

Each week the NICU developmental therapist observes the kids and provides a report on their strengths and \u201csensitivities.\u201d It appears that even at their tender age no one can escape performance reviews\u2026 Destroy\u2019s report notes that he makes sucking gestures when he\u2019s hungry and startles at loud or sudden noises. (I\u2019m going to disregard the latter in this post since I\u2019m almost 30 and startle at loud or sudden noises \u2013 so smart kid.)<\/p>\n

This morning Destroy began making his mouthing and sucking motions about 20 minutes before breakfast. His nurse dipped his pacifier in milk and decided to see how he\u2019d react. Destroy went bonkers over it; he sucked on it for 2-3 minutes! (In the world of a preemie, 2-3 minutes is a big deal.) Here\u2019s hoping this means he\u2019ll do well when we trying to move from a feeding tube to a bottle. I know he\u2019ll prefer the bottle in the long run; he hates the feeding tube but loves the feedings. So we\u2019ll just take baby steps toward sucking, swallowing and breathing \u2013 all at the SAME TIME.<\/p>\n

Destroy\u2019s nurse reiterated that the muppets were doing really well. \u201cFingers crossed \u2013 you\u2019ll have them home in three and a half weeks. That\u2019s the goal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Suddenly that doesn\u2019t seem so far off. Of course a lot can happen in three weeks. But at the very least it means they\u2019re star preemies right now.<\/p>\n

So we\u2019ll keep getting excited about weight gain and resulting developments. Before we know it, Search and Destroy will be home and we\u2019ll be introducing all our friends and family to our giant babies.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Chubby 4-week-old Search<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Chubby 4-week-old Destroy<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

During those last few days in the hospital before the babes arrived, all I could think about was having healthy babies. One of the key factors was birth weight. \u201cThink chubby babies!\u201d I kept telling everyone. We were pretty successful … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[5,23,21,10],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3Sbzi-5o","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":507,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/507\/","url_meta":{"origin":334,"position":0},"title":"Triple Threat","date":"August 2, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Our baby boys aren\u2019t so little anymore. Today\u2019s NICU update revealed that the muppets are six pounds. I shall repeat that. Our tubby little muppets are six pounds. I actually asked one of their doctors if they were getting a bit swollen \u2013 water retention perhaps. \u201cNo,\u201d came the reply.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Baby Photos"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/streamdoubletrouble.files.wordpress.com\/2010\/08\/brothers_caden-logan_08-02-10.jpg?w=350&h=200&crop=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":452,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/breaking-up-is-hard-to-do\/","url_meta":{"origin":334,"position":1},"title":"Breaking Up is Hard To Do","date":"July 16, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Search \u201cThe Chubster\u201d and Destroy \u201cChunky Monkey\u201d are both doing well as they hit their seventh week of life. When we first joined the NICU family we knew there would be ups and downs in their progress. At the time, I didn\u2019t realize they meant that literally. In Pod B,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Baby Photos"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/streamdoubletrouble.files.wordpress.com\/2010\/07\/brothers_caden-logan_07-15-10.jpg?w=350&h=200&crop=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":807,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/put-the-nicu-nurses-out-of-a-job\/","url_meta":{"origin":334,"position":2},"title":"Put the NICU Nurses Out of a Job","date":"November 1, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"As part of a campaign to generate awareness about the crisis of premature birth in our country, the March of Dimes designated November as Prematurity Awareness Month. Premature birth is the leading cause of newborn death worldwide. And the rate of premature birth has risen by 30 percent since 1981.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Baby Photos"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/streamdoubletrouble.files.wordpress.com\/2010\/06\/img_0056.jpg?w=350&h=200&crop=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":261,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/two-weeks\/","url_meta":{"origin":334,"position":3},"title":"Two Weeks","date":"June 11, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"It\u2019s been two weeks since the twins arrived. The time has passed by in the blink of an eye and taken forever at the same time. No, you\u2019re not experiencing d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu \u2013 this is just how the One Week post began. It still holds true. Search and Destroy have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Baby Photos"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/streamdoubletrouble.files.wordpress.com\/2010\/06\/caden_14days_6-11-10.jpg?w=350&h=200&crop=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2135,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/babies-berries-and-baths\/","url_meta":{"origin":334,"position":4},"title":"Babies, Berries and Baths","date":"January 19, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Tuesday night was another frantic muppet caper. I closed down my cubicle at work and ran for the hills \u2013 also known as driving across the Silicon Valley at high speeds to pick up the boys on time. Search and Destroy greeted me at the pickup gate with giant grins\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Destroy"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":484,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/five-pound-fashion\/","url_meta":{"origin":334,"position":5},"title":"Five Pound Fashion","date":"July 26, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"When the nurses originally told us it would happen, Jon and I found it very difficult to believe. Really? Three pounds in a month, we questioned. But Nurse Susan assured us that the NICU folks are experts at fattening up children. Well, today the muppets hit five pounds. Chunksters! This\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Baby Photos"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/streamdoubletrouble.files.wordpress.com\/2010\/07\/logan_07-26-101.jpg?w=350&h=200&crop=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=334"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}