1 month old

Interview day

After a week of placing advertisment on Singtao, we finally have time to do interview with all the applicants. It was so tiring to keep answering phone calls & saying repeat messages over & over again. We arranged whole day for us to see totally 8 aunties @ home. WE brought Karissa along cuz she is a stronger BB.

After whole day of interview, we decided on 2 best candidates: 1 from China & 1 from HK. I prefer HK. Terence prefers the 1 from China. We'll make up our mind tomorrow night.
Karissa made some funny faces @ home today....she may wonder who are all those aunties???

Took other mom's milk/ Bye Bye Wong Ah E

Somehow Karissa & Kody took other mom's milk yesterday. They both started not feeling well (vomit & upset stomach) since midnight last night. Even though advice nurse said they would be fine after 24 hrs of taking other's milk, we still made an appointment to see doctor to make sure. Turned out everything was fine as expected.
BTW, Karissa is 6.5 lb. Kody is 5 lb 15 oz.

After a week of having Wong Ah E, Yang Yang finally decided to get Ah E fired (Ah E told me that she planned to resign on July 27) Cuz Ah E sleep much deeper than babies. Yang Yang often need to wake her up @ night to do feeding. 1 of the mothers even went back home earlier than she should d/t Wong Ah E. Cuz this mother feels that she got no rest @ center. She doesn't feel comfortable to leave her BB to Ah E to take care @ night. She can leave. When can I be?

I feel I come in a wrong month (peak season) when center is understaffed. I thought I could have good rest in center. It ended up feeling much tired than my days @ hospital.

1st doctor's visit

Today is twins' 1st doctor's visit. They both need to be naked for weight check & measurement. Meanwhile, I need to fill out a 1 month checklist to indicate their health situation. 1 question: Can your child pee over 1 feet? Kody demonstrates twice that he can pee that far. He did it towards the wall in clinic & again when he was weight.

No more Health nurse visit

Karissa is 5 lb 7 oz. H/C 32.5 cm. Length 19". Kody is 4 lb 13.5oz. H/C 32 cm. Length 17 3/4". Nurse said even though Kody has not reached 5 lbs, it doesn't require another visit, cuz their 1st doctor visit will be 5 days later. So nurse decided not to see us again. Cuz Kody soon would be 5 lbs. That's great news to us & center's workers. I don't need to go out any more & twins' schedule will be back to normal again.
Last time, Kody sucked his thumb. Today is Karissa's turn..sucked her thumb.

Wong Ah E

Center finally hired a nighttime nanny. Today is her 1st day. But her performance during day time worried me. She said Kody eats smaller amount, so he doesn't need to be burp. Hey, he's already v.small plus he spits a lot. If he doesn't get burp, I can't imagine the result. Then she said Karissa sleeps after getting only 20ml in feeding. So she slept, so should stop feeding. OH,another worry to me. I know Karissa is a sleeping beauty. She is like that back in hospital. Awake @ beginning of feeding, then soon would be asleep but still sucking ga...how can Ah E just stop the feeding.

I told my worries to Terence. That's why tonight would be his 1st night of staying in center overnight. He wants to stay & keep an eye on Ah E(esp to make sure she would burp Kody), so I can sleep without worrying.

We are not the only parents worry. We can see that there are not as many babies left out in BB room as usual. Later, I found out some of the moms rather keep BB in their rooms than letting Ah E to take care of them @ night.

Another check up

Kody & Karissa for sure will be wild again tonight (according to Yang Yang). Cuz once they r on the road, we may have difficulty to stick to their usual feeding schedule, plus they may sleep longer d/t car ride.

Karissa is now 5 lbs. 17 3/4" long. Head circumferce is 12 1/2". Kody is 4 lb 8.5 oz. 18" long. H/C 12.52".

Ah..Kody still has not reached 5 lbs. That means another harsh/busy day for us in 2 days. Today, Kody sucked his thumb the very 1st time.

Karissa (Sleeping with daddy)

Kelvin & Arthur visit

It is my 3rd day in center. Even though I'm not supposed to leave center (during sit month), but I did. Cuz today is the day that we have a home health nurse to do check up on twins. Good to know that they gained weight. 14 day old: Kody is now 4 lb 4.5 oz. Karissa is 4 lb 13.5 oz with 31.5 head circumferce. Nurse said they both need to be checked every 2 days till they reach 5 lbs. That means I need to be a busy mom again (grab everything & drive 45 mins on highway to be home again). Too bad that home health nurse can't come to center to check on them, cuz she only works in 1 county (Alameda county..where I live), so she can't come to San Jose (in different county) to do the check up.

Go to 'sit month' center

Starting from yesterday, I'll spend a month in this center. Hopefully, I'll get enough rest as I thought it would be. However, it turned out to be not the way I wanted to be. Nighttime nanny just quit today. It ended up that the owner Yang Yang would be the only 1 to take care of BB overnight. With totally 4 moms & 5 babies, it was tough for Yang Yang to do a fine job. So I ended up not having good night sleep. Yang Yang took care of 1 BB, & I took care of another. Plus with the busy schedule of eating: 8am breakfast, 10am snack, 12pm lunch, 3pm snack, 6pm dinner & 8pm dessert. It was very hard to find a quiet moment that I can catch a nap. I started to have headache. I wish BB & I still r in hospital. At least, I can sleep as long as I can, & not to worry of BB (cuz they are taken care by NICU nurses).

Kody is finally home

God is so great that He let us to have bb home 1 after another, so it won't be too overwhelming to us. Kody will be home today. He got discharged home much earlier than doctor's previous prediction. Compared to Karissa, Kody is smaller & much quiet. They both finally home now. It's also time for me to go to 'sit month' center to stay for a month.

Karissa's discharge day (7/9)

Karissa's 1st night @ home

I have been back home since 7/5. For the past few days, it was busy for me & Terence. Our daily routine was going to hospital daily to feed babies for hours till it's time for dinner. Even it was busy, at least we could rest/sleep without being disturb for the rest of the day. As nurses said, we should enjoy our last moment of freedom.

Finally, our 'freedom' is over. But good to know that we can eventually go home with a baby. We got notified that Karissa is well enough to be discharged today. I chose a beautiful outfit for her to wear for photo shot taken by photographer. Too bad that no photographer available @ hospital today.

BTW, I just realized that Karissa is a noisy bb. She even makes noise during sleep. Noises she makes include 1. snoring 2.sudden big cry as if she's in pain. But she would calm down after just 1 big cry/yell.

I used to bb that makes no noise during sleep. So for this 1st night, I wake up frequently d/t her unique noise to find out what's going on with her. Now, I know that it's her characteristic.

Felix & Megan visit

Flash back of delivery day 6/30

I had been worrying that no one would be around when I got in labor. Turned out..I needed to admit to hosp d/t protein in urine on 6/29. I arrived hosp with my hubby on 6/29 8pm. I was checked out that everything was fine(I had a mild pre-eclampsia..143/78). Needed to stay in hosp for BP monitoring till delivery. I thought I would be so bored in hosp for 1 month.

Then I had mentrual cramp in the middle of that night, and voided some blood & white particle. But the RN said it was fine. Then I had some clear fluid came out...she checked with acid paper & said that was not "water'. Shortly afterward, I had more fluid came out. This time I got checked by a doctor, he said my water broke, & needed to have emergency c-section. I called my hubby @3:15am.

Karissa was born @ 6/30 4:46am (4 lb 7 oz. Apgar score: 9 on 1st min, then 10..full score on 5 min). Kody was born @ 4:47am (3 lb 14 oz. Apgar score 8 on 1st min, then 9 on 5 min). Both didn't need any oxygen. Both sent to NICU. Just got IV & put into isolette to keep them warm. According to Lunar Calendar, they both born on 5th month, day 16.

Karissa now cries only when she's hungry. She breaks her own feeding record daily. From eating 35 ml each time..to now 70 ml(can finish a bottle in a flash), then would sleep for 4 hr. Very Very healthy.

Kody has long legs & long fingers...Got tired easily d/t his size, not a fussy BB. Need more time to learn how to suck. Otherwise, he's good too. He was good last night...finished whole bottle of 35 ml by himself, no need to gavage. Keep up the good work..son.

I could walk with help of pain killer on 2 days after surgery. Now I can walk without pain killer. With caring/love from friends, I got different kind of soup delivered to home & during hospitalization.

July 7

WE thought Karissa would be going home today, so I had a haircut done. However she lost weight on last night shift. To be on a safe side, doctor decided to keep Karissa in hospital longer to keep an eye on her to make sure everything is ok.

July 6

1st pic is Karissa...the rest are Kody during feeding