Last day @ center

Center's owner Yang Yang bought 2 chocolate cakes to Kody & Karissa. Along are pics Karissa taken with Yang Yang.

Even I didn't have enough rest or quiet moment @ center d/t their staff shortage, I still treasure the time in this center. Cuz for sure I'll be much more busier @ home than in the center. I feel going back home is a big challenge to me. Kody & Karissa...I hope we all can survive @ home.

Leaving tomorrow

Sorry to know that the new roommate (pregnant with twins) stayed @ hospital overnight. She gave birth yesterday. Doctor said BB girl was dead inside the womb for a period of time, and BB boy was sent to another hospital after birth. It must be v.sad to this new mom. Carrying twins is not as easy as it seems to be. I was lucky that I only had bleeding episode once at the very beginning stage, plus only got hospitalized once during this pregnancy d/t fibroid pain. Compared to this new mom, my pregnancy is nothing.

Good that I'll leave center tomorrow instead of Aug 10. Cuz the new mom will be back to center on Aug 10. If she sees me with my twins in center, it may remind her that she did carry twins (1 boy & 1 girl) before.

Today, everyone gives me a funny expression. Yang Yang said it would be interesting to imagine my days @ home with twins (cuz they both became hard to take care of @ end of 'sit month' period.

Pics: (See that many facial expression of Karissa)

Praise the Lord

After having 3 post partum mom & 1 pregnant mom left the center, we finally have a roommate. It would be a 28 week pregnant mom with twins (also expecting 1 boy & 1 girl). She came to center cuz she's like me ( no family/relative here in US, but husband). Even though she's younger & not as thin as I do, her pregnancy is not that smooth. She already got blood shown & her cervix already got shortened, so she's on medication to help to stop the dilation. Frankly, her belly is not as big as I did when I was 28 week pregnant. No wonder her doctor said she doesn't gain enough weight & urges her to eat more.

She arrived in the late afternoon & had dinner with us. But she complained of having bladder/tummy pain & had tears d/t pain during dinner. Later, she even voided blood in bathroom. Her husband came & had her in ER now. Hope everything's fine with her & BB.

However, I know twins would be really really small @ this stage. Plus they sure need to have oxygen mask, cuz they won't be strong enough to breathe on their own till they r 34 week. That's why I said I'm lucky. I have Kody & Karissa when I was 34.5 week pregnant..just pass that time. Plus they are so healthy & got full APGAR score even they were born premature...most important is their mom is me...a v.skinny/not physically fit mom. They can be that healthy despite of all that. It sure is God's work. Praise the Lord.

Plan to leave center earlier

3rd mom leaves today. This mom leaves center for a different reason. She came to center on the same day as me. So she supposed to stay till Aug 10. But her Japanese husband (born in US)doesn't believe 'sit month' theory. He plans to have the whole family to go to Disneyland & San Diego next Tuesday. That's why this mom has to leave under her husband's pressure.

I also plan to leave early cuz Kody & Karissa would have doctor's appointment on Aug 8. Instead of coming back & stay in center till Aug 10 (just 2 more days), I decide to be home on Aug 8. So Terence doesn't need to drive back & forth between home & center (it's quite a long drive). Of course, my workload would be heavier once I'm home. Cuz I can't sleep through the night as I do in center. I would be taking care of 1 baby 24 hrs while nanny is taking care of another BB. So there would be no break at all.

Sleeping trouble

Yang Yang told me that Karissa can't sleep if she is not held on tummy. She likes to be lie on top of people's chest to fell asleep. Doesn't like to be just placed on bassinet. Kody also doesn't like to be placed on bassinet. He likes to sleep on Boppy pillow instead. It sure would be a problem/issue to us if they keep these habit once they are home.

Daytime nanny resigned/ Soa Yee Visit

OH NO! Daytime nanny Cheng Ah E left us. She came this morning & told us that she wanted to quit the job cuz she noticed her skin is not as good as before since she started working here. What a reason? BTW, daytime is not as bad as nighttime. She often can get a nap on couch, plus most of moms would take care of their own BB on days. She just needs to wash bottoms after bowel movement, or do some feeding/diaper change.

No wonder another mom planned to leave center before the term is up. Esp those who does only breastfeeding, she only needs meal service basically. She sure can just order 'sit month' meal home delivery. So more mom think of leaving if they can't get more help other than meal service.

My hospital coworker Soa Yee came to visit. Today is her dayoff. She works on night shift, so even she came around 4pm, she still felt v.tired (like just got up). Kody was sleeping, so Soa Yee was only able to hold Karissa during visit.

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.

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.

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).