My Wife And Twins

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Toddler Destruction
2008-04-23 09:04:00
Most of us know that if a toddler get hold of something they shouldn?t they will undoubtedly destroy it given enough time to do so. The concept of a pop up book to a two year old is not wow, look how the pages of this book come to life in a 3D style. It?s I wonder if the book will look better with all the pop up parts scattered throughout the lounge. I have given up the amount of times I have put the pink plastic door back on the pink plastic school bus.The story that follows sums up the ability of toddlers to break anything including my house.My sister got Lilly and Amy a small child size rocking horse for their first birthday. They didn?t really use it much until about six months later when they could actually get on it and rock around. One day I noticed a small rocking horse handle shaped dent in the wall of our bay window in the lounge. It didn?t take a lot of deduction to find out what had gone on. Looking further down the wall I could see a few scrape marks where it had been r...
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Toddler Mess
2008-04-21 09:26:00
BeforeIf I had a pound or even a dollar for every piece of plastic block, small figure or cute stuffed animal that I pick up in a day, I would have a few thousand. If my wife was also given the same amount of money, I could retire right now. A bold fact I here you say. One thought that is probably ringing true for every parent of a small child reading this right now.I shouldn?t be surprised that my lovely children have inherited the messy gene. I myself had it for a long time. The only way I was semi cured from it was constant nagging and complaining and still now I slip from my ways from time to time but a swift hand of marital justice does the trick.Amy and Lilly are too young to understand about being tidy. They will in time become educated in the ways of tidiness. Put one toy away before getting out the next and so on. For the time being though we can place them in any room in the house and everything that is at their level quickly goes on the floor.I will leave this post with s...
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Favouritism
2008-04-16 08:26:00
I love my children equally as every good dad should (even if one has been a total nightmare and made your day a living hell). One would think that if you love your children the same way, your child would love both parents the same. But this is grownup logic and not toddler logic.For the last few months I have had a fan and that is Amy. She would greet me with a smile when ever she saw me and generally hang around like a groupie. Now Lilly would do the same but she didn?t care if mummy would take her to bed or read to her. Amy on the other hand would throw a fit and say ?daddy do it?, ?daddy do it? until she got her own way. It?s good to be wanted I guess unless you can?t leave the room without where you are going and when you coming back. Emma was getting a little upset about it all as she was feeling very unwanted. I on the other hand was basking in being popular although being the good dad that I am was giving equal time to Lilly, well when Amy let her near me that is.A wee...

The Art Of Bribery
2008-04-11 08:50:00
My wife Emma gave the idea for this one. She tells me all of the little things that the girls throughout the day. What they did to make her laugh, small accomplishments and of course the terrible two?s driven tantrums. When I said that I was stuck for something to write as my poor brain is all clogged up with work type things and an unhealthy dose of the man flu. She said why don?t you talk about me bribing them to get them to do stuff? Excellent idea!As Lilly and Amy are becoming more aware, we as adults can start having conversations that they can, for the most part, understand. Now that we have a dialog open, we can start making deals with them. Well when I say deals I mean bribes really because they learn if they do things that they don?t really want to do then they get something as a reward for doing it.Amy and Lilly love playing outside in the garden with their new outdoor toys. This for us is a very large bargaining chip so when at tea time Emma is struggling with them...
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Me Me Me
2008-04-09 08:44:00
So what?s this post about I hear you cry. Well I'm bored, no wonderful ideas leap into my head at this point so I will take a quick break away from my wife (who is in the bath) and children (who I can here snoring on the monitor as I type) to give you 10 things you never really wanted to know about ME.1. I am about 60% Geek. Emma would say more 80% but I know my place in the geek world. Computers and me seemed to fit at an early age. On a daily basis, I hear words like stored procedures, binary compatibility, public keys, private keys, virtual machines and so on. To keep my geekness down, when I get home I don?t talk about my day in detail as when I do Emma has that glazed look about her and Amy & Lilly just wouldn?t want to know.2. I hated school as a child.To the annoyance of my mum mostly, I would hide all over the house in the morning so that she couldn?t find me in the hope she would forget that I had to go to school. It never worked. I pretty much f...

Two Contrasting Days ? Part Two
2008-04-07 08:52:00
Tuesday ? One Of The Best Days EverI woke up, had a shower and made my way down stairs. Emma has done the milk this morning so that was a bonus. Amy and Lilly were just finishing off their breakfast. Coco pops. As I came down to the bottom of the stairs I could hear them both saying ?daddy?s coming?. Things like that give me a happy glow. As they both saw me, I was presented with a pair of chocolate smiles. I helped them finish of the rest of their cereal. They both ate the lot and they finished their yoghurts off with very little mess. We went into the lounge to play.We played with the microphone that we got them for their birthday and we sat and built things with their blocks. We all shared the blocks and there was no arguing. We all read for a while and then sat on the couch and watched an episode of Pingu, I had no idea what was going on but the girls laughed so they must have been in on the joke.Emma sat with them at their table while they did some colouring with crayons. We al...
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Two Contrasting Days ? Part One
2008-04-04 08:40:00
Monday ? One Of The Worst Days EverI had 2 days off this week. The day started out okay as the routine goes. We got the girls dressed without much drama and went down stairs. Emma had a bath while we all had cheerios for breakfast. This is where things went down hill a bit.The introduction of cereal and milk was a good idea at the time but now Lilly refused to eat many of the rings and just wants the sweet milk but she can?t quite get the hang of the getting the milk to the mouth with her spoon without spilling it so she gets mad. So I start feeding her the milk to keep her happy while stuffing rings into Amy?s mouth to keep her eating. Then Lilly throws a complete stress because I accidentally get 1 lousy ring on her spoon. That?s it, no more cheerios today. I give them yoghurt with a choice of colour spoon, all is quiet, I wash the dishes. I look over to Amy to see she has totally done away with the spoon and started shovelling pink yoghurt into her mouth. I get the wipes and clea...
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Lilly & Amy?s Second Birthday In Pictures
2008-04-01 23:01:00
In The Morning - Behold the pink plastic. I set out the outside play stuff ready for them to play - It was all a big hit.Back inside and we opened and tried out all the presents. I, I mean we built a tower out of all the blocks. It was taller than Amy. They had their card read out on CBEEBIES that Emma sent in The Cakes - Emma slaved over a hot stove to cook these birthday creations The Party (I only had a couple of beers) ? They Got Lots Of CardsThere was face Painting ? Thanks Tara Amy LillyMax (Nephew) Alice (Friends daughter, thanks for coming Helen)We got the girls in from outside long enough to sing happy birthday - Emma was quite emotionalWhen it was time to go inside, Lilly has a total melt down for about an hour but they both slept straight away at bed time (phew again).A great day and I think everyone had a good time. The food was good there was plenty to drink (I still have a small bar?s worth of alcohol in my garage and Emma is slowly getting through the wine as I type t...
More About: Pictures , Birthday

Your One Sentence Answers
2008-03-28 10:30:00
As part of the pre birthday run up, I asked you to email me an answer to this question.?If you had to summarise your experience of being a parent so far into one sentence, what would it be?Thanks to everyone that emailed me and commented with your answers. There are some funny, sensible and inspiring ones.Everyone who answered my call have great blogs themselves so please take time to visit them as well.So here you are I started :)Name: MichaelBlog Name: My Wife And Twins "It?s been emotional, it?s been a rollercoaster ride of ups and downs, cries and laughs, it has made me grow up and be the man I am now, I love being a husband and a parent."Name: RuthieBlog Name(s): My Mama Drama and Got Multiples?"My experience of being a parent has been and continues to be very rewarding, and having preemie twins has shown me that even though life can throw you a few "curve balls", you can always overcome the obstacles, which in turn makes you stronger and a better parent."Name: Mrs. MecomberBlo...
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The Ingredients To A Successful Birthday Party
2008-03-26 12:59:00
Preparations have been going on for a couple of months in the form of lists. But with less than a week to go until Lilly and Amy?s second birthday, nearly everything is in place for a memorable party. As always, Emma is the project manager in these affairs. I take the orders and get the jobs done that need to be completed. This is how it should be, I find that things go a lot smoother and I get a lot less stressed.So, we are going for the birthday and party on the same day, as their birthday is on a Sunday, we though it would be a good idea. I class myself as a semi people person in that I will make the effort to interact with people that I don?t know that well but I can honestly say I feel quite nervous about this one. Granted, it was my idea to invite loads of people but I seldom think things through to the end.The key to a birthday / party is to keep everyone happy and to do this you need a sprinkling of ingredients:The presentsThe most important people to keep happy of course ar...
More About: Party , Birthday Party , Birthday , Ingredients

Just A Reminder
2008-03-25 21:57:00
This is the last couple of days for you to email me on the Calling All Parents thing that I have been running. I have got some good quotes from you out there but more will be welcomed. I will post the results on Friday. Thanks.
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Our Easter In Pictures
2008-03-24 10:47:00
We took them out in the garden for their first adventure in the snow There was a snowman, it was very small They both sampled the local delicacyThey had their first Easter eggsSurprise, Surprise, they both liked the chocolate!And as always, there was much playing! But they slept well in the end (Thank goodness)!
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Having Teeth Sucks!
2008-03-21 12:43:00
Three weeks, that?s right, three weeks of peaceful nights of unbroken sleep. We had just started to forget about all of the sleepless nights that we had prior to these wondrous weeks. As I sit here typing this with only a few hours sleep to my name from the previous night. All of those nights come flooding back.Why are human beings not born with all their teeth? Now I'm sure that there is a scientific explanation for it but I don?t care. It?s a rubbish design floor. We come into this world, toothless and gummy and over the next 2 years we suffer as these pointy, bony things slowly force there way through our gums. I don?t remember this process from when I was a baby but I do remember when I was 14 or 15 when my wisdom teeth decided to come through and that was hell. Both Amy and Lilly went through this process (together of course) until they had all of their teeth apart from the last 4 big teeth at the back. Then everything stopped for about three weeks.My girls waking up in the ni...
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6 Items That Contribute To A Smooth Routine
2008-03-18 23:30:00
The needs and the demands of the little ones are varied from day to day but there are some things in our household that are needed as part of the every day routine. As I am sure I?ve mentioned it before (and will again), I am all for the path of least resistance and although I can?t always go down that path, certain items in our possession at certain times of the day eases the bumpy ride.The Pacifier / Dummy I have dedicated a whole post to this here. Enough said on that one I think.BatteriesI have a draw in our lounge that has batteries of every kind in there as well as transformers that plug in and recharge other batteries for electric bikes etc. Why do I have these things? Well because you can explain to a 23 month old that their favourite toy has suddenly stopped working and you don?t have any of the correct size batteries for it to come to life. You can explain it but it doesn?t even register. All you get back is a look to say make this work in the next 10 seconds or your day w...
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Calling All Parents
2008-03-16 22:59:00
Lilly and Amy will be coming up to two years old in a couple of weeks and because of that, I am feeling quite philosophical about my time as a dad.Next week I will be doing pre birthday countdown to their birthday and as part of that I am asking you the parents out there for a few minutes of thought and an answer to this question.If you had to summarise your experience of being a parent so far into one sentence, what would it be?I am looking for a diverse bunch of answers so give me your best shot. You can be a parent in the first months or years on this journey or a parent who?s children have long sing flown the coop.If you want to participate, please email me with your name or nickname/screen name, your blog name and URL if you have one (you will get a link back) and your answer.I will put as many as I get on a post next week.ThanksMichael
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Dear Diary - An Afternoon In The Life Of Miss Lilly
2008-03-14 12:23:00
12:00pm to 4:00pmI woke up from my nap and had some juice that mummy brought up. I had my nappy changed. While Amy was getting changed, I swaggered around in my jeans with pink stitching on. I don?t really mind what jeans I wear to be honest but as Amy made a big thing about it this morning I may as well play on it a bit.We went down stairs for dinner. I sat in my chair. I hoped that we would have cake today. Mummy?s cakes are the best but I will attempt to eat at least something else as well to keep mummy happy. I usually sit on food to make it look as if I have eaten it. Once, I sat on a whole half a crumpet and mummy was so happy that I had eaten it (snigger). She found it though and then I had to eat flat crumpet.As usual Amy wanted to swap bibs. ?swap, swap?, that?s all that comes out of here mouth some days. For an easy life I usually swap with her but she isn?t getting my purple magna doodle, no way. We had cake and yoghurt for desert. I couldn?t get to the last bit with my s...
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Dear Diary ? A Morning In The Life Of Miss Amy
2008-03-12 10:45:00
6:30 to 10:45 amI almost couldn?t find my dummy this morning but I found it under my arm. Phew! I cried for a couple of minutes just to let mummy and daddy know that it was quite an emotional few seconds there.I talked to myself for a while going through all of the words I know. I used the word pink a lot this morning, as I do every day. I like pink. I wonder if I will get to wear a pink top today. I hope so. I'm sure mummy will come to my way of thinking in the end. I have purple slippers. I must tell daddy that when he sees me. I told him a few times yesterday but I like to remind him.Mummy came in with the milk and once I finished it, she let me out so I could run to see daddy. Lilly got up as well. I wanted to see daddy before Lilly, I did, he said hello and gave me a hug. He was in the study on the computer. He?s on there a lot. We ran around screaming and laughing for a while then mummy put us on the bed while she got dressed. Her top was purple. I have purple slippers, I tol...
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It's MY Pacifier
2008-03-09 22:19:00
The dummy, the pacifier, the soother or what I like to call the mute button. Whatever you call it in your home, I'm sure that there will be or has been a constant battle with this little thing. My twin girls, Amy and Lilly, sleep with theirs at night and sometimes create havoc if they drop it overboard through the slats of their cots if they realise that they don?t have it. During the day is when the battle rages. When it is time for breakfast they take them out and head to the kitchen ready to pile into the first meal of the day. At this point either Emma or I, if I am there, will hide them out of site hoping that they will forget about them and just start playing.So breakfast is over and we let them back into the lounge so they can play and try to cover every square inch of carpet with some sort of plastic toy. We will try not to make eye contact with them for a while, whistle and sit and look at the ceiling, pretend that everything is normal.This tactic has about a 50 % suc...
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The Personality War
2008-03-06 20:58:00
When Lilly & Amy were born, they were the same. Completely helpless and well didn?t really do a lot but as they started to take note of the world around them, they quickly each formed a personality.To start off Amy was very chilled out; she played and did the baby thing. Lilly on the other hand was quite angry and cried quite a lot of the time. Then one day out of the blue they completely switched personalities and they took on the others traits. That was weird.Today they do have very different personalities. Amy is a diva well and truly. She wants what she wants.Take Christmas for example. They both had a woolly fleece as one of their presents. We decided that Lilly would have a pink one and Amy would have the white one. We opened the present at the same time. Emma and I were both enthusiastic about the fleeces and told the, what there were. Amy who I had on my knee, pushed her white fleece out of the way, walked over to where Emma and Lilly were sitting and took Lilly?s pink o...
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Potty, First Contact
2008-03-05 10:21:00
We have been thinking about potty training for a while (well since birth) and we decided to purchase one to put in the bathroom so we could talk about it when the girls had a bath just to ease them into it. We are in no rush for them to start but it's there if they want to use it. After all as soon as they are out of nappies we will be having the words ?I need a wee? every 15 minutes when we are on a car journey or at some inappropriate time. I am also sure that they will always ask at different times, I can see it now, ?daddy I need a wee?, ?why didn?t you go 10 minutes ago when we stopped for your sister?, ?I didn?t want to go then?! So as I say no rush.Now I like things that have a duel use and the potty we got is no exception. It is a potty, a step and an attachment to the toilet (it makes the hole smaller so no one will fall down it). It was also a bargain which I like.It was at the weekend and we gave them a bath for the first time with the potty in the room. We gave them a b...
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Top 3 Strangest TV Programs For Pre Schoolers
2008-02-28 23:09:00
Everyone has an opinion about little ones watching TV. In our house the TV goes on when the adults want some peace and quiet. My girls will watch TV and other times it is just there as a background when they are playing. I have to sit down and watch this stuff from time to time and at times I find myself scratching my head wondering what's going on.The TV channel of choice in our house is CBEEBIES. For those of you who don?t know this channel, it?s supplied by the BBC and is a range of programs aimed and small babies, toddlers and pre school children. Most of it is good educational stuff but there are some very weird ones out there.The following are three of the strangest TV programs I have had the pleasure of watching. For some of you parents out there who have seen this stuff, you will agree and sympathise with me. For everyone else, I tell the truth (honest). If you don?t believe me Google it:Pingu What?s it about?Adventures of a child penguin and his family in the South Pole. T...
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Time To Lock Away Every Curse Word
2008-02-28 21:11:00
Well the day came. We were in a rush to get out the door to visit the grand parents. The girls had just finished dinner and we put the coats on and after about a 10 minute decision from both of them on what shoes to wear (not even 2 yet and they have a thing about shoes and clothes, I feel a constant battle of fashion looming leaving me with a lighter wallet), Emma checked the girls nappies as there was a familiar smell of ripeness in the air.It slipped out from nowhere, fuelled from trying to get in the car and away and still needing to clear the waste ground below their booster seats that was dinner. She put Lilly on her knee and checked, ?She?s done a s**t?. Emma covered her mouth as quickly as the word came out but just as quick, Lilly repeated it as clear as day ?s**t?Lilly usually takes things in but doesn?t repeat them straight away. Today would be the day that she decides to do it. I looked at Amy who was admiring her shoes and I don?t think heard it. We shall see in the nex...
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Earthquake But Not Awake
2008-02-27 23:02:00
We had an earthquake last night. It lasted around 10 to 15 seconds. I must admit I was still asleep half way through it and thought that I was having a weird rocking dream. Anyway, once I woke up a bit and sussed out that it was in fact an earthquake and not our boiler exploding, we waited for the cries from the baby monitor. Not a peep. Emma went into their room and they were fast asleep in their cots. This leaves me with one annoying question.Why can my girls sleep through a 5.0 earthquake but if I make a loud creak as I come up the stairs, they scream the house down as if it the end of the world?
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The Twenty Minute Temper Tantrum
2008-02-25 00:13:00
The other day, I witnessed Lilly?s first full on strop. We had just given Amy and Lilly a bath and it was time to put on their pyjamas. It has only been a few weeks since we have gone from all in one sleep suits to pyjamas and already they both have their favourites.This night, it was time for a new pair that they hadn?t worn before. Amy was first and given the choice of what set to ware (we take it in turns and to be as diplomatic as we can). She was happy and one changed went off to play. Lilly's turn and as soon as Emma put the top on here she started. She kicked and screamed through getting changed, trying to. Stood in the middle of her bedroom and screamed. When we took them down stairs to play, she found a corner and stood their and screamed. I put her on my knee and tried to calm her down but she just went ridged and screamed. Now quite deaf, I put her down and told her to go away and have a tantrum elsewhere. She did.I just want to explain about Lilly?s scream. She has what...
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Let The Daddy Years Begin - Back Story - Part 14
2008-02-25 00:04:00
Now I liked my sleep. I would stay up long into the early hours of the morning at the weekends and go to bed and have a long, uninterrupted sleep until the early afternoon. Emma and I had lazy Sundays where we would sit in front of the TV all day with the only worry of what we would be having for tea.Cut to the morning after our first night of two in the special care baby unit. It was about 8am on a Saturday, I had just had a night of about 3 hours sleep. We had been up every two and a half to three hour feeding Amy and Lilly and when they were settled we would lie there listening to every breath and jiffle they were making. If they weren?t jiffling around I wondered why and sit up in the bed to make sure they were okay. It was this night that they had finally got the crying thing down as well because for the 4 weeks that we had been there, we hadn?t heard them cry that much but now we had it, in stereo.My mind and my body had no idea what had happened the night before. It felt like...
More About: Story , Daddy , Back , Part , Years

The Final Hurdles - Back Story - Part 13
2008-02-23 09:55:00
After our little scare with Amy, I was convinced that we would be spending at least another couple of weeks in the special care unit but we started hearing rumours that we could be going into one of the apartments towards the end of the week. This was good news but there were a few things that the girls had to achieve to get there. In my man way, I just saw this as just an elimination of tasks I could mentally tick off. If I didn?t feel so geeky about it, I would have a laptop with some sort of spread sheet with graphs and such. I just kept this task sheet in my head.Most importantly, they needed to be feeding on there own without the milk going in through the tube. The girls had tried with little success to breast feed from Emma and after some thought she decided to go down the bottle route. Emma would still be supplying the mum milk just not straight on tap. Both Amy and Lilly took to this very well and were feeding off the bottle quite well. They also didn?t like having the tubes...
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Back to the Beginning - Back Story - Part 12
2008-02-21 20:36:00
It was the beginning of week 4 and in the morning Emma called me at work to say that Amy had quite a bad night, she has been sick a few times and she was quite dehydrated and the doctors had decided to put her back in intensive care for the time being. Emma was told that it was just a precaution and that I shouldn?t worry too much.After about half an hour of it weighing on my mind I left work and went straight to the hospital. At this point all of the negative emotions that I had about the whole thing had started to take hold and my thoughts were not in the best place.I got to the hospital and was buzzed into special care. I found Emma in the small booth that we had. Emma knew me well enough to know that I would not stay away so she wasn?t too shocked to see me. She was with Lilly but where Amy?s small plastic cot should have been was an empty space. This was the first time that my twin girls had been separated since birth. After I said hello to Lilly and held her hand for a couple ...
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Our Routine - Back Story - Part 11
2008-02-19 08:39:00
For the next couple of weeks, we got into a routine. Emma would come and see them twice a day and I would come to the hospital straight from work and spend an hour or so with them. While we were there, the nurses would encourage us to do everything like feed them (which was through a tube in the nose) and change their nappies etc. The feeding was alright I guess but the changing nappies for me was hard.Now yes I am a man and changing nappies when we first have to is like solving some hard puzzle. The other thing though is that they were just skin and bone and I didn?t want to hurt them. After a while though I did get used to doing it. One day though I almost got put off for life while changing a nappy.I think it may have been Amy but I had just taken the nappy off and bam, a projectile poo came out and from what I recall, ricocheted off the end of the cot and then landed about a meter away. I jumped out of the way with a not so manly scream. That?s another one of those thing...
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The Uber Breast Pump - Back Story - Part 10
2008-02-17 23:07:00
Okay, so I thought I would have a little post on this subject. I know it?s quite a personal thing for mums and all but I promise I will be tactful.So while we were at the hospital, Emma would go off into a comfortable room and pump out some good wholesome milk. As the girls were still feeding through a tube at this time it was good to stock up on the stuff as much as possible. The hospital had a machine that Emma borrowed to do the deed.When I have been shopping for baby things in the past I have seen these breast pumps on the shelves. They are usually small hand held units, maybe battery powered and discreet enough to carry around in a handbag.The contraption at the hospital was neither of these things. It was the size of a small truck, weighed a ton, ran off a kettle electric plug and from what I could tell, the pumping action was made by a large piston that I could see through the clear dome. This thing looked like it had come out of the industrial revolution. I have scowled the ...
More About: Story , Breast , Back , Part , Pump

Their First Few Days - Back Story - Part 9
2008-02-16 00:07:00
Things were moving well. In the first few days there were little accomplishments. Lilly lead the way with Amy very close behind her. They came off CPAP and their jaundice was improving enough that they didn?t need any more tanning sessions. A few days into April and I came to the hospital to find my girls had been moved into the communal area. They had about 30 layers of baby clothing on and they were down 2 wires and 1 tube. One in their nose for feeding, on their skin to monitor their body temperature and one so that if their breathing stopped and alarm would go off. Believe me this was an improvement.A couple of days after that I finally got to meet my girls in person and hold them for the first time. It was a bit scary as they were handed over to me but looking passed their poor bruised faces and into their eyes the scariness passed and I was euphoric. What they saw was probably just a big blurry shape moving around in front of them but I like to think it was a meeting of minds....
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