We've been home now for over a month, and it's been by far the best month in a while - certainly the best out of the last six anyway. Although the previous five wouldn't have been too hard to beat.
We are acting a lot more like a normal family now. I'm going to work every day, and still get excited each time I leave the office to go home. The babies change so much on a daily basis - I notice something different every time I see them. The change in Willow particularly has been amazing. She has so much more energy now, she's smiling for longer periods, and just looks like a happy baby. We keep thinking back to when she was looking at us so sadly with the tube down her throat for so many weeks. Looking at her now just makes us realise how lucky we are that she is the perfect, beautiful baby she is today. Stanley is still being Stanley; he basically smiles continuously, until hunger sets in.
Every day, the babies get some time on the play mat where they just lie there and look at each other. Stanley gets so excited when his sister turns up next to him, and they can spend a good hour just wiggling their limbs and googling to each other. This is one of the many benefits of having twins I suppose - instant playmates.
Feeding is still generally going well; although last night we had a bit of a moment with Stanley. It looks like he coughed, burped and vomited at the same time, which meant it all came out of his nose. We were terrified he was going to choke; I actually called the hospital while Leela masterfully calmed him down with some strategic movements and oxygen administration. After a while he cleared it out of his nose and throat himself, so the panic was over with no intervention. Six weeks ago, that would have been a definite 'bagging' incident. So on the one hand, it's very reassuring that he came out of that on his own - but on the other hand, it shows that we're still not totally out of the woods.
We recently received another benefit from our fifteen minutes of fame. During our week as celebrities, we were contacted by the makers of 'Babyglow' sleepsuits, who wanted to offer Willow and Stanley a couple of outfits each. They're basically baby grows which start off as pink or blue, and will change to white if the baby's temperature rises above a certain level. Luckily we've not experienced them turning white yet - but it definitely adds peace of mind if we're ever a bit worried that they might be getting ill. With sat monitors, apnoea alarms and Babyglows, I think we've got it covered.
We're really looking forward to the weather getting warmer now. We still don't want our babies mixing with the general public and their germy germs, so we're trying to avoid enclosed spaces when we're out and about. One only has to stand in a queue in Asda and realise that this is not the place for a baby with chronic lung disease.
We attempted to go for an outdoors lunch in Poole Park at the weekend, so walked past the warm people inside the cafe, and sat in the cold wind with an overpriced panini and the worst cup of coffee in Dorset. It wasn't long before we were sat in our nice warm car watching the boot of a Citroen Picasso while finishing our food. The babies seemed to enjoy their little excursion in the fresh air anyway, and it was just nice to be able to even take them out like that.
It's still an hour or so until we give the babies some more food to last til the morning. So, it must be about time for the parents to have some more food to last til the morning too. Food, in this case, being Quality Street and a bottle of wine.
We are acting a lot more like a normal family now. I'm going to work every day, and still get excited each time I leave the office to go home. The babies change so much on a daily basis - I notice something different every time I see them. The change in Willow particularly has been amazing. She has so much more energy now, she's smiling for longer periods, and just looks like a happy baby. We keep thinking back to when she was looking at us so sadly with the tube down her throat for so many weeks. Looking at her now just makes us realise how lucky we are that she is the perfect, beautiful baby she is today. Stanley is still being Stanley; he basically smiles continuously, until hunger sets in.
Every day, the babies get some time on the play mat where they just lie there and look at each other. Stanley gets so excited when his sister turns up next to him, and they can spend a good hour just wiggling their limbs and googling to each other. This is one of the many benefits of having twins I suppose - instant playmates.
Feeding is still generally going well; although last night we had a bit of a moment with Stanley. It looks like he coughed, burped and vomited at the same time, which meant it all came out of his nose. We were terrified he was going to choke; I actually called the hospital while Leela masterfully calmed him down with some strategic movements and oxygen administration. After a while he cleared it out of his nose and throat himself, so the panic was over with no intervention. Six weeks ago, that would have been a definite 'bagging' incident. So on the one hand, it's very reassuring that he came out of that on his own - but on the other hand, it shows that we're still not totally out of the woods.
We recently received another benefit from our fifteen minutes of fame. During our week as celebrities, we were contacted by the makers of 'Babyglow' sleepsuits, who wanted to offer Willow and Stanley a couple of outfits each. They're basically baby grows which start off as pink or blue, and will change to white if the baby's temperature rises above a certain level. Luckily we've not experienced them turning white yet - but it definitely adds peace of mind if we're ever a bit worried that they might be getting ill. With sat monitors, apnoea alarms and Babyglows, I think we've got it covered.
We're really looking forward to the weather getting warmer now. We still don't want our babies mixing with the general public and their germy germs, so we're trying to avoid enclosed spaces when we're out and about. One only has to stand in a queue in Asda and realise that this is not the place for a baby with chronic lung disease.
We attempted to go for an outdoors lunch in Poole Park at the weekend, so walked past the warm people inside the cafe, and sat in the cold wind with an overpriced panini and the worst cup of coffee in Dorset. It wasn't long before we were sat in our nice warm car watching the boot of a Citroen Picasso while finishing our food. The babies seemed to enjoy their little excursion in the fresh air anyway, and it was just nice to be able to even take them out like that.
It's still an hour or so until we give the babies some more food to last til the morning. So, it must be about time for the parents to have some more food to last til the morning too. Food, in this case, being Quality Street and a bottle of wine.
