Kat and I lean toward the homebody end of the lifestyle spectrum already, but from the time her bedrest began around the sixth month of her pregnancy to now, we’ve had a lot of time together, but very few “dates”. We haven’t been completely housebound, but outings have been either one at time (while the other one takes care of the girls), or family outings to such exotic destinations as “the pediatrician” or “the eye doctor”. We still don’t have the pediatrician’s go-ahead to venture out to crowded or enclosed public places like restaurants —giving immunity more time to develop — but we’ve done outside seating a couple of times during off-peak hours. Our last leisurely outing with just the two of us was long enough ago that neither of us could remember when it was or what we did, so we decided to ask Helen to come to work early one day recently so we could have a date. Here’s how it went:

• We slept together (figuratively).
• We slept together (literally).
• We went out to eat at the Cheesecake Factory, and talked. We even talked a little about stuff besides the babies.
• We went home.
• We slept together (figuratively).
• We slept together (literally).

It was, without a doubt, one of my best dates ever.

Dear Mommy Wife,

I considered getting you a card, but it just wasn’t the same without you there to help pick one out that you liked so we could laugh or say “Aww” together and put it back.

I am so happy to celebrate your first Mother’s Day as a mother. It was a long time coming, and even before you were a mom, I felt like Mother’s Day ought to include you, since you have always been so wonderful and nurturing with your nieces, nephew, and kids in general. You have already been a great mom through your pregnancy and our daughters’ first month of life, and I’m sure that will continue.

Brooke and Claire are lucky to have you as their Mommy, and I’m even more lucky to have you as my wife and the mother of my children. It still boggles my mind when I see you doubt your own strength or maternal ability, because the woman and mother I’ve seen over the last year – especially the last couple months – is a pretty strong and awe-inspiring person and mother.

• You’ve endured more shots, blood draws, and IV’s than I can count, despite your fear of needles and history of being a “tough stick”.
• You’ve stayed upbeat and resilient in the face of disappointments, never losing your sense of humor or tiring of mine.
• You had to drastically modify your diet and lifestyle to keep our girls gestating as long as they did, which helped give them a healthy start, even for a pair of 31-weekers.
• You tolerated a month of bedrest (and were prepared for more), and longer than that of not being able to get normal sleep because every position you tried would get uncomfortable after a few minutes.
• Besides the rather substantial discomforts that go with a twin pregnancy, you’ve endured the extra pain and limitations of severe gall stones, including restricted diet, a 5-day hospitalization at Week 27, and surgery to remove your gall bladder before you’re even fully recovered from a c-section. When’s the last time you were completely pain-free?
• Despite the frustrations and difficulties of trying to produce breast milk exclusively by pumping – which isn’t what Nature built your body for – you have persevered and given Brooke and Claire precious nourishment from you during the period they needed it most.
• You’ve managed to survive huge chunks of the last year without sex, often due to doctors’ orders, sometimes due to it just being physically out of the question, which I know has been torture for you. Well, maybe not, but feel free to borrow this bullet item if you write me a Father’s Day letter next month.

I am so proud of you and thankful to have you as my wife. Congratulations on becoming a Mommy, and thanks for making me a Daddy.

Love,

Daddy Husband

Kat’s surgery to have her gall bladder removed went well, but for reasons that still aren’t entirely clear, her doc decided to admit her for a couple of nights. We know her gall bladder was in bad shape - inflamed, but not infected - and she had a drainage tube and substantial post-op pain, so neither of us were bothered by the change in plans, but we’re still a little perplexed why he would have expected to do it as outpatient surgery in the first place. She was only a month removed from having a c-section, which to my layman’s judgment seems like something that could be expected to make her recovery a little rougher than usual. Like I said, though, we didn’t mind the stay. They were able to grant our request to have her admitted to women’s recovery wing just down the hall from the NICU, so she was close to the babies and being cared for by a bunch of nurses we already liked. With the pain level immediately following the surgery, Kate was in no hurry to get home and negotiate the stairs. Financially, it’s already a given that we’ll meet our annual out-of-pocket maximum for the year, so what’s another day or two in the hospital? Read the rest of this entry »

Brooke and Claire must have overheard conversations about Brooke possibly being read to go home first, because they seem to be conspiring to get more in synch so they can go home together. After a few days of finishing off her bottles under the time limit, Brooke has had a hard time staying awake to complete her feedings. Meanwhile, Claire caught up to her sister’s pace of taking every third feeding by bottle, and has done so well she might advance to nippling every other feeding before Brooke. Claire has also been the more feisty one lately, so we think Brooke may be feeling the anemia a little more than her sister. They’re still on epogen for the anemia, and we expect tomorrow’s labs to show us whether it’s working or if one or both might need a transfusion.

Mommy is having a cholecystectomy today, meaning her gall bladder will be removed. This is something we’ve been expecting for a while now, since she was first diagnosed with severe gall stones in her first trimester. Had she not been pregnant, they would have scheduled her for surgery ASAP. At the time of the diagnosis, when she was having discomfort but not severe pain, the ultrasound tech who scanned her gall bladder said it was in pretty bad shape and he was surprised she wasn’t in more pain; normally, if he saw gall stones that bad, he’d be scanning someone who came into the emergency room in severe pain. Surgeons and obstetricians prefer to avoid surgery during pregnancy unless absolutely necessary, so Kat was advised to adhere to a low-fat diet (fats aggravate gall bladder problems) and try to put off surgery until after the pregnancy. Read the rest of this entry »