And while the children slept....

Felix and I have recently gotten back into the Wii (Nintendo Interactive Gaming System). I have begun to use the Wii fit to slowly transistion my body into any moderate form of exercise. Felix recently purchased Tiger Woods 2009 for the system and is getting quite good.




This is the character that Felix custom-created and I believe in this pic the character is actually playing on a computer simulated version of a local golf course (Westchester Country Club). Too bad the real Tiger Woods didn't do so hot in real life this past weekend....another day Tiger...we will keep watching!



We also had an evening visit from Aiko and Steve who came all the way from Brooklyn after work to steal a peak at the twins. Be careful Steve..Aiko is falling in love with newborns again!!!
Aiko and Steve and their two little boys Ko and Rei are off to Japan next week for a family wedding. Bon Voyage guys!

Some more visitors and no more swaddling please!

Grandpa and Silvia came by for a visit. Both were amazed at how calm and content the babies were. I think everyone thinks of a house with newborn twins as a place of continuous hysterical crying....but we are fortunate to have two very happy content babies...at least for now. Nana came by to visit yesterday, but we were having so much fun, we forgot to take a picture..next time Nana!




We have also noticed that our children do NOT like to be swaddled. It is supposed to help them feel comfortable and help them sleep and we were noticing that they were having a hard time falling asleep while swaddled. So our doctor recommended not doing it and in their closets we found these "sleep sacks" kind of like a wearable blanket. They seem to love it, and sleep so much better now.



And finally, the logisitics that go into feeding two babies, bathing them and preparing dinner are a little much for one person. So Felix made dinner tonight while I was on bath duty. He made a wonderful dinner of sole and au gratin potatoes. Yum! How great is he!

And the winner is....

There are a lot of logistics that go into feeding two babies on the same schedule. You want them on the same schedule so that you can actually get some sleep, but you need to work out who gets to eat first...a technicality that we didn't consider when deciding to breastfeed both babies (they are too small too feed at the same time right now). So we have started a little game...whoever opens their eyes first...gets to eat first...and this day at this feeding, it was Lucas!



We went to the doctor today! We were out the door on time, and even got to the doctor's office ten minutes early! Way to go Team Gomez! Doc says they are doing well and they are both almost 5 pounds..just a few ounces to go. We will go back next week for another weight check. (By the way, Felix and I got our first taste of the instant fan club we get when out with these two. People flock to them in numbers...something about twins!)

Some family visitors and a cute photo op

Yesterday we had some visitors. Felix's mother, his sister Natacha and her boyfriend Hugo came by to visit.
Here is Esmeralda holding Liliana...



And Natacha and Hugo with Lucas...




Finally, I couldn't resist when I saw these shirts at Babies R Us. And indeed...twins ARE twice the fun!

Just in case you are wondering...

We did survive the first night...quite easily actually. We are lucky in that they are pretty much on the same schedule..thanks to the NICU. So we weren't up continuously all night. And in the morning, when the sun had risen, we were all smiles still...



Most of their time was spent like this....



Unless you consider Liliana as she had her first bath today...




But then she was her normal, content, happy self after drying off and changing into some clean clothes...

Lucas is home!!!

We called the NICU this morning and were told that indeed Lucas would be coming home today. YEAH!! We got there just in time for the lunchtime feeding and then Lucas hung out and looked at himslef in the mirror in his bassinet while we finished up some paper work with the doctors and nurses.



He slept and snored the whole car ride home!



Of course, Nana had balloons waiting for Lucas as well and since the weather was so nice, Felix and Lucas posed by the front fence.




And now they are back together..right where they belong...together and at home!

Liliana comes home!!!

When we came into the NICU this morning we were informed that Liliana would be coming home today!!! We had a feeling she would be, and as much as we wanted to take both of the twins home together, Lucas is still working up to his feedings, so we started the preparation for Liliana to come home. First, the NICU gives each baby going home a car seat test. Sometimes, especially with preemies, the baby's airway can get blocked when they try to sit in a car seat. So in order to pass and to be able to go home in a car seat, Liliana was put in her seat, still hooked up to the monitor and she needed to sit in it for one hour without the monitor indicating any abnormalities of oxygen consumption....




I think she had fun in her new digs...

Meanwhile, while the test was going on, it was mail call in the NICU and both Liliana and Lucas recieved Valentine's from Nana. Since Lucas was going to be staying we showed him his card and then left it in the corner of the crib.

Notice that Lucas no longer has the feeding tube. He is doing great and eating strong and doctors say he could be home as early as Thursday. Hip-hip-hooray little man!


When we arrived home with Liliana, Nana had these balloons waiting for us. Now the whole neighborhood knows she is home!!

Nice and cozy at home...where she should be!

We will be going back every day to feed and visit with Lucas. Let's hope he comes home soon! We miss you Lucas!

Happy Valentine's Day!

We walked into the NICU this afternoon to find these two little valentines on the babies' blankets. The night staff really loves to make this stuff.



A closeup of the two....

The twins were pretty alert during the 3 o'clock feeding so we took some more pics..Liliana looks much bigger in these, but Lucas is actually longer...he just likes to curl his legs up a lot.

I think he was tired of the pictures at this point, even though Mami turned the flash off.

Liliana is a good eater and if you don't feed her promptly (and take pictures instead) she proceeds to eat her hands, fingers, blanket, whatever is in the near vicinity,

And finally, four years ago, Felix asked me to marry him. To celebrate we went out to eat at Centro's in Darien....what a nice night! Happy Valentine's Day to all!

Abuela comes to visit!

Abuela (Felix's mother) came to visit the other day and to help out with the feedings. (Abuela means grandmother in Spanish).

People often ask if they are really smaller than 5 pounds since they look so big in some of the pics. They are still quite tiny...you can see it in the relation of them to the size of the bottle they are taking.

However, their feeds are increasing every day and they are starting to continually feed on their own with no need for the feeding tube.

Here are some pics of Felix and Liliana....

More pics...and we passed our hearing tests!!

Today was a good day at the NICU. Just took a bunch of photos. As I walked in today, there was a sign by both Liliana's and Lucas' nametags that said "I passed my hearing test!" So all is well is that department

This is a nice pic of the two of them facing each other in the crib..notice how Lucas is pulling on his feeding tube...he is always doing this.



Lucas was sound asleep when I first arrived and he just looked so comfy I had to take a picture.



Both of them out cold right before feeding time...



Pulling on the feeding tube...

Still trying to get it out!

The nurses asked us to bring in some clothes so that the babies could wear something other than the boring white onesies we had. This was given to Liliana by Maria Prieto, a guidance counselor at Felix's school. So pretty!!

Daddy and Lucas....

A Big Day at the NICU!!

Well today was quite fun at the NICU. First and foremost, Lucas and Liliana were taken out of their isolettes and transported to their new crib where they will be co-sleeping (very popular with twins)

Then, the nurses decided it was time for a photo op and proceeded to pose us in a variety of ways. Just a note, it is total coincidence that Felix is in blue and I in pink...just worked out that way.

Many people have been asking about the tubing that is in their nose. It is a removable tube that they can feed through if they get too tired. At this point, they are increasing their feeds quite a bit, but since they are still so tiny, they often get tired. It is not until another week usually that babies get the whole sucking, swallowing, breathing reflex down. To do all three simultaneously is difficult for preemies. So they start off each feeding from the bottle and at the end they might fall asleep, or be awake and just to be too tired to work at feeding from the bottle. Then the remaining food is put into a syringe like tube and the milk just goes right down into their stomach. This way they can keep putting on weight while they catch up with this whole feeding thing. Sometimes they don't use it, but they usually do at least once a day (they feed eight times a day)

And finally, we got a video camera. We are still figuring it out, but we thought we would try to post a video. We haven't figured out the whole editing part yet, so there is a lot of background noise, but we thought it might be fun to see them in action!