Chunky Monkey

Yesterday, as I was breastfeeding Maya (without the SNS, I might add! Woo Hoo!), I was telling Peter that I might start referring to her as "chunky monkey" on the blog. (This is what I call her sometimes... okay, a lot...) Well, she opens her eyes and gives me the "mean Maya" stare! She doesnt miss a beat breastfeeding but those eyes opened and then squinted. I chuckled and said "OKAY! No chunky monkey on the blog!" So, she closes her eyes and continues lunch. I whisper "But you're still my chunky monkey" and once again, those eyes opened! As her Aunt Sarah said last night when I told her the story, it was as if Maya was saying "I'll sacrifice because it's YOU but no one else!"

Our sweet girl was more hoarse this morning. They think the steroids are wearing off, so they gave her a shot of epinephrine and that seemed to help.

Bobby (who, to balance "chunky monkey" is my little "chipmunk" because of those gorgeous little cheeks that he likes to hide his milk in) is doing great. I think he is keeping his intake lower so that he can stay with Maya and not come home early. He takes his full bottles for us, yet wont always take them for the nurses. He CAN do it... he just doesnt. I cant help but wonder if it is because he wants them to go home together (as we want!)

One of our favorite nurses told us last night that she doesnt think she will see us again. She works again on the 16th. Could we really be home before then??? A week ago, one our favorite weekend nurses (who will be back on the 14th) said the same thing. We really hope they are right.

Bobby has his 2w eye exam today. Prayers that things are the same (or better!). Maya has her 1w post-op appointment tomorrow around 6am. We are making tonight a fairly early night (leaving after Bobby's 6pm care time, so around 7pm instead of our closer-to-midnight leavings of normal) so that we can get some sleep (well, so Peter can, I dont do more than my 3-4 hour stretch, due to my affair with MG) and get to the hospital in time for her exam. Please pray that things look great. We wont know the success of the surgery for several weeks, but we are hoping that what they can see looks good. The idea of putting her (or Bobby) through hell again is a lot to fathom.

Guess who will be here in a week.... MY MOM AND MAMAW!!! They are flying up next Monday afternoon and will be here early evening. They are staying until Friday and we are sooo excited! Mom had initially planned to come up with the idea that the babies would have been born around Saturday, so she'd be here to help them come home and visit. We assumed by their visit that the kids would be home already. We are still hoping. I'd hate for them to come all this way to have limited NICU visits, especially since there is a 2 person maximum per family. That means that I couldnt be with both of them and the kids (you'd think with twins that they'd give you 4 people since there are 2 babies but I digress...)

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We are rapidly approaching Alexander's first birthday. I still havent figured out what cake I will make. A sailboat? A pirate ship? I'm waiting for a sign... I know he doesnt want a train (Nicholas) or a castle (Sophia). :) We're also trying to figure out where to spend his day. We went to the beach at Spring Lake for Nicholas's birthday and Coney Island (Brooklyn) for Sophia's. We havent felt "beach" for Alexander... We are thinking we may go to Jim Thorpe for a brief visit. Before he was born, we went and listened to Christmas carols being sung on Main Street. Perhaps. We dont know. He will tell us, I'm sure. We'll have his family dinner before my mom and grandmother leave (so, probably, the 18-19th, I have to confirm with Peter which night) and then we will do the 23rd in private, as we did for Nick and Sophie. We want the actual birthdays of our children to be ours. We will celebrate publicly with their grandparents, etc, on a day near their birthdays but the days themselves are something we want kept close to our hearts. Perhaps once Bobby and Maya are much older and birthdays become one of those things that is mostly just another day (because they have their own lives) things will change... But for now, this is how we feel, and such is life...

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I read this post this morning. It was quite touching. Perhaps I will start bringing white roses home on their birthdays...