Saturday, February 07, 2004

I Meet the EdTwins


Megan's incubator and monitor
Now that I have the go-ahead from the hospital, I arranged with my Aunt Susan to go with me to BC Women's Hospital to visit Cheryl and the bubs.

We arrived during a shift change, so we waited a little while before nabbing a wheelchair for Cheryl to head down to the Baby Ward. They told us two visitors were allowed per baby, so they were OK with the 3 of us going in together. We washed up at this giant sink trough they have along one wall, and passed by the NICU room for the highest level of intensive care babies, where Megan and Maribeth started out. They were moved to the room they're in now, which has fewer monitors. As you can see, though, the incubators take steady readings of a multitude of measurements, from heart rates to... well, whatever else they keep track of. I had no idea what the numbers on the LED panels meant, but I wasn't about to bug the nurse to give me a crash course on the machines. She was pretty busy doing her calculations, and we were trying to stay out of her way.


Allan with Megan, showing thumb for scale

Cheryl holding Maribeth


(L) Here's a photo of Megan that Allan took earlier on Friday. He put his hand there so you can see how tiny she is.
(R) Allan also took a photo of Cheryl with Maribeth.


They had Maribeth's incubator covered up, so I took some photos of Megan to start. I was surprised at her size, since the photos don't really give a good indication of true size and thus make her appear larger than she really is. She was lying on her tummy with her bum up in the air, asleep, under the bili lights. (I had to look up what bili lights are for.) Considering she was the larger twin, I was trying to imagine how tiny Maribeth must be. Megan was small, but she was filled out. When I saw Maribeth, the nurse was just changing her and getting her dressed in baby clothes, so at least I saw her moving around and active. She was considerably smaller, and she didn't have that "filled out" look. She has some major eating and growing to do!



Melissa on skates.
Meanwhile, in Maine, Melissa has grown two whole inches since she went there in November. Cheryl tells me she's pretty spoiled, being able to eat pretty much whatever she wants, when she wants. She doesn't have a younger brother and sister to steal her food, or fob off her food to when she isn't happy with what's on the menu. She has three aunts and two grandparents at her beck and call. No wonder she's grown so much!