Chinette’s are home, healthy and thriving! A heartfelt thanks to this board for all the thoughts, wishes, prayers, encouragement, etc.sent our way.
You can read how it unfolded in almost real time here: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=293583&highlight=china I wrote the entire thread on my pda and posted usually while waiting alone in the very depressing waiting area of the neo-natal ICU with other parents. There is no race, class or cultural differences or divide in a room full of desperate parents.
The short version is that Audrey aka Twin A was born 90 minutes after water broke at 1:20 am on Christmas eve. There was no time for the planned c-section. As smooth a birth and healthy a baby as one could ask for. Serena aka Twin B aka apgar came out 40 minutes later with the umbilical chord wrapped twice around her neck. Serena was blue, limp and not breathing but had a heart beat. Resuscitated 1 minute after the pediatrician went to work but within minutes her heart stopped. Heart was restarted in 20 seconds. It took the longest 20 minutes of my life for her to breath unaided. Serena soon after was transported to the neo-natal ICU at the Fudan University Children’s Hospital in Shanghai. She spent 7 days in an incubator and another 11 in intermediate care. We then were able to move her back to the joint venture in patient clinic where she was born, and Serena spent another 18 days (with Audrey, Mom and myself in a private room) before we could confidently feed her without using a feeding tube.
Serena still has some problems suckling. That said, she is sucking down about 100+ cc/3.5 oz formula via the Haberman Feeder (a high tech baby bottle for those that can swallow but have a weak suck) per feed. Grandma has taken the feeding title from me, and today managed to get 80 cc down Serena in 30 minutes via a regular Nuk bottle and silicon nipple. Pediatrician was amazed that Serena put on almost 1 pound in the 8 days after discharge. So, not quite there but Serena is doing pretty dang good
Audrey eats like a camel and is sporting multiple chins.
[Heart goes out to other parents, and I know there are some on the board, with kids that have permanent challenges. We were fortunate to have a happy ending.]
Have you considered an SNS feeder system? They are thin plastic tubes attached to syringes. You wind the plastic tube around your finger and insert into the baby’s mouth. Then when the suck, you can slowly push the syringe to let formula flow through the tube. It’s how we first fed the Tinkleberry when he had trouble eating. As long as she is eating and gaining, you have no worries. Tinkle’s suckling didn’t get “normal” until about 7 weeks.
I started out using a syringe straight. Later got the Haberman Feeder, which essentially a bottle that you can also squirt milk into the mouth with. Those things are the bee’s knee’s, and a huge thanks to Patti at my company who located the supplier and got them fedex’d to China as fast as humanly possible.
I made the folder public so hopefully you can see the pix now.
Just gotta love that happy ending. The pics are great and I’m so very happy that the girls are doing well. Big sister is adorable as is Chinawife. Congrats on your success.
Man oh man, these pictures have me tearing up, China Guy! I’m so glad everything turned out as well as it did. What a beautiful family. I particularly like the picture of Jacqueline during the Chinese New Year, and that last one of Audrey and Serena in their yellow outfits. The expression of Audrey is great.
“Yo man, what’s all the fuss about? Everything’s cool.”
I was lurking on the original thread. I’m really glad things are going so well now. Are Audrey and Serena identical twins? Oh and I just have to say – they’ve got your hair! Seriously, what a lovely family you all are.
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