Katie and Zach, the Story: Two Plus Two

January 29, 2013 brought the birth of our twins, both girls, Inessa Noelle Hay Wiren (Baby A) and Bryna Nova Hay Wiren (Baby B).

At the birth, when we found out the genders. Katie in surgery, shaking but relieved. Zach, tired but excited to know he has two daughters, holding the babies for the first time. left: Bryna, right: Inessa

After five difficult days, starting Thursday morning, attempting to stop premature labor, the twins were born via Cesarean section on Tuesday morning. We are thrilled to finally meet them face to face! We just made it to 35 weeks gestational age, the average birth age for twins. Amazingly, and since the hospital doesn't record seconds on the clock, they were both born at 10:59am, Inessa first, then Bryna poked her head out and insisted on being born right away. The doctor said she had never seen this happen so quickly before. Another doctor had to step in quickly to grab Bryna while our doctor welcomed Inessa. Later, the staff would question the birth times being the same because this is so unusual. Only we will know who was the first born. And now you know too!

left: Inessa, right: Bryna. Recovering at St. Joseph Medical Center, Tacoma, the day after they were born.

We spent several days at the hospital healing from surgery and learning to care for the girls. The whole experience was extremely challenging, but that was what we expected. I am very thankful and proud of how healthy the girls are and that even though they were five weeks premature, they scored high on the APGAR test, required no medical intervention and were able to spend their first few nights with us in the room. Twins are always high risk but we did our absolute best to prepare for and carry out a healthy pregnancy. Still, their doctor says it is crucial to limit visitors for several months because babies born so premature have yet to build an immune system.

Katie with Inessa and Bryna, attempting to raise the temperature of the babies, who don't have enough fat yet to hold a stable temperature.

Our doctor says there is a small chance that they are identical twins, but more likely they are fraternal. They look very similar. Inessa has a longer face; Bryna's face is more heart-shaped and she has redder skin tones than Inessa's olive tone. Someday they can take a DNA test to find out for sure. For now, Bryna has blue nail polish on her toenails.

Can you tell them apart?

We wanted to find them simple yet unique names with a sing-songy sound. "Bryna" sounds celtic to us and is our feminine version of the name "Brennan," found in a favorite irish song, "Brennan on the Moore". "Inessa" is a lovely name, with Russian or latin roots, that Zach found and we both liked. We like that it contains "nessa," reminding us of the Loch Ness creature ("Nessie") legend in Scotland. Their middle names were chosen to represent two of our favorite things, both inspired by many happy memories: Astronomy and Christmas-time.

We took Bryna home on Saturday and Inessa home on Sunday (because she had been taken to the NICU for two days for monitoring of her temperature). Fortunately, Zach had four weeks off of work to help care for the babies and that was really good. Still, they required constant attention and we are VERY exhausted, not to mention recovering from major surgery!

Now that Zach is back at work, the feeding schedule is even more challenging because neither of us is getting enough sleep. They don’t sleep very soundly. It is difficult to sleep in the same room with them because they are noisy and require soothing frequently. Change, feed, burp, swaddle, rock one to sleep... wake the other, change, feed, burp, swaddle, rock the other to sleep, pump... just in time to start over... 24 hours a day. And hope one doesn't cry while you are attending to the other. We are very thankful for family and friends who have helped clean, prepare meals and help with the babies.

Even so, we are in love with our new family. The rare quiet moments are amazing. We look forward to when they are stable, strong and sleep soundly.

Inessa, one week old

Inessa and Bryna, one week old.

Bryna, one week old.

Bryna is very responsive. She lets us know how she is feeling through her facial expressions. She wears her heart on her sleeve. It will be easy to get to know her, to talk with her and to like her. She is funny too. She reserves a little smirk, smiling with the left side of her face, for moments of contentedness. She smiles and concentrates when I sing to her.

Bryna dressed to leave the hospital, four days old.

Bryna

Inessa

Inessa is peaceful. She appears deep in thought, calm, content. She is an observer and will be a good listener, and a good friend. I also notice that she is my night owl, like me. But we knew this already from when I was pregnant. Baby A was active at night and Baby B was more active in the morning. Inessa is wide-awake at night and eats more at night. We will probably spend many an evening together.

Inessa, two weeks old.

Katie with Inessa

Inessa and Bryna

Bryna and Inessa, Valentines Day 2013

They are beginning to smile and look us in the eyes. Both girls are sensitive to being left alone. They don’t like to be set down. But they are also polite. They don’t cry unless they are hungry or uncomfortable. Unfortunately, that is quite often. They are preemies after all and their little bodies have yet to develop good digestive systems. They enjoy having their arms free to flail and stretch. They like music. They also enjoy bath time (most of the time). I enjoy it too.

Bryna, three weeks old.

Bryna

Inessa, three weeks old.

Inessa

Our cats have been curious and respectful of the babies. They are surprisingly gentle with the girls. Hubble is especially concerned about them. He guards the door of the bedroom where they sleep. On several occasions when I have been stuck feeding one of the babies and the other was crying, he even came to help. I said, “Hubble, check on the baby!” And Hubble came running in to look into the swing where the baby was laying. He sat on his hind legs, pushed the rocker and it swung back and forth. Raven came too and nuzzled the rocker to the same affect. Also, Hubble's purr is soothing, possibly reminiscent of their time in the womb when Hubble would sit on my lap.