Today I have a guest blogger, Troy Dunham, who is a work colleague. His wife recently gave birth to twin girls and he is just easing back into work from a very active paternity leave. Enjoy and thank you to Troy for agreeing to share his thoughts (even if it took him 12 days to reply to my email giving me permission to post this wonderful FAQ! After you read it you will understand why it took 12 days for him to reply.)

Troy Dunham:

Hello everyone! To say that it has been a busy couple of weeks would be an understatement. I’ve barely had time to think, let alone breathe, eat, dress myself in anything other than sweats, and most of all SLEEP. So, my apologies for the blast email but if I don’t do it this way, it won’t get done. In the spirit of efficiency, I’ve also included a Frequently Asked Questions section below. I can’t wait to see you all. -td

Dunham Family FAQ’s

How are the girls doing?

Great! I can tell you without question that their lungs work. And their digestive tracts; but more on that later.

How are Mom and Dad doing?

Tired, as you would expect. Miriam is incredible. Seriously, she feels no pain and apparently doesn’t have to sleep. Ever.

What are the girls’ full names?

Madeleine Clara Dunham and Paige Hazel Dunham

Do the names have any family meaning?

We had one girl’s name and one boy’s name picked out but when we found out we were having twins we had to come up with two of each. Oh yeah, and middle names too. Miriam and I decided on “Madeleine” and “Paige” because we liked the names and even tentatively assigned each of the girls a name when they were still in utero. The middle names are from family: “Clara” is Miriam’s 94 year-old paternal grandmother; “Hazel” was my maternal great-grandmother who I was lucky enough to know for many years. If our girls can grow to be even half as dynamic, confident, and assertive as their namesakes, I will be very satisfied indeed.

Is Paige out of the Neonatal ICU?

Yes! She came home this week after 14 days in the NICU.

How much do they weigh?

Madeleine was born at 5lbs 2oz and Paige weighed 4lbs 4oz at birth. At our doctor’s appointment yesterday, Maddie was up to 5lbs 13oz and Paige was up to 5lbs 3oz.

Who was born first?

In a strange twist of nature, the girls were born at exactly the same moment. At least that’s what we’re telling them.

Did Miriam have a C-section?

She did. But it was a wild ride. Her water broke at 4:30pm and she delivered the girls at 7:42pm the same night. I ran six red lights on the way to the hospital and I seriously thought I was going to lose my mind sitting in the backup getting to the Caldecott tunnel. By the time we got to the hospital, Miriam was nine centimeters dilated, which I am told is enough to deliver a baby the “normal” way. However, Madeleine was breach so Miriam got the C-section. Besides, the hospital had gone to all the trouble of preparing a perfectly good operating room for us and who are we to let it go to waste?

Did you watch the operation?

Hell no. I stayed well-behind the curtain.

Is having twins twice as hard as having one baby?

Yes. We had Madeleine at home for about ten days before Paige came home from the NICU. Having both at home is double the fun but double the work!

Are you getting any sleep?

Some. This is the first week having both girls home from the hospital so we’re still trying to find a rhythm.

Is the family pet adjusting?

Our cat, Kona, is really freaked out by the little girls even though she outweighs each of them by a couple of pounds.

Do you have any help?

Miriam’s mother has been helping out a LOT and we have a night nanny that comes three nights per week. The night nanny costs a lot, but my sanity costs more.

If you’re not sleeping, what are you doing with all your time?

Seriously? Really, there’s really very little down time. The schedule goes like this: each girl eats about every three hours if things are “normal”. It takes about an hour each to prepare the bottle, change the diaper, feed, burp, and put down for sleep and then do it again for the other twin. That leaves one hour between feedings to clean the bottles, do laundry, eat, clean the kitchen, etc. Every three hours. Twenty-four hours per day. Seven days per week. Seriously.

Have you left the house at all?

Twice. Once to go to the doctor’s appointment and once to go for a run.

Have you been able to exercise?

I went for the most painful run of my life last week after two weeks without any exercise or sleep. I seriously almost cried because it was so hard.

Are you ever going to come back to work?

Yes! But Ben says that everything is going so well that there might not be anything for me to do… 

Do you have any pictures?

Yes! Click here à http://www.troydunham.com/images/girls/firstpics.html

Are you going through a lot of diapers?

Hmmm… I haven’t thought about it. Let’s see:

1 Diaper change every two hours (average) = 12 diapers per day

12 diapers/day * 7 days/week = 96 diapers per week

96 diapers/week * 3 weeks (to date) = 288 diapers

Oh, and I almost forgot: TIMES TWO!

So far, to date, we have used approximately 576 diapers. Wait. Someone is crying. Make that 577.