The next days are a blur to me what happened when! After a bit of discussion between Mary and Alberto, the babies were given names: Jack Alberto Bullon Moses is the larger baby (at birth....as I write this he is catching up fast) and James Galileo Bullon Moses is the smaller baby at birth. The decision was made before the babies were born that the first names would be Gringo names and the middle names would be chosen by Alberto. Jack is the name that Mary's paternal grandfather and father went by during their lives and James is the first name of Mary's maternal grandfather: James Marshall Hawkins. For middle names Jack received Alberto's first name while James received Alberto's middle name.
Alberto was not able to get to the hospital as quickly as I was. He was in Boston with his family when the babies arrived. This turned out to be a plus for me as the hospital allowed two people to do what they call Kangaroo each day. And I was allowed as I was the grandmother. Kangaroo involves holding the babies for three hours skin on skin so that they are hearing one's heart and breathing and staying warm while having contact with someone who loves them. It was wonderful holding a twin and hanging out with Mary! I loved every minute of it. So because the time is a blur for me, the below are just photos in no particular order of my experiences.
You can tell that the baby below is Jack as he has the respirator which he need for the first few days. We were quite relieved when he was able to breathe entirely on his own. I took this photo by sneaking in my phone into the neo-natal room that the boys shared this week. Both are still in an incubator as I write this on Friday. But they are making good progress each day. Today is the first day that both boys have actually gained weight! This is huge progress as they are creeping up on the weight that they need to be to go home.
The next photo is of Galileo as he did not need the respirator. He was able to breathe on his own from the first.
And Mary was able to touch him earlier than Jack:
Every day I mostly hung out in Mary's room. It was a huge room with a view of the Inca ruins that are in Miraflores. Olger explained that these ruins are not so much the most important Inca ruins in the area. Instead it is because these ruins are in Miraflores which is a more affluent neighborhood and the neighborhood is involved in preserving them. There is a restaurant adjoining the ruins and the proceeds from the restaurant go towards the cost of the preservation project. We have agreed that one evening we will go there for dinner as you can take your glass of wine and do a short ten minute tour or "look around".
What would we have done without Mary's neighbors? Carolina hung out with us the first day and did the errands that made our life so much easier! Her pretty balloons brightened the room!
Vicky also hung out with us the first day and met the delivery man so that we would have some groceries and things that we needed! And Vicky's husband, Jaime, is the neighbor who sent his driver to pick me up at the airport! Wonderful neighbors!
Mary's apartment is so comfortable! And the views are amazing:
When I wasn't spending time at the hospital, I was, of course, on my computer or knitting the blanket pattern that Sarah and I chose to make for the twins. I think it is turning out very pretty.
And a last few photos in the neo natal room while we did the Kangaroo thing:
The last few photos are from Christmas night. My Huntington family were nice enough to call after they finished dinner at Katie and Joel's home and while they were opening gifts. Jason did the honors of camera man. It was honestly just like being there! Most of the gifts for my kids and my older grandkids were not huge surprises to the recipient. The twins received more smaller gifts instead of one larger gift. I think that Mia's favorite item from me was a very soft, furry blanket that had a unicorn's head on it.....just her kind of item! Kya had picked out much of what she received, but there were clothes that I had bought for both girls. I noticed Kya grabbed the white jeans and put them in her pile while leaving the rest of the clothes in the communal pile. It is fun.....I miss the kids so much.
Peru's big Christmas celebration is Christmas Eve. The hospital was nice enough to send me a dinner for Christmas Eve. But on Christmas, they did not feel the need to do anything extra. So after I spent the time with My Huntington group, I decided that Mary was very tired and that I needed to let her go to bed....so we talked and she said that there was an Italian Trattoria just down the street that might be open and I headed home. The place was only two blocks away and it was charming. My Spanish is unusually terrible, and my ordering was less than perfect, but it was a very nice Christmas dinner.
