Week 24

Had another ultrasound and routine doctor’s appointment the other day. Baby girl’s stomach is just fine.

They thought it looked a little “pronounced” in the last ultrasound, a month ago. When I heard this, I immediately thought it was some sort of possible deformity. In reality, it’s just that babies in utero ingest the amiotic fluid, which plumps up their bellies, then they pee it back out again, returning the belly size to normal. This happens all day long, over and over, all the time. That is all it was. And that if it were something serious, they would not have waited a month to call me. But still. You have to wonder why they couldn’t have explained the whole “pronounced” thing over the phone. Sheesh.

Somehow I was able to keep my worrying to a minimum.

Jesse got to attend, and see how big they are. It was pretty great. We saw the four chambers of their tiny hearts, pounding away. We saw them stretching out their legs completely and kicking each other. A lot. (Baby girl’s feet have been kicking my bladder today, in fact) They are still in the yin-yang position. Boy is vertex (head down) and girl is breech (feet down). There’s still time for them to change positions, so I can’t get too excited about at least one of them being in the perfect vaginal birthing position.

Speaking of The Birth...I’m conflicted. Of course I would LOVE to have natural childbirth. In a groovy tub of water. With no pain meds. Goddess-style. I’m not sure how great the odds are since I’m HIGH RISK (cue the bells of alarm!). On one hand, it seems like a c-section would be easy in that it could be scheduled, they do it, there’s no hours of pushing and shit like that. But it IS major surgery. And how do you feed and care for two tiny ones when you are recovering from being cut open? I just can’t know how it will turn out. I have to just keep imagining the perfect scenario in my mind: an easy, uncomplicated labor and delivery. Heck, why not imagine an orgasmic birth while I’m at it? It has been known to happen.

We met with Dr. Grant, too. She gave me the rundown on heartburn, body pillows and round ligmament pain. (so that’s the funny dull ache I feel right after I pee.) Also, she has cleared me for air travel.

I’m flying to California in two days for Thanksgiving. I have aisle seats, and I will move about the cabin as much as possible. I wish Jesse were coming too, but his new job and schedule kind of got in the way. He will be able to spend the day with Ann and the family, so that’s good. I’m really looking forward to having more than a week off from work! Yessss! And to really start things off right, I’m ending my workweek today with a Watsu massage. It’s a combination of Shiatsu and water. You float in a warm pool and the therapist sort of floats you around and works on you. Apparently, it’s just the thing for expectant mothers. I am so excited to be floating weightless and being massaged at the same time!

Current list of favorite foods: DAIRY EDITION!

yogurt, any kind
yogurt “Parfait” from Starbucks (which is distressing since I think Starbucks is shitty, corporate & evil - but their parfaits are the best)
Bare Naked berry granola with milk
Burgerville burgers, fries and milkshakes (I try to limit these)
cottage cheese and Newman’s pretzels (together, always)
orange juice (tastes like liquid gold, incredible life-giving nirvana juice)
oranges
canned peaches
egg salad sandwiches
Sprite
Hot chocolate with whipped cream

This list reflects a not-surprising lack of vegetables. Jesse is taking up the slack in that department. He’s also running every day, eschewing carbs, and totally not doing the whole “sympathy weight” thing, and often strongly suggests I share his brussels sprouts. Which I do, because I love him. And it’s a good thing, because I now outweigh him.

Week 22

I have decided to start calling the babies “Cheech & Chong”. It’s so much funnier than “A & B”. I have heard lots of other suggestions too, such as “Donny & Marie”, “Wallace & Gromit”, Captain & Tenille”, “Bartles & Jaymes” “Lars & Lita” and more.

The kicks are very strong now. When I lie still and lift my shirt up, I can literally see my belly move from the force of them. It is amazingly cool.

The only bummer really, is the Satanic Fiery Lava Heartburn. (I don’t think I can eat Amy’s Black Bean Chili anymore, or anything even slightly spicy for that matter) It’s proving to be brought on even stronger with worry and stress. And I have been both of those lately. Jesse’s new work schedule at Stream has him working nights and weekends. I feel pretty alone and bummed out, and add the sudden daylight savings time darkness of fall, and it’s a pretty dismal feeling. I see him for about an hour in the morning and about an hour at night. And it’s the same on the weekends.

I worry that he won’t be around when I go into labor, or whatever...I mean, my mind goes crazy. I could win a contest for Crazy Imagination: Negative Thoughts Category. Also I had quite a time scheduling all of our prenatal education classes. With Jesse’s shitty schedule, we could only take classes on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday nights. Many of them are only available on weekends. It took me three days navigating two different healthcare systems to pin down our classes. Plus, they cost an arm and a leg. And one of the women I talked to on the phone kind of freaked me out by stressing the importance of taking the classes AS SOON AS POSSIBLE in case I have to go on bed rest. So now I’m frickin worried about that, too. Eventually I was able to schedule everything. There are a couple that he will have to call in sick from work to attend, or possibly switch shifts with someone. Sigh.

Finally, I got a call today from the doctor - at the last ultrasound, they could not get a very good look at Chong’s stomach and I will have to come back for another look-see. Now I knew that this was a possibility, the tech who did the ultrasound told me that since there are two babies, it’s really hard to get a good view & measurement of all the babies’ organs and most likely I would have to come back another day. (and that it’s very common and nothing to worry about) And that is all it is. But the worrying side of me is very concerned that something is wrong. So the battle between my rational/irrational mind begins. And no amount of ice cream seems to help.