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.

Listy lists - week 21

Things I love about being pregnant:

feeling “special”
delicious anticipation of things to come
being round/not sucking in my gut for the first time in my life
food!
feeling the little kicks in there (seriously, that’s the best part)
having other people lift heavy things for me
thinking about names
daydreaming about meeting my babies, and how I will raise them &
imagining future conversations with them
being actually kind of excited about the birth process
shopping for cute stuff like this fabric that will become their curtains

Short list of bummers about being pregnant:

no dad’s wine
no sushi (seared salmon nigiri, especially)
no foofy coffee drinks (I won’t even touch decaf, no way.)
Fiery Satanic Heartburn like hot lava in my esophagus
being paranoid about foods on the “bad” list and NEVER indulging in them
no yummy craft beer in seasonal flavors like “pumpkin spice”
no sleeping on my back (makes for spinal pain & pounding heart rate)
being uncomfortable
being winded/short of breath from doing practically nothing
worrying

(also: ask me again in the 3rd trimester, sure I will have more whining to do)

Week 20

Ahhh, week 20. What we’ve all been waiting for. Well, not really, I guess last week was the BIG news and all. But it certainly seems I keep passing these milestones, and everything is STILL JUST FINE. Meaning...that I’m REALLY GOING TO BE A MOM! OF TWINS! TWO! AT THE SAME TIME!

Jesse and I went shopping this weekend and bought the crib mattress. We have officially started buying things. And this is a little over the halfway point, so I think now is a perfect time to get serious about purchases. I’m also working on the curtains for their rooms. I’m pretty excited to have it done, it will be so cute!

I went to Powell’s last night and got a couple of books about raising twins, and also one on the Montessori method. Jesse and I are really excited about trying all the more “crunchy” ways of childrearing: co-sleeping, baby wearing, breast feeding, cloth diapers, etc. He’s building a wooden co-sleeper to fit on the side of our bed, using the crib mattress.

As far as my health is concerned, I feel great. The only problem really is I’m starting to experience this wicked heartburn I’ve heard about. It seems to come on if I’m upset about something, I’m not sure yet if it has anything to do with what I’m eating. I’m walking more and still doing prenatal yoga. I’m also feeling the babies’ movement more than ever. Sometimes the kicks are strong enough that I can feel them from the outside. I put Jesse’s hand on there the other night so he could feel them too. This is just amazing and magical. It makes me so happy!

Week 19

IT'S A GIRL! AND A BOY!

Had the big 20 week ultrasound, a few days early. I was pretty nervous about it, just because the main reason it’s done is to look at the anatomy and measure, and scan for abnormalities and whatnot. For anyone who is not a doctor or technician, the big exciting part of this is finding out the gender. Some folks don’t want to know, they want to be surprised on the big day of birth, but I certainly wanted to know as soon as possible! Let’s hear it for technology! Yesss! Tell me what we got in there, PLEASE!

I had read a few things about babies who won’t cooperate and show The Goods, and that drinking orange juice was a surefire way to keep them buzzed and moving around a lot. So I did just that. I didn’t have that much, mind you, just a gulp or two. That may have proved to be a mistake, because the babies were like Mexican jumping beans! Insane. I couldn’t believe how much they were moving. It was so cool to feel the movement - while at the same time their little water ballet played out on the monitor in front of me. 

The technician was very sweet, and revealed that Baby A (who is closest to the “exit”) is a BOY, and Baby B, who is up a little higher, is a GIRL. Right now they are in a yin/yang position, both horizontal in my belly, for the most part. So while that might seem very zen and lovely, really it just means they can kick each other in the head as much as they like. There are, of course, placenta walls between them, but I hope they’re aware of each other somehow. I really hope they get along well together once they’re “on the outside”. Now, when they move around, I have a pretty good idea of who’s who. I LOVE this.

Unfortunately, they were so active, we didn’t get any “good” photos this time. That means no nice (easily identified) profiles. There’s one of a foot, one of a hand, a couple of the back-of-the-head view (which, at this point still looks pretty freaky) and of course the obligatory “It’s a Boy!” penis shot.

In other news, my belly button is suddenly very cavernous, where it used to just be kind of collapsed upon itself.

Week 18

Definitely feeling movement! I really noticed it in the last few days. Lots of bumps and thuds and tapping. It’s so frickin cool! No seriously. I was getting worried. I finally realized it wasn’t gas. Gas does not feel like a tiny person poking you from inside. Not usually, anyway. I usually notice the movement after eating a meal. I had some ice cream last night and they were just going NUTS in there! Poor babies were high on sugar. I wonder what it would be like if I still drank coffee? Shudder to think.

Finding a comfortable position for sleeping is kind of becoming an issue. I’m not supposed to be sleeping on my back for much longer, which is sad because I’m a back sleeper. Sharing the bed with Jesse and Kuro Kitteh has always been fine, even though we only have a double. We all fit pretty well, but now that I need lots of extra pillows and my belly is growing, it’s getting to be kind of a tight squeeze. Poor kitty gets the boot a lot, in the middle of the night. She just needs to sleep either at my feet or curled around my head. Then it’s fine. I’m also well aware that I kind of can’t already complain about comfort. I’m just beginning to show now, and I am going to be HUGE. Huge, I tell you!