Twins

I’m sitting here munching on raw almonds, cheese, and spicy salmon salad on crackers wondering how to write this post.

I have for the past two months had an irrational fear of going to the OB office. “Is this appointment where the high risk bad news gonna start rolling in?” I would wonder every time I pulled into the parking garage. I’ve read a lot about what could happen and feel pretty educated to receive bad news, but truthfully I’ve had an extremely easy pregnancy. The kind of pregnancy that has made nearly every mother of singletons I know jealous. I haven’t once worshipped the porcelain god, I’m gaining weight at a rate that the doctors like (and the weight has stayed mostly in the tummy!), my cervical length was an astounding 4.3 cm at 24 weeks, my blood pressure looks great, I’ve eaten enough cow and broccoli to keep anemia away, and I actually have the energy to move about and do things (although at a slower pace). In fact, the only things I’ve had to complain about are the 3 weeks of the first trimester that I slept away, the amount of food that I have to eat everyday just to keep from feeling starved (bring on the pie eating contests… I promise I’ll win!), and how sensitive my belly button is (OUCH!).

Today was that day; the one I’ve been fearing. When the doctor delivers bad news to your already hormonally challenged body, it’s all you can do to keep from becoming a quivering, tearful, anxious mess. But let me try to keep it real and first list the blessings.

1. My movement has still not been restricted. I will still be known as Buoy in the newly opened swimming pool!
2. My weight gain is still right on target.
3. The girls were so active (and evasive) that the ultrasound tech had to chase them around my womb!
4. The vagal response I had from laying flat on my back while the tech chased the aforementioned rambunctious twins around, did not result in fainting because of quick intervention (rolling onto my left side and off my vena cava).
5. My high blood pressure as first recorded, was due to this vagal episode (okay I’m a nerd and am fascinated by this whole thing) and went away after more rest on my left side.
6. Baby A still looks like daddy and is stubborn like me (and still breech)
7. Baby B is still giving death stares to the ultrasound tech (poor Karen!) for touching her and will not allow a profile picture to be taken (and still cephalic!).
8. I am still hungry enough to clean out the fridge (given the opportunity and lack of aversion to anything in there).
9. None of us are in a hospital!

The “bad news” doesn’t seem so daunting with that list finished first.

1. Baby A might have club foot. The Shriner’s hospital is here in Greenville and has a doctor trained to treat club foot with the Ponseti method. Treatment using the Ponseti method consists of 5-8 foot stretching and castings, a clip of the Achilles tendon, 3-4 months solid in barred together shoes, and then barred together shoes during nap/sleep periods until age 4-5. After that period Baby A would be just as normal as other kids. Kristi Yamaguchi was a club foot patient. So really I’m not at all stressed about this. A hassle (if she does indeed have it), but not a hassle that’s unmanageable.
2. Baby A is measuring in the 2nd percentile for gestational age. This means that of 100 babies her age, statistically only 1 would be smaller than she is. Of course the gestational age comparison is with singletons so one would expect her to be a little small as a twin, but that is more than low enough for them to send me to a perinatologist (doctor who specializes in high risk pregnancies).
3. Baby B is 10-15% larger than Baby A. I find this weird considering my girls do not share a placenta (as far as they’ve been able to tell). But I guess it really means that A’s placenta isn’t working as well as B’s. Or that A is burning off all the nutrients from constantly body slamming B :-p

All and all the news isn’t that bad. The girls are still relatively healthy and are currently performing their circus routines in my tummy. It does mean that I’ll probably get ultrasound pictures even more frequently this trimester and may even get a fancy 3D ultrasound. W

Pray that we’ll be able to avoid anxiety on two fronts: financial and unnecessary worry about the girls. Pray also that we’ll surrender these little ones to His care and know that His grace is sufficient.

Over the past few months we’ve been slowly receiving some items for the babies. A little box with diapers and burp cloths, another with bibs and some clothing, and a great one with baby hangers (!), clothing, and a pair of toys. But this week stuff has been pouring in and it hit me: I’m going to have a new profession.

I’ll be the chauffeur of this glorious little limousine! What a sight that will be!

I’ll be the laundry lady washing these sweet confections every other day.

But mostly I’ll be responsible for kissing these tiny faces.

Four arms and four little feet daily wreck havoc on my internal organs and still it’s hard to believe just how blessed we are to be having two perfect little girls.

And I got to open this package!