(29) The end is near?

End of October, Week 33:  It’s hard to believe we have come this far.  It seems like just the other day we were finding out I was carrying twins, and now the “birth” day is almost here.  I never thought I would be pregnant with twins at 46 years old, but now that I’m here, I wouldn’t change anything for the world.  Well, I guess I could have done without the short cervix and gestational diabetes!  I am getting larger and larger (a good thing for the boys!), but more uncomfortable by the day.  Before I started this “Extreme Babysitting Adventure”, I Googled pregnancy with multiples.   This really isn’t something you should do before getting implanted with 2 embryos.  The pictures I saw scared me.  I thought: “Holy crap, am I going to have a giant belly like that?!”  Well, at 33 weeks I have officially gained 47 pounds!  And I’m happy to report that my belly isn’t as monstrous as I thought it would be.  A nice surprise, but I’m still very uncomfortable.  Sleeping is hard.  Walking is hard.  Sitting is hard.  Getting up is really hard.  Eating is hard (heartburn!).  And we still have a few weeks to go!  Good news:  both boys have plenty of fluid (I see it 2x a week now).  My ultrasound tech Barb estimates the boys weigh around 3.5 pounds.   Normal and healthy.

Dr. Winkler is out of the office AGAIN, so I get to see Dr. Buckmaster.  He’s nice, but I’ve only seen him one other time, so I’m not as familiar with his bedside manner.  He lacks the witty sarcasm of Dr. Winkler, which I’ve grown accustom to.  Anyway, Dr. B wants to give me a Tdap shot.  Another shot. Ugh.  But it’s important.  If you receive a Tdap vaccine in your 3^rd trimester of pregnancy, you are protecting your unborn child from Whooping Cough.  Babies generally don’t get vaccines until they are 2 months old.  So when I get this shot, I pass the antibodies to protect them for the first few months of life.  So needless to say, I take it like a champ!  Most vaccines go in your arm, but I always ask for it in my “posterior”.  It is still partially numb from my 3 months of daily Progesterone shots. 

Dr. Buckmaster also decides he should do some additional blood work.  Since this is still considered a high risk pregnancy, they like to do hypertension blood screens regularly.  Now that I’m getting closer to my due date, I think this will occur weekly.  My official due date is 12/13/14 (based on a full 40-week term).  This would be a totally cool birthdate to have!  Unfortunately it will not happen, since multiples are usually delivered 1-2 weeks “early”, for their safety (and mine!).  I pass the blood work screening, which is great news.  These boys can keep on cooking!

lemon heads and long days