(32) Two weeks to go.....

I’m up bright and early as usual, because I have two little alarm clocks.  One kicks my ribs while the other punches my bladder.  Somehow, this wakes me up every time.  They’re getting ready to be born, since both have been “head down” for a few weeks now.  Their positions don’t matter though, since my little passengers are scheduled to disembark by cesarean two weeks from today.  Woot woot!  

My usual daily routine is a little different today, since I have to prepare for the COLD and ICY weather outside!  The roads are icy too, which makes me nervous because we live in a hilly area.  Our daughter Kaela decided to drive home from Corvallis for the weekend, and her driving in these conditions makes me even more nervous.  Nonetheless, I dutifully prepare for my 11am doctor appointment.  My “Pee” tank is ready to go, in a large paper bag.  Poor Tom is going to have to carry that when we get there.  I have enough extra poundage to carry…. Sorry Tom.  As we make our way to the doctor’s office, I get even more nervous about Kaela driving home.  The roads are definitely not ideal.  Luckily, Tom grew up in Minnesota, so he handled it like a pro.  Fingers crossed for Kaela.

When I first get to the office, I supply them with a fresh pee sample as usual.  But it sure seems redundant since I just handed them a gallon of my pee!  Then Tom and I head back for an ultrasound.  Tom really likes getting to be there for these.  I haven’t counted how many ultrasounds I’ve had, but I’ve had a lot!  After seeing the little guys again (they’re pretty crowded in there!), we see Dr. Winkler.  He’s a little concerned with my elevated blood pressure, so he decides that today they will take out my pessary and do the Beta Strep Culture.  This doesn’t sound fun, but what choice do I have?  Everyone leaves the room so I can undress, oh boy.  Dr. Winkler reappears with his nurse, and like the veteran that he is, the pessary is out within a second.   Then he informs me that he is sending me to the hospital to be monitored.  He says it’s routine -- nothing to worry about -- but when you are carrying multiples, you can never be too careful. 

So Tom and I head over to Legacy Emanuel.  The roads are a little better, but when we get to the parking garage, it is an ice rink!  The only parking available is at the very top, where the worst ice is.  As Tom and I are walking to the elevator, I almost fall on some slippery ice.  Let me tell you, this is really scary even when not pregnant.  I am so rattled that my first stop in the hospital is the security desk.  They take one look at me, listen to my story, and are immediately on the phone to have the ice situation taken care of.

Dr. Winkler phoned ahead so they already had a room prepared for me.  It’s now about 1pm so I decide I should let Holly and Darren know what is going on.  Instead of calling, I send a text (that is what we do nowadays!)  I tell Holly “I’m at Emanuel being monitored just to be safe” and  “don’t worry I’ll keep you updated”.  They get me all hooked up and I can see I am having contractions.  Just by removing the pessary, my uterus is saying “all righty then, let’s have these babies”.  I haven’t felt any contractions up until this time, and I barely even feel these.  The boy’s heartbeats sound awesome as usual.  All the nurses are super nice.  They all know my story, and how special the births will be when it’s time.  I have my copy of the birth contract with me.  I started carrying it full time about two weeks ago.  Once these boys take their first breath, they are legally adopted by Holly and Darren.  But we have two weeks to go, right?  Tom heads back to work, leaving me at the hospital for monitoring.  The wait begins…

Hospital selfie

Tom taking secret picture before leaving. Look at my belly poking up!

(31) Just a Wee little Pee

I am a few days into my 35^th week of gestation.  I have a doctor appointment with Dr. Robertson today because again, Dr. Winkler is off saving the world elsewhere.  I am a little worried he won’t be able to deliver these boys.  I know it isn’t a big deal to most but for some reason I just think this is what will make the story of their birth that much better.  Holly plans on telling them everything, when they are old enough to understand anyways.  I officially have booked the OR for their permanent Birthday!  Bright and early on November 28^th 2014, 7:30am sharp.  1 day after Thanksgiving!  I have to be there 2 hours before (sigh) and I can’t eat or drink after midnight.  I can go without the food, but no water, that is impossible!

Anyway, I’m off to my Tuesday appointment.  Tom is accompanying me because I’m to the point that driving myself just isn’t safe.  My huge belly just doesn’t fit behind the steering wheel anymore.  The office is on the third floor and the elevators are down around the corner from the office.  I finally get to the office, and I am huffing and puffing.  Now, come on!  I’m carrying an extra 50 pounds with me so I think a little huffing and puffing is warranted.  But Dr. Robertson is alarmed by this as she walks by me heading toward the bathroom.  I reassure her it is just a little exhaustion from walking from the car to the office.  She feels a little better after I give her some pee and it’s normal.  They take my BP and it’s a little elevated as it has been this entire time (white coat syndrome).  She decides she wants me to do the 24 hour urine time and volume test.  Let me tell you, this does NOT sound fun!  I have to catch my urine, every time I go.  And guess what, in a top hat, which I just recently learned about, imagine that.  I tell her my next appointment is Friday and ask if I can hold off until Thursday to start the test.  She reluctantly says okay, which I am relieved.  I definitely understand her concern but I feel great other than my 2 ton belly in front of me.

My Doctor appointment on Friday is at 11am so I start my 24 hour urine catch around 9am Thursday 

morning.  I didn’t want the pee sitting around for too long, that is just gross.  Bad enough it will be sitting around at all.  I get into a rhythm, hahaha.  Luckily we have a half bathroom so that is where I do all the important stuff, wink wink!  Except at night, cuz well I pee a lot at night and I’m certainly not trudging up and down the stairs every time.  It is bad enough I almost don’t make to the on-suite in the wee (wink, wink) hours, lol.  I couldn’t imagine running downstairs to the ½ bath.  So Friday morning rolls around and it’s only about 5:30am and guess what?  IT’S FULL!!!  I have no more room to add my pee.  So of course I panic a little thinking this might be a bad sign.  Of course I start Googling!  This is a bad habit, I don’t recommend.   I can’t really find anything about my subject so I relax a little, whew.  I have always made sure my water intake is above average because I read (Google, obviously) that if a pregnant woman doesn’t drink enough water it might affect the amniotic fluid levels.  Well there was no way I was going to jeopardize that so I drink, drink, drink, lots of water!!  

The pee tank

TOP HAT

(30) Leaky bladder and Top Hats

I knew this would be challenging.  I told myself I could handle it.  I convinced myself everything would work out.  Everything would be fine.  But at 34 weeks and some change, I’m not sure how much longer my body can do this.

Be positive.  Be positive.  Be positive.  Repeating this used to help.  But I’m so tired.  Everything seems so difficult now.  Sleeping is almost impossible, and not just because I’m feeling huge, but also because I’m a little paranoid.  The doctors say not to sleep on my back, not to sleep on my stomach (like that would even be possible right now!), and not to sleep on one side for too long – or I might block the blood supply to one or both of the babies.  I wake up constantly, subconsciously knowing I need to “flip over”.  If you’ve read my prior blogs, you know I’m a rule follower.  And when it comes to my precious passengers, I will not risk their safety.  For now, it’s miserable, but I know it’s worth it.  This is all temporary.  I can catch up on my sleep after my extreme babysitting is over, which I think is going to be soon.  Sleep is not the only problem.  With about 40 extra pounds surrounding my bladder, I have an almost constant urge to pee, day and night.  At night, I try to align my potty breaks with my “flip” times, but the synchronization is never perfect.  So I’ve even started to wear a pad.  Yes, a menstrual pad.  Sometimes I just can’t make it before, yep, a little leakage (Insert sad face here!).  Believe me, it’s better than changing my undies every time.  Even that is a challenge now too.

Several weeks ago Holly and Darren arranged for a maid service come every other week.  At first I didn’t feel it was necessary, but it sure has been nice, especially lately.  But I think she has it pretty easy.  Her biggest challenge is wrangling a few dust bunnies which have accumulated in areas we don’t use very often.   But I appreciate it.  Pregnant or not, dusting is a sucky job!  I’ve never had a maid service before, so I’m not really accustomed to this lifestyle change, and I don’t know the “protocol”.  It might sound crazy, but I’m not going to have her come to clean a dirty house, right?   Anyway, I always tidy up a little before she comes.  If she scrubs the toilets, vacuums and dusts, I’m  happy camper.  I just try to stay out of the way.  Plus, my husband says I’m not crazy, and I choose to believe him.

I still have my 2x a week doctor visits, which now include blood draws.  They monitor for preeclampsia when you approach the end of the pregnancy.  Preeclampsia is a combination of two things:  Gestational-induced high blood pressure (hypertension) and a protein in the urine (proteinuria).  If they don’t catch it and treat it properly, then it can be harmful for the woman and the baby.  So far I don’t have the protein in my urine, because they check that at every visit.  Now don’t get me wrong, I really do love all of the people in the office, but I had to shake my head in frustration during my latest visit.  I commented how difficult it’s been peeing in the cup lately.  Without missing a beat, the front desk girl said “Oh, we have a top hat you can use”.  When I gave her my “what the hell is that?” expression, she explained “It’s a plastic pan that goes in the toilet to catch your pee.  Then you just transfer it to the cup”.  Inside, I’m fuming a little, and thinking “ARE YOU KIDDING ME!”  I have been peeing on my hand for a month now.  Sigh.  I’m sure I’ll laugh about this later.  Be positive…

November 1st - 34 Weeks

Yikes, my tattoos! 

(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

(28) Lactation for two!

Holly set up an appointment with a lactation specialist.  We both spoke to her, but the appointment was mostly for Holly, since her plan was to induce lactation.  This is something not commonly done, so Holly wanted to acquire as much knowledge as possible.  Holly had done some research of her own, but she learned some new things, including information about various herbs that increase milk production.  Wait, why am I trying to recap when Holly has already done the work for me?  Here is a link to Holly’s blog where she goes over the protocol to induce lactation.  - Oh Baby, Baby

As for me, I was planning on pumping after the birth, and giving the boys all I could.  I mean, why not?  I’ll be getting milk anyway, and I want to help give the best possible start to the twins.  Thinking back, with both of my own children, I had so much milk I wasn’t sure what to do.  I was so engorged that I felt like a milking cow!  Hopefully that will be the case here.  Wait, did I really just say I want to be engorged with milk?  I must be crazy!   

This Monday I start my first week of the “Fetal non-stress test”.  I’ll be 32 weeks 2 days.  Remember, when you have a high risk pregnancy, every day counts - especially when carrying multiples.  The first visit is just a really elaborate ultrasound.  My technician checked all of their organs.  This included the bladder.  It was pretty cool to see it full one minute, and empty a few minutes later.  We even witnessed it emptying during one of the ultrasound passes.  My technician observed that both boys had a little hair on their heads.  It’s pretty incredible that you can see this on an ultrasound!  Of course, she does this all of the time, so she knows what to look for.  All I could see were little glowing things on top of their heads.  At first it seemed to me that Beckom had a little more hair than Noah, but this is just an ultrasound, so who knows.  If these boys are born with hair, their dad will be super happy and hopeful for their future…

Three days later, I’m back in the office for a second test.  This time, they hook up belts to monitor the boys’ heart rates for 30 minutes.  While I lie there calmly, they should have calm heart rates as well – and they do!  It’s a little weird to hear sounds any time they move, especially when they bump up against the belt.  I have a feeling they don’t like having something pressing down on them.  I also have a belt to check for contractions.  I think I have a few minor ones, but this is normal at this stage, and I don’t even feel them.  Afterwards, I see Dr. Winkler.  He’s finally back from vacation!  He says the twins are superstars.  Ha, I already knew that!  They look great from the ultrasound videos and the heart rate monitors.  He praises me for being a great carrier.  I get a little emotional because well, I’m pregnant!

October - 32 weeks

Baby A - Baby B - Contraction monitor

(27) Two buns in my oven

Good news:  My “original” doctor (Dr. Winkler) has moved into a new office, located closer to my home, yay!  So I am looking forward to less traffic and shorter drive times, yet I will miss all of the other doctors and nurses I was getting to know, especially Dr. Merrill.  Fortunately, I will still see some familiar faces when I go to the new office.  I’m really happy that I get to start seeing Dr. Winkler again, I guess since he was the one who approved me to start this special project.  It’s seems only fitting that he sees this through to the end, right?

The new office grand opening is perfect timing.  Driving is becoming increasingly more difficult and uncomfortable.  Since I drive a Mini Cooper with a manual transmission let’s just say, when you have a big belly and have to shift a lot because of traffic it gets old, real fast!  Luckily, we also have a Dodge Ram so I’ve started to drive it more.  Although I have to pull myself up into it, which is no small feat, I at least have more room for my growing belly.  Plus, it’s an automatic.  It’s the small things, or in my case the bigger things.  Bigger vehicle, plus shorter travel distance makes for a happy gestational carrier and cargo.

Over the weekend, Darren and Holly host another gathering with some of our old LensCrafters co-workers.  Sadly, Olga couldn’t make it, but we got to hang out with Lily and her husband Serge.  Lily is also pregnant, so it was a little crazy seeing my larger belly compared to hers.  She is 5 or 6 weeks further along than I am.  But just looking at our bellies you would never guess that, unless you knew I was carrying twins.  At one point in the evening, Darren and I have fun trying on a ‘pregnancy’ Halloween costume that Holly and Darren bought the year before.  It’s a little awkward doing this, but Holly is the one who suggested it.  I know deep in her heart she will always ache with the loss of Jude and Brinly, but seeing my belly grow with her two little boys suppresses that ache.  We pose for a few pictures of me wearing the oven costume and Darren being the baker.  I guess in a way the costume still works.  After all, I am just the oven! 

Lily ~34wks with singleton, Darren, Me ~29wks with twins

Darren feeling Noah kick

At my second appt. at the new location I had to see another new doctor.  Bummer!  How dare Dr. Winkler take a vacation!!!   Dr. Buckmaster orders a full blood panel to check for pre-eclampsia.  This is a routine test for high risk pregnancies.  They also inform me that next week (week 31) I’ll be starting a two day per week appointment schedule, oh yay.  I just got out of not having to check my cervix weekly!  But I can’t complain.  They are making sure everything is going well with twins in this crucial pregnancy period.  It’s actually rare these days to allow twins to go full term.  Usually, twins enter the world at week 38 (or before) instead of 40 weeks.  Next week, my first visit will start with an extensive ultrasound to check the babies for signs of stress.  Then two days later, I’ll go back to have a 30 minute HR test.  They’ll attach leads to me and my belly, and monitor all of our heart beats.  More medical fun!

The swelling is starting, goodbye feet

 

(26) Blue Baby Sprinkles

Holly has decided to have her baby shower a little earlier than usual.  This makes sense because in most cases, the birth of multiples comes earlier than a singleton birth.   Holly invited me, so we made plans to drive together to her mom’s house in Brush Prairie, Washington.  It’s about a 30min drive from my house in Oregon to Holly’s house in Washington.  Her mom lives another 30 minutes from there. It is a beautiful sunny summer day,  It was perfect!

I bought a baby shower gift for each of the twins.  Somehow it seems weird for me to buy them things, but I’m actually a little addicted to it.  They will never want for anything I’m afraid.  If Mom and Dad won’t buy something for them, I think they’ll quickly learn to hit up Aunt Becky and Uncle Tom.  We’ll try to follow any rules and guidelines we get from Holly and Darren, but no promises!

When we arrived at the party, it was already overflowing with people.  The gift table was overflowing too.  And it seemed like everyone was coming up to me and hugging me like they’ve known me for years.  I’ll admit, I was probably a little like a deer in the headlights at first.  I only knew a few people there, so there were lots of new names to remember, and I failed on several occasions. 

Holly’s mom Jodie is quite the party planner!  She had the cutest homemade decorations for the gift, food and beverage table.  After we all had a bite to eat, Jodie asked everyone to take a seat so Holly could open gifts.  They gave me a chair right next to her with a little stool so I could put my feet up.  Before opening the gifts, Holly had a little something to say.  And of course, I was crying by the end of it.  So many kind words.  She talked about her family support and her faith helping her get through these tough years.  And although I’m not a religious person, she knows I support her in all her beliefs even if we don’t share them.  I love her for not judging me!  After Holly was done, Jodie joined in with some kind words of her own, and then Darren’s mom too!  It was a touching and emotional 20 minutes. 

Amongst the pile of gifts there were a few for me, which I was not expecting!  Both grandmas had something for me.  Holly’s mom gave me the softest blanket I’d ever touched, and said to think of her hugging me whenever I used it.  Darren’s mom gave me a cute wind-chime with an owl on it.  It is hanging on my back deck for all to see and hear.  Even one of Holly’s friends who I’ve never met gave me a gift.  So touching!   There was even one from “the boys”.  Hmmm, I wonder how they managed that!  

GG-Holly- Becky -Jodie

Becky - Holly - Heidi

Darren's Mom, Diane speaking

Homemade bow ties for the little LOVES