I'm just not functioning as fast as I was, in any aspect of life. I've been meaning to post for a while.
Let's see. What's happened since the last post?
Oh, my friends gave me the best shower imaginable last week. The boys are going to be the best dressed kids imaginable. My BFF took the pictures at the shower, so I havent seen them yet. I'll spread the stuff out later this week and take a picture so you can see. But to give you an idea, I got swaddle blankets, shoes (2 pair of converse and some 2 pair of very stylish shoes), a jolly jumper, bouncy chair, a pair of adorable stuffed monkeys, bath towels, soothers, sleepers galore and lots of the most adorable outfits you can imagine, hats, wrist rattles, q-tips, organic bamboo kimono gowns with matching hats, sophie giraffes, team canada hockey jerseys and gift cards. Actually a group of friends got together to get me a large visa gift card. It was enough for me to get a crib, mattress and a car seat (more on those later). It was a wonderful shower and it was great to see all the people from the different parts of my life together.
I still see the GD alternating weeks and we communicate via email the week in between. Insulin was upped again and from the numbers this week, I expect it will go up again when I see her this week. Honestly the insulin pens are far less painful than the finger pricks to check the glucose levels.
I start non-stress tests (NST) in week 32 (May 5th). My next u/s is on May 30th. My weight gain is up to 24lbs, all belly, but the breasts are starting to grow a tiny bit. I met with the hematologist yesterday. I'll be making appointments to donate my own blood in case its needed during the c-section.
I really lucked out on getting the second car seat. We went to BRU yesterday and they had the floor model with last years colors on sale for 75% off! I grabbed it. Since I dont drive, they wont be in car seats all the much and I suspect will outgrow the infant car seat long before they reach 1.
The crib I wasn't as lucky with. The crib I wanted is sold out everywhere. I can get one some time in July if I wanted to. So I went with my second choice, a model up from my first choice. I needed a crib with a drop side. I know its not a problem when they are very young and the mattress is raised. But lets face it, I'm short. When the mattress is in the lower position and I have to put a tired out baby in, I wouldn't be able to reach unless the side lowered. I also wanted a convertable since it will work as a toddler bed until they are old enough for bunk beds. So it, along with the mattress are coming on Wednesday. Sometime between noon and 9pm (how's that for a delivery window time frame).
As far as stuff I absolutely need, I think I have it all. There are things that would make life easier, like a glider/rocker and a second bouncy chair that I dont have. But I'll worry about those later, if at all. Now I just need to finish organizing the basics. The boys wont be mobile for a while, so its nor urgent that all the little things are taken care of before they come (like cupboard locks installed). And while I've downsized lots of the things I've collected over the last couple of decades, it will take time for the rest to go. They are worth far to much to just drop off at charity and each item takes time and research before being listed. With my moving at the speed of snail right now, there will be lots left for me to keep selling well past when the boys come. In some ways it will be better like tht since it will be a bit more cash flow when I need it the most.
I'm on vacation this week. I go back Friday to sign the last of the papers and pack up my office (I'm getting a ride home)
Overall, I've really enjoyed being pregnant. Yeah, I've had a few complications, but at the same time, I've had almost no symptoms. I was lucky enough to bypass any type of morning sickness. I didn't get acne (I think my skin is the best its ever been). I have no problems sleeping at night (or any other time). I never developed a keen sense of smell (which would have been h***on public transit). No constipation was a bonus (a high fibre veggie diet helped there I'm sure). I get mild heartburn, usually only at night. I have minor carpal tunnel, affecting my fingers (making it hard to knit and write, but no issues working on a computer). If I had to say, the worse symptom is those giant, balloon like things at the bottom of my legs. I consider myself very lucky (and I hope my luck holds out and the boys arrive safely). I also consider myself lucky that it only took 2 DE attempts; yeah, I wish it had taken only 1 try, but there are so many people out there still trying.
I know I'm missing something but if I stop to look for it, this may never get posted. I'll post pics of the shower gifts, crib, and my balloons next.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Belly Update
Every week I think I cant get any bigger. Every week I do. I'm 28w1d in the picture and measuring 40w. Soon I think I will stick out as far as I am tall. Oh well. Other than minor sciatica, its not causing any back issues (that I know of). Oh, but there are some sinks that are at a height that I almost cant reach the traps. My arms are going to have to grow unless I change where the keyboard at work is.
Maybe next time I'll post pictures of what used to be my ankles.
Maybe next time I'll post pictures of what used to be my ankles.
Friday, April 3, 2009
The countdown begins
Sorry, I’m behind in blogging. I will admit some of it is because I’m more tired now (and lazy). Some is because there is someone in my building who drains the internet feed each night so that I have a few hours (when I’m normally online) that I can’t connect. I’ll be calling the internet company soon, but then they have to put a trace on and it will take a while. Meantime, I’m just living with it.
All appears to be well, or at least as well as can be expected. Let’s see, updates from last time.
I’m taking 4 insulin shots a day now. 2 are slow acting and 2 are fast acting. The 'pens' make this so easy to administer and most of the time is totally painless. The doses for both have been increased. I see the diabetic Dr every 2 weeks. She suspects as the pregnancy progresses that we’ll have to continue to increase until it goes away. I had a blood test to confirm that I wasn’t an undiagnosed diabetic before the pregnancy (just in case). It came back negative. So I’ll be able to stop the shots, cold-turkey the day I give birth. Right after the doses are increased, I track my blood sugar at 7 key times during the day. Then I can track only 4 times a day in between. So far, it’s not overly high, just a bit higher than they like. It’s never been really low (but I carry the sugar and candies with me just in case). My blood pressure appears to have gone down the tiniest bit (still high). Since the GD insulin and monitoring is the only change, it may have contributed (it may be a coincidence). I’d like it to go down a tiny bit more.
As expected, the last scan confirmed the placenta isn’t just sitting over the cervix, it’s firmly attached and not going anywhere. It’s so centered that they have a hard time seeing the cervix in a trans-abdominal scan and need the dildo-cam wand. They’d need the wand anyway to measure the cervix so no big deal. Happily, it’s still very closed and quite long (4.5cm). And still no spotting. But it does mean the c-section is a total done deal. In fact, I now have a delivery date (don’t know the time yet, but I really hope for morning). The boys will arrive in the world on May 27th at 35w1d, 3 days after their mother’s 43rd birthday. The best birthday present I could ask for. I’m donating a pint or two of my own blood, just in case. That gets sucked out at the end of April (and I’ll have closer to normal blood pressure for a day or two). I am hoping the boys are at least 5lbs each at this time and I don’t think I need to be concerned. I know inter-uterine weight estimates can be quite off, but at best guess, as of Tuesday, they weigh 3lbs 2oz (A) and 2lbs 12oz (B), for a combined weight nearing 6 lbs. I weighed 5lbs 2oz at full term birth. They are a bit bigger than I was……..
B remains transverse, all the time it seems. His head is to my left. If my bladder is fuller, raising the uterus up, he’s behind my ribs. A either remains in a breech position with his butt slightly to my right, or he lies down in a transverse postion, with his butt around center. Both roll over when transverse and have been facing forward, backward, up and down. When A is sitting in the breech position, he leaves himself very exposed to being knee-ed in the face by B. When he’s lying down, he seems to get kicked in the face, a no win situation. But the way he stays, he doesn’t seem to go far enough over to kick B in the head. I can feel A move almost all the time. B still scares me lots because I feel him less. I don’t relax during a scan until they show me him moving and I can see his heartbeat. Next scan is the end of this month.
Weight gain is up to 19 lbs now. Still progressing nicely. I realized last week that I’m going to have to face the scale going over the 200lb mark for the first time ever sometime before the pregnancy is done. Now before anyone tells me not to worry etc, I know that I need to gain weight and will do anything and everything to get these boys safely delivered. But to anyone who has battled weight, 200 is a psychological milestone. My brain needs to get past it. Don’t worry, I won’t diet or try to avoid it. It will happen and I’ll drop back down once the boys come (I think the boys, their sacs and placentas alone will more than take care of it). But it is something I have to get my head around.
Still nothing major in the symptom world. I get heartburn once in a while. It’s usually at night, but sometimes during the day. It’s not as bad as most people get and I rarely have it while lying on my left. My hair is noticeably straighter and less oily. Actually, all my hair is straighter….all of it, everywhere, yes, I mean there. I’m not sure if this is a common symptom or not. Oh, my feet are often swollen, particularly at the end of the day. I try to keep them up as much as possible, but I can’t really lay claim to an A width foot right now. Shoes all still fit because most were laced as tight as possible before and are just laced looser now. I move quite slowly now. I just don’t have the energy for anything else. I’ve got a maternity band that makes walking even the few blocks that I do go easier. But then it pinches when I’m sitting so I take it off when I’m sticking around somewhere for a while.
There is a Baby Fair tomorrow that I’m going to. It has some good seminar/talks that I want to listen in on, including baby and toddler first aid. Of course I’d love to win some prizes too, but will be happy with samples. Sunday is the next Twin Club meeting.
I’m still organizing at home. I need someone to move two bookcases out of my bedroom (I sold a few hundred of my several hundred books) and there will be enough room for the crib. Really, that’s what would be needed to be done for the first 3-6 months. The rest can be done once the boys arrive, but I’d like to get a bit further into things before they arrive. I’ll just go by how much energy I have and when. I’m going to put my not-used-in-a-while 55 gallon aquarium on cr..list next week and that will quickly clear out a section of the living room too.
I met the 3 week old baby boy down the hall last week. They are in a much smaller 1 bedroom than I am, with 2 adults, 2 dogs and 3 cats. I can see how that can easily work until the baby is mobile. Oh, the floor of my building is/will be baby central, mostly boys. A couple doors down one way is a 4 month old baby girl. 3 doors down the other way, she is expecting a boy in early August (5 weeks later than my official due date). The baby boy mentioned above is just 3 weeks old and adorable. It’s going to be great having so many of us so close in dates so close together.
Although I constantly worry, I am so happy there appears to be no problems with the boys. I’ll take the high blood pressure, GD, limited activity and all over them having issues. There are some women out there in the online buddies groups who aren’t as lucky. Some are still struggling to get or stay pregnant. Some are dealing with issues and concerns with one or more of their little ones. I wish I could do something for them. Words of support seem so little comparison to their struggles. I so admire their strength and determination. And it makes me more grateful each day for the health of my boys.
I’ll see about loading some of the more recent scan pictures later. Depends on if the internet is up, and if I’m up.
All appears to be well, or at least as well as can be expected. Let’s see, updates from last time.
I’m taking 4 insulin shots a day now. 2 are slow acting and 2 are fast acting. The 'pens' make this so easy to administer and most of the time is totally painless. The doses for both have been increased. I see the diabetic Dr every 2 weeks. She suspects as the pregnancy progresses that we’ll have to continue to increase until it goes away. I had a blood test to confirm that I wasn’t an undiagnosed diabetic before the pregnancy (just in case). It came back negative. So I’ll be able to stop the shots, cold-turkey the day I give birth. Right after the doses are increased, I track my blood sugar at 7 key times during the day. Then I can track only 4 times a day in between. So far, it’s not overly high, just a bit higher than they like. It’s never been really low (but I carry the sugar and candies with me just in case). My blood pressure appears to have gone down the tiniest bit (still high). Since the GD insulin and monitoring is the only change, it may have contributed (it may be a coincidence). I’d like it to go down a tiny bit more.
As expected, the last scan confirmed the placenta isn’t just sitting over the cervix, it’s firmly attached and not going anywhere. It’s so centered that they have a hard time seeing the cervix in a trans-abdominal scan and need the dildo-cam wand. They’d need the wand anyway to measure the cervix so no big deal. Happily, it’s still very closed and quite long (4.5cm). And still no spotting. But it does mean the c-section is a total done deal. In fact, I now have a delivery date (don’t know the time yet, but I really hope for morning). The boys will arrive in the world on May 27th at 35w1d, 3 days after their mother’s 43rd birthday. The best birthday present I could ask for. I’m donating a pint or two of my own blood, just in case. That gets sucked out at the end of April (and I’ll have closer to normal blood pressure for a day or two). I am hoping the boys are at least 5lbs each at this time and I don’t think I need to be concerned. I know inter-uterine weight estimates can be quite off, but at best guess, as of Tuesday, they weigh 3lbs 2oz (A) and 2lbs 12oz (B), for a combined weight nearing 6 lbs. I weighed 5lbs 2oz at full term birth. They are a bit bigger than I was……..
B remains transverse, all the time it seems. His head is to my left. If my bladder is fuller, raising the uterus up, he’s behind my ribs. A either remains in a breech position with his butt slightly to my right, or he lies down in a transverse postion, with his butt around center. Both roll over when transverse and have been facing forward, backward, up and down. When A is sitting in the breech position, he leaves himself very exposed to being knee-ed in the face by B. When he’s lying down, he seems to get kicked in the face, a no win situation. But the way he stays, he doesn’t seem to go far enough over to kick B in the head. I can feel A move almost all the time. B still scares me lots because I feel him less. I don’t relax during a scan until they show me him moving and I can see his heartbeat. Next scan is the end of this month.
Weight gain is up to 19 lbs now. Still progressing nicely. I realized last week that I’m going to have to face the scale going over the 200lb mark for the first time ever sometime before the pregnancy is done. Now before anyone tells me not to worry etc, I know that I need to gain weight and will do anything and everything to get these boys safely delivered. But to anyone who has battled weight, 200 is a psychological milestone. My brain needs to get past it. Don’t worry, I won’t diet or try to avoid it. It will happen and I’ll drop back down once the boys come (I think the boys, their sacs and placentas alone will more than take care of it). But it is something I have to get my head around.
Still nothing major in the symptom world. I get heartburn once in a while. It’s usually at night, but sometimes during the day. It’s not as bad as most people get and I rarely have it while lying on my left. My hair is noticeably straighter and less oily. Actually, all my hair is straighter….all of it, everywhere, yes, I mean there. I’m not sure if this is a common symptom or not. Oh, my feet are often swollen, particularly at the end of the day. I try to keep them up as much as possible, but I can’t really lay claim to an A width foot right now. Shoes all still fit because most were laced as tight as possible before and are just laced looser now. I move quite slowly now. I just don’t have the energy for anything else. I’ve got a maternity band that makes walking even the few blocks that I do go easier. But then it pinches when I’m sitting so I take it off when I’m sticking around somewhere for a while.
There is a Baby Fair tomorrow that I’m going to. It has some good seminar/talks that I want to listen in on, including baby and toddler first aid. Of course I’d love to win some prizes too, but will be happy with samples. Sunday is the next Twin Club meeting.
I’m still organizing at home. I need someone to move two bookcases out of my bedroom (I sold a few hundred of my several hundred books) and there will be enough room for the crib. Really, that’s what would be needed to be done for the first 3-6 months. The rest can be done once the boys arrive, but I’d like to get a bit further into things before they arrive. I’ll just go by how much energy I have and when. I’m going to put my not-used-in-a-while 55 gallon aquarium on cr..list next week and that will quickly clear out a section of the living room too.
I met the 3 week old baby boy down the hall last week. They are in a much smaller 1 bedroom than I am, with 2 adults, 2 dogs and 3 cats. I can see how that can easily work until the baby is mobile. Oh, the floor of my building is/will be baby central, mostly boys. A couple doors down one way is a 4 month old baby girl. 3 doors down the other way, she is expecting a boy in early August (5 weeks later than my official due date). The baby boy mentioned above is just 3 weeks old and adorable. It’s going to be great having so many of us so close in dates so close together.
Although I constantly worry, I am so happy there appears to be no problems with the boys. I’ll take the high blood pressure, GD, limited activity and all over them having issues. There are some women out there in the online buddies groups who aren’t as lucky. Some are still struggling to get or stay pregnant. Some are dealing with issues and concerns with one or more of their little ones. I wish I could do something for them. Words of support seem so little comparison to their struggles. I so admire their strength and determination. And it makes me more grateful each day for the health of my boys.
I’ll see about loading some of the more recent scan pictures later. Depends on if the internet is up, and if I’m up.
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