Getting to 30 weeks: I came across a post (sorry I can't find it now) by Julie at a little pregnant and it really hit home this week. It detailed a conversation between she and Tertia at So Close about their hope to just get to 30 weeks. I feel so grateful to be where I am.
Thanksgiving: My lame family did nothing for Thanksgiving, which dashed my dreams of showing up for our big family holiday dinner, cutely pregnant. We had dinner with my in-laws as a consolation. I was expressly forbidden politely asked, not to bring a side dish after the infamous sweet potato casserole incident of 2005. The excuse was that they didn't want to burden me. Uh huh. So we brought wine. But not the good stuff, because I'm mean that way. You'll be happy to know that the deer gutting stories are still flying, full swing, at the dinner table. Ahh...tradition! D wouldn't even let me have any "inside the bird" dressing, so I had to have the dried out, outside stuff. I'm sorry, but 1 1/2 hours in the oven is too long for dressing. It was more like croutons.
Perinatologists, old and new: This drama deserves its own post (well everything does, but that's why this is the "mutha of all updates")
Red flags that I should have paid more attention to:
- When my US RE wanted my first GC to have a peri clearance for kidney stones in a prior pregnancy, we found this doctor. She didn't make a big deal about it at all, and wrote the letter, telling us, she thought the RE was over-reacting. No exam or anything. At the time, we were glad, but looking back, maybe she should have been a little more thorough?
- Her insistence that I go off of the Lovenox. And then the "compromise" of going off the Class B pregnancy drug, Lovenox, to the Class C Heparin. Um ok.
- The time when we were talking about the HPV vaccine that recently came out, and she said she wouldn't recommend it for her own daughter, as it gives the impression she's green-lighting pre-marital sex. Right.
- During my bleeding episode this summer, I had to insist on a RhoGam shot, as this is technically my 3rd pregnancy and I'm Rh positive and D's Rh negative, and never had the shot. She thought that was overkill, too. My theory is, better safe than sorry.
- Oh, and I had to insist on a cervical check at 17 weeks. It was described in my records as normal. No measurement or anything. I never had another one at that practice.
- How she referred to other patients as "high-maintenance IVF patients," to me.
- And then there was the condescending tone she always used with me. "Sweetheart..." or "[insert full first name]..."
Anyway, the long story short is that at my 26 week appointment, she brought up the heparin again, and due to a misunderstanding on her part (Alex is my witness) she thought I was being confrontational. I wasn't. Right before she walked out of the exam room and slammed the door, she told me I had 30 days to find a new doctor. This threw me into a crying fit, because I still didn't understand what had transpired. I am so thankful that Alex decided to come with me that day, because I'm sure I would have blamed myself, re-hashing. Now that I have my records, I know what part of her problem was. She had my MTHFR diagnosis wrong. She had heterozygous, not compound heterozygous down. Oh well, its over, and like my friend D2 said, it was a blessing in disguise.
After muddling through with her practice for the last 3 1/2 weeks, (she skipped our last scheduled appointment, so I never had to see her again, after the initial blow out) I had my first appointment with the new peri, this past Monday. It was night and day. Everything was better. The ultrasound was so detailed with a screen right in front of me. We actually sat down in his office for over an hour talking about everything, instead of the exam room with my pants off or down. Both babies are head down, and he thinks we should do a "trial of labor." Sounds good to me, as long as I don't have to deliver "both" ways. He had very decided opinions about the MTHFR, and I finally felt like I had somebody working with me, rather than against me. He even put me on two prometrium a day and a regimen of ibuprofen, every other day to help with the BH contractions I've been having. He doesn't believe in BH with a twin pregnancy. A contraction is a contraction. He also changed my Heparin so that I only have to inject 25 IUs instead of 50, but the dosage is the same. That should help with the bruising. And I had a cervical check! Manually, he found that my cervix was closed, but he thought it was a little short. He guessed about 2 1/2 cm and wanted another check by ultrasound. The tech measured 4 1/2 cm, and said she had seen shorter cervixes in the first trimester with singletons. She thought we'd probably have to pry these babies out. So very happy with the new doctor.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and other pregnancy side effects I've never heard of: One of the reasons I haven't been posting much is that I developed a full-blown case of pregnancy-induced carpal tunnel syndrome at about 25 weeks, that has progressively gotten worse. It is especially bad at night and in the morning (my favorite time for blogging). In the scheme of things, it is more of an annoyance than anything; I drop things that I can't feel, numb fingers, etc. and I'm glad that I can say pregnancy-induced. The other weird thing that you don't hear much about is skin tags. I have them in my arm pits, the base of my neck, groin, areolas, you get the idea. Very gross. I've been having more and more trouble getting comfortable at night, but the kicks and rolls under my skin make it all worth it. I'm constantly in awe.
Union Suits: In an effort to make myself more comfortable at night (waistbands=bad, hairy legs touching each other=bad) I came up with Union Suits to sleep in. No waistbands and legs don't touch. Convenient drop-bottom for the 4 trips to the potty every night. Helpful hint: Don't even bother to button back up. Let the ass hang out. Your ass becomes a good thermostat to help regulate your body temperature. Feet are no longer reliable to stick out of the covers, as they are hot and puffy all the time. I actually hate putting anything else on, anymore. They are affectionately known around the house, as "the ginormous sleep 'n' plays." Men's XL Tall and they only have a little room left. I swear there's a maternity market for these! I bought 5! Here are a couple of pics at 28w1d 
and 30w1d.
Please ignore the super-size butt and double chin. I swear I don't know where they came from!
Shower: My aunt threw a shower for my side of the family and my friends. It was fun and I got some great baby gear.
Alex: I miss her. Its boring without her, and she might not make it back from Guatemala for the birth. At least we have Skype, now. And I am getting a lot more done around here, since my days aren't interupted by all day 4 hour lunch/shopping expeditions. Hurry up and come home and stay on the cobblestones!
Glucose Tolerance Test: Failed the 1 hour by 5 points. Passed the 3 hour. I think the old peri just wanted to torture me, as even the phlebotomist couldn't believe I had to take the 3 hour. C'est la vie. Bring on the Christmas cookies!
The Nursery: Is coming along. D has been working on a beadboard/wainscoting effect that has the dual purpose of being cute and giving a sturdier surface to attach electrical plates to, in this old house. My mom and I have been working on a 2nd crib set, and I just have to finish the bumper pad. Yes, bumper pad. Next, I will make a slipcover for my nursing ottoman. Everything I've ordered has come in for the nursery, except my chair-and-a-half glider that is being custom upholstered. My muralist, South African-ex came over one day and painted a beautiful sky and clouds mural on the ceiling, with birds strategically placed over the cribs and changing table. He's really talented. It isn't cartoonish at all and only cost me a pot of homemade chili. I'll post pictures when the whole room is done in a few weeks. D can only work on it, weekends, and of course other things, like useless Lamaze classes or power outages pop up on the weekend.
Dachshunds and cats: Spent a small fortune on the fur kids. The older dog had a mastectomy. She now has an even six nipples, after losing her 7th to a mammary cyst. (my other doxie has seven, too. Is that a trait?) While she was under, the vet removed about 20 skin tags (like mother, like daughter) cleaned her teeth (probably for the first time ever) and clipped her toe nails. We called her Frankenpuppy for about 2 weeks until her stitches were removed. Poor thing. For good measure, the little one went under too, for the teeth cleaning and toenail clipping. I promised the older one never again. So much torture at once. The little one, D and I agreed, could stand to have her cat-poop-breath-teeth cleaned, every year. Speaking of which, we have really tried to curb the amount of cat poop she has been ingesting, by installing a cat door into the laundry room where the litter boxes are. Of course, she is smaller than our cats, so it only helps so much. Her other issue is that she is becoming anorexic. She refuses to eat dog food for days at a time. We think its all mental, that she doesn't understand her place in "the pack," not the cat poop. Its hard for D to handle, without taking it personally, as he works for a petfood company/largest food company in the world.
WARNING: GROSS The cats are fine, although the male had a green(!) abcess on his temple. I didn't know what it was, I thought it was puss leaking from his inner ear, and tried to wipe it off with a tissue, it didn't wipe, it popped! And it smelled! I almost vomited on the cat, and made D finish cleaning him up with hydrogen peroxide and some Neosporin ointment. When I had the courage to look at again, two days later, there was no evidence that it had ever been there at all, except for a tiny patch of pinkness. No scab or anything. I heart Neosporin. The female is her usual bitchy/needy self. Unfortunately, her fur didn't grow back gracefully after her shaving, last April. She looks mangier than ever. Oh well, I guess I'd be bitchy, too, if every day was a bad hair day. Which it is. Horrible new haircut. Can't wait to grow it out and start over.
3-D ultrasound(s): We had another 3-D ultrasound last Saturday, but it was already pretty pointless, as they are very jammed up in there. Baby A had her face to my spine the whole time, so I won't bore you with pictures of legs and arms.
I've been getting everything else prepared. Hospital and diaper bags are packed. I bought two nursing bras today. I joined La Leche League and a Mothers of Twins club. We took a multiples class, CPR class, breastfeeding multiples class, a father class for D tomorrow and on Sunday, an all day Lamaze class. Of course, they're all at the "other" hospital, but how different could the classes be? Going mini van shopping tomorrow, if I can stomach the sticker prices and MPG. Why doesn't someone come out with a hybrid?
That's about it. I guess I've turned into one of "those" bloggers. I hope I'll get better. I'll try to use Jenn as my role model. I don't know how she does it!
although it is far from complete. If you are ever contemplating building a custom home with a builder who is not personally referred to you, check yourself into a facility, because you will probably end up in one, anyway. Every scare story I had ever heard came true, and then some. Frankly, I'm/we're a little scarred. These people left us on the brink of financial ruin, took forever, and well, I just don't have the energy to go on about it. Put it this way, our chance for a third child has pretty much been taken away by a builder and not my body, for a change. We're doing ok, now, but everything we were saving for has been wiped out, in order to make our house livable.
in one day, in the middle of August, with multiple offers to choose from. Of course, that meant my builder really had to get a move on, and we had to rent back from our buyer for several weeks after the closing. All in all, we were REALLY lucky, since the market tanked the next month.
from the last year. 
You can see that they are hardly babies
anymore.
