Sunday, May 10, 2009
Saturday, May 9, 2009
I am an Aunt
My hubbies family all decided that this was going to be the year for babies. First his little brother and his wife got pregnant, than his little sister and her fiance got pregnant, and not to be outdone, we got pregnant with twins. 4 cousins all due within months of each other. My niece Sadie arrived on April 17th. My Nephew (or so the ultrasound said) was due to arrive last week. My SIL is going to be induced today and hopefully soon I will hear of the arrival of my nephew. Best of luck to Lori and James!
27 weeks pregnant & work shower
Here is part of what my weekly e-mail update had to say:
You're in the home stretch — two trimesters down, one more to go. Your baby is growing steadily as he prepares for delivery day. He will gain weight rapidly over the next weeks and, as the size of your belly increases, you may feel more breathless and tired. Your baby's acting more like a newborn now, too. He opens and closes his eyes, sleeps and wakes at regular intervals, and may suck a finger or thumb. He may also be hiccupping a lot this week, which explains that odd rhythmic sensation you've probably been feeling.
I didn't have any Drs appointments or ultrasounds this week (it feels strange) so don't have any updates there. All in all I am feeling okay most of the time. I still occasionally get weird heartbeats (faster or louder than normal), but just try to igore them as all the Drs I have asked about it assure me it is normal in a twin pregnancy. The belly is feeling huge (I am sure if I make it another 10 weeks I will look back at that comment and laugh). Occasionally I feel the babies move into weird positions and it can be quite uncomfortable. I think they are changing position quite often because I feel kicks in all sorts of different areas. I am sure they will soon get too big and start running out of room to flip around so much.
There was an inservice day at school yesterday, so I went in over the lunch break for a baby shower. There are 4 of us who have had babies this year or who are pregnant. The shower was for all 4 of us (5 babies). It is really sweet of the people at my school to arrange these showers for pregnant staff members. Our school has been doing a great job of making sure that we all keep our teaching jobs in the future by upping the population. I think in the last 5 years I have given at least 12 shower gifts at school. It was nice that it was finally my turn. I received lots of gifts, from the staff as a whole and from individual people. Lots of blankets, burp cloths, toys, a few onesies and sleepers in each size, a couple of books, facecloths, wipes, baby powder and oil, some clothes, a pair of shoes, photo albums, gift cards,etc. It was especially nice to see everyone at school. And I really liked the yummy cake....
You're in the home stretch — two trimesters down, one more to go. Your baby is growing steadily as he prepares for delivery day. He will gain weight rapidly over the next weeks and, as the size of your belly increases, you may feel more breathless and tired. Your baby's acting more like a newborn now, too. He opens and closes his eyes, sleeps and wakes at regular intervals, and may suck a finger or thumb. He may also be hiccupping a lot this week, which explains that odd rhythmic sensation you've probably been feeling.
I didn't have any Drs appointments or ultrasounds this week (it feels strange) so don't have any updates there. All in all I am feeling okay most of the time. I still occasionally get weird heartbeats (faster or louder than normal), but just try to igore them as all the Drs I have asked about it assure me it is normal in a twin pregnancy. The belly is feeling huge (I am sure if I make it another 10 weeks I will look back at that comment and laugh). Occasionally I feel the babies move into weird positions and it can be quite uncomfortable. I think they are changing position quite often because I feel kicks in all sorts of different areas. I am sure they will soon get too big and start running out of room to flip around so much.
There was an inservice day at school yesterday, so I went in over the lunch break for a baby shower. There are 4 of us who have had babies this year or who are pregnant. The shower was for all 4 of us (5 babies). It is really sweet of the people at my school to arrange these showers for pregnant staff members. Our school has been doing a great job of making sure that we all keep our teaching jobs in the future by upping the population. I think in the last 5 years I have given at least 12 shower gifts at school. It was nice that it was finally my turn. I received lots of gifts, from the staff as a whole and from individual people. Lots of blankets, burp cloths, toys, a few onesies and sleepers in each size, a couple of books, facecloths, wipes, baby powder and oil, some clothes, a pair of shoes, photo albums, gift cards,etc. It was especially nice to see everyone at school. And I really liked the yummy cake....
Thursday, May 7, 2009
A suprise in the mail
When I miscarried my first pregnancy I joined an online message board where I met a group of great women going through the same thing. Since that time, we have continued to write to each other and offer support with TTC, pregnancy, further losses, relationships, families, divorces, births, newborns, child care and day to day life. They are a wonderful woman and I feel very fortunate to have made their friendships. I am also amazed some days how close I feel to some of these people who I have yet to meet in person.
Today in the mail I received a box from Colorado. It contained a Jolly Jumper and a bag full of onesies. It was sent from one of the women from my board. I was happy to get these well needed items, but was also so touched that someone who only knows me on the computer cared enough to send them to me.
Thanks Josephine!
Today in the mail I received a box from Colorado. It contained a Jolly Jumper and a bag full of onesies. It was sent from one of the women from my board. I was happy to get these well needed items, but was also so touched that someone who only knows me on the computer cared enough to send them to me.
Thanks Josephine!
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Me being grouchy...
Warning: This is going to be a grouchy post.
Before you read this I want everyone to know how incredibly grateful I am to be in the situation I am now in. I wouldn’t change this for the world. I am so happy to have these two babies growing inside me and would go into complete isolation and hang upside down for months to get them here if this is what it would take. Also I know that some of my friends and family who read this are still trying to get pregnant and hearing someone bitch about being pregnant would be the last thing I would have wanted to read about for the last few years. But I am feeling grouchy…
Bedrest. 2 little words squeezed together that both sound so good. Bed. We all love our beds right. The place where we curl up at the end of a long day. The place where we get to hang out for a few extra special hours on weekends. The place where we feel better when we are sick. Rest. Sounds good too. Rest comes after work. It comes after exercise. We all look forward to it, none of us normally get enough of it. But when you put the 2 of them together it really sucks!
I know that people spend months and months (even years) on bedrest in hospitals, in old age homes or perhaps even in their own houses. I know that bedrest for some people means they are unable to move, to pee by themselves, to change position on their own. I don’t pretend to compare myself to them. But I do have to say I have gotten a new understanding for people who have to spend their lives like that, dependant on others.
I have been on bedrest for almost 2 months now. In that time, I have left the house 6 times, each time for a trip for a checkup or an ultrasound. I am driven to the appointment, sit in the waiting room from 5min. to 2 hours, see my Dr, get poked and proded, and then am driven home. Sound exciting? Well it has been the highlight of my last 2 months.
I love my house. All the main rooms are on one level and I can easily shuffle down the hallway from the couch to the bedroom and back again making stops at the bathroom on the way by. The kitchen is right there and I can grab food when I want it. I can grab food when I want it, if I have remembered to ask my hubby to pick up said food want, the day before. If we are out of something, well there is no popping to the store to pick it up. I love my house, but when you spend 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in one area you start to notice its flaws. The stain on the carpet, the paint scratch on the wall, the blind that always opens crooked, the box that needs to be put away, the mess the cat made knocking things over. Most of these things wouldn’t bother me in a normal situation, and if they did, I would fix them. Now I just stare at them willing them to go away. Sometimes it works… More often than not it is because my aggravation level reaches a point where I mention it to someone and it is finally taken care of. I found a partial solution to this. I hired a house keeper. The problem has been that for the last 2 weeks she hasn’t come. The first time was my fault, as I cancelled when I had an ultrasound booked for the same time slot. Then last week she had an emergency come up and cancelled. So now it is close to 3 weeks since my house has been cleaned properly. The problem with a house cleaner though is that as lovely and cat hair, dust and tub ring free my house is after she leaves, the box is still sitting there, the paint scratch is still there, the blind is still crooked. She cleans things, moves them to clean under them, and puts them back where they were. This is great, if everything is where I wanted it in the first place.
Five years ago my hubby and I moved out of the city to a place close enough to commute for work, but rural enough to have my horses. Since then we have made a group of local friends. We go to local house parties. Once a month we get together with a group of them at one person or another’s house. We make plans and do stuff with them. Many of our family members live in the same province but are all an hour or 2 or 3 away. Many of our friends still live in the city, and we tend to do things with them in the city, usually after work. Many of my best friends from High School and University have left the province and live a distance away, but come back to visit, or I travel to see them. Why am I writing about this? Well usually I feel like I have an active enough social life. I love spending time at home with just my hubby and I, but when I want to see other people I make plans. I stop in to visit them, I arrange to meet for a coffee, I invite them to my house for a meal or a party or I go to their house. I just kind of took being able to see other people, to have company when I wanted it, as a given. Now I find I am lonely.
I have a few friends and relatives who have been amazing, and I thank them for that. People who have brought the groceries for meals and cooked for me, friends who have stopped by with a special treat for breakfast when they have the morning off of work, people who have brought me reading material, DVD’s and little treats. Friends who have brought their babies to visit and, even though I can’t pick them up and toss them around, I can watch them learning to crawl. Friends who have stopped in to help me out with something they knew I couldn’t do myself. As well as friends and relatives who have taken the time to call and chat or who have sent an e-mail or an MSN message on a regular basis. These people make my life much easier.
Even though I do have people in my life who come and visit, I spend many many hours by myself. Fortunately I like my own company, and have things I like to do when I am alone. I do get tired of being alone though. I am sure I could make an effort to invite more people to visit me, but it is hard to extend an invitation to someone when you don’t have something to offer. “Please come and visit me and watch me lie on the couch…” not nearly as interesting an invite as “Lets meet up at such and such a place for a hike” or “If you drive all the way out to see me from the city, I will cook you an awesome lunch”. I also feel like I don’t have as much to offer conversation wise. My world is very limited right now. I can talk all day about babies, and ultrasounds and pregnancy, but that is about the only thing going on in my life at the moment. I love hearing about “the outside world” though.
I only have another couple of months of bedrest until the babies are ready to come out. I am sure at that time I will look at the words “bed” and “rest” a little more fondly again.
Before you read this I want everyone to know how incredibly grateful I am to be in the situation I am now in. I wouldn’t change this for the world. I am so happy to have these two babies growing inside me and would go into complete isolation and hang upside down for months to get them here if this is what it would take. Also I know that some of my friends and family who read this are still trying to get pregnant and hearing someone bitch about being pregnant would be the last thing I would have wanted to read about for the last few years. But I am feeling grouchy…
Bedrest. 2 little words squeezed together that both sound so good. Bed. We all love our beds right. The place where we curl up at the end of a long day. The place where we get to hang out for a few extra special hours on weekends. The place where we feel better when we are sick. Rest. Sounds good too. Rest comes after work. It comes after exercise. We all look forward to it, none of us normally get enough of it. But when you put the 2 of them together it really sucks!
I know that people spend months and months (even years) on bedrest in hospitals, in old age homes or perhaps even in their own houses. I know that bedrest for some people means they are unable to move, to pee by themselves, to change position on their own. I don’t pretend to compare myself to them. But I do have to say I have gotten a new understanding for people who have to spend their lives like that, dependant on others.
I have been on bedrest for almost 2 months now. In that time, I have left the house 6 times, each time for a trip for a checkup or an ultrasound. I am driven to the appointment, sit in the waiting room from 5min. to 2 hours, see my Dr, get poked and proded, and then am driven home. Sound exciting? Well it has been the highlight of my last 2 months.
I love my house. All the main rooms are on one level and I can easily shuffle down the hallway from the couch to the bedroom and back again making stops at the bathroom on the way by. The kitchen is right there and I can grab food when I want it. I can grab food when I want it, if I have remembered to ask my hubby to pick up said food want, the day before. If we are out of something, well there is no popping to the store to pick it up. I love my house, but when you spend 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in one area you start to notice its flaws. The stain on the carpet, the paint scratch on the wall, the blind that always opens crooked, the box that needs to be put away, the mess the cat made knocking things over. Most of these things wouldn’t bother me in a normal situation, and if they did, I would fix them. Now I just stare at them willing them to go away. Sometimes it works… More often than not it is because my aggravation level reaches a point where I mention it to someone and it is finally taken care of. I found a partial solution to this. I hired a house keeper. The problem has been that for the last 2 weeks she hasn’t come. The first time was my fault, as I cancelled when I had an ultrasound booked for the same time slot. Then last week she had an emergency come up and cancelled. So now it is close to 3 weeks since my house has been cleaned properly. The problem with a house cleaner though is that as lovely and cat hair, dust and tub ring free my house is after she leaves, the box is still sitting there, the paint scratch is still there, the blind is still crooked. She cleans things, moves them to clean under them, and puts them back where they were. This is great, if everything is where I wanted it in the first place.
Five years ago my hubby and I moved out of the city to a place close enough to commute for work, but rural enough to have my horses. Since then we have made a group of local friends. We go to local house parties. Once a month we get together with a group of them at one person or another’s house. We make plans and do stuff with them. Many of our family members live in the same province but are all an hour or 2 or 3 away. Many of our friends still live in the city, and we tend to do things with them in the city, usually after work. Many of my best friends from High School and University have left the province and live a distance away, but come back to visit, or I travel to see them. Why am I writing about this? Well usually I feel like I have an active enough social life. I love spending time at home with just my hubby and I, but when I want to see other people I make plans. I stop in to visit them, I arrange to meet for a coffee, I invite them to my house for a meal or a party or I go to their house. I just kind of took being able to see other people, to have company when I wanted it, as a given. Now I find I am lonely.
I have a few friends and relatives who have been amazing, and I thank them for that. People who have brought the groceries for meals and cooked for me, friends who have stopped by with a special treat for breakfast when they have the morning off of work, people who have brought me reading material, DVD’s and little treats. Friends who have brought their babies to visit and, even though I can’t pick them up and toss them around, I can watch them learning to crawl. Friends who have stopped in to help me out with something they knew I couldn’t do myself. As well as friends and relatives who have taken the time to call and chat or who have sent an e-mail or an MSN message on a regular basis. These people make my life much easier.
Even though I do have people in my life who come and visit, I spend many many hours by myself. Fortunately I like my own company, and have things I like to do when I am alone. I do get tired of being alone though. I am sure I could make an effort to invite more people to visit me, but it is hard to extend an invitation to someone when you don’t have something to offer. “Please come and visit me and watch me lie on the couch…” not nearly as interesting an invite as “Lets meet up at such and such a place for a hike” or “If you drive all the way out to see me from the city, I will cook you an awesome lunch”. I also feel like I don’t have as much to offer conversation wise. My world is very limited right now. I can talk all day about babies, and ultrasounds and pregnancy, but that is about the only thing going on in my life at the moment. I love hearing about “the outside world” though.
I only have another couple of months of bedrest until the babies are ready to come out. I am sure at that time I will look at the words “bed” and “rest” a little more fondly again.
Thanks
Thanks to all of you who commented on my Baby Stuff post. It is very useful to hear what other people have found useful/not useful.
Keep the comments coming...
Keep the comments coming...
Friday, May 1, 2009
26 week ultrasound
I just got home from my ultrasound. It went great. The babies are both doing really well. Baby A (the boy) weighs 1lb15 ounces and baby B (the girl) weighs 2 lbs even. Baby A is at the 50th % and Baby B is at the 54th% for size. Which is excellent for twins. The organs, fluids etc. still all look good. They have changed positions (yet again) Baby A is breech on my left side, baby B is transverse (sideways) going across the top. I got a cute picture of the top of both of their heads together on my left side. At least they are no longer kicking each other in the head.
As for my cervix... Once again, no change. The stitch is still in place and it is measuring the same. There has basically been no change in 7 weeks since the surgery, which is awesome. I go back in 2 weeks (28 weeks) for another ultrasound to check my cervix and we will most likely do the steroid shots at that time. I'll go back in a month (30 weeks) for another full ultrasound with anatomy scan and measurements.
So it looks like I am back at home for at least the next 2 weeks still on bedrest. I am really happy not to be in the hospital.
As for my cervix... Once again, no change. The stitch is still in place and it is measuring the same. There has basically been no change in 7 weeks since the surgery, which is awesome. I go back in 2 weeks (28 weeks) for another ultrasound to check my cervix and we will most likely do the steroid shots at that time. I'll go back in a month (30 weeks) for another full ultrasound with anatomy scan and measurements.
So it looks like I am back at home for at least the next 2 weeks still on bedrest. I am really happy not to be in the hospital.
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