Ultrasound #2

We've been seeking a new provider ever since we learned about the twins thing and it looks like we found one! On Friday we had an ultrasound and appointment with Dr. Erin Clark up at the University Hospital and we both really liked the way she answered our questions (some even before we asked) and the fact that she works closely with midwives in a sort of team-care model. What clinched it for me was that the U Hospital is designated a "baby friendly hospital" - a global program that means all doctors, nurses, and staff have had extra training to make sure parents and babies get to bond as much as possible (emphasis on breast-feeding, skin-to-skin contact, rooming-in, etc.) - and they have the best neonatal intensive care unit around, just in case the girls should come too early or anything else should go wrong.

The appointment was a marathon 3 hours, including time in the waiting room, the almost 2-hour ultrasound (measuring 2 babies takes twice as long), and the appointment with Dr. Clark. But we are happy to report that all looks good. The girls weigh 1 lb. 9 oz. each and are measuring within a few days of each other in terms of gestational age, which means they're sharing nutrients like pros. All of their measurements put them in about the 40th percentile for gestating babies (including singletons), so they're developing right on schedule. As Dr. Clark put it, "Things couldn't look better, even if we made up numbers." Of course, now that I've written that, I've totally jinxed us. :-)

Next week I get my lab work done (glucose screening test and blood work), then another appointment with Dr. Clark in a couple of weeks, and then another u/s a couple of weeks after that just to make sure they're still being good sharers. I suppose in and amongst all the appointments, I'll have to keep my day job!

Mike's Birthday & Bulging Belly Shots

Leader struts her stuff in front of the new coop set-up

Mike celebrated his birthday this year by building a new henhouse. All day Saturday and most of the day on Sunday he spent cutting lumber and screwing it all together into a snug addition to our current chicken set-up. Some of you know that we had to put down two of our chickens due to a mysterious illness, leaving us only three hens. Those three have each been laying heartily (almost once a day, even though it's been cold and snowy), but not nearly enough to keep up with my constant demand for fresh eggs. Lucky for us, a friend of a friend is now having to get rid of her flock of laying hens (not so lucky for her) so we'll soon be adding three more birds to ours. We're going to quarantine the newbies for a few weeks, just to make sure they're not carrying any diseases and to let our hens get used to their smells, sights, and sounds from a safe distance. Hence the need for the new henhouse, which will be integrated as a second room onto the old henhouse when we combine flocks.

In baby news, the girls are growing at a a frantic pace. I can feel their kicks more forcefully now, especially after I eat. The baby websites tell us they're each about the length of a papaya or an ear of corn, which would explain my large, large belly. Right now our focus is on nutrition: getting enough protein, calcium, iron, and other vitamins and minerals to grow and support all three of us. While twins tend to come early and have low birth weights, good nutrition, exercise, rest, and low-stress living helps increase your chances of carrying to term. Our friends Leah and Chris shared the food chart they used to track Chris's protein-calcium-iron intake when she was preggers with twins and it's really helped guide my eating. It does feel really weird (and slightly unhealthy) to go from eating no meat to eating meat or fish twice a day, but it would be very difficult to hit my protein goal (120g / day) without it. The girls seem to like it as they are busting out!

24 weeks and counting!

Hello, 2012 - Urp.

Running out of Zofran on New Years Eve led us to accidentally test out the "if-we-didn't-have-these-anti-nausea-meds-how-would-Katy-be-doing" experiment.   This led to the first vomiting of 2012 in the wee hours of the morning, followed quickly by the 2nd and 3rd vomits.  Poor Katy.

Today we met with our midwife for the last time; we need to find an OB since our midwife doesn't do homebirths with twins.  She was great and gave us lots of recommendations going forward.  And recommended that Katy needs to almost double her protein intake going forward.  This will be quite a challenge since the girls have taken up most of her belly room and Katy fills up much more quickly than before.

Is this all a dream?

We're still in a state of shock over having twins. I keep thinking about a story on the last Father's Day edition of This American Life about where a dad of 20-month-old twins broke it down like this:

Another blurry ultrasound pic of the girls

"We have twins. No, that word should be banned. You know what twins are? Two f*#$@ing babies at the same time.... So when someone says, 'Oh, you have twins!', tell them, 'No, that doesn't really cover it. I have two f*#$@ing babies at the same time, and you know what that is? It's pretty f*#$@ing crazy all the time.'"

I think back to when I first heard that show over the summer. Mike and I were listening to it on a podcast as we drove home from Oregon the long way through the Sawtooth Mountains in Idaho. We thought it was so hilarious; who knew we'd be face-to-face with that reality by Christmas? One of the first things I think I said to Mike after we left the ultrasound was, "Two f*#$@ing babies at the same time!" In so many ways, I have no clue how we're going to do this - how we will have enough energy, both physical and emotional, to take care of two newborns, then two infants, then two toddlers, then two pre-schoolers, etc., without becoming wasted husks of human beings. But our good friends Leah and Chris (who had their own set of twin girls last Spring) assure us it's possible, and even actually fun sometimes. And that we will eventually get to a point where we will feel so very lucky to have twins and maybe even a little sorry for all those parents who just got singletons.

Belly bump at 20 weeks

Already the waters are starting to calm and we're able to think about our girls without completely freaking out. Part of me still can't believe it's real - even though they're right there inside me, I can't tell yet that there are two of them - and another part of me has already gone into "research and plan" mode. For now, we're happy to report that they are healthy (and big - 12 oz. each!), I am healthy, Mike is healthy and my belly is growing at an alarming rate. We have each other, our senses of humor, and a wonderfully supportive bunch of family and friends, and that's enough for now.

Eating for Three!!!

This is what we were expecting

Friday we went for our 1st ultrasound.  The tech asked, Has your midwife said anything to you about how you're progressing?"  Katy responded that Heather had said that she was a little big for how far along she is.  The tech responded, "You want to know why you're a little bigger than normal?  It's because you're having twins."  And she steadied the traducer/ultrasound wand against Katy's belly and slowly, through the ultrasound fuzziness, we could see two two heads, two spines, two tiny beating hearts.

To say we were surprised is a bit of an understatement.  Shocked, overwhelmed, happy, overwhelmed.

Baby B (on reft), Baby A (right).  Heads are both on the outside of the image.  Spines are in the middle, close together

Baby A

Lynnette, our wonderful, very cheerful tech, gave us a minute after first telling/showing us and as she said, went into the hall to compose herself as well.  She has a twin sister and was the first person to reassure us that, in her case, being a twin was great.

Baby B, with hand in front of face

 We sat there for an hour or so, staring up at the flatscreen on the wall, watching her examine both of our girls to make sure they were healthy.   She referred to them, as you can see in the ultrasound photos, as Baby B & Baby A.  Both babies looked healthy - woohoo!  Here are a few photos from Friday December 16th.

Wow

What Lynnette, the tech, wrote down as the name of our CD of ultrasound photos

Katy with the first photo of our girls

Movement!

Katy felt the baby move for the first time on Tuesday.  A little flutter now and again.   Apparently the little dude/ette is pretty active between 11am-2pm as of now.  Or, as Katy has figured, likes (or doesn't like) when Mom grades papers for those three hours.   Off to get the ultrasound and find out the sex this afternoon!

Cottage Cheese & Zofran

So here (to the left) is a little old school tribute to one of the few cheeses that I (Mike) don't like.  But one that has kept my lovely wife going throughout this pregnancy.   I especially love the small print about "this meat substitute."

Secondly, I'd like to share how thankful we are for Zofran.  Katy's prescription ran out last night and our midwife had not yet called in her next dose.  So then like clockwork, this morning at 6am, Katy turned back the clock a month or two to the harrowing 1/2 hour vomiting sessions that she became known for by all cats, dogs, and chickens at 1086 Blair St.  It was a sad sight.   So, although, it's been a tough first 19 weeks, we're thankful that we at least have this anti-nausea medication to allow her to be a normal person now and then.

I promise that my next entry will focus less on vomit.