Sleep is the New Sex

For Us, not them. They are working on sleep training or maybe it is training us.

Currently, they eat at midnight and at 3 am. They then usually sleep until 7.  Presently their diet is  both expressed breast milk and formula.  I am hoping to eliminate either the 3 am or 12 am feedings in the next 3 weeks. We are following the book, “12 Hours by 12 weeks.” Has anyone read this?  

So far, it is working very well albeit slowly.The only issue is when they start screaming at the same time. That’s when we get creative, either giving one an ounce or two take the edge off or holding one while feeding and rocking the other in the car seat. Can we say ear plugs? Great fun in the middle of the night but it does inspire creative thinking.  Their schedule will change next week when they go to day care.

 Blessed, beautiful daycare! Can I tell you how excited I am?  I need to feel competent at something again and I miss interacting with adults. We’ve had some rough days and it will be nice to have a break. Any time I’m away from them, I miss them terribly so I imagine I will be so glad to see them @ the end of the day. I am tired of trying to do work at home between feeding and cleaning (75% of what I do all day) and it will give MO2 and I time to have adult lunches and get errands done without babies. This will give us more time to devote to them once we get home.

Sounds like a plan… we shall see.

They’re sleeping. Let’s hope it lasts!

Welcome to the World, Rock and Roll!

July surprise! Our sons; Rock and Roll were born at 4:14 pm and 4:16pm July 21st (exactly 33 weeks). They are now 1 week old. Rock weighed in a 5 lbs and 13 oz and Roll was 5 lbs, 2 oz. Both are still in the NICU getting bigger and stronger but at this point, we are extremely hopeful they will be home with us in 4-5 weeks. Both are doing well and have great fighting spirits. They are presently feeding on breast milk and formula through an ng tube. I’m pleased that they are doing well but we realize it will take time. We think of it as a “sneak preview” of our babies.

I developed HELP syndrome (severe pre-e without much warning) and they made the decision to deliver immediately. It was so quick that we didn’t have time to call anyone before the surgery, except our bosses. I am also so thankful that my husband was monitoring my symptoms (especially after I had been blown off at my monday NST) and made me get an appointment. I truly believe that his vigilance saved our lives because he noticed the miniscule changes that everyone else chalked up to twin pregnancy.

Once MO2 insisted I get seen and they ran labs, it was an hour after the labs came back and I was prepped for surgery. We didn’t have time to call anyone except for our collective bosses. We got the labs back at 2:30 and I was in surgery by 3:30. I didn’t even have time to freak out, although I wanted to. The picture above was taken after I heard their first cries, I was so relieved.
I delivered at the hospital where we work and I have to say that despite of the crummy events, my care since surgery has been excellent. I’m still pretty puffy but we are hoping the edema and GD will begin to dissipate. We love visiting with the boys and will start our collective maternity/paternity leave when they come home.

Bashful Babies

We had another scan and cervix check. All ok.

But the babies are bashful and have been hiding their faces toward their placentas. For the last two scans. UGH!

We did get a lovely belly shot, of both. Our next scan is a echosonogram so we can check on the babies’ hearts. They have 4 chambers (which has already been confirmed) but this will look for more abnormalities, if there happen to be any(though I hope they are just fine). our quad screen came back negative for neural tube defects and with a low incidence of Down’s Syndrome. It is hard to tell with twins but the DR said it is probably fairly accurate.

I am popping out like a balloon but my cervix is nice and long.

I have started to think of baby things, if I dare, like ordering the co-sleeper (eventually), or ordering cloth diapers and those newborn infant gowns.

I come from a family of Ashkenazi Jews who don’t believe in showers or setting up a nursery until babies are born healthy. Does anyone else have cultural traditions like this? Makes it rather hard to get ready for twins.

Spoke Too Soon!

Update on my three sons: Well, we are back to Rock and Roll. It seems my DSS is not coming after all. His mother (in her infinite wisdom) has decided that he can’t come until school lets out (not that he goes to school anyway). Apparently,  she has decided that we might not send her the child support if we have him. Keep in mind that we are ordered to pay child support until his 18 birthday and it’s in the divorce decree. We are law-abiding citizens who like our security clearances. We aren’t going to throw that away for 5 months without paying support!

I feel so bad for DSS. It is one thing if you (as a parent) change your mind because something is not in the best interest of your child for safety reasons. For example, if you decided he/she could go to a party only to find that it was hosted by a pedophile, I could see you hanging your mind. But when it is for your own reasons and NOT in the best interest of your child, I have an issue with it. I adore my DSS, it breaks my heart that he was so upset about not coming.

In other news, R1 and R2 are still boys. They are measuring at today’s u/s about 18 weeks, 4 and 5 days. In actuality they are only 17 weeks, 6 days BUT our donor was tall (5’11). Both his their faces from the camera today and faced toward their respective placentas. Both hearts have 4 chambers and their brains have the right # of hemispheres.

I think I may have felt them move but I wouldn’t know it if it bit me in the ass. I’m hoping for a more definite sign in the next couple of weeks. My cervix is long and closed, so I guess all is well.

Lopsided

I noticed yesterday that the left side of my belly is bigger than the right. You can see it and feel it. I hope this is not indicative of a problem.

What I suspect is going on is that both twins are in the same position with their sacks right on top of each other, facing the same way as they were on the Weds u/s. Our u/s tech told me that eventually they will choose their own side of the uterus, but they are not there yet.

At the ultrasound Rock was waving and Roll was sucking its thumb/finger. They are starting to look a bit like babies.  Rock was measuring 12 weeks, 1 day and Roll 11 weeks, 6 days.

I am happy to report that I am starting to expand my repertoire to more food and I’m starting to have an appetite again. Also a big bonus, we have d/c all meds except for lovenox. The absolute worse were the progesterone suppositories which made the nether regions all itchy. Nothing like a two-week long yeast infection! Glad that is over so the parts can go back to normal. Fatigue is finally starting to lift as well.

I signed up for day care last week (yes, there is a long waiting list) and picked up my maternity uniforms. OMG they are tents! They gave me the biggest size ever (a 22, I didn’t even know they came in that size). I normally wear medium regulars. However, I have now taken over 1 set of MO2’s uniform (large, regular) which I think will last me at least 4 more weeks. last week I needed a belt to keep the pants up, this week, not so much!

Lots of good news in the blogosphere this week. Happy Go Lucky has a BFP and Andrea of Bella and Her Fella had her boy/girl twins.

i leave you with the 12 week scan of Rock and Roll.

On the Other Side

Today was my first OB appointment.

Here at hospital Ft. Livingroom, there are two clinics with two doors located side by side. In the back, they are all connected. I’ve only gone on the RE side. However, today I made it to the OB side.

My appointment was only an intake where I filled out multiple pieces of paper, had some labs drawn and talked to the nurse. We got an overview of all the services here at Ft. Livingroom and a special consideration. Because we are staff here, we get to choose our OB.

Sadly, my first choice is on bed rest. MO2’s choice is deploying. So MO2 went off to Labor and Delivery this afternoon on a recon mission to find out who the best providers are. Hopefully, he’ll find out some answers. I didn’t get to see Rock and Roll today but maybe I can in two weeks at my next appointment. The nurse did say that after my physical at the next appointment, I would be switched to high risk so I will have more u/s than we previously have had. I guess the thing to be happy with is making it the other side.

In other news, fatigue and weird eating choices seem to be the flavor lately. I’ve developed an aversion to meat, which is a bit odd. My choice for dinner has become kashi cereal and yogurt! I’m trying to eat well midday. Other than that, all is well.

Symptoms Onset

I broke down and had another beta today.

7012. According to the calculator I used, I’m doubling every 54 hours which is fine according to my nurse. Apparently once you are over 6,000 ml you should double every 72-96 hours. Who knew?

But all of a sudden I’m nauseous (but not bad) and oh so tired. Yesterday I came home and fell asleep with my full uniform on to include jacket and hat after work. MO2 woke me up to go see the UT/AL game (which I was pissed about because all I wanted to do is sleep). I fell asleep before halftime on a friend’s sofa and then I had to wake up to go home. We had a 2 hour late start today due to weather and boy, did I like the extra sleep. I plan a deep and fulfilling relationship with my sofa this evening. I have to admit I’m relieved. The symptoms are reassuring to me. My staff keeps telling me I look tired!

Waiting for U/S

I’m a tricky one.

I scheduled my u/s for next Weds. SG wants me to do the u/s ASAP . I was worried that with my history I wanted enough time for the baby to develop and possible have a HB so I lied and told SG nurse that there weren’t any appointments available until next week (mid week). I’m just so afraid of the u/s I’ve been stalling.

I haven’t had many symptoms. I am more tired than usual at night. I’m finding myself in bed by 9pm. But until recently, I haven’t been tired during the day. Nothing really hurts although I’ve had some intermittent cramping and my boobs are sore (but not awful). I’ve had some slight pinkish discharge but nothing that resembles blood or even spotting. I’m tempted to go get another HCG but it would only tell me if the numbers are going up and there is nothing I can do to change things either way so I might make myself crazy for no reason. I hate m/c for making me a nervous wreck!!

Yesterday our heater gave up the ghost (it more than 20 years old). So $5,000.00 later and a lot of repair calls we will have reliable heat tonight (thank goodness). MO2 and I are planning one last trip before the baby comes and had planned to go to St. Thomas in the Spring. Hopefully we’ll still be able to go and the money won’t be diverted to, “the replace the heater fund!” Our state, like most places, is undergoing the extreme cold snap so I think working heat is more of a priority than an island vacation. We were hoping to pay off the baby by june but this has probably set us back a month or so. C’est la vie.

And Today’s Number Is…

910!!! I’m so relieved! One more to go!

And A Happy New Year!

Very faint BFP this morning! I am 7dp3dt. I tested (mostly out of fear). I wanted to prove to myself that these symptoms weren’t in my head. After doing this for a while you wonder, “is it progesterone or is it memorex?”

Now of course I’m paranoid after last cycle’s m/c. We’ll have to wait until next week for the beta and hopefully we won’t have a benchwarmer like last time. It is hard for me because we are traveling which means I have to use an independent lab and can’t read my own labs. The loss of that protective level of control is killing me! To make matters worse, labcorps won’t tell me, they will only tell my nurse. Oh the indignity! (Who am I kidding-you all put up with that all the time).

While I am thankful… I am also very, very cautious. Please keep your fingers crossed!