I survived the first phase of the contractor. He has packed up his things (including his radio which played awful soft jazz music all day long) and moved out of our place. He still has to come back to hang the new door (we have a “dummy” door while we wait for our special-order-takes-too-long-to-come-door) and add some trim and various other small things that should take him, oh, six days, but we are finally getting our home back to normal. The living room sorely needs some pictures on the walls, and we need to get a table for all the cable and TV accoutrements and multitude of wires (now seen on that high table in the middle of the two chairs). And now the coffee table seems rather large for our truncated living room, but oh well. The wall is up and there is a room for two babies and that is what matters right now. Their room has (or will have) three things that I am morally opposed to: wall-to-wall carpet, a ceiling fan and pink walls. Is this what they mean about parental sacrifice?
We ordered their cribs and bought a dresser and a hamper already. It makes me so nervous because still fear that something can go tragically array. A pop culture reference: I read that Marcia Cross gave birth to her twins yesterday. She was due in April. It is February. That seems v-e-r-y early. At least two months. My doctor said that I won’t go past 38 weeks, but I am beginning to think I will be lucky to even get that far. My friend Jen had a picture-perfect pregnancy, and her water broke at 31 weeks. She spent three and a half weeks in the hospital on bed rest and then delivered two healthy babies (that had to spend some time in the NICU, though).
In fact, now that I am not stressing about the contractor, I have lots of free time to worry about the babies’ health. My next sonogram is six days from now, when I will be in the middle of Week 24. The little kicks and punches are reassuring, but only when they come at regular intervals. When I haven’t felt anything in a while, I start to unravel just a little bit. I’m ashamed to admit that I will prod my stomach in attempts to “wake them up.” Yesterday I was out with my friend Annie and we went for cake. I though for certain the sugar rush would wake them up and get them going, but they were peacefully sleeping (or something). I started to panic just a little when I felt a couple of pops, right in the nick of time, before I went into full-on panic mode.
Are there any people who float through pregnancy with little to no worry?
It’s just that there are no guarantees and as each day passes by I get a little more excited and then a lot more afraid. I really just want to reach that age of viability, and I am not really certain of when that is with twins. Certainly it can’t be 24 weeks, like it is with singletons. Maybe 30 weeks, or 32 weeks or 28.
It’s hard being so negative and scared all the time. I wish I could just sorta fall asleep and wake up with two healthy pink babies in my arms.
Above picture is the new truncated living room.
8 comments:
You are doing SOOOOO great. 23 weeks and you are still going strong.
It seems that 25-28 weeks is a turning point for most twin pregnancies. (the ones that I've known any ways) It's when the body is bigger than a singleton and a lot of bodies just don't want to get any bigger :)
Expect a little bed rest...but don't assume that you will need bed rest. You may float through and deliver at 38 weeks no problems.
I was on bed rest for 2 months. In the hospital 3 times (3 nights) during those 2 months...honestly it wasn't bad. My uterus just wouldn't stop contracting :( I was dilating and that's why I was put down. I went to 37 1/2 weeks...at which point I BEGGED them to get my babies out ! They induced me and I had 2 healthy 7lb baby boys that I was able to take home the next day.
The book I read that helped me was "When you are expecting Twins, Triplets or Quads" by Barbara Luke.
It helped me understand what was going on in my body. It helped me take care of my body. I don't know...you may want to check it out.
Twin pregnancies are NOTHING like a singleton pregnancy. There is a lot of pain towards the end and when singleton pregnant women complain about rolling over in bed....they really have NO IDEA ! I mean it is hard for them :) but it becomes almost impossible for us at the end. :)
You are doing the best job for those babies...they are so lucky to have you. Take it easy...even if you think you are....take it even easier. Drink. Eat. Sleep. 3 things I WISH I could do right now :)
I'm the mom of 5 year old twins. My daughters are amazing and remind me every day of the adventure it is to be a parent.
I enjoy visiting your site and hope you don't mind having a "lurker". But I guess I'm not a lurker now that I am leaving you a comment.
I remember my doctors wanting me to get to 28 weeks. I held out as long as I could but instead my twins were born at 25 6/7 weeks and my pregnancy was a roller coaster from week 5 until the morning they were born. I don't say that to bother you or scare you, more to let you know that I had them incredibly early and went through a lot with them. But now I have two precocious and at times precious five year olds who are quickly turning older before my eyes.
Enjoy this time before the babies. Prepare (sounds like you already have a great start) and get ready for the ride. It's a wild one and goes oh-so-quick!
Hi there,
First, in the science of it all, I believe that viability is the same for twins as singletons -- if anything, twins do a little better if born early, because the "stress" of having to share a uterus helps with lung maturity. Also, if born early, girls do better than boys so you have another thing in your favor there. Not that you will have them early, I'm just talking about the odds if they are early.
I was in and out of the hospital starting at about 16 weeks with contractions, with an ambulance ride to a bigger hospital at 24 weeks because my contractions were 2 minutes apart -- in the end I had to have a c-section because I had the "cervix of steel" (said the OB) and those babes were staying put. They were small and a bit early and had a short NICU stay but are great now, tripled their weight in 5 months and developmentally on track. Again, I'm not saying you'll be early, just saying there are lots of success stories for those who are.
I was very anxious pregnant. Always worrying like you, from the early days, worrying when I wasn't nauseous, later worrying when I didn't feel kicks, worrying about contractions. I wish I could have enjoyed being pregnant but oh well. Luckily I worry about them a bit less now that they're here -- I still worry but in a different, less frantic way I think.
This ridiculously long comment is to say, you're doing great! It's scary but it's worth it. I found meditation helpful -- I had some pregnancy meditation CD's that helped me, even though I'm not a meditation kind of gal. I might even be able to e-mail you the files if you want, though they're huge and it's probably illegal.
Right, done commenting now. Hang in there, treat yourself well, and enjoy the getting ready for such an exciting thing.
Hi,
I just gave birth to my b/g twins 9 days ago at 32 weeks. Yes, they are spending some time in the NICU, but it's just to fatten them up a bit. They are doing wonderfully. We were told that they should be coming home in about 2 weeks.
Try to relax. Sounds like you are doing great! Enjoy this time because it will truly fly by...I'm sure you've heard that a million times already.
Hi! Thanks for the comment on my blog. It's great to meet another person with twins who is at the same stage.
I also worry about viability and wonder when I can really feel "safe" if the twins were to come early. I've read that "term" for triplets is as early as 30 weeks, so when I hit 30 weeks with twins I think I'll feel more reassured...maybe! That's still a long 4 weeks to go.
I'm getting so big that I really wonder how long my body will be able to keep this up, even though there have been no signs of premature labor. My sister's friend who had twins after IVF gave birth two months early. Both babies were fine, but they did spend time in the NICU.
Just wanted to say the room looks great and I am glad things are coming along room-wise. Hang in there.
I don't think the worrying will ever, ever go away! I can't imagine having twins and worrying twice as much. You're doing everything you can to keep things moving as they should. You staying calm and relaxed is most important for the babies. And their Momma!
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