For weeks now I have been craving avocado. I go to the stores, fondle the avocadoes and they are never ripe enough to eat that night. Yes, I know I could buy one and let it ripen and have it in a couple of days, but I don’t really have enough patience for that. Plus, looking at said avocado every day and not eating it would torture me. So today I go to my friendly neighborhood organic grocer and of course, there is no ripe avocado. But out of the corner of my eye I see three avocadoes sitting in someone’s cart. Three supple, soft-looking, perfect avocadoes. The cart’s owner was wrapped up in choosing a lettuce, so while he wasn’t looking I gently poked his avocadoes, just to see if they were ripe. And they were perfectly ripe! I ALMOST switched my semi-hard one for one of his soft ones. Luckily, I came to my senses, but it was a low moment in my day. What has come over me?
I think I may be having Braxton Hicks. I am not certain though. I look it up on the internet and I get 1,000 different varieties: The whole uterus gets tight; just a section of the uterus gets tight; they hurt; they are painless; they feel like gas; they feel like nothing. For me, one corner of my uterus—where Baby B is hanging out—gets really taut. Like you could bounce a quarter off of it. The other day when my sister-in-law was over she felt it and said “Oh, that’s just the baby’s head.” But now, as I type this, it is soft there. Is she moving around? Changing positions a lot or pushing her head tight against me? I can feel the punches, but how is it possible that I can’t feel a two-pound-plus being inside of me moving into a new position? Am I just that out-of-tune with my body?
I am also getting a lot of comments now about how I look like I am about to pop. Ha! I usually say I have some more time, and when pressed to say when, I admit June and they are flabbergasted. I guess that means I look big. At least I can pull out the twin card. I swear I went from “Do I look pregnant?” to “Oh my goodness I’m huge” in about two weeks.
Viability increases to 90 percent on Sunday. This day can’t come soon enough. But I’ll be much more settled when I hit 36 weeks. My prediction is I will finally relax (a little) and enjoy this pregnancy without fear of something awful happening then, since viability is so much higher. That said, I still panic every day about all that can go wrong. Like how one in five babies has is born with an umbilical cord wrapped around their necks. That’s my latest panic.
That corner is hard now. See? Is this Braxton Hicks or what? At my last doctor’s appointment my cervix was still nice and long and I have no other signs. I know BH are completely normal, but still. I just wanted to get into the 30s before my body started practicing labor. BH combined with Baby A tap-dancing on my cervix (yes, I still fear she will kick it open) equals one worried me. But what else is new?
We have a land line again. Thank goodness. The phone tech man was like Buddha. He was so calm and peaceful and even parted with words of wisdom: Don’t take things personally and you can’t make everyone happy. Context would make these quotes more relevant but it is such a long story. Just trust me when I say it was enlightening. And we have a phone!!!
Pictured above is today’s leap of faith: The cribs were delivered and assembled. These cribs are a thing of beauty. I am in love with them. (And you can see the pink walls, green carpet and dresser too.) Having them here makes it all seem so much closer and real. And it scares me so much. Who am I to assume that this will have a happy ending? There are no guarantees, but I am trying to have faith. That, and not taking things personally.
5 comments:
Best friend Melissa's baby (the one I saw born) had his cord around his neck when he came out. It was such a non-event that I didn't even put it in the birth story. The midwife just pulled it off. It was the least of his problems, what with the 4 hours of squeezing in the birth canal and the meconium. Just trying to say that it isn't *necessarily* a big deal if the cords are tangly.
My books said that B-H contractions can start in week 18! I was shocked. But sometimes I think I feel things happening in a rhythmic way. It isn't strong enough to scare me at all, though.
YES, you will have braxton hicks and LOTS of contractions. Your uterus is being stretched beyond a normal (singleton) pregnancy and so with that comes an irratable uterus. I had to have stupid stress tests done all the time because I was dilating early. Every stinking time I had them I failed. They kept telling me I was having regular contractions. I'm like, dude, I'm fine, they are normal for me...I don't feel them at all. Either way, the perionatolgist who did my ultrasounds and specialized in multiple pregnancies told me that it was VERY common and quite normal.
I know you hate to hear it....you are normal :)
I hope you get the ripe avacado. I would have TOTALLY kifed the ripe one. He had 3 for hell sakes....he can give one up. Especially to someone ready to POP ! ha ha
Requesting more belly pics ?
Getting the room ready is so scary! I'm right there with you. We rushed to get it started but still don't have it finished. It just makes it that more real and we're so scared of what could happen.
You're doing well. The girls are healthy. You're a lucky, lucky mom.
Thank you for your comments on my blog! They're very, very appreciated. And I agree that you hear a lot of stories about babies that are supposed to be born with horrible difficulties and then end up fine. Let's just hope that is what happens with Riley!
It sounds like contractions indeed. I was so ignorant for so long about this. I'd see my belly get all hard and uneven and would even feel tightness, and I would just think it was a baby moving and a head pushing against the surface. Later, when I was admitted to Mt. Si. for my shortened cervix at 27w2d, I learned that those things were contractions because I was hooked up to a monitor that showed them as such. I thought that because the bottom of my belly was still softish that they weren't contractions, but I was wrong.
Yes, there is still room for the babies to move. Mine were head-down until about 31 or 32 weeks and them somehow changed to breech(b) and transverse(a), and they were big babies, 5.1 and 5.12 at 34 weeks. Unfortunately their new positioning meant a c-sec since B was the bigger twin. I was so surprised and let down that my docs wouldn't let me try a vag delivery, since they were known to be gung-ho about delivering twins vag-style. But no dice. Anyway, you never know what position they'll end up in until you're closer, I would say.
Also, I remember about being huge and people saying "any day now!" I felt embarassed for some reason. It was just so weird in August to tell people that, no, I wasn't due until Dec. I'm sure you look fabulous, with your big belly. More pics, please! And I love the nursery. So sweet.
Frequent lurker, de-lurking for long enough to slobber all over your crib(s). That thing is gorgeous. I'm jealous.
I'm far from an expert, but in my experience Braxton Hicks contractions were a whole-stomach-gets-rock-hard kind of thing. But I think every woman experiences them a little differently. Which is infuriating when you are looking for confirmation, I know... :)
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