This time tomorrow!

First I’d like to start off by thanking everyone who has sent us encouraging emails with their support, love or advice. I may not have responded to you all, but I read them and then read them aloud to Mike and vice versa. It’s an amazing feeling to know so many people care about you even if we haven’t seen each other in ages or live oceans apart. Thanks again everyone! And we can’t wait for you to meet the new additions!

I guess I have one more post in me before the pea pods are here. I had the amnio this morning. Ouch! It hurt! And then I kept bleeding which didn’t help my squeamish side. Afterwards, they monitored me (another NST) to make sure there were no ill effects from the procedure. Fortunately, they only did the amnio on one baby. They chose the one that was most accessible and that was girl. Everything went well and the doctor thinks they’re ready judging from the color and particles of the amniotic fluid (remember, this is their pee they’ve been breathing and drinking). Even though we’re not ready for them gear-wise, I’m ready for them to come out. It’s been sooo hard lately – heavier belly, increased number of contractions and constant pressure down there.

The NST was hard, the nurse couldn’t get a decent reading on their heartbeats. Boy is deeply embedded in my pelvis so the nurse was getting the same heartbeats on the monitor from the girl. It took a lot longer than usual. Then once she got the heartbeats, they decided to go to sleep so she had to wake them up with the buzzard again. Girl did not like that at all, she either punched or kicked my belly hard in protest!

Some of you have asked why we’re delivering so early. A couple reasons - mainly I can’t labor. I had extensive uterine muscle removed a while ago while having fibroids taken out. Since I don’t have very much muscle left, the doctors are concerned my uterus may rupture if I labor and/or push. And secondly, my doctor will be out of the country beginning Wednesday for WHO (World Health Organization). Even though I’m nervous about meeting them, I’m ready for them to come out. I’m starting to swell and losing the small amount of mobility I had left. Oh and one more thing, its bad enough knowing I’m going to have surgery. And I can’t eat or drink anything past midnight. But I just found out today that I probably won’t get to eat anything until the day after, Wednesday! OMG! They want me to go from eating 6 small meals a day to cold turkey! I’m worried how I’m going to handle the no food part. (Kelly – I’ve been having a root beer float every night for the past week!)

As it is, I had a bit of a scare on Saturday. The nurse administering my NST said I was having frequent contractions. I told her I didn’t even feel most of them but she felt the doctor on call would want me to go to L&D. I panicked when she told me that. I kept thinking ‘my hospital bag isn’t packed’, ‘the babies’ bag isn’t packed’, ‘laundry isn’t done’, ‘I need to wash my hair’ and a multitude of other trivial excuses that seemed very important at the time.

So this time tomorrow, I hope to be in my hospital room holding our babies. You know, since we did IVF we know exactly when they were conceived and now we know exactly when they’ll be born. I was talking about technology with an old friend (who’s also expecting a baby via IVF on 2/16) and we are both so thankful we live in a time where these medical advancements help us have the family we wouldn’t otherwise have. Pretty cool, eh?

For fun, and if you’re inclined, I’d like to hear what people’s guestimate will be on the babies weights. The one who is closest will have the baby named after them (not really, but we may use a letter or two from your name). Feel free to note it in the Comments. Ok, now I’m really signing off. Hopefully I’ll be back in a week or so.

xoxoxo
lisa

4 days!

Cute Oliver picture of the day.

My mom’s been curious as to what the babies look like for quite a while. I don’t think I’ve thought about what they look like, more like what life will be like. I tell Mike life is about to change as we know it. Life has already changed since I found out we were pregnant, but it’s more of a temporary change (being on bed rest and not going out). I wrote about what it’s like to be on bed rest awhile ago. How it felt like I’ve always been on it and how I’ve gotten to a point where I’m almost afraid to venture out in the ‘real world’. But lately, I’ve been thinking about introducing the babies to relatives and friends. Pushing them around in their stroller, days at the park or the zoo. Sounds a little too idyllic, don’t you think? I'm daydreaming and romanticizing it, aren't I?

As for what they’ll look like? Who knows? Maybe like Keanu Reeves? Or the gal that plays Lana Lang on Smallville? Actually when I was younger, there was a mixed family at church and the kids looked Mexican (even though they were half Korean and half White). They were pretty dark skinned. When I attended the Le Leche meeting a couple weeks ago, I was dumbfounded by a white woman with light brown hair breastfeeding a 100% Asian baby. I thought she had adopted this little girl and was able to breastfeed her. She had an older daughter (about 4 or 5 years old) who was mixed (half Asian/half White), but the baby is 100%. After hearing her tell her experience, I realized the woman had birthed the Asian baby! It blew my mind. Her husband is Korean and there was no trace of the mother in the baby. I know I’m going to think our babies are gorgeous whatever they look like. But now that I've been talking about it, I wonder if they'll take after Mike or me or both or neither...

I think my husband is pretty cool. He’s also a stand up, very decent person and would do anything for us. He’s been my punching bag through this very hormonal journey and still thanks me for carrying the babies (even when I'm at my absolute worst)! I guess others think he’s awesome as well; his office threw him a baby shower the other day. It was really sweet and generous. I’ve never met any of these people (although I think I’m kind of infamous due to the Christmas party dessert demands) and Mike’s been there for only 3 months.

We got some pretty darn cute onesies and a really cool diaper cake (I’ve never seen one before).

Someone also gave a beautiful personalized keepsake box. The shower sounded very nice, I’m bummed I couldn’t be there.

I think I have another post or two left in me, but there is a possibility this might be the last one for the time being. My amnio is at 9am on Monday, 1/29. I should have the results by the end of the day. If all looks good, then I show up to the hospital at 6am on Tuesday. I’m the first one that day! The hospital has no wi fi, so I probably won’t post anything until I’m home.

Please say a prayer for us!

35 weeks!

Woe is me; I’m out of Hawaiian Fruit Punch (HFP). I don’t know what my obsession is with this drink. I doubt I’ll crave it once I’m no longer pregnant. But for now, it’s one of the first things I think about when I wake up in the morning. As I’m lying in bed, the air is dry (even with a vaporizer!) and my throat is parched, I think about how quenching a tall glass of HFP with ice would taste. It’s what gets me out of bed in the mornings!

I can’t believe I haven’t mentioned this already, our house sold! We are officially out of Sacramento. As much as I miss our friends in No Cal, I’m so relieved not to have to worry about paying an additional mortgage. I do miss our house and am sad at the thought of not seeing the trees grow to maturity. I miss our lemon and lime trees and all the herbs (including our massive lemongrass bush). I miss the newness of our home since we were the first owners and I’m sad at the thought of Oliver missing his friends :-(

But the trade-off is being nearer to my family and Mike’s family. My parents, especially my mom, have been a lifesaver. I don’t know how we would’ve managed on our own. It seems like everything fell into place, Tower’s demise, Mike’s new job, my parents’ forced retirement all happened to enable me to really take it easy for the last trimester. And here we are, less than 5 days away now!

Today, I’m 35 weeks. As with previous weeks, I’m surprised to have it made it this far. Here’s what’s happening with the peapods now -

“Your baby's getting big. He weighs a tad over 5 pounds and is just over 18 inches long. Because it's so snug in your womb, he isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times he kicks should remain about the same. His kidneys are fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. Most of his basic physical development is now complete — he'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.”

And this is what’s happening inside me -

“Your uterus — now up under your ribs — has expanded to about 15 times its original volume, and you may feel like you've run out of room! If you could peek inside your uterus, you'd see that there's much less amniotic fluid and much more baby in there now. Your ballooning uterus is crowding your internal organs too, which is why you probably have to urinate more often and have heartburn and other digestive problems.”

OMG, I’m so uncomfortable. Sometimes, it’s just downright painful.

And then next week, the babies are here! Remember my email pal who just delivered her twins a couple weeks ago? She sent me an email, here’s an excerpt - “trying to catch up to emails is practically impossible with two little guys...Lisa it is so hard, I cant even tell you! No sleep, no sleep, no sleep”. I’m a little freaked out after reading that! Btw, I followed up on the car seats. They’re expected to ship on Monday and will hopefully get here by next Thursday. Talk about cutting it close!

Lastly at 4.30am I realized we have no bottles. What if I can’t breastfeed? The babies will starve! And yesterday I mentioned what a relief it was to have ordered the cribs. Mike’s dad is going to help Mike pick them up tomorrow (hopefully!). Well, guess what I realized this morning at 4.45am? We have no mattress or sheets! What am I thinking? I’m not, I’m not thinking straight and now we have less than 5 days to go!