Post holiday

I hope everyone had a good holiday. I was so looking forward to it, it’s a little depressing now that it’s over. I had a bit of a shaky start before the weekend. Last Friday my mild tummy ache turned into full blown stomach ache. My entire lower abdomen hurt. I was in a lot of pain and couldn’t get comfortable no matter which position I chose. My sleep was fitful, I woke up every hour or two. Saturday morning I felt terrible. I had a couple of bouts of diarrhea (sorry, TMI), had chills and slept all day. Sleeping all day was a bad idea because I couldn’t sleep Saturday night. When I weighed myself Sunday morning, I had lost almost 2 ½ lbs! Not a good thing when trying to feed and grow 2 additional little peeps. Luckily, I felt much better on Sunday and we had some family visit for Christmas Eve. It was lovely to see everyone, I finally got to meet my little nephew (actually, he’s not so little at a hefty 16lbs at only 4 months old!)

We had more family on Christmas Day; it was great to interact with people once again. I have to admit, I got up a lot more than I’m used to but it all seemed ok.

I had another doctor’s appointment this morning. We were looking forward to seeing the babies, so we were a little let down when the sonographer only did a quick swipe of my belly. I guess the main purpose was to check the cervical length. Good news is that it’s hardly changed, actually it was longer than before but since the readings aren’t exact we assume it just hasn’t changed. No growth measurements on the babes, but we did see them move around and they’re also both head down now. They’ve been pretty active and I can feel specific limbs (although I don’t know which ones). Unlike other people I’ve talked to, the jabs, movements and kicks don’t hurt. The only ones that are uncomfortable are when they roll directly over my bladder.

Everything looks good. The doctor did say they could arrive any day, you just never know with my history. We’re still shooting for 36 weeks, so hopefully I have 5 more weeks with them. My fundal height measured 40 weeks, which means my belly is measuring what a singleton pregnancy is at 40 weeks.

The only thing the nurse commented was my 1lb weight gain in the past 2 weeks (remember, I lost 2 ½ lbs the other day). It has gotten really hard to have an appetite. I had lunch yesterday and never got hungry again. I forced a ½ bagel down at 10pm last night because I felt I should have eaten something. Even my sweet tooth has abandoned me as well as my junk food cravings. I’m running out of room. Instead I like to concentrate on breathing which I don’t take for granted any more. Everything is squished upwards to make room. It’s hard to take a breath sometimes. And forget about getting up or rolling over. Mike and I have gotten very creative on how to get me up. Although if you watched us, you'd think you were watching an episode of 'I Love Lucy'.

Golden Pig

I’ve had a lot of internet problems lately. Time Warner/Adelphia/Road Runner can’t seem to get their act together. Sometimes the internet goes down 5 or 6 times a day. For someone on bed rest who relies on the internet heavily, this is extremely frustrating. I just got off the phone with the Time Warner rep who wanted me to do all sorts of crazy stuff (i.e. move the computer to get to the back, unplug cables, reset modems, router, computer, etc). Ok, it’s not really crazy but it’s a hardship to be standing and trying to get the back of the computer with my 45” belly in the way. Whew, I was out of breath!

I got a temporary fix, and told the guy that I’d have Mike call back if it was acting up again. He was really nice and told me he is a twin too. (I had explained why I was panting and out of breath.) Funny, I’ve come across several twins lately. The guys who painted our downstairs bedroom are identical twins, the cable rep is an identical twin and the other couple at the LLL meeting was carrying twins too. I watched Jimmy Kimmel the other night and he had Giovanni Ribisi (great actor and brother-in-law to Beck!) who’s a twin (has a sister) and Adam Corolla who just had twins.

Switching gears - my mom and aunt are really excited at the fact the babies will be born next year. Next year, 2007, in Korea and China, is the year of the Golden Pig, which only comes around every 600 years. People believe children born in this year will be blessed with luck for great financial wealth. The wedding halls have been bustling this year in Korea, and the hospitals are already booking up their maternity wards for next year! They are worried there won't be enough room for everybody giving birth. Even though I’m not really into astrology, I’m kind of excited. After all, it’s only once every 600 years! Regardless of whether it's just malarkey or not, it is going to have quite an impact on the society there. I don’t know so much about China, but it’ll be good for Korea. Apparently, the birth rate has declined considerably like Japan. The government is worried there won’t be enough people to sustain the economy (or something like that). So the Golden Pig may be a lot of hype to get people busy making babies, but people are buying into it.

I wouldn’t mind snagging some Golden Pig clothes and tchotkes, I think it’ll be cool for the kids to have memory keepsakes of the year they were born.

Btw, my sister tells me the official Chinese New Year isn’t until February 18th (I highly doubt I’ll still be pregnant at 38 weeks). Therefore, technically our babies won’t be little piglets, but my mom is adamant the New Year starts January 1st, at least for Koreans and I am Korean...

30 weeks

Yay! 30 weeks today. I’m in my 30’s! According to www.babycenter.com the “baby's a bit more than 15 1/2 inches long now, and she weighs almost 3 pounds (we know they’ve surpassed this weight already). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds her, but that volume will decrease as she gets bigger and fills out your uterus. Her eyes open and close, she's able to distinguish between light and dark, and she can even follow a light source back and forth. Once she's born, she'll keep her eyes closed for a good part of the day. When she does open them, she'll respond to changes in light but will have a visual acuity of only 20/400 — which means she can only make out objects a few inches from her face. ("Normal" vision in adults is 20/20.)”

I go back and forth thinking I’m going to make it to 36 then freak out that birth may be imminent. Even though I’ve been reassured the babies would survive without problems if they came now, I still freak out at the thought of them being born so early. It’s not the birth so much (although I’m sure that’s going to hit me too), but it’s the thought of seeing them so fragile, so little. I want them healthy and robust. I want them to come out wailing and chubby. I want the nurses to hand the babies to me rather than whisking them to the NICU. I want to hold them rather than peer through an isolette.

So far my doctor’s plan is to do an amniocentesis (amnio) at 36 weeks, which would be February 1, 2007. Earlier in the pregnancy, I am against having an amnio for fear of rupturing the babies’ membrane. Last year when I ruptured prematurely, we found a website for women who had PROM’d (Premature Rupture Of Membranes) http://www.kanalen.org/prom/. It was a great meeting place for parents to get together and share stories, ask for prayers and even a list of what to do when PAP (Pregnant After Prom). I printed that list and brought it with me to all my doctor's visits. There were a lot of miraculous stories which gave me hope, I think that’s part of the reason we were able to hang onto Matty & Issy for an additional 3 weeks after I first ruptured. I met a couple of amazing people through the list. One who PROM’d after an amnio. Her story is heartbreaking. She was pregnant with twins (girl/girl), had an amnio at 17 weeks and then ruptured. One of the girls (PROM baby) passed away soon after birth at 26 weeks, the other was born with so many issues and difficulties. It must be so bittersweet to have one twin survive.

So I would never have an invasive procedure done and risk the health of the babies. But at 36 weeks, I’m ok with it. The doctor’s plan is to check and make sure the lungs have fully developed and if they have, she will schedule the c section soon after. It’s so hard to believe the end of the pregnancy is near. It may be nearer than I think, but I’ll continue taking one day at a time.