Here's a cute picture of him enjoying some peas...
Saturday, March 22, 2008
nine months old!
Jono has changed so much in the last month! His recent accomplishments include crawling on his hands and knees instead of inch-worming, pulling up on any and every available surface, cruising around furniture, and eating anything we're willing to give him. What a big boy!
Here's a cute picture of him enjoying some peas...
Here's a cute picture of him enjoying some peas...
Thursday, March 13, 2008
23 week belly pictures!
Here we are!
and the bare belly:
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i211/ewalrus/IMG_3914.jpg
and the bare belly:
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i211/ewalrus/IMG_3914.jpg
For a fun activity, you can click on the label "belly pics" below and it'll pull up all the ones I've posted so far. You can scroll down and marvel at how much they've grown!
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Fort Bend Parents of Multiples
I finally managed to attend our local twin club meeting! We've been trying to get there since December, but something always got in the way. Unfortunately, David missed it due to a stomach virus. Turns out he would have been the only dad there anyway, though I'm told that Monday was a smaller than usual crowd and a few dads do show up most of the time. Anyway, it was very encouraging to meet some other twin (and triplet!) moms . We had two guest speakers--a speech pathologist and an occupational therapist. They never got to share the material they had prepared. All the moms just took turns shooting questions at them for an hour. All the questions started with, "Tell me if this is normal... " Ha! I asked a few about Jono, too. It was great!
I paid our $15 annual dues which allowed me access to the club's Yahoo group. And here's the best part! Through there, I've been connected with another mom in the area with 7 week old twins and a 15 month old toddler. Hers are 13.5 months apart, which is just a little more space than we'll have between Jono and the twins. And she's exclusively breastfeeding! Woo hoo--what a resource! We've been emailing, and she said I can come over one day and pick her brain about how things work at her house with two nursing babies and a very young toddler. She sounds like things are going very well for them, so I'm excited and encouraged. Maybe I'll leave Jono with Mary Margaret and Bob one morning next week and go see what I can learn.
I paid our $15 annual dues which allowed me access to the club's Yahoo group. And here's the best part! Through there, I've been connected with another mom in the area with 7 week old twins and a 15 month old toddler. Hers are 13.5 months apart, which is just a little more space than we'll have between Jono and the twins. And she's exclusively breastfeeding! Woo hoo--what a resource! We've been emailing, and she said I can come over one day and pick her brain about how things work at her house with two nursing babies and a very young toddler. She sounds like things are going very well for them, so I'm excited and encouraged. Maybe I'll leave Jono with Mary Margaret and Bob one morning next week and go see what I can learn.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
It's a big world out there...
Sunday, March 2, 2008
the "rules" for delivering twins
I find this stuff very interesting and thought some of you might, too...
I am hoping for a vaginal delivery with the twins. I chose my OB partly because she is one of only a very small handful (like, four) OBs in Houston who permit vaginal twin deliveries at all. Most schedule c-sections for all multiple deliveries. Now, twins are higher risk, and carry a greater risk of a c-section being necessary, which I know and understand. If I don't have to recover from major surgery while learning to nurse to newborns, though, I'd like to avoid it. Dr. Dryden is very supportive of my wishes, and says she hopes for the same.
Some of you also know enough about me to know that if I was carrying one little munchkin with no complications, I'd bail out of the hospital all together and deliver at home or in a birthing center with a midwife. There are several homebirth midwives in Houston that would happily deliver my twins. I don't feel like that is responsible, however, given the reading I've done on twin birth. (I heard that sigh of relief from some of you!) So, St. Luke's hospital in the medical center with Dr. Dryden it is.
There are some interesting "rules" for delivering twins, though. First of all, I am required to have an epidural once I'm in active labor. The reason for this is two-fold. The major risks in twin vaginal birth come with Baby B (our girl), the 2nd one out the door. Once Baby A (Yoho) is delivered, Banff will have more room than she knows what to do with. She will likely descend very quickly. She may or may not descend in a position ideal for her birth. Dr. Dryden is willing to do a breech (rear end or feet first) delivery of Baby B, but if she comes down shoulder first, or sideways, or in some other wonky presentation, an internal version (Google that one if you're brave! Yikes!) will be attempted. If that fails, a c-section delivery of Baby B is possible. Hence the epidural. Just in case.
The second "just in case" rule is that I will labor until complete in a normal labor & delivery room, but I'll be transferred to the operating room when it comes time to push those babies out. Now, delivering babies on a narrow metal table does not sound like my idea of fun, but if something happens, time will be criticial. I respect Dr. Dryden's wishes that I deliver in the OR, even though I'm not jumping up and down about it--she's trying to make sure everyone makes it to the other side safely.
Oh, I thought I would add that this seems to be fairly standard obstetrical practice when it comes to the vaginal delivery of twins. I have spoken to three other women who have had vaginal twin births and all of them were required to have an epidural and deliver in the OR. None of them were in Houston.
Interesting stuff, huh? Betcha learned something today!
I am hoping for a vaginal delivery with the twins. I chose my OB partly because she is one of only a very small handful (like, four) OBs in Houston who permit vaginal twin deliveries at all. Most schedule c-sections for all multiple deliveries. Now, twins are higher risk, and carry a greater risk of a c-section being necessary, which I know and understand. If I don't have to recover from major surgery while learning to nurse to newborns, though, I'd like to avoid it. Dr. Dryden is very supportive of my wishes, and says she hopes for the same.
Some of you also know enough about me to know that if I was carrying one little munchkin with no complications, I'd bail out of the hospital all together and deliver at home or in a birthing center with a midwife. There are several homebirth midwives in Houston that would happily deliver my twins. I don't feel like that is responsible, however, given the reading I've done on twin birth. (I heard that sigh of relief from some of you!) So, St. Luke's hospital in the medical center with Dr. Dryden it is.
There are some interesting "rules" for delivering twins, though. First of all, I am required to have an epidural once I'm in active labor. The reason for this is two-fold. The major risks in twin vaginal birth come with Baby B (our girl), the 2nd one out the door. Once Baby A (Yoho) is delivered, Banff will have more room than she knows what to do with. She will likely descend very quickly. She may or may not descend in a position ideal for her birth. Dr. Dryden is willing to do a breech (rear end or feet first) delivery of Baby B, but if she comes down shoulder first, or sideways, or in some other wonky presentation, an internal version (Google that one if you're brave! Yikes!) will be attempted. If that fails, a c-section delivery of Baby B is possible. Hence the epidural. Just in case.
The second "just in case" rule is that I will labor until complete in a normal labor & delivery room, but I'll be transferred to the operating room when it comes time to push those babies out. Now, delivering babies on a narrow metal table does not sound like my idea of fun, but if something happens, time will be criticial. I respect Dr. Dryden's wishes that I deliver in the OR, even though I'm not jumping up and down about it--she's trying to make sure everyone makes it to the other side safely.
Oh, I thought I would add that this seems to be fairly standard obstetrical practice when it comes to the vaginal delivery of twins. I have spoken to three other women who have had vaginal twin births and all of them were required to have an epidural and deliver in the OR. None of them were in Houston.
Interesting stuff, huh? Betcha learned something today!
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Health updates!
I had another level 2 ultrasound a couple of weeks ago (I know, I know--I'm late in sharing) and I'm pleased to share that the problem with Yoho's placenta that we had been watching is now "indistinguishable on ultrasound." Woo hoo! My OB is very pleased. I even went the normal month between visits to her office without any emergency appointments in between for the very first time in my pregnancy! So, babies are looking good. Baby boy was estimated at 12 ounces, and baby girl at 10--both perfectly normal for their gestational age.
Me? Well, I'm exhausted. All the time. I have pelvic pain, hip pain, rib pain and ever-more-frequent bouts of acid reflux. I'm told these are normally 3rd trimester complaints of pregnancy. Bummer about being just over halfway. David is an enormous help, though, and takes over completely with Jono and household tasks when he gets home from work so that I can be a vegetable. We're managing. The next few months could get tough, though. Sugar Land readers--be warned that we may call on you for assistance!
I had big plans for scanning in some ultrasound pictures to include with this post, but I'll have to do that later. Jono's down for a nap, and I need to join him.
Me? Well, I'm exhausted. All the time. I have pelvic pain, hip pain, rib pain and ever-more-frequent bouts of acid reflux. I'm told these are normally 3rd trimester complaints of pregnancy. Bummer about being just over halfway. David is an enormous help, though, and takes over completely with Jono and household tasks when he gets home from work so that I can be a vegetable. We're managing. The next few months could get tough, though. Sugar Land readers--be warned that we may call on you for assistance!
I had big plans for scanning in some ultrasound pictures to include with this post, but I'll have to do that later. Jono's down for a nap, and I need to join him.
What?!? You're ONLY 21 weeks?!?
Um, yeah. This is going to get interesting....
In my defense, I measured about 8 weeks ahead (normal for twins) at my OB appointment last week. So if it looks to you (and the rest of the world) that I'm already in my 3rd trimester, you're not crazy. I'm just ahead of the game.
oh, and the bare belly shot for those who are interested...
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i211/ewalrus/IMG_3876.jpg
In my defense, I measured about 8 weeks ahead (normal for twins) at my OB appointment last week. So if it looks to you (and the rest of the world) that I'm already in my 3rd trimester, you're not crazy. I'm just ahead of the game.
oh, and the bare belly shot for those who are interested...
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i211/ewalrus/IMG_3876.jpg
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