le sigh, le progress, le bye-bye

We interrupt your regularly scheduled blog updates to bring you this special report...

first:

On the same day as the boys' "sister"/housemate Ruby got her first haircut, I was crushed to discover that Maxwell is starting to lose his own beautiful newborn locks. His soft, fine red hair is falling out! I'm just so sad - I am really hoping Shoghi's will stay fully planted on his head.

Max, in the hospital, when I first suspected red hair...
Max's bald spot... a sign of impending shiny head?

second:

Tonight I felt completely elated when my champion nurser Shoghi refused to take a bottle. There could be no mistake - he let loose his most resounding cries while Laurie tried to soothe him, and he would only calm down when I came back to take him to nurse! Poor Laurie - Shoghi's a screamer! I was certainly happy with this turn; in recent days he's been getting increasingly less enthusiastic about the bottle, but an outright refusal? Wow, it was awesome to feel that he's really turning a corner with nursing. Now if only my supply would be enough, even enough for one baby... I'll post a more complete nursing update this week.

third:

After a wonderful visit with my whole family of origin last week, my brother Simon and his girlfirend are leaving in the morning. It was so incredible to have everyone here - our relationships all feel so refreshed and even transformed by the boys. I'm sad that the out of towners are all gone home and will miss their presence and sharing the boys with them daily. I'll also miss their amazing help and support...

3-Week Vitals

Happy 3-Week birthday to my sweet, sweet boys!

Thanks to Grandma Dort for these cute sleepers!

Max, snuggling with mama for some kangaroo care
current weight: 5lbs, 10oz (birth weight: 3lbs, 15oz)

Shoghi seems to be trending towards taking all of his food by mouth!
Here he is without his gavage (feeding tube)
Current weight: 4lbs, 9oz (birth weight: 3lbs, 7oz)

a week for my papa

My mom is arriving today and will be here until Friday, so I figure some sort of daily posting is in order. Dad couldn't come along this time, so this will serve to keep him included.

Actually, I'm just hanging around for now, waiting to be called down for my NST (non stress test) and waiting for the call that her plane has arrived, even though I probably won't see her until about 4pm (it's 12:30 now). So far, it's been a pretty uneventful day.

I'm 31w3d today. I have not shared before that reaching that third day after turning over a new week is a big deal for me - it always makes me feel like the next week marker is most definitely attainable (unless there's an emergency). So today, 32 weeks is feeling close... something I can hardly believe.

Last night I got the idea that I should take a couple of pictures with a tape measure, so that's how we'll start.

Measuring around: 47"! Who ever thought I'd be proud of such a number,
nevermind post a photo of it! Ha!! That's my view of my belly, of course.

The red string is something some of my friends and I did at the beginning of this
pregnancy, to bind the babies to me until their healthy birth.

Fundus measurement: 47cm??? Ok, this is totally inaccurate because I'm standing up,
but this is a measurement from the bottom of my uterus to the top. In a singleton
pregnancy, after 20w, this generally measures 1cm for each week of pregnancy.
47cm at 31w? Probably not. ;o) I should be measuring somewhere around 36cm.

The Thirty-First Week

Thirty weeks, two days today, and miraculously, there are not a lot of changes to report. It's been a pretty good, if busy, few days. My nurses have really been a lot of fun, and I'm feeling more secure than in my last post.

poppies from Laurie

a little pretty goes a long way

the 30-week growth scan

On Thursday, we had our latest ultrasound. It had been 3 weeks since the last one, and I was anxious to see the boys and how they were faring. Sadly, there won't be any pics to share... it's just too crowded in there. I didn't even get a clear glimpse at their profiles.

Zeus (whose membranes are ruptured) has gone from 2 pounds to 2 pounds, 12 ounces. He's just a little peanut, in the 24th percentile. I'm hoping for a little bump for him between now and the birth, since I've started taking some supplements that have been shown to enhance the function of the placenta.

Oden went from 2 pounds, 6 ounces all the way up to 3 pounds 5. A pound in 3 weeks! He's in the 50-something percentile for his size and age.

The doctors also looked at fluid levels. We clearly anticipated low fluid for Baby A, since the sack hasn't (yet) repaired itself, but there was almost nothing to measure. It shook me a little, thinking of my sweet boy tucked away in the womb, surrounded by his collapsed sack.

fancy soap, books and other distractions help!

how can Zeus continue to gestate without fluid??

There have been some questions about this, so let me address the situation to the best of my ability without turning to Dr. Google. When the bag of waters ruptures preterm (before 34 weeks), and there is no sign of infection or labor, the pregnancy is allowed to continue. If the baby/ies are past 24 weeks, their lung development is finished, although the lungs are not yet mature, and apparently the presence of amniotic fluid is most important when the lungs are still developing.

The baby/ies receive all of their nutrition, blood, and oxygen through the umbilical cord, so this is why they are monitored on a daily basis by both non-stress tests and doppler; if the umbilical cord is compressed, they will detect a deceleration of the heartbeat. If this were to happen (a prolonged decel) while I was being monitored, they would just keep us on the monitors longer to determine if the baby was in distress. Fetal distress would be one of the reasons for an immediate delivery.

So, the amniotic fluid at this gestational age is not critical to the baby's development. Because it is replenished every time the baby pees (did you know that amniotic fluid is mostly baby pee at this age??), Zeus does have increases in his fluid levels, allowing him to flex and stretch his limbs and build his muscle.

I was also told this week that babies who have been "stressed" like Zeus and even Oden have before they are born early are for the most part stronger and more resilient than preterm babies born my surprise.

things necessary for a long stay in the hospital:

good lip balm, hydration for the body and the sinuses

things to anticipate

Yesterday I had my maternity portraits done here in my hospital room. I'm really excited to see the resulting photos. That should happen sometime this week.

Tonight, my sis is coming to spend the night, which is always welcome. She went to the Portland Farmer's Market today to get the lambskin I've been wanting for the babies, so I can't wait to see that, and as an extra bonus, she'll be able to take me on a 30-minute wheelchair ride. As long as it's not too hot, we'll go out to one of the terraces that overlooks the whole city and faces Mounts Hood and St. Helen's.

Our friend Miriam just sent out a box, containing in part a belly cast kit, which we'll probably do either this week or next. I'd like to wait for for the first week in August, but if there's any indication that I could deliver next week, we'll try to get it done. She suggested that a photo be taken of the boys in the belly of the cast after they're born, and then again at a year. Sounds really cool to me, thanks Mir!

My mom is coming out a week from tomorrow for several days, so that's a major excitement. She's never been to Oregon, so although she'll be here at the hospital for much of her visit, I hope she gets to see something of this amazing and beautiful place. The same week, my friend Julie is going to be coming through, so it's going to be a ton of fun.

As for me, I have a work deadline this week, plus I'm striving to finish writing a bunch of thank you cards and get some knitting started and completed! Oh, yeah, and the small thing of keeping myself pregnant, which no doubt will involve spending most of my time lying on one side or another in bed. But we're not really thinking about that part.

In terms of hospital life, I don't think we have any special testing this week. Just keeping on keeping on is the plan.

baby-related task for tomorrow:
choose baby announcement design from Oblation and figure out wording.

post doc

Whew, what a day! A major milestone occurred this morning at work - I felt the babies moving all morning long! Wow, I wasn't 100% convinced, but this is the second day of this funny little feeling, so I've decided to own it and celebrate! I need a little jubilation in my life, don't you think?

I just got back from MFM and am about to take a nap, but I know some of you have been waiting right along with me to see how today's appointment went, so here you have it:

Babies looked great! They surprised me with an ultrasound and I was completely unprepared- no video this time, and no stills of the babes, either. They were complete fabulous and miraculous as ever, though, moving all about. Even though the ultrasound machine wasn't a good one, we could see their individual vertebrae, their eye sockets, facial profiles, and pelvic bones! Their legs are getting so long, and they were both well-behaved, meaning they did Mama a good one by moving and stretching the whole time. Both are heads-down, which is great, but doesn't mean too much at just (nearly) 15 weeks (14w5d, to be exact).

I didn't have an internal exam today - I was again reassured that the spotting is completely normal, and I only need to report in to them if it changes in color. But the great news is that it seems like it's stopping!!! What relief!

My blood pressure was a stellar, amazing 114/76 - one of my lowest in years. Who would have thought that I'd get pregnant and my BP would go down? Wonderful, miraculous babies, these are. Finally, I only gained 2 pounds, which is perfect. It's still weird to read those big numbers on the scale, as my total weight gain is 18#! Yowza! That's more than a pound for each week of pregnancy, but no worries - that's the aim in a twin pregnancy.

So, the long and short of it is that the mama is doing great, and the babies are as perfect as ever, swimming around like two little otters.

A very happy day indeed.