S was born weighing 2826 grams (about 6lbs 4oz) and L 2674 grams (about 5lbs 14oz). I was quite surprized as they were each a pound lighter than the ultrasounds had led us to believe. Regardless, both had excellent Apgar scores and didn't require any special care. They roomed in with me the three nights I was in hospital and we all came home together.

Their arrival was rather unremarkable. Except for a delay of about three hours (the OR was open, but there was no nurse available to assign to me as a number of women in labour arrived at the hospital around the same time I did), everything went smoothly. The spinal was quick, my OB was in a good mood, the kids came out easily, my husband didn't pass out, I got the sutures I had been wanting, and everyone was healthy.

Now, at nearly three weeks old, they continue to prove themselves to be wonderful, easy babies (How lucky am I?). They eat/sleep/poop as they should, rarely fuss, and have alert times that they spend checking each other out or looking around their environment.

I'm an extremely happy mom, that's for sure.

Labels: Pregnancy 5, Twins

I'm still without a computer. We decided to ask my brother to build me a new system as it appears the old one has continued to deteriorate in the care of the techs. So I'm hoping to have a sparkling new computer here this weekend (just in time to mark the kids' due date) to post photos of our lovely new babies who arrived as planned on the 10th.

...more to come then.

Labels: Pregnancy 5, Rants and Shoot-Em-Up Stories, Twins

So having been away from the computer for this long so close to a potential delivery could have you thinking that I snuck off to the hospital, right? No such luck.

The computer repair guys had my computer for 11 days; I was finally able to pick it up yesterday evening, excited that the random crashing had been resolved. I re-installed most of my software and was just going to visit some blogs before heading off to bed when.... Aaargh! So I've got to call them today to leave a message that it's still not fixed and will probably drop it off again on Tuesday when they're back at work (Monday is Thanksgiving here). I knew I would miss my computer while it was gone, and wasn't entirely surprised at how reliant I am upon it for a number of reasons, so taking it back to the shop for another undetermined amount of time is going to be difficult.

On the baby front:

I had my last OB visit on Monday. Of course there was nothing new there. He asked me if I wanted to come back again in a week and I looked at him as if to say "You're the doc, shouldn't you be making that decision?". He sent me off with "I'll see you on Wednesday!", meaning in the OR.

I also had my last ultrasound yesterday. My cervix is still roughly 2cm and closed (from what the tech could see with Baby A's head on top of it). Oh, and if having Baby A's head on my cervix suggests that he is now vertex, that would be a mistake. His head may be down, but his body is still rather transverse/oblique at the bottom of the baby pile. The kids are still growing well which impresses me because I've been told that twin growth will slow down as things get increasingly crowded -- and they are crowded. Our big boy Baby A now weighs about 3381g (7lb7oz) and our not-too-far-behind Baby girl B is about 3046g (6lb12oz). I know the ultrasound measurements can be off by quite a bit, but if the kids are both around 7lbs on Wednesday, I'll be thrilled!

There is one new development about which I'm still deciding whether or not to worry: it's 'pregnancy itch'. A nurse at the peri's office yesterday put the label to it, which made me feel immediately compelled to Google it. Earlier in the week I had mentioned it to my OB who seemed unconcerned. The nurse yesterday was likewise unconcerned. Dr. Google, however, suggests that this all-over itchiness could be caused by bile acids in my blood which could lead to internal hemorrhage and possible stillbirth for the kids as well as hemorrhaging for me at their birth. Yikes! I'm not sure that there is much I can really do though, because the blood test for this apparently underdiagnosed and all-too-quickly discounted condition takes a week to do and the meds to help it take up to three days to kick in. Recommended treatment is delivery between 36 and 37 weeks. Well, I'm still booked for delivery at 37.5 weeks -- only 4 days away -- so there isn't much use starting either the testing or the meds. The only self-help is to eat a low-fat diet, drink lots of fluids, and try not to stress (while hoping that your babies don't die before they can escape the toxic environment your body is creating). What to do... what to do.

Labels: Pregnancy 5, Rants and Shoot-Em-Up Stories, Twins