the latest scare

I'm starting to wonder if it would have been better to be preggo before modern medicine is what it is today.  Of course, then I probably wouldn't be preggo.  And, I'll definitely take that back if we spend any time in the NICU. 

So, here's how this week unfolded.  Monday was another doc appointment.  This with my regular doc.  Heartbeats look good, fluid looks good, everything looks good...wait, well, looks like the umbilical cord for Baby A (girl) is tethered to the membrane (or wall of the sac, I can't remember).  Doc says, "She doesn't seem to be bothered by it, so I think it's okay.  I'll let Dr. A know since she's the specialist and see what she says."  Either doctor attitude makes all the difference or I'm actually learning a little something about not worrying.  We left that appointment and I more or less forgot about the little piece of information. 

Wednesday, hubby is now out of the country for work and I'm getting these funny feelings in my gut that take my breath away, sort of make me gasp for a second.  There's no pain, they don't happen often, so I'm relatively relaxed about it, but figure I should probably call the doc since I don't have another appointment for a couple weeks.  So, after a marathon work meeting, I give the doc a ring.  He says, "Don't worry about that, unless it gets annoying to you, it's just fine.  If it becomes more frequent, let me know.  But...I want to talk to about the umbilical cord.  I spoke with Dr. A and she wants to see you as soon as possible, like tomorrow.  She wants to check it out to see if you need to have fetal surgery.  Can you make an appointment for tomorrow?"  Uh, yeah!  Did I mention that the hubby is out of the country?  Deep breath.  Call Dr. A.  Schedule appointment for Thursday (today).  Attempt to not freak out.  Eat ice cream. 

Let me pause to say that the hubby has been fantastic in going with me to pretty much all of my appointments, but unfortunately has been tied up with work during the two big stress days (see the first here).  He might need to quit his job so these don't happen anymore...

I tried not to stress too much and remind myself that it's probably been like this for awhile and everything is moving along fine.  At least, if my belly is any indicator, those little ones are growing!  But, of course, in the back of my mind is the big scary word: surgery. 

I was Dr. A's first patient after lunch today and she carefully inspected Baby A and Baby A's umbilical cord and it looked to be moving around freely everywhere.  She bounced the kiddo around to make the cord move and it appeared to be okay.  So, she went on to check all the rest of the bones and organs while she was at it just to be sure that everything is progressing properly.  She gave me a big green light, everything looks good.  It was probably just because the cord sits really close to the membrane and that's what the doc saw.  Whew.  Yay!  I thought I would go back to work if I wasn't getting whisked away to the operating room, but as I walked out of the building discovered that although I sighed a big sigh of relief, I was wiped.  Probably better for my clients that I don't do work when I'm not full throttle, right?  :)

the kicking has begun!

Feeling the babies move around has definitely lived up to all the hype so far.  My mom said that she didn't feel any of her 3 kids until we each hit 20 weeks.  Like clockwork, Baby A and Baby B have made their movements known right at 20 weeks.  A lawyer on one of my projects told me that she could always feel her kids kick after drinking a glass of orange juice.  We weren't trying that theory out on purpose, but when I definitely knew what I was feeling was the babies and the hubby got to feel it, too, I noticed that I had just downed a glass.  It's interesting to me how some of this pregnancy business is fairly universal.  

I am not a baby-crazy mama.  Babies are a lot of work with very little payoff.  I'm more of a kiddo kind of gal.  I want them to be curious, interact, play, go to the bathroom alone and wipe themselves...  I do believe that the maternal instinct is very strong and realize I might become baby-crazy about my babies when they arrive.  In any case, as hard as we've tried to get to this point, I can't say that I'm perfectly happy about all the sacrifices and entirely enraptured by every little baby-related event.  Of course I'm overall overjoyed, but it's also not difficult for me to ignore my belly and focus on something else for awhile.  I have to admit, though, that I have been waiting for the moment that I knew for sure I was feeling the little kiddos kick and move.  I have had a few sensations over the past few weeks that might have been "kicks" (which is a generic term for all the movement we feel).  I have found myself longing for confirmation that I am feeling the babies moving.  So, this has been a wonderful, and highly-anticipated new experience.  Fortunately for the hubs, he laid his hand on my belly and also felt the babies move so we both got to share in the joy.  It's pretty incredible.  Excuse me while I go pay attention to the little guys pounding on their mama.

20 weeks!!

Halfway there!!  (even more since we'll deliver early). 

Woo hoo!!

the right and better way

This post is only tangentially related to babies and parenting, but I'll attempt to connect the dots, anyway...

So, I'm half German.  I'm also half Chinese (read Tiger Mom).  These two cultural influences combine to result in an irrepressible characteristic of pointing out to others the right and better way.  I am still trying to make up to friends for a lifetime of obnoxiously giving unwarranted advice on how they could really improve their lives...

I have been working lately on suppressing this natural urge, with varied success.  One such opportunity recently emerged when someone in my parking garage started parking in a highly coveted parking area in our garage.  Every day, this driver of an enormous truck, something like an F99950 would park so that she (I saw who the culprit was one day, fortunately for her I was tied up and didn't have the opportunity to be sassy to her face) would not only occupy her allotted space, but so that she would block another space.  ARGH!  Seriously?!  I won't even get on my soap box about driving such a vehicle, but if you're going to drive it, either learn to park in ONE space or go park on a higher level where there are spaces a-plenty.  Deep breath.  For days, I did nothing.  Even when I was too late for one of the coveted spaces and forced to re-enter the garage and circle higher and higher for another space.  I resisted the urge to leave a note on her windshield advising her of the right and better way.  The courteous and non-selfish way.  People, you do realize that when you drive to the front of the line and cut in or park in 2 spaces, etc. that you're being selfish, right? 

And then, a most wonderful thing happened.  I arrived one morning to discover that she parked in between the lines in a space without blocking a second space!!  Alleluia!  I thought to myself, an opportunity for positive reinforcement.  So, I left her a note that said, "Thank you for only taking up one space!"  I am happy to report that since then, she has always parked in one space.  Now, someone else may have advised her of the right and better way, or she might have taken a driving/parking course.  But, maybe there's also a lesson here for this mother-to-be about positive reinforcement.

charley horse!!

OK, so how come nobody told me about these?!?!?!!!  My blissful slumber was RUDELY interrupted this morning by a TERRIBLE pain in my right calf.  I couldn't move my leg.  So, I rolled my body out of bed (which, btw, is quite a sight to see in and of itself because I essentially toss my legs over the side of the bed to use as leverage to catapult my upper body up from its horizontal pose).  Mind you, my right leg is not exactly being cooperative in this maneuver.  A couple stretches is all it ended up taking to make the pain tolerable.  Of course, there was no going back to sleep at that point.  So, I turned to my trusty, middle-of-the-night companion, the internet.  And I even had something to research!  Turns out, for all you prospective mothers out there, leg cramps are pretty darn common during your second and third trimester.  Inexplicable, but common.  Most of the weird, physical changes that I've experienced I've been able to chalk up to some sort of evolutionary or beneficial-for-the-babes rationale.  This one, though, I got nothing.  I see no redeeming value whatsoever.  Well, except that now I have a good excuse to go get a massage...

belly wars

So, I'm learning that moms are funny creatures.  And, I'll admit, I tend to run in pretty type-A, competitive circles, so I shouldn't be too surprised when those characteristics shine in my friends.  I've started to notice a very funny (to me, at least) thing...the belly wars.  While I feel somewhat terrified of this ever-increasing and physically uncomfortable abdominal circumference (a new term I learned from the technician who measured Baby A's and B's guts, how PC), I've noticed that it is also a source of bragging rights among mamas.  The lady friends of mine that tend to be the most competitive (which can be a source of strength, don't get me wrong) look at me and say, "your belly's not that big".  I can't remember if they actually say or if I just imagine them also saying, "Mine was SO much bigger."  Like growing a belly is a competition.  Mind you, this is a competition I'm happy to NOT win--back pain!  But, I do know a few non-pregnant people I could enter in my stead... I should probably give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that they are just trying to be nice and make me feel skinny or something by saying that my belly isn't so big.  Fortunately, I don't have any image issues with the bulging belly (at least not yet) and have avoided the urge to get competitive about my girth.  When it comes to tee-ball, though, watch out, cuz my kids are totally going to smoke your kids.

Week 19 ultrasound

Is it too early to start embarrassing our children in front of all of our friends and family?  This is a little like sending out bathtime bubbles photos or videos of the infants running around sans diapers.  If they scroll through our blog in the future like we look through old photo albums, I can already hear the teenage, "Oh, Mom, REALLY?!?!  How embarrassing!!"

I think this seals it, though.  One of each!