Progress report
And I'm pleased to report that there is, in fact, a little bit of progress. I'm 50% effaced and 1 cm dilated, so my cervix is starting to gear up for labor. But it's still anybody's guess as to when it will actually start.
As for the babies, they're a strapping 6-1/2 and 6 pounds. Yes, that's right, I'm carrying over 12 pounds of baby + 2 amniotic sacs and placentas. And yet, I can still walk upright and carry on semi-coherent conversations.
The only new quirk is that Baby B apparently has a bit more amniotic fluid than average, which means there's a higher chance that she could flip to breech after Baby A is born -- she's got lots of room to move around. But the doctor says (and we agree) we might as well try to go for a vaginal delivery if that's what we want. We just have to be prepared for the possibility of having to go to C-section for Baby B.
Gee, I could be lucky enough to have both a vaginal bith and a C-section. Who says you can't have it all? Of course, they may also be able to deliver Baby B breech without a problem. All this needing to be flexible and open to all possibilities is, I think, good training for parenting twins.
As for the induction thing, we still have our date with destiny scheduled for January 3 (a week from tomorrow) if needed, but I still haven't decided for sure if I want to go through with it, or try to wait it out a little longer. I guess I'll just see how I feel, if we get that far. It's not that I'm so scared of Pitocin; it just seems like part of the whole miraculous mystery blah blah blah of giving birth is letting it happen on its own, whenever it's "meant" to happen. I didn't get to experience becoming pregnant without medical intervention. Is it too much to want to get un-pregnant without it?
On the other hand, the waiting is definitely starting to get tiresome, and both A. and I are starting to get a wee bit stir crazy. I try to remind myself to enjoy the quiet, and also remind myself that the longer the babies stay in, the better. If they make it to 37 weeks (tomorrow) or beyond, they'll supposedly be better sleepers and have an easier time with breastfeeding and be capable of changing their own diapers and filing our income taxes for us and stuff. So that's a plus.
But still. Come on, girls. Let's get this show on the road...
As for the babies, they're a strapping 6-1/2 and 6 pounds. Yes, that's right, I'm carrying over 12 pounds of baby + 2 amniotic sacs and placentas. And yet, I can still walk upright and carry on semi-coherent conversations.
The only new quirk is that Baby B apparently has a bit more amniotic fluid than average, which means there's a higher chance that she could flip to breech after Baby A is born -- she's got lots of room to move around. But the doctor says (and we agree) we might as well try to go for a vaginal delivery if that's what we want. We just have to be prepared for the possibility of having to go to C-section for Baby B.
Gee, I could be lucky enough to have both a vaginal bith and a C-section. Who says you can't have it all? Of course, they may also be able to deliver Baby B breech without a problem. All this needing to be flexible and open to all possibilities is, I think, good training for parenting twins.
As for the induction thing, we still have our date with destiny scheduled for January 3 (a week from tomorrow) if needed, but I still haven't decided for sure if I want to go through with it, or try to wait it out a little longer. I guess I'll just see how I feel, if we get that far. It's not that I'm so scared of Pitocin; it just seems like part of the whole miraculous mystery blah blah blah of giving birth is letting it happen on its own, whenever it's "meant" to happen. I didn't get to experience becoming pregnant without medical intervention. Is it too much to want to get un-pregnant without it?
On the other hand, the waiting is definitely starting to get tiresome, and both A. and I are starting to get a wee bit stir crazy. I try to remind myself to enjoy the quiet, and also remind myself that the longer the babies stay in, the better. If they make it to 37 weeks (tomorrow) or beyond, they'll supposedly be better sleepers and have an easier time with breastfeeding and be capable of changing their own diapers and filing our income taxes for us and stuff. So that's a plus.
But still. Come on, girls. Let's get this show on the road...
posted by Jane at 5:43 PM
4 Comments:
Damn, that's an impressive amount of baby in there! Nicely done! Seriously, it is very impressive.
Here's hoping that the show gets on the road on its own soon. For what it's worth, one of my books (Exercising Through Your Pregnancy) says babies born at 38 weeks are the healthiest. I can’t recall what the author cited to substantiate this claim, and it may not apply to twins, so take it with a grain of salt!
So much for a Boxing Day birth.
Darn. I was really thinking it would be Christmas Eve. I had a friend went full-term with twins. I remember her waddling out of the clinic on her last visit saying, " I never thought I'd ever complain about being too healthy before..." But healthy is good. I hope it all goes as you planned.
Hey,
Last Thursday, I went to the midwife and she found that I was...yup, 50% effaced and 1 cm dilated. We have another appointment tomorrow morning at 9:30, so we'll see what she says then. I know what you mean about the stir-craziness. Today, I finally finished my leftover grading, put up random things--pictures, new mailbox--and made scones, and now we're going to go for a walk. All great vacation-y stuff, but for the love of god, what I really want is some good old-fashioned labor pains! (this is supposedly week 40 for me, btw)
We're thinking of you and the girls and A. often. Keep us posted.
love
j
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