More baby stuff

As a full-time horizontal incubator, online shopping is one of the few things that I can actually engage in that gets us ready for the babies' arrival.  And so here are some recent fun finds...

Animal prints (in Hindi) and fun organic cotton clothes from My Little Pakora:  These started as designs on her onesies that inspired the prints.  I'm not sure why she didn't do the peacock too (the national bird of India), but hoping it's coming, so we have a set of four.  They are 8 x10 (like the Sarah Jane Virtues) and we are quickly running out of wall space in the twins' nursery, so we may switch them out until we have them in two separate rooms.

Organic baby wash/shampoo and lotion from Dolphin Organics:  Thanks to Small Business Saturday, we get to try out all these products for free.  Yay Amex!  As much as people don't want to hear it, once you learn the awful things they are still putting in children's products, it's not a difficult decision to pay more for premium products that aren't filled with harmful chemicals.

Baby books by Sara Midda:  I had looked at these months ago at Anthro, back when I could go to Anthro, they are adorable and I'm finally running out of time...

33w3d - another trip to the hospital

I discovered I was bleeding when I got up this morning, which was upsetting since they've always said this is one of the ways I'd know if something was wrong with the cerclage, and we still have a few more weeks to go ideally. I called the answering service and then they called back and told me to go to the office. When I called the office, I spent forever on the phone with the nurse who was trying to fit me in with the OB and u/s. Finally, I just told her that if they couldn't accommodate me, we were just going to the hospital.

So we went in and the babies thankfully are doing fine. I had a few contractions that registered on the monitor, but they looked at and felt my cervix and the stitch seemed to be intact. They couldn't really explain the bleeding, except that it was possible that contractions could cause enough irritation to the cervix w/the cerclage to cause what is basically superficial bleeding without the stitch actually tearing out.

So now we are finally back home, back in bed, and hoping to keep things clean for a few more weeks. Keep cooking babies...

33 weeks!

Still hanging in there and growing! 43 inches around my middle and 19 vertically (48 weeks?!).

We somehow made it in and out of our NST today in an hour (a record). Apparently after next week they won't stop me if I go into labor. I'm quite thankful (beyond the obvious) that we have the cerclage, as I think it will keep them in longer at this point than if we were on our own. I'm still amazed that it's holding given how low and active baby boy has been. He often makes me jump with his swift kicks to my cervix (and bladder). Baby girl is really high and just below my skin it seems. I can often see and feel the outline of her head and limbs, it's a little nuts. They both never.stop.moving. Looking forward to having them on the outside.

Three months of bed rest down and three more weeks until we open the gate and let them loose!

Giving Thanks

My dad, king of platitudes, always says, "the harder you work, the luckier you are". And so the luckier we are, the more we have to be thankful for...

My thankful list:
-DH (I can't begin to list the ways that man amazes me and makes me smile)
-The two growing kiddos inside me who don't go more than a few minutes w/o reminding me they are still in there and already fighting
-My dysfunctional family, in spite of all the dysfunction
-My sister for making it through chemo and proving people wrong
-My BIL for giving up his life and career in Dubai to return to India to be w/MIL after the sudden loss of FIL
-My niece for continuing to thrive after her craniosynostosis surgery
-That I had as much time as I did with my grandparents who we lost this year, and that my g-ma was able to meet the twins, if only via u/s pics.
-That this year, as tough as it has been in many ways, is infinitely better than last
-Our good health (my pesky cervix excluded)
-Our wonderful insurance (including the IF coverage that helped us conceive)
-Access to one of the best IVF clinics in the country (hello 65-76% pg rates for my cycles)
-Access to one of the best hospitals in the country (apparently more women choose to have their babies there than anywhere else)
-My awesome RE, OB and the MFMs who helped us make and save our babies
-My ability (though not the need) to leave my FT job and salary to help us get and stay pg
-DH's job (esp. his recent well-deserved promotion to firm Principal/raise) and side projects
-The strength we've both had to get through three yrs. of IF, endless surgeries, loss, and four months bed rest with our sanity, sense of humor, and love for each other still intact
-That we are both 100% content with our family and can finally move on with the next stages of our lives
-Our crazy house that after six years we are finally growing into like we planned
-All the people on this side of the world and the other praying for us and the babies...

Happy Thanksgiving! :)

Paper shopping

To match our birth announcements for the twins from Erin Condren, I got lucky and found the personalized matching (and much more affordable) floral jacks thank you notes on Shutterfly... (she does lines for them and Tiny Prints)  Now if they only made her announcements in these colors at Shutterfly prices, oh well.

Which reminded me I'd made up, but never ordered up their Nantucket calling cards and note cards for myself.  Well, since I'm sitting on lots of Shutterfly credits (and haven't been without business cards in a dozen years), it was time to pull the trigger.

Love them! :)

32 weeks!

We've come a long way babies! 12 weeks of bed rest down, only four more to go!  We're 10 1/2 wks. post-op and the cerc comes out in four weeks, we're full term in five, and final eviction scheduled for six. It is really crazy to think that in a month we could have born babies.

Because things are never boring around here, my first non-stress test (NST) yesterday was more eventful than planned. I got to the hospital @ 10am and they hooked me up to monitor the babies hearts and whether or not I'm contracting (which thankfully I wasn't). As usual, the babies were very active, which made it difficult for them to get a good 20 min. read. So an hour went by, and then another, and another. They saw a few minor dips on baby boy, and they decided to send me upstairs to have a bio physical profile u/s done, just to make sure everything was okay. That took forever, but the babies are both still looking good. They were both breathing and moving like crazy kids. No new pics or growth measurements, but baby girl has hair they could actually see on the u/s. :)

After talking to my Dr., they decided to just go ahead and give me the steroid shots this week, instead of waiting until next, as planned. So after spending five hours there yesterday, I go back again today for round #2, but it'll save me a trip downtown next Saturday, which is fine by me.

I'm up nearly 40 lbs., which is pretty impressive given I've been on bed rest for nearly three months, which leads to muscle atrophy and loss, and that it is very difficult for me to eat now given my stomach is now squished up between my boobs. Breathing normally is also now long gone, as I get winded talking on the phone.

This time of year

It is so wild that we are approaching the holiday season.  How is Thanksgiving next week already? I love Thanksgiving. We'll be chilling quietly at home this year instead of traveling up north to spend it with my family, as we usually do. My dad is coming down this weekend to help DH demo the basement and get it ready for the radon mitigation next Monday. My mom may come down again late Thanksgiving weekend.

I was just thinking that this time last year we were finishing our IVF cycle (ER anni is tomorrow). And in 2009, we were dealing with our first failed IUI. The year before that, we were dealing with our first failed month at TTC.

Back in 2006, we were honeymooning in India after our second wedding there.

And six years ago, we were moving me into DH's townhouse, house shopping, and getting ready to go to Vegas to celebrate DH's 30th b-day.

31 weeks and counting!

We have almost eight pounds of babies!  Baby girl is est. to be 4 lbs. with baby boy a few ounces behind his sister (for the first time) and all is still looking great.  Baby boy (A) is still frank breech and unlikely to move given he's practically folded in half and his sister is sprawled out on top of him (though anything is possible), setting us up for a C-section when I go into labor. 

My OB stopped my 17P shots due to the allergic reaction (severe swelling and itching) I've been having for several weeks.  She didn't really hesitate since she reiterated that they are not indicated for twins, but we were doing them anyway in the off chance that they could help keep things stable.  I'm not sure why the other OBs I've been seeing weekly were so hesitant to make the decision to take me off of them when I told them what was happening, but I'll be seeing Levin almost exclusively from here on out.

She recommended trying Pepsid for my reflux, so we're giving that a try and it's helping so far.

My cervix is thin, but holding.  I have about a cm below and about a half cm above the stitch.  She recommended if I start having light contractions, to have some wine.  What, me? ;)  Love that woman. :)

I'll be going to Prentice starting next week for my weekly NSTs and she's going to have them give me steroids @ 33 wks. to help the babies lungs develop faster, as they will likely be coming before term.

We had our car seat installation inspected last night at the police department, so we'll be ready, even though we have several more weeks to go.  We happily managed to fit them in the side and middle, so that I'll be able to fit in the back with them.

I think I finally found the birth announcements I want to send out!  I feel like I've been looking forever and was not finding what I was looking for given the limited options for twins and something that could double as a holiday card.  I was recently directed to Erin Condren by a fellow IFer.  Ironically, I ordered a planner from there last summer (which is lovely, but enormous).  Aren't they adorably perfect?!  They, of course, aren't cheap, but I figure we're only doing this once...

I've been trying really hard not to go overboard on the shopping, which is a challenge given I'm on bed rest.  I'm not yet in the market for baby shoes, but these have got to be the cutest things ever.  Cole Haan baby "driving" loafers, sale ends today on Zulily...

If I wasn't expecting, this would just be weird...

Your horoscope for November 9, 2011


Yes, Katherine, the road that leads to birth is rather long. You haven't finished all the cleaning up that remains to be done in many areas. You're going to have to get your papers in order, pay off old debts, face physical or moral obligations and fix technical problems and machines. Whew, that's a lot of work! Fortunately, once it is done your emotional baggage will be considerably lighter, enabling you to go farther, faster...

30 weeks!

We are so excited to have made it to the big round 30 weeks!  Only six more weeks of bed rest to go! :)

Everyone is breathing a huge sigh of relief that we've made it this far, but now we've moved from survival mode (since they'd have a >95% chance now) to hoping to keep them in as long as possible so that they can continue to thrive and we can minimize the risk that they will have any serious complications.  I continue to remain cautiously optimistic, though there is sadly still that little voice in me reminding me that something can always go terribly wrong, regardless of what we do.

My weekly check-up went fine yesterday.  The cerclage is holding, though my cervix is still short.  I didn't really get any resolution to my latest issues, which include: severe reflux (often waking me in the middle of the night) and the terrible reaction I'm having to my 17P injections.  The meds I can take for these aren't really helping.

Next week, we have another u/s and growth scan.  I am really looking forward to seeing the kids again and how big they are getting (hopefully pushing 4 lbs./ea!).  Then beginning @ 32 wks., we start going downtown to the hospital for weekly non-stress tests (NSTs).

It is hard to believe that we are now in our last full calendar month of pregnancy, since the latest they will be left in to bake will be Dec. 30th., but they will likely come sometime before that, but hopefully next month.

Looking forward to an extra hour of sleep this weekend.  Enjoy! :)