Our babies are one week old!

I know I've been MIA, but I have a good excuse, well actually two... :) 

We had our babies last week @ 36w4d.  With the cerclage out @ 36 weeks, we were again 2cm dilated, more on that nightmare, and then the OB found me @ my 37 wk appt., to be up a full 50 lbs. and, unbeknownst to me,  to be 3 cm, 80% effaced, contracting, and bag bulging, so she sent me to the hospital for our C-section.  By the time we got there, I was 5 cm, 100% effaced, and baby boy's foot was stretched into the birth canal, but his bag was still somehow intact, making it an urgent need to deliver them ASAP.  He had been frank breech for ten weeks and including that afternoon, but he still managed to figure out a way to kick his way out.

In all the time I'd spent at Prentice and with OBs of my practice, we'd never seen them move as fast as they did that afternoon.  And so within less than an hour of our arrival at the hospital, the babies were delivered.

Alistair William Ratan S. was born on 12/20/11 @ 5:06pm, weighing 5 pounds, 7 ounces and measuring 18.25 inches long.

Marielle Claire Patricia S. followed at 5:07pm, weighing 6 pounds, 1 ounce and measuring 19 inches.

Neither needed any NICU time and we came home on Christmas Eve evening.  They continue to do really well and we are so in love.

A sneak peak from our newborn photo shoot at the hospital...

The view from our room... The lake and the MCA (where we had our first date nearly seven years ago)

Off we go! :) (36 weeks!!)

This is the last of the twin gestation pics, as the avg. is 36 weeks...

Well, the time has finally come. We are 36 weeks along and after 16 long weeks on bed rest and nearly 15 with the cerclage, the stitch comes out today. It is difficult to predict now what will happen and when. If they release us from the hospital today, we've decided to stay in the city for the weekend, to see how things play out, and be a bit closer to the hospital. DH is anxious about getting there, even though the weather so far thankfully has been unseasonably mild. I think we've both had visions of having babies on the side of the highway, though thankfully given their positions, they won't just be coming out on their own.

Not surprisingly, I'm getting even more uncomfortable (whether I'm up or down) and honestly am really ready to not be pregnant anymore. We've reached our goals and are not looking to set any records here. I'm now 47" around my middle and up about 45 lbs. My OB is beyond thrilled. I am just excited to meet these babies!! :)

My weaknesses = stocking stuffers for the twins

I have a serious weakness for Jellycat stuffed animals and have for several years now.  They make the most adorable stuffed animals that I've ever seen and thankfully are easier to find now.  They are based in London, but I first came across them on the Vineyard a few years ago.  I got the twins the Bonne Huit Bunnies (in nutmeg and stone) from their Jellykitten line for their stockings this year, as they are "baby safe," they will be born in the Year of the Rabbit (like DH), and are sure to be a hit.

Another serious weakness of mine is baby socks.  I probably don't need to explain this, they are just way too cute.  After amassing some from Robeez and Zutano, I also had to get them some Trumpettes specifically for Christmas.  Gotta keep all those twenty tootsies warm (and cute! ;) ) and until they're big enough for shoes, it's all about the socks...  And what's better to find in a big sock, than a bunch of little socks!

We're growing! (and almost 35w)

I'm not sure why I thought that we were almost done growing, but wow we've had some crazy painful growth spurts in the last few days.  I've gained two more inches around my middle (that's 45" now for those keeping track) and I'm also growing in just about every direction, up, down, to the sides, etc.  My stretch marks, which go from one hip to the other now (under the bump only) are completely out of control.  It seems odd that my beach ball belly has gone untouched, oh well.  Thank goodness.

I've been fighting a head cold for almost a week now, and I don't think I'm winning.  I haven't been sick at all this pregnancy, or for a long time at all for that matter.  Not really what I need as we round to nine months pregnant w/twins.  I already couldn't breathe or sleep before the cold, so you can imagine what it's like now.  It started in my throat last Saturday and has made the rounds to my ears, nose, head and back again.  I feel like crap.  The only saving grace is that it's not the flu (yes, I got the shot) which would have me in the hospital and that I'm getting it out of the way now and not in a few weeks.  Hopefully it will impart some early immunity to the twins.  A girl can hope, right?

We had a super speedy NST this morning, so good I was out in and out in 30 mins.  Then we went up to the Drs. office for our growth scan.  The babies are looking great and growing like crazy.  Baby girl is est. to be 5 lbs. and 13 ozs. and baby boy is est. to be 5 lbs. and 9 ozs., both well above average for singletons.  No wonder I feel huge.  My OB found my cervix to still be closed but still thin.  She said if I have any more bleeding or contractions that take me to the hospital, they will just take out my cerclage, as she'd rather have it out than in at this point.  We are scheduled to get the cerclage out in eight days (next Friday @ 36w) and unless I begin to labor/progress, they will just send me home and then we wait.  Final eviction date via CS (since the babies haven't moved and boy is still breech) is scheduled for Dec. 30th.  We are finally in the home stretch and it feels mighty good... :)

Our twins' names

So for the big reveal...

Even though their names are not strictly common, I guess it turns out that unintentionally their initials (as well as their names) are on trend for 2012... (and apparently somehow influenced by me being a pre-med poms nerd from N WI, as Marissa Mayer used both names w/her kids born after ours). Here's the full explanation/story of how we decided on them (as promised), just in case you are interested...

Baby girl:  Marielle Claire Patricia S. (Mar-ee-el)

DH's name means "sea" in Hindi, and Marielle Claire means "bright" "star of the sea" and "wished for" (French, but also from the Dutch, Danish, German, Latin, Hebrew, etc.).  Marie happens to be my eldest sister's middle name (along w/half the free world) and I've always just loved the name Claire (which I guess could be seen as an homage to my home town).  Patricia means "noble" (English, Latin) and is my mother's name.  We will call her "Mari", which rhymes with sari and as a random aside with our last name (which sounds nautical, but means gold) makes her a marigold, which is the sacred flower of India.

Baby boy:  Alistair William Ratan S. (Al-iss-tur)

I've always loved the name Alexander (despite having an ex by that name, and not just because my name is Katherine (which is also Greek), a la "the Greats"), and my mother actually recently traced it back to the early 1700's as a family name (Alexander Harper was an ancestor of my late grandmother), but DH doesn't like nicknames in general and doesn't like the NN Alex at all (for whatever reason).  DH is a huge fan of all things Scottish (he jokingly claims to be half), think Scotch, golf, etc. and traveled extensively there when his brother worked in the UK.  Alistair is the Scottish (and English/Celtic) version of Alexander and both mean "defender of mankind".  Alistair also happens to be the name of one of his best friends since pre-school. 

William means "determined guardian".  I like Will for a first name, but with Mari it sounds like they rule 17th century England or have their own college in Virginia, so no dice.  My late grandmother's parents' names were Wil and Ella. :)  Ratan means "precious jewel" in Hindi and is the name of my late father in law, and is DH's middle name.

34 weeks!

I have to say that I didn't know if we would make it this far. And now I can't believe how close we are getting to welcoming these babies.

My NST went well yesterday, I think we finally have these down (secret=lots of juice) so I can get in and out of the hospital in a reasonable amount of time, about an hour. OB appt. today also went well. I'm somehow up five pounds this week (surpassing our 40 lb. goal) which puzzled my OB. I am not swelling at all and my BP is still great, and it seems like I'm barely able to eat enough to keep all three of us alive, given the pressure on my stomach, so who knows where that is coming from. She is so thrilled we have made it this far, and that I'm all baby, and found my cerc to still be in place, but I'm thinning. She told me to stay in bed, though she doesn't know how I walk or breathe given how big I'm measuring anyway. I get so tired on days when I have to go out for appts., I can only hope that my energy will bounce back relatively quickly after our likely C-section birth, as I obviously won't be able to spend all my time in bed, or at least resting like I do now, after the twins arrive.

Next week we have our last scheduled u/s and growth scan. Can't wait to see the babies and how big they are getting. Only two more weeks 'til we set them loose! :)

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! :)

What would you sacrifice?

It's Halloween today.  Never one of my favorite days, but instead of my usual living vicariously through other people and their children and happily handing out candy like I have the last five years, I'll be hunkered down in bed and hiding inside with the lights off hoping our house makes it through the night unscathed.  Hopefully next year will be more festive.

Everyone knows that parenthood is all about sacrifice (of your body, your autonomy, lifestyle, etc., etc), and sadly for infertiles the sacrifice starts long before the kids arrive.  Like many others, we've already given up years of our marriage, tens of thousands of dollars, and lots else just for a chance to TTC.  For the chance to focus on having a successful pregnancy (or more cycling), I gave up my job in April.  In the hopes of bringing our twins to term with an unexpected four months of bed rest, I've given up the chance to do freelance work on top of all the preparation and celebration that usually comes with a complication-free pregnancy.  By the time I go back to work in 2013 (potentially), I will have given up hundreds of thousands of dollars and most likely much of the momentum in my career (something my former boss actually pointed out to me after I told him we were expecting twins, thanks for the reminder).

Many people make it through TTC and pregnancy pretty easily, just to be hit with issues once the kid arrives (like my mother and sister both have), but then we are reminded that others give it all just for a chance for themselves or their children.

An online friend of mine passed away last week after a five year battle with cancer.  She and her husband were married the same day that DH and I were five years ago, but the very next month she was dx w/cancer.  I don't know much about her prognosis at that time, but they ventured on a long journey to not only beat her cancer, but to start a family.  After more than three years of both, and with the help of IVF, they welcomed triplets.  She tragically passed away just after their first birthday.  It is difficult to imagine what one would do when faced with situations and decisions like these, it is so heartbreaking.  It is just impossible to know until and unless you are faced with them, I guess.

Over the summer, my mother was telling me about a friend of hers from her hometown who in the early 70s, when they were both starting their families, was also dx w/cancer.  In the three years that my mother had my two older sisters, her friend had three kids and then, unbeknownst to nearly everyone, had gotten pg again.  This was around the time she first got her dx.  She apparently was told they could treat her if she wasn't pg, but as a devout Catholic she had no interest in terminating.  Her baby was later delivered early and she passed away within hours.  Afterwards, my grandmother had told my mother she'd often seen her at St. Patrick's just praying, but she, like everyone else, didn't know what was going on.  Her husband was left with four children under five and no wife.  To many's surprise (but not mine), after meeting a fellow widow in a support group, he promptly remarried (she w/three young kids of her own) and they were married and raised all their kids over several decades together.  His second wife passed away recently when my mother was back in town, which is why she was telling me this story that she had never told me before, which caused me to sob like a baby at the thought of what her friend and her family must have gone through all those years ago and since.

Obviously, there just are no guarantees.  Some people get handed a raw deal and have to make choices to remain without children or for their kids to live without a parent and spouse without a partner.  Others sadly don't have real choices and some are lucky enough not to even be faced with similar situations and their reality is to be dismayed by the minor inconveniences of TTC, pregnancy and post-pg life.  If I had a dollar for every suburban housewife friend (but ironically not my model friends) who can't deal with their post-pg body...  It is possible to tell yourself that others are always worse off, but I really don't think it's possible to really understand what any of this would be like unless you endure them yourself. 

I, as always, am thankful and hopeful.

29 weeks!

I'm growing!  My mom thinks I look full term (for one), which I guess makes sense considering I'm probably toting around 7 pounds of baby about now.

My navel is pretty much flat now, sometimes the top half sticks out a little.  It's on its way...

The (for now) small marks on my left that I was talking about...

But my right in unscathed, so far...

Not much new to report as my weekly appt. was early and uneventful this week, but we are so excited to be entering our 30th week.  Less than two weeks until we get to see the twins again at the 31 week u/s.  I'm ordering the rest of the baby items we'll need to start and my Mom is finishing up the crib skirts, though it'll be awhile before we can really completely finish the nursery, once I'm off bed rest (which I'll try to remember to post about when we do).

Starting to think about some year one goals and get them written down.  Besides the usual and obvious:

Some Year One/2012 Goals:
Join local mom/twin/play group
Enroll in classes: Babygarten, Kindermusik, swimming, etc.
Teach babies basic sign language
Breastfeed/pump exclusively for first year, adding foods when appropriate
Keep kids TV free (use music/toys/etc. for engagement instead)
Try out different cloth diapers and transition from 7th Gen
Start private school fund (moving back to city by school age) in addition to ramping up 529 funds
Start date nights while we have grandma help
Secure reliable childcare for when we no longer have regular grandma help
Take at least one family vacation getaway
Start planning to move twins to separate rooms if/when necessary

Free shopping

Don't worry, I'm not clever or criminal enough to figure out how to shoplift from bed. ;)  I've just decided to start using some of my banked credits to do a little "free" shopping, which is super fun.  After I finally delved into my 100K FF miles to bring in my sister for a visit last month, since who knows when we'll be flying anywhere anytime soon, I've also been cashing in cc points/$ for gift cards, since momma needed found some pretty new pillow covers...

From West Elm, a pair of new Indian hand-blocked medallion euros for the master bed...  Since our Pratesi knock offs that match our duvet always looked crappy unless they were ironed, something I just don't do.

And from Pottery Barn, a new season means it's time to switch out the springy ones in the living room with harvest suzani pillow covers...

Mom is coming in tomorrow for the weekend and bringing a wheelchair for me, so we might actually be venturing out of the house briefly.  So exciting! :)  For those keeping track, we are now two months into bed rest and less than two months to Christmas (and this year we're getting BABIES!)  Happy Diwali!!

28 weeks!

And halfway through bed rest!  The babies are likely pushing three pounds each and we're officially in the third trimester.  Eight weeks to go until the cerclage comes out on 12/16!  Yay!  C-section is tentatively scheduled for 12/30 @ 38 wks (ironically both the 1st anni of my m/c and my niece's 3rd b-day), since if you recall last week the babies were no longer head down like they are shown here...



But my money is on them not staying put for long once the cerc is out.  14-15 pounds of baby on a completely spent cervix likely means we aren't making it to 38 weeks.

The Good:

-One of the advantages of spending nearly all my time horizontally is that my body is faring pretty well, no swelling, etc. and all my energy can go straight to the babies.

-I thank goodness every day for my long torso, and all the room it's giving the babies to grow, though I'm due for a growth spurt.

-My weight gain is right on target, and my BP is still perfect.

-I finally got the link to my online childbirth preparation class from Prentice, so that's been keeping me busy, for now.  And breastfeeding DVDs from Netflix, pure excitement!

-I joined DH back upstairs to sleep at night again!  A nice change of scenery, though I still spend my days downstairs.  This small step is making me feel a little more normal.

The Not so Good:

-I've found my first "battle scars" i.e. stretch marks, a couple of purple "commas" on my left hip (where I spend most of my time) and one coming out of my lap scar (under the bump).  I'm obviously not worried about these.  I'm thinking my bigger issue may eventually be diastasis recti (as the area above my navel is already looking thinned), which afflicted my sister on her first pg and has just gotten more severe with each one of her 41 wk singletons.  She now basically has a severe hernia that she has to live with.  My petite mother somehow carried four children without any of these issues that her tall daughters have, maybe because my eldest sister was so tiny.

-It's getting more and more difficult to breath, eat, and take vitamins.  I'm already eating about a dozen times a day and may end up on gummies.

-My weekly 17P shots are giving me large itchy welts on my ass.  Lovely...

Still terrified of the cerc ripping and my water breaking, but since there is little more I can do than I already am at this point, I'm really trying not to worry about it...  Looking forward to our coming milestones @ 30, 32, 34, and 36 wks...

Baby bags

I finally bought a new baby bag...

JJ Cole Technique bag in Black Damask  (Nice and big @ ~19x12x7in.)

I already have the little changing pad and pacifier pod set in this pattern, which is a little redundant, but I can use them in my Vera Bradley Miller bag.

But it's a great deal on Hautelook (if you need an invite) and sans pleather.  It's laminated canvas, which may be splitting hairs, but I have a strong aversion to pleather.

There aren't many bags out there designed for two and I wasn't crazy about the patterns of the Skip Hop Duo Double (18x14x4), but the Duo in Blossom is also cute, if a bit smaller.

It also comes in the Dash Deluxe...

And because there is no such thing (in my book) as too many bags, I got this one too...

Skip Hop Studio tote in Plum Burst, a great deal at Land of Nod... (pleather!? ugh!, online shopping fail...)

Baby names (and post #400!)

Sorry for those looking for a big reveal, we have yet to 100% finalize our babies' names and likely won't be sharing them much in advance of their arrival.  But when we do, I'll be sure to explain all the thought that went into them. :)  But I've been reading articles about a recent study that showed that nearly one in ten new parents regret the name they chose for their kids, up significantly in recent years.  Ouch! 

The top reasons given were that they bowed to peer pressure and chose "trendy" names and that their chosen name ended up being much more common than they realized.  Sadly, both of these are completely avoidable with a little common sense and research.

Given that my full name (Katherine Eliza) is traditional (as are all those in my family) and DH's (by Indian standards) is of a similar ilk, we were not terribly interested in bizarrely unusual names for the sake of being different, but rather ones that would mean something to us, hopefully grow well with the babies, and not scream anything other than that they are what they will in fact be, citizens of the world.  So we passed on common Indian and American first names, and plan to forgo the tradition of using DH's name as a middle name, but give them third names after his late father and my mother.  It also probably goes without saying that we weren't interested in matching twin names, unisex names, names inspired by popular culture, made up names, or anything that is misspelled for the sake of being clever.  There is plenty of that out there already.

The first names we are looking at don't happen to be in the top #1000 (by SSA measures), though the middle names are, but are not actually that unusual.

How did you come up with your baby names, even if you are not yet pregnant?

Seven weeks of bed rest down, nine to go!

I can't believe we're a week away from being half way through bed rest to babies!  My weekly outings to the OB make slogging through the rest of the week worthwhile and we finally got an ultrasound again this morning.  We are on the cusp of 27 weeks and rounding the corner to third tri and the babies are still thankfully looking fabulous and growing like weeds.

Baby boy (A) is estimated to be 2lbs. and 10 oz. (holy chunker), which is the 77th percentile, and a week and a half ahead.  He is now breech (the kids both decided to completely rearrange my uterus at the same time earlier this week, that was fun) so the OB is making me a C-section date, though we can obviously cancel it if he decides to move back to head down like he has been.

Baby girl (B) is est. to be 2lbs. and 4 oz., or 58th percentile, and is now a half a week ahead.  She is now head to my right (switched from left), which puts both babies' heads next to each other. She is still transverse, but now more scrunched up since they are getting bigger.

So we are on course to potentially have near 7 lb. babies even if we go as early as 36 wks., which would make me infinitely happy (I told you we are not small people).  My cervix is still doing its wacky thing, all dynamic above the stitch, opening and closing to up to 1.5cm.  But the stitch is holding, which is what is important.  Now on to third trimester!

Financial/legal goals/to dos

As we prepare for the twins' arrival, we've got some things to do...

Increase life insurance to $2M for both of us and add disability for me (must wait until post-pg for me)
Update wills, set up trust and designate guardians for twins
Ramp up existing 529 education/college savings (to target reco of $1K/mo/ea.)

Other:
Refi back to 15 yr. mortgage when rates hit 3%
Pay off remaining 30% balance on new cars, eliminating non-mortgage debt
Make max IRA contribution for me

And when I go back to work (TBD):
Max out pre-tax child care and 401K savings accounts
Build up savings accounts
Finish remaining planned, but not imminently needed home renovations (kitchen/master bath/patio)

A month on... (& nearly 26 wks)

A month ago today, we had the emergency surgery that saved our babies.  It is still difficult for me to wrap my head around all that has happened.  To say that we feel lucky is a huge understatement, but as my step-mother told me frankly it was actually me that is responsible for them still being around.  By going to the hospital and seeking out an MFM promptly after we learned of the funneling, we made it known that we were not going to follow their passive stance and wait for the inevitable terrible things to happen, we were going to fight my failing body with everything that we had.  If I had waited the two weeks that the not my regular OB had told me to be seen again, it likely would have been too late.  As even on bed rest, 12 days later I quickly began to dilate.  While that should just make me feel good, it was a huge burden that was really overwhelming for me to carry for the several weeks as we waited to get to viability.  It is terrible to feel like you are the only ones who care about what is it stake.  They were not just 20 week not yet viable babies to us, they were/are our babies that we had already fought like hell for and were not just going to sit by and see if maybe we were lucky, they might make it.

We are coming up on 26 weeks, which is again not a major milestone, but is ever closer to the end point.  If the babies were to be born in the coming week, their chance of survival would be at least 85%.  The cerclage, which still appears to be holding, is now ten weeks from coming out.

I actually put real (non-yoga) clothes on today for my big trip to the OB, but don't get too excited I still don't do hair and make-up.  This dress makes me look bigger than anything else I've worn.

No gestational diabetes!

Or anemia!  Yippee!! The risk of GD is much higher with twins (7% vs. 4% w/one), and significantly higher than the risk of the "complication" we've had (IC=1-2%), but we are thankfully good.

I found this information in Dr. Luke's multiples book to be really interesting and thought I'd share.

The amazing growth in baby's head size by weeks of gestation...

And the huge difference in avg. hospital care costs (per baby) and days spent in the hospital by weeks of gestation at birth...

Keep cooking babies!!

From supernanny to superpatient to supermom...

This time of year always reminds me of school and work, which for me have always been synonymous, until this year of course. I started working as a babysitter (gulp) 23 years ago, as soon as I turned 12, and it was a significant source of income for me for many years, helping me pay for travel in high school and work my way through college. It has been so long, in fact, that some of my former charges now have kids of their own. I started my first "real" job four years later, working at a local apple orchard in their retail store w/my sister E for three fall seasons, which I'm also always reminded of this time of year.

I remember being so excited to start babysitting as soon as my mother would let me. First for neighbors, then co-workers of my parents (half the drs. in town), teachers, and referrals (including the couple who owned our local athletic club, setting me up for a summer getting buff and working in their day care). I literally worked for dozens of families before I got out of high school. I've always loved kids and it was undoubtedly great experience for someday becoming a mother myself, and also for experiencing first hand how other households were run. I ended up continuing in college, almost by accident, when it came time to decide what to do for the summer. When I decided I wasn't going to NYC to intern on Wall Street, I lived in during the three summers w/two families in Hyannisport and also worked weekends during the school year for the same Boston area families. Exactly a decade after I started, I "retired". Had I been more entrepreneurial at the time, I would have started a business, like fellow babysitter extraordinaire/college classmate Genevieve Thiers, a fellow Chicagoan who founded sittercity.com. She's quite a dynamo, and is now ironically expecting twins herself.

So now for over a decade, after as long immersed in all things kids, I've been shaping my adult life and grinding in the corporate world in preparation for when I would finally become a mother myself. Sadly, the last three years we have also been immersed in the world of infertility medicine, but we are obviously thrilled to finally be planning in real terms for our kids/family to come this fall. Like most women, I always considered staying at home, but I don't ever think I ever really thought I would. IF (and now bed rest) definitely ended up forcing my hand, which like when I got sick w/mono at the end of that last summer in college, forced me to cull the unnecessary out of my life. Though I couldn't be more thrilled to be solely focused on our family, for now anyway.

Though the more I think about SAH long term, the more I think that I will end up going back to work at some point, either for myself or back in the corporate world. While it is certainly an honorable vocation, it seems many SAH either because that's all they've ever wanted or been able to do and/or because paying for care for their children is just more than they would make in the workforce, making it less of a choice. From my experience, I think it is really important for children to have positive interaction and myriad role models outside of the family, thus making room for mom to have other interests.  And obviously the resources that are brought to bear by working, provide their children opportunities that those living more simply to SAH are not privy to.

So after all this time, it is so wild to think that in ten or so short weeks, I will have my very own kiddos. :)

25 weeks!

We have two (very active) eggplant or rutabaga sized babies!  Up a few more pounds and officially weigh more than DH (he thinks this is pretty cool).

Glucose tolerance test was today, though we have to wait for them to call with results.  My stitched cervix is still holding tight, and we are now a mere 10-11 weeks from releasing the gate.  We'd obviously like to keep these babies cooking as long as possible for their sakes, but the cerclage needs to come out before I go into labor and there is a chance that my body will decide that's the time to let them loose.  We don't have an exact date yet for the removal, but 35-36 wks is Dec. 9-16.  Though I have heard of people having to be induced weeks after having it removed (oh the irony!), I'm guessing that won't be us.  I've also made the mistake of reading up on the removal process, which apparently is terribly painful.  I don't really care about that much, but I had no idea that it's because the cervical tissue actually starts to grow around the stitches (eek!).  Good thing we are closing up shop after this because it's going to be in even rougher shape than before.

It's been a good week.  My younger sister came in from NYC to hang out with us for my b-day and help out this week, which has been wonderful.  I don't want her to leave... :(  But she is starting a great new job on Monday and I'm very proud of her.  My mom and eldest sister are now here as well and will be until Sunday.  I have actually now finished a project on bed rest...  I finally put all the many twins' u/s pics into an album.  I also went to the dentist (shh, don't tell anyone) and was not only thrilled with how excited they were for me (and for my great report), but that the sweet hygienist who I commiserated with a year and half ago is getting ready to have a baby boy (w/the help of IVF).

In case you haven't been to the end of Long Island, here are few pics from our August, but seemingly forever ago, trip to Montauk...

and Southampton beach...

DH much preferred the Hamptons to the Cape and Islands, which made me kind of sad.  But after 15 years going there, maybe I could use a change.  He suggested we start rotating our favorite destinations now that we'll have new little people to share them with, which may be a healthy compromise.