OB Visit

First, let me say Woo-Hoo!  Today these babies and I have reached 30 weeks. It seems like it's gone crazy fast, and yet, we still could have 2 more months before they make their arrival.  Then again, maybe not...

Now, about the OB appointment I had on Thursday.  As I was walking into the clinic, an old man was dropping off his wife.  The timing was perfect for us to walk in together.  I said hello and she responded by saying how lucky I was to be so blessed to be having a baby.  She told me she was never able to have kids, but her sister was kind enough to share hers.

She had to have been in her 70's, maybe in her 80's.  She could have been me in another 30 years or so.  I have been pretty fortunate to have a sister that has shared her kids with me.  I told the lady that it's taken us over 14 years and a lot of extra help to get pregnant, so I understood.

She stopped at the bench just inside to wait for her husband and I continued down the hall, but I couldn't stop thinking about her.  The difference between her and I is that I live in a time where we could seek fertility treatments.  She did not.  While my sister has shared her kids with me, she has also shared a part of herself that had allowed me to have a family of my own.  These past few days, I have often wondered if what I said might have been hurtful to her.  How could I understand where she was coming from, when I am obviously pregnant and about to have my own children?  I do understand the pain of not being able to have any kids, but I don't understand what it's like to grow old and still be in that situation.  That's something I have feared but haven't experienced, and Lord willing, I won't.

As I sat down in the waiting room, another lady sat a few chairs away from me and struck up a conversation. Of course she wanted to talk about my pregnancy.  Sigh.  She said it looked like I would be having my baby pretty soon.  I told her my due date, which produced a puzzled look on her face.  I explained that there is two babies.  Then she wanted to know if I knew what they were.  And of course, this led to her excitement about how it's perfect because I'm getting one of each, a boy AND a girl.  Aren't I just so happy?

I cannot even begin to tell you how many times a day I have this conversation with people.  Yes, I am very happy.  But I would have been just as happy with two boys or two girls.  People don't seem to get that.  I often hear how I can be done with my family if I wanted, because I'll have one of each.  That makes absolutely NO sense to me.  I know plenty of people that DON'T have twins, but still stop at two boys or two girls, even though they came from separate pregnancies.  Also, it's exhausting to even think about explaining to people that we don't have a choice in the matter anyway.  We won't be extending our family beyond these babies.  We have no embryos left and we are at the end of our financial limits.  Besides that, my sister was an egg donor for us and I am not about to ask her to go through that again.  Hubby and I don't want to go through it again either.

I absolutely am so happy that we are blessed with two babies out of this deal, but we would have been happy with one.  We also would have been happy with two girls or two boys.  Just because we are getting one of each, does not make it any sweeter.  How could we not feel immensely blessed, regardless of their sex, when it took us SOooo long to get here?

Okay, on to the appointment.  Everything is going fantastic!  I cannot believe how fortunate I am to not have had any major complications so far.  The issues I have had are so minor in comparison to what some people go through.

My blood pressure was 117/78, actually down a little bit from my previous appointment.  I was afraid it would be going up since I had started swelling, but the swelling hasn't even been too bad yet.  My urine sample came back normal.  My rash has mostly gone away, except for my right boob which itches constantly.  The worst thing I have going on right now is carpal tunnel syndrome in both hands.  My middle fingers are in a constant state of numbness and my other fingers join in the fun occasionally as well.  My hands do hurt pretty much all the time, but I can live with that.  The trade off is far too great to get upset about it.  I can live with sore hands if it means I get two babies at the end of all this.

Dr. P told me I am doing brilliantly!  She cannot believe how well I have been handling this twin pregnancy. I love her!  She is still continuing to monitor my liver, as my liver enzymes are still elevated, but remaining stable.  Not a big deal at this point.

Starting this next week, I will be going in twice/week for Non-Stress tests (NST).  My first one is on Monday.  I'm kind of nervous and excited for it all at the same time.

It's funny how 2 months can sometimes seem like such a long time, but in pregnancy the weeks just go by so quickly!  I can't believe I am at the point that I need two appointments/week already.

My goal is to work through the next pay period at work, which will be December 19th.  I asked Dr. P if that is a reasonable goal, and she said she thinks for me, it is, because things are going so well.  That will put me just shy of 33 weeks.  That is only 19 days away!!!!  Say what?  How is that possible?