OB, Ultrasounds, Classes & More
I didn’t get a chance to blog yesterday because work was so busy (as was today up until this point), then I had the first “expecting multiples” class last night – so busy. Here are some things I wanted to talk about yesterday as well as some things for today…
First, I forgot about some things discussed at the OB visit the other day. She mentioned my weight. She asked what I weighed before pregnancy and it sounded as if she doesn’t think I’m gaining weight fast enough for twins. She said to eat 6 small meals throughout the day, but I’ve been pretty much doing that (most of the time), and I’ve gained maybe 2-3 pounds since my last appointment with the OB’s office. Last night at the class, the topic of gaining weight came up along with Dr. Luke’s book on Twins and other multiples. The teacher of the class says you should try to follow her recommendations as much as you can – which means if you are struggling to gain the necessary weight, then you should definitely eat more – perhaps protein bars or nuts or even those En*sure drinks, etc. So last night after the class, I was starving, and since she mentioned cheeseburgers, I wanted a cheeseburger so I got a cheeseburger even though it was past my bedtime (being 9:30 at this point).
She also mentioned exercise – that I should be walking 20-30 minutes a day. I am going to try to remember to bring my tennis shoes and walk around at lunchtime since when I get home it is still too dark and I just don’t want to walk around by myself in the dark. It would be nice if Greenlake would put up some lights for when it gets dark – I might go there after work.
Second, to answer some questions, the ultrasound place I’m going to is in Seattle on First Hill near Swedish. They seem o.k. from the one time I’ve gone there – we went there for the NT scan. By the way, the next ultrasound will be on February 12 at 8 a.m. – right at the beginning of my 18th week. They have got to see the gender then, right?
Regarding coping with multiples – I think it will definitely be hard in the beginning. As I’ve never had a child before and the closest I came to taking care of a child was my brothers and occasionally, my sister’s kids (very occasionally), I am incredibly nervous about just having one, let alone two. But I think we will make it work as so many parents before us have (ha – make it work reminds me of that guy on Project Runway). I don’t know how much blogging I’ll do once those babies come though. I’m not sure if that really answers the question, but I’m not exactly sure how we’ll manage, I just have faith that we will somehow.
Third, does the struggle one had with infertility ever go away? Vanpool girl is back to work as of this week and she, of course, was talking about her baby, and for some reason, this made me sad. I explained to a friend that night that I had to stop myself and ask myself why I was feeling that way – after all, I’m pregnant now…with twins. What do I have to feel sad about? It is hard for me to think of myself as pregnant sometimes, but most of the time, I am relishing being in this situation. I love that people are telling me I look pregnant. But I think the reason why I might be feeling sad now is that the twins aren’t here yet and I am still so nervous I might lose them. I’m only at 15 weeks now – I’ve got a while to go.
Finally, more about the class last night. The topic of discussion last night was “pregnancy with multiples”. The teacher started with going over administrative stuff, but quickly started us with a “getting to know each other” exercise. It actually wasn’t that bad – it was fun. And there was a couple from my support group there, so that was nice. Jon wasn’t able to come with me last night, and he probably won’t be able to come with me for any of these classes as I’m hoping to switch the classes from taking them in April/May to Feb/Mar. I’m waiting to hear back from UW about that. I hope I can switch though it would be nice if my husband could come. There are some classes I signed us up for at Swedish, so he should be able to go to those with me (at least, most of them). He is taking some classes at night M-Th this quarter.
Anyway, about the class. After the exercise, the teacher showed us some slides on how twins are created (which seems silly to me), but some other things she discussed were interesting – like nutrition, preterm labor and birth (of which I’m going to a class on 02/15 about preventing preterm labor and birth and recognizing the signs of), and things you should ask your doctor and how often your doctor should see you, which brings up a question. For those with twins, how often do you see your doctor? She was saying once every 2 weeks after 20 weeks. I’m trying to remember what my OB said about that. All I remember her talking about is how often I would be having ultrasounds (once a month). Right now, I’m set to see my OB every month, but I think (I think), after the next appointment, I will be seeing her more often though at the moment my schedule is to see her every month until April at this point. I need to ask her about that the next time I see her on the 23rd (which seems like an eternity from now – but thank goodness, we have that ultrasound on the 12th).
Hmm, what else? I can’t think of anything else about the class, so maybe I’ll think of more later. It was a good use of my time – I think the next few classes will be better as this seemed more like an introductory class.
One last thing - I've been having some bits of pain in my abdomen (and continuing with the pain in my hips - of which the OB suggested I might have to have physical therapy to help with that). The OB mentioned something about round ligament pain, which could be the cause of the pain. I keep meaning to look that up and find out exactly what that means. Oh, and I don't think I mentioned last time about the OB mentioning that since I had high blood pressure on the regular birth control pils before that I could have high blood pressure during the 3rd trimester, so they will be keeping a closer eye on that so hopefully, I won't have to be put on bedrest (which I really hope I don't have to do).
O.K. That's all for today. I may or may not write over the weekend. I need to continue cleaning my house and moving things around to make room to start the nursery. Also, I thought I would go to some consignment stores and see what they have - we'll see though (if any of my friends are interesting in going with me - let me know). We may be visiting my sister-in-law in Tacoma this weekend so that might take up a good chunk of one day.
Oh, and today, my dad has his kidney biopsy - things appear to have went well (which is what my sister told me). I'll need to call them later when I get home. O.K. enough for today!
First, I forgot about some things discussed at the OB visit the other day. She mentioned my weight. She asked what I weighed before pregnancy and it sounded as if she doesn’t think I’m gaining weight fast enough for twins. She said to eat 6 small meals throughout the day, but I’ve been pretty much doing that (most of the time), and I’ve gained maybe 2-3 pounds since my last appointment with the OB’s office. Last night at the class, the topic of gaining weight came up along with Dr. Luke’s book on Twins and other multiples. The teacher of the class says you should try to follow her recommendations as much as you can – which means if you are struggling to gain the necessary weight, then you should definitely eat more – perhaps protein bars or nuts or even those En*sure drinks, etc. So last night after the class, I was starving, and since she mentioned cheeseburgers, I wanted a cheeseburger so I got a cheeseburger even though it was past my bedtime (being 9:30 at this point).
She also mentioned exercise – that I should be walking 20-30 minutes a day. I am going to try to remember to bring my tennis shoes and walk around at lunchtime since when I get home it is still too dark and I just don’t want to walk around by myself in the dark. It would be nice if Greenlake would put up some lights for when it gets dark – I might go there after work.
Second, to answer some questions, the ultrasound place I’m going to is in Seattle on First Hill near Swedish. They seem o.k. from the one time I’ve gone there – we went there for the NT scan. By the way, the next ultrasound will be on February 12 at 8 a.m. – right at the beginning of my 18th week. They have got to see the gender then, right?
Regarding coping with multiples – I think it will definitely be hard in the beginning. As I’ve never had a child before and the closest I came to taking care of a child was my brothers and occasionally, my sister’s kids (very occasionally), I am incredibly nervous about just having one, let alone two. But I think we will make it work as so many parents before us have (ha – make it work reminds me of that guy on Project Runway). I don’t know how much blogging I’ll do once those babies come though. I’m not sure if that really answers the question, but I’m not exactly sure how we’ll manage, I just have faith that we will somehow.
Third, does the struggle one had with infertility ever go away? Vanpool girl is back to work as of this week and she, of course, was talking about her baby, and for some reason, this made me sad. I explained to a friend that night that I had to stop myself and ask myself why I was feeling that way – after all, I’m pregnant now…with twins. What do I have to feel sad about? It is hard for me to think of myself as pregnant sometimes, but most of the time, I am relishing being in this situation. I love that people are telling me I look pregnant. But I think the reason why I might be feeling sad now is that the twins aren’t here yet and I am still so nervous I might lose them. I’m only at 15 weeks now – I’ve got a while to go.
Finally, more about the class last night. The topic of discussion last night was “pregnancy with multiples”. The teacher started with going over administrative stuff, but quickly started us with a “getting to know each other” exercise. It actually wasn’t that bad – it was fun. And there was a couple from my support group there, so that was nice. Jon wasn’t able to come with me last night, and he probably won’t be able to come with me for any of these classes as I’m hoping to switch the classes from taking them in April/May to Feb/Mar. I’m waiting to hear back from UW about that. I hope I can switch though it would be nice if my husband could come. There are some classes I signed us up for at Swedish, so he should be able to go to those with me (at least, most of them). He is taking some classes at night M-Th this quarter.
Anyway, about the class. After the exercise, the teacher showed us some slides on how twins are created (which seems silly to me), but some other things she discussed were interesting – like nutrition, preterm labor and birth (of which I’m going to a class on 02/15 about preventing preterm labor and birth and recognizing the signs of), and things you should ask your doctor and how often your doctor should see you, which brings up a question. For those with twins, how often do you see your doctor? She was saying once every 2 weeks after 20 weeks. I’m trying to remember what my OB said about that. All I remember her talking about is how often I would be having ultrasounds (once a month). Right now, I’m set to see my OB every month, but I think (I think), after the next appointment, I will be seeing her more often though at the moment my schedule is to see her every month until April at this point. I need to ask her about that the next time I see her on the 23rd (which seems like an eternity from now – but thank goodness, we have that ultrasound on the 12th).
Hmm, what else? I can’t think of anything else about the class, so maybe I’ll think of more later. It was a good use of my time – I think the next few classes will be better as this seemed more like an introductory class.
One last thing - I've been having some bits of pain in my abdomen (and continuing with the pain in my hips - of which the OB suggested I might have to have physical therapy to help with that). The OB mentioned something about round ligament pain, which could be the cause of the pain. I keep meaning to look that up and find out exactly what that means. Oh, and I don't think I mentioned last time about the OB mentioning that since I had high blood pressure on the regular birth control pils before that I could have high blood pressure during the 3rd trimester, so they will be keeping a closer eye on that so hopefully, I won't have to be put on bedrest (which I really hope I don't have to do).
O.K. That's all for today. I may or may not write over the weekend. I need to continue cleaning my house and moving things around to make room to start the nursery. Also, I thought I would go to some consignment stores and see what they have - we'll see though (if any of my friends are interesting in going with me - let me know). We may be visiting my sister-in-law in Tacoma this weekend so that might take up a good chunk of one day.
Oh, and today, my dad has his kidney biopsy - things appear to have went well (which is what my sister told me). I'll need to call them later when I get home. O.K. enough for today!
posted by seattlegal @ 2:33 PM
4 Comments:
At 6:55 PM ,
Anonymous said...
Wow! What a long blog!
I didn't think you were suppose to gain too much weight until the latter months and you are only a little over 4 months. How much weight are you suppose to gain with twins?
As for the walking, you should not do anything more than what you did before your were pregnant. So walking might sound good for exercise, but don't push yourself to do more than you did before.
When the twins come, it will be hard the first few weeks, btu then eventually you will get on to a routine and it wil get easier.
It might have been a more intense emotion b/c of knowing how long and what it took to get there, but I remember feeling sad when seeing other babies, even though I was pregnant with my own. It is the fear of never seeing them, it is the anxiousness of wanted them to be here, it is the impatience of not wanting to wait. it is alot of things, but almost every pregnant woman feels them, and maybe even more so when you have worked so hard to get there.
Yes, watch that high blood pressure and make sure they check it every visit. i dont know about with twins, but every two weeks after the 20th week sounds good to me. I think with singletons it was after every 30 weeks, I can't remember.
Have fun in Tacoma! *hugs*
Trina
At 9:53 AM ,
Nickie said...
Well, where to start? That’s quite a summary of info there girlie! LOL
Weight gain – must be nice to be told to start packing on more pounds! I’m starting to worry that I’m gaining too fast. It’s weird. With my son, I didn’t worry about it and just tried to keep it steady. Now, I find myself dreading each additional pound on the scale, even though I know it’s for a good cause, I’m hoping to minimize my weight gain to only the necessary pounds so I have less to lose after baby gets here. I was just starting to really get my body back in the last year or so and it’s been harder to come to grips with the idea of giving it up again for a while. I need to get my butt on the elliptical machine again and off this damn PC! That would help in more ways than one. I’d manage to gain weight correctly and stay toned and fit at the same time.
I hope they are able to tell gender for you at 18wks, hoping the babes are cooperative. I go in next week for an anatomy scan and I’m hoping to get confirmation of the gender then. Someone on FF posted a link to a very cool site that shows how similar babies are early on. http://baby2see.com/gender/external_genitals.html
Yes, you’ll “Make it work!” like the dude on Project Runway. You won’t know life with babies any different so it will just be what it is. The Eastside MOMS group I bet will be a good resource for tips to make things easier too.
The struggle with IF – I hope that once you start to feel regular movement from the babes that it will set it in your psyche more firmly that you have made it to the coveted other side. Even though I’ve done this before, this pg still seems surreal at times. And I still have freak outs – in fact this morning I freaked and first thing pulled out the Doppler to find the hb, just cause I hadn’t felt much movement yesterday. Um, hello? I’m just now 16wks and already feeling movement, I should be reassured by that, but still I needed to hear the hb to feel better. As for reacting to others’ pgs when they didn’t struggle to get there? I don’t know if that ever completely goes away. It’s not that you begrudge them their luck, but you might always be sad and a little bitter than you didn’t have that luck. I think this is normal for an infertile.
I’m glad the class will be useful for you. I remember in my childbirthing class with my son I heard maybe 5 things in the entire multi-week course that was new to me. That’s what I get for doing all that reading and research I guess! LOL
I feel RLP running from the leg into the belly at the fold of the leg where it meets the pelvis. Man, that’s hard to describe w/o pictures! Anyway, I’ve been feeling it when I stand up too quickly and sometimes when I cough/sneeze or even laugh too hard.
I hope the biopsy results come back good too.
At 2:57 PM ,
OHN said...
Don't worry too much about anything. The pain I was told was ligament stretching. I remember it even going down into my thighs, across my back and pelvis area.
The weight thing varies with each pregnancy. #2 I gained 23 lbs the whole pregnancy. #3 76 lbs!(they were single babies).
As for the "does the infertility ever go away"--not really. I am many years post and still here I am lurking on infertility blogs..though mainly to lend support. It does come up in my regular life though when I meet the parents of my kids friends, as I am a good 10 years older than they are since we got such a late start.
Consider getting a home BP cuff. This way when you see it climbing a bit you can get off your feet and take it easy. I had to be on bedrest for the last 13 weeks and in and out of the hospital..not fun but it was "do-able" even with a 14 month old at the time too. (yes, I am one of those annoying people that got pregnant and stayed pregnant after adopting). More than anything try to enjoy this pregnancy. I always cheated myself out of the joy because I was so worried all the time. I look back now and wish I had spent more time relaxing!
At 2:43 PM ,
Dr. Grumbles said...
I hope your dad gets good news about the biopsy.
Enjoy your walking time! I find it can be great for meditation and "quiet time."
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