Friday, November 04, 2005

They super-sized me

Well, the post-appointment verdict is that the babies did indeed grow A LOT. They were estimated at 4 lbs. 5 oz. two weeks ago. Granted, these are estimations and at least one out of the two measurements may have been inaccurate. But now Baby A is estimated at 5 lbs. (still with a gargantuan head) and Baby B is estimated at a whopping 6 lbs.! We were floored. The technician did the measurements, and the doctor read them. The doctor then came in and repeated some of Baby B's measurements himself because he just couldn't believe it. He said again that these are approximations, but it does seem that B went through a major growth spurt. So remember those days early in the week when I felt like total crap? Now we know who to blame it on. (Just kidding, sweet B - I know you're doing your best in there!) I am now carrying around 11 lbs. of baby and all their luggage.

I also found out that I'm between 1 and 2 centimeters dilated. We asked the doctor what this means for us. He said it means things are happening, but it's hard to predict how fast they'll go. I go off the medicine pump on Monday, and this could lead to labor or not. I am feeling ready, knowing that the babies are decent sizes. Even if they'd have to be in the hospital, it probably wouldn't be for long unless there is some unforeseen problem.

Now, there is a catch to all of this, a sort of disappointing one for me. Because B (the top one) is now so much bigger than A (the bottom one) and B is breech, it looks like we may have to have a C-section. Even though A's head is huge, I guess that doesn't make up for the fact that B is big all around. Usually as long as the bottom twin (A) is head-first, they can pull out B no matter what position B is in. But if B is significantly bigger than A, pulling B out by the feet is riskier because B's head could get stuck since A did not make an exceptional amount of space for the exitway.

It is petty, but honestly I didn't want a C-section. I wanted to give birth the old-fashioned way and have a touching story like so many women do. I wanted the babies to nurse as soon as they came out. I wanted SP to tell me to "push!" and "you're doing great!" But as SP so poignantly reminded me this morning, (1)I already have tons of war stories from this pregnancy, (2)he will still be there and we'll share the experience, and (3)once I see the babies, I won't care about how they came out. I guess I'm also concerned about caring for twins while healing from a section. I've already have 2 surgeries for ovarian problems, so I know I can heal, but I've never had 2 infants on my hands before. I want to breastfeed as much as possible, and that concerns me. SP and I have decided that we definitely want to hire a postpartum doula if I do indeed have a section, and that makes me feel more assured that things will be okay (well, except for our bank account, but what can you do?)

In the end, I mustn't lose sight of the fact that we have made it to 34 weeks by the end of today, and that's such a great accomplishment. We are so lucky too that the babies are a substantial size and are probably past most of the dangers of prematurity. Hell, we are so lucky to have gotten pregnant in the first place! It's getting close now, folks, and I must say that I can't wait to meet these two characters. We've had quite a time rooming together.

5 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Best of Luck!

D L

12:09 PM  
Blogger Jen said...

How supportive IS your doctor of vaginal birth with twins? You may want to push him/her on this. Ultrasound measurements often have a substantial margin of error, and twins have been delivered vaginally for thousands of years. It's only recently that twins have become near-automatic sections.

My friend had twins vaginally - the second baby, who was breech, was a full pound bigger than his sister. He did not have trouble coming out. Her doc was the only doc in this area who does breech twin vaginal births (which is to say, if she'd had any other doctor, she'd have had a c-sec).

Don't get me wrong - there's nothing wrong with a c-section - but you sound pretty clear about what you had hoped for so I want to support you in pursuing ALL your options.

Good luck and much love to you in whatever happens.

12:48 PM  
Blogger lagiulia said...

Thanks for the support, Jen. Actually, my dr.s do delivery twins vaginally quite frequently. It's one of their specialties. And we all assumed that even with B as a breech we'd do it vaginally until the sizes became questionable. I think that SP and I are uncomfortable with risking our babies' well-being for the sake of sticking to our ideals, and the fact is we just can't know what exactly is going on in there. About 50% of twins are delivered C-section, and we'd hoped not to be part the statistic, but we have to do what we can only guess is best. Maybe things will change by the time I deliver anyway.

1:11 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Congrats on making it this far. Good luck on Monday...we'll be thinking about you all!

4:36 PM  
Blogger Martha said...

You are almost there! I too have strong negative feelings about having a section, but two friends of mine recently went through it and said, in the end, they really didn't care. But still, I know the feeling of wanting to push em out!

9:22 AM  

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