Update from babyland

Okay, okay, I have been meaning to post more for ages.  Sorry! 

This Tuesday we had our first appointment with our new doctors, along with the rescheduled NT scan ultrasound (at a separate office).  All looked good in the ultrasound!  Both babies were doing well, with good heartbeats, and all the appropriate arms and legs and such.  The doctor mentioned how "thin" the membrane between the twins are, which freaks me out a bit (I think she said it means there is a greater chance of one stealing from the other, though I forgot to ask our main doctor about it at our later appointment).

After a bit of research, we decided to go to the big hospital that seems most equipped for multiple births and possible preemie issues (the same one that Emma was born at).  There are things I don’t like about that hospital (having to do with medicalizing birth and non-necessary procedures post birth), but in the end my concerns for having the best care if we have problems trump those smaller issues.  

The doctor practice we are going to are Perinatal specialists, so high risk pregnancy doctors.  Definitely a far cry from the midwife experience I was hoping for, though I did get quite a few recommendations for them, even from folks in the birth community that generally lean more "crunchy".  The theory that I have heard is that because these folks are the experts in high risk situations, they tend to jump to unnecessary interventions less often than a regular OB might.  

In any case, we met one of the docs for a "consultation" Tuesday, and had a good experience.   He was good about bringing up all the added risks we have without freaking us out too much, and was pretty funny taboot.  He was reassuring about my concerns about my low weight gain (I have been reading a rather alarmist book about how important early weight gain is in multiple pregnancies — he called it the "how to scare the crap out of people pregnant with multiples book" – ha!).  And, he was cool with the fact that Emma is still in the process of weaning (more on that later).   We have another appointment next week, a HUGE 4 plus hour one later in later December (this includes a 2 hour (!) ultrasound), and then one every two weeks here on out.  Egads, I guess we will be getting pretty familiar with the place!

So, other than that, the big news in my world is that I finally  got my hands on some Zofran, a harder core prescription anti-nausea med that is helping in that arena quite a bit.  Last Tues, the day before we were headed down to my parents in Vancouver for Thanksgiving, I was really  at rock bottom and feeling like  crawling into a hole for good.  Seriously, bad times!  It is just so hard to be too sick to get what needs to be done done (like making lunch, or picking up the  meds that might make you feel better, or getting the family packed for the trip).  I think some of that had to do with being pretty  anemic, too, since I couldn’t get off the couch without being totally out of breath.  Luckily, once I was on these meds (and after having a week in Vancouver to seriously chill and eat) I was able to start keeping food and my supplements down enough to replenish my system somewhat.  Feeling so much better now! Woo hoo! 

In Emma news, the sleep is better, though definitely still room for improvement!  More posts on this coming, I am sure!  We started weaning in earnest once we got the twin news, and are down to about 3 nursings a day, all related to sleep — bedtime, 4 AM (buying me another 1-2 of sleep most days), and nap.  She can go to sleep in the car and with others (my mom or Lonnie, currently) but I have fewer tricks in my stash and the nursing/sleep association is still so strong for her when its just me.  My goal is to be done by Christmas, though.  Wish us luck!  It  is so bittersweet, especially after all our early struggles.

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