More twin pictures, as requested

A few pictures of the kids... enjoy

Big sister Abi with Claire

Big sister Abi with Lucy

Claire and Lucy

Lucy and Claire

Claire

Lucy

Mama napping with Lucy

Claire and Lucy

Lucy

Claire

Abi

Lucy and Claire

The Birth Story

In the beginning, there were no obvious signs that labour was impending.  We went to bed Monday night with nary a thought of immanent birth.  At 2:30 in the morning (of the 15^th) my water broke.  Not exactly a sensation one wants to wake to.  I proceeded to the shower while Robin woke my mom and the two of them fretted over how “slow” my shower was. Hey, a girl likes to feel clean and I knew it would be a while before I could shower again.  And yes, I also stopped to brush my teeth.  We then had to throw some items in a bag because, of course, I hadn’t really packed for myself yet. I had baby stuff packed up long ago, but for myself I had very limited clothes, etc, that fit me so I could not afford to pre-pack any.  And much of what I would need in hospital is the same as I needed at home on a daily basis. I wasn’t in a rush. I wasn’t experiencing contractions.  I think I may have had one or two “Braxton Hicks” level contraction on the car ride to the hospital, but that’s been common for me when in a car.  I’d been joking before that maybe we should just drive around all day to bring on labour, since I have the most contractions sitting in a car on the streets of Winnipeg.  (Folks back in KW – if you think the roads there are bad…)
It wasn’t long until we were checking into triage.  Folks were amazed that a twins-momma who was technically “in labour” was walking in.  However, for me, the only difference from the previous evening was that my water had broken. 
At some point after we left home I realized that the 15^th was the day in which I had “penciled in” the twins’ birth many months ago.  It was the 37 week (of 40) gestation date and I had marked it on the calendar as a reference point for us.  Little did I know it would turn out to be their birthday!
The next several hours I recall as relatively “boring” and “uneventful”.  I wasn’t having a lot of contractions in triage.  The doctor who visited us early on spoke of chemical induction around 0830h (or at least re-examining the possibility of) if there were no developments.  However, I do know that before 8am it was clear that labour had started and I wouldn’t need to be induced.  I considered the contractions to be “mild”.  I think those were the ones I jokingly called “Skip-Bo Contractions” because when I was having early labour contractions with Abi my mom and I were playing Skip-Bo and I would occasionally have to pause during a contraction before continuing play. 
At 8am I know I had my second round of antibiotics (because I was GBS positive – again).  Around 8:30, they made the first check of my progress and much to my surprise I was 80% effaced and 6/7 cm dilated.  I was surprised because it really didn’t seem to me that my contractions had been intense enough – compared to my active labour with Abi.  But I suppose effective contractions don’t have to be “intense”.  My contractions by then were sometimes more than “Skip-Bo” level, but they were between 3 and 6 minutes apart and not consistently strong (to my mind).
Having found that I was further along than expected, I was moved to L&D.  For the next three hours my contractions continued. Sometimes they were more intense than others.  Mostly I was complaining of hunger… Oh, and the blood pressure monitor, I hated that thing squeezing my arm.  I preferred a contraction over that monitor.  I also felt confined to the bed because of a) the fetal monitors strapped to my belly and b) I was too f’n hungry to move.  In theory I could have stood up or been on my hands and knees, etc, as I did with Abi.  Much to my surprise, however, I labored on my back.  There was no way I could do that during Abi’s labour.  However, I also felt as if these contractions were much easier to handle.  There was a period even – when I’d insisted Robin go get himself some food because I didn’t want him to collapse later – that I shifted my pain management to internal visualization.  Remember, these contractions didn’t feel sufficiently “intense” or frequent enough to me, so I focused on relaxing during contractions and imagining everything opening up, hoping that would help things progress – so the babies would be born and I could eat! Honestly, that was foremost on my mind: food.  Between those “relaxing” contractions I was napping, because I was also quite tired. Imagine that.
Close to noon I was 9cm dilated. While we waited for the last centimeter, the doctors spoke with me again about whether or not I wanted an epidural.  I had previously insisted not and that was also in my birth plan.  However, much to my surprise, I changed my mind.  Not because my labouring was harder than before, but because of the possible risks during delivery of baby B.  Now that I was in labour and recalling more intense contractions, I realized that the (strong) possibility of having someone reach in and manually turn B and then hold her in position during contractions (internally) to make sure she descended head down, was perhaps more than I could tolerate.  Especially without food-energy.  Yes, I was feeling that hungry/tired/out of energy.  On top of that was the possibility of an emergency c-section which, without an epidural, would require general anesthesia.  In the end, caution won out.  I was basically ready to deliver and then had the epidural.
Receiving the epidural was also easier than expected.  The forewarned “burn” was nothing, although I was chuckling to myself that the “count of 5” was realistically more like a count of 10.  The worst part was the three contractions I had during the procedure because the position I had to sit in made for very intense/uncomfortable contractions and there was no way to counter the pain during the procedure.
Contractions post-epidural quickly became very surreal.  Needless to say they were less intense in sensation and became increasingly less painful with time so that by the time I was delivering Claire I had to be told when I was having a contraction.  Soon after the epidural I was prepped for the high-risk birthing room once I felt the need to push.  That need was not as intense as last time either, but there was clearly a new sensation of pressure that could only be interpreted as “ready to push”. 
Robin changed into scrubs and we got matching hats.  I was rolled down the hall and transferred to a thin OR table which wasn’t nearly as clinical and uncomfortable as I’d feared.  I was strapped into the heavily padded stirrups – another feature of delivery I didn’t imagine I’d want.  However, since I couldn’t feel much below I wasn’t about to try a side delivery as planned (with my natural birth plan).  Doctors slowly started gathering.  I was eventually asked to give a couple “trial” pushes to see where the baby was at while we awaited the attending ((who I believe was at another birth…. It was a busy day. The twins were number 4 and 5 for her that day, and it was early yet).  Turns out, Lucy was right there ready to go.  So, I was asked to “wait” through a “couple” more contractions while the rest of the team assembled.  All the baby nurses, anaesthesiologists (in case of emergency C-section), scrub nurse, yadda yadda.  (The male resident I kindly refrained from snapping at earlier when he first visited me and asked stupid, poorly-framed questions during contractions was already there looking totally unsure of things. I guess he’s new.  Lucky for him I wasn’t going all-natural on his ass. Okay, that’s funny to me… He just bugged me.  Robin did give me kudos for being polite – he could see how unimpressed I was and agreed with my impression of the resident. Yay me for being nice during labour. That’s right, I didn’t tell anyone to f-off and I didn’t curse Robin.)  (I had blamed Robin earlier for the twin pregnancy just because I was impatient with being pregnant and huge and sore.)
As we were awaiting the gathering of the “birthday party”, a “couple” contractions turned out to be more like a dozen, but who was counting? And considering my contractions were not exactly back to back, it was a while.  I recall thinking to myself, “good thing these are not intense-feeling, must-push-and-screw-what-you-say-doctor contractions”.  Mostly I could just chuckle to myself at the situation.  Yes, it was that surreal. It seemed particularly surreal because everything (so far, and to come) had been so much different than my pregnancy and labour and delivery with Abi.

Finally I was informed I could push again.  Ring of fire… head coming… plenty of hair… inquiry if I’d had bad heartburn – nope, none… more pushing… and at some point but I can’t recall if it was before or after Lucy was born there was no more “ring of fire” because I must have received a local anaesthetic, perhaps in anticipation of future stitches for the tear… and once Lucy’s head was out I think I had to wait a contraction or two while they turned her?, then she was out.  Everything after the head is easy.  And there was my baby in front of me.  I cried.
There was still more work to be done.  She was quickly cleaned up (I’d been told I’d hold baby first before cleaning and weighing…) and Robin was snapping pictures of her to show me on the camera, and then she was in my arms.

With Lucy

Meanwhile we were preparing for Claire’s birth.  She did not flip.  In fact, she nicely descended head-first, ready to go. Not at all a troublesome second twin. We had to wait a bit for my body to recover again and re-dilate a little, but not long since she was born 17 minutes later.  By that point all the meds had really kicked in and I had to be told when I was contracting, etc.  Et voila, there was my baby. Soon in my arms.

With Claire

Both were of excellent health, scoring 9 on their agpars, which is pretty much perfect.  (There were jokes in the room about 10s being nearly impossible unless baby was doing some special tricks at birth, so I gathered 9 was pretty damn good.)  Nevertheless, because of Lucy’s small size (just shy of 5lbs) she automatically had to be taken to the Observation Unit to be monitored after birth. Claire, however, stayed with us (she is the larger and 6lbs6oz at birth, which is less than the estimated 7lbs+ at the last ultrasound).
Quickly birthed the placenta then was stitched up for a tear I heard the doctor describe as a “one point five”, which is far better than the 2.9 I had with Abi.  It wasn’t long until I was being transferred back to a bed on wheels.  They’d suggested I inchworm my body sideways, but I suggested I’d rather roll onto my side – rolling was easier. Oh, such a sweet position to be in after being on my back for so long during labour and delivery.  The irony of it: that I’d been sleeping on my side only for months longing for another sleep position and here I was happily embracing my side again.  It will be a while yet before I can comfortably sleep on my tummy (it’s not my tummy that’s the issue).

Mandy and Claire

Claire and I, with Robin alongside, were wheeled into a small room in L&D.  It was a busy, busy day at SBGH for births and all the recovery rooms were occupied (there were several c-sections that morning), so since I was doing well I was placed in the only remaining room, which happened to be their “backup” room.  Not that we cared about the size, but apparently it was more a PITA for staff because the room doesn’t have any supplies in it.  We weren’t there for terribly long before being transferred to a semi-private room (or so I assume since we had the large room to ourselves but shared a bathroom) in the post-partum wing.  I don’t think they could have fit us in a shared room. We don’t have insurance coverage for hospital stays, but I was pretty sure we’d end up in semi-private because of the twins.

Lucy and Claire

Meanwhile, Lucy (who at the time was nameless, like her sister) was still in the Observation Unit.  While in L&D she’d been brought to me to nurse because she had low blood sugar.  However, her blood sugar remained low and we were faced with a choice of either IV for fluids or bottled formula.  We do plan to use bottles as well as breast later, so we chose the bottle option rather than see her hooked up to IVs.  She’d taken quite easily to the breast, just like her sisters (Abi was a pro from birth also).  Thus Lucy was started on her “requirements” – measured amounts of formula that started with very small portions (15ml) every 2-3 hours.  She was taken back to observation until later that evening when she finally joined us in the room for good.

Abi, Claire, Mandy

Claire continued to breastfeed and we’d have Lucy nurse too to keep her breast-trained, even though she was still required to have measured amounts of formula.  Robin went home in the evenings with Abi, who was quite upset that I wouldn’t be joining her at home right away.  Fortunately, we were able to leave the hospital on Thursday afternoon, so the babies and I only had 2 nights in hospital.  The staff provided great feeding support.  Since we’ve been fortunate to have the babes on the same schedule, the routine I established was to nurse Lucy a little, then let someone else feed her bottle while I nursed Claire.  That’s still the basic routine since we’ve been very conscious of Lucy’s need to gain weight and have measured amounts of food.  (However, she is mostly receiving bottled breast milk now.)  Before leaving they were tested for jaundice and scored very low risk. Yay.  I hated seeing Abi in phototherapy at the NICU.
That’s about it, I think. They’ve been gaining weight (back) well.  Both were tongue-tied, but we were able to see a wonderful doctor who performs frenetomies a week later (after long weekend) and their feeding has improved dramatically.  (My nipples are also grateful.)  I’m a little annoyed that the nurse (who was otherwise fabulous and probably over-taxed with a full house in hospital) did not initially confirm my suspicion that they were tongue-tied.  The staff in hospital was great and supportive and I was overall very pleased with my stay at St B, even though in a perfect world I’d have a homebirth. I’m not upset over the different experience though.  As Abi likes to remind us, things that are different are not bad, just different. (Granted, that’s what we tell her, but it serves as a nice reminder when she tells me.)  We also have a wonderful public health nurse (who also has twins) who visits and she’s just as supportive as my midwives were.  I hadn’t expected that.  Last, but certainly not least, I should note that my parents are wonderfully helpful with the babies and with Abi (and the pets).  And very last, and most wonderful of all, is Robin who is such a fantastic father and is still cooking for us – so I’m eating very well.
We’re managing to squeeze in sufficient periods of sleep.  The babes typically last a decent 3 hours between feedings in the early morning hours.  Before 2am is usually the most tiring period for us and I often take a late afternoon nap.  I’ve also been pumping a lot of breast milk, so Lucy is almost exclusively on that (Claire is almost exclusively breast fed), but there are occasions when I’m napping and we might be out of bottled milk that they get a feeding of formula.

Lucy and Claire (munching on her sister)

Claire and Lucy

We’re also cloth diapering, and practicing elimination communication (saves on diapers folks), and baby wearing, and part-time co-sleeping.  They do sleep nicely together in their crib for the most part, however, inevitably there comes a time in the night when neither will settle there but will sleep soundlessly cuddled with us (or, usually just me. Robin often takes that period to go sleep elsewhere or cuddle with Abi – who is usually very happy sleeping in her own bed now but occasionally wants to cuddle with us instead and will certainly sleep in longer if she is co-sleeping.)
Okay, I’ll call this the end so I can get it posted.  It’s rather long I see.

Meet Lucy and Claire

Meet Lucy Dawn (formerly A/Earb) and Claire Rose (formerly B/Iongantas) born on May 15th. Details later. Just got home.

Lucy has the pink-brown hat and Claire is wearing the purples

Ready for Sleep

Today we set up the babies' crib.  I was hoping to use this convertible crib like a co-sleeper (with it set up more like its toddler daybed form), but we discovered that there was too great of a gap between the mattresses (ours and the crib) due to the structure of both the crib sides and the bed we are using.  Thus, regular crib it is.  Oh well - just one of the many things that is different from our experience with Abi.  They'll have each other to co-sleep with.

Featured in the pictures are the wee creatures I knit for the girls (made up along the drive to Winnipeg from Koigu orphans Abi picked out) and the quilt made by my friend's mom (with the Saggy Baggy Elephant).

Preparing... nesting?

I've been feeling very restless today.
Nesting?
Getting our room ready. Or, trying to. As much as I'm allowed to do... At this point I need other adults to move furniture around.
We picked up a new crib mattress today. Still have to get a step can "garbage" bin for our cloth diapers.  I have liners that perfectly fit inside the tall rectangular ones.  Otherwise ready...
I'm MORE than ready!
I am very much ready for the babies to join us outside the womb!
I am eating a lot of pineapple...
and taking evening primrose oil...

but so far just irregular Braxton Hicks contractions. Nevertheless, fingers are crossed around here that it's soon.  I'd cross more, but I don't think I'm even physically capable of crossing my legs.  Too much baby in the way.  Solid baby belly.

Perhaps I should finish up that butterfly shawl.  Yeah, knitting, that might help.

Everything else is in order - plenty of clothes, cloth diapers, socks, Robeez, blankets, baby carriers... A lot.

Time to go drink the nettle and red raspberry leaf tea that must be done brewing by now. (yummm... not)

Of Henna and Bellies

At long last, I've had a chance to receive and take and upload some photos to share. Without further ado:

Henna (apologies for dad's photo) by sis

Henna belly, concentrating on tiny knit sts, and my niece Sara

Abi's henna (by me; quickly drawn on a ticklish belly at her insistence)

My belly at Saturday's picnic

My belly and new haircut

Sand angel...

Because you needed more ultrasound photos to oggle

Just in case you needed to oggle more ultrasound photos, I have some.  They're not the usual pictures either. This time the nurse printed off some fun and interesting ones.

Earb's profile - okay, that one's pretty normal.

 

Earb's lips/mouth in the middle, with her nose above. Imagine she's smooshing her face against a window for you.

Earb's leg and foot (this leads into the next set of pictures)

Iongantas' face half-hidden in the background, with Earb's foot in front.  You need to realize the foot is in front for the rest of the pictures.

Iongantas' face, but somewhat obscured by a foot! lol

 

Iongantas' profile - with a foot growing out of her forehead. lol.

What I'd like to know is how that foot got there... considering they are still both head-down and I would have a picture of the tops of their heads side by side if the machine hadn't run out of paper half-way through printing it.  As before, Earb is laying along my back, facing up and Iongantas is facing her / my right side.  Flexible kid.  (No, there is not a third child's foot!)

Ultrasound Update - yay

Much to my surprise and delight I have some photos to share from this afternoon's ultrasound.

 This one of Earb is quite funny and a little blurry. She is looking up, head on the left. Her mouth is open and her tongue is actually darting out.   See it now?  In the womb she is facing up.

 This one of Iongantas shows her face-on. Head on the left too (because both are head-down). You can see her chubby little cheeks and it almost looks like her eyes-sockets are actually her eyes with a little gleam in them.   From another angle we got to see peach fuzz on her head!  In the womb she is facing her sister (so, facing my right).

Both babies (and their amniotic fluids) are looking great. And their blood flow both measured close to the norm today rather than diverging, which was wonderful to hear.  I also inquired about sizes.  Earb is about 4 1/2 lbs while Iongantas is about 5 1/2 lbs.  They are both a good size and growing well.  However, from what my OB said at our last visit (and I see her again tomorrow), if Iongantas is more than a pound bigger, then I'll most likely have a c-section because she is the second in line for a vaginal delivery and is more likely to become stuck.  We'll see how things develop in the next few weeks.  Certainly there is no indication for an early delivery yet.

Last night my sister decorated my belly with henna.  I'll share photos as soon as I can get my dad to upload them from his camera (I don't know where it is).   This morning I had to decorate Abi's belly with some of the leftover henna so that she could match me.

Not Long Now

Not long now until Robin joins us.  A week and a bit.  Then our move will feel complete. (Okay, except for the not having our own home, etc.)
And not so long now until the twins join us. At least, I try to not focus on carrying these babies for several more weeks. Of course I want them to grow bigger in the womb, but it's a lot to carry around!  I recall with Abi I never had that feeling of "get this baby out of me" until I was ready to push.  This time around I'll be happy to have them out.

Let's focus on baby news, since there's not much new and exciting in my activity.

I met with my new OB last week and cried at the end - with joy. It was an amazing, positive experience.  I couldn't be happier.  It certainly further justified this move.  We spoke of options - such as drugs, including an epidural, being optional! And there are alternatives to lying on my back in stirrups. And I'll be able to move around within the room.  And while I'm not looking forward to the "birthday party" of people present in the room, I'll deal with it  There will be Robin and I, doctor, probably resident, anaesthiologist and possibly resident, a couple more people per baby, and a scrub nurse in case of emergency.  Oh, I suppose a nurse for me too.  My OB is aware that I had a natural homebirth with Abi and was very respectful of that and my desire to have something approaching that... within the boundaries of the high-risk birthing room of course.

I had my first ultrasound here yesterday and it was quite different from my experiences in Ontario.  There was nothing wrong with my fetal assessments back in Ontario, but I think I prefer them at this location (which is not necessarily the same across the city).  The only thing I miss is that you don't get free pictures here.  (I have plenty from Ontario already.)  However, you do get to watch the scanning during the entire ultrasound and your partner (and kid, etc) can also be in the room the entire time. Since Robin is not here, my mom was fortunate enough to be able to attend with me (and Abi).  Immediately following the U/S, the nurse reviewed the findings to make sure she got everything needed, and the doctor on site looked them over. Then they provide immediate feedback!  The doctor wanted to check on something further, so she came in herself and did the scan.  Then we talked about what she was looking for.
As before, there is concern over the growth difference between Earb (A, first in line for a vaginal birth, the smaller) and Iongantas.  Let me emphasize that both are doing very well right now!  However, the doctor is concerned over an atypical problem called "TAPS", which is somewhat like the TTTS.  Both babies have good amounts of amniotic fluid.  TAPS is a condition where one baby receives "thinner" blood (that would be Earb) and the other "thicker" blood, which can be determined by measuring the viscosity of the blood flow.  So, Earb is at risk of becoming anemic and Iongantas is at risk of... the opposite of anemia which has a fancy name I can't pronounce (polycythemia).  We'll be keeping a close eye on this - as I expected would happen with the more typical TTTS if it became an issue. I have another ultrasound this Thursday (and an OB appt on Friday).  As I've said before, the safety of the twins will be evaluated on a regular basis. At this point, we're past 32 weeks.  Every week and day hereafter that they can stay in the womb to grow is good, but they would do well, I'm sure, if they have to come out early. (I'm hoping Robin can get here first without having to hop on a plane.  Certainly it seems that will not be an issue at this point.  He'll be home soon.)

I've tried to find some info like "TAPS for dummies" equivalent to the common info one can find about TTTS, but all I've found are abstracts from medical journals.  The above is my own poor attempt at explaining it.

Eat, Sleep and...

Lately I spend my time either eating or sleeping/resting or, well, you know. (I'm rather like a baby with these babies inside.)  There's also the time playing games with Abi and the occassional walk - such as when I suggested she and I go out for pancake breakfast on my birthday before remembering we have no vehicle and have to walk to Perkins. I made it. Or the afternoon at the zoo when I managed to walk for a good 2 hours.  I was pretty impressed with myself.  (Sad, I know, but if I had a photo of myself to share right now I think you would better understand.)
And, of course, while resting awake I knit.  I've also been reading, but mostly I knit because knitting feels more productive.  Granted, I have had to take it slow since I only have the small amount of yarn for 3 projects (one finished) that I brought in the car.  I finished two mini alien/bug stuffies for the twins (knit with some Koigu orphans). I'm working on a baby blanket and my Sabbatical cardigan (which requires some serious tinking/frogging I don't want to think about!).  I neeeeeed my stash and my needles back! This evening when we unload the POD. (Photos when the camera arrives with Robin.)  I was hoping my Turkish spindles and fibre from ThreadsThruTime would arrive yesterday (birthday gift on my birthday - a novel idea), but alas, the mail carrier was not obliging. Perhaps today wil be my lucky day - at the very least I can retrieve my "old" stuff from the POD.

Resting is fairly easy to do since Abi is generally respectful of my need to rest, but also because I have few other responsibilities at this point - beyond growing babies.  All the flurry of activity to move across provinces has mostly come to an end, for now. (Until we buy a new house and have to move stuff a shorter ways, etc.)  Even Robin has little to do now but go to work and wait until he can drive out to join us at the end of the month. 
Because, WOOT!, our house is officially sold! As of yesterday following the buyer's house inspection and mortgage confirmation we had sold the house.  Of course, the days leading up to that were not so smooth. Poor Robin had a lot of clean up and last minute work to do before showings began (big thanks to our friend Denis for helping out all weekend!), and then an offer came in almost immediately and the negotiations began and then, on Good Friday (ie, a holiday), the water heater crashed.  Yes, of course it did.  Robin's been without hot water since then, although friends have kindly been offering their showers.  And, fortunately, ours was listed as a rental heater, so it's a relatively simple task to have it replaced.  Nevertheless, we were afraid the buyers might back out.

Me, I trusted it would all work out.  And it did.  Thus, while Robin was stressing I was resting and spending time with my immediate family.  Soon I'll start visiting with extended family, but given that I've now moved here permanently, I don't feel rushed and I've needed to rest.  Plus, there was Easter holidays and chocolate-filled children to deal with most recently.
Did you know that you can place a request for the Easter bunny to come by mid-day after all the kids have arrived? Yep, it's true.  Whoddathunk the Easter bunny doesn't have to come early morning while kids are asleep?

On the baby-front, all is good.  I have my first local OB appointment on Friday and I imagine that will lead to a busier regime of medical visits as I'm nearing the end.  I've quite enjoyed this little medical-break while between OBs.  No ultrasounds, no doctors since Mar 26, no non-stress tests (yet). Plenty of fetal movement (dancing babies!) and clearly growth.  I've been eating and sleeping a lot - I did mention that.  My poor tummy vividly shows growth; I've got some "angry" looking stretch marks as you might imagine.  Photos eventually, I promise.  For your imagination, consider my (former) belly button to be the center of a drawing of a sun with heavy red zig-zag lines emanating out.  It reminds me of an "angry" sun.
And gee, only another month of growth left... "only".
(You see, when I posted long ago about being "big", I wasn't really meaning I felt huge at the time, but it was the realization that I was big and yet there was still many, many weeks left of growth and I could not imagine getting bigger. I still can't.)
Oh, and eating, I can apparently still pack it in.  Honestly, I have no idea where the food goes when I'm eating, but I can eat more than the men... Plus the snacks throughout the day. Yep, eating and sleeping and... making room for more nutrients. That's my life.