The results are in....

I had an ultrasound with Dr. Biter today and it appears to be...... (drumroll please).....

One Boy and One Girl !


I'm not convinced just yet though. I've seen lots of ultrasounds of little girls and I think the little boy may be a little girl. I was told several years ago that what you look for on the ultrasound is a LINE. A line in the genitalia region usually is a girl, whereas a boy has a less easily recognizable set of parts. I thought I saw a line.... we'll see. We have a lengthy ultrasound coming up in about 10 days (September 4th) and we should get a more definite gender determination on that appointment.

Baby A is already in a head-down position on my right, while Baby B is lying up above in transverse with his head to my right and his feet to my left. There is still plenty of time for Baby B to rotate to vertical, though that would most likely be a breech presentation. Either way, Baby A is positioned to be born first and Baby B will then be moved by uterine contractions (and possibly doctor assistance) to the best possible presentation (head-down is best, breech is okay, transverse... ).

Appointment Postponed

Well.... Dr. Biter is a very committed OB-Gyn and sometimes this means he must be with a patient in labor or surgery and regular check-up appointments get bumped. I got bumped. I tried moving my appointment from morning to late-morning, but the late-morning appointment ended up getting bumped too. So, tomorrow afternoon I will hopefully see Dr. Biter.

Back-To-School !

Today is our first day of school after a great summer break. ! All the girls slept past their alarm this morning, which is fine, the alarm is only to keep them IN bed until a decent hour. I had plenty of time this morning to have a cup of tea in solitude, check my email, make breakfast, set the table, and lay out clothes before anyone woke up. And we still had plenty of time to get ready for school before the bus arrived at 7:50am.

Alyssa and Lizzie are playing in the backyard and the house is clean and tidy - beds made, table washed, dishes done. :-) Soon I'll call them inside and we'll start our kindergarten homeschooling. We have group classes on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.

Routine OB appointment on Wednesday. I feel great, and feel fetal movements regularly. The contagious portion of the whooping cough has passed (I never caught it) and although some coughing remains we are healthy enough to be around people without fear of infecting others. On September 4th we'll have a lengthy ultrasound to check all aspects of the developing babies, including genders. !

Movement

I must have completely missed the "flutter" stage, because I've begun feeling little kicks and jabs from the little ones.

I kind-of thought that with twins I would grow twice as quickly (although that seems silly in hindsight because that would mean measuring full-term at 20 weeks) but my fundal heighth today measures 18 weeks which is only one week larger than my dates (currently 17 weeks). It will be interesting to compare fundal heighth measurements with twins to the normal measurements of a singleton.

I suppose I should measure my circumference too? Today I measure 34.5 inches (about 87cm). My pre-pregnancy waist was about 26 inches. I don't own a scale so I can't say how much weight I've gained; pre-pregnancy was 127 pounds. For the last couple of years I've worn only long skirts and dresses (with very few exceptions). This has made dressing my changing figure very simple with only my small fitted-waist skirts no longer fitting - most are elastic waist and fit just fine under the belly. Soon I'll have to get some maternity shirts though, or I'll be walking around with a long skirt, a little shirt, and a great big naked belly sticking out in the middle! Oh no, definately not my style!

Whooping Cough

Southern California (or is it all of California?) is experiencing a whooping cough epidemic. Whooping cough is a highly contagious respiratory infection caused by the Bordetella pertussis bacteria. Vaccinations may have around a 40% failure rate and teens/adults often don't get booster shots to maintain their "immunity". I don't believe vaccinations to be natural or healthy and have elected not to inject foreign proteins and toxins into my children.

All three of my kids (one at a time) recently experienced a two-day fever between 101F and 104F. After about a week of wellness they developed a cough - the oldest one first, then the youngest, and now the middle child. It is the cough of my 2-year-old that is most like whooping cough. She behaves normally until sudden coughing fits wrack her little body until she's gasping for air (whoop!). And then she's fine again. Whooping cough often lasts a good 6 weeks, with the most contagious part being before the coughing begins and for 2 weeks after. Antibiotics taken after the cough begins will do little to affect the course of the "disease" but will shorten the period of contagion.

SO..... I was supposed to see Dr. Biter today, but rescheduled to avoid infecting any babies that would be in his office. Infants have undeveloped immune systems and can die from a bad case of whooping cough. I never seem to get sick during pregnancy.... does the immune system work overtime during pregnancy?

My next appointment will be in exactly three weeks, followed by a lengthy ultrasound appointment on September 4th. We should find out the sex of the babies at that time. :-)