Week 27-30: Month Seven
Spring is in the air :)
With the twin’s health back on track, it’s time to start worrying about other things.. Getting the apartment ready for babies! My husband and I are not setting up a nursery in the conventional sense, we are just converting half our living room into a space for the twins. Currently, our living room is our “movie room” with a projector on one wall, and our sectional sofa opposite. It is on the main floor and there is a door separating the room from the rest of the apartment. No stairs to keep running up and down all day. Our plan is to add a little man cave in the half by the closet, so that the entire section of the room is dedicated to the babies, their clothes and sleep.
I am feeling tons of movement - there are four little arms and four little legs all squirming around in there. And I thought I was tired before.. I am beyond exhausted now. No more running for me, I can barely walk around the neighbourhood to run errands. My poor puppy is so bored; we went from six mile runs, to only going out for bathroom breaks. Luckily my husband and I live half a block from Central Park, so I bring her there to play and run. Throwing a ball feels like a chore.
More exciting news: I received the first shot of the Covid vaccine, Pfizer. Now that I am in the third trimester with the babies mostly developed, my doctor strongly suggested I take the vaccine. My husband is in the middle of his shots, he will be vaccinated by the time the twins are born. Our plan is to travel with them during the summer and it looks like “vaccine passports” are needed.
My vaccine experience was pretty uneventful. The appointment was in a track centre, temperature check at the door, fill out a form while waiting to check in, give filled out form and ID to person behind a computer, vaccine card issued with my name on it, walk over to another area, handed more papers about the Pfizer vaccine, sat at a desk with a nurse who gave me the shot, and had to wait 15 minutes to make sure there wasn't a bad reaction, while someone came over to make the next appointment. Easy. I was in and out within 30 minutes.
Not many symptoms afterwards, other than the usual sore arm, tiredness (however, I am always tired) and I woke up in cold sweats from a nap. Simply took Tylenol and went back to sleep for the rest of the night.
Another fun fact: there is no direct causation (remeber corelation, and causation are different) that you can’t have sex until six weeks after you give birth. It is made up by woman and doctors for new mothers to have a break, and not be expected to have sex. So fascinating! I asked around, and it seems to be true! My doctor said there is nothing stopping you from having sex after birth, except for the pain. He even told me to be careful and wear a condom because you can become pregnant right after and if breastfeeding you should wait six weeks before starting hormonal birth control. Of course, if you needed stitches down there, it will be very uncomfortable, and you MIGHT acquire an infection if you have sex piror to four weeks after. That’s your choice. If you are up to it, you can have sex right after the baby comes out. However, it will be very messy for the next few weeks, as you are bleeding out lochia (blood, mucus, and uterine tissue). Basically one heavy period. Not ideal conditions, but definitely not unsafe.
These last two weeks have been back to worrying about Baby B -- he has Intrauterine Growth Restriction (IUGR) and is teetering between the 9th and 10th percentile.
What does this mean? Baby B is much smaller than other babies his age, including Baby A, who is measuring at the correct size. Doctors are not sure what is causing Baby B to suddenly stop growing again, but it’s probably related to the overall TTTS.
All we can do is monitor the situation; hopefully I can make it to at least 32 weeks, take steroids to help Baby B’s lungs grow as much as possible, and have a c-section around 33 to 34 weeks.
1. Running: managed to run 3.5 miles four times (more of a brisk walk with a little hop to my step), and walked 79 miles -- no more running for me, it hurts to walk more than 30 minutes
2. Weight: up to 143lbs, officially 20lbs up from my start weight, my belly is so big and uncomfortable, I truly do feel like a whale washed on shore
3. Nutrition: still very thirsty all the time, supplements, my taste is going back to pre-pregnancy (strongly dislike fruit, enjoying iceberg lettuce with half my taco bowl, love eggs, eating big bowls of oatmeal and soup)
4. Symptoms: still so incredibly exhausted all the time, having more restful sleeps
5. Books: Cribsheet by Dr Emily Oster, I think I am done listening to baby books for now
cbxo
