2 pounds!, marking time in a hospital and a roommate

Greetings from the hospital.

We learned today that the babies are approximately 2 lbs each. This is good news. They continue to follow the growth curve for normal babies and if they keep packing on the weight over the next month, they will have an easier time being born early at 32 weeks.

We also scheduled a tentative birthday (much more fun than saying a tentative day for the doctors to cut me open and take the babies out) for March 26th. It is very nice to have a specific day to focus on and look forward to. If all goes well and the babies are born that day they will be 32 weeks and 3 days gestational age and have a really good chance of a relatively short and uncomplicated NICU stay.

I have been here for nearly two weeks. I can't say the days are flying by, but I have been fortunate enough to have several visitors and enough stuff going on that I am not totally cringing at the thought of being here another month. I feel incredibly fortunate to have good friends all over the place who are supporting me in their own ways. Friends in Copenhagen who have come by to see me and chat at all times of the day. Friends in the US and other parts of Europe who have mailed me everything from books and magazines, to snacks, cozy socks and a fully loaded Kindle. Friends who send me emails to check in and keep me amused for a few minutes every few days. Friends who call me to chat and keep me occupied. Friends who are praying for me and the babies, or just sending us positive vibes. It is amazing how cared for I feel because of my fantastic community of friends and family. I continue to be very glad that Neil and I decided to share the news of this pregnancy with everyone when we did.

Life in a hospital has a certain rhythm and I am slowly tuning into the rhythm here. I now have several events I can check off my checklist as a way of marking time.

• So far I have been here for two concerts in the hospital lobby and I should anticipate seeing two or three more as they tend to happen two or three times a month. 
• I am on my second ID bracelet because I noticed this morning that most of the text on the bracelet had worn off. A friendly midwife informed me that I will need a new one every two weeks. So, two more ID bracelets before the babies are born.
• This morning one of the midwives cheerfully came in my room and announced it was Midwife Day! This means I got my blood pressure checked, had to stand on a scale and was checked for any swelling in my feet and hands. This will happen four more times before the babies are born. 
• We will have an in-depth ultrasound where the babies are measured two more times before they are born. 

It may be a little silly, but it's nice to have some rather mundane things to help mark the time.

***

I had a roommate for three nights this week. It seems I made the mistake of thinking about how much I enjoyed having a room to myself. No sooner than I had that thought a woman showed up to occupy the other bed in my room. She was also pregnant with twins and came for laser surgery on her placenta because of twin to twin transfusion syndrome. We check for signs of transfusion syndrome every week at our ultrasounds, so I am very familiar with the problems that occur when one twin starts taking all of the resources from the placenta and the other twin slows in growth.

I was not thrilled when my roommate showed up on Monday afternoon, but she turned out to be incredibly nice. While I wasn't happy to have my privacy so quickly taken away, it was nice to have some company. We talked about how humongous our bellies are getting with two babies inside and laughed about the flaws of the hospital room - broken lights, a shower that doesn't drain, televisions from the 1980's. It was nice. Happily, her surgery went well and after two days of post-surgery observation, she got to go home this morning.

I was incredibly nervous when she went down for her surgery for several reasons. Primarily, I didn't want her to have any complications and lose one of the twins. But selfishly, I also didn't want too much sadness to invade my living space. I am working overtime to be as positive and cheerful as possible and the possibility of someone else's loss seeping in to my head space was alarming to me. It was interesting to realize my self-interest in a virtual stranger's surgery going well. I am not proud of this, but at least it was accompanied by a genuine desire for her to have a successful surgery for her own sake as well.

I have my room back to myself tonight. I am listening to music and feeling two babies dance around in my belly as I type. Four weeks and four days to go...