Eleven days can seem like a very long time when you go away on vacation to someplace tropical. You can become so far removed from your real life that you truly get a vacation. Or, 11 days can speed by when you're so busy you can feel your head spin as you bounce between work, family, an attempt at a social life and just trying to make sure you have enough clean clothes to get you through.
What will 11 days feel like as I await the birth of my twins at the hospital? Twins that, when we learned about them in early November, we weren't sure we were ever going to meet...
Tomorrow I will be 31 weeks pregnant with my Monoamniotic/Monochorionic twins and I will have 10 days to go before my c-section and their arrival.
There have been some questions about the timing of delivery at 32 weeks and 3 days. The main question is something like this, "If they are still doing well, could the doctors decide to leave them in longer and push back the c-section date?" The answer is a little complicated, but basically, risks increase after 32 weeks for monoamniotic twins to stay inside. This is because of the increased chance that one or both of the babies' cords could become compressed as the womb becomes more crowded. I have talked to six doctors and only one said she would want to wait until 34 weeks to take them out. So, we're going with 32 weeks and 3 days.
Since my last post, Riley has completely recovered from the chicken pox and only has some scabs and fading red marks to remind us of the horrible week he had. I have been using a very mild hydrocortisone cream on my PUPPS rash and it has made it nearly disappear from my body. I was a little nervous to use it at first, but I am SO incredibly happy to not be itching and sitting around with tons of ice packs on my body whilst becoming increasingly uncomfortable due to my massive belly. I want to know where this miracle cream was in June 2010 when I was nearly driven insane by my itching???
The hospital has continued to be a source of intrigue and drama. I have a new roommate now who is also a smoker. She is nothing like the ashtrays, but she does go out one or two times a day to smoke her cigarettes. She is very nice and is recovering from an emergency c-section due to a detached placenta. Her baby is in the neonatal unit and because she was deprived of oxygen at birth, may have brain damage. This has been a sad situation to see unfold and has added a bit of stress this week. I am hoping that things work out and the baby rebounds, but based on what my roommate has been saying, it doesn't look good. In addition to the baby being in peril, the father of the baby and of my roommate's older child has been here a few times causing some drama. I really feel for my roommate who is in a fragile position.
I have made a friend who is in a room down the hall, but walks around more than most of the patients in this unit. We met in the food line when we both announced that we do not eat pork. I suspected my friend was Muslim and at some point I told her I was Jewish, maybe because she wondered why I didn't eat pork. We have continued to talk most days and sometimes we have tea together in the evening. Tonight we talked about Muslim/Jewish relations here in Denmark and, of course in Israel. It was fascinating and completely non-confrontational. I feel fortunate to have met my friend.
I continue to be blessed with friends who visit me at the hospital and who call to check on me, or send emails or mail care packages. Every day I feel lucky. It has gotten to the point where I will not be able to read all of the books that have been given to me or watch all the DVD's. I have, however, managed to eat much of the chocolate. Next week I have a friend coming to help me make a belly cast so I can remember just how humongous I am with two babies in my belly. I remember arriving in Copenhagen in the dead of winter and feeling what it was to really be alone. We did not know a soul and were in a foreign country. How different things are two years later and how blessed my little family is to have so many wonderful friends here.
I find it amusing that I just typed "my little family" because, actually, we are about to be not so little anymore. We will be a family of five! Five? As you can see, I may need some time to wrap my head around this twin business - what it means to have twins on the outside. We have been so concerned with their well being on the inside and their survival, that we've hardly thought about the logistics of having three children under three years old. Maybe it's better not to think about it?
And finally, I thought you might like to see a photo of my strange tin-foil-covered light. Creepy right?
What will 11 days feel like as I await the birth of my twins at the hospital? Twins that, when we learned about them in early November, we weren't sure we were ever going to meet...
Tomorrow I will be 31 weeks pregnant with my Monoamniotic/Monochorionic twins and I will have 10 days to go before my c-section and their arrival.
There have been some questions about the timing of delivery at 32 weeks and 3 days. The main question is something like this, "If they are still doing well, could the doctors decide to leave them in longer and push back the c-section date?" The answer is a little complicated, but basically, risks increase after 32 weeks for monoamniotic twins to stay inside. This is because of the increased chance that one or both of the babies' cords could become compressed as the womb becomes more crowded. I have talked to six doctors and only one said she would want to wait until 34 weeks to take them out. So, we're going with 32 weeks and 3 days.
Since my last post, Riley has completely recovered from the chicken pox and only has some scabs and fading red marks to remind us of the horrible week he had. I have been using a very mild hydrocortisone cream on my PUPPS rash and it has made it nearly disappear from my body. I was a little nervous to use it at first, but I am SO incredibly happy to not be itching and sitting around with tons of ice packs on my body whilst becoming increasingly uncomfortable due to my massive belly. I want to know where this miracle cream was in June 2010 when I was nearly driven insane by my itching???
The hospital has continued to be a source of intrigue and drama. I have a new roommate now who is also a smoker. She is nothing like the ashtrays, but she does go out one or two times a day to smoke her cigarettes. She is very nice and is recovering from an emergency c-section due to a detached placenta. Her baby is in the neonatal unit and because she was deprived of oxygen at birth, may have brain damage. This has been a sad situation to see unfold and has added a bit of stress this week. I am hoping that things work out and the baby rebounds, but based on what my roommate has been saying, it doesn't look good. In addition to the baby being in peril, the father of the baby and of my roommate's older child has been here a few times causing some drama. I really feel for my roommate who is in a fragile position.
I have made a friend who is in a room down the hall, but walks around more than most of the patients in this unit. We met in the food line when we both announced that we do not eat pork. I suspected my friend was Muslim and at some point I told her I was Jewish, maybe because she wondered why I didn't eat pork. We have continued to talk most days and sometimes we have tea together in the evening. Tonight we talked about Muslim/Jewish relations here in Denmark and, of course in Israel. It was fascinating and completely non-confrontational. I feel fortunate to have met my friend.
I continue to be blessed with friends who visit me at the hospital and who call to check on me, or send emails or mail care packages. Every day I feel lucky. It has gotten to the point where I will not be able to read all of the books that have been given to me or watch all the DVD's. I have, however, managed to eat much of the chocolate. Next week I have a friend coming to help me make a belly cast so I can remember just how humongous I am with two babies in my belly. I remember arriving in Copenhagen in the dead of winter and feeling what it was to really be alone. We did not know a soul and were in a foreign country. How different things are two years later and how blessed my little family is to have so many wonderful friends here.
I find it amusing that I just typed "my little family" because, actually, we are about to be not so little anymore. We will be a family of five! Five? As you can see, I may need some time to wrap my head around this twin business - what it means to have twins on the outside. We have been so concerned with their well being on the inside and their survival, that we've hardly thought about the logistics of having three children under three years old. Maybe it's better not to think about it?
And finally, I thought you might like to see a photo of my strange tin-foil-covered light. Creepy right?
.JPG) |
| View from my bed. Note 1980's TV and tin foil light. |
Yeah Jodi! Soon and very soon!
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