Moopers’s Weblog

Although L is barely showing, she is now marveling at her feet, which she says are not her own.

Yay, all four of us made it through week 10.  Week 11, here we come!

L had a good day today.  Drove down to work, did not hork (but almost did).  Ate very well, eating dense food that will digest slowly.  Had a good long night’s sleep last night.  Did have 5-6 palpitations through the day that go for ~3 seconds.

At night, L is burning up and barely has any covers on while P covers himself with two comforters!

L’s weight hasn’t increased much; she’s at about (113?).  Great Expectations says that the next 10 weeks will be a time of rapid growth.

Just two more weeks and we’ll be out of the danger zone!

- P

Another symptom to keep track of: heart palpitations.

L has been having them for the past few weeks.  Yesterday she had about six during the day.

It’s on the list of typical symptoms, but we should tell the Dr. and act if they get too bad.

- P

It’s been really nice feeling the love and support of those we’ve told about our growing mini-schwees.

Email from my Mom:

Hi L:
I just ordered the wedge pillow for you. I should
receive it in a couple of days. Don’t forget to reduce
your stress and cut down on your social schedule. You
and P have spent so much effort on this project,
you should relax and enjoy this pregnancy experience.
Besides, you have worked for 20 years and you deserve
a rest.
Love, Mom

Email from L (of J&L):

It was great having you/P/Mom, I’ve never felt so relaxed and had so much fun. Esp when you both told mom the great news I am so looking forward to the coming days. I’ll be thinking of all 4 of you in my prayers. Also if you are down this way and need to take a break on the way home, just come on over for dinner or a nap.
Take care,
L

-L

Not to panic or anything, but, for the sake of the record, we should note the concern du jour: testing.

It’s set up as a perfectly balanced dilemma.  Do you want to know with certainty whether your fetus is not going to have any serious birth defects?  You can do it, but it will cost you an x% chance of killing it in the process.  You don’t want to know?  Okay we won’t kill it with testing, but there’s a y% chance of something really bad happening.

L is over 35, and we have twins, so both x and y are greater.

So let’s be cold and clinical for a moment, and face some of the numbers.  According to “When You’re Expecting Twins, Triplets or Quads” (revised edition, 2004), amniocentesis is generally performed between the 15th and 20th week of pregnancy [w16 and w18 according to Twinspiration, 2006].  (Earlier and the “complication rate” is higher; later, it’s harder to terminate if necessary.)

For singletons, the risk of “loss of the fetus” (euphemism for miscarriage?) is 0.6%.  [Great Expectations puts this at 1/250 = 0.4%] Okay, that’s somewhat tolerable.  And then: “In twin pregnancies, the rate of fetal loss is 2.7%.”

2.7%!?!?!  You shaMITTING me??  4.5x higher?

Gets worse.

CVS can be done between 10th and 12th week (which is now for us).  It takes two weeks to get the results back.  The big advantage is you can terminate within the first trimester if necessary.  “The disadvantage is that, compared to amniocentesis, CVS carries about double the risk of miscarriage.”

Shall we translate?

Double = 2x.

2 x (bad) = (really bad)

2 x (2.7%) = (5.4%)

5.4% risk of miscarriage due to CVS?  One in 18.5?  Could it be so?  (It’s strangely difficult to get corroboration on such statistics.)  Twinspiration: “Many doctors are reluctant (or understandably unwilling) to perform the ‘riskier’ prenatal tests in a multiple gestation pregnancy.  Others are confident…”

[Web stats:  "Risk of miscarriage [due to CVS] is probably ~1:300 in experienced hands.”  That’s 0.3% for singletons, which is a lot better sounding.  “Miscarriage for CVS [for singletons] is 1:100, amnio 1:400″]

So here is the good news: there is still a 95%+ chance that everything is going to be just fine. We’re going to march in there, courageously submit to one of these two test, knowing that the specialists at our large hospital are awesome and far better than the average.

First things first: the triple screen and ultrasound to check for nuchal transparency.

- P

====

Internet followups: “the nucheal/triple screen is only 85-90% effective, meaning you’re eft with a 10-15% of a false negative. I had a friend who received 1/10,000 chances from her screen last fall and then the baby had turner’s syndrome. Another friend who experienced two chromosomal abnormalities. The risk of CVS or Amnio (which appear to be about same now, in experienced hands) is more acceptable to me than the risk of a false negative on the screenings. I have another friend who had twins, screens all came back fine and then in the delivery room, one of her sons has down’s. As my ob said, I’ve seen a cluster. Also, every doc I can find said they would do diagnostic vs. screening if it was themself or their wife.”

Update with even better news: one of the best Dr’s in the area doing CVS is now at Kaiser.  Loss rate is lower than 1:250.

We broke the news to Mom last Sunday at J & L’s house!  Everyone was playing with little B on the floor when P ahemed “WELL, ma-in-law.  We have some news!”.  My mom got an excited glint in her eye, sat upright on the edge of the couch and answered “YES?” with beaming grin.  You could tell she was hoping for a specific type of news.   At first, P joked he got a higher position at his company, then he gestured towards me.  I  blurted “B is going to have a cousin!”.  My mom was SO excited and got up to hug and congratulated us.

We let the news settle in for a while and when things got calm again, P said, “Actually, we have more news for you.”  She perked up again and said, “More news?”  P said, “There are TWO,” making peace sign with his fingers.  “TWO?”  That announcement caused more pandemonium and my mom was just bursting.

I asked my mom on her experience of morning sickness, and she vaguely said “every pregnancy is different”.  Later on, we find out she had a really BAD morning sickness and anti-nausea drugs that caused lockjaw.  I guess I have it “good” compared to my mom.  She had also said that she was down to 100 pounds.

It was so fun to announce the pregnancy to my mom.  I feel the pregnancy is a bit more “real” in my mind.  In 4 weeks, we can let the world know our secret.  I’m toying with my future Facebook status line (one idea “L is showing and telling”).

The congrats and well-wishes given to P&I when we’ve told people is like when P&I announced our engagement at Andalu in front of all our friends, on my birthday.  It’s was the happy moment before the logistics of the next step began, whether wedding planning or baby rearing.

There’s mixed emotions as we tell more people.  The stakes seem higher that this pregnancy goes smoothly.  The odds are on our side for a change.

-L

Amazingly, L is already 25% through the pregnancy! If feels like we are still complete newbies.

Today the Amazon guy delivered a stack of 3 books about twins, which L started devouring.

Something strange is going on with me. Dishwashing gloves are finding their way onto my hands involuntarily. When L declares, “I’m hungry” I’m in the kitchen looking for palatable options before she has a chance to lift herself off the couch.

Tomorrow we’ll tell her mom, so it will be a big day!!

- P

L’s current okay-to-eat:

• Martinelli’s sparkling Apple cider
• Triscuits and Monterey Jack cheese

No longer okay to eat or drink

• Grapefruit juice
• Gatorade
• English muffins
• Bland, defrosted beef stew

Current cravings:

• fried chicken
• biscuits

Latest aversions:

• cooking smells
• the T-shirt I wore to bed last night, imbued with cooking smells (which I could not perceive)

L’s sense of smell is heightened.  I told her that she could help the police solve crimes by smelling the underwear of a missing person and finding the body in the woods.

- P

We can now recite 3 couple friends of ours who wanted and tried to have a vaginal birth.  All ended up having a C-sections despite working towards a natural childbirth.

• One had no epidural, and no problem with the pain.  But when the labor dragged on, her energy depleted and she couldn’t push anymore.
• One had a birthing tub and a doula, but some complication quickly put those plans to rest.
• For one, the water leaked out, the cord got smooshed, and the baby lost nutrients.  Doctor recommended a caesarian and they both went, “Okay!”

Thank you, science and modern medicine, for taking care of these people.

- P