Moopers’s Weblog

L is up to a healthy 145 lbs, just above the required range.

A few days ago she had purple fingertips under her nails as she exited the shower.  It went away in minutes.  It happened again the same way the next day.

This evening her ankles were suddenly quite swollen.  Her left more than the right.  A common symptom, sometimes serious (blood clot? pre-eclampsia? anemia?).  Putting her feet up lessened it pretty quickly.  So we’ll monitor the sitch and go from there.

Meanwhile we are really enjoying our pre-baby days.  I’m working hard (just got a quick project), L is still driving down the Peninsula to her job.  She’s growing and growing and I’m getting a kick feeling the nightly kicks in her belly.

We’ve started watching Jon and Kate plus 8, which is a lot of fun.  If they can deal with 8 we can certainly deal with 2!!

We went to a parents-of-multiples meeting today for the first time to meet others in the community.  Fun and informative.

One of the questions that came up pertained to BP-A’s in baby bottles.  It’s now being phased out by all the bottle manufacturers.

Unfortunately, it turns out that Leslie has been drinking from a Nalgene bottle with BP-A’s for a couple of weeks, ever since the guy at the hospital said L needed to hydrate more.  It’s unlikely to have caused a problem since it’s been only two weeks and the bottle was not left in hot sun or microwaved.  But nevertheless we’ll toss that and our other Lexan bottles.

L’s weight is a bit off its trajectory: back at 139 lbs.

A few days ago she had a bad night.  Seems like painful indigestion.  We called the Labor & Delivery number at about 2am when we were both exhausted and discussed whether to go in.  Fortunately it subsided twenty minutes later and all was well.

The economy is bad.  GM, Ford, Chrysler gasping for air.  Dow under 8000.  President-elect Obama is choosing his cabinet.

We are signing up for various baby classes.

P began and ended his fashion modeling career.

P is looking into the transition of health insurance.  Once L goes on her leave of absence we’ll be on our own.

We got a nice digital SLR and are taking tons of pictures.

L has a complicated pillow setup in bed to get comfortable.

L is trying to get more water to stay hydrated.

We are going to pick up a reclining glider chair from Fremont tomorrow.

L’s joints swell and hurt at night.  It’s hard to grab stuff in the morning.

We are going for lots of walks.  The weather has been amazing in November; lots of t-shirt weather days like today.  L is getting plenty of short-roping to make it up our local hills.

L is moving up in sizes and ready to move to the next set of clothes.

Our ultrasound showed them at about 1 pound 4 ounces, with the boy being a bit bigger.

- P

Last Friday night L was feeling unusual pressure on her cervix, and she had a bit of leakage.  Probably nothing (the boy has started to press up against her bladder and kick it), but we wanted to be safe.  So we decided to take her in for her first hospital visit, pretty late at night.  It was our first trip to the Labor & Delivery floor at the Kaiser hospital.

Everyone was extremely nice as usual and very thorough.  There is no such thing as a quick checkup when you go to emergency while pregnant.  They put her on the rack, checked her fluids and changed her tires.  They put little seismographs on her belly to measure contractions (there weren’t any), did a bit of painful cervical scrapage to check for various infections (all clear), groped for cervical length (2.5 – 3 cm = good) and did an exterior ultrasound.  L’s pee was pretty concentrated so they want her to drink more water.

The whole process took 2 – 2.5 hours.

Awesome!!

I think they are celebrating Obama’s — and the planet’s — victory.

- P

“Look!  I ate the whole thing!”

“Without ralphing!  Congratulations!”

“Thank you!”

—

“Brrrrraaaap!”

“Good one!”

“Thanks!”

–

“Brrrrraaaap!”

“Bless you.”

“Thanks!”

The weeks seem to be flying by now.  I think this is partly due to all the “scary” doctors appts behind us now.  Yay!  My 2nd trimester symptoms have been relatively tame: minor nausea, salivating, slight lower back pain, shortness of breath.

As my belly grows and I rack up the pounds, I’m finding myself out of breath often, especially walking up the stairs and Noe Street.  Twin bellies are supposed to be 6-8 weeks larger than a singleton belly.  I know my belly will get larger.  I just can’t imagine how it will.

P has been pampering me by cooking dinner almost every evening.  I arrive home starving and am greeted by delicious smells of dinner on the stove.  Two nights ago, he baked up a wonderful moussaka (good for me, not so healthy for him).

I’m so excited to start to feel movement inside my belly.  It feels like bubbles mostly.  However 1 or 2 times I’ve felt a big internal kick that is definitely NOT bubbles.  Baby B seems more active, or more easily felt right now.  I wish I had my own ultrasound to check them out every day.

JFB (from New Jersey) let us borrow her Baby Plus (aka Baby Bongos).  Her baby boy is literally the “happiest baby on the block”.  Despite all the psuedo-science around Baby Plus, if P & I can get a baby that’s halfway like him, we’re willing to try it.  I walk around with the Baby Plus strapped around my belly sounding like a ticking time bomb.

P just bought his first “Dad” purchase… a Nikon D80 digital SLR camera.  It’s really a step up from our battered 4-year-old digital point and shoot.  P has been testing it out and if I’m in the room, I feel like the “papa-razi” are on to me.

My next milestones are 26 weeks (50% chance survival), then 28 weeks (90% chance) and finally 32 weeks.

MegD and Mom are planning a baby shower 1/11/09.  It’ll be my 31st week, so I hope the mini-schwees stay in until then!

-L

At Cala supermarket, a young mother is pushing a double tandem stroller.

I say, “We have a pair on the way.”

She says, “Don’t worry… it’s really not that bad!”

One point for closest without going over (Price is Right rules).

Two points for getting it smack on.

So far: P has 8 points, L has 6.

Weight: 135.5 lbs

- P