She's here!

I'm a few days behind, but Nugget has made her appearance, with a few extra days of baking.  My indecisiveness ensured that I delivered med-free, even after I caved and requested the epidural - too late for that.  Nugget came fast and furious, but has been pretty calm and laid-back since.  Nursing like a champ from the beginning.   The hubs and I apparently have a skewed view of baby size as a result of having toddlers, as we discovered later that we both thought she was tiny when she was born.

Stats: 8 lbs, 7 oz.  22 inches long. 14-inch head.  No growth problems due to the circumvallate placenta here. The OB did show the hubs and I the membrane on the placenta, which was quite sizable, and did say that it did appear from examination that it was circumvallate, but he sent it to pathology to verify as well.  It was so nice to have such a mundane outcome from something that Dr. Google suggested could be very concerning.

Another (last?) growth update

We had another follow-up u/s to check on baby's size recently.  Good news, baby is growing right on track in the 50th percentile, so the OB is fine with not continuing growth ultrasounds.  This ultrasound the tech was also not able to clearly visualize the circumvallate placenta on the scan.  I've been able to see it on the previous scans as well, and was having difficulty seeing the curved edges on the last ultrasound, so the OB is interested to see if the placenta is really circumvallate at all and has asked that if he is not there to deliver me, that I have them send the placenta to pathology to verify if it really is circumvallate.  Nugget has been very active, and I am almost certain she will have her nights and days mixed up when she arrives, as she loves to dance and kick away in the wee hours.

We're only about a month away from d-day now, which is still so hard for me to believe.  I've been trying to soak up time with SB and BW lately.  I remember not understanding when people who were having their second baby said they couldn't imagine how they could love another baby as much as they loved their first.  I get it now.  It's not so much that I can't imagine loving another baby as much as I love SB and BW, my concern is how will I possibly give them all the attention and love that they deserve?  Quality over quantity, right?

Circumvallate Placenta update

I have been impatiently waiting for the clinic to update my electronic health record so I can look at the actual measurements from our latest ultrasound, but so far, no dice, so I'll post a brief update on our latest ultrasound and I can perhaps fill in more info once the actual report is posted.  At 30 weeks, nugget is measuring a few days ahead, so no growth issues to be seen yet, which is such a relief! She is breech, but seems to be quite the gymnast, as she extended her feet down into my bladder and then pointed them up by her head several times during the ultrasound - all of the "pike" and "straddle" exercises that SB and BW love to do (carryover from toddler gymnastics) must be a favorite of hers too - this also explains why I have a hard time telling what direction she is.  I am a little concerned that she is so comfy being breech.  SB and BW were head down from 20 weeks on, so I'm hoping she gets the memo soon that the exit is the other way.

Doula indecision

I'm trying to decide if we should hire a doula.  We are very, very strictly budgeted right now because of some unexpected expenses, trying to eliminate our debt, as well as trying to make sure we have enough money set aside to cover expenses while I'm on maternity leave.

I had hoped for a natural childbirth with SB and BW, but my labor was an induction that I didn't handle very well.  I feel like I can honestly say I never felt a true contraction.  I went from not feeling anything, to feeling some dull period crampiness to feeling a constant, unrelenting pain.  There were no peaks and valleys, no breaks.  I made no progress the majority of the day (I was dilated to a 3 prior to the induction) and when I finally made it to 4, the doctor okayed the epidural and I asked for it immediately.  Once I received the epidural, I snuck in a little nap and went from 4-10 in about an hour. 

I learned from my labor with SB and BW that DH is a very passive birth partner.  I think he wanted me to ask for help and tell him what to do, and if I didn't say anything, I didn't need anything.  I'm very indecisive myself, so that last thing I wanted to be doing when I was in pain was giving someone else suggestions on how to help me.  We didn't receive any suggestions from the nurses on positions or anything to help with the labor process at all, so I felt very alone in the process.

This second time around, I'd really like to go into labor naturally and give birth without pain medication.  I have a reasonable chance of having a fast labor - I progressed very quickly once I started making progress with my last labor, and my mom had 2 quick labors.  So I'm debating the doula.  I'd really like one, but the cost is deterring me a bit, and DH doesn't really seem too on board with it yet.  I probably need to discuss it seriously with him again, but like most things, I'm procrastinating.  If we aren't going the doula route, I need to prep more for doing things on my own and giving DH more direction.

Breastfeeding twins - the prelude

I plan to do a series of posts on my experiences with breastfeeding twins, but in order to do so I've realized I need to post a bit about my birth experience to provide a bit of context.  I'm going to try not to dwell too much on the subject. I was induced a few days past 38 weeks. Both babies were head down, so I was able to deliver both babies vaginally. (Side  note - lots of people seem to want to know how you delivered twins, but they try to avoid using the "V" word at all costs, which can make the conversation interesting....)

Because I was a twin delivery, I delivered in the OR, and had monitors placed by the anesthesiologist. After BW was delivered, one of them started going off because my blood pressure was dangerously low. They couldn't get my uterus to cramp down, and every time they pushed down on my lower abdomen, blood would gush out. 

Long story short, I lost quite a bit of blood - normal hemoglobin is around 12; by the next morning mine had dropped to a six.  The babies arrived in the evening - when we returned to our room after delivery, I nursed SB first- she latched on immediately and nursed like a champ. I then began to nurse BW - she struggled a bit with latching and wasn't sucking effectively - we found out later, after she spit up tremendous amounts, that she had swallowed a lot of amniotic fluid prior to delivery, plus she had extensive bruising from delivery so she probably had a whopper of a headache. 

While I was nursing BW, the nurse suddenly came and said I had to stop nursing and lay down, as my blood pressure was quite low (80 over 50? I can't remember) and my pulse was quite high - near 200. I was also running a fever and shivering uncontrollably. 

We ended up spending four nights in the hospital, and I ended up with a blood transfusion. I have no recollection of large portions of the hospital stay. I basically remained lying down in bed unless i had to nurse. As I had never had a baby before, I had no idea that my fatigue was very abnormal and stemmed from the blood loss. 

It took four days for my milk to come in. The girls both lost a lot of weight in the meantime and developed jaundice. On day three I finally had an assertive nurse who got me started on a nursing and pumping schedule and use of a supplemental nursing tool. The lactation consultant for the hospital did not even visit me until the day before we were discharged. I think they expected that I would give up on breastfeeding, but they underestimated how stubborn I can be. 

I'm back!

So, I've been on hiatus for a long time, like a bad blogger. But I'm making a comeback. Since my last post, I've gotten pregnant, delivered twin girls, and I'm currently in the thick of raising my twins, working, and trying to stay sane. I like to refer to other blogs for insight on my twins, so I thought I would dust off my blog and hopefully provide a place for info for others as well. I'll probably do some historical posts to cover things that have already happened, an some current info, so bear with me as I jump around.