Did It Again!

I forgot to tell you guys that my au pair and I finished the entire series of M*A*S*H just the other day. We started right around the time she came to us (early January) and it took us just over 5 months to do the whole 11 seasons and finale episode. I don't know how many of you have watched that last episode, but there's a particular scene involving Hawkeye remembering what happened to him on the bus coming back from the 4th of July party. That scene is very, very emotional and it makes me cry every time. But this time it was different...I completely lost it. I haven't cried so hard in I don't know how long. Maybe it's the pregnancy hormones or the fact that I've been a mom for a while now (or both), but I covered my eyes and just bawled for a good solid minute. The kind of crying where your chest is heaving up and down. And I knew what was coming, too!! I've seen the scene twice before, and it affected me this time more than ever. I don't want to give it away for those of you who haven't seen this episode, but for those of you who have, you definitely know what I'm talking about...

On a side note, Shmuel made the funniest comment today. He referred to the new baby as "the third twinner". How funny is that! I was like "um sweetie, you can't have a *third* twinner...just two." hehe I love him.

My Baby Has a Nose!

Among other things. lol We had our nuchal translucency test done today, and all went well there. Baby is measuring 100% on target for his/her due date - 60.7mm CRL with a heart rate of (I believe) 149bpm. Nuchal fold was perfect...like 1.6mm, and they like to see it below 3mm. He/she was bouncing around all over the place during the exam and seemed to be having a good time. Here's a scan of the only picture I got *sigh*.

I can see that it's a head with a nose. :-D Anyway, after the scan the MFM doctor came in, and boy was that fun. NOT! The guy proceeded to scare me senseless about doing a "trial of labor" rather than an elective C-Section...telling me how much higher the risk of horrible things happening if I try to labor. Things like uterine rupture, higher risk of infection after a C-Section during labor rather than a C-Section not in labor, that kinda stuff. So, I'm being an informed patient and going straight to the source--the man who did the C-Section! He's supposed to call me so we can discuss what HE feels the risks are of laboring/delivering vaginally vs. planned C-Section. Since I want to have many kids, having several C-Sections is a really bad idea and something to try to be avoided, but having the baby and I live through labor/delivery is kinda the ultimate in importance. The doctor who did my C-Section has no monetary gain from me having a C-Section this time around, since I won't be delivering at his hospital. Hopefully I'll be able to get an honest doctorly opinion from an "innocent bystander" who actually knows EVERYTHING that happened in the delivery room. What are your thoughts? You guys know the story, what do you think are my chances of uterine rupture or something equally horrifying? :-)

New Addition

Hey, did you guys see the new addition to my blog? I'm posting belly pics again!! (Check the right sidebar for the latest) :-) As always, you can click on the picture to view the comparison between this pregnancy and last pregnancy, and you'll eventually be able to see how I'm growing. At this point, I look about the same as I did when I was 14-16 weeks pregnant last time. Hehe oops! Hopefully I will not continue along that path... Most likely eventually my twin preggo belly will far outstrip this pregnancy in terms of growth, and we'll get to see that happen! Enjoy!

By the way...did you know that yesterday was my hubby's 41st birthday? Yep, for real! In honor of the occasion, I'm going to post two pictures of him as a little boy. You'll notice that he looks remarkably like my son, Dovid... They make the same facial expressions and gestures. Well, there's no doubt about who Dovid's daddy is!

This is SO a Dovid thing...

In this one, he even looks like Dovid (including the belly button)!

Father's Day

Isn't Father's Day great? My hubby went to work, and I barely got to see him. I did give him a card, though. No present since his birthday is this week and I already got him three pairs of tzitzes (and three pairs isn't cheap). As for me, I went to a wedding. :-) I forgot my camera though (doh!) But I was sweet enough to call my hubby right before the ceremony started so he could (sort of) listen to it at work. I think he caught bits and pieces of it.

Now for the fun! I killed my toe this weekend. We have a room right off of our main stairwell that brings you to the stairs that go to the upper floor. In that room are bookshelves and such. I was trying to get in there to switch books (since I had just finished reading one) and discovered that the door was blocked because the dining room table leaves that were sitting behind the door had somehow flipped and were now blocking the door. I opened the door as far as I could and flipped the silly things back. Except now one of them was off the floor and hanging off of the other. So I tried to push that one to get it onto the floor. Well, I was successful, except that my stupid toe was in the way. Man those things are HEAVY!!! And my stupid toe hurt like heck the rest of the day (and even part of the day today). I iced it for a while, but it's still black and blue. *sigh* Poor toe.

Click HERE for Hebrew & Yiddish word definitions

Fun Evening

Yeah right... LOL I tried for a half an hour to find the baby's heartbeat today, but I just couldn't. I tried in every position imaginable and all over the place, but I was getting nowhere. So, I called the OB on call and she said #1 that after seeing the heartbeat numerous times on ultrasound and hearing it on Sunday that the chances of miscarriage are crazy amounts of low. Then she said that going to the ER to see if they could find a heartbeat would be annoying, long and expensive. So, she said that she would let me come up to labor and delivery for a quick check with her, and she wouldn't even make me register (thereby avoiding insurance fees and such). I was like "sign me up, I'll be right over". So, I went! One of the nurses brought me up to labor and delivery, and she actually recognized me from my trials and tribulations with the twins. She brought me into a room and I waited less than 5 minutes before the doctor wheeled in an ultrasound machine. She poked around, and we could see the baby but it took a little bit to find the heartbeat. (The ultrasound machine up there isn't the greatest, and she even said she's a bad sonographer. lol) She did find it (WHEW) and we watched it for a bit. She had no idea how to get the actual heart rate, but just seeing it and seeing that the baby was nice and big (she couldn't figure out how to measure that either), it made me feel LOADS better. So, nothing's really wrong...just the baby hiding from Mommy. I've decided no more doppler tries this week. I have an appt with the OB on Monday and then an ultrasound next Friday (the 25th), so I'll be juuuuust fine. And then I'll nearly be out of 1st trimester and able to breathe better. :-)

Finally!!

I was *finally* able to find the baby's heartbeat on my doppler just now. I've been trying on and off for weeks, but I didn't really think I'd hear it until after 10 weeks. Since 10 weeks I've been trying nearly every day with no luck. Boy, was the heartbeat difficult to find!!! In order to find it I had to be standing up (so my uterus was farther forward) and it still took me several minutes of searching. Once I found it, I got to listen to it for about 20 seconds before it disappeared again and I couldn't relocate it. (I didn't try for very long since I had just heard it, but still.) Yay!!! I finally go to hear it, and it's gorgeous. :-)

Bittersweet Day

Today is June 11th...what should have been my father's 82nd birthday. But sadly he is not here to celebrate with us...not his birthday, not the twins, not the baby-to-be. *sigh* Unfortunately he never had a chance to even meet my husband. In either case, at least he is watching down on us and can smile at his grandkids from up above. :-)

In other news, the twins had their 15 month checkups at the pediatrician. Dovid only weighs 19 lbs and is in like the 1st percentile for weight. He's 29.25 in tall, which is in a slightly higher percentile but not by much. Chana weighs 22 lb 10.5 oz, which is in the 50th percentile, and she's now 30.5 in tall (57th percentile). The dr says they are two healthy babies, but she wants to see them at 18 months to check up on Dovid's weight. She's also sending them to see an audiologist and someone to check their speech, since they're still not talking or understanding words. I'll make those appointments on Monday...

As for me, I got my hemoglobin and hematocrit levels from last Monday. My hemoglobin was 13.4 g/dL (the lowest normal for pregnant women is 11 to 12 g/dL!!!) and my hematocrit was 36.5% (and normal is 35-47% for women). YIPPEE!!! I'm not anemic, and both levels are even going up! :-D

Results

I finally got the results from yesterday's blood tests (well I got some of them). In any case, I still have the antibodies and my K blood type is still negative (of course it is...that kinda thing is genetic and doesn't change, you know.) But the good news is...my hubby is also Kell negative!!!! That means that all of our babies (including Chana & Dovid) are and will be Kell negative, so I don't need to worry about killing their poor little helpless red blood cells. *whew*!!! So that's a relief. Now we just need to make sure that this fistula isn't going to be a problem (and that I don't have an incompetent cervix), and we'll be all set.

Wheeeeew!

Today I had an appointment with MFM to discuss something called "anti-k antibodies". Apparently when I gave birth to the twins I was given Kell + blood and I am Kell -. This means that my body produced antibodies against this + antigen. This also means that if my baby is Kell + and if my antibodies cross the placenta, this can result in SEVERE anemia. Anyway, this necessitated a visit to MFM for a consult. Lucky for me I am quite resourceful and got myself scheduled for an ultrasound at the same time. I made the excuse that the baby was measuring small last time and shouldn't they check up on him/her. Hehehe Anyway, I was terrified that they were going to say something was wrong. I mean, I can't feel the baby yet and I can't hear the heartbeat via doppler, so I have no way of knowing that all is well. Sure, I have symptoms, but they're not really quantifiable. Sometimes I have 'em and sometimes I forget I'm pregnant (yep it happens). And even though my tummy is rounder, it's hard to tell since my tummy has been round since I gave birth to the twins. Anyhoo, everything is looking perfect!!! (Thank G-d) The baby came back from his/her deficit and is measuring 100% on target for 9w 4d (27.5 mm) with a heart rate of 170bpm.

Looks even somewhat human doesn't (s)he? Kinda like a miniature teddy bear. When we were watching the monitor, we could even sorta see really teeny arms and legs. Oh, and speaking of the monitor...the ultrasound rooms at St. E's are high tech now! They have a nice, large monitor right on the wall where the mom can see what's going on, rather than having to crane her neck to see what the technician is doing. And the technician can have the screen facing her, so she can do her best for measurements and such. It's a win-win and I LOVE IT!

Anyway, then we got to see the head MFM doctor who discussed the anti-K stuff with us. She sent my hubby and I for blood work--me to find out exactly how much of these antibodies I have in my blood and what kind they are, and him to find out if he's Kell + or Kell -. If he's Kell - then we shouldn't have a problem. Also, the doctor talked to me about having a cerclage placed...which I told her I would prefer to wait and see how things go. I mentioned to her my cervical fistula, and she actually expressed DEEP concern about it. She was telling me of a woman who was having repeated miscarriages due to a fistula. YIPE! I told her to check with my regular OB and to take a look at the MRI to see if it's really worrisome. I sure hope not...I was under the impression that the fistula was tiny and nothing to even speak about. Geepers...why can't pregnancy be less dramatic for me? lol