Some thoughts on individuality

   I wonder how our children will want to be treated as they grow up? I didn’t have any siblings growing up so I don’t know what it is like to “share” the spotlight or “share” parents. I can imagine that there would be times that are difficult to a child when their parents are focusing or praising the other. I imagine it might be worse for twins. The competition, I think, can easily get out of hand. The more I read about what adult twins wish or regret, the more I think a balance of focus on individuality and unity is very important.

   Although I think that our boys should be in the same class in school, I think that they also need to spend alone time with each parent/grandparent/friend. I think they need equal recognition and praise for accomplishments, but I shouldn’t compare or encourage competition between them. They are individuals and should be treated as such.

   The one regret/disappointment I read over and over is that twins had a lack of individual pictures taken of themselves, especially as infants.  I like this idea of individuality. I think that, although I will take a bazzilion pictures of our boys together, I will now make sure that they have photo opportunities and treasures they can call their own and I will make individual albums of each boy.

   I think I can help strengthen a sense of individuality by making sure some of our boy’s possessions are clearly identified. Making sure they each have something to call their own, whether it is toys, books or clothes. And maybe create and enforce rules that respect individual privacy and property.

   I don’t want to overdo it and that's where the balance will have to come in. And I think it will be a fine balance indeed. I know that they will have some activities/things that they like to do or play with together and I should also encourage these while respecting their differences.

~Mat~

Are the dogs ready?

   We decided to take out the new stroller on our walk with the pups to see if they were going to be O.K. with the whole "walking with the stroller" thing. It turned out pretty well, actually better than I was expecting. The only pup that was weirded out by the stroller was the little one and she got over it pretty quickly.

   We did get some weird looks from people though. I mean, me walking the two big dogs, a pregnant mom to be with the little pup in tow pushing an empty double stroller does make for an interesting spectacle. :o-

   The stroller we were walking with was an awesome Christmas gift from my Mom and Bob. It's a Britax B Ready Stroller with the second seat adapter and two Britax car seats. Ours, with the seats, is exactly like this one here:

   ...but looked like this today only with black car seats instead of red:

   Thanks Mom and Bob! Yay, we had fun today. It was an awsome day to go for a walk along the Selkirk Waterway too. I'm excited about having the car seats filled so that we can walk together as a family... just not too early, kay guys!?! ;o)

Gestational Diabetes

The all mighty placenta releases hormones into the blood stream which increases every pregnant woman’s chance to get gestational diabetes and the more placenta you have the higher the risk. Carrying double, doubles your average chance. Yay twins!



Crap…



Kristy went for her 2 hour diabetes test (Which, for all you non pregnant people out there, is normal procedure.) and found that she is just slightly off the numbers that our Dr. wanted to see. Basically Kristy’s insulin isn’t working properly to get the sugars into the blood. That means that she now has to go see a gestational diabetes dietician to talk about what she can/has to do and what her new diet is going to be… which, honestly, isn’t very different than what she is eating right now. There are some slight changes, but nothing major.



Our Dr. thinks that Kristy can manage her diabetes with a diet change and won’t need insulin injections. That’s good, right? The GD dietician will go over Kristy’s diet with her and see if there is anything that can be tweaked or modified. She will also get test strips and a monitor that will test and keep track of her blood sugars. She gets to do that for a couple of weeks and then go back to talk to the GD dietician who will go over the results and test her blood sugars and if everything is good and even with the dietary changes nothing else has to be done except maintain that diet. If that doesn’t do it and her blood sugars won’t normalize or increase then she might have to go on insulin.



The tests start out with a pre-glucose fasting blood sugar test, which is the most crucial and was normal at 4.1/5, followed by a super tasty orange McDonalds type drink, the one hour post-glucose blood sugar test, which is less crucial and was right on the cusp at 9.9/9.9, and the two hour post-glucose blood sugar test, which is least crucial and the easiest to manage through diet and Kristy’s score was 9/8.4. So not too bad, all things considered.



The diet basically states a higher protein intake; no/low sugar intake and spreading carbohydrates evenly throughout the day should normalize her blood sugars. Like I said earlier, the diet plan that Kristy was given is pretty much what she’s been maintaining already, it’s just the consistency of eating times and a slight decrease in some of the higher sugar vegetables that will change. Not too big a deal.



We just happened to get all this info amidst our frantic last minute packing on moving day. Yippy, an added stress to the ones already in place:

1) Our movers got the wrong time and showed up four hours early, went to another last minute move and ended up being three hours late.

2) Kristy getting frustrated with not being “allowed” to help move anything. I can sympathize, that would drive me nuts.

3) We had to pick up a friend in Oak Bay, that was taking one of our couches, and drive it and her into Sooke. (I kinda liked the drive and she was really doing us a favor, so it wasn’t too bad, it just made a long day longer.)

4) Now we add the last minute Dr.’s appointment about a pretty serious topic and you have an interesting day indeed.

On the up side, the moving guy that owns the business liked the effort that I put in to help the move go along faster and offered me a job. Which was nice of him. We ended up having a few things in common too. Both being musicians and having/expecting twins. He had a boy and a girl and they're 25 now but, we had a good conversation about his experiences and what he recomends and loved about having twins. Cool guy. He felt guilty sbout the mix up and being late so didn't charge us for the extras (a matress bag, trolly use, extra moving plankets, wardrob boxes, and picture protectors) and gave us a bit of a discount to boot. A to B moving if your interested. We've hired them a few times.
Anyways, I’m glad that day’s over.



Till next time,

~M~

Thoughts

   There’s something amazing about seeing Kristy pregnant.  It compliments her. It’s true what they say about that pregnant glow. I’ve seen it every time I look at Kristy these last few months. It makes me ecstatic that she’s enjoying this, but I guess it’s a little bit of a double edged sword for me. I can see these babies growing at a never ending pace, making her more and more uncomfortable and limiting what she can do. I get frustrated for her wishing I could do more. I guess I'll have to wait till they're here to really help.

   It’s funny, the relationship between a man and the bump. I mean, for a dad, it’s a little more difficult connecting with the bump. Kristy has that physical connection to them; she’s what’s keeping them alive, protecting them through her careful actions; it’s hard not to feel a bit like an outsider in that relationship. Which means I have to try extra hard to find some way to bond with them.

   I’ve talked to them. Laugh to them. Played music and read to them. They say that if you play a song or read a book to them throughout the pregnancy, that particular book or song will soothe them when they’re out in the “real” world. The first time Kristy felt a kick she was so excited (I’ve written about her text to me in a previous post.) and the first time I felt a kick it took my breath away. Though the novelty might be wearing off a little bit for Kristy, my jaw drops and I smile immediately every time I feel them move. Kristy’ll go the whole afternoon and I won’t have a clue that they are kicking the crap outta her. I suppose that it’s because she’s constantly getting kicked and jabbed in the kidneys all day every day and she carries these babies 24/7. 

   My favorite time with the babes are when we’re sitting there, on the couch or at the table, and Kristy reaches over and places my hand on her stomach so that I can feel every single twist and turn of our little babies. It really is awe inspiring.I know I've said it before, but I can't wait to meet them.

~M~

Missed Dr.'s Apointment

   I'm going to start this blog post by stating that, yes I am skipping some things in the timeline scheme of things, but some of the things in this post I feel are important. I will be posting on the trip to find out the sexes, the first time we heard their heart beats, what we got for Christmas (Yes, I am that far behind) and so on, but for now, this is what you get. So there.

   Onward!


 I missed an OB/GYN appointment; which makes me a sad Dad. :o( I wanted to be there and be a part of every experience that is related to our babies. *sigh* But,  I did text some questions to Kristy that I had for our Dr. YAY!… and she laughed at me… and gave Kristy instructions for me to get the heck off the internets. I’m making myself more paranoid than I should be. Damn American health care system is messing my perspective on the damn Canadian health care system, which I can understand. Most of the info you get (or at least I find I get) online is going to be American, which can skew your view on Canadian health care. There are some things that are similar, but that’s just what it is; similar. >:oP

     Apparently our Dr. is wrong about guessing the sexes about 80% of the time. When Kristy went into the office and mentioned that we were having two boys, the receptionist had a good chuckle and had to inform our Dr. that she was wrong yet again. Kristy’s Dad, Ron, was kind enough to bring Kristy to the appointment this time and was introduced as “Kristy’s Dad Ron aka Grumpa” to the amusement of the entire office staff that promptly adopted the name and referred to him as Grumpa for the rest of the appointment. Awesome.

   I was given an update about the Boys. Baby A’s HR is at 150 and Baby B’s HR is at 140 and the one we thought was all nice and calm, Baby B, was up and at ‘em, moving around like crazy to our Dr.’s amusement. “I don’t envy you if they are this active now.” she says. “You better get all the rest you can, ‘cause you’re gunna have your hands full with these two.” Ha ha, thanks doc. :o~ They will also be growing at a rate of 4oz each a week until delivery. They’re at 25 weeks as of the appointment, so that means another 8-10 lbs in baby alone! (And that’s all together baby weight people, come on now.) Kristy would not be impressed if I mentioned how much weight she's gained and for fear of grievous bodily harm or death it's not going to be mentioned by this smart fellow, but it should be a pretty dramatic change from week to week when I post the belly growth pictures.

   One of my questions was about the medication that would be used if Kristy had to be induced. Which turned out to be Pitocin, the synthetic form of Oxytocin, and Cervidil, the synthetic form of Prostagandin E2, which are both produced, in their natural form, by the brain to start the labor process. Thank God Citotec isn’t approved in Canada. That is one nasty mama-jama. (Thanks American internets.) But, because both Pitocin and Cervidil are synthetic, they come with a lot of potential risks. Pitocin is the medication that gets used most of the time unless the patient has an allergy to it. The Oxytocin your body produces is chemically identical to the Oxytocin contained in Pitocin; the way your body recognizes them and responds to them is very different and that’s because Oxytocin is produced by the brain and affects the brain in its natural form.  Pitocin is introduced into the blood stream and does NOT affect the brain because it cannot get to it. Our bodies have a natural barrier for the brain to substances not produced by it. Pitocin and Oxytocin both affect your body, but since Pitocin is synthetic and doesn’t affect your brain, your body reacts differently to it... sometimes negatively. Some of the side effects from using Pitocin range from a mild headache to maternal death, not to mention what it could do to your child. (Or children in our case.)

   I’m not going to bore you with anything more. Just note that I’m not into the whole induction thing unless it is ABSOLUTELY necessary! Go here to read up on Pitocin if you so choose: http://www.rxlist.com/pitocin-drug.htm (Page 3 for the side effects) It should also be noted that part of our Dr.’s answer included that she has rarely had to induce in a twin pregnancy. She just wanted us to be aware of the possibility.

   My other questions worth mentioning are that Kristy has been complaining about a tight stomach later in the day, being woken up in the middle of the night by a sore leg and shortness of breath. The sore leg and some shortness of breath are attributed to low iron and low vitamins, (Easily fixable.) but the tightness of her stomach and some shortness of breath are an indicator of early contractions. YIKES! Our Dr. says, and this is for all you at Kristy’s work, that if her stomach is tight, she MUST sit down until it passes. Her working days are now numbered. (I love you baby)

Nov. 21, 2011 - Continue

   O.K. so telling your folks about a pregnancy is an important thing to do and you want to do it right. Kristy’s parents already knew that we were going to have a baby because Julie was there when Kristy took the test. Heck she knew before I did and since we didn’t want Julie to go bat-sh*t crazy trying to keep the secret, we told Ron right away as well. Well what they didn’t know was that we were actually having two. Which was pretty awesome ‘cause we got to surprise them a second time. Yay!

   My side had no idea at all, which is also awesome for obvious reasons. One being that my mother has been bugging me to have kids since I was in my early twenties… you don’t understand, I mean bugging me A LOT! (Sorry Mom, but it’s true.) I’m sure she was starting to give up on the whole situation, which turned out to be true and perfect timing on our part. (Ha! That’s what you get for pestering me.)

   Anyways, after we get out of the Dr.’s office Kristy gets on the phone to her Mom to give her an update. I should say that we had decided, previous to her phone call, to hold off and tell her folks about the twins in person… just ‘cause. And since Julie wasn’t getting home till a bit later we decided to go over to my Mom’s place and give her the news first. I mean, it was only fair since Ron and Julie already knew and we had decided to keep it from my side till we had the doc’s official, “Yes, you ARE pregnant.” So, I text my Mom from the parking lot to see if she was available, which she was, and off we go.

   We get to my Mom’s place on some pretext that escapes me at the moment and sit down, talking about some-such for a little bit. Meanwhile, my brain is numb and not processing anything but, ‘babies… babies… babies…’ I finally get around to broaching the subject. “Mom,” I said, “we have something that we need to tell you.”

   My Mom is definitely not a stupid woman and she is very intuitive, (Which kinda sucked for me as a kid, but that’s a different story.) so she immediately looked at Kristy and spat out the question/statement. “You’re pregnant!?!” Nodding Kristy said, “Yes…” paused then looked towards me and I added, “Times two.”

   As we nodded in affirmation my Mom shifted her gaze between myself and Kristy saying, “NO!?! TWINS!? Oh my Goddess” Bob jumped out of his chair all smiles and gibbering congratulations and my Mom is all but doing back flips she’s so happy. My Mom rattled off the usual questions while looking at the ultra-sound pictures, “Which one of us has twins in the family?” (My Dad was adopted and I had no idea what his medical/family history was. That info comes later.) “Who have you told? How far along are you?” Yadda, yadda. My Mom asked if she could tell her best friend, Jude, ‘cause they were just recently talking, wondering if I was ever going to have children. We say yeah, go ahead, so my Mom texts Jude about the news, giggling and laughing as she did it. Bob was almost hopping around he was so excited and happy. It surprised and touched me how happy and supportive he was actually. He’s going to be a great Grandpa.

   Half way through this visit we started getting text messages from Kristy’s Mom asking us where we were and to hurry the hell up. She wanted the news we were so cruelly withholding. So, we say our final thank-you’s to their congratulations and give out our hugs and goodbyes and off we go.

   Stop number two.

   We got in the door and sat down in the living room. I was already excited and was having a real hard time containing it. I mean, we didn’t get to surprise Kristy’s parents the first time… well we got to surprise Ron at the restaurant I guess… and I’m guessing Julie was surprised when she showed up at our place to pick up Kristy and found a blubbering daughter and her friend dancing around the living room, but we got a second chance to surprise both of them again, so YAY!  Julie turned on the lights and Kristy handed over the Ultra sound pictures. “So?” Julie asked, “What did the Dr. say?” “Oh you know, I’m at about 8 weeks and both heartbeats look strong…”

   Silence…

 

   “What? Wait. Twins?” Julie asked and looked at the pictures again over Ron’s shoulder. Ron laughed then looked at me and stated once again, “You know, you should really take my advice and jump in front of a bus while you still can.” We laughed and chatted about the Dr.s appointment and answered the usual questions about twins in the family, yadda yadda. Great fun.

   You try to guess how your parents will react to the news that they are going to be grandparents and sometimes, like in my case, you KNOW that they will be ecstatic. My Mom had been waiting for that moment for a very long time and to see that happy look on her face was amazing. I knew she would react the way she did and I’m so happy that I was able to put that kind of smile on her face. I also know that our kids are going to have the two best sets of Grandparents imaginable. Having twins is going to be… interesting and I’m sure glad we have these four people in our lives to back us up. 

   Nana and Grandpa

   and

   Amma and Grumpa

                                                        The first picture of the Twins

           

Until next time…