Well, I've made it to 31 weeks. Ideally, we'd all like for me to get to
36 weeks before I give birth, as that's the point at which we can expect
that neither baby would need to go to the NICU after birth. Between 32
and 34 weeks, if I go into labor, they're going to want to try to stop
the labor, shoot me up with steroids to do rapid lung maturation, and
then let me go back into labor after 48 hours. At 34 weeks, lung
maturity won't be an issue, but there's still a chance that one baby or
the other would have to go to the NICU for some period of time.
My OB would like to see me get to at least 34 weeks.
The perinatal nurse I see every week would like for me to make it to at
*least* 36 weeks, 37 would be better. (But if it's 36 1/2 weeks and I
haven't gone into labor, I may engage in various activities that could
promote going into labor.)
The babies' heartbeats are good, my ankles are *slightly* swollen,
nothing to worry about too much, my blood pressure is OK, my belly is
longer bottom to top (at least, the outside of it measures longer when
it's measured from bottom to top, most of that is from growing *out*),
and my cervix is in reasonable shape for a woman carrying twins at 31
weeks who has had a baby before. No indication that I'll go into labor
in the next week, anyway. (I'm still having contractions, but not too
many.)
I'm also rather uncomfortable, I waddle like a penguin when I walk
sometimes (especially if I'm just getting up after sitting for awhile,
or lying down for awhile), I feel like a beached whale when I try to
move while lying down, it's hot outside, I can't get enough good sleep
at night most nights, and I'm cranky as a result of all that. And my
maternity clothing is starting to not fit very well, but we don't think
it's worth it to spend a whole lot on stuff that I'd only need for a
maximum of 7 more weeks. Well, I got a new pair of sneakers, but
there's a difference between clothing not fitting so well and getting
close to the point where it'll be impossible for me to tie my own
shoes. (These ones zip up. They're kinda cute.)
In other news, my father-in-law had a number of scans done on him on
Monday, CAT, MRI and bone; they found a tumor in his right lung 1.4cm
across, which is in a very bad spot to attempt surgical removal, so they
started him on chemo shortly after he saw the oncologist on Wednesday.
He'll be on chemo for 3 days in a row every 3 weeks for 4-6 months.
It's a rare sort of cancer he has (all I know is that it's a
neuroendicrine cancer) and it is likely to come back, so he may be
looking at 4-6 months of chemo every 2-3 years for the rest of his
life. One side effect of the chemo drugs they're giving him now is an
increased probability of leukemia at a later time, but he probably
didn't have more than another 20-25 years left in *any* case (he'll be
72 next month, his own father died at 95 or 96), so the thing is to keep
him alive *now*. Another side effect of the chemo will be loss of his
hair; he's not a terribly vain man about his looks, but since I've known
him he *has* taken some pride in having a full head of hair that hasn't
started going gray *yet*, and that's going to go.
One thing about all the scans was that they found evidence of a recent
rib fracture. He'd had some pain in one side and seen a doc about it,
and the X-rays they took at the time were negative for a rib fracture,
but the X-ray didn't get the right angle, whereas everything he went
through on Monday did. (He has mild osteoporosis. Both of Sammy's
grandmothers have great bone density, both of my grandmothers had good
bone density, but we've got a weak link, so to speak, in Sammy's
grandfather, and the next time Dan goes for a physical exam, I'm going
to remind him that he needs to talk with his doc about this. I figure
I'm in good shape for now, anyway, but I myself ought to start getting
bone density tests at some point....)
So, in a nutshell, I'm uncomfortably pregnant and Dan's parents won't be
coming anytime *real* soon; I'm wondering at what point they'll be out
there to see the new grandbabies. (My mom will see them as soon as they
get home from the hospital, as she's here helping out with things.)
Julia
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