Archive for August, 2009

On Thursday, wifey, myself and “the unborn duo” headed to Delnor Hospital’s SAFEKEEPING High Risk OB. We met them during our last pregnancy after a scare with Julie and some bleeding around 24 weeks where the ER doctors determined her to be classified as high risk just to be on the safe side.

The first few times we visited we were extremely impressed with the staff, and over the course of the final trimester we enjoyed our time there, getting to hear our lil dude and see him on a reglar basis.

Costly? Yes. But who cares about money when you’re looking your unborn kiddo in the face and saying what up long before many other people get the chance to.

Of course, having twins puts her in the high risk category but we were told because the first one was high risk, the second one is most likely high risk as well, so we are doubly high risk this time around.

The goal for this visit was to get the NT test taken care of. The Nuchal Scan is done with ultrasound to screen for higher risks of Down syndrome. Because our last pregnancy only included one ultrasound at 20 weeks to determine the sex, we hadn’t experienced the test first hand, and this time we got to see it done twice.

The ultrasound technician, who was a ninja-ess in our opinion, was quick to point out the 4 arms, 4 legs, 20 toes, 20 fingers, 2 heads, 2 torsos, 2 stomachs, 2 healthy beating hearts, 2 bladders, 2 nasal cavites, and then we got to the ‘nuchal translucency’ party.

She zoomed in on each neck and measured the amount of fluid behind the necks of the twins. Both measurements were the same and in the safe category, so for now, things are looking good!

We’ve learned that our twins each have their own placenta, one anterior and one posterior and fused together in the middle. We were also able to see that the subchorionic hematoma and any and all cysts have disappeared.

Well, what else can we look at in there?
Surely we can’t find out the sex at this stage can we?

“I’ve had great luck the past few years with determining the sexes at this age, let’s give it a shot.”

The ninja ultrasound technician then started snooping around the pelvic areas of each sack and informed us that with practice she is able to pretty accurately determine the sexes based on the angle of the pelvic bone or something to that effect.

She then introduced us to our daughter, Baby A, Leah (spelling to be determined later) and our son, Baby B, let’s call him SuperDuperSquishyFace for now because we are in the midst of a battle for supremacy as far as boys names are concerned.

We’re having a matching set.

Salt & Pepper
Bread & Butter
Brandon & Brenda Walsh
Milli & Vanilli
Cream & Sugar
Venus & Mars
Awesomina & Awesoman

I could go on for pages, and I just might!

We have a permanent grin on our faces. We cannot wait to meet the pair.

I’ve read so much crap in the past four weeks I think I’m ready for a break from this constant barrage of NEW INFORMATION. It’s like one person tells me one of their bright ideas and all of a sudden I’m researching for sources of said idea and hoping to jot it down on here to remind myself when the twins are here and screaming their heads off.

Then there are the assholes you run into every once in a while who like to dig at the fact that we got one more baby than we planned for coming. “Whoa! Double trouble!”
“They’ll be a handfull!”
or my least favorite:
“That sucks!”

Really? It sucks? I’ve experienced pretty much every feeling you can have when freaking out about having two babies added to my family at once, but never that it sucked. Not by a long shot!

So, since June 28th @ 12:05am in Geneva, IL in the ER of Delnor Hospital, I’ve relied on my sense of humor quite a bit.

Thinking about finances: HA!
Making logistical room moves around the house: HA!
Imagining being able to afford daycare: HA!

I have no choice to fall back on my HA HA as a source of support because it’s always been there. Even more than some of my best friends, I can always appreciate a memory that makes me laugh or know that I can instantly find something to make me laugh to pull me out of a funk right quick.

And hell, here’s the weird part: Since finding out that we are having twins, I can’t imagine the last time I let a day be completely ruined by being pissed off.

So I’ve devised three steps to keep your sense of humor that I’m going to plaster onto the bottom of my underwear drawer to read every day. Do you see why it’s funny that I can do that? I DO THE LAUNDRY NOW, SO I WILL ALWAYS SEE THE BOTTOM OF THE DRAWER BECAUSE WE NOW LIVE OUT OF BASKETS.

HA HA.

Three Steps:
1.) Reward each decision with a high five. And I don’t mean a shitty regular high five, I mean, JUMP UP IN THE AIR, SAY “YEAH!, AND FIST PUMP AFTERWARD high five.
*We just decided on a budget for between now and TDay (twin invasion day) that will help us have some extra cash when we are both home for those two weeks. HIGH F*CKING FIVE LADY!

2.) Nothing should be rushed. Slow the hell down you bald son of a pharmacist.
*This morning I’m almost out the door, lil guy grabs a book and backs up into me, that’s his sign to read him a book. I left the truck running and finished the book, TWICE.

3.) Appreciate your alcohol.
*See, I’m a homebrewer, which means I can be a beer snob. So, rather than buying a 24 pack of ass beer, I buy a 6 pack of the highest quality brew I can find, and I enjoy them by themselves, on their own, giving them their own day. By making the lovely and delicious beer a reward for a day not stressing, I can exercise my pallette and remain in touch with my college days. Except now, I eat full meals instead of combos, milk and the occasional donut.

You just read this!
HIGH FIVE!

photo credit: tim eschaton

+ =???
photo credit: Nathan Jongewaard
photo credit: me and the sysop
photo credit: ark

It is understandable for people – especially new mothers – to be interested in things that help relieve the nausea associated with pregnancy – Morning Sickness. The fact that newly pregnant women often have this experience, coupled with the incorrect idea that pregnancy is a medical condition that demands treatment, makes it an obvious choice to look to drug companies to supply products to treat the nausea.

There are many non-drug approaches to relieving morning sickness. They range from deep breathing techniques, to meditation, to substances such as ginger root and vitamin B6 (pyridoxine). While not every approach works for everyone, most women will find relief from at least one of these approaches.

One such drug was a mixture of pyridoxine hydrochloride and doxylamine. It was called “Bendectin” (known as Debendox in the UK and Diclectin in Canada). It was voluntarily removed from the market in 1983 by its manufacturer, Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, following numerous lawsuits alleging that it caused birth defects, although an FDA panel concluded that no association between Bendectin and birth defects had been demonstrated. Diclectin is still available in Canada.

Even though the FDA found insufficient evidence that the combination was harmful, there were important reasons why a pregnant mom would not always be pleased with Bendectin. The problems are directly associated with the doxylamine component. It is an antihistamine and one that was widely know to cause both drowsiness (in addition to dry mouth, ataxia – jerky muscle movements, and urinary retention). In fact, it has been commonly used as a short-term sedative (non-prescription Unisom) and has even been included in some of the popular cold remedies – along with alcohol, it is what makes you sleepy when you take Nyquil. Doxylamine is more effective at causing drowsiness and sleep than diphenhydramine (the chemical name for Benedryl).

Doxylamine is staill available without a prescription and it is possible that pregnant women might be encouraged to use it to combat nausea and vomitting. The packaging is supposed to bear a warning against use by pregnant women. Even though the FDA didn’t conclude Bendectin was not harmful, they also did not testify that it was safe. Therefore, it is unwise to tempt fate and use doxylamine while pregnant. I suggest small amounts of ginger and/or pyridoxine (vitamin B6) – or any of the myriad of suggestions from others.

Larry J. Frieders, RPh

larry@thecompounder.com

The Compounder/Techni Med, Inc.
340 Marshall Ave #100
Aurora, IL 60506 – ph.630.859.0333

http://www.thecompounder.com

photo credit: surlygirl

The other day, I was interacting with some fellow twin-parents at http://www.twin-community.twin-pregnancy-and-beyond.com and I was checking out the links found in people’s profiles and I came upon www.doubleupbooks.com.

Normally if I can’t determine what the site is by reading it, I don’t visit, but I didn’t have that issue here.

I assumed that this was a website catering to books for twins, about twins, and perhaps, TWIN ORDERING! BOY WAS I ON THE MONEY!

Go check out my new friend Shelby’s awesome website DoubleUpBooks.com!

Shelby rules!

photo credit: findfado
Twinsight.com recommends this book about raising twins, and I’m pretty convinced I’ll need to devour it once the tots have invaded.

All of the quick reviews sound promising. So promising in fact, I’m tempted to buy multiple copies of the book to put in each bathroom in my house. YES, I AM A BATHROOM READER, IT IS MY XANADU.

Read what people are saying about Raising Twins: What Parents Want to Know (And What Twins Want to Tell Them):

Enough with the quickie reviews. Go check out Amazon’s other reviews towards the bottom: