Guest Post From Puck:

Hunter-Gatherer: "I can't believe she tried to eat these rocks! It's a good thing I distracted her with my pants."

The twins have made 9 weeks and according to the latest ultrasound they are both 1 day further ahead than they were 2 weeks ago.  It would be completely irrational for me to try and take credit for a mere day’s worth of extra growth, but that isn’t going to stop me.

My newest token gloat:

“Yes, I’m the man.  I have stuffed my wife with protein and now the twins have picked up an extra day.“

Adding a day’s growth is not insignificant and it means extra fat on those kids when they are born which they will need to stay warm.

Our OB-GYN has upgraded us from the high-risk category to the pregnant with twins category.  Still not your everyday thing but not any scarier than any other twin birth.

Enter the Baby-Ninja

He also referred us to Dr. Hershey.  Dr. Hershey is like some kind of baby-ninja.  (Maybe a baby-doctor rockstar?)  He has the fancy expensive ultrasound machine and the birthing center seems to think he is amazing.  Reading the pamphlets about him makes him sound like he knows a thing or two about some stuff.

The gist is, “Dr. Hershey is very good at what he does.  Because you are a twin mommy you get special treatment and the really good doctor will do your tests.”

Why?  Well, with one kid lying on top of the other it’s harder to get good pictures with a regular ultrasound machine for one thing.  I don’t want to sound indelicate but there was some pushing and poking of Mary’s girly bits before we got two decent ultrasound photos for the blog.

We just got two new baby books in the mail:

• Twinspiration – This is nice because while still very thorough it is also funny and very calming to read.  It has a very “can do” attitude.  She usually takes the scary statistics and flips them to put them into context.  (For example, “This means you have a 99.9% chance of everything going fine.”)
• When You’re Expecting Twins, Triplets, or Quads, Revised Edition – This book is also very good with plenty of excellent advice.  (For example, which foods are better for which trimester.)  One of the authors also founded and ran a clinic specializing in births for multiples.

That gets us two more specific technical manuals for the bi-baby engineering.

We aren’t out of the woods yet and we take everyday as it comes, but right now the news is all good.

WifeWatch 2010

Food

According to the twin books, Yes… we are supposed to feed Mary an insane amount of food.  Because we found the twins at 7 weeks, we’re a bit ahead of the game on the food front and making good time.  Likewise, because Mary isn’t hitting much morning sickness we’re being able to really feed those twins.  Our next plan is to increase the number of meals per day.

Twin-mommy is being good and eating snacks during the day.

• Tonight, spinach and steak omelettes covered with cheese.
• Tomorrow, ham and beans in the crock pot.

Mood

Aside from her supersniffer and being a bit jumpy she is doing pretty well.  The occasional dizzy spell gets her and we tackle those with cold wash clothes on her forehead.

Last night when she got woozy, she tried reading in the tub but soaking in hot water isn’t good for her.  Instead, we tried warm water.  It sounds like a good idea, but it turns out that there is nothing so sad as a pregnant lady with her teeth chattering and shivering in the tub.

We got her out, dried her off and wrapped her up in warm sweat pants and a fuzzy bathrobe.  Once she was warm the pregnant lady was happy again.

Sleep

Right after lunch like clockwork Mary wants to sleep.  That is working great for us and I am routinely grateful that her teaching schedule worked out like this.

Babies Countdown – The Double Header

• Thursday, February 11 is Twin Week number 10.
• Thursday, February 18 is Mary’s appointment to get her blood work done.
• Someday in February Mary will have an appointment with Dr. Hershey the Baby-Ninja.
• Thursday, February 26 and our 5 week sprint ends which gets us to 12 weeks.
• Wednesday, March 3 is Mary’s Birthday which gets us to the second trimester.  At this point, we unlock the veil of secrecy and get to tell everyone.
• Thursday, May 7 and the twins become viable as early as 22 weeks.
• Thursday, May 20 and 90% of twins born at 24 weeks survive and that number only gets better from here on out.
• Thursday, August 12 and we hit our goal of 36 weeks minimum.  From here on the twins could come at any time.

Next goal? – I have started cleaining out the nursery.

We went to the Ob/Gyn for a follow-up appointment today, and the two little tykes are still doing well. Their heartbeats are good, and they are right on target for growth. In fact, they were a day ahead of schedule based on where they were last time. They’ve more than doubled in size, and we could actually see their heads and arms. At 22.1 mm (Twin A) and 23.2 mm (Twin B), they are both right around .9 inches in length.

Click on the images for high resolution. (You can just hit the back button on your browser to come back to the blog.)

Twin A is facing us with both arms up by the face.

Twin B is turned to the side. This little one is feeling bashful, using a hand to cover the face.

To give you a little perspective, our two little ones are each about the size of a grape.

Hunter-Gather considers his role in the Karmic Universe.

Guest Post From Puck:

WifeWatch 2010

Here is our update.

Food

Mary’s sense of smell has flipped on like a teenage superpower and this means that we can’t necessarily rely on leftovers.  Sometimes Tex-Mex bean dip sounds great and other times she can’t get within 10 feet of it.  It seems to be largely random and that means rapid adaptability in the kitchen.

Her stomach is also a little more sensitive to acidic food like lasagna so this morning I surprised my workmates with an entire pan of baked lasagna leftovers.  They were ecstatic and I was a bit sad to see it go.  (I saved a bit for myself, and I will eat it in secret.  Seriously, good lasagna is the gift that keeps on giving.)

Lots of Eggs…

We buy large flats of eggs with two trays of 30 stacked on top of each other.  They are little protein bombs waiting to go off and we have been cooking with them liberally here.  Mary’s day starts with fiber-rich crackers, 2 hard boiled eggs, and a glass of milk.

The other item of note is that while normally we would make steak and eggs with the eggs sunny-side up, Mary doesn’t get to eat raw eggs until she is no longer “great with child” (or in her case, “greater with children”).  With that in mind, Mary’s eggs are always fully cooked.

If you have never had one, an English breakfast is a wonderful protein hit that exactly meets Mary’s recommended food lists.  I’ll get a picture next time I cook one up and show how to put it together.

Last night was chicken alfredo sautéed in a slightly sweet butter lemon cream sauce with Italian seasoning and mint served over a bed of steamed broccoli.  It sounds good, but I think it was still missing something, and I’m going to keep working on it.

Mood

Morning Sickness

We had a brief episode of morning sickness on Sunday.  I tend to wake up first, and I heard Mary in the bathroom having a bad time of it.  A bit of husbandly rushing around and we got past it.

Here are the tools in my morning sickness arsenal:

1. Fiber-rich crackers by the bed and lazy wake-ups.  We set the alarm to go off early and she eats a few crackers before she stands up.  The distribution of blood in her body has also changed significantly, and moms can feint if they stand up too quickly.  This means I harp at her in the morning to eat crackers and get out of bed slowly.
2. A cold washcloth for the back on the neck.
3. Added a small bucket to the bathroom.  (Really, you don’t want to choose between sitting on the toilet or bending over it.  With a bucket, you can do both.)
4. Hair-tie.
5. Lemon juice.  (Rub it on her hands and have her hold them to her face.  The scent is supposed to help with nausea.)
6. Ginger candy – Another reported nausea fighter.

Anecdotally, Mary thinks that her nausea kicks off when her fuel tanks run low.  If the equation is “empty tummy equals upset tummy”, we can work to ensure that happens as little as possible.  Certainly, the twins will benefit from it.  We haven’t had any further morning sickness incidents yet, but we will keep an eye on that.

Jumpiness

The other thing I have noticed is that she has gotten really jumpy.  After several incidents over the last 2 days I have identified the M-scale of Mary scare-ification.

The Scare-ification M-Scale

• M1 – A Tiny Jump or Jump-ito: This occurs when the husband appears unexpectedly and speaks or moves in the presence of the pregnant woman.  In this case, the husband shall be lightly chastised.
• M2 – The Profanity Defense: An M2 Level offense occurs when the husband moves about the house quietly and then says something behind his wife who is innocently sitting on the sofa when he should be in his stupid bed sleeping.  Why the hell isn’t he in his stupid bed?!  What the hell is he trying to do getting out of bed and creeping about the house like some sort of burglar?!  If he needs to pee, he should have done it earlier or taken a 2-liter bottle with him.  In this case, the husband shall be sworn at with profanity.  Any profanity uttered by the pregnant woman shall be karmically re-assigned to the husband.
• M3 – Fight and Flight: The serious M3 Level offense occurs when the husband appears suddenly while the wife’s eyes have been closed and are then re-opened.  At this point, the husband can legally be struck several times with any nearby object before the pregnant wife attempts to escape through the nearest exit or, if no exit presents itself, by creating a new exit from an existing wall or structure.  Any strikes to the husband will be accompanied by several Amazonian battle-shrieks intended to intimidate predators, small animals, Great Danes, and any masculine lifeform.  As in the previous M-2 level Profanity Defense, wounds, injuries, or bludgeoning of the husband shall be karmically considered self-inflicted.

Sleep

The afternoon nap yesterday hit 3 hours which is good because she sleeps a bit more fitfully at night.  My hope is that means she is getting enough sleep.  We have a small army of pillows on the bed which she can arrange however she likes.  That might not mean much now, but later I expect getting her comfy will be a pillow-intensive process.

Babies Countdown – The Double Header

Thursday has become “twin day” in our house because that’s when we roll into the next twin week.  Every week we cross off without problems gets us one week closer.

• Wednesday, February 3 is our next ultrasound and we will be asking more directed questions and talk about picking a permanent OB-GYN.
• Thursday, February 4 is 9 Weeks pregnant.
• Thursday, February 25 and our 5 week sprint ends which gets us to 12 weeks.
• Wednesday, March 3 is Mary’s Birthday which gets us to the second trimester.  At this point, we unlock the veil of secrecy and get to tell everyone.
• Thursday, May 7 and the twins become viable as early as 22 weeks.
• Thursday, May 20 and 90% of twins born at 24 weeks survive and that number only gets better from here on out.
• Thursday, August 12 and we hit our goal of 36 weeks minimum.  From here on the twins could come at any time.

Next goal? – Still have not assembled the nursery.

After the rather challenging morning I had yesterday (see “Merit Badges“), I was a bit concerned about what I might be in for this week. However, Puck made sure I had crackers by my bedside, so I could eat a few before I got up in the morning, and he brought me a piece of ginger candy after I was up and moving around. I was surprisingly unqueasy this morning. Yeah!

We are both eagerly looking forward to our doctor’s appointment this Wednesday afternoon, and we’re hoping we’ll get to see the twins again and hear their heartbeats. We’ll keep you informed how everything goes! If you haven’t seen the photos of my developing belly, check out “Introspection“.

Yummy bean dip

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 pound hamburger
• 1 package of dried taco seasoning
• 1 diced green pepper
• 4 cups Picante sauce (more or less to personal taste)
• 1 large can of Rosarita refried beans (30 ounces)
• 1 can of black beans (or other preferred beans)
• 1/2 cup water (optional)
• 1-2 cups mixed Tex-Mex shredded cheese

In a skillet mix the hamburger, taco seasoning, and olive oil. Brown the hamburger using medium-high heat. (For softer green peppers add diced peppers while browning the meat.)

When meat is browned add the can of refried beans mixing it with picante sauce to thin the bean paste. (For crispy green peppers add diced peppers with the salsa.)

If necessary, add either water or more salsa to thin the mixture for ideal dipping.

Mix under medium-low heat adding shredded cheese gently stirring until cheese melts.

Remove from flame and sprinkle Tex-Mex shredded cheese over the surface of the dip.

Serve in bowls with corn chips for dipping and include these options:

• A large dollop of sour cream in the dipping bowl
• A large dollop of whipped cream cheese in the dipping bowl
• fresh jalapenos
• A fresh avacado

(Reheats well later.)