October 26, 2004

Reality TV

Is it possible to forget that there will be babies in our house? Soon? We sit on our couch with Megan's belly bulging with babiness, with scars and bedrest to remind us, and somehow the baby part sneaked out of our thoughts. In our minds we are perpetually pregnant and on bedrest. Our own personal Groundhog Day. Not only have we adjusted to this sad way of life, we have accepted it as our lot. We were looking forward to the two month mark, the time when Megan would have her work rules relaxed. We were hoping for several hours of roaming freedom per day. It was a great dangling carrot. If it seemed she couldn't lie down anymore I could always remind her that it is only for two more weeks. Until Saturday when Dr. Delia called to check on us. Maybe he installed spy cameras in our house, because somehow he only calls when Megan is standing up. After telling a little white lie Megan had the nerve to ask him what he needed to see to let her off full-time bedrest. And as if his cameras had revealed her unhorizontalness he then administered his punishment. The boys need to be the same size! Something that we aren't expecting until they are two. Instead of being one week away she is only half way after 2 months. So we have settled into our lot, knowing that we can't hope for their early arrival lest we spend that time in nicu. Bedrest Vs. Nicu, Bedrest always wins. Sorry Megan.

We awoke from our alternate reality Saturday night when, for the first time in the history of reality television, the television was more real than reality. We know better than to watch anything on the Discovery Health Channel but we were roped into "Special Deliveries" by the promise of the c-section delivery of mono-amniotic twins.(not what we have but intriguing if bored). After a half an hour of crying our way through 3 seperate birth/nicu stories we realized what everyone else already knows. We are going to be that family. Even if everything goes perfectly normally, birth is scary. Every woman would be given a purple heart for it if it weren't so awfully common. We somehow have been feeling that the worst is behind us and only the joy of meeting our boys lies ahead. Sometimes we need a little Reality TV to recalibrate!

Our ultrasound tonight revealed continued progress. While they are both on the smaller side of normal they are both growing normally and even continue to close the gap between them.

The Numbers:
Big Guy : 871 grams - about 1 pound 15 oz.
Little Guy: 631 grams- about 1 pound 6 oz.
Discordance - about 27% . That is down from 39% pre surgery. From 34% a month ago and from 30% 2 weeks ago.

The objective now is just to keep them in as long as possible, and in so doing, simultaneously keep Megan out of Labor/Delivery and out of the phsych ward.