November 14, 2004

Normality

Depending upon which side you view it from "normal" can be a blessing or a curse. To the over-achiever nothing could be more boring. To the disabled, nothing ever looked so good. From our vantage point on this sunny Sunday in November, Normal is a Miracle.
In August we learned that our pregnancy was not normal, that the range of normal outcomes included both babies dying, and one or both having severe disabilities. We learned nothing about what a normal pregnancy is like, so we spent our time praying for normality.

On Friday our bi-weekly ultrasound revealed... a Miracle?... Normality? Two weeks ago our "little" guy was not on the charts for average size, and our "big" guy was hanging on to the bottom line. And their weight discordance was 27%. Friday they weighed in at 2 1/2 and 2 3/4 pounds. About 12% discordance. And They are both on the "normal" chart now, and it never felt so good. My friend Andy, who boldly predicted a 15% difference by birth, was our most optimistic guess, but still was not optimistic enough. If this continues at this pace our "little" guy will not be so little.

Our fear of ultrasounds is waning. More memorable than their growth, the ultrasound showed both of them sucking their thumbs. We watched as one switched from his right thumb to his left. They are healthly little boys. The long list of things that could still go wrong is shortening and every kick we feel hastens the return of the proud parent.

Dr Sofficci says that in terms of a due date we will treat this as a normal pregnancy, which depending on a couple things could give us babies anywhere between Thanksgiving and New-Year's Day. The later the better.