And the Doc Says...

Amanda is progressing perfectly. The doctor equated her cervix to an impenetrable wall of steel in that there is no appreciable thinning. How it is that such a tiny lady seems to be made to carry twins is well beyond my understanding. Far healthier, far taller women have struggled through their multiples pregnancies but somehow we've sailed through with no real bumps in the road. She's uncomfortable as heck these days, to be sure, but she's remarkably happy. I'm quite thankful for the ease, whatever the reason.

During our appointment on Thursday, the babies measured 4 lbs 10 oz (Raiden) and 4 lbs 12 oz (Timothy). They're right around the 50th percentile for growth if they were singletons, so everyone is quite happy about that. Consider, however: that's 9 lbs 6 oz of baby. To quote a certain great modern thespian, "Whoah..." In any case, the heartbeats are strong, the movements look great, and the time for them to emerge into this crazy world of ours is nearing ever closer.

An amusing thing happened during the ultrasound: Raiden flipped! After all that discussion of c-sections, traditional vaginal births and breech extractions, that little punk decided to be a gymnast and aim his head downward. Amanda contends that he must be my son given that he can't seem to make up his mind what he wants to do and wants to put off making the decision as long as possible. We had decided that we were going with a scheduled c-section, but this throws the decision into question.

The big (related) news is that the doctors wanted us to set a specific date for either induction or a c-section. We have gone with May 7th, my mother's birthday, as the date these boys will make their debut appearance. We don't know if it will be an induction or a c-section--that decision is up to Raiden, probably--but we do know it will be that day. We're supposed to be at the hospital starting around 10:00, so we'll just have to see what happens then.

Oh my...21 days. We're both emotionally ready and the house is very nearly ready, but I still have a strong feeling that we have no idea what we're getting ourselves into.

Seven Pounds of Funk (& of baby!)

Let me open by welcoming any Fatherhood Friday folks from DadBlogs & Question of the Week folks from Multiples & More.

Glad to see you and I hope you'll stick around! Now, on with the show.

We had another fantastic appointment yesterday, our 31 week check-up. The ultrasounds suggest that the boys are now weighing in at 3 lbs, 10 oz. each. Their growth is actually on track for singletons, but they expect that to start tapering off a bit soon. They both look quite healthy with strong heartbeats and tons of movement. Timmy is still head down, but Raiden seems determined to remain in a breech position.

We have a special affection for one of the doctors. She is about the same size as Amanda (5 feet even) and is extremely nice, but she was quite concerned with Amanda's "tiny torso" when we first saw her back around week 20. She has expressed pleasant wonderment and shock as Amanda's abdomen continues its outward trek, compensating for her smaller torso by demonstrating a fantastic ability to defy gravity. I'll post a new picture in the next couple days to let folks see this for themselves.

In any case, it seems that Amanda's body is handling this twin pregnancy perfectly. The single issue we'll likely face is Raiden's position. As such, we have to make some difficult decisions concerning birth. The ideal scenario, obviously, is for Raiden to turn and for Amanda to deliver both of these guys vaginally. Given that we have no idea if Raiden is going to turn, we're left with a few options:

1) Do a scheduled cesarean section, whether labor begins or not, after 37 weeks (probably May 7th, my mother's birthday).

2) Vaginal birth with Timmy, hoping that Raiden turns or can be coaxed to turn. If Raiden does not turn, perform a cesarean section.

3) Vaginal birth with Timmy and a planned breech extraction (they have someone well versed in breech extraction at our hospital).

Note that the doctors are advising the first option, at least presently. Also note that we will listen to the physicians the moment they say something is very strongly advised, but at present they just seem to be suggesting certain routes.

I worry about Amanda's recovery time from a c-section and Amanda is concerned with statistics that show lower chances of successful extended breast feeding with babies delivered by c-section and we both wonder about the medical profession and its tendency to push for c-sections out of convenience more than medical necessity. At the same time, the idea of a breech extraction scares the heck out of Amanda because of the many horror stories out there. I should note that, while discussing this issue, Amanda reminded me of one of the many reasons I love her by equating a scheduled c-section to cheating in video games. I said something like "Yeah, and it's not even like checking GameFAQs", to which she responded "No, it's totally an up-up-down-down-left-right-left-right-b-a-start kind of a thing." If you're not a video game junkie from the original NES days, you'll probably not get that joke, but here's a link to the reference. Translation: we're both giant nerds and our children are doomed.

In trying to make this decision, we're starting a "pros and cons" list for all options, but we're hoping to get some input from anyone who has birthed multiples or singletons via breech extraction. What was your experience? Would you advise others go the same route or a different one? Any input would be greatly appreciated!

And now because every post needs at least one picture, here's one of Thomas being subjected to torture helping me unwrap my present from the previous post:

He's pretty cute. Amusingly enough, up until about a year ago almost all of his photos were with him barking as he seemed to hate the camera. That phase seems to have passed. Yeah, I think we need one more.

Ok, now I have a proper post.

Again, any input on the birth plan issue would be really helpful. Thanks in advance!