First off, Happy New Year! May you all be blessed in 2011!
I'll start with the great news. I don't have gestational diabetes! My OB called himself and left me a voicemail saying that my numbers were perfect after the three hour glucose tolerance test (I had failed my one hour). Praise God! I am not celebrating with milkshakes or anything like that. I already try to be conscientous about what I eat but now I don't have the added worry of an actual diet. If I want a cookie, I eat the cookie. I just don't eat three cookies under the false impression I am eating for three. So the news really left me feeling a lot better that I wasn't hurting the boys by imbibing on that one cookie.
For the good news, we had our first childbirth education class. I went in with very low expectations as it was a hospital sponsored class and figured it would be a "How to Be a Good Patient and Have the Birth We Direct" class. Instead, I found the R.N. teaching the class was very supportive of natural childbirth and kept referring to having options. She also stated that our bodies were designed to give birth which I found really interesting. She mentioned that the epidural rate at the hospital is approximately 75-80% which theoretically means up to 1 in 4 women at that hospital are attempting non-medicated births. That's not a great number but it is better than some hospitals nation wide. Another amazing thing about the class was that out of five couples in the class, three of us are expecting twins! The couple that sat next to us are expecting identical twin girls and have the same OB. Another couple was expecting fraternal twin girls. I believe that all the twins' due dates were within the last week of March which I find pretty incredible. The instructor only knew that one couple, Eric and I, were expecting twins so it was quite the surprise for her as well. The instructor stated that in our third week of class we would be going over birth plans and how to create one. That was very encouraging as some hospitals are known to be very antagonistic towards birth plans and essentially ban them.
And for other stuff, I am officially in the third trimester (28 weeks)! That feels really good to say because I know that, God forbid, if the babies came right now, they would have an excellent chance at survival.
I am also frequently hearing the comment, "You must be getting close." Hmmm, how do I respond? Sometimes I just say that it is coming up soon and leave it at that. Other times I feel the need to explain that my dute date is not until the end of March but that I am having twins and they can come at the end of February and be considered full term. The latter option involves a lot of extra questions from the inquiring stranger. If this happens on average 3-5 times a day, I get kind of burnt out. I think I am going to stick with the smile and say, "Yep, soon."
Also, these babies have gotten very, very active. It's like they are practicing for the UFC in there. The other night they kept me up for a while. When the alarm clock went off the next morning way too early, I snuggled up to Eric and told him he had to feel what they were doing. I had my belly against his back and he started chuckling at how much he could feel them. If he finds it remarkable at how strong their kicks are from the outside, you can imagine how it makes me feel on the inside. I woke up with a sore belly. I am not complaining however. I find it reassuring when they move that much. I figure it means that they are growing strong.
So I am trudging onward and looking to meet my 36 week goal!
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