How is it even possible that I’m sitting here, knowing that in less than 12 hours I will become a mom to two little boys? I genuinely can’t believe that I’m 37 weeks pregnant, and that tomorrow my sons will be born. I feel like my pregnancy has absolutely flown by, and has actually been a pleasant experience.
January
The third trimester started with the good news that I had passed my Glucose Screening. I was absolutely floored because I expected to fail based on my diet alone. I indulged in treats during the holidays, and was not eating healthily. My appetite never increased after my first trimester, so I wasn’t eating much, and didn’t bother to watch what I did eat. But, no issues, even after every doctor warned me that I was very high risk.
Work continued to go well, and I was able to maintain my same activity level. I was even going to the gym 2-3x per week. I had lots of energy, and even though I was carrying twins, a lot of people couldn’t tell that I was pregnant.
I had a total of 5 baby showers in January. My friends shower was held at my moms house and was amazingly perfect. That Sunday our friends from Pokemon Go held a small gathering to celebrate our impending arrivals. The following weekend was my family shower down in LA. I was so grateful to be feeling well because I had been nervous about the 3 hours of travel time, but it all worked out just fine and the shower was wonderful. At the end of the month both Hubby and I had a shower at our work places. I can’t get over the generosity people have shown towards us and our boys.
February
February started out with the rough news that Hubby’s job was basically laying him off. He has been with the same company for over 20 years, and one of their main contractors was apparently not paying their bills, but had instead declared bankruptcy. After awhile, Hubby’s company could no longer cover the costs of their employees, and so they said that no one could work on overhead. For the entire month he got paid less than 100 hours, and unemployment has yet to kick in. We have the feeling his company will bounce back, but we don’t know how long it will take. To be truthful, paternity leave will be a relief because at least he will have a consistent paycheck (small, but at least regular), and hopefully after 6 weeks his company will be getting back on it’s feet.
My parents sent us away on a baby moon in February. We just went to a local hotel, but it was an awesome night. We got donuts and played board games, which was a perfect evening for us. We also saw Aquaman, which was terrible, but I tried to enjoy it, knowing that it would be awhile until we got to go to the movies by ourselves again.
One of our friends generously offered to take maternity photos for us and they turned out amazing. We have had some very wet weather for CA, and so the settings for the photos were perfect.
February was also the month I discovered that my work’s short term disability, which is the only “paid maternity leave” I receive, is pretty awful. Basically, I go out on leave, and for the first 30 days I have to use vacation or sick time, even though the reason I’m out on leave is because of short term disability. Then, after 30 days my short term disability pay begins, but since it has already been going during the time I’m forced to use my leave, I only receive the remaining amount of time. Basically, if my dr puts me out on short term disability for 8 weeks (typical for a c-section), I will only receive 4 weeks of short term disability pay. Because of this, I decided to start my maternity leave at 36 weeks.
At 35 weeks I came down with the cold from H*LL. This thing was awful. It started innocently, like any other cold, and then I was hit with exhaustion, unbelievable amounts of congestion, and a cough that led to fluid in my lungs. It hit during my last full week of work, and I had to take almost two full days off because I simply couldn’t function. And, of course, as I finally started to get better after 10 days, hubby came down with the cold as well. At least I know now that the way I was feeling wasn’t in my head, because he has been terribly sick for almost a week. I’m almost entirely better after two weeks, with just a light cough which hopefully won’t be too terrible while healing from my c-section.
The past week, my one week of maternity leave before the boys arrive, has been so necessary for my mental health. Hubby and I had undertaken a huge number of projects and they were not complete, and our baby supplies were piled (mostly still in boxes) in our living room. I haven’t slowed down too much, but it was definitely difficult to keep up the pace at work, so it was nice to be able to slow down this week. My mom came over almost every day to help me organize and assemble things, and I’m leaving for the hospital in the morning knowing that we’ll come home to an organized mess. Before she had helped me, things were an impossible disaster, so this is definitely an improvement.
The boys have been doing amazingly well. Since late January I have undergone non-stress tests twice a week at the same hospital where I will deliver, and the boys have been perfect every time. However, they haven’t moved since 20 weeks. Baby A is still breech, and Baby B is Transverse, hence the need for a c-section. While they are doing the c-section tomorrow, I have also decided to have my tubes tied. I feel so incredibly lucky that I was able to have a successful round of IVF, and I am incredibly grateful that hubby and I get to be parents. But, going through another pregnancy is not a good option for me. Between my clotting disorder (and I shouldn’t go on BC because it can increase the risk of clots), and the depression and anxiety I suffered because of IF, I decided that this would be the best and really only option for me. I couldn’t go month to month with no BC, knowing that I could possibly get pregnant; this would put me right back in the IF headspace. I’m so content with the idea of my two boys, and they are enough for me. Hopefully this choice will immediately end any conversation someone wants to have about their friend who had TTC and then miraculously got pregnant with their next child. No tubes= don’t have to worry about pregnancy.
Ok, I should probably be going to bed since I need to be up at 5:00am. Hopefully I’ll get some sleep, and I will try to write more often once the boys are here. I can’t believe that the next time I sign in I’m going to be a mother!!
The Owl and the Empty Nest 