Baby Ticker

Thirty-Six Week Appointment

Agnes @ July 20, 2005, 10:12 pm -- [Week 36, Day 2]

Today was our second to the last OB appointment before our scheduled C-section! Just one more visit next week. Last week, our doctor said that if I were to go into labor, she would probably give me some terbutaline to stop the contractions. This week, she said that they would just go ahead with an early C-section. I guess by 36 weeks, they’re pretty confident that the babies’ lungs are okay. From a pediatrician point-of-view, a 36 week baby usually goes home at the same time as a full-term baby would, so I feel good about that. Even though part of me wants to get this pregnancy over with, I would like to make it to my scheduled C-section date, August 2nd. Things will just be much more controlled and predictable, and the babies will be fatter and more mature, which means that they might be better at breastfeeding.

I’ve been definitely having multiple contractions a day, but nothing regular, and I’ve learned all sorts of tricks to make myself feel better. For example, emptying the bladder is key–this means I’m literally in the bathroom once an hour, even at work. Drinking lots of fluids helps as well. Warm showers are good too. Then, the best thing is to lie on my side. I can’t do the last two things at work, so I’m probably being tougher on my body than I should. On the other hand, I still feel strong enough to go to work, so I’m going to try and work until July 29th, which is the Friday before our C-section date.

Today, our doctor just did an ultrasound, which showed that Twin A is still breech, and Twin B is transverse, meaning she’s floating sideways on top. They’re still pretty equal in size, which I’m quite happy about. I’ve seen a lot of cases where one twin is almost two pounds heavier than the other one! Bernard asked our doctor about having a camera in the operating room, and she said that it was definitely allowed. She also mentioned that the anesthesiologist would probably take several pictures of the two of us with our babies, because a lot of the anesthesiologists are camera buffs. I laughed because taking pictures is probably an unofficial part of their job description. In the OR, they’re the only person besides a nurse (who is usually running around) who is not scrubbed in and sterile, so they can handle and manipulate the camera. Actually, because we’re having twins, we’ll also have a neonatologist and a few extra pediatric nurses in the room as well.