Soon They Shall Emerge and Destroy Tokyo

My wife's most recent e-mail update about the little ones!

Hi All!

Jay and I are pleased to tell you that the twins are growing and thriving! Our ultrasound showed Faith weighing in at 4lbs, 14 oz., and Jonathan at 5lbs, 11oz.! Apparently in twin world we are having little giants! In fact, Jonathan was in the 90+ percentile!

They are both growing very well, have lots of fluid around them, and their heart rates are great. Unfortunately, Jonathan is now head up (breech) and may or may not turn around. If he remains in the breech position, there is a 100% chance that I will have a c-section.

They also did an internal ultrasound which revealed I am slightly dialated. I will go back next Tuesday for another internal ultrasound to see if there is any change. At which point they may give me the steroid beta-methazone (not sure about spelling) to increase the twins lung maturity.

Everything looked good on the non-stress test, and I will have another one next Tuesday as well.

Physically, I am doing pretty well. Lost two pounds this week which the doctor's say is due to the babies sucking up all the nutrients that I feed them! My blood pressure was 102/62, and I have minimal swelling. My abdomen is measuring 46 weeks! I have gained 37 lbs.

Typically, the doctor's do not intervine in twin pregnancies (via induction or scheduled c-section) until 39 weeks when they know the lungs are mature. But because the twins are so large, they don't think they would follow that guideline for me. They may want to do a double (two seperate sacks) amniocentisis at some point to determine lung maturity, but at the same time they may not -- it's risky and to be avoided if possible.

Today I am exactly 32 weeks. If I go into labor at 34 weeks or after, they will not try to stop labor. But it is always possible I could go 36 (my goal!) or more.

I am to take it easy and really restrict my lifting to about 10-15lbs. Good thing Monty only weighs 11.5! If I have more than 3 braxton-hicks contractions in an hour, or 3 an hour for several hours, then I will need to go to the hospital to be monitored. Needless to say, I am going to finish packing my hospital bag!

I think we are pretty much ready for the twins....car seats are in, cribs are ready, diapers and wipes are ready....it is getting much more real now. Exciting but scarey at the same time.

Please continue to pray for Faith and Jonathan. The best thing for them would be for them to stay inside for at least 3 more weeks-I really don't want to have them in the NICU at all.