They're Here!

Alice Inez and Sophia Louise were born at 10:43 a.m. and 10:44 a.m., respectively, on November 6, 2010. Here is their birth story:

On Friday, November 5th Jessica had a routine midwives appointment. At that appointment her blood pressure was very high and she was "dumping proteins" in her urine so preeclampsia was diagnosed. She had also gained almost 20 lbs in the last two weeks, clearly from water retention as she was very, very puffy all over. The midwives ordered blood work to see how bad things were and sent us home. I started to get worried as I went home and read more, so I went to Meijer and got an automatic blood pressure cuff to check her blood pressure at home. It was 165/94. I called the midwives again and they told us to head to the hospital. We got to Mercy St. Vincent hospital around 4:00 p.m. Once admitted, Jessica and the babies were monitored for hours. Dr. Jackson (the doctor that works for the midwives) and the hospital staff decided to keep her overnight because her blood pressure was still very high. A nighttime blood draw revealed her platelets were dropping fast, so it was decided very early Saturday morning that a c-section would be performed at 10:30 a.m. This is a picture of us getting ready for surgery.

Jessica was prepped in the operating room and then I was brought back. It was very upsetting to see her strapped down to the table and drugged. Plus, she felt like she couldn't breathe. Obviously she could, but since the spinal block was administered so high, her chest was numb so she couldn't feel herself breathe. Things happened quickly and Baby A (right) was brought out at 10:43 a.m. Baby B (left) followed at 10:44. Sophia was always labeled Baby A in the womb, and Alice Baby B; however, Baby B became Baby A upon delivery because she was brought out of Jess's uterus first! I was able to go over to the warming tables and see and touch each of them immediately. Both were so small!! Alice was 5 lbs and 18 3/4 inches long. Sophia was 6 lbs. 5 oz. and 20 inches long. We were very worried that they would need time in the NICU, but they ended up scoring 8/9 on their apgar tests so they could be cleaned up and handed over to us immediately! I went back to sit by Jess as they were putting her back together. She started to feel very sick to her stomach because when they touch the stomach and bowels, it causes severe nausea. So, when they handed me Alice (now Baby A) and I said, "Honey, look it's Alice!" Jess turned her head and vomited. :-) Eventually the nausea passed and both babies were placed on top of Jess and everyone was rolled out to the recovery room.

Everyone in the operating and recovery rooms said "congrats moms!" to both of us (very welcoming hospital) and both babies got to breastfeed within 30 minutes of being born. Jess's brother, mother, and my parents visited after surgery. (Alice is on left, Sophia on right in the picture)

35 weeks

We have officially reached the point where the girls can be born and they may not even need any time in the NICU! This is very exciting. And, Jess is very, very ready for them to be born. I measured her yesterday and she was at 52 weeks pregnant. She is having a very difficult time getting around, the acid reflux is pretty much 24/7, and there are other details that I'm pretty sure she doesn't want me writing about on the web. Point is--she done!

We've also been hard at work trying to get Sophia (baby A) to turn upside down. At our 32 week ultrasound appointment we got the news that she is breech and that her sister, Alice, (baby B) is transverse (laying sideways). Our midwives will only do a vaginal twin delivery if Baby A is vertex (head down). So, we are trying a 3-pronged approach. First, we are talking to Sophia, trying to tell her how much more wonderful a natural birth will be for mama Jess and herself. Second, Jess has been laying upside down on an ironing board propped up on the couch (see pics). The idea is that it will dislodge Sophia's butt from the bottom of the uterus and give her the space to turn if she wants (after all, her sister is constantly weighing on her when Jess is right side up). Third, we've been going to a chiropractor that does the "webster method." Basically this involves working with the round ligaments that hold up the uterus and doing other minor adjustments to loosen up the uterus so that Baby A can move if she so desires. Jess loves the chiro and does feel better all over, so this has had major advantages even if Sophia doesn't flip.

We find out if all our efforts pay off on Monday, November 8th (36 week ultrasound). If not, that means we are scheduling the c-section for week 39.

28 weeks later...

Well, I'm a little behind on blogging because I'm trying to get my book finished by September 22nd and we had to get ready for the baby showers, BUT, all is still well with Alice and Sophia. We had their 28 week ultrasound on September 16th and we are happy to report that they are both still a bit on the larger side! Sophia is weighing in at 2 lbs. 13 oz. and Alice is a whopping 3 lbs. 3 oz.! To put this in perspective, babycenter.com says that typically a 28 week fetus weighs 2 lbs. 4 oz., a 29 week fetus weighs 2 lbs. 8 oz., a 30 week fetus weighs 3 lbs. and a 31 week fetus weighs 3 lbs. 3 oz. So, they both doing quite well.

The ultrasound tech says that the 6 oz. difference is nothing to be worried about. In fact, their rate of growth is about the same. Sophie will probably always just be a smaller person than Alice (remember, they are no more related than sisters born years apart!).

Unfortunately, we don't have very many good pictures from this visit. The girls are now getting big enough that it is hard to get pictures and they don't do as many full turns and twists to get in a good picture taking position. Sophia was faced away from the "camera" almost the whole visit. The one time she was looking our way was also the exact time Alice decided to put her feet in Sophia's face! So, we have lots of good shots of Alice--even with her eyes open!--but none of Sophia. Nevertheless, the tech could measure all their parts and see all the organs and we know everything is still fine.

Jess's cervix is still long so no bed rest is needed! This is quite amazing considering how far along she is and how big the girls are.

Week 24 Ultrasound: Still Girls, Now 100%

Just back from our 24 week ultrasound and we are still the proud parents of two girls, now confirmed as "100% girl" (that is actually what the tech said and typed on the photos!). We got some fantastic shots of Alice and Sophia (see the slideshow) and mom and babies are doing well. No bedrest is needed, yet, because Jess's cervix is still "nice and long." This means that the cervix is supporting the weight of the babies without any problems.

And weigh they do! Sophia (baby A) weighs 1 pound 8 oz., and Alice (baby B) weights 1 pound 10 oz. This is the average weight for 25 week old fetuses so the girls are still measuring a little big! Yeah! The tech said that the difference in their weights is nothing to be concerned with; it is completely normal at this point.

All their organs are so much bigger! Before at the ultrasounds, the tech would point to a tiny little circle and then label it "bladder." Now, all the organs, kidneys, bladder, stomach, etc. are much more noticable. We know that their little lungs are also developing now because we got to see Sophia have the hiccups! Very cute! It is amazing, but they are actually "breathing" the amniotic fluid, helping the branches of their lungs develop. This week, and this development, actually mark the point of (possible) viability. If the girls were born today, it may be possible for them to survive outside the womb with significant help and intervention. Luckily, however, they have a lot more time to grow and develop inside of their mommy Jess.

We also got to see Alice yawn. So adorable! As you can see from the pictures, they are getting some fat on them and looking more and more like cute, little babies.

23 week belly

Jess is 23 weeks pregnant, but as you can see her belly looks like she is about ready to give birth! So goes the twin pregnancy! The absolute roundness of her belly is simply amazing.

We have our 24 week ultrasound coming up on Monday. We're excited to see the girls again. I've been painting furniture in the nursery. The bookcase, end table, and changing table are all furniture we've had but are now re-purposing it for the nursery. We're painting these items grass green to go with the forest theme of their room. The walls are a nice, muted yellow--like sunshine! It is lots of fun to see it start to come together.

Bill the cat is first to witness visible movement!

This morning Jess was sitting at the table doing homework with her shirt pulled up over her very pregnant belly. Then she noticed our cat Bill staring at her belly with the "about to pounce" look in his eyes. She looked down and saw one of the girls pushing/kicking through her belly! Hilarious!

It's a girl! And another girl!

Today we had our 20 week ultrasound and found out we are having twin girls! Both babies are 13 oz., which is fantastic! According to babycenter.com, 20 week fetuses are supposed to be about 10.5 oz., so they’re both a little big. But, this is a very good thing because they’re twins and twins tend to arrive early—we want them as big and developed as possible. No abnormalities have been found in either baby. They appear to have all their little precious parts. And boy were they movin’ and groovin’ those parts! Both were extremely active during the ultrasound. (This could have been the result of the green tea and Jolly Ranchers Jess drank/ate before the ultrasound to “wake them up”!). They were rolling and turning, even kicking at each other through the membrane separating them. It was so weird to watch the membrane move and give and take with their movements towards each other. At one point, Jess and I asked if they could possibly break the membrane being so aggressive, but the tech said, “no, it is completely normal. They’re just vying for space.” There is no chance they could open the membrane with these antics. Whew!

As you can see from the pictures, they no longer look like Skeletor and Pumpkinhead. They finally look like cute little babies! So, we’ve decided to give them more appropriate names. Baby A is Sophia Louise and baby B is Alice Inez. Better huh? Their middle names are the first names of both of our mothers.

I have to admit that I’m thrilled they are both girls (so is Jess). We would have been just fine with two boys or a boy/girl combo, but from personal experience, I know there is nothing like sisters. And, I already have a wonderful step-son, so I was ready for some girls.

I’m really happy we got to learn their sexes today because it was very important to me. I have a lot of students, friends, and colleagues that think my strong desire to know the babies’ sexes is a bit strange for a feminist, Women’s Studies scholar. I think the assumption is that I should be “over the gender thing” with my level of gender awareness. However, it is just the opposite for me. I am not an advocate of abolishing gender. Making it more flexible, sure, but I don’t think doing away with gender is possible or desirable. Gender plays a significant factor in one’s sense of self. In other words, most people do not, cannot, think of themselves without thinking of themselves as gendered beings. This doesn’t mean that all girls feel the same. On the contrary! Jess and I are very different kinds of women, but being female is equally essential to our identities. Thus, knowing our babies’ sexes makes them “more real” to me. They are no longer abstract blobs. And, I’m thrilled that they will have two mommies to model two different ways of being a girl for them. I’m fine with whatever type of girl each decides to become (even if one or both decides to become a boy); I just like having a starting place.

15 week ultrasound

We had our 15-week ultrasound today and both Baby A (aka Herb, aka Baby Left, aka Popper, aka Skeletor) and Baby B (aka Peaches, aka Baby Right, aka Bun Bun, aka Pumpkinhead) are doing fantastic! Both weigh exactly 4 oz each and are about the same length. They are actually a little "ahead of schedule"--Jess is 15 weeks 3 days today, but Baby B is measuring 15w5days and Baby A is measuring 15w4days. Accoring to babycenter.com they should weight about 2.5 oz each. So, they're already fast growers!

We don't yet know the sexes because the ultrasound tech didn't want to say--she says it is too early. However, neither Jess nor I saw any penises in there. We know, we're not ultrasound techs, but.....

We got to see their fingers and toes, measured their leg bones, saw their spines (such a cool shot), stomachs, kidneys, and even all four chambers of their tiny beating hearts! Amazing!

In this picture Popper has his/her butt in Bun Bun's face. Nice. Last time Popper was kicking and punching Bun Bun, :-)

The 3D/4D imaging is cool, but also makes them look like little alien babies (or Skeletor from the He-Man cartoon). Check out the resemblence!

Week 15

Jess can now regularly feel the babies move and kick. It is so very cool and I can't wait to be able to feel them through her belly. They pretty consistenly will respond if pushed on, :-) We can't wait for the ultrasound on Tuesday!

Week 14

We heard both babies heartbeats on the doppler at the midwives' on Wednesday! Baby Right has a faster heartbeat than Baby Left, but they are both in a completely normal range. Jess is "measuring" 20 weeks (meaning the top of her uterus is about at her bellybutton) which also indicates that they are growing just fine! We have a professional ultrasound scheduled for June 15th (which will be week 15). There is a chance that we may be able to see one or both of their sexes at this visit. If not, we'll have to wait for the ultrasound that will happen at week 20.