Pregnancy - 2nd Time Around

Is it easier with a singleton vs. twins? Is it different? Is it all that you hoped it would be and more?

Pregnancy, where you carry a parasite for 9 months, and then have it explode out of your abdomen.  Oh wait, that's from the movie Alien.  That's how I relate to being pregnant, except you have the option  of how the parasite enters the world, exploding out of your hoohoo or your abdomen.

Ok, it's not that bad, except when I'm upset with my husband.  Then it's all his fault and I'm suffering terribly. But his usual response is that the last time I wanted a baby, I got double the deal with the twins and that every time they have a meltdown, they're all mine.   I think this time around it is MUCH easier on my body but the exhaustion from raising two very rambunctious 2.5yr olds has faded my memory of how hard it was the first time.

I'm trying to prepare for the arrival of our little girl.  I've bought all the clothing she'll need for the first few months of her life but it's hard to judge exactly how much clothing she'll really need.  I'm still in the mindset that I'm shopping for twins so this kid will probably never have to wear an outfit twice in her first year.  Oh well, Michael got a raise.  Hehe!!  Her nursery is still being used as a changing room for the boys but I've been looking at girly nursery ideas and we should be going into full decoration mode soon, unless I get completely distracted with the twins' halloween costume for this year.  I'm not really feeling the "nesting" urge just yet.  If anything, Michael feels more like nesting and keeping the house in order more than I do.

Now I have a question to ask all those moms out there who have two or more kids, especially if these kiddos are still too young for grade school.  How do you do it?  Are you on meth or Ritalin?  Seriously, I want to know.  These two weeks have been my most trying days since the boys were newborns.  Meghan, Mom, and Auntie Colleen took a trip to Asia, leaving us short on a lot of help.  So for the last two weeks, Michael has only worked a few days and spent the rest of the time with me and the boys.  We still have his parents helping out but it was just exhausting.  I'm so tired to the point that if my children asked me for cocaine, I'd say ok, whatever to make them happy.  At least now the morning sickness and heartburn is more in check after I switched meds.  It definitely has helped with keeping up with the boys (somewhat).  Being pregnant and having such young kids is most challenging.  The boys are also quite rough when it comes to their little sister/fetus.  After I tried explaining there is a baby in mommy's tummy, Daniel lifted up my shirt to see where exactly was this baby hiding.  They think it's hilarious to push my outtie belly button like a door bell and slam their heads right into my uterus.  Are all little boys like this?!!?

We've also been sorta trying to do the last step in potty training.  I'm thankful that the boys have been doing their No.2 in the toilet since they were 7 months old but they really need to be weened from diapers all together now.  There have been a few accidents and Alex does not mind having his underwear and pants soaking wet with pee.  Daniel gets it, he doesn't like being wet and uncomfortable and will pee in the toilet but still needs to be asked/prompted before he'll go.  The last thing I want is for the boys to regress and decided they want to be babies again once their sister arrives.  I've heard that sibling jealousy can cause such problems but maybe because the boys have always had sibling rivalry with each other that they won't really care if a new baby joins the group.  Feeding has also been an issue in our household.  You would think that by now, Daniel and Alex would be feeding themselves.  Nope, it is quite the opposite.  They have the option to feed themselves and Alex does a pretty decent job if you encourage him but Daniel will ask you to feed him.  They know when they have something good going on.

Can you tell that I'm going to get my tubes tied when I go in for this c-section?  Yes, another c-section. I'm not gonna labour for 30+ hours where I'm sure some complications will arise and have another section anyway.  I'm thankful that Michael has seen all these issues first hand and knows what will be the best for me and baby.  Heck, I'm sure the last thing he wants to do is suffer with me for so long and have to deal with a c-section as well.

Daniel and Alex - The Terrible Two's

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT!

This picture was taken a week before my c-section. Michael felt the need to document my suffering as I swore I'd never have any more kids and never have to deal with pregnancy again. But give me credit, I made it to the scheduled c-section date without being put on bed rest or having to stay in the hospital prior for complications.  Yes, I am very proud that I stayed pregnant for 37.5 weeks, although by the end, I wanted it to be over very badly.  

I'm wearing Michael's sweat pants as none of my maternity pants quite fit anymore but I was too close to giving birth aka cheap to buy any more clothing. My Canuck t-shirt is a Men's XL and at the time, waaaayyy too tight. I literally had to stretch it over my stomach to cover up the bulge and you could still make out where my belly button was sticking out. I'm not sure if you can see it in the picture but my whole midsection is covered in angry, itchy stretch marks, which are no longer red but still very visible. EVERYTHING was swollen: my feet, my face (even my nose), you name it, it was swollen. Pregnancy is not a pretty thing when you're carrying twins to term.

With that all being said, the boys have reached their 2nd year birthday. Their  annual well-baby check up went very well even though they were both sick from the cold mommy passed onto them. Developmentally, they are on track and doing very well. Sometimes I just need to hear it from their paediatrician, even though Michael always tells me things with the boys are better than fine. I'm sure he's just thrilled when Michael happens to bump into him when they're scheduled to be in the same operating room and he has a list of questions to ask about the boys. Another benefit to working at the hospital where I delivered the boys: Michael was able to see my pathology report on the placenta and the boys are indeed identical (monochorionic/diamniotic) twins. That's pretty cool.

We have moved into our HOUSE.  Yes, out of the cramped condo and into an actual 3 storey home! It did take a lot of renovating to turn it from Barbie's puke-pink nightmare into a craftsman soft-grey dream house but it's done and livable now.  We're discovering that our Kerrisdale neighbourhood is quite nice and pleasant when everything is accessible by foot.  Driving through the Kerrisdale shopping district is another matter when seniors are also driving/crawling along the same road.  Transit is also very convinient but we usually hop on a bus only if the boys have nagged us all day to go on a bus ride. 

My suspicion is the boys are entering the "Terrible Two" phase.  It's not as bad as some people have told me but they do have their moments.  For example, as we were leaving a restaurant tonight, an older gentleman blocked our exit just to tell us how well behaved the boys were throughout dinner and just how adorable they were.  When we got home, it was another story.  I caught Alex shoving his brother for some reason and before I could intervene, Daniel had slapped Alex back in the face.  That led to some stern words, a spanking for both, and some apologies to each other.  I literally turned around to get a face cloth from the bathroom and again I hear crying, but this time it was the howling type you get from experiencing pain.  There before me is Daniel with a bloodily lip and Alex with the guiltiest face ever.  What I am going to do?  I just can't keep up!

Onto other news, Michael is no longer going to Toronto for his fellowship.  I remember before we had the twins, there had been a discussion about doing a year-long fellowship in the UK.  Then after we found out I was pregnant with twins, the plan was to do the year-long fellowship in Toronto where the whole family would reside for a year.  After they were born, it changed again to a six month fellowship in Toronto where only Michael would go and the family would stay in Vancouver.  Now what would have changed so that Michael would not do the fellowship altogether?  I'm………….wait for it…………pregnant again.

Three things we have quickly determined through this event:
1) Birth control does have a typical-use failure rate of 15% (I'm as horrified as you are!)
2) I have indeed earned the nickname Fertile Myrtle
3) If God wants us to have another baby now, you can't say "no thanks"

Overall we are very happy about welcoming another baby into our family.  The first thing we did was go for an ultrasound to check if it was one or two.  I will admit I was actually very worried when the morning sickness started so early.  But the nausea is controllable, and better yet, I won't be vomiting every 3 hrs for the next 30 weeks.  Michael is over-the-moon giddy about not having to go to Toronto but he had to commit to doing a two-year Masters of Education for Anaesthesia in exchange.  It's not a bad trade off.  I'm anxious to know whether we're having a boy or girl though.  If it's a girl, this will probably mean I'm getting my tubes tied.  If it's a boy, then he'll have enough hand-me-down clothing to last him into his teens.  Do I want four kids, no not really, but I'm concerned that if it's another boy, he'll end up feeling left out of that special bond that Daniel and Alex have.  

Well, one day at a time.  

Another Wong Family Vacation

It has been one week since we returned from Hawaii and I certainly miss the warm sunshine and cool ocean breeze!! The last time the boys went on vacation, they were only 7 months old. Although, I think we had more fun in Disneyland than they did. They were just happy to nap and stay cool. This was a very different trip. We survived the plane rides there and back, although not as comfortably as sitting in business class with a seat all to yourself, they were such troopers!! We stayed in a suite at the Trump International Waikiki Walk hotel in Honolulu, which was very swanky. Maybe a little too swanky for a family with 22 month old twins. There was lots to do, lots of great shopping, and lots of walking. In Maui, the pace was much slower. Lots of time to relax and it did help that we were upgraded to the penthouse suite. The boys went to the beach for the first time and HATED IT!! Well, at first, they hated the sand and water but eventually it got better and would play quite nicely sitting on a towel. I think the next time we go back to Hawaii, we will just stick to Honolulu.

We are in our new house. It's still a mess from moving and coming back from the vacation. The boys have adjusted nicely here. They love running around and climbing stairs now. They are really into hockey and Yo Gabba Gabba. We are going to another game on Wednesday and the seats are awesome. Can't wait to see how excited they'll get!!