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.
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.
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.
