Braxton-Hicks, Our Nemisis

Yesterday Kim and I had our last appointment with the High Risk Unit at the Ottawa Civic Hospital and everything checked out good. The boys are estimated at 5 pounds 10 ounces for Sean, 6 pounds 5 ouches for Lukas. That's right: one ounce short of 12 lbs of babies. Poor Kim.

During the checkup we talked about the periodic random contractions Kim gets during the day or night and the nurse said "if you get 6 or more in an hour, call in." More fateful words were never spoken. Of course, Kim had maybe two or three spread out over a day so we weren't too worried.

We got home and Kim was feeling lots of contractions. Every 10 - 20 minutes since the ultrasound in fact. We've talked about Braxton-Hicks before. We were gun-shy about going into the hospital for nothing but the number of contractions was worrisome. Then between 7 and 8 Kim recorded 6 of them. We called and sure enough the triage nurse on the phone said better come on in.

So we jumped into the car around 9pm and made our way into Ottawa. We got there, got into a triage room, and hooked up to the monitors.

Of course, as soon as we got to the hospital, not another contraction. Well ok, one in about 3 hours. Sigh. The doctor on duty was busy delivering someone else's twins so we had to wait for three hours until he could see us, in a hot stuffy little room with old magazines to read. We were so tired and annoyed that the contractions had stopped and we didn't need to be there anymore. After two hours we enquired about leaving without seeing the doctor but they didn't like that idea. Something about going AMA being a bad thing (absent without medical approval?).

Well, the doctor gave his approval and we headed home about 1 am. Tired but not as tired as we will be once the boys arrive I'm sure.

Fifteen days or less.

Counting Down the Days

Our c-section (or rather Kim's c-section) is booked for Thursday April 24th as I mentioned last Monday and we are counting down the days in eager anticipation. It was four weeks from last Thursday meaning its 3 weeks and 3 days from today. Man, time is flying past.

Kim is looking forward to it more than me though. She and I went shopping yesterday and she exhausted herself to the point of being very sore for the rest of the evening on her lower belly. Poor thing.

We did manage to complete our shopping except for a couple minor items. So now I have to assemble some things and put stuff away, and we'll be as ready as we can be. On April 23 I'll start my "vacation" and the next two weeks will be the life changing ones I've heard tell about.

For those interested in visiting after the birth, here is the visitor's hours of the Queensway Carleton Hospital at Baseline and Richmond road.

VISITING HOURS - Childbirth Centre:
Partners may visit at any time.
Grandparents & siblings: 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. & 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Friends & other relatives: 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Heartbeats

Yesterday was our monthly doctor appointment and all is going well. Kim is doing great (up another 6 lbs!) and all the blood work and ultrasounds look perfect.

The doctor got out the Doppler machine and I got to hear the heartbeats which was a bigger thing for Kim than me but still really cool.

We also got our next ultrasound appointment on Dec 21st at 11:30 and, fingers crossed, we should be able to find out the genders of the babies if they cooperate.

The worrying, it never stops!

So, yeah, Kim is officially pregnant with good hormone levels and good health and everything looks great. Of course, we are now where every normal couple starts and have to worry about the normal pregnancy things. Great, just what we need, more worries. Kim said from here on out the worrying never stops.

We are not telling everyone except immediate family right now until the first trimester is over. And well, the internet but you people on the web know how to keep a secret, right? If any extended family members are reading this, I trust you can keep quiet and then act all surprised when we announce it at the beginning of December.