According to a website in the know (babycenter.com if you were wondering) big things are happening in the twinnies' growth this week:
The most dramatic development this week: reflexes. Your baby's fingers will soon begin to open and close, his toes will curl, his eye muscles will clench, and his mouth will make sucking movements. In fact, if you prod your abdomen, your baby will squirm in response, although you won't be able to feel it. His intestines, which have grown so fast that they protrude into the umbilical cord, will start to move into his abdominal cavity about now, and his kidneys will begin excreting urine into his bladder. Meanwhile, nerve cells are multiplying rapidly, and in your baby's brain, synapses are forming furiously. His face looks unquestionably human: His eyes have moved from the sides to the front of his head, and his ears are right where they should be. From crown to rump, your baby-to-be is just over 2 inches long (about the size of a plum) and weighs half an ounce.
I have to admit that since reading this I have had the urge to poke my abdomen a few times to make them squirm. But that is just mean, so I haven't.
Since recovering from the flu I have been feeling pretty good. I am rarely sick and my energy seems to be coming back. I still get tired pretty quickly, but taking a shower no longer makes me feel like I need a nap. At this point my worst symptom is just a feeling of pressure in my lower abdomen where things are starting to stretch. I've never felt anything quite like it. I keep picturing the Spaceballs diner scene in my head where the alien explodes from the guy's stomach. I might have to watch that movie again just for comparison purposes.
Curtis and I went to the OB yesterday and learned a little more about what delivery will be like. According to the doctor, twins are usually born around 36 to 37 weeks, which would put my due date sometime in mid to late May. I asked him if he would induce me if I went past 36 weeks and he nicely informed me that he would be letting me go into labor naturally. He also said that if either of the babies were breech when I went into labor that I would be having a C-section. That was a bit of a bummer, but the thought of avoiding hours of labor and pushing does hold a certain appeal. The good news is that if the twins wait until late May to make an appearance, their timing will be perfect because Curtis will have just finished finals and will be a free man.
Overall it was a pretty short visit, but I did get a quick ultrasound to check the heartbeats before we left. Baby 1 was facing the camera and bouncing all over the place. Baby 2 was showing his profile and looked like he was sleeping. We also got to listen to the heartbeats for the first time, which was amazing. Over the past month I have spent way too much time on the internet reading about vanishing twin syndrome and missed miscarriages and it was a relief to actually see and hear both heartbeats going strong. The entire ultrasound only lasted about 60 seconds and I didn't get to look nearly as long as I wanted to. The good news is that I will be in Utah in about 3 weeks, and I have already told Dad that I will be in his office every afternoon for an ultrasound. He actually didn't seem too excited by the idea of me stalking his ultrasound machine, but I am sure that he will come around. How could he not want to see his cute little grandbabies every single day?
Here is a picture of the twins from the ultrasound. I realize that it looks like a pair of feet, but really the shape on the left is Twin A facing the camera and the shape on the right is Twin B's profile.
See, there really are two in there! Curtis and I are starting to think of names. I really like Sarah's idea of naming a girl Shaniqua, and I'm kind of tempted to name a boy Gaylord, a name with some history behind it! Now we just need to come up with two more...
