28-week appointment details

Good appointment. Babies are still measuring the same. Fluid is the same and good. Cervix is super long. Baby A still has the CCAM, but it hasn't grown. We met with a pediatric surgeon who put our minds at ease. The CCAM is small and there is a very low possibility that it will have any effect before birth or immediately following birth. In fact, the surgeon said that if it wasn't for all these ultrasounds, it (the CCAM) may only be discovered when the kid gets a respiratory infection that won't go away. So his recommendation is that we get a CT scan at around 2 months, then, if the CCAM is still present (sometimes on rare occasion they go away), he recommends surgery at around 6 months.

In other news, we took a hospital tour last night. I left it feeling nauseated and freaked out. My memories of my hospital stay with Emmeline are mixed. On the one hand, it was the best of times. Nothing to do except bond with my baby cakes, learn how to breastfeed and eat yummy takeout from local restaurants (skipped most of the hospital food experience). On the other hand, the first 48 hours there (I was there a total of 5 days due to preeclampsia), including the 24-hours after giving birth, are one big hot, flu-like blur. I don't remember how I cared for Emmeline during that time, and I do remember threatening to go against medical advice by ripping those mag sulfate IVs out. And I know the thing that was most pleasurable about the experience - the simplicity of only needing to focus on bonding with the baby- will be different this time around. I'll want to get home to Emmeline. And of course there will be bonding, but there will also be basic survival with the two. I never felt like I was on "survival" mode with Emmeline.

If I, my body and my boys decide to give a vaginal birth a shot, we will be delivering in the OR...standard procedure for vaginal births with twins. Apparently, you are all set up for a c-section (complete with full c-section staff). I've decided that my approach to having these boys is the same as my approach for when they come out...one day at a time, have flexibility and make decisions with the situation at hand rather than having any big, non-flexible plans.

Yesterday, at the park, I ran into a mother I've been itching to run into since last fall. She has a boy who is exactly Emmeline's age and drum roll please...identical twins. She lives a few blocks away. Good stories from her. She made it to 37 weeks, was induced, easy birth, both boys were around 7lbs. Everyone went home in 24 hours. Their house is almost exactly like ours. She says it works just fine. She tandem breastfeeds. I mean, really, does it get any better? She did add that there are bad days, of course. I'm glad she said that because it gave some credibility to all the positive stuff that she said. Anyway, after seeing each other at the park for over a year, we finally exchanged digits. She is going to be a great source of info.

Yes, we got out in the beautiful sunshine and made it to the park across the street and ran into two good friends of Emmeline's. And then we had another impromptu dinner with another one of her friends and her parents...grilled out. See, it hits the mid-40's and abundant sunshine in Michigan and we all act as if it is summer. But it was one of those days where I was not only reminded that it takes a village but was also once again in love with the village that we live in. Yes, we sometimes crave more space in our home, but this neighborhood? It's quite a gem.

I leave you with a pic from our "summer" day as well as a 28.5 week belly: