Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Another Trip to the Doctor

On Monday, Geof and I took the Wonder Twins to the doctor for a check up. We met with one of the practice's physicians that we had not seen yet, which was good. The goal is to meet all the doctors in the practice before you deliver, so you won't feel like a stranger is extracting the babies from inside you. Makes a lot of sense to me.

Dr. Richardson was super cute. Young and hip. She did not sport a starched white lab coat or scrubs. She was wearing a navy sundress with white piping. She might be my new favorite doctor.

She listened to the girls' heart beats and said they were at 140 beats per minute, which is right where they should be. She also measured my belly and determined I am progressing well.

Dr. Richardson asked if I was feeling movement from the twins, and I, of course, said "yes." The girls are very active. Twin A seems to give more pointed kicks and elbows. Twin B likes to push up against my belly with her back or butt to create large mounds of pressure. It's hilarious to watch my tummy morph into new and weird shapes. It's like aliens are inside me.

The doc said because the babies move a lot, it's hard to know for sure which twin is doing which movements. But, overall, feeling movement is good. Apparently, at some point in the future, I'm going to be asked to do "kick counts." I'll keep you posted on that one!

Then came the unexpected question - "Are you having contractions?"

Excuse me? I'm 26 weeks along. I better not be having contractions! (That's what I was thinking, not what I said.)

Instead, I answered nervously with, "Um, I don't know. What does a contraction feel like?"

She immediately responded by saying, "If you don't know, then you aren't having contractions."

Thank God.

She went on to explain that contractions feel like a worse version of menstrual cramps and cause the belly to tighten up like a ball. Awesome. Can't say I've experienced that yet.

She warned me that if I did feel those sensations to monitor the time between them and to call if they became close together. Eeek! My newly formed anxiety might be enough to trigger a contraction!

Our next doctor's appointment is Aug. 25. I have to have a glucose test to make sure I don't have gestational diabetes. That includes me drinking a disgusting fruit punch-flavored drink and having a blood test exactly an hour later.

After that torture is over, I get to have an ultrasound as my reward. Yay! We can't wait to see the girls again!

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