Monthly Archives: March 2012

First and foremost, I am most grateful that the scan showed that both babies are perfect, so far as a scan can tell.  Brain….check.  Bones…check.  Organs…check.  Correctly functioning heart structures…check.  Things that matter.  Both babies measurements are virtually identical and the doctor estimated the babies’ weight at 7 ounces each.  They are both perfectly on target for 17 weeks.

And yes, one of the perinatologists did my scan, rather than a tech.

So?  What am I cooking in there? 

Just as I’d thought….a boy and a girl!

I love them.

Photos taken with my cell… Baby Girl on left, Baby Boy on right:

The ultrasound in which all of the babies’ anatomical measurements are made  and they tell us the gender of our babies is just 2 days away.  Tuesday morning.  I’m really excited.  I am excited to learn who these two people are growing inside me.  Somehow for me, they become more real in a sense – each attaining a distinct identity – when I learn their gender.  My very strong hunch is that they are boy/girl twins.  We’ll see!

It will also allow us to begin the Great Name Hunt.  Or rather, Names.  Egads.  It was a difficult enough task trying to name Scout.  Names are such a personal thing – whether you like a particular name or not.  I have one friend with a 7 year old daughter.  When my friend was pregnant and learned she was carrying a girl, her mother tried to persuade my friend to name the baby Madeline.  To her mother it was a beautiful name, and the nickname Maddy was equally adorable.  My friend, however, loathed the name and rolled her eyes at the thought.  I have another friend who, in fact, named her very cute little girl Madeline, and calls her Maddy for short.  So there you go, to each his and her own.

In that vein, a name came to mind last week that I happen to adore.   I’ve loved the name somehow since the 1970’s when “The Bi.  onic Wom/an” was on prime time TV.  The main character, Jamie // So.mmers worked for the OSI and her boss was Oscar G.old/.man.  There was a secretary they called *Callahan.*  I can’t tell you why I love the name Callahan, I just do.  And the nickname *Callie* works for me too.  I googled Callahan, as a girl’s name, to see what I could find.  One thing I found was an infertility board in which a woman said she thought the name Callahan was cute for a girl, and asked what people thought.  The response was a resounding *bleah* and *don’t do it.*  No one liked it.  I also found that it isn’t really a girl’s name at all, although in some circles it is listed as a boy’s name.

So yesterday when I went for a haircut and color, I asked my longtime stylist and my longer-time friend (who came to the salon to visit while I was there) what they thought of the name Callahan with a nickname of Callie.  Neither responded immediately.  The stylist then said, “Isn’t that name too long?”  And my friend said, “Why not just name her Callie?”  Okay.  I guess neither of them liked it either.

My mother happens to think it’s a  cute name and my DH was pretty neutral about it, apparently having no great affinity nor opposition to it.

So there you go, name selection is difficult.  Even if I loved the name Callahan to the ends of the earth, I wouldn’t bestow it upon my child if I believed the rest of the world (including my daughter), would forever after think, “Ew, why would she name her kid that?”  BTW, I’m open to your honest opinion and comments on the name. Be assured that there are other girl names that I find to be equally suitable and adorable, so you won’t burst my balloon if you think the name is downright ugly and shouldn’t be given to a pet hamster. Really.  I  want as many honest opinions as I can get so that I don’t mark the kid as an outcast for the rest of her life (of course presuming my hunch is correct and I’m having at least one girl).

In the meantime, here are a couple of 16 week belly pics (pre haircut and color).  I couldn’t seem to capture how big I already feel.

I haven’t posted in 2 weeks.  Time is flying, stuff is happening.

(1)  Scout turned 2!  We had a small party at our home on Sunday for him.   He had a wonderful time and loved the “Dora” theme.  For Scout, it’s All-Dora, All-The-Time.  He has been dragging his Dora balloons through the house each day since and sleeping with Boots each night.

Yes, just like last year, I got teary-eyed in the store as I purchased Dora paper plates and table cloth.  My baby is 2.  He is amazing and I don’t know how it is possible, but I love him more each day.

(2)  Scout sleeps in a big boy bed!  I have been thinking that when the twins arrive, I will have them both sleep in the crib (Scout’s crib!) until they are old enough to roll over.  Which means Scout needs a new bed.  I didn’t want to wait too long to transition him or make him feel like he was being booted from his crib to make way for new babies.  It was a good time to make the change since he was beginning to try to swing his leg over the crib rail when he wanted out.

So I went craigslist shopping.  I found the cutest toddler bed that I thought would be perfect.  Scout went with us to look at it and began playing with it immediately.  We brought it home and I scrubbed it clean on our patio (with some help from Scout). 

Once it was clean and dry, we put it in his room.   I offered him the choice of sleeping in the new bed or the crib and without hesitation, he said, “Firetruck bed.”  He has slept in it without problem every night since!

Wow, that was easier than I thought it was going to be!

(3)   Carotid aneurysm?  Okay, probably not, but I had an appointment with the perinatologist last week and during my physical exam he noted that my left carotid artery has a bulge in it and that it is disproportionate to my right side.  He wanted to refer me for a carotid ultrasound.  My own OB sort of poo-poo’d the referral, saying that people my age don’t have strokes.  Um, yeah, they do.  And they have aneuryms and cancer and all kinds of things that young people *shouldn’t* have and I’m not willing to roll the dice.  So this morning I will see a vascular surgeon who will do the u/s and get this weight off my mind.

(4)  Pregnancy update:   I am 15 weeks 3 days today.  I have gained 20 pounds (!).  I joined the local moms of multiples group.  My morning sickness has fully abated, but now I tend to have daily headaches.  The OB said last week that my uterus was measuring at 18.  I am still super tired after work.  I find out gender in 2 weeks.  My, my, this is all happening!

I had the NT scan on February 27th.  Both babies measured well:  Baby A measured at 1.9 mm and Baby B measured at 1.8 mm.  (Normal is less than 3 mm).  They have very similar heart rates at 160 and 161.  Baby B was literally doing pushups in there, and A was just hanging out.  The tech said they are definitely fraternal (not that I thought they were identical, but confirmation is good).

I tried to casually ask the tech about checking gender.  I said, “I know it’s early, but if you see what is an obvious penis in there while you’re looking around, I’d love to know.”  She wouldn’t do it.  Too early, she said.  Yeah, yeah, liability and all that. 

But my second tri scan is already scheduled, so we’ll find out in three and half weeks.

I’m just trying to keep up these days.  With work.  With Scout.  With medical appointments.  It’s go-go-go and I know that once the babies get here, it’s going to be even zanier.    Now is really when I wish I were 20 years younger!