twins???

June 23, 2006

we went to our monthly midwife appointment today and ran through the regular routine--i weighed myself, they took my blood pressure, checked out my heart beat, asked me about my symptoms, checked my reflexes, and chastised me about the fact that i'm not drinking enough water. basically, the same old song and dance...as usual. then, she busted out her little measuring tape and pulled it from my pelvic bone to the top of my uterus (which she feels by digging her hands deep into my belly). just then, a look of confusion came over her face. "i'm really big, huh?" i said, knowing that my belly is abnormally large for 21 weeks. "yeah, let's get a second opinion". so the other apprentice digs around my belly, finds my uterus, and measures again. "yeah, you're definitely really big".

basically, the centimeters on the measuring tape usually correspond with the number of weeks. thus, at 21 weeks, i should be measuring 21 cm. instead, the first lady got a measurement of 30cm. the next lady determined that my pelvic bone was higher than the other lady thought so her calcuations came up at 27cm. either way, those are several centimeters bigger than i should be at 21 weeks. "what does this mean?", i asked. "i had a pretty good belly before i even got pregnant, could that be it?" nope. they're measuring my uterus, not my belly.

so, basically, the verdict is that either i am having twins (a definite possibility since they abound on jeremy's side of the family--multiple sets of twins and triplets) or i miscalculated the date of my last period. given my meticulous record-keeping, i am 100% sure that i did not miscalculate my last period. i know exactly when that was, and i know exactly when we conceived. thus, the more likely option is that we're having twins (unless, of course, i had a full menstrual cycle while already pregnant, which is also a possibility).

so now we wait. if i still measure well above average at our next appointment on july 11th, then we get sent in to get an ultrasound. then we'll either see two little bodies growing in my belly, or a gigantic baby well beyond the development stage i am assumed to be at. can you believe this? i can't really believe it. jeremy's excited about the possibility of having twins. people keep saying that would be a "blessing". i can only think of it as twice the pushing, twice the nursing, twice the crying, twice the pooping, twice the diapers......holy crap.