Complication of Multiples Dodged II

Well, we dodged another one -- Preeclampsia, a high blood pressure condition. While not limited to multiple pregnancies, it is certainly more common with twins -- and it's no joke. My wife went for a check up and they found high blood pressure. Two days later, fortunately, her blood pressure had returned to normal and further testing came back negative, staving off early inducement. Even so, given that the kiddos weigh over 13 pounds total now, they are going to be born by a week from today whether they want to be or not.

This experience has reminded me exactly how tough my wife is, as are women in general. I think that I wrote in a prior post that the last two months of pregnancy are longer than the first seven. That is true for me and I am not even doing anything. My wife has to carry two ever-growing bowling balls in her stomach, deal with horrible heartburn, lose sleep due to hip and back pain, and deal with every other stranger on the street looking at her tummy and using some variation of, "Damn!" She's good natured and doesn't complain . . . much. If it were me, I would be lying in bed 24-7 in the fetal position whimpering.

Well, they are coming out by next Monday one way or the other. Then it will be time . . . time to take over the World . . . !

Memorable Moment #3: Insanity

Memorable Moment #3 leading up to week 29 1/2 (see previous posts) is more of a culmination of a lot of smaller moments. As you may have heard, pregnancy will mess with your wife. While my wife has been wonderful throughout pregnancy, even the best woman is only human.

Every once in a while, the effects of pregnancy will test even the most patient man's nerves. In the wake of one such encounter, I had the following text conversation with a friend of mine who recently became a father. I think it about sums it up . . .


Me: Okay, so speaking as someone who has been through this Dad thing, how long can I expect my wife to be insane?
My friend: I'll let you know when it stops...

Memorable Moment #1: I'm Pregnant

As I mentioned in my first post, my wife is currently at 29 1/2 weeks. I don't want to try to go back into the pregnancy too much, as at this stage everything is about looking forward to the babies, but there are three moments that merit a post. The first is finding out.

We had been trying passively for 2 or 3 months. I found trying to be somewhat weird and even a little difficult. I mean, not to get too personal or anything, but adding a goal to intimacy can make it a bit -- unnerving. Or is it just me?

Now, I know that getting pregnant can take months, or even years, and that many people would be jealous of success in 2-3 months. That said, it still seemed like a long time. Am I the only one that put it all on me in my head? What am I doing wrong? What is wrong with me?Anyway, a few weeks, my wife -- out of nowhere -- walked into our family room, sat on my lap, and told me that my boys could in fact swim.

How did you feel when you found out that your wife was actually pregnant? I'm curious to hear, as I had a flood of things run through my head. Things like, "Hey, I'm going to be a dad!" "Oh my, you mean I'm actually going to be a dad?" "Are we really having a baby in this economy?" "I hope these kids get their height from my in-laws." Thoughts like these ran through my head in no particular order.

Then there was a part of me that felt guilty. I mean, I was happy, but shouldn't I be happier? Shouldn't I feel more? Maybe it is true what they say, that the babies don't get real for the father until a little later in the pregnancy, or even until birth. Now of course, at this point, we did not know it was twins. I just knew that I was going to be completely responsible for another human being. It's a concept I am still getting used to.

I knew one thing I needed to do, though. And a few days later, I took care of that, old school style:

Go Caps!

What did you think about?