The Name Game

We've not written at all about name selections. This topic has been slow going for us; or, rather, mutual agreement on any names has been a challenge. We each have a few favorites and quite a few 'maybes' but only one or two which we both rank high. Still, no worry--plenty of time.

And plenty of help. It's amazing how many baby name books there are, and yet more remarkable is what's contained in their pages. They start off cautioning parents to avoid unfortunate initials, like D.O.G. or P.O.O. (thankfully, these two couldn't appear in the same family). So in our case, Claudette Olivia Wielecki may not be a wise selection (and won't be, I promise, as Claudette is 561st on my list and has yet to appear on Kelly's). Then they provide the Top 100 lists from recent years. These are actually quite helpful, for they allow me to automatically discard any tentative selections if they should happen to appear here. That is my first criterion for names. The second is that they must be somewhat known (i.e., no names resulting from a toss of a Yahtzee cup, like Braflin or Xinhua). Third, the first and last names shouldn't rhyme, kind of like, hmmm...here's one- Kelly Wielecki. Other than that, anything is fair game; I lean towards Italian names for boys and French for girls but am flexible. And finally when you've settled on a name, one of these books has the nerve to suggest a further dozen variations, as if the Finnish equivalent of "Catherine" is one you simply cannot afford to overlook and must consider.

We likely won't be posting any of our lists just yet, or at all. We may run a 'guess the name' contest later on for our three devoted blog readers, or may even offer naming rights to the lucky person who can guess how many toes I'm holding up (Sylvia- the mutant doesn't count).

The 'Other Happenings'

A week from Friday, we're taking the Twins to Chicago to visit the remaining three grandparents ElMa, TadPa, and JimPa (the fourth, MarMa, lives near us). This will be their first look at augmented Kel. Though slight, the roundedness in her stomach is slowly getting pronounced. We're documenting these in weekly Sunday morning photos. (Don't expect these on the blog anytime soon).

From Chicago, we're on to a mini-getaway to Montreal. After all, who doesn't want to visit Montreal in February?! Yes, we do realize it's cold there. For us, it's a brief respite from endless days of upper 70s this time of year. Though 15 Chicago winters left me with few fond memories, I do welcome an occasional small taste of the arctic and very much wish to travel to Alaska in the dead of winter to witness it at its worst. (Kelly not so much).

We'll be staying at the Hyatt Regency downtown though have yet to plan an itinerary. This vacation may very well be our last until the Big Day, so we may just decide to splurge on unforgivable luxuries like individual pillows and a beverage refill at dinner.

Last week...

So just a recap of last week from my P.O.V.
Thursday- after a oh-so-fun root canal, I rushed right to Dr. Crofoot so he could 'finish' the new patient appointment from the week before. Wasn't sure what that would consist of- the 1st time we were there seemed very thorough to me. Well, I had a full physical to look forward to, including a pelvic exam. Dr. Crofoot expained that he will start checking the cervix weekly/bi-weekly around week 20. If it starts to thin out, that's a sign of possible pre-term labor and we'd have to watch out for that. He did another ultrasound (the babes looked about the same as the week before- still exciting to see them, as always) and spent a lot of time talking to me- nutrition, drugs, prenatal testing, and as usual, the increased risks due to carrying multiples Gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, and let's not forget pre-term labor (the rule, not the exception with multiples). I pledged to eat well and take care of myself and we left it at that for now.

Friday- the fun one! We arrived at the Fetal Diagnostics Center at Winnie Palmer Hospital. The waiting room was packed and I settled in for a long wait..but low and behold, I was called back even before Karl returned from parking the car. I was led directly to an ulrasound room and the tech, Audrey, got right to work, lubing my stomach and finding A&B. The screen was a bit bigger and much more detailed than Dr. C's antiquated equipment. Audrey spent a lot of time moving that wand around- measuring the twins, checking the heartbeats, and especially examining their lower regions for a gender confirmation. Yes, all 3 of us were very excited when she (and then Karl and I) saw that we've got a boy and a girl. No one can be 100% certain at this point, of course, but I feel comfortable enough to start buying pink and blue onesies (or at least give my mom the ok to do so- she's more eager than I to let the shopping begin).

After Audrey was done scanning, Dr. Locksmith (the perinatologist) appeared, reviewed my records and the scan pictures, and determined that A&B are looking fine at this point. We'll go back in a month (on 2/19-my b-day!) at 18 weeks and they'll be able to look even more closely and measure the internal and external parts. I am looking forward to it because I need any reassurance I can get- I can't help worring about thse little ones and am already so eager for them to make their appearance (not that eager though- I am hoping to make it to 36 weeks). Though if I make it to 30 weeks, I think I would be ok with that.

I went to visit my friend on Saturday- she had her twin boys 3 weeks ago at 33 weeks -they spent a few weeks in the NICU to put on some weight but they are both over 6 pounds now and doing great. She and her husband are great parents already and seem to know exactly what to do with them. They love to be held and cry when they are put down. How do you get anything done?!
Hard to believe that this will be Karl and me (and my mom-you promised you'd help!) in just a few months (4-5 maybe?)!
(Kel)

As promised...

Yesterday's scans:


Baby A might be a girl, though that arrow may just as well be identifying a distant planet capable of supporting life.

Baby 'B'ig

At Last! (OK, just the first "at last")

Dr. Locksmith delivered the goods. Or, rather, his ultrasound assistant Audrey did. She moved that sound wand around Kel's lower regions like a champ, and gave us the anticipated prognosis on Twin B: "I see a giant penis!" and then, scanning Twin A: "I'm pretty sure I don't see a giant penis!" OK, so those weren't her exact proclamations, but we got the genera idea. Indeed, there was a shred of uncertainty, albeit small: she was 99% sure B is a 'he' and 80-90% confident that A is a girl. Close enough!

We came home with nine 3"x4" glossies, some with arrows humiliatingly pointing directly at the twins' privates. Oh yeah, they'll love to show these to their friends in 15 years! Thanks, Audrey, you really came through.

It's getting on 11PM this Friday night and I'm a bit fagged out, as the British say (no, really, they do!). So, I'll upload the scans for the next entry. Have a good night!

Gender bender

We are visiting a 'high-risk' doc this Friday, which falls a couple of days into Week 14. Kelly is hopeful that this guy (Dr. Locksmith- another splendid name) will have access to equipment at least a decade younger than that of Dr. Crofoot's, and will thus be able to take a good peek at the twins' gonads. If so, that promises to be a wondrous day. At risk of considerable scorn by one of the twins in the future, I'll astonish our faithful readers by revealing that we'd favor a 'he' and a 'she.' Just for fun.

It goes without saying that we'll be thrilled with whoever comes out. Their health is the only thing of any importance. So, if two hombres or two senoritas are reading this in the future, rest assured that pappy cares not a hoot about your gender and is just thrilled that you can read.

A new doctor?

Yea! 12 weeks and 3 days and things seem to be moving right along. We had a consult with a new OB yesterday- Dr. Crofoot, who was recommended by my good friend Amy.
After a long wait, we were shown to an exam room by the nurse where we answered some preliminary questions, had my weight and iron count checked, and eventually saw the doctor. He took his time checking A&B out on the ultrasound- A had the hiccups, it was funny to see the rhythmic little jumps. I love the ultrasounds, it’s just so reassuring to see that everything is looking ok in there.
We discussed the increased risks due to twins- pre-term labor, low birth weight, and preeclampsia. We were instructed to have a ‘contingency plan’ in place by 20 weeks, meaning that just in case he needs to put me in the hospital, on bedrest, or just off work, I should just be able to make 1 or 2 calls (to work) and have everything taken care of. I know it’s a good idea to plan ahead but I really hope I don’t have to go out of work that early!
What I like about Dr. Crofoot is that he seems to be especially proficient and pro- natural delivery vs C-section. This is very important to me, as I'd like to minimize the recovery time. Of course, in the end I'd go with whatever is best for A&B, but given the choice...

So now we are on the fence as far as whether to switch docs or not. The pros and cons will be weighed in the next week and a decision will be made shortly.

This just in...

...McCain has won the New Hampshire primary, but Obama vs. Clinton is still too close to call. And in other news, we've had our second ultrasound today. All appears well to this point; everyone has their full complement of arms and legs and a beating heart. This visit was with Dr. Crofoot, who got cute with his machine (at least 19 years old, to his admission) and added the caption.

1/3 Through It

Tomorrow marks the end of the first trimester. Quite a milestone, in that it not only gives a certain feeling of accomplishment and optimism, but also should signal the end of Kelly's nausea and general malaise (not to mention my having to deal with it).

All in all, I expected this stretch to be rougher than it turned out. Sure, there have been those days when Kelly would eat nothing but Auntie Anne's pretzels (extra salt, no butter) and would demand that I or Marlene rush out to the mall to acquire some. And many evening hours have been punctuated by repeated laments of "I nooo feeel goood!" to which I could think of no better response than "Hmmm, that really sucks."

So bring on the 2nd trimester! I hear it's the easiest of the three. Meaning that 12 weeks from now, the whining and grimacing will resume, and so will my dumb helpless looks.

Carnac Take Two

I never considered Carson's humor to be esoteric, but, according to Kelly's admonition below, some of our youthful blog readers may be left scratching their heads at Carnac. So lets take it down a notch and give these two a test drive:

"Catch-22."
...Rips open envelope...
"What do the Los Angeles Dodgers do with 100 pop flies?"

"A triple and a double, catcher's and fielder's, and Dolly Parton."
...Rips open envelope...
"Name two big hits, two big mitts.....and a famous country singer!"

At least the twins will get them!

Kel's miseries

Ok, anyone who didn't get Karl's 12/28 post- you are not alone. After reading that attempt at humor the other day, I admit to staring blankly at the screen, then at Karl for a moment. Maybe it is before my time or beyond my scope of understanding. Oh well.

In any event, we do want to wish our cherished friends and family and very happy and healthy 2008. We appreciate your support more than you know and believe me, we'll definitely need it over the months and years to come :)

I, for one, am overjoyed with the arrival of 2008 because it means the ending of the dreaded first trimester (just 4 days to go!!) That in itself calls for a celebration, as far as I'm concerned. I thought I'd spare you my ongoing daily complaints but here is just a brief summary of the regular miseries I have faced: extreme nausea, fatigue to the point of exhaustion, heightened sense of smell where just opening the fridge leads to a run for the bathroom, and let's not forget the moodiness and depression. To be honest, all has been tolerable except the nausea, which sometimes lasts from morning to night. In any event- the important thing is that, with the beginning of the 2nd trimester, this should fade and maybe even vanish- a hope I have been holding onto for the last 2 months. Stay tuned ;)

A promising year

It is January. The month named for Janus, the Roman god of gates, doorways-- the entryway to another year. We are, with any luck, entering a momentous year; 2008 should stand out in the annals of our particular Wielecki strain as the first Year of the Twins.

Our next ultrasound is scheduled for Monday.