Week 30

Week 30 and all is progressing well.

I've been photographing my wife every two weeks, and looking through the images there has been some drastic changes.  Her circumference went from party balloon (we started shooting at week 20) to beach ball.  Her belly seems to be getting rounder each day, and her belly button can't possibly hold on much longer.  I'm sort of expecting an audible pop when it finally goes.  I've been told, that should she become an "outty" rather than an "inny", that post birth, as she shrinks down, her belly button will once again invert.  That too, will be interesting to see.  I can understand why it would pop out, but have no idea why it would right itself afterward.

With each week my wife experiences new pain.  She constantly refers to the sensation as a stretching or tearing feeling, which causes me worry each time.  She's also had frequent rib pain on her left side (from passed ultrasounds we know that's where the twins are resting their feet).  At our last doctor's appointment (it went well, no change in cervical length) my wife described the location of the pains to ultrasound tech.  The tech told us that it all sounded fairly typical.  She then went on to relate a story of another patient that she had been working with, whose twin B was up so high, that it had to be pulled out from behind the patient's heart during delivery!

It's funny, because a lot of people have birthing stories, and when they find out that my wife is pregnant, they want to share each horrific detail with me.  The stories are rarely about a smooth delivery, and they almost never do anything to calm a mom-to-be.  When women talk about these things it's like war stories.  They show off their pain like a badge of honour, competing with each other over who endured the worst.

"I was in labour for 24 hours, and only dilated to 9 cm.  They ended up having to do a c-section and because of the initial drugs, as well as the additional drugs I required for the section, I retained water for weeks afterwards...so much so that my skin split."

"My baby was pushed up against my spine/bladder/lungs/stomach..."

"...kicked me so hard it broke my ribs..."

"Brian, when your uncle Mel was born he was so big, that when your great grandmother's water broke on the way to the hospital, his arm popped out as well.  They had to go the rest of the way with that arm dangling free."

"That's nothing...when I had my baby I had to walk up hill, in a snow storm, to get to the hospital.  It was closed when I got there.  I delivered my own baby and then walked up hill to get back home again..."


So here's to hoping that when I blog up our delivery experience, the only thing I have to tell you is that everyone showed up healthy and happy and that everyone is doing just fine...

If you are interested in seeing the images from week 20 through to week 30, they are located on flickr here:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/briansinasac/sets/72157629813234842/