Every woman gets to this stage in their pregnancy...the last few days and weeks when the anticipation has already peaked and transmogrified into a baser feeling...when will this happen already? But whereas most singleton pregnancies are expected to go to 39 or 40 weeks, some 60% of twins are born by 36 weeks, and the "average" twin pregnancy lasts 35 weeks. I guess the positive spin as I hove towards 38 weeks of gestation (this Saturday) is that I have never liked being just average. But I am also asking myself just how large these two bundles of joy are going to be!
At the last count, (on July 28th), the ultrasound technician estimated that they weighed 6lb 3oz and 6lb 4oz each. And they are supposed to gain an ounce a day, which means that they would now be a stonking 7lb 7oz and 7lb 8oz today. This is great from a health perspective, meaning that they are far less likely to need to spend time in the neonatal intensive care unit. But it sure will be some work getting two regular weight babies out for me.
So the question arises, should I consider letting the doctor intervene in some way? She has suggested an amniotomy (breaking the waters), which should get labor going. But it was just her bad luck that a few days before this option was mentioned, I had read an article about the new March of Dimes campaign Healthy Babies are Worth the Wait, which makes me feel leary about sticking an oar in (or, rather more literally, an implement that resembles a crochet hook). Plus I remember that the person who taught our childbirth classes muttered darkly about one intervention leading to another....In other words it's a short journey from an amniotomy to Pitocin to a Caesarean...On the other hand, if they get too big, it is likely that they would be delivered by Caesarean anyway!
It's a fairly humbling lesson that, as evolved as we are, we really still don't understand what gets labor going. Of course, there are a bundle of old wives' tales about how to help it along, including spicy foods, long walks and amorous relations as methods to start things up. But while they might work for some, I can report that none of these has yet pushed the button for us.
And so we wait. In time, of course, I shall look back on this period of calm and laugh...maybe even wishing to get it back. But in the interim, it is about time for my mid-morning snack of cherries. I'll let you know if they happen to do the trick.
