Inevitable
Unsurprisingly, I am still bouncing back and forth between a cheerful "Yay, I'm pregnant!" and a fearful "Oh, no, what's going to happen?" I learned from internet research this morning that there is more to fear with multiple pregnancies than I knew, and that the risks are even greater than I was expecting. Some of what I found:
Based on the experience of my past miscarriages, I have been pretty focused on the dangers of the first trimester. But in addition to the possibility of losing both of them early on, there's the statistic that says 25% of early-detected twin pregnancies end up as singletons. And that, by some counts, 50% of assisted-ovulation pregnancies result in a vanishing twin. I feel sad that even if we get through the first trimester, I don't know that I will ever be able to relax about this pregnancy.
So anyway, today I broke out the big pregnancy book. We bought this book the first time I got pregnant, in late summer of 2000, and read quite a bit of it before the pregnancy ended at nine weeks. Since then it's sat in the bookcase, both here in New England and over in Germany, and I don't think I've cracked it once. I avoided it with the later pregnancies, not wanting to fixate too much early on. But I'd never read the section on twins, so out it finally came today.
There are a bunch of books out there that focus on twin pregnancies, but I don't want to buy any of them just in case this doesn't work out. It will be too sad to have them around the house afterwards. I think my local library has a couple, though, so maybe I will see if I can check them out this week. Reading the Amazon reviews was not very helpful though, since nobody seems to be able to agree on what the best books are. Gah. Information overload, and no way to filter it.
Still:
Yay, I'm pregnant.
A multiple pregnancy increases your and your fetuses' risks of complications.
Each additional fetus increases your risk of miscarriage, premature birth, gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, placenta abruptio, placenta previa, urinary tract infections, anemia, cesarean delivery, and excess postpartum bleeding.
Multiple fetuses have an increased risk of birth defects and genetic disorders. Because they are usually born prematurely, multiples also have a higher-than-usual rate of complications after birth. (From here.)
Based on the experience of my past miscarriages, I have been pretty focused on the dangers of the first trimester. But in addition to the possibility of losing both of them early on, there's the statistic that says 25% of early-detected twin pregnancies end up as singletons. And that, by some counts, 50% of assisted-ovulation pregnancies result in a vanishing twin. I feel sad that even if we get through the first trimester, I don't know that I will ever be able to relax about this pregnancy.
So anyway, today I broke out the big pregnancy book. We bought this book the first time I got pregnant, in late summer of 2000, and read quite a bit of it before the pregnancy ended at nine weeks. Since then it's sat in the bookcase, both here in New England and over in Germany, and I don't think I've cracked it once. I avoided it with the later pregnancies, not wanting to fixate too much early on. But I'd never read the section on twins, so out it finally came today.
There are a bunch of books out there that focus on twin pregnancies, but I don't want to buy any of them just in case this doesn't work out. It will be too sad to have them around the house afterwards. I think my local library has a couple, though, so maybe I will see if I can check them out this week. Reading the Amazon reviews was not very helpful though, since nobody seems to be able to agree on what the best books are. Gah. Information overload, and no way to filter it.
Still:
Yay, I'm pregnant.
4 Comments:
Yay! You're pregnant!
By
Amanda, at 11:31 PM
***Assvice Alert***
I know it's way easier said than done, but you need to enjoy the pregnancy. For every article you read that says to avoid something there will be 5 in its place that say don't worry about it.
Hang in there Susie.
By
PJ, at 12:15 AM
That's right, yay, you're pregnant. There is so much scary information out there but it doesn't mean it will necessarily happen to you. I know it's easier to envision the worst case scenario, though, believe me.
By
Anonymous, at 8:48 AM
I went to the bookstore to get a pregnancy book and I couldn't do it. They are all quite frightening, even the well-meaning ones. Man, oh man, is it scary to read all the possible things that could happen. The only one that I think I'm going to order is "Bun in the oven" because it made me laugh out loud - snarky funny! Otherwise I'm just going to take my doctor's advice. The one thing I did read is that at this point miscarriages have really nothing to do with the mother's behavior and everything to do with genetics, etc. - things beyond our control.
I'm so happy for you and I want you to enjoy all of this as well. My husband is slowly convincing me to relax and imagine babies as well.
big hugs to you and your mini ones!
By
moi, at 9:13 AM
Post a Comment
<< Home