The Not-So-Sexy Infertility Adventures of a Girl in the Big Apple

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

A Lot Going On (Or How I Survived Hurricane Sandy and Other Harrowing Tales)

First off, how the hell did 5 weeks go by without me posting??  It's been crazy around here I guess.  I have the utmost admiration for all you mamas who post regularly - I've been truly pathetic so far.  But I have been reading your blogs faithfully and trying to comment as often as I can.  Just not so good at keeping mine up to date!

Now, to bring y'all somewhat up to date:
Hurricane Sandy - A total s*$# show.  Hit us when the twins were just 3 weeks old, and I was still very much in recovery mode from the C-section.  Lost power and water for almost 5 days.  Tried to tough it out for a couple of days and then when we realized how long it was going to take to get power back we fled first to a hotel (which we barely managed to book) and then to a friend's place in Brooklyn.  Total nightmare trying to move 2 infants and all associated gear down a completely dark stairwell 7 flights down (as our elevator was also not working).  Not to mention the fact that I couldn't carry anything heavy, so my poor husband almost killed himself trying to get everything up and down the stairs.  A lot more to this story, but suffice it to say that it was kind of a nightmare but we survived.  And given how hard so many people have been hit on Long Island, New Jersey, and elsewhere, we have no right to complain.  I can't believe there are people still without power or worse, who have lost their homes.  Luckily for us, the babies made it through the experience beautifully, so this is now just a great story that we will tell them some day.

Post Partum Recovery - Finally starting to feel a bit more normal, after 7 weeks.  My incision took forever to heal, to the point where my OB considered, twice, reopening it and sewing it back up.  But both times she reconsidered and literally as of two days ago it finally stopped oozing.  I hope that means I'm done with going back to the doctor - so sick of it!!  I got the lump under my arm/above my left breast looked at by sonogram.  They thought that it was just a collection of cysts and nothing to worry about, but they wanted to aspirate it to be sure.  I set up an appointment and then cancelled it - just cannot deal with another medical thing right now.  Plus I don't love the idea of messing with something that is likely a milk duct when I am breast-feeding.  I think if it's still there in a month I'll go back and have it looked at again (sigh).  I also really need to get a moles check - I had a million new moles grow during pregnancy, and some that got larger.  Don't really feel like dealing with that either, but I really should.  Targeting January to get all of that stuff done.

I'm currently about 10 lbs above pre-pregnancy weight.  My weight seems to have stabilized about there, which I'm okay with.  Don't really care what I weigh, just how I look.  As far as I can tell, I am as skinny or skinnier than I ever was everywhere but my stomach, which is still loose and stretched out looking.  I'm sporting about a 3 month bulge there, which isn't going anywhere.  I am not surprised given that I was carrying 13 lbs of baby and 2 amniotic sacs!  I suspect my stomach will never be the same, but I'm hopeful that once I'm cleared for exercise I can at least get it down from where it is.  New mamas - how long did it take you to get your stomach back?  Any recommendations on good exercises to strengthen/tighten the belly?

The Babes - Are amazing, beautiful, strong, big-eating, fast-growing bundles of joy.  I cannot believe they are mine.  My parents have been here for the past month and I put them to work in a serious way - they were chomping at the bit to come here, but after a month of heavy-duty childcare I think they're ready for a loooong break!  But we had so much fun with the little munchkins, and made so many precious memories.

O is huge, just huge.  Suddenly around 4 weeks he got these enormous cheeks and about 5 chins.  He's a solid kid with a huge appetite.  J is growing really fast too, but he's probably 1 -2 lbs lighter than O.  He's got huge, beautiful blue eyes that look nothing like either me or my husband's.  We speculate that someone at the hospital switched him, because he looks nothing like O either - skin, hair color, physique and features are completely different.

Both kids are breast-feeding and bottle feeding well.  I am mixing up breast feeding with pumping/bottle feeding and some formula supplementation when needed.  Seems to be working reasonably well, and I think they are probably getting around 70 - 80% breast milk most of the time.  I'm pretty happy with that, all things considered.

The kids are growing so fast it's scary - they have already outgrown their 3 month clothes and are wearing 6 month clothes, and they aren't even 2 months yet!  I have a pediatrician appointment tomorrow and I'm wondering what they are going to say - maybe I'll be told that I'm overfeeding them or something?  We'll see...I think O is already over 13 lbs!

I have so much more to write, but I'm going to cut it off here or this will never get posted (I've already started & stopped this post 3 times!)  Here are a couple pictures to share, more to come:

This is during Hurricane Sandy when I was staying with my friends in Brooklyn.  Walked into the room and saw them asleep like this.

More recent picture of O
More recent picture of J

11 comments:

  1. Great to get an update from you! Glad you survived Sandy, but that seems pretty crazy with having to move and carry stuff down a dark staircase.

    The boys are adorable. I LOVE the pic of them sleeping and reaching out to each other - so precious. Its good your c-sec is finally healed, hope it stays that way.

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  2. That's amazing that your boys are so big!!! Not overfeeding, just feeding on demand, with babies with healthy appetites :)

    Ugh Sandy sounds like a nightmare! Where we were we didn't even lose power, thank goodness. I am glad you guys all came out okay, despite the loss of power... sounds really scary getting out. And, how cute is it that they hold hands? Sometimes while I'm tandem nursing my babies they will hold hands :D :D (Other times they will punch each other, awesome.)

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  3. Oh my goodness, they are so cute! The holding hands pic is too much! Definitely frame worthy!

    Glad you are doing better and glad you survived Sandy. You are entitled to complain! That's a long time w/o powers with 2 newborns.

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  4. OMG! They are so cute!! I just love the pics! More, please.

    I'm so glad you survived the storm. I can't imagine having to evacuate and deal with all of that while still recovering from childbirth and TWO babies.

    As for the tummy...I lost most of my weight everywhere pretty quickly except for my stomach. After about 6 months, my stomach is pretty much back to normal, but definitely not as tight as it was pre-pregnancy, but I think part of that is b/c I haven't been doing any ab exercises (too lazy). The way I think about it is, I'm not going out for any beauty contests and my soft stomach is a nice place for J to rest his head when he's playing with his toys.

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  5. They are BEAUTIFUL!!!! And great about looking skinny again! I have no advice about the belly part but I'm sure it will get back to normal. So happy for you sweetie, so happy for you!

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  6. Ok that pic of the two of them; so sweet! Glad you survived Sandy and that the kiddos are doing so great!

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  7. You made some beautiful babies!!! I love the one of them holding hands. I can't believe you had to go through a hurricaine at 3 weeks postpartum with twins! That definitely will be some story to tell them one day. I think I really started losing the weight at 4 months postpartum. I stay hungry all the time! It's so hard to have time to blog with one - got to be near impossible with two! Thanks for the update and the pics!

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  8. Awe what an amaaaazing pic Newbie! WHOOA...So sorry for the battles thanks to Sandy...can't imagine! But like you say, so glad all of you are okay. Hang in there. The ole abs area needs up to like 4 months to get back to normal. Hang in there! Take care of yourself...

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  9. Your boys are beautiful!!!! I just stumbled upon your blog and it is truly inspiring!!! I am currently at CCRM and am also on the kitchen sink protocol with estrogen, testosterone priming and adding Saizen. I rarely see people on this protocol but this was Dr. S's suggestion after my dismal response in Oct. I am so happy for you and your success has given me hope, so thank you!!

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  10. Beautiful pics - they are so cute. And I'm glad you survived Sandy OK. Great to hear from you. I can't imagine how crazy your life is right now!

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  11. Omigod! The picture of your twins makes me all teary - so, so beautiful!!! It almost makes me wish I had two, but I really do feel that one is all I can handle at the moment. About the belly bulge, it will (or can) go away if you exercise. I haven't quite made it all the way at 3 months post-partum, but I've been doing the Tracy Anderson post-pregnancy workout for two weeks now (about 3x per week) and I am starting to see a difference. Good luck! Your boys are gorgeous!!!

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