abbababy

It's week #34. In this final stretch of the pregnancy, Becki sees the ob-gyn every Wednesday. A couple of days ago, we all went in together and stood around the ultrasound machine and got the latest glimpse of how the twins are coming along. Click on the photos to see larger images of their cute faces. Baby B looks a little ghostly, but that's because he and his brother were squirming around a lot. It was fun to see that Baby A even had his eyes open!


After our pre-term labor scare two weeks ago, everything is back to normal. No more contractions. The surrogate and the boys are doing just great. On the monitor, we got to see the twins' hearts beating, and watched in awe as their little diaphragms and lungs went through "breathing practice." Both boys weigh in at approximately 5 pounds each now. Doctor Watson says he's going to try to get Becki to 36 weeks (October 12), but would like to have her carry until week 37 ... or even week 38. That would be October 26. We sure hope we don't have to wait until Halloween to see those pumpkins.

Tim (a.k.a Daddy)

Tim and I are now in Dayton: to be exact, we're in Beaver Creek, a suburb of Dayton. Everything is far away here -- the grocery store, the baby goods store, even Starbucks. However, we're only 15 minutes from the hospital and that's part of the good news. The other part is that Becki, after some premature contractions last week, is no longer experiencing anything that suggests babies A and B will be arriving in the immediate future and, aside from the indignities of being constantly poked in the ribs, is feeling well and maintaining her good humor. When the boys do get here, we're ready for them, with our Graco Snuggly car seats, our Graco twin stroller, and a suit-case full of diapers, wipes, formula and God only knows what else. The mohelet and rabbi in Toronto are lined up, the nursery in Toronto furnished and ready. Tim and I need some rest after our house move, after the nanny we hired pulled out on us, and after a long drive down from Toronto. Beaver Creek should be a good place for that. Morley (a.k.a. Abba)

It's September 13. I've just come back from the gym, Tim is still there. I sat down at my computer and found an email from Becki with an attachment: a 2 minute video of her abdomen, taken in the wee hours of the morning, with those super-charged life elements wriggling and thrashing around as if they can't wait to get out and see what's on the other side. I'm sitting here with tears in my eyes and chills racing up and down my spine. What a glorious life the 4 of us have in store for us, and what a great gift Becki, Scott and Brody are giving us. Thank you.

Morley (a.k.a. Abba)

We're in our new house now. (Actually, we're going back and forth between the two houses in anticipation of the move next week.) The big event yesterday was that the nursery furniture was delivered. I'm sure no one will be surprised when I tell you that the delivery was scheduled to arrive before 5 pm, and that we sat here wasting an entire day being idle in this empty house waiting for a truck which perversely chose to arrive at 4:56. So lucky me, I got to assemble a crib and changing table late into the evening. Oh, but what beauties they are. When I cleared away all the packing debris and saw the room filled with baby furniture, my heart just swelled.

The latest on the pregnancy front is that we just learned that the obstetrician has moved our EDC up -- by a whole month! He now thinks it's likely the twins will arrive on October 9 instead of November 9. I feel faint even blogging about it.

Timothy (a.k.a. Daddy)

If our twins were average -- and apparently they're not -- they would each weigh 3 pounds 5 ounces by now. However, based on the ultrasound three weeks ago, and an average growth rate of 7 ounces per week, I'm guessing they should really be closer to 4 pounds 5 ounces each. At this point in their development, the twins can register information with all five of their senses, but can only make real use of four of them. Because babies don't breathe air inside the uterus, their sense of smell is all but useless until after birth.

Blog followers will note that there was a little hiatus in postings over the past week. Morley and I have just returned from a trip to San Francisco, where we attended the wedding of Morley's eldest son, David, to our lovely new daughter-in-law, Deb. It was a beautiful event -- made all the more special by the fact that Deb is almost as pregnant as we are. She and David are expecting a son on David's birthday, November 12. Our due date is November 5. So now it's three-boy race to the finish line! Who will arrive first: the uncles or the nephew? The sons or the grandson?

Our most fervent hope is that each and every one takes his sweet time.

Timothy (a.k.a Daddy)