This past week has been a very busy one.
After Lola's party last weekend, on Monday morning I found myself at the doctor for a growth scan on Monday morning for the commencement of my 33rd week. This was probably an overabundance of caution on the part of my private practitioner, who wanted me to get a more thorough scan at the hands of an expert sonographer, given I am having twins, and have GD, and also am hoping for a non-C section delivery.
Maybe because I also come across as a neurotic and anxious patient? I swear I'm not - I just have questions because I want to really understand the pros and cons and risks! And I'm detail oriented and I follow up on every loose or open end I remember. This is not so much because I don't trust my doctors, but because they cost a lot and they are busy people and I believe very much in verifying and making sure they have not forgotten anything. Anyway, I think I either make these doctors nervous or uncomfortable.
Back when I was getting my NIPT test at the very early stages, I spotted disclaimer language on the test results that had me querying whether the entire test was null and void for women carrying twins. When I asked the midwives and doctors about it, they got very flustered and said no one had ever noticed much less asked about that wording before. Then, with this sonographer, I raised a few questions around the amniotic fluid, umbilical response, placental placement, growth of the twins, any abnormalities in the structure, etc. He did not take kindly to all of my questions, essentially asking me why I'm so worried! Gosh. I think patients here must just take the words of their doctors as gospel or something.
But with all of that said, I feel really great (or as great as one can feel lugging around 35+ pounds and two nearly 4 pound fetuses!) and everything is (I am being reassured) progressing smoothly with the babies. I am still moving relatively lightly on my feet and have no swelling in my fingers or ankles, but I am starting to lumber and turning over in bed requires extraordinary effort and the help of three pillows.
At the growth scan the doctor eyed my stomach and said, "you're hiding them quite well!" I guess that's a compliment...
The babies are on track growth-wise, and both are now head down!! A huge change (and in my opinion, improvement!) from when one was breach and the other was transverse. What is really sweet is that the twins seem always to want to keep their heads near each other. When one was breach, the other basically sprawled across the top of my belly to be head to head. And when one shifted downward, the other promptly followed. It's really cute.
Life at the end of the third trimester with twins seems just chock full of doctor's appointments. I then had a dual doctor's appointment at the end of the week, consisting of meeting with an OB in the public hospital and then an endocrinologist to check my blood sugar numbers. What with the waiting and the checkups, I think I was there for nearly 3 hours. It was also a good appointment overall though, we talked about non-C section options given the twins remain head down, I got a pretty reassuring one on one conversation with the endocrinologist, and my numbers remain largely in control with only a few anomalies occasionally. I can't say that I love that I have pricked and jabbed myself 252 times in the past month, but I'm trying not to focus on that.
What has been incredibly eye opening, and has made me look back at my previous Queen Mary experience with a lot more humility, is the cost of all of these appointments and medications. The public system here is just amazing. I am part of an international gestational diabetes facebook group where the prices for insulin quoted by moms from the US are astounding - well over $200+, and involving lots of fights with their insurance companies over how much they can afford or how much they really need. Granted, I don't know how many units they're paying for. But when I went to the pharmacy to pick up two more insulin pens (each approximately 1500 units), it cost... HK$15. Total. For 2 pens. That's US$2, or barely US$1 a pen. I can't help thinking that this is the kind of pricing that the inventors of insulin would approve (they felt it was unethical for doctors to profit from a discovery that would save lives - and sold the insulin patent for $1 to try to ensure it would be accessible to all), and the clearest indicia of the issues with the free market pharmaceutical industry that is permitted in the US.
In between these two appointments I made it in to my office holiday party, which I already decided was going to be my last formal work appearance. It was a beautiful party with a huge turnout from the whole office, held at the Verandah in Repulse Bay, which is a popular wedding spot in Hong Kong. There was even a special guest appearance from the North Pole! There were impossible trivia questions to answer, raffle drawings, and karaoke. Basically, all the corny and potentially embarrassing things to make a small office party just right.
I'm still closing out a few projects this week, but working from home. This will be my last week of working, and it's snuck up on me a lot faster than expected. Here are some recent pictures right around the 33.5 to 34 week mark!
After Lola's party last weekend, on Monday morning I found myself at the doctor for a growth scan on Monday morning for the commencement of my 33rd week. This was probably an overabundance of caution on the part of my private practitioner, who wanted me to get a more thorough scan at the hands of an expert sonographer, given I am having twins, and have GD, and also am hoping for a non-C section delivery.
Maybe because I also come across as a neurotic and anxious patient? I swear I'm not - I just have questions because I want to really understand the pros and cons and risks! And I'm detail oriented and I follow up on every loose or open end I remember. This is not so much because I don't trust my doctors, but because they cost a lot and they are busy people and I believe very much in verifying and making sure they have not forgotten anything. Anyway, I think I either make these doctors nervous or uncomfortable.
Back when I was getting my NIPT test at the very early stages, I spotted disclaimer language on the test results that had me querying whether the entire test was null and void for women carrying twins. When I asked the midwives and doctors about it, they got very flustered and said no one had ever noticed much less asked about that wording before. Then, with this sonographer, I raised a few questions around the amniotic fluid, umbilical response, placental placement, growth of the twins, any abnormalities in the structure, etc. He did not take kindly to all of my questions, essentially asking me why I'm so worried! Gosh. I think patients here must just take the words of their doctors as gospel or something.
But with all of that said, I feel really great (or as great as one can feel lugging around 35+ pounds and two nearly 4 pound fetuses!) and everything is (I am being reassured) progressing smoothly with the babies. I am still moving relatively lightly on my feet and have no swelling in my fingers or ankles, but I am starting to lumber and turning over in bed requires extraordinary effort and the help of three pillows.
At the growth scan the doctor eyed my stomach and said, "you're hiding them quite well!" I guess that's a compliment...
The babies are on track growth-wise, and both are now head down!! A huge change (and in my opinion, improvement!) from when one was breach and the other was transverse. What is really sweet is that the twins seem always to want to keep their heads near each other. When one was breach, the other basically sprawled across the top of my belly to be head to head. And when one shifted downward, the other promptly followed. It's really cute.
Life at the end of the third trimester with twins seems just chock full of doctor's appointments. I then had a dual doctor's appointment at the end of the week, consisting of meeting with an OB in the public hospital and then an endocrinologist to check my blood sugar numbers. What with the waiting and the checkups, I think I was there for nearly 3 hours. It was also a good appointment overall though, we talked about non-C section options given the twins remain head down, I got a pretty reassuring one on one conversation with the endocrinologist, and my numbers remain largely in control with only a few anomalies occasionally. I can't say that I love that I have pricked and jabbed myself 252 times in the past month, but I'm trying not to focus on that.
What has been incredibly eye opening, and has made me look back at my previous Queen Mary experience with a lot more humility, is the cost of all of these appointments and medications. The public system here is just amazing. I am part of an international gestational diabetes facebook group where the prices for insulin quoted by moms from the US are astounding - well over $200+, and involving lots of fights with their insurance companies over how much they can afford or how much they really need. Granted, I don't know how many units they're paying for. But when I went to the pharmacy to pick up two more insulin pens (each approximately 1500 units), it cost... HK$15. Total. For 2 pens. That's US$2, or barely US$1 a pen. I can't help thinking that this is the kind of pricing that the inventors of insulin would approve (they felt it was unethical for doctors to profit from a discovery that would save lives - and sold the insulin patent for $1 to try to ensure it would be accessible to all), and the clearest indicia of the issues with the free market pharmaceutical industry that is permitted in the US.
In between these two appointments I made it in to my office holiday party, which I already decided was going to be my last formal work appearance. It was a beautiful party with a huge turnout from the whole office, held at the Verandah in Repulse Bay, which is a popular wedding spot in Hong Kong. There was even a special guest appearance from the North Pole! There were impossible trivia questions to answer, raffle drawings, and karaoke. Basically, all the corny and potentially embarrassing things to make a small office party just right.
I'm still closing out a few projects this week, but working from home. This will be my last week of working, and it's snuck up on me a lot faster than expected. Here are some recent pictures right around the 33.5 to 34 week mark!
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