26 weeks, 1 day

Every day counts, and I have made it ten days since being admitted to the hospital in New York. The babies are now 2 pounds, 1 ounce (A) and 2 pounds, 4 ounces (B). I have learned quite a bit in these last two weeks about how to take care of these babies, including:

• They kick and move increasingly furiously when they are hungry. This was important to learn because their frenetic movement can cause contractions, which can lead to preterm labor, but if I can stop it by eating (a problem solved by eating? finally!), I can stop the contractions. I learned this from a very thoughtful, smart nurse with whom I spoke on Sunday night when I hadn't eaten in a long time and the babies were bending my belly like Beckham. She suggested I eat something because then the babies would likely go into food coma and settle down. Five minutes after eating, the contractions stopped and babies were quiet for hours. Who knew?
  
• The contractions are directly related to how much water I am consuming. My doctor has suggested I drink 3-4 liters of water a day. Yikes!
• Twin pregnancies are more likely to lead to gestational diabetes and preeclampsia than singleton pregnancies. Tuesday I failed my 1 hour glucose test and have the 3 hour test scheduled in a few weeks. In the meantime I am following a diabetic diet just in case--and because it's better for me anyway. Therefore: no white foods of any kind--pastas, flour, bread, etc.; more fruits and veggies; no soda (not that I have room in my bladder for soda on top of all the water anyway); no cookies, cakes, candies, etc.; and more protein and dairy. I have been trying to do better with the protein and dairy anyway, but hadn't been worrying about the white foods. Now I'm trying to eat every 3 hours or so throughout the day, eat a dairy snack like yogurt, warm milk, or ice cream before I go to bed, and eat protein and carbs with every meal or mini-meal.
  

Between the eating and the drinking, particularly now that I am especially watching what I eat, I am busy pretty much all day. Jeff has been amazing--he is doing all the housework he used to do, plus all the housework I usually do, plus cleaning up after me (and all that eating means more cleaning up). He's learning how to cook more things, which is fantastic, and (see above) he is still smiling! I suggested outsourcing some of the housework, including cooking, and he wants to continue to do it all. We've also had fantastic help--Nick bringing dinner last night, Tricia and Michael bringing dinner (plus two more dinners!) on Saturday, Jeff's parents bringing lots of food Sunday. I told Jeff that if I could outsource any part of this pregnancy, I would do it in a heartbeat! Unfortunately that's not an option right now--but I can see the allure of the gestational surrogate!

It looks like everything is working out so far to move into our new house next month, which is a relief and a joy. Radon results should be back today or tomorrow.

Jeff installed Netflix on my computer so I can instantly watch many tv shows and movies. If you have any suggestions for somewhat older movies (not in the last 6 months), tv series', or documentaries, particularly on the lighter side, I would appreciate it! I watched Exit Through the Gift Shop yesterday, about street art (graffiti), and it was really fun.