36 Weeks!

Holy smokes. I'm 36 weeks pregnant. Dr. H will not stop these babies from coming out now. What an exciting and frightening thought.

I had more monitoring done at the Perinatal Center today. Wasn't I just there? These weekly appointments are coming really fast. I can't believe we will be holding both babies so soon!

Janet at the PNC asked about the babies movement during the week. I have been a little concerned that I was not feeling baby B move as much as baby A. I could mess with him and then he'd move, but for the most part he was just taking it easy. Or so I thought...the babies were both definitely moving. Of course on the monitor they were crazy active. They both had heart rates in the high 160's and they had accelerations at the same time. A quick peak at the ultrasound showed why. The babies are lying head to head both in my left upper quadrant. My girl (baby A) is still breech with her legs and feet in my lower right quadrant and her arms/hands around my belly button area. My boy (baby B) is transverse with his legs coming around the right side of my abdomen with his feet kicking her feet and his arms/hands in punching distance of her hands. So, all the moving and kicking that I've been feeling has been both babies kicking each other. The slight movement I've felt higher (which I thought was the boy) was actually the twins punching each other. Nice. I'm in for some trouble when these two get here.

I saw Dr. H at the office after my monitoring. My fluid levels are great (around 20), I'm measuring 45 weeks (44 a week ago) and he's happy with how everything is progressing. My BP was borderline, but not a surprise. The best part of the exam is that I lost 5 lbs in one week! So, the crazy 6 lb weight gain last week was a fluke. It had to have been a bunch of water retention. So, I'm still on track with my weight gain goal.

Only 5 more days until Mom flies in from Florida. I figure if I go into labor in the next day or two I'll at least just be getting out of the hospital about the time she will arrive. Yay! I really didn't want to mess up Great Granmother's 90th Birthday party and it looks like at this point Mom will not have to fly in early, so she will definitely be at the party. Phew.

Daddy is out with Carter this afternoon for some special one-on-one time while Mama is hanging out at the house waiting for the UPS guy. It's eerily quiet around here. I am going to relish in the silence for as long as I have it. It won't be long before this peaceful bliss turns into a whirl of baby sounds and smells and activity.

35 Week Appointment

I had an appointment with the Perinatal Center yesterday to be followed up with Dr. H. Brady took the day off work to go to the appointment with me. I had a rough weekend pregnancy-wise and he wanted to make sure that everything was ok.

We thought that we were just going for some monitoring, but to our surprise we got a growth ultrasound in addition to our regular appointment. The ultrasonographer Krisha was amazing as usual. She took measurements of both the babies. Our girl is a whopping 5lb 11oz! Our boy is 5lb 4oz! I am carrying 11 lbs of baby in this uterus. Both babies are doing great, although they still won't change position, so a c/s it is. Susan performed my NST and was a little concerned about my swelling. She said that I looked quite a bit different from a week ago. I had noticed it as well. Plus, I think I got the "you won't make it another week, I'm surprised you're here" comment a dozen times at church on Sunday. Obviously I was looking like I felt, swollen and crummy.

Dr. H wasn't concerned though. My BP was fine at the office (although it had been high over the weekend), my constant cramping is normal, swelling is normal, etc. The only thing that concerned me, that I didn't mention because I didn't figure it out until later last night was that I gained 6 lbs in one week! That has to be due to all the swelling in my feet, hands and face. So much for great delivery pictures, but at least the water weight will fall off within a couple of days of delivery.

I can't complain (well, I complain just fine actually, but I shouldn't...), things are going well and I've had a great pregnancy. I'm just ready to have these babies. My c/s is scheduled for Tuesday Feb. 17th at 10:45am. I wouldn't mind having them earlier, but Mom won't be here until the 7th, so it will have to be after that. So, only 21 more days. Brady and Mom think I need to take it easy and just rest. Mom says to leave the housework for when she gets here. Can Mom come visit without a spotless house? I think I would have a panic attack.

Here come the contractions...

I started contracting during church. I thought maybe it was the hustle to get there by 9am, since we are used to 1pm church that brought them on. I hoped that by sitting during the first meeting they would subside, but they didn't. They were hard painful contractions and made me nauseated every time they hit. They even brought me to tears a few times. I was teaching yesterday and they weren't very consistent in their frequency so I stayed and toughed it out. I had a bout of contractions like this the weekend before, but not as painful and eventually I was able to fall asleep during them and they had stopped by morning.

After our meetings, I came home and decided to lay down. At about 4pm I called Dr. H because the contractions were coming between 5-8 minutes apart for a few hours and not letting up. And they hurt! So, after discussing our options I decided to stay home and try some Procardia to see if it would stop the contractions. I've given Procardia many many times to patients and usually it worked, but sometimes not. Thankfully about an hour after taking the Procardia the contractions slowed to 2-3 an hour, but just like clockwork they started back up again right before my next dose of the med was due. At this point I am taking it every 6 hours, but we'll see what the next few weeks bring.

Well, at the doctor on Monday the babies looked really good, but the stinkers are in no position to be delivered without surgical intervention! Baby A is still breach and Baby B is still transverse. But, they are growing like they should and I have almost 8lb's of baby in me! Baby A (our girl) is 3lb 13oz (51%) and Baby B (our boy) is 3lb 15oz (54%). Only a 3% difference in weight is excellent. I had told Dr. H about my contractions during the last week and he let me know that he was on-call this weekend so to call if I needed him. So, I didn't hesitate to call when the contractions started up again.

Our next appointment is next week when the Perinatal Center will start monitoring (MBPP-modified biophysical profile) the babies. I'm not sure that we will have anymore ultrasounds for growth, but Dr. H will still do them in his office for positioning etc. Then we move on to weekly appointments. This pregnancy has flown. I can't believe that in possibly 3 weeks we could have a couple of babies! Hoping of course for a few more than that.

Christmas

Here is a small christmas morning movie.  It was quite festive with a 7 and 3 year old-- set to some great music.  (It runs 17 minutes)

What a wonderful few days.  Despite being away from all family, the day has turned out better than I could have hoped.  The boys seemed to really get the Christmas Spirit and the nature of giving.  I was so excited to give joy to others.  Our goal was to focus on the small, simple things.  While this is hard at times, it certainly helped me keep perspective.

So much focus in the world is on the getting (not a surprise to you, I'm sure), it was nice to see and feel the reaction of things given.  All of which are some distance from what we celebrated yesterday in the Christ-child's birth.   It might be me, but it seems like it is getting more difficult to bring Christ into Christmas.

We do our best...

...all the best from us to you and yours.

29w2d OB appointment

Well, my appointment was supposed to be on Monday but we had to reschedule for today. Nick was home on Monday due to a snow day and my OB was home with his snowbound kids too. Isn't he great? What OB does that???

So, today was a quick one. I've just started my 2 week appointments. I'm up 2 lbs from 2.5 weeks ago. BP was high 133/88 but has been the entire pregnancy. I don't know why I would have white coat syndrome, but I do. My last bp at home was 105/56ish. Oh well. I can't explain it.

So, I'm measuring the same as a singleton mother at 36 weeks. That would explain why I've gotten the comments lately. I was at Macy's and this lady assumed I was near term, I told her I was due in early March. She looked at me kind of funny and asked if I knew what I was having. I said "twins". She then says "Oh, that's why you're so huge!" Ummm, excuse me? Apparently her daughter is also pregnant with twins and she's huge as well. Nice... My friends have all said I look small. Plus, I don't feel very big. Whatever. I have a great friend who tells me I keep getting smaller everywhere except my belly. I really love her.

So, my OB proceeds to tell me that my weight gain is excellent! I've gained 24 lbs in almost 30 weeks with twins. I feel pretty good about it. I think my last OB mentioned my weight (in a not-so-positive light) when I was pregnant with Carter and I cried all the way up until my next appointment. Plus, I barely gained anything with that pregnancy. Jerk.

So, Dr. H tells me that if I go into labor around 35 weeks they will do a half-hearted attempt to stop labor with maybe a little terb and if that doesn't work they will deliver. I can't believe I only have 6-8 weeks left of this pregnancy. It really hasn't been hard at all.

My OB also did an u/s and the babies were both transverse. Baby A (our girl) was no longer vertex (head down) and was now laying with her head to my left and her legs to my lower right. Baby B (our boy) is laying in the exact same position a little bit higher. Their little heads were right next to each other. It was cute. He attempted to show me my little ones on 3D/4D but they are so big now it was just jumbled baby parts everywhere. It was really cute seeing the little feet kick though.

Anyway, I am back to the Perinatal Center on the 29th for another U/S and maybe a cervical length but probably not b/c I haven't been showing any signs of labor. Then I get to see my favorite OB right afterwards. I would possibly bring Carter to that appointment (like I did today) but they don't allow out-of-womb children in the Perinatal Center. I'm so proud of Carter for being sooo good today. He did draw lots of attention being so well behaved and the faux-hawk hair style drew a bit of attention as well.

So, all good news today and I'm really looking forward to being a mama to these sweet children. But, just not yet...

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Ok, already!  We don't blog often.  I don't expect you to visit often. 

Today was a nearly perfect day.  This was the first Thanksgiving in recent memory that wasn't a "stress fest."  Grandma Robinson came to town and is resting in comfort in front of the TV.  

The turkey was, I must say, perfect.  Thank you Butterball.  (learned  a secret from my Mom, cook with the breast down for the first 2/3rds of the roasting time then flip and cook breast up to brown.)  I really mean it was PERFECT.  Zann made roles and pies that we will be enjoying through tomorrow. They are certain to be gone after that.  Mom (Grandma) made Grandma Great's stuffing.  I made the turkey and the mashed potatoes.  

Somehow, I managed a nap after turkey.   I cannot remember the last time I took a nap mid-day.

Today is also a special day in the family, it is Nick's birthday.  He turned 7 today.   We made him a private space in the top bunk.  He is into Spy Gear, so we made him a spy space with black sheets, drapes and lots of spy stuff.   Along with his DS and new projecting clock radio.  He was thrilled.  I post some links to pictures later.

I cannot believe it, but Zann is going out on Black Friday.  She is getting up at 4 AM to get the goodies.  It is nice to have the big stuff out of the way already.  I cannot go into particulars as Zann reads her own blog.  It has been much less stressful as we have been planning for Christmas for some time.  Not to mention, we decided to pull back on gifts in light of the babies coming not to mention the economic conditions.

Hope you and yours had a great Holiday.

Ok, so obviously I don't blog very often. My life is too crazy to find the time to sit down and document it. I really should though.

So, it's almost May. I don't know where this last year has gone. Nick is almost finished with Kindergarten. I think he's ready for summer. He keeps asking if we are going to buy Six Flags tickets this year. We used to get season passes, but haven't the last 2 years. I guess we'll think about buying them again. It would cost us a bunch just to get there in gas!

Carter and I are deep in potty training. It didn't take but a few days with Nick. Easier to do when you can stay home for 3 days straight in the bathroom. Carter is taking a little bit longer because we tend to start and stop throughout the day depending on what we have going on and what errands I have to run. He's doing really well though! We are going to be pull-up free soon!

So, Brady made it through another round of layoffs at work. We haven't really been worried, but enough with the layoffs already!! They just seem to keep cutting back...and back. We aren't really worried, but it's obviously in the back of our minds. He's still happy with what he's doing though for the most part. Things are constantly changing there, so he certainly can't get bored!

I'm thinking of looking into work myself at a home health agency for pregnant women on bedrest. I'm obviously drawn to the antepartum through postpartum woman. I just don't want to work in a hospital right now, so the laboring mom is out of the question as of now. If only home births weren't illegal in MO! I would really like to be able to work for a midwife or doula and assist in homebirths or even hospital births, but not actually work for the hospital.

I've thought of going back to school to be a doula. I'd really like to help women deliver naturally (w/o an epidural) but, having never done it myself... I don't know. I would be a much more effective coach if I knew exactly what they were going through. I do to a point. The point at which I got my epidural!! Well, I did have a handful of mom's that delivered naturally, but being the nurse isn't exactly the same thing. I was very compassionate and supportive, but I obviously did not feel the delivery.

Speaking of laboring moms...my two girlfriends are both due to deliver in the next week or two. I am sooo excited. A is having a girl and M is having a boy. It is such an exciting time for both of them. I love having a newborn in the house!

But, anyway...I probably won't do anything until until Carter is in full-time preschool and Nick in full-time school too. It's just not the right time for me to work. I love being home and spending my day with my boys. They are growing right before my eyes! Life flies by too fast.