Holidays

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone! I know I'm a little late posting an update, but we've been visiting family in Boise for the past week and for some reason every time I am down here, it is like a time vacuum. I totally lose track of time.

Anywho, I am now 30 weeks. Still growing like crazy. The girls have been moving a ton and I love trying to imagine what the heck is going on in there.

To catch you up a little bit...My glucose test came back A-Ok, which means I do not have to do the much longer extended test. Yay! I had my Dr. appt last week (on the 23rd) and it was a pretty quick little meeting. Mostly just to check in. I was prescribed the splint for my right hand due to pregnancy carpal tunnel. Unfortunately the place I had to get it from was closed and would be for the holidays so I was unable to get it before we left for Boise. Boo to that. Otherwise my appointment went smoothly. I am doing really good. My weight gain is right on target, the girl's hear beats were strong (no ultrasound this time, just a Doppler), and all in all I am a textbook healthy pregnant person.

I did mention that I had a few braxton hicks contractions (or at least what I thought were bh contractions) but I wasn't sure because my whole belly didn't get hard. And also that I had a little pressure down in my pelvic area. This caused my Dr to make a face that I was certain does not indicate anything good was about to come out of her mouth. And I was right. "When are you leaving for the holidays?" she asked. "First thing in the morning." I replied, although it came out as more of a question than a statement.

She told me that she wanted me to run over to the hospital after I left her office for a non-stress test, just in case. Um...just in case what? She assured me it was no big deal but before she sent me off on a 6 hour drive, she wanted to be positively sure that I was not having pre-term labor. Well, that sounded reasonable, so off to the hospital I went for my first NST.

When I got there, I had to register. Which, I found out, is something I have to do every single time. This is going to be a pain in my ass because I have to start doing these twice a week. Can't they give me an "unlimited rides" wrist band or something? Ugh. I am impatient and the registering is annoying to me. But anyway, about my test. They hooked up a heart rate monitor to each baby (on my belly) and then another monitor to watch for contractions. Then they handed me this handheld button thingy and I was told to push the button every time I felt the babies move. I kind of felt like I was on a game show and it was fun at first, but the test took a full hour and it was about 75 degrees in the room, I was laying down and had a very long day. It took all I had to stay awake that last half hour. When I mentioned this to the nurse at the very end, she said, "oh, honey...you could have taken a little nap - lots of women do". Well, thanks for telling me now. I thought this button pushing thing was super important - had I known I could have napped, I would have fallen asleep in the first five minutes. Grrr.... The good news is I didn't have any contractions and the babies were fine. I was given the green light to proceed with my trip.

I am finding that the third trimester is a bit different than the second. I still feel really good, but I am getting tired really easily. And sleep is something I fear I will never have again. It is quite a task to roll over at night and frankly sometimes it hurts from all the weight and round ligament pain. Plus, when once everyone used to ask me "how are you feeling?", now I am constantly asked if I'm "ready to be done yet". I guess pregnant people get to a point where they just want to be done. I'm not saying that won't happen to me, but I'm really sad that this went by so fast and even the uncomfortableness I feel off and on still doesn't make me want to be done. Keep in mind, I am measuring at 35/36 weeks - so it is possible closer to the end I will be "ready to be done", but for now I'm still enjoying this wonderful journey.

Ok, that's about all from this last week. I have a NST this Friday (New Year's Day) and then the next week I'll have 2 more, an ultrasound and a Dr. appointment (the u/s and appt are on the 6th, so I will update after that).

Oh, and I almost forgot - Go Vandals! They are playing in the Humanitarian Bowl today and while I am cheering my heart out for them, I decided to do it from the comfort of my parent's house while Bobby, my sister, and my dad are braving the cold. 7 and 1/2 months pregnant, hard cold bleachers for hours....no thanks.

And finally I will leave you with this: a picture of myself with my sister-in-law Jodi. She is due exactly 1 month after me (with a girl!). Can anyone tell a difference in our belly size?

3rd Trimester!

Wow - 28 weeks...the start of the third trimester and I am still amazed that I am pregnant. The actuality that these little girls are going to be a part of our lives very soon, has started to hit me and I am getting excited to see what they look like, what their personalities are like and how they add to our family. I am also a little sad. The third trimester is sort of a "land of the unknown". Basically, anything can happen at anytime. I'm not guaranteed 3 more months of pregnancy bliss and the fact that this blessed journey is nearing it's end, is a little sad.


Anywho, I still have not heard back about my glucose test. I'm assuming no news is good news because if there was a problem wouldn't they have gotten back to me right away? On the off chance that I slipped through the cracks, I will be calling my Dr.'s office tomorrow just to double check. My RH shot went about the same as last time. It didn't really hurt and I feel good knowing my babies are protected from any of those bad antibodies.


This week hasn't been too eventful. I do have to say that I woke up the other day and all that wonderful energy I have been having was gone. wooooosh. Just.like.that. It was like someone let some of the air out of my tires. I still feel really good, I just seem to be a little more tired than I have been lately. I'm keeping up on my lunchtime naps/rests which do seem to help, but I think these babies are doing a lot of growing in a limited amount of space.


I must mention that I have the most fabulous husband ever! It snowed earlier this week and when I went to take my son to the neighbor lady that lives 3 doors down (she watches him and does preschool), I discovered, in our winter wonderland, that a nice path had been plowed from our driveway to her front step. There was simply no snow...nothing to tromp through, or slip on. Bobby had left early and cleared the way for me. So sweet.


I decided it was finally time to get items for the babies' room. So I ordered the bedding and a second crib that isn't an exact match to the one we used for Connor but is pretty darn close. It feels like a big relief every time I get something like that done. I can't wait for everything to get here so we can put their room together. It will be so nice to have a little organization because right now it looks like a big pink clothing and what-not bomb went off in their room.


I'm still experiencing carpal tunnel - yuck. But the round ligament pain is now only bad at nighttime when I do my nightly dance of trying to roll from one side to another, get all situated with pillows, only to discover I have to get up and go to the bathroom. Oh, yeah. I don't think I've mentioned that yet. I have to go to the bathroom about a gazillion times a day/night. It seems like every time I move even a little, I have to use the bathroom. I've actually had to stop on my way to work (my commute is 40 minutes) because I simply couldn't wait. And the most annoying part is...when I finally do go, it's like nothing. I mean a teeny tiny bit. And I'm all, "that's it? are you kidding me". And I'll walk back to my desk only to discover that I kind of have to go again.


So let's talk about: The belly. This thing is starting to have a life of it's own. I can't seem to get the hang of it...and by that I mean, I seriously underestimate how big it is. I've knocked a glass off the table just by walking past. I am constantly opening doors into it. And God bless Connor, because I can't even count how many times I have turned around suddenly only to discover he was standing right next to me, but in my sudden turn, the belly knocked him down. We all have a good laugh about it, but I can't imagine the destruction it will cause as it gets bigger (LOL).


And while we're on a belly topic, I did want to mention that my saucer belly button...the one that in the beginning of my pregnancy I was concerned would always be this huge saucer looking thing under my shirt, is now taking on a different form. The saucer disappeared quite awhile ago, and now we are starting to enter turkey-timer territory. I didn't think it would happen to me, and I'm still not fully convinced that my belly button will "pop" out, but it is getting sneakingly close to happening. The edges have started to turn out, and I joke you not...if I laugh or cough, it pokes out and then goes right back. This thoroughly grosses Bobby out and fascinates Connor.


Ok I'll touch on just one more thing before I utterly bore you all to death. I am happy to report that my weight gain is still holding steady. I am not opposed to gaining the required weight, in fact I think of it as my way of helping these babies grow and be born healthy. I just wish that the majority of the weight I gain would not be in my face. I mean seriously, I have so many chins right now, I can't even count them. And my face always looks a little bloated - even my eyelids look kind of chunky. I was talking with a friend who is pregnant and she said she has gained all her weight in her hips and thighs, so maybe everyone's body just distributes it differently...but I can positively say that I will not be sad to see these chins go away. For now, I guess I have to accept them as a part of this pregnancy...maybe not happily accept them, but accept them none-the-less.


Sorry I don't have any ultrasound pictures to post. I just couldn't get a good scan of the one picture I got of Baby B. But to appease those of you who were counting on a little visual fun, I have included 2 pictures of my 28 week belly; and yes one of them is a bare belly shot, because I got a lot of emails about the one I posted before. You people really love to see how much I can stretch out don'tcha?

Sneaky little stretch mark...

Well, I have one. A stretch mark, that is. It is tiny and isn't the bright red that I expected. Actually it looks more like a shadow and more than once when trying to find it, it's taken me a minute to see it, so it's not too bad. But it's there. I know it's there and surprisingly I am not too upset about it. I knew this was very likely to happen. I don't know anyone who had twins and walked away completely stretch mark free. But still....it would have been nice to have been that person :-)

I am 27 weeks and 2 days today. Woo hoo! I had my ultrasound this morning and then my regular Dr. appt this afternoon. The girls are looking great. I have one picture of Righty, and I will try to post that this weekend. Sadly I only have a picture of Lefty's foot. You see Lefty wasn't really cooperative and when it appeared she would be cooperative Righty stole the spotlight by planting her big ol noggin in the way. Quite frankly, the ultrasound at this point is a little of a let down. The girls are so big that it's not cute profile pictures that appear on the screen. Instead, there are arms and legs, half a nose, somebody's eye with a foot blocking the rest of the face, etc. It's kind of humorous, but not really the "great" view that I thought we would get.

OK, so let's do stats on these bambinos...Lefty is definitely Baby A. She will be the first to be delivered because she has moved down a little bit. I'm not sure if this is a good thing because her head appears quite a bit larger than Righty's. The ultrasound lady said it was good because delivering Righty will be a breeze. Anywho, Lefty measures at 28 weeks and weighs 2 lbs 8 oz. Awesome! Her heart rate was 147 and her heart, bladder, kidneys, etc all are exactly on target.

Righty is doing really well also. She measures in at 27 weeks 5 days and weighs 2 lbs 7 oz. Her heart rate was 153. She is a little smaller but both babies are measuring so great that it doesn't matter that she's a tiny bit smaller than her sister.

At my appt. I was able to ask a bunch of questions which (lucky for you) you will all get to know the answers to.
- My hands are tingly and fall asleep at night when I'm in bed. This apparently is carpal tunnel. Very common amongst us pregos and if it is bothersome, I can be prescribed a wrist splint to wear. I opted not to do that right now because it's not too bothersome, but reserve the right to change my mind.

- Heart Burn and what is now also reflux. Looks like Zantax (sp?) will be my new best friend. Safe to take and does a much better job than tums.

- Round Ligament pain. Too bad, so sad for me. This is a grin and bear it type of thing.

- How long can I work? As long as I feel up to it, or if I have complications, we will have to revisit this topic.

- There are no sidewalks and my office bldg is in the middle of campus. If the weather turns bad and the roads icy can I get a disability permit. You betcha! I can get one whenever I want.

Other things I learned at my appt: I was given the orangey sugar drink and will need to do my glucose test sometime next week. I will also need to get my 2nd RH shot next week. (this is because my first one was so early that I need another one). I will now start going to appts every 2 weeks, but because the babies and I are so awesome the ultrasounds will still be every month unless I encounter complications. The week after Christmas I will start my NST (non stress tests). These are twice a week for 20 - 40 minutes each time. This seems kind of excessive, but better safe than sorry I say.

Let's see, what else? Oh yes...I almost forgot this little nugget...my uterus is freakin huge! That's right people, huge! I am measuring at 34 to 35 weeks. Um, k. That's kind of a lot I think. My dr. assures me that is normal for pregos with twins, but it kind of caused me a little stress because if my body thinks that I am 34 weeks pregnant does that mean it will try to go in to labor early? Scary? Yes.

On a good note, I am on the low end of weight gain - in the range, but the low end none-the-less. It's the small things that make me happy :-)

All in all, still pretty uneventful. I am supposed to be on watch for any kind of contractions. I've had a few Braxton Hicks here and there, but now is the time where these things could be a serious problem. I feel like we're starting to get into the thick of things. I was also told that I can kiss my March 9th due date bye bye. They don't let twin pregos go to 40 weeks, so if it looks like I will make it, they will schedule me to be induced at 38 weeks. That's right around February 24th. So, I now consider that my due date goal. Gotta make it to Feb. 24th!

My next appt is on December 23rd. Then we are headed to Boise for Christmas - yay! I will update next week when I will officially be in my 3rd trimester - WOW! And I will also have the details from my glucose test - riveting, I know. Here's hoping this pregnancy continues to sail along and these babies grow, grow, grow.

Till next time.....

Baby Shower, Thanksgiving and 26 weeks!

Well, it has been a whirlwind these past couple weeks. We went to Boise for some family time before Thanksgiving, and while we were there I went to the Baby shower that was thrown for me by a very dear friend. It was a great time all around - I was able to catch up with old friends and the babies scored some mighty fine stuff :-) I will try to post pics soon, Blogger has not been cooperating with me lately.

After my wonderful baby shower, we headed up to our condo to spend the Holiday week. This was heaven. We played board games, cards and went swimming in the indoor pool. I loved the swimming - I forgot how light I could feel without this big 'ol belly. The sad part was when I had to get out of the pool...I felt like my feet were stuck in cement! If only pregos could feel weightless (as if in a pool) during the whole 9 months....ahhhhh, that would be great!

I am 26 weeks along and am so looking forward to my appointment next week. I have a bunch of things to mention to my Dr. It seems the further along I get, the more little things I am noticing. Like, for the past 2 days, I have hella-massive heartburn. Ouch! And I've noticed my hands swelling and falling asleep/getting tingly lately, which is pretty much no fun. And finally I am still getting the horrible round ligament pain. I know there is nothing that can be done for the round ligament stuff, but man it hurts like a mo-fo. The only good part about it is that it lets me know these girls are growing...this past week when I had the pain, I measured my belly and sure enough, I had grown about 1 in and 1/2 in a week! I did sign up for a prenatal swim class and was super excited to start today, but when I got there I learned it had been cancelled because I was the only one signed up for this session - boo to that. I am vastly disappointed. The instructor told me I could join a regular swim excersice class, and I might (I need to do something to help with lower back pain and round ligament pain) but the thought of being in a class with a bunch of old ladies isn't all that appealing to me. So, I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet.

But for the minor complaints I have, there is also a lot of good stuff to report. I have been able to feel these little ones move a lot more, and now Bobby can feel them too - which is pretty much awesome! I still feel really good as far as energy and doing things...I haven't had any bouts of preterm labor (which the dr. said was common after 24 weeks with twins), and my weight gain is holding steady (yay!).

We were talking the other night and it occurred to us that if these babies decide to come around 36 weeks instead of 40, then we only have 10 weeks...that's 2 and a half months for those of you who are slow with math like mwah. That kind of freaks me out a little. There still seems like so much to do before they get here, and so very little time. We haven't even picked out names for crying out loud!

Anywho, I will continue with my little freak out...and will post again next week after my appointment on Thursday, December 10th.

Till then......