33 week check up

Saw the doctor again today and everything is going good. She took me off home monitoring today! At this point since I know what contractions feel like, I can just keep track of them myself and call the doctor if I think its actual labor. I am pretty excited not to have to hook up to that machine for two to four hours every day.

I did a quick NST (non-stress test) today where they monitor the babies' heart rates and contractions for 20 minutes. Baby A was moving around so much we couldn't even get her on the monitor for very long. Both girls looked good though and we passed.

Basically the plan right now is to get me to 34 weeks. If I go into labor before Saturday, they would try to hold me off until then with various drugs. But after Saturday, whatever happens happens. At 34 weeks its possible we could avoid the NICU but it will really depend on the doctor and how the girls are doing. Chances are much better at 35 weeks of staying out of the NICU. Can I make it another week and four days? Well I am going to try!~ I really did not think we were going to make it this far when we had the positive FFN at 26 weeks 6 days. But we've hung in there!

Here's the theme song for the next week and a half:
 

33 week twin belly

 33 weeks!

Babies are the size of pineapples this week.

Enjoying the long weekend and getting in a few last dinners out with friends and family before the girls come. We are also really, really close to having the nursery done. Probably this weekend!

Baby basics class

We took another baby class last night at the wellness center. This one was baby basics hands on. They go over things like changing diapers, bathing, temperature taking, swaddling, sleeping positions, feeding, etc. And everyone has a fake baby doll to practice with. The nurse that taught the class was hilarious.

I have three things to buy after leaving the class - aquaphor (to use for moisturizing instead of lotion), baby washcloths (she said the smaller ones are actually much easier to use than a regular sized one) and a bottle brush (sometimes the dishwasher won't cut it). She also had two books recommendations that I feel I need to load onto my Kindle: The Happiest Baby on the Block and On Becoming Baby Wise. (UPDATE: Okay I did upload these both to my Kindle before I finished this post.)

Breastfeeding basics class

Last night we went to the breastfeeding basics class at the wellness center. They actually do give you dolls (two in our case!) and have your practice getting the baby into the correction position. All I can say is that it was super awkward trying to balance two babies, a giant belly and those support pillows they have for breastfeeding. I don't know how that will play out in real life!

Ironically in the class of maybe ten couples, two other twin moms sat right behind us! One is also 32 weeks and the other is 29 weeks with boy/girl twins and lives just a couple blocks from us, and they both just joined the twin mom group I'm in. That means there will be at least four sets of twins all in the same grade (Rocky River Class of 2031!).

Walked for 12 minutes today! Legs still feeling like jello but getting a little stronger maybe.

Post-bed rest weakness!

I went for my first walk after 6.5 weeks of bed rest. I walked 12 houses down our street and back and it took ten minutes. My legs were like jello at the end. I'm sure its a combination of bed rest and being 32 weeks pregnant with twins. Remember when I ran a HALF MARATHON in September a month before I got pregnant???? But it feels so good to get out of the house and into the fresh air, albeit hot humid summer weather. I'm going to try another small walk later today.

No more bed rest!

Had my weekly appointment with the regular doctor today and she said I could come off bed rest! BEST DAY EVER! I will be going for a short walk later and going out to dinner tonight. I am so pumped. Basically she said no heavy lifting and to monitor my contractions. If they start increasing, I am doing too much and need to take it easy. She said also I am going to be really tired after 6 1/2 weeks of bed rest so try not to over do it. And she doesn't want me going back into work (too much) so I'll keep working from home.

Babies looked good today. We had another ultrasound (#16) for a BBP test (to check for breathing) which they passed. Heartbeats were 153 and 161.

32 week twin belly

32 weeks today! Major goal number three met. Next up is 34 weeks.

Babies weigh as much as a large jicama, 3.75 lbs according to the pregnancy apps (but we know they weight more than that from last appointment!).

Last night we made a fire in the backyard and roasted marshmallows for some s'more snacks. It was so nice to get out of the house and have some fresh air. Feeling a lot better today!

6 weeks of bed rest and hating every second of it

This is not an upbeat post.

I've been on bed rest now for five weeks. I cannot even begin to explain how bad it sucks. Pretend that you haven't left your house in SIX weeks except to go to the doctor or the hospital. Not one trip to the grocery store, Target, to see a friend, grab a cup of coffee, enjoy a dinner out. No walks, picnics, bike rides in this beautiful weather. Nope, none of that. On top of that, when you are home, you are allowed to do basically nothing beyond watch TV/read and get up briefly to make dinner/grab water/shower. FOR SIX WEEKS STRAIGHT. I am losing my mind. Not to mention all the stress associated with monitoring twice a day an hour each time for contractions, then sometimes having too many and having to retest, and constantly being freaked out that you are going to deliver early and your kids will be in the NICU forever and/or have long and/or short term medical problems associated with pre-term birth. And going to the hospital TWICE. It's not very fun.

Then, you have two babies coming but you can't do anything to get ready. Do you know how frustrating it is that I can't even go out to my car and put the car seats in place? I can't throw in a load of laundry of baby clothes? And the urge to be "nesting" and make the house clean? Nope. No vacuuming, no sweeping, no cleaning at all really. (Thankfully Darren and other family members have been stepping in. But the point is, I want to be doing it not asking other ppl to do stuff for me.)

I have tried Googling bed rest boredom cures and what I've learned is that there are none. Thanks Google for suggesting I keep the TV remote and a lap top nearby. If only I had thought of that on my own. Some other suggestions:  Start a blog. Do a craft. Fill in the baby book. Check, check, check. I've tried it all. If anyone else tells me it must be nice to have time to relax now before the babies come, I am going to scream. Bed rest is not relaxing.

Another negative FFN result!

My FFN test was negative yesterday, which means less than a 1% chance of delivery in the next two weeks. That would take us at least to 33 weeks, 3 days. The doctor said if I can make it to 34 weeks its possible the girls could come home without any NICU time (or at least a pretty minimal stay).

Anyway, awesome news!

31 week check up and a false alarm

Saw the regular doctor today for a check up and another FFN test (waiting on results). No real change since last week - still 2 to 3 cm dilated and could go soon, or could hang on a few more weeks. I'm 90% effaced at this point so my cervix is a little thinner than last week. She did a quick ultrasound (#15) and babies look good.

On Mother's Day, I thought for sure my water broke. I called Darren in a panic and he rushed home from band practice. We went to Fairview Hospital but it was a false alarm. I guess that happens all the time, or at least they told me that to make me feel better. So we were in and out of the hospital within a few hours.

Still feeling about the same with awful pelvic pressure. But, we are nearly at 32 weeks!

Happy Mother's Day!

Got a beautiful delivery of flowers from the dad to be for Mother's Day. He is also picking me up a ginormous breakfast from the original pancake house of coconut pancakes and a veggie omelette.

I woke up this morning and saw Darren slept in his winter hat last night. Haha. Apparently keeping the room like an ice box doesn't work for those who aren't pregnant. I can't help it - I get so hot at night! Also I ate half a watermelon (a big one) in one sitting yesterday. Pregnancy problems. 

Well happy Mother's Day to all the moms, grandmas and future moms out there. 

31 week twin belly

31 weeks! Each baby is the size of four navel oranges. 

It's been four weeks and one day on modified bed rest. I am going stir crazy but hanging in there.

Good appointment today! 3D ultrasound pics

Baby B

After such a crazy week, we had a really great appointment today with the specialist.

Baby A weighs 4 lbs (60th percentile). You can see her 3D shot with her sister's butt sticking right into her face.

Baby B weighs 3 lbs 13 oz (55th percentile). She is breached though. The specialist said there is a chance she could flip still. A chance. But as of right now, we are looking at  C-section most likely.

Both heart beats looked good in the 150s.

The specialist said at this point, even being 3 cm dilated, there is still a chance I could make it to 37 weeks. Or I could go sooner. It's hard to say. But with the steroid shots and both girls weighing in so well he said it would be a really good outlook. So that made me fee a lot better.

Baby A

 Just taking it easy and staying off my feet as much as possible.

A brief hospital stay...

Just got discharged from Fairview Hospital. It's been a dramatic couple of days.

I had a check up with my doctor on Wednesday. I was 2 cm dilated and 80% effaced. She decided it was time to get the steroid shots. Since I've been having some contractions on and off, she wanted to admit me to the hospital so they could make sure I was able to get the two steroid shots in without going into labor. She also did a quick ultrasound (#12) and both babies looked good - though baby A is really, really low which is causing a lot of the pressure and dilation (she is trying to escape!)

I had my first steroid shot at the hospital (which is given in the butt and hurts!) and then they hooked me up to the monitor. I was having a lot of contractions (every two to three minutes) which was making the doctors nervous. They did another vaginal check on me and I was 3 cm dilated. At that point that started giving me various medicines to stop/slow the contractions. The first one didn't work, but procardia finally was able to slow the contractions. At that point, the main goal was to keep me from going into delivery before I could get the next steroid shot (they have to be given 24 hours apart). Anyway, by 11 pm, the contractions were finally easing down. I had a lot of contractions again around 4 am and they almost had to give me another med but they stopped after an hour. Did not get much sleep last night obviously.

Today was pretty low key. They finally took me off the IV and monitoring device and then I just had to wait around until I got the second steroid shot. I got discharged around six and I'm back home now. Still on bed rest, still doing the home monitoring twice a day.

I think the hardest part of the hospital stay was that when I got there at 4, I hadn't eaten since lunch at one not realizing they would put me on a clear liquids only restriction! That was torture! They finally let me eat real food around 10 am the next morning. Jello, warm broth and Popsicles were not cutting it!

Doctor is optimistic that I can probably make it to 32 weeks but skeptical I'll make it to 34. At this point, every day we can hold on makes me feel a little better. I'll be 31 weeks on Saturday. And now that we've had the steroids, the babies' lungs will be good and strong. We'll see what the specialist says tomorrow.

The good news is that every time they monitored the babies, the girls are active with strong heart beats. Now if they could just stay put a little longer....

30 week twin belly

Well we made it to 30 weeks! Babies are the size of a head of cabbage, weighing in at/almost/just over three pounds (depending on which pregnancy app you are consulting). They are doing all kinds of acrobatic moves in there too.

Not a maternity dress!

Today marks three weeks one day of bed rest. It's been a much better week though after getting the negative FFN. A lot less stressful. I am still testing for contractions twice a day and taking it easy. For the most part, I am having one to three contractions an hour (which I can't really feel), with four or more sometimes. I just hydrate, lay down and re-monitor when that happens and the number always goes down below four.

We are having new carpeting installed in the basement/upstairs on Wednesday/Thursday which means we'll be able to put the nursery together next weekend. Darren and his dad painted the nursery dressers and spray painted the handles so it is looking good. I can't wait to get the baby stuff out of the living room and dining room and start to have a somewhat organized house back. My sister and cousin Jackie also came over and did some cleaning for me which was super nice and makes me feel less guilty about not being able to do anything.

I also finished Lost Season 2. Here are my thoughts: What will happen to Michael and Walt? What will the others do with Kate, Jack and Sawyer? Will Hurley and/or Syed somehow save them? What happened when Desmond blew up the hatch? Are Mr. Eckles, Lock and Desmond still alive? What was the deal with Desmond's ex girlfriend tracking for an electromagnetic abnormality? Do I like Jin or do I think he's an ass? Why did Charlie do his best to be such a weirdo/jerk this season, yet why did Claire still kiss him? How come Libby was at the crazy hospital with Hurley, and why did they kill her off so quickly? What is the Dharma initiative anyway? Who are the others?

Twin Ugg boots!

My mom's friend Anne gave us two pairs of Ugg boots for the girls. The twins will be way more fashionable than their mama!

How cute are these?