False Labor!

I started having contractions Sunday night. Awesome, I thought, this is it. They were coming every 15 minutes or so at first and I was up all night long. They started coming every eight to ten minutes by morning and I was showered and ready to go by 6 a.m. assuming it would be time to go to the hospital any minute. I talked to the on call doctor who told me to wait until they were every five minutes. So I waited. And they continued all day Monday. By Monday night they were coming every six to eight minutes. And then, THEY STOPPED. What they hell????

Apparently, there is such a thing called false labor. I have never heard of this before but basically it just means you have regular contractions, think you are in labor, and they come and go and you aren't actually in labor. What a tease!

I see the doctor on Thursday so we'll find out if the false labor contractions dilated me any further. The baby definitely dropped though (see picture). Big change for just a couple days.

Could be any day now.....

More info on false labor: http://www.babycenter.com/0_false-labor_491.bc 

A giant baby!

Baby girl is measuring 8 lbs 13 oz!!!! (Average weight of a newborn baby is 7.5 lbs) Dear lord! I am 36 weeks 4 days but she is measuring at 39 weeks 5 days and my uterus is measuring at 40 weeks. Explains the back and vagina pain. My baby is bigger than most full term babies! Obviously the ultrasound measurements can be a little off (by one pound) but she's still big either way. Apparently I grow giant babies.

No ultrasound pic- baby girl is too squirmy!

I was 2 cm dilated, 50 percent effaced and baby is at -3. So no real signs of coming early. A bigger baby isn't an older baby the doctor said.

The only issue with having such a big baby (as a preemie mama I love having a good size healthy baby!) is that I might not be able to vbac. My doctor's cut off for a vbac is 9lbs 13 oz. Bigger than that can be dangerous for baby and mama with a vbac. I really do not want a csection again but it's out of my hands at this point. So I'll have another scan at 39 weeks to see how big she is. Or she can come on her own before then and I can deliver naturally!

I see the doctor again next week and she is going to sweep my membranes. What the heck does that mean?

Stripping membranes, sometimes called membrane sweeping, is a method used to try to start labor. The health care provider puts her or his finger into the cervix -- the mouth of the uterus -- and uses the finger to gently separate the bag of water from the side of the uterus near the cervix. It is easily done in the office during a regular pelvic exam. - http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/703499

I guess it can help start labor about 50 percent of the time. Here's hoping for no csection!

36 weeks AND two days!

Nearly past the preemie phase (37 weeks is considered full term)! While this pregnancy is not nearly as hard as the previous one, I am definitely feeling the woes of end of pregnancy. My back KILLS. My vagina hurts (pelvic pressure, whoa). I'm so big. I feel emotional. Lots of Braxton Hicks/cramps. UGH.

I'm also feeling slight panic as the nursery isn't even close to being done and won't be anytime soon considering Darren is recovering from surgery still. I guess at least I have all the clothes washed, they are just stuffed into a plastic bin and not organized, which is't the end of the world but the nesting instinct in me begs to differ.

This weekend Darren and I had a lunch date at Barrio and then went grocery shopping while his parents came up to watch the girls. Grocery shopping was hilarious because Darren obviously can't lift anything so I pushed the cart, grabbed all the food, loaded everything onto the belt, bagged everything, put everything in the cart and loaded the van with my ginormous preggo belly. Outsiders can't see Darren's surgery scars so they were probably like, "why won't he help her????" haha. After grocery shopping I thought I might die though. My back hurt soooo bad! The end is near!

Excited to meet my little bean over the next few weeks!

A trip to Fairview hospital... for Darren!

Well Darren has his appendix out Monday night. Not the trip to the hospital we've been expecting!

Darren had the typical appendicitis pain that starts around the belly button and moves to the right side, but it was never very severe and didn't come with a fever or any of the secondary symptoms. All weekend we debated whether he needed to go get it check out or not. Finally on Monday he went to see his doctor, who sent him to the hospital for a cat scan. His appendix was inflamed and needed to come out.

My parents came over to watch the girls and I met him at the hospital for his surgery. The very friendly people of Fairview Hospital kept stopping me asking if I knew my way to labor and delivery. The security guard asked if my doctor called ahead. Ha, not in labor just yet I kept telling everyone! Got there around seven and they wheeled him into surgery around 9:40. I felt mild panic all day - no 35 week pregnant lady likes the idea of her husband undergoing surgery - but the procedure seemed pretty routine so I had calmed down some by the time he went in for surgery. Everything went fine (did you know they take the appendix out through the belly button???? Apparently they are even doing some hysterectomies through the belly button now.) and he was in the recovery room by about 11 something. I stayed till about one a.m. until he was settled into his room and headed home. Got the girls ready in the morning, dropped them off at daycare and went back to the hospital. He was discharged by 11 a.m. so a fast stay.

We must have made an interesting pair walking down the hospital hallway with my giant pregnant belly waddle and Darren's slow post surgery walk in the stylish hospital gown with the IV stand trailing behind him. We are pathetic lol.

At least the recovery seems pretty fast. He can't lift anything heavy for two weeks. Challenging when you have two toddlers. A bigger challenge when your wife probably shouldn't be doing a ton of heavy lifting either. We are so lucky we have so much family and friends in the area. So many people have already offered to bring us over food (we have a delivery schedule!) and help with things like laundry. I promise to pay all this kindness forward some day when I can. The meals are a huge help.

Today was Darren's bday (terrible timing being two days post surgery!) but we are making the best of it with a dinner delivery from Buca di Beppos.

Two records, an ear infection and another twin sale

Two records were set this weekend. 1. I have now been pregnant longer than I was with girls. 34 weeks and two days as of today! 2. The girls slept in on Sunday until 8:35 a.m. Mind = blown. I can only assume it was because of the time change and being sick.

Took the girls into urgent care this weekend. Both acting funny and tugging on ears. In a shocking role reversal, Bailey was fine and Brooklyn had an ear infection. So one more antibiotic/sickness before this awful winter is over.

Cuties!

The twin sale was this weekend. Since I'm pregnant, I was able to bring Darren with me so he got to experience the chaos of the member's only preview sale. We did pretty well. Mostly clothes this time and a few toys. Spent $200 for all the stuff pictured below. My favorite find was the toy box with the bead maze (the kind you see in a doctor's office) on top for $4.50.

Now that I've passed 34 weeks, I feel so much more relaxed. Would love to make it another 4 weeks at least. I'm feeling super uncomfortable and miserable though. And GIANT and gross. End of pregnancy is hard whether you have one or two babies. (Though obviously it was soooo much harder with two). I am so sore and tired and just have terrible cramps and pelvic pain all day. I see the doctor on Wednesday so I'll find out if I'm more dilated/effaced than I was at 32.

Nearing the end!

Hit 33 weeks on Saturday. Here's the last comparison belly shot (never got a 34 weeks photo since I went into labor at 33 weeks 6 days). I feel GIANT. Somehow I thought I would look dramatically smaller this pregnancy but in the picture it doesn't really translate. My sister, however, said the picture doesn't really do it justice and I am way smaller this time. Thank you Katie. You make me feel less big and gross.

I saw my doctor for my 32 week appointment. Been having a lot of pressure/cramps/Braxton Hicks so she checked my cervix. Already 1 cm dilated and 80 percent effaced. I didn't get put on bed rest, but she told me to take it easy and wrote me a note requesting I work from home as much as possible. So basically I am to cut out all optional activities like grocery shopping. My doctor seems to think the baby is going to come a little early, but hopefully after 35 weeks.

I ended up in L&D last week with a false alarm. I think it was a combination of my appointment and just feeling really nervous. I was having a lot of uterine irritability but no major contractions (a few minor ones) so they sent me home. The doctor at the hospital didn't seem to think I had any risk of preterm labor so that was in contrast to what my doctor thought. I'm going to continue to listen to my doctor though. Overall I felt really stupid for going into L&D. I know everyone says better safe than sorry but I still felt silly. Oh well!

A few new words, including "fart"

We've been writing down all the sounds/words the girls say per the request of the speech therapist (ie- ma, da, ga, eh, etc.) They have said a few words over the past few weeks (uh oh, mama, dada, hi, go, roar, etc) but nothing made me more proud than Brooklyn's latest accomplishment. Bailey had a huge fart and I said, "Bailey you farted!" Brooklyn looked right at me and said "fart!"I was like DARREN DID YOU HEAR THAT? And then she said it again! AHAHAHAHA. Big accomplishments!

Ear infections galore

This is just the most ridiculous winter of all time. I can't handle all the non stop sickness.

We were all off Monday for President's Day. No work and no day care! Fun day right? Nope. Because this is the winter of sickness. So I went to urgent care in the morning since I still have a terrible cough and not really feeling better (my primary care doctor's office didn't seem to think being 30 weeks pregnant with asthma and difficulty breathing and persistent cough was reason enough to get me in that day, Screw them.) Doctor said my sinus infection hasn't gone away and wrote me another ten day prescription for augmentin. I am feeling kind of a little tiny bit better, sort of. Sigh.

So in the afternoon I took the girls to the pediatrician because their eyes were crusting over and coughing and what not. Ear infection and pink eye for both. They got put on an antibiotic I've never even heard of (cefdinir). So we hung out at home the rest of the day.

Then on Tuesday Darren got sick.

Wednesday Bailey got sent home for daycare with a fever of 102. She woke up from nap time with bad eye crusties again. Clearly the antibiotic was not working.

Took Bailey to doctor Thursday morning while Darren went and saw his doctor. Bailey's mild early ear infection in one ear turned into a nasty double ear infection. Doctor switched her to augmentin. Since this gives her super awful diaper rash, she suggested we try priobotics with it this time so giving that a shot. This is Bailey's FIFTH ear infection since October. If she gets another, doctor said it's time to see an ENT which I would assume would mean tubes in the ear. Poor baby girl was feeling a little better by tonight but still has the sick eyes and sick smell.

I hate this winter. I hate viruses. I hate illness. BRING ME SPRING!

3D Ultrasound of my big girl!

Had a growth scan earlier this week to make sure I wasn't having any placenta issues. Well baby girl is already at 3 lbs 11 oz, which puts her in the 89th percentile! I am going to have a giant baby. So I am currently 29 weeks, when I was 31 weeks with the girls they weighed in at 4 lbs (60th percentile) for Bailey and 3 lbs 13 oz (55th percentile) for Brooklyn. So this baby is a bit bigger.

Since she is growing so well it seems unlikely I am going to have any placenta issues so I won't have to have constant ultrasounds. Next appointment is at 32 weeks, then 34, the weekly starting at 36.

I also told my doctor how sick I have been since Christmas. I have a horrible cough currently. She called me in an antibiotic which I needed very badly. I'm on day 3 of augmentin, not feeling 100 percent yet but can feel some improvement. My death cough doesn't sound as violent at least.

Top left: Bailey, Top Right: Brooklyn. Bottom pictures are both new baby! They all look alike to me!

Help Me Grow Follow Up

We met with the speech therapist to go over the girls results. As expected they are doing really well in all areas but behind in expressive language. (They really scored high in fine motor and social. Also their scores were identical.) She suggested we start speech therapy with one session every three

weeks (half hour per child). Pretty manageable schedule!

So we'll be starting in a few weeks. For now she gave us a few pointers on things we can be working with. She also asked us to make a list of all the different sounds the girls make (ba, da, ga, etc) so I've been keeping track. Most of the suggestions are things we are already doing (see list to the left) but we are really concentrating to help them.

Upon her suggestion, we also cut pacifiers down to nap and bedtime only. The first couple mornings were a little rough but now they hand their pacifiers to us as we leave the bedroom and we put them on the dresser. They do seem to be a lot more vocal without pacifier access (not that  they used them non stop but they would periodically throughout the day have them). I debated for a second cutting them cold turkey, but they are already not great nappers and being in my third trimester, I need them to continue being good sleepers at night. We'll cross the pacifier elimination bridge some day.