29 and 29

This week we celebrated making it to 29 weeks (on Thursday) and my 29^th birthday (on Friday). We also had an ultrasound appointment on Friday.

The last week in the hospital I didn’t have any contractions, so I was very frustrated when I came home and started having them regularly. On Thursday I had 5 contractions during my morning hour of monitoring. Since I exceeded the allowable amount (4), I was told to drink lots of water and then monitor again. If I couldn’t get it down to 4 or less then I’d have to go straight to the hospital. I was such a mess for the rest of the day – with the way I was acting you would have thought I was about to be sent to prison or something. I kept telling Luke in between sobs “I don’t want to go back there!” Fortunately I only had 3 the second time I monitored, so I was allowed to stay home. I was pretty convinced that I was going to be back in the hospital after my Friday appointment though. At least this time I knew what to expect and packed a bag to bring to our appointment. I’m on a message board for moms of multiples due in December and over the past week several of the moms had their babies. After reading that, I was very afraid that I was going to get babies for my birthday. Don’t get me wrong, I’m anxious to meet the girls – I just really don’t want them to have to be in the NICU any longer than absolutely necessary.

Friday I woke up in a much better (less hormonal) mood. Luke made me breakfast and then ended up calling in sick for the day. He had had a rough day on Thursday dealing with me and the reality of his non-diagnosis and was just all around exhausted. It was really nice being able to spend a relaxed day together and having someone home with me to help me off the couch! For my birthday he had a pendant made for me – it’s a nest made out of copper wire with 2 pearl eggs in it. I especially appreciated it since it took some planning ahead and life has been particularly crazy lately.

My mom and sister brought over lunch, flowers and birthday gifts. Then Luke and I headed off for the doctor appointment. It was the first time I had been out of the house in a week, so even the car ride was a treat.

I waddled into the waiting room and another pregnant woman asked immediately how far along I was. I told her 29 weeks with twins and her response was “that explains why you’re so huge!” gee thanks – just what I needed to hear. I’m by no means in denial about my size, but you’d think other pregnant women would be a bit more tactful about it.

The doctor’s visit went well. I gained about 5 lbs over the past week, but was still 2lbs less than the day I ended up in the hospital (almost 3 weeks ago). The girls have also gained some weight – one is 2lbs 13oz and the other is 2lbs 8oz. Baby A still has her head wedged against my cervix which I was concerned about, but the doctor said its acting as a cork and keeping them in there, so it’s actually a good thing. My cervix has gotten even shorter, but not enough to earn me a trip back to the hospital. I was so happy when the doctor asked me to come back in a week, I said “So that means I get to go home in the meantime?!?!” She kinda laughed at me for being so excited, but said yes, home was fine for another week but to call if anything changes.

We were hoping to get another set of 3D images of the girls, or at least some good ultrasound shots, but the doctor had somewhere else to be so I figured I shouldn’t push it. Maybe at next week’s visit. We’re hoping they’ll have crossed the 3lb mark at that point too.

We stopped for cupcakes after the appointment and then went out for dinner. It had been over a month since we had last had a dinner out, so it was a nice birthday treat. I guess the upside of being on strict bed rest is that it really made me appreciate all the little things I got to do.