2 1/2 More Weeks...

It’s been a rough week. I previously had been feeling pretty good, all things considered, but over the past week I’ve really gone downhill. Lots of contractions, lots of aches/pains/swelling, and I feel like my belly has been stretched to the limit. I’m happy the girls are doing well, but I don’t know what’s gotten into them over the past few days – they’re going crazy in there! I got a video of baby A yesterday trying bust out of me. Here’s a link.You can’t see her on the other side, but baby B seemed to be having a dance off with her.

Today we had our 34 week ultrasound. I thought going into it that if I honestly told the doctor all the things that had gone on this week (vs my normal “I’m okay” response) that she would likely go ahead and do a C-section today assuming there was little risk to the girls in doing so.

So she walks in and took one look at me and then says to Luke “She’s really looking pregnant!” and then turns to me and said “and by that I mean you look like you’re miserable!” I took that as my opportunity to give her my laundry list of reasons I’m uncomfortable and not thinking I’ll make it to Thanksgiving. After all that she told me she still wants to aim for the Monday or Tuesday after Thanksgiving. It sounds like unless my water breaks before then, she’s not going to budge on that date.

She did acknowledge that making it to 34 weeks was a big accomplishment, but she wants the babies to be able to go home with us right away which is much more likely at 36 weeks. I can’t really argue with that. It’s a little frustrating though because a month ago she would have been thrilled to just get me to 34 weeks, but now she’s getting greedy and wants to keep pushing it. *sigh* I know it’s for the best though.

Bummer of the day - looks like the girls’ birthday won’t be 11/11/11 (unless something happens over the next few hours).

Good news of the day - the girls are now up to 4 lbs 10 oz and 5 lbs 3 oz. We also learned that they have hair! Here’s to hoping it helps disguise how large their heads are by comparison to their bodies!

I have some tests at the hospital on Monday and then will go back to my doctor next week Saturday for another ultrasound. I suspect that will be the last office visit before my c-section (if I make it that far).

Nearly 9 Pounds of Baby!

Today we had our 33 week ultrasound. The girls have now grown to 4 lbs 5oz and 4 lbs 7oz.  I’m so happy that they’ve both crossed the 4 pound mark and are continuing to do well. It's also comforting that they're close in size again. If it had gone the other way, that could have earned me an emergency c-section. We're proud of them for continuing to share!

I asked about the meds that I’m on to keep the contractions under control and whether there was any risk to the babies being on it. No risks that they’re aware of, and it’s actually routinely given to newborns to help their breathing right after they are born (it’s meant to be an asthma/breathing medication). So that was good to hear – I was a bit paranoid because it seemed to be the contraction drug of last resort.

I also asked the doctor about scheduling my c-section and what she was thinking in terms of timing. At 10 weeks I was told that I would deliver at 36 weeks at the latest, which is Thanksgiving Day. Given our previous discussions and the size of the girls at this point, I really didn’t think I’d make it anywhere close to 36 weeks. She wants to plan for the Monday afternoon after Thanksgiving, 11/28, which would put me at 36 weeks and 4 days. I’m glad she thinks the girls and I are healthy enough to make it that far, but I didn’t think going past Thanksgiving was even an option, so I have mixed feelings about it. On the bright side, if the girls stay on the track they’re on, they could potentially avoid the NICU all together and come home with us right away.

I had a rough night last night (admittedly it was my own fault – I was on my feet more than I should have been and I got myself dehydrated), so I was asking if the doctor really thought I’d make it to the end of the month. She basically said she doesn’t know what’s going to happen but wants to try to wait as long as I can. It sounded like she is open to delivering as soon as next week if I really get uncomfortable, but doesn’t want to take them out without having a good reason. She seemed surprised by how well I was doing and mentioned that her partners were trying to convince her to do an emergency c-section at 26 weeks when I was having all the breathing issues.

We go back on Friday for another ultrasound and we’ll revisit c-section timing at that point and get something scheduled. In the meantime I’m still on home bed rest. I asked about whether I was allowed out of the house for good behavior but she laughed at me and said “no, I just told you that you were doing good, why do you want to screw it up?” Fair enough I suppose. She said maybe after next week’s visit I’ll be allowed to leave the house for meals, but I’m not getting my hopes up yet.

32 Weeks!

We’ve reached another milestone today– the 32 week mark. It’s hard to believe that we’re only 2-4 weeks away from meeting the girls. Who knows, they might even try to escape sooner than that (again).

I was supposed to go back to the doctor last Tuesday, but didn’t make it that far. Last week my contractions had been increasing in frequency and intensity. By Sunday night I had 9 in an hour and the babies were barely moving. I tried everything – drinking juice, eating sugary candy, and had Luke talk to them (they usually wiggle around when they hear his voice), but nothing seemed to be working. I talked to the home monitoring nurse and she said to prepare to go to the hospital. She called my doctor and took care of everything and then called back to tell me to head to labor and delivery. It was so nice to have someone else making the phone calls while I got ready.

Of course, as soon as we got 10 minutes from the house the girls started moving again. I was still having lots of contractions though, so we still needed to go to the hospital. I have to say, I’m really not a fan of the night nurses. I’ve had some great day nurses, but, as Luke put it, it’s like the night ones are just asking for me to be an umm witch. Each time after they left the room Luke was telling me he was proud of me for not yelling at them. It was definitely hard to resist! Anyhow, I could go on and on about them, but I don’t want to send myself back into labor so I’ll drop it for now.

After my previous reactions to contraction meds I was very hesitant to take anything this time. The nurse and I argued quite a bit about it – while I realized that the contractions needed to be stopped so I wouldn’t dilate any further (I was already at 1-2 cm), I was very afraid I was going to have the same breathing issues that I had had previously. The nurse didn’t seem to understand how bad it got the last time and I had never met the doctor on call, nor had she seen my charts or anything. The doctor suggested just giving me 1 dose of the medication (it was supposed to be 3 shots each 15 min apart) and then go from there. Fortunately I was able to handle that dose and got another about 45 min later. At that point they put me on another medication which was more of a long term solution. Surprisingly I handled that better than expected and had very few of the “normal” side effects.

So now I have to take that medication once every 6 hours to keep the contractions/dilation under control. The next morning I talked to my day nurse (who was wonderful and an identical twin herself) and she asked if I was expecting to be sent back home. I told her that while I’d love to go home, I’m more realistic than that and knew I’d likely be staying in the hospital until I delivered. I was extremely surprised when she came back and said she had talked to my doctor and she wanted to discharge me but just wanted to see me first.

Luke was so exhausted that day – he got very little sleep Sunday night because he stayed in the room with me all night. He came over to the hospital after work and stayed until about 8:45 waiting for the doctor to come by to discharge me. At that point my night nurse gave me a speech about how she didn’t think I was actually going to be able to go home, so I gave up on it and sent Luke home to get some rest. At 9 she came back in and said the doctor was down the hall and to try to get Luke to turn around. Grrr! At that point I knew he was exhausted and if I went home I’d have to come back to the hospital the next morning anyhow for my tests, so it made more sense for me to just stay another night. The doctor finally came in at 9:30 and said she was ready to discharge me but was okay with waiting until the next day after my test results came in. Fortunately she also said I was ready to be taken off of IV fluids, so I was able to get rid of the painful IV in my hand that night.

After waiting all day to see the doctor on Monday, I wasn’t too optimistic about being released early in the day on Tuesday. Although she had office visits all day, she ran over at about 2 in between patients and put in discharge orders. My mom was visiting me at that point, so I was able to make a quick getaway without making Luke leave work early.

Since my doctor is now out of the office for nearly a week, I don’t go back to see her until Saturday, November 5^th. I’m expecting to schedule my c-section at that point, but I’m very anxious to see whether she wants to do it at 34 or 36 weeks. I guess it depends on how the next week goes. In my first visit with her, her nurse had told me 36 weeks was December 1, so that’s what we kept going off of. Now that we’re getting closer, I think she was actually a week off. By my calculations, 36 weeks is Thanksgiving Day.

I really want to know what I’m counting down to, but I’m not feeling like I’m in any rush to get these babies out of me. I keep reading on the multiples message board about all these women who are so uncomfortable that they just want to deliver and be done with it. I’m looking forward to being able to sleep in my own bed again (I’ve been sleeping on the couch for over a month because it’s the only place I can sleep comfortably and get in and out of on my own), but otherwise I’m happy just hanging out until they’re ready. I know I’d likely have a different response if I was stuck in the hospital, but being at home makes it a lot more tolerable.

Random Thoughts/Updates

So ya know how when you buy a new car you suddenly see other people driving the same model everywhere? I feel like it’s similar with twins. I know it’s just because we’re looking for it/talking about it, but it seems like everyone has some sort of a twin connection. It’s been really interesting to hear words of wisdom from a broad range of people – parents of twins, identical twins vs fraternal twins, siblings of twins, etc.

What’s funny is how different Luke and I approach it. We’re just generally not wired the same way, but I think that’s a good thing. I’m very much interested in hearing about how other twin moms handled the logistics of having 2 babies at once. Luke however is usually focused on understanding the psychological aspects. So he tends to ask about things like how the twins felt about sharing a birthday party or sharing a room or how their parents made them feel unique, or what they wish their parents would have done differently, etc.

It sounds like there isn’t a right or wrong way to do things, but we’ve noticed a trend that identical twins seem to be much closer than fraternals – they seem to operate more as one unit who like the same things, have the same friends, and want to spend as much time together as possible. Whereas the fraternal twins tend to operate more as siblings that just happen to be the same age. Some have a close relationship with their twin, but others don’t. We’re looking forward to seeing how our twins interact with each other.

On an unrelated subject, we’ve been amazed by the outpouring of support that our friends and family have shown. We know things could be a lot worse, but the last 2 months or so have been especially emotionally draining, so we really appreciate everything that has been done for us and all the people that have been praying for us and checking on us.

One of the nice things about being home all day is that I’m much more available for random last-minute visits. For example, during the last 2 weeks, 2 college friends who both live out of town happened to be passing through town for work and were able to come by the house and catch up for a bit. I hadn’t had a chance to talk to either of them in a long time, so it was great having that opportunity.

I’ve been meaning to post about my baby showers for a long time, but hadn’t taken the time to pull together all the pictures. Since the doctor had prepared me for going on bed rest as early as September, my mom and sister threw a shower for me on August 20. Aside from my immediate family, all of our relatives live out of state. My sister made sure everything sent from out of town was wrapped so the family would all be there in spirit. Everyone was so generous – thanks again! Here is a link to the pictures from the shower. So I guess at some point you can’t keep blaming it on the camera, but I don’t think there is a single flattering picture of me in the bunch – yikes! Family & Friends Baby Shower Pictures Link

On August 30^th, Luke’s co-workers also threw us a shower. They really put a lot of time and effort into preparing for the shower. It was above and beyond what I was expecting. They made 2 diaper cakes, bought tons of clothes and strung them along the wall, gave us a nice double stroller, had snacks and a cake and that’s all in addition to the gifts we received from individuals. Luke has invested a lot of time in his work over the past 5 years, so it was really nice for them to show their appreciation like that. Here is a link to pictures from that day. Luke's Work Baby Shower Pictures Link

Speaking of people who have been taking care of us lately…my friend Kelly is a really talented photographer and took a few pictures before we went to lunch last month. She also came over last weekend and did a full shoot with Luke and me. I’m really glad she worked with our schedule and was able to get some pictures before the girls arrive (I’m especially happy I was able to wear something other than a hospital gown in them and I was feeling good enough to move around so it’s not just a collection of pictures of me as a beached whale on the couch). Here is a link to her website where she has some of the pictures posted. Most of them are from last month, but she’ll post the new ones as she has them ready. K. Smyth Photography Link

31 Week Visit

It’s been a busy week. The pressure was definitely on to try to get everything in order before heading back to the hospital. By Thursday afternoon when we left for my appointment just about everything significant on my to-do list had been accomplished and I had mentally prepared myself for an extended stay at the hospital.

I was feeling pretty good about things. I bought lots of maternity pajamas to wear if I wasn’t connected to an IV (wearing just a hospital gown got old real quick the last time) and packed tons of craft projects and stuff to read. I figured that if I was comfortable and had projects to occupy myself then it wouldn’t be so bad. I warned Luke that he’d look ridiculous bringing it all up from the car, but that it was worthwhile if it meant fewer meltdowns later J . I’m sure the UPS delivery guy is trying to figure out what the heck is going on at our house given my newfound Amazon addiction – my way of coping with being tied to the couch. On the bright side, I’m now over halfway done with my Christmas shopping!

So all that to say, I was pretty convinced it was a one-way trip to my doctor appointment. My feet/lower legs have really swollen over the past week which means that I’m likely building up fluid in my lungs again too. Fortunately though I only gained 2 lbs this week. Amazingly that puts my 1 month net weight gain (including the weight I lost in the hospital) at only 1 lb. We were also happy to hear that the girls have now crossed the 3 lb mark – baby A is approximately 3 lbs 2 oz and baby B is 3 lbs 9oz. The ultrasound tech said that it looks like the girls don’t really have room to change positions anymore. Baby A’s head is still serving as a cork in my cervix and baby B is still head down but facing towards my back. I can’t really feel her kick anymore based on her position, but her latest trick is to arch her back and wiggle her butt where I can feel it and see my stomach move. She’s not even out of my belly yet and she’s already sassy…. we’re in trouble! I guess that’s one way to let me know she’s still doing okay.

The doctor asked how I was feeling about making it to 36 weeks. I told her “I thought we decided on 34 last week…” She just grinned and changed the subject. I know it’d be better for the girls if they could hold out an additional 2 weeks, but it really messes with my mental countdown. I have a feeling the girls are going to make the delivery date decision for us, but we’ll see.

Surprisingly the doctor let me come back home after my appointment. She agreed that the swelling is getting worse, but since my weight gain was within the normal range she wasn’t as bothered by it as I would have expected. I have to have some tests run at the hospital on Tuesday and then I’ll have an office visit afterwards to determine the game plan going forward. The doctor plans to put me back in the hospital at some point before I deliver, so it’s more just a matter of when that’ll happen. She will be out of the office for the second half of next week, so I’m expecting to be put in the hospital after Tuesday’s visit so that I’ll be more closely monitored while she’s gone. Although my last hospital stay was no fun, she thinks I would have already delivered at this point if all that hadn’t happened.

So overall it was a good visit this time. I know better than to unpack my bags, but I’m enjoying the additional time at home.

30 Week Ultrasound

It seems hard to believe that we’re already 30+ weeks into the pregnancy. Given how early I started having issues, I kind of didn’t expect to make it this far. We had our 30 week ultrasound on Friday and the girls seem to still be doing well. Since the doctor just did all their measurements last week, we didn’t do them this time.

It’s been over a month since we last got pictures of the girls, so I was anxious to get some updated ones and told the ultrasound tech that I’d love to try to get some 3D shots again if she had time (it was end of the day on Friday, so I knew she probably didn’t want to just hang out if she didn’t have to). She laughed at me, not because of the timing, but because apparently twins are nearly impossible to get good shots of since they’re usually on top of each other or squished against the placenta. Sure enough, the best we could get was the upper half of baby A’s face. Oh well, it was worth a try. It's hard to tell what you're looking at, but her eyes are in the middle of the picture. Still looks bald as can be. I guess we'll have to wait until I deliver to know what (and who) they really look like.

I asked the doctor about whether we had a new goal in terms of delivery date. It sounds like she’s now aiming for 34 weeks instead of 36 because of my breathing issues. If I’m magically doing better at the 34 week mark, then she may push the delivery date back out to 36 weeks, but that is unlikely. Luke mentioned that I was hoping for the girls to have an 11/11/11 birthdate and her first response was to tell me that she wasn’t going to deliver them that day just because I thought it was fun. But then as we talked about it, she seemed to open to up to the idea of it – that would put me at 34 weeks and 1 day. She said she’s working a half day that day, so it’d have to be first thing in the morning if we were going to do that. So it looks like we’re only 4 weeks away (at most) from meeting the girls J

The doctor is thinking that I’ll likely need to be back on hospital bed rest starting after my next appointment (next Thursday) which will continue until I deliver. She is concerned that the fluid is starting to build back up in my lungs again and that my oxygen levels aren’t being monitored closely enough from home. It’s going to be hard to stick to my strict bed rest this week knowing it’s my last opportunity to get things ready at home before the babies arrive. Fortunately there isn’t much left on the to-do list. I just need to be careful because if I start having more contractions or if my shortness of breath gets worse, then I could end up back in the hospital before Thursday.

I was talking to the nurse after my appointment and the doctor came by and told me she changed her mind and wanted me to go over to labor and delivery to check on my oxygen levels. She has already figured out that I’m stubborn and am trying to stay out of the hospital, so she wasn’t convinced that I was actually fine. I was determined to make it a brief trip and did everything I could to get in and out of the hospital as quickly as possible before they could find an excuse to keep me there. My oxygen levels were within the normal range (barely), so I was discharged in less than an hour. Whew – that was a close one!

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.