28w 3d

Currently I have a four page paper staring me in the face and I should probably be attempting to write this instead of 'playing' online. But the four page paper is driving me a little crazy so I'll try and tackle it a little later. Tuesday. It's hard to believe we are already three days past my big 28 week goal. It's also really hard to believe that I'm only working on my 29th week. In the last few days my body has really started to feel the wear and tear.

Leg cramps have come with a vengeance and I've had two nasty ones and a third that I managed to prevent. The first was so bad I could hardly walk for two days after it. All of the solutions that I looked up I've tried but they don't seem to be helping much. I'm not sure how I could possibly be deficient in calcium with the amount of dairy I eat/drink. Hopefully, this will be the last of them and I won't get any more for awhile?

Officially I have outgrown nearly all of my clothes now. I have 2 pairs of maternity pants that fit (outside of a dress pair) and MAYBE 5 tops. When I was pregnant with Abby I worked up until the day she came so I used my pregnancy kahki's more often than jeans or sweatpants. So now when I try to go places I have two options, one pair of jeans that I feel so hot in or a pair of clothlike capris that hilariously... I can't keep up. It rides just below the bump and so won't stay up. I'm hoping that tomorrow I can go shopping with my mom and Abs to find a few clearance things to wear. Most of Tom's tshirts don't fit me either so I'm seriously getting low.

Well it's 8:30 and I've sent Abby off on a hunt to find her daddy. It's so cute how she loves to find him and crawl up in bet with him. Since her bedtime has switched to around 8-9pm she doesn't get to see him much before she is asleep. I've started working with her on easing back into dairy milk... so far I just give her one bottle in the morning and I think it's been going ok... so far... Rice milk is just SO expensive and it doesn't have as many of the fats and nutrients that her little body needs so if we got her back onto it before the babies come that would be amazing.

Baby B has taken up residence next to my ribs and she sure makes me uncomfortable! I can only sit comfortably for so long before I'm up and trying to 'scooch' her back down. I don't feel them kicking as much but they really get moving and at times you can feel them pressing their heads or 'body parts' out. I think they are feeling a tad squished too. Well I had better run before Abs tears apart my house :)

27weeks 6 days

We've hit the 28 week goal!!!! If the babies come now they will do really well. Each week that we get from here on out will get them more mature, plumper and hopefully as little NICU time as possible!!! I'm finally home and sitting on the couch to relax a bit before I'm off to get Abby in Beresford. The appointment went very well this time. It's funny how this pregnancy has been such a roller coaster of ups and downs. The doctors continue to be surprised at how my body likes to go from really good to really scary then back up again. My girls have to keep them on their toes! My cervical length was back up to 3.2 and is still closed. They want me to remain on light activity because it seems with the twins that depending on where the girls are sitting my cervical length can drop rapidly. I am however, allowed to do a few more things like go on occasional walks. PTL!! I've missed my walks so much!

The girls are weighing in at 2lbs 8 oz and 2lbs 6oz, riding about the 50th percentile. This is great for twins! No signs once again of TTTS and we are pretty much out of the woods on this area of concern. Neither of the babies were feeling overly photogenic and therefore we have one very fuzzy profile shot of Baby B... nothing at all of A who has her head shoved down about as low as she can get it with her face pressed into my back. (No wonder my back hurts! lol) A is still head down (obviously) but B has once again shifted her position. She is still breech but lying with her head towards A's feet and her body basicly curving around A's... it's kinda funny that A seems to lay wherever she wants and B fills in the blanks.

I got to watch them move a bit on the ultrasound and play, their little hands and feet kicking at each other. The ultrasound tech and I got along great so it was a fun scan. The most interesting part of the day was that they came in to ask me if it would be alright to take pictures of me. I guess the hospital is putting up a new maternal/fetal medicine page. The nurse told me she was excited when she saw that I was coming in today because they had been trying to get a 'cute pregnant lady.' She liked that my belly is well... all baby pretty much and only one very small stretch mark! (so far) So they took shots of my stomach getting scanned, myself and the ultrasound tech, Dr. B and I talking. It was kinda fun, hopefully they will use a few and I can show them later! The only downside... I would have done more with my hair if I had known!!!

I picked up a little Fisher Price slide for Abby from a lady for 10 bucks. I'm so excited to see her use it for the first time. We played in the park with one of the mothers/daughter from our church in the park yesterday. It was so much fun. Abby was running all over and she ran up to a mother with her baby in a stroller, took the baby's toy, said thank you and ran off. I had to chase her down to get the toy back!!! She also likes to watch Tiffany's volleyball games, she says 'uh oh' every time the ball goes flying. (which is a lot in 7th grade). It's been a fun week.

Well I have to get going so that I can get Abby, wow how time flies. Thank you for your prayers, it's amazing how God has been faithful these long weeks!

27w-2days

Up in the morning with Abby and we are snacking on Fruit Loops and watching her favorite cartoon show. She still has a gunky/runny nose and is still pretty cranky at times. I'm starting wonder if her cold might have created a sinus infection as it's been nearly 11 days now since she first got sick. I keep thinking she'll just wake up one morning and be completely better! Phew smells like bathtime will be our next activity for the day.

Please vote on my poll to the right of the screen (and down a bit) I'm trying to decide between three strollers. I do have a favorite (for today) but I won't tell you because I'm curious what other people will like. Here is what I like best about all three and why they've ended up in the poll in the first place.

Combi: Lightweight, easy to fold
In Step: durable, bigger wheels, seems sturdier
Kolcraft: Has several different seating options, can hold 2 carseats and still work well as a stroller for toddlers.

Please look into them a little but don't look at prices, I've found 'deals' on all of them so the price shown is not what I would pay. Please don't feel bad if you were one of the many whom looked on garage sales or in stores or had a friend offering to give one away. This is just something that I personally want to choose and have researched very carefully. I have spent time in twin groups finding out what twin mommies recommend and all three of these came out on top and searched and searched and searched.

Today Tom and I are planning to go up to American Fence and get a quote for them for our backyard. I'm very curious to find out what it would cost to put up a fence in our yard. It's so hard for me to keep up with Abby here at home alone without some boundaries. If the price is good we might look into getting one this Fall! It's something I've wanted so badly since we got into this house. We are also going to maybe look at a few playsets for Abby.

Babies are doing well and Tom and I may have narrowed down our name choices (Don't ask... we won't tell you :) My next appointment is on Friday and I'm anxious to see how things are going. We will have an ultrasound with this one and see both doctors so they should be able to see how my cervix is holding out. I've been having a LOT of contractions lately but they all stop and aren't regular and I'm not having more than 6 in an hour... but it still worries me a little. I've been trying to decide if they are Braxton Hicks and perhaps the babies are just growing more? I may or may not call Dr H's nurse to see what she thinks this afternoon. I've been having them since Friday. Perhaps I just need to be drinking more water or rest more... it's just hard to know.

Well Abby is in serious need of a diaper change/bath this morning so I should go. Don't forget to vote!!

Almost 27 weeks!!!

I decided that I would write today since tomorrow is looking to be pretty crazy. A family member passed away from a massive heart attack this week and his funeral is tomorrow. (he was only in his 40's) My friend is also having a bon fire and my mom is going to watch Abby so that Tom and I can go. It should be a lot of fun! We are on the brink of 27 weeks! I am so exited that we are just one more week away from a big milestone. We of course want our babies to hang out inside as long as possible but it gives me just a little more relief that if they were born their odds of being not only able to survive but thrive are looking good!

I have been feeling them hiccup now and their movements are getting stronger and more regular. My stomach actually ripples at times when they start to play. I had a few contractions yesterday, 4 of them in one hour. Once I laid down they vanished which is good! Otherwise I was debating on whether I should go up... but they stopped so good! Perhaps my day was just too busy yesterday with keeping up after Abby. I try so hard to find things that we can do together since it is easy to get a little bored at home.

One of the couples that we went to our multiples group with had their twin girls yesterday :) They are absolutely adorable and it makes me so excited! (They were further along than we were so it looks like their babies were full term) I cannot believe that we could be parents of twins in 2 months! 8 weeks! Time is flying by and I'm more and more thinking about the fact that we are going to have THREE GIRLS UNDER TWO BEFORE CHRISTMAS! I'm already looking for 'picture ideas' and I will be a photo taking maniac.... I want to make sure Tom gets photos of the girls and even some video of them right after they are born... I was so out of it and frankly a little busy that I didnt get hardly anything of Abby. I don't want pictures of them BEING delivered... just after. No shots of me 'down there.' lol

Well it's going to rain so I need to shut the doors and windows and getting Abby back inside. (she's on the porch) I'll leave you with a few fun facts of how our babies are developing. Our next appointment/ultrasound is one week from today :)

How your baby's growing:

This week, your baby weighs almost 2 pounds (like a head of cauliflower) and is about 14 1/2 inches long with her legs extended. She's sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing her eyes, and perhaps even sucking her fingers. With more brain tissue developing, your baby's brain is very active now. While her lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with a lot of medical help — if she were to be born now. Chalk up any tiny rhythmic movements you may be feeling to a case of baby hiccups, which may be common from now on. Each episode usually lasts only a few moments, and they don't bother her, so just relax and enjoy the tickle.

26 weeks 3 days

Where to start. Ok the appointment. It went pretty well. My cervix is still holding with no signs of it dilating. Dr H still wants me off of my feet as much as possible. Next week we go in for another appointment with Dr B, an ultrasound and then Dr H. She will re-evaluate my situation then but we are hoping for no further change in my cervix. She noticed right away that I wasn't feeling very good and told me that if it isn't getting better by the end of the week that I should call in and she'll have me start on an antibiotic. It's really settled in my chest and it's made sleeping really hard. For the first time this pregnancy she actually used a doppler to check the babies' heartbeats. B kicked her really hard and surprised Dr H. She was like "Did you see that!" At times you can really see them rippling about on my stomach. A's heartrate was in the 140's and B's was just about the same (it jumped to the 150's after kicking Dr H) I have two very feisty little ones inside!

Dr H wrote me a note for school and I went in to talk with my adviser after the appointment. Even without an appointment she got me in and I explained that with the pregnancy getting so complicated I couldn't risk their health. She was great and made me feel so much better about having to step out for a semester saying that if she were in my place she would do the same. After looking at my transcript we decided my best course of action would be to pursue my BA in nursing since I'm only like 5-6 classes away from it. It could open further options in the future by allowing me either to participate in management positions, pursue a higher degree as a PA or nurse anesthetist if I decide to. It will help knowing that I'm still working towards my degree, just that the 'nursing courses' will have to be put off a little longer.

My classmates have been so great. I will miss them all so much and I'm sad I won't be able to get my diploma with them... on the plus side... they can help me out later if I have trouble!! lol My adviser explained that I could even possibly get back in this Spring! It all depends on whether a spot opens up because someone drops. The best part? All I have to do is fill out a paper! No interview, no application process... just one piece of paper and I can be right back in!

So this Fall I will be taking Composition II and a Sociology class online. I decided I had better just take the online classes because if something else changes and I end up admitted or on bed rest I don't want to be in the same boat all over again. I was able to enroll in the last 2 classes available! So things worked out and I'm feeling less stressed, less weepy and just more 'in control' of things again. Hopefully I havent missed too much in class.

Abby is napping again, she is also really miserable so between the two of us we make quite a pair. If it isn't one thing it's another it seems. Continue to pray for all of my little ones and just that I can figure out what in the heck I'm going to do with all of this time at home without being very active... Anyone have any suggestions for an easy project I can work on??? I'm off to find my ice cream now... :)

Just an update

I'm pretty tired and a little sick so if this post doesnt make sense I'm sorry but I'm too tired to read through it twice. The weekend is over and what fun we had! It was such an emotional release to have family over and distracting me and taking care of things around the house. We got so many things done!!! After the last few days I really needed the reminder that life still goes on, and how many people are pulling for us! If you didn't know my latest struggle has been about whether I should continue with nursing school or not. This is what it came down to....

Staying meant graduating sooner, and essentially having a better paying job. (and finishing with the friends I had made)

Stepping out would mean less stress for this pregnancy and less on my body...hopefully the babies staying put where they are a little longer...

So you can see that in the end it really wasn't as hard of a decision as I thought it was going to be. I need to do this for my babies. I'm a mother and I could never forgive myself if something happened to my girls because I put my 'career' ahead of them. I'm hoping to take classes online towards a minor in either Health Administration or Psychology just to feel like I'm still working towards something and to keep my student loans at bay a little longer. Hopefully I can talk with my advisor soon and get this all straightened out.

It's still not going to be easy, I'm going to miss my friends and I really do have a passion for nursing. Not to mention that I have a hard time staying ... put. Thankfully I'm not on full bedrest or I'd be really in trouble! But this is what I feel the Lord is leading me to do right now and even though I've been trying to pry open the door He's closed I think I finally get it....

Tomorrow morning I have an appointment with Dr H to check my cervix and make sure things are staying put. I'm hoping that it has! I'm also hoping that this nasty cold/bug that I've picked up will be finished by tomorrow. This has just been miserable for both Abby and I. Well I need to get some sleep, the last few nights I've been sleeping awful. I'll report what we hear from the Dr tomorrow, then our next appointment is a week later. Night!

Thank You

I've been thinking about doing this for awhile and was going to wait until after the girls were born. I don't know if it's 'nesting' but I wanted to make sure I had a chance to write this when I could think properly. Once the girls are born I'm sure it will be crazy...

So Thank you...

Thank you to all of you whom have been praying with us through our entire pregnancy and for those of you whom have just heard about us and are praying now. God has shown us time and time again during these past 26 weeks that He is in control and the He will provide us with exactly what we need day to day to get through our fears and our concerns. Knowing that we have such a loving group of people so dedicated to lifting us up before Him is something we won't easily forget. Prayer is a powerful thing! Please continue to pray.

Thank you to our families... our wonderful, supportive, loving families. Where would we be without you? Your love and kindness has been something I feel we will never be able to repay. You are the ones whom didn't mind the mess... then cleaned, saw the mounds of laundry and dug in to catch us up, prepared meals, ran errands, played with Abby when I was too tired to run after her any longer... changed smelly diapers, and most of all the way you found needs I didn't know we had and fulfilled them. Each and every one of you has been a God send and I want you all to know how much we love you.

Thank you for your emails, your Facebook posts and messages, your cards, flowers and prayers. We feel overly blessed. I cannot wait to share with our little girls how much they were loved and wanted by so many before they were even in our arms. They say it takes a community to raise a child and it is so true!

So from Tom, Abby and myself from the bottom of our hearts.... Thank You!

A paranoid mother..

At first I thought I was going to be able to handle everything. I got out of bed, showered, made lunch and got prepared for another day of lecture and some clinical hours. Not thinking about things does wonders for that! I've discovered that having an increased amount of pregnancy hormones and then receiving some scary news is enough to push me lol. I made it through most of class without thinking about it, even though I was worried because I still feel that pressure so low. Was just headed back to class after a break when a professor of mine stopped me to talk with me about what was going on with the babies and that's when my shell cracked.

She really was just trying to be suportive and let me know that the deadline for getting my full tuition back was next Thursday and that they were concerned about me and didn't want those babies coming early because of school. I doubt she expected that I would break down in tears right there in the hallway but I just couldn't hold it back anymore. Literally it was almost more awful feeling than the Vasa Previa news... I was terrified that if I made a wrong move or too many moves that I was going to send myself into labor and that my twins would come early and that they would end up with all these mental or physical problems or possibly even die.

You can see my state of mind at this point. Then add the stress of suddenly making me feel like I wasn't going to make it to November and that I was being selfish trying to finish school while putting my babies further at risk. PLUS then I was feeling really crushed at the thought of having to drop out of school for a semester and re-apply to the nursing program and that all of my student loans were going to come due and we already struggle financially without my 2nd job and how were we going to do it? The poor professor... she had no idea what emotional pregnant wreck she had walked into...

So I called my mom, and cried... and felt a little better. Then called the doctor's office, told them I was now overly paranoid, not handling this very well and really wanted to be checked out before the weekend and that I just needed to discuss all of this with the Dr who knew my medical history and what was going on. They took awhile to get back to me but I did get in pretty quickly. They took a cervical length which was 2.0 pretty much unchanged from yesterday and then did an NST (Non-Stress Test) which can measure the babies' heart rates and if I'm having any contractions. They didn't like being on those monitors and were kicking and squirming all over, the lady had to hold the monitors on me to keep track of their heartbeats.

The good news is that Dr H didn't see anything she would consider contractions on the NST strip. She said that my uterus does look a little irritable which might account for some of what I'm experiencing. This isn't completely abnormal with twins. She checked my cervix once more and it's still closed but a little soft. Thankfully it's just thinning from the top but not opening. I'm going back in on Tuesday for another appointment so that she can check me again to be sure. While they are concerned that I'm thinning so early the good news is that if Dr B thought I was going to deliver very soon he would have given me the steroid shots for the babies' lungs. Since I'm not getting them yet this is a good sign. From what I understand the shots are only good for a couple of days to a week so they want to hold off as long as possible on those.

This gives me new hope that I'm not going to screw up and deliver these babies so early... They said that while it's indicative of an early delivery it could mean a delivery at 36 weeks... they just can't tell because everyone and every pregnancy is so different. We want to get through these next two weeks at least! My babies have the best chances after that.

Oh and I was going to let you know I'm pretty sure I passed the glucola test... yay no gestational diabetes issues :) I could tell I was paranoid but I love those babies already just like I loved Abby from the moment I knew about her and I can't imagine life without them... right now I'm the only one that can speak on their behalf and I guess if that means I lose a little pride then so be it. At least I'll get checked sooner than 2 weeks... perhaps that will help get me through to the next ultrasound without going crazy....

A new report and it's not good...

Well I'll give you the good news first... the babies are still doing ok. Baby A is measuring in at 1lb 14 oz and Baby B is 1lb 13 oz. There are still no signs of TTTS and my blood pressure is great at 98/70. I'm measuring at 33 weeks (uterus measurement)

Here's where the less than great news comes in... My cervix has thinned/shortened dramatically.... litteraly half of what it was before. I was at a 3.2 and am now at a 1.9.. they start to worry when it falls below 2.4 so you can see our dilema. I knew it wasn't good when the ultrasound tech asked if I had any preterm labor issues with my last pregnancy... asked if they'd ever talked to me about being hospitalized early... and then didnt tell me my measurements right away. Of course I was hoping she was just making small talk but when the doctor came in with two other people I knew it wasn't good. They had been considering admitting me but the one good piece of this is that when Dr. H checked me my cervix was still closed, aka i haven't dilated at all. If it had started to open I would have been in the hospital.

I had some pressure really low last night and some back pain but I kept thinking it was because one of the babies was just pushing harder on me since they are running out of room. I called in but the nurse told me to just lay on my side and see if that helped and to come in if it got worse. The pressure let up a little but my back still hurt... Dr B wasn't very happy that they told me just to lie down but I understand it was most likely because I called so late. Because of the issues with my cervix from now on if I have any suspected symptoms again like blood, pressure, contractions etc etc... I'm to go immediately to the hospital to have my cervix checked. He doesnt like the look of my cervix at all especially for barely 26 weeks. We don't want 26-27 weekers!!!

So I'm home, on extremely limited activity... thankfully I'm still allowed to go to class and clinical next week. But I'm not allowed to go shopping, go for walks, any lifting (outside of Abby if I have to)... I'm not confined to bed yet (because of the potential complications associated with beddrest). This means I can make food, go use the bathroom, basic daily tasks but little more than that. They don't know if the restrictions in activity will help but frankly it's better than nothing. At this point they told me it will either stay the same or get worse...

So needless to say I'm a little sad/disapointed about all of this. It's not easy to slow down even though I need to with the babies. I'm going to have to talk with my professors in class to see if they can help me with parking issues at school. I just don't think it would be good for me to be walking across such a long distance with a backpack on. But I have class in the morning so I'll talk to them then. Everything just seemed to get much crazier now... *sigh*

I'm sorry we didn't get any ultrasound pictures this time. Baby A had her bottom and legs smashed up against B's face and A is so low they couldnt get pictures of her. (Her head is the one pushing so hard on my cervix) I think they are getting more and more 'squished' in there so there might not be many pictures from here on out... we'll just have to see.

Well I'm going to try and lay down for awhile, I'll try to post more later if I think of something I forgot.

'Wow!'-worthy development facts

(A few things I just wanted to share... I find it amazing)

In the womb: Sensing the world outside

You scared me, Ma! Your baby will startle in utero when she hears a loud or sudden noise. This ability appears around 23 weeks, as any pregnant woman in her second or third trimester can attest; if she sneezes, the baby jumps.

But if the same noise is repeated frequently, your baby will get used to it and stop responding. No need to worry — that's a sign that the brain is developing normally, says Lise Eliot, an associate professor of neuroscience at Chicago Medical School and author of What's Going On In There? How the Brain and Mind Develop in the First Five Years of Life.

Breathing underwater. Your baby begins to "breathe" while he's still in the womb, even though his lungs aren't taking in any oxygen, says Eliot. At around 27 weeks, his fluid-filled lungs will start to expand and compress due to the rhythmic contractions of your diaphragm and chest muscles, which help him develop the muscles and motor circuits necessary for actual breathing. So by the time your newborn takes his first gulp of real air, he'll have had plenty of practice.

Scent from beyond. Starting around 28 weeks, your baby can smell in the womb the same things that you're smelling outside. Some of the evidence about fetuses' sense of smell comes from preemies: In one study, peppermint extract was held under the noses of pre-term babies. Those younger than 28 weeks didn't respond, while the older ones reacted by sucking, grimacing, or moving away.

Your baby's sense of smell is actually enhanced by the amniotic fluid she's floating in, says Eliot, because we're better able to smell things after the odor molecules join with a liquid (like nasal mucus). During the third trimester, the placenta also lets odor molecules pass through it more easily. So when you order that chicken vindaloo in your ninth month, your baby is taking in the aroma right along with you.

(Cool huh?)