30 weeks 1 day

Yesterday I went in for my 2nd round of the steroid shots for the little girls. I had to enter the hospital through the Emergency Room of the hospital and was taken up to Labor and Delivery. They had me change into a gown, and when the nurse came in to get me hooked up to the monitors she asked me if I was having a boy or a girl. "Both girls" I said smiling and she was like... "Oh you are having twins?!" She had to run back and grab another monitor because she only had enough for one baby. So a few minuets later we got the girlies hooked up to the heartbeat monitors and my contraction monitor on.

A of course was being a little stinker, just doesnt like to cooperate! The nurse had to stick a roll of tape between the monitor and the band to keep enough pressure on it to get her heartbeat to stay on the monitor. I went through a nice round of questions with the nurse and then did a good 15-20 minuets on the monitors. She came in a little while later and gave me the shot. This one was so much better! It hurt like crazy going in but it didn't make my leg go so stiff and cramp up so bad like the last one did. I'm wondering if perhaps the first nurse didn't quite hit the right spot and nicked something.

My nurse came in a little bit later and grabbed the monitor strip to show her coordinator. It took awhile and she came back to say they wanted to monitor the babies a little longer. They came in, gave me an armband and had me sign hospital consents for treatment.... I was like ... wow what a lot of work for a silly shot! I guess the babies' heartrates were hanging around the 130s during most of the monitoring the first time and they didn't see the accelerations they wanted to. SO I got to stay and wait for those silly babies to wake up and get going. Once they did they showed off for the nurse really kicking and moving.

20 minuets later she came BACK in and took the strip saying the babies looked great and hopefully now I would be able to go home. To me I was like... Was there ever a question? Apparantly they had been a little concerned. I guess I'd rather them monitor the babies a little longer than send me home without checking to make sure they were just sleeping. The funny thing is the nurse that was working with me yesterday is the SAME nurse that did the triage and checked me in when I came in to have Abby in May! Small world lol considering I've only been up there for that ONE time.

Tom and I went out to a movie since our chances from here on out for a day seem to get slimmer and slimmer. We saw Transformers in our cheap theater...not the greatest movie but it was fun to have a little alone time with Tom. His boss gave us a crib mattress for free, we just had to pick it up. So we spent the 2nd part of our date doing that. But now we have a mattress for the twins in their nursery! We were going to go out to eat at Olive Garden but the wait was 45 minuets and it was already after 8 so we decided to head back to Beresford and get Abby.

My mom is keeping our dog Feebee for awhile, or until we get the fence. She is in heat (so a little crazy) and my mom doesnt want me running up and down the stairs so much to take her out to use the bathroom. So it is one less thing I have to deal with! That will help me out a lot. I had a painful contraction again yesterday morning... hoping that I don't get any more and that they aren't doing more with my cervix. The bleeding is back a little stronger, Baby A was pushing hard down below and giving me a lot of sharp pains. I'm just hoping whatever she is doing isn't getting things moving faster. I'm back in on Wednesday to get checked by Dr. H so at least I have that for peace of mind. For now I'll just do my best to take it easy.

I talked to a few mom's on a community of twins that I am a part of and asked about once they started dilating how far they made it. Some went into labor within a few days... others a few weeks but I havent seen anyone who has made it past 35-36 weeks. So it might not be long! 34-36 weeks would be ideal for me!!! At least the shots should help in case something does decide to happen and the babies come early. Stay put a little longer girls!!

How your baby's growing: 30 weeks-31 weeks

. A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds her, but that volume will decrease as she gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. Her eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after she's born, she'll keep her eyes closed for a good part of the day. When she does open them, she'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means she can only make out objects a few inches from her face. (Normal adult vision is 20/20.)

This week, your baby measures over 16 inches long. She weighs about 3.3 pounds (try carrying four navel oranges) and is heading into a growth spurt. She can turn his head from side to side, and her arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath her skin. She's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is active and healthy.

30 Week Appointment

Ok where to start, lots to report this time! Baby A is 3lb 3oz, Baby B is 3lb 1oz and both are right around the 50th percentile in comparison to other single pregnancy babies. (they're doing just right for twins) My blood pressure is great at 96/60 and no signs of swelling. We're hoping this means no gestational hypertension with this pregnancy! No signs of TTTS or IUGR (intrauterine growth restriction) so far.

My cervical length is back down to 1.8-1.9, Dr B was less worried about this since it's less of a problem at 30 weeks than at 26 weeks. He asked if I had any symptoms so I explained that my bleeding was heavier over the weekend and that I had a 2 painful contractions on Sunday. This bothered him just a little so he told me to have Dr. H check to see if I was dilating at all. After a bit of a wait I got to see her and she checked to see how 'big my belly was' ... I'm measuring at about 38 weeks (8 weeks ahead now!) So I am officially as big now as I was when I delivered Abby last time! Then she checked my cervix and yep... I've dilated to 1cm. She gave Dr B a call to consult with him. They decided to give my the betamethasone steroid shots for the babies lungs.

If you don't already know what these shots are, they give them to pregnant mothers before 34 weeks whom they think might possibly deliver soon. What the shot does is give the babies a little boost in lung development and cuts down on their risks of getting brain bleeds because they are premature. Basically it boils down to the fact that if babies get them and come earlier they do better with the shot than without. Dr H said everyone is different. I could go into labor 6 weeks from today or I could go into labor tomorrow... it's just hard to know. They just wanted to be safe. I had one shot done today and oh my does it HURT! I've never had a shot that was quite that painful. (I've had quite a few!)  The best part is I have to go into the ER and up to labor and delivery tomorrow to have another one. There are 2 shots that need to be done within 24 hrs of each other. They'll have to monitor the babies on an NST so it will probably be a 1hr to 2hr long session.

Dr H wants to check me again next week so I'll be going in to see her again. Then the following week I'll have another appt with Dr H, Dr B and they'll be doing what is called a biophysical profile ultrasound where they score the babies on movement, breathing etc. (i had a 1-2 done with Abby) Then we'll start doing NST's regularly to see how the babies are handling being 'squished' By the way, Baby B has moved into the head down position alongside her sister now. So they are cuddling :) (see picture below)

So it looks like another adjustment around the house here. You would think we would be used to my taking it easy but I have such a hard time following orders with that. I can let things 'go' for so long and then I'm back up and at it cleaning and such. I've been 'nesting' so much lately it's hard not to want to move the furniture... yes move furniture we arent just talking folding baby clothes... I have the urge to rearrange whole ROOMS. I think that at least I will be going down to Beresford or my mom will be coming up so that I have less one on one time with Abby. This should be the biggest help. Hopefully we can figure it all out. Need to keep these babies in here for another good month :) (my cute hats aren't here yet!) hahahaha yes because thats why they need to wait... I'm just kidding.

No 3D pictures but I did get a few fun pictures at least. They did check for the vasa previa really good this last time and no signs of it at all. The tech said that Baby A is so mashed up against my cervix she doubts anything could fit in between that! Gives me a little peace of mind for which I am thankful for. I know some of this news is crazy and maybe a little worriesome but I'm really doing ok with it. I feel at peace about it and even if my babies DID come early they should be ok... I just don't want them to yet, they need to cook longer and give me time to get ready. So keep us all in your prayers just so that we can adjust once again to this change. I swear it's up and down and up and down all the time. I may be posting more often as I get more news or vice versa.

29W 4D

The next time I will be posting will be on Friday after our 30 week appointment :) I am so excited to see the girls again and find out how much they have grown. The next few days will be filled with appointments! Tomorrow I have to take Abby into what they call 'baby clinic'... this is with Dr. B to evaluate Abby's hair pulling and see what is going on with that. The biggest thing we want to check on is why exactly she is doing this. Could it be physical and she is having headaches? Is it stress related or is it compulsive behavior? I've scheduled other people for the clinic but I've never been a part of it so I'm curious to see what it all involves. They were going to have her come in November but someone canceled so now we can get in earlier! This will really help with me not being massive pregnant or with two more little ones.

The weather looks like it is going to be nasty at the end of this week... both days that I will be going up to SF in the afternoon. As long as it doesnt snow I'll be happy. :)

I will be approaching my doctors about the past issues of the Vasa Previa today. The closer and closer we get to the girls coming the more I start to worry that we've missed it and that something will go wrong and I will lose one of the girls. I want them to check for it and check for it and check for it until I feel more confident that this isn't just hiding somewhere. Probably should talk to my doctor about the heavier/darker bleeding and the fact that I think I'm having strong contractions in the morning... or the strangest stomach cramps in the world.  Part of me wonders if I should call in and talk to them earlier? Or just wait till Friday? I've not gone into labor yet lol

Well I suppose.... more to update with Friday!!

29 weeks 1 day

Wow has it only been one day since I posted? It feels like it has been a whole week. Tom, Abby and I went down to Beresford after he got off of work yesterday. We decided that we would stay overnight for fun since it had been so long. It was nice to have someone else for Abby to play with, I think she was really getting tired of playing at home with mommy.

Last night was not good, ugh. I started feeling a little off around supper time but thought perhaps I just had allergy issues. Played some Xbox with Tom and my brother Andrew after Abby went to bed (very fun) then decided to go to bed. The mattress in Tiffany's room I think has seen better days and was hard hard hard HARD... or maybe I'm just really sensitive being so pregnant. The aches and the chest tightness just got worse and worse by the time Tom came to bed and I told him I couldn't sleep on the bed. Moved to the couch but felt so awful I really wanted him to be near me. My brother Paul was camping so we checked his room out and settled into the bottom bunk after giving it a good toss (Matthew had been playing on it I think) It might have been just a little softer but it was much cooler down there. The babies were having a good time, B had hiccups and Tom got to feel her 'going at it' which he really enjoyed. *usually when I tell him they are moving like crazy they stop as soon as he puts his hand on my stomach. *

He fell asleep, I couldn't. Got up and took some Tylenol which helped me get a little more comfortable. Had a rough night though and was up walking through the minefield that was my brothers room to the bathroom. Note to self, clear a path BEFORE going to bed. Then around 7:30 when I woke up I attempted to turn onto my other side and had two really really strong contractions (i think thats what they were) To me it felt as if I had a really bad Charlie Horse cramp across my lower abdomen. Oh it hurt! It wasn't mild cramping or tightening this was full blown painful and probably a minuet or more long (hard to keep track of that). So either it was a contraction.... or one of the girls REALLY adjusted herself and stretched my poor tummy.

The spotting has been back in full force again these last few days :( In fact today I was almost a little concerned because it was so much darker. I'm back to using sanitary pads because I'm soaking through undergarments so quickly. It's sooooo frustrating this spotting. The girls don't seem to be bothered by it and have been keeping plenty busy. My appointment is Friday so I guess we'll see how things are going.

I still don't feel very good. Thankfully Tom will be home to help me out tomorrow if I'm sick. It's hard to have the energy to keep up with Abby when I'm feeling good.... almost impossible when I'm run down and sick. Guess we'll find out tomorrow. Hopefully I will get a good night's sleep and that will improve things!

29 Weeks!!!

How your baby's growing:

Your baby now weighs about 2 1/2 pounds (like a butternut squash) and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. His muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and his head is growing bigger to make room for his developing brain. To meet his increasing nutritional demands, you'll need plenty of protein, vitamins C, folic acid, and iron. And because his bones are soaking up lots of calcium, be sure to drink your milk (or find another good source of calcium, such as cheese, yogurt, or enriched orange juice). This trimester, about 250 milligrams of calcium are deposited in your baby's hardening skeleton each day.

--------------------

The nurse took three hours to get back to me yesterday and when she did it was as if she were reading off the information as fast as possible. I'm not thrilled with her but that happens I guess. For every great nurse there's bound to be at least one that you don't like. Hopefully I won't have to deal with her anytime soon. She didn't even hardly give me any chance to explain my concerns or questions. Sometimes it annoys me when those nurses work so hard at trying to explain why they don't need to see you that they forget to talk to the patient/patient's mother about why they called in the first place. Really... I wasn't wanting to spend the rest of my afternoon up there either. It just would have been nice if you could have talked to me about this since I've never experienced it before.

The babies were moving and grooving though last night! Felt like they were tap dancing in my stomach, or kick boxing. It was a really odd feeling. They are getting stronger and stronger it seems! I'm going to try and work on my diet a little more and see if that helps. The fact that I'm having leg cramps and then these dips in blood sugar makes me wonder if something is a little off in what I'm eating. In fact my morning nausea has returned too... not as bad as it was in the first trimester but still obnoxious. I had oatmeal and a banana this morning.... 15 minuets ago... and I'm hungry again.

Well Abby is on a rampage, I'm not sure why she is so upset but time to go see what she's up to. Have a great day :)

28w 6d

Abby is so funny right now. She thinks that everything is hilarious and keeps looking back at me to see if I'll smile at her. It's cute. She should be going down for a nap soon but if she wants to play I'll let her wear herself out a little more before she takes her nap. Hopefully that will keep her asleep longer. And now she brought me her favorite book... Fox in Sox...

Right now I'm just waiting on a call back from the doctor. I think my blood sugar dropped last night. I was playing Halo with Tom, Mark, his roomie and my brother Michael (online)... I had an apple because I was feeling a little hungry and decided that would be a healthy choice. (and the apples from the orchard are so yummy) Ate that, played for awhile. Had a few glasses of water then saw the little Milky Way chocolate bar sitting on the counter. It was one of those snack sizes from the Halloween bags. Nothing huge. I've really craved chocolate lately and this is usually my way of getting a little chocolate without eating too much.

I started feeling really tired around 10-10:30 so told Tom that I was going to go to bed. I had chased Abby all day yesterday and was feeling worn out. Got ready for bed, took my meds. I 'think' I fell asleep and Tom came in about 30 minuets later, around 11. I was kinda out of it and I felt really shaky. Tom said that I felt really clammy. He was actually the one that asked if my blood sugar had dropped. I thought it couldn't be since I had eaten not long before bed to keep me going through the night.

Got up, tried to distract myself in case somehow I was anxious or something. Couldn't get rid of the shaky feeling but noticed I felt really hungry. I've been waking up at 2 & 3 in the morning just starving so instead of putting it off I got a bowl of cereal and took a warmish/hot bath. Felt better after this, went back to bed and fell asleep. The coyotes woke me up around 3 (really strange) but otherwise this morning I felt pretty good.

After I started thinking about it more I decided I should call my doctor and just let her know what happened last night since it is Friday. This is the 2nd time this has happened but I just thought it was nerves or something hormonal lol.
 The nurse talked to me a little and I'm not overly thrilled with her. She isn't my regular nurse, Brooke is out today I guess. She just made me feel so stupid for deciding to eat a Milky Way bar. I'm not a diabetic, I've never had problems eating anything before or having blood sugars drop or anything like that. In fact, there are many times I've eaten stranger things at 11, 12 or 1am... I eat when I'm hungry. She told me a better choice would have been something with protein, granted there are a lot of things healthier than a milky way snack but it was so good... sigh... I realized this is the same nurse I talked to at 5pm when I had that weird pressure and she told me just to lay down. She made me feel stupid for calling then too.

She said she was going to talk with Dr. H and see what she said or if she was concerned about it at all. I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that this time I have twins and they are stealing my sugars. But I had a good meal of roast, mashed potatos and corn at 7pm. That should have held me over?? I guess I'll just have to wait and see what she says. It's been 2 hours since she called me last, hopefully I'll know before it gets too late in the afternoon. Dr H just might be really busy.

I'll update with more later if they say anything interesting. 

28w 5d

Abby just woke up, an hour after putting her down. I'm disappointed because this means I have 7 hours until she goes to bed... 6 of which I will have her alone. For those of you who wanted some pictures of the ever growing bump I took a few. It's getting harder and harder to do it myself and I have only 2 hours (maybe) all day where I can do things around the house. Hopefully these won't be the last belly shots. Perhaps I'll have Tom help me take a photo of the heart hand on belly.

I feel like a bad mommy letting her cry a bit but she honestly wasn't ready to wake up and I keep hoping that maybe she'll go back to sleep. Should we go to the park today? It's been so rainy that I'm not sure if it will be miserable. AND Abby likes the "chase me mommy" game FAR too much. Baby B is lodged in my ribs and killing me right now. I hope she doesn't stay there long. Last night was the first night in weeeeeeeks that I haven't had to get up more than twice to use the bathroom. Depending on where they are 'sitting' sometimes I'm up more than three times in an HOUR. And I honestly drink as little as possible at night. I used the back massager that Tom's mother brought up for me to use and it was amaazing. Took care of so many of my aches and it eased my sore back some. I recommend it for pregnant women!!!

My mom, Abby and I went shopping yesterday which was a lot of fun. I picked up at least one cute top and a few things for Abby. It was fun to do something with just my mom for a change. Well I don't have much else to report for now, I just wanted to post the pictures up. Our next appointment is a week from tomorrow. (October 2nd) wow October!

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!!