29 Weeks

We've made it to 29 weeks! Now our next goal is to make it to 32 weeks. The doctor that admitted me and the doctor that made rounds this morning seem to think with hospital bed rest and monitoring, we can make it to 32 weeks. They said if/when we do make it to 32 weeks, if there hasn't been too much progression, they'll probably send me home on bed rest only getting up for bathroom reasons. I want these little guys to stay as long as possible!!

This morning a lactation nurse came in and gave us some info on breastfeeding/pumping. A little while later, the hospital's Women's Pavillion educator came and gave me some more info/materials to read on preterm labor, premature babies, and breast feeding. Sometime today the Neonatalogist is supposed to come in and give me some info on risks associated with each week they deliver early. I think that will be very helpful to know what we're facing, coming from a dr rather than what I've read on the internet. The problem is James is working so I'm getting all of this info by myself and between the baby brain and overwhelming amount of info I've received today, I don't know what I'll actually retain. I guess that's why they give you reading materials to keep.

Saturday is the KY Derby. My dad works at Churchill Downs so we've always gone to the Derby every year. This will be the first year I'm not going and I'm very bummed about it. Luckily my sister will be coming up to keep me company instead of going. James is working celebrity security all weekend so if I see him, it will be very minimal and that makes me sad. Another thing that makes me sad.....I finally FINALLY get my sex drive back (yay) and I'm admitted in the hospital. In the scheme of things, it's not a big deal, but it feels like a big deal right now. Sorry James :)

Going Back to the Hospital :(

Well, we had our dr's appointment today to check on things from our contraction issue last week. The medicine seems to be working as far as the contractions go. Of course, we had an internal exam and as much as I was hoping and praying for 1cm, that is not what she found. We are now 2cm and 50% effaced. Um....what?? So, since the bed rest isn't "working" and things are moving along without me knowing (therefore I couldn't call the dr and say hey this is going on), they want me to be monitored closely in the hospital. She's really hoping we can make it to 32 weeks before delivery. Um...what? These babies better stay inside for at least another 5-6 weeks if not longer!!! We hit 29 tomorrow and we're really praying for 34. I know with twins we're going to deliver early, I was just not expecting too early. I've been reading about preterm labor and all the risks/complications the babies can face by coming too early. I'm praying so hard they do not have to experience that. As much as I don't want to be in the hospital for weeks, I can handle that because that's what I have to do for them. I'll finish the nursery later. I'll organize later. I just need my cervix to cooperate!

The Best of Friends

Yesterday was the shower with my girlfriends. We all worked together at Maryhurst (http://www.maryhurst.org) and were inseparable for the longest time. Well, life happens and people get busy so our time spent together isn't as often, but always as fun. Originally we were going to a little cafe where we were going to get dressed up but the whole bed rest thing kind of got in the way so they happily adjusted plans to my house. It was such a great time. We had a picnic lunch, fruit, an awesome homemade cake by our little cake maker Angie, and rootbeer!! They even helped me go through bags from the last shower and washed baby stuff for me!! I miss hanging out with these girls! One is already gone, school in CO, another is getting ready to move to GA for a year and then to NY all for her PhD program. I know we all have to grow up, but it's just sad sometimes when life leads you in different directions (i.e. different states).

Bedrest is going fine. Wednesday and Thursday I was alone all day, but Friday my MIL came over and did some arrends and laundry for me. The girls came over yesterday and my mom is coming over today to help wash baby clothes and clean up. James is working OT details this weekend to kind of compensate for my loss in wages so he worked yesterday and is working today. Poor guy. Next week shouldn't be too bad. Tuesday my cousin April is planning to come out and Wednesday is our next appointment. My cousin Brittany, who happens to be pregnant as well-just a week behind, and her mom said they could come out on Friday to help as well. I like having visitors. I feel kind of bossy telling people what to do while I lay here, but I guess that's the point of bed rest and what family is for! Thankfully I have a great family that is willing to help.

Here are a few shots from the shower.

Congratulations & late Shower Pics

I came downstairs today to start my 3rd day of best rest and of course the first thing I do is open up the computer to check up on blogs. Being wrapped up in my own world, wondering if every thing I feel low is another contraction, I had completely lost track that Shannon would be testing today. Even though she is not a person I know "in real life", I feel like I do know her after all this time. Between convos on GP, email and blogs over the last 2 years almost I know she has a great heart and a strong faith. So when I saw she had posted today, I got a little nervous. Blame it on the hormones or just pure excitement, but when I read the word PREGNANT, I immediately started tearing up. I couldn't be happier for you Shannon!!

My sister hosted my family shower on April 4. It was a lot of fun and we got so many wonderful gifts. We are extremely thankful to all of our family & friends. I didn't really get any pictures of me with family/friends, but here's a few.

Me, the morning of the shower.


My cousin April & I. She's the one that has given us so much stuff to use for the babies!

Delicious food and pregnant lady cake!!



We appreciate everything we were given, but I was most excited about the letters that spelled out the boys names. They are absolutely adorable and I can't wait to hang them up over the cribs. You may not be able to see them well, but they are decorated with the monkey theme.


This is my sister Kelly (left) and my BFF Amanda. We've been friends since we were 4 & 3. She's just like a sister.

This is James and his mom, Grandma Susan.

28 weeks

So I've decided since we're getting down towards the last 10 weeks (praying we make it), I'm gonna start filling in the weekly questionnaire.

How far along? 28 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: +27 lbs
Maternity clothes? Absolutely, out growing most
Stretch marks? :( A few, accepting it as ok because of the twins
Sleep: 2 hours at a time
Best moment this week: Coming home from the hospital
Movement: Yes
Food cravings: This week is chocolate milk and donuts
Labor Signs: Contractions, dilation of 1cm, luckily the meds have seemed to stop them
Belly Button in or out? Out
What I miss: Being able to come and go as necessary or as I please
What I am looking forward to: finishing the nursery
Weekly Wisdom: As much as I thought this before, I know now I will do whatever is necessary to keep these babies from coming early!
Milestones: Feeling both babies have the hiccups! How awesome!

It was so neat to feel the babies have the hiccups and while in the hospital, we even got to see it on the ultrasound. Since I'm on bedrest now, I have a lot of time to think. I realize just how much needs to be done for us to be "ready" for these babies. Ready in the sense of their room/clothing/beds being ready. We have tons of clothes to wash, mattress pads and bedding to wash, I need to get the curtains picked out and hung. The guest bedroom needs to be finished for visitors, plus the rest of the house needs to be picked up.

My girlfriends were throwing a shower for me on Saturday at a local cafe that I was so looking forward to. Now, we have moved the shower to my house, which is fine, but man we need to clean up the living room/kitchen so the girls have room to sit/cook or whatever. It's still going be a great time though. It has been too long since we've all gotten together, and we'll still be minus one.

Contractions....Hospital...WHAT??

So we've had an eventful couple of days. I'll start at the beginning and try to make this as short as possible. Towards the end of last week, I noticed a bit of cramping. It was extremely mild and I only noticed it like 3 times the entire day. I chalked it up to gas cramps. Well, I noticed it a little each day. Monday, at work, they seemed a bit stronger and more frequent so I started asking the girls at work. No one seemed to think it was a big deal, maybe Braxton Hicks or my uterus stretching so I sent a msg to a friend on facebook and asked her b/c I knew she'd had cramping before. She said the call the dr and I figured she was right. I didn't feel like it was anything but better safe than sorry. I left a message and one of the PA's called me back. She wanted me to come in to get checked, especially since it's twins.

I get to the dr, wait all of about 5 minutes and I'm taken back immediately. The PA came in, did an exam, and told me I was 1cm dilated. Oh Gosh!! She sent me to ultrasound to have my cervix checked to make sure it was still long. Luckily, James arrived at the office just before the ultrasound. She told me anything above a 2.5 was good. Thankfully, mine was 3.25 so we are still long. She wanted me sent down to labor and delivery to be monitored and see how far apart the contractions were. Wow, that hit me, they weren't cramps, they were contractions. She said 1 or 2 an hour were fine, but when we start seeing 4 or 5 an hour that wasn't good.

We walked down to registration, and they sent us to L&D triage. They hooked me up to two fetal heart monitors and a contraction monitor. I was looking stylish!









I was being monitored for not very long and the 4-5 an hour she didn't want to see, we were getting that within about 15 minutes. So we got a shot of I can't remember what, but it was to stop the contractions. Then I got a steriod shot in my hip (OUCH!) for the babies lungs just in case. The shot didn't calm them down completely so I got a pill, Procardia, that they started me on that I'll continue on until my 30something week. My dr in the practice was on call so she stopped in a couple of times. She decided since it took so long for the contractions to taper off, she wanted me to stay over night and be monitored. Looked like I was going to be spending my first night ever in a hospital. I was moved out of triage into a L&D room. Thankfully all the nurses were great so that made it easier. They took me off the monitor to move me and said I could be off it for the rest of the night. I didn't sleep much at all, a few hours, but James stayed with me. He didn't have to stay, but I was glad he did.

The next morning, the doctor stopped in and talked to us. She said they were going to monitor me through the day, keep me on bedrest and then later make sure I hadn't dilated any further, do some kind of test, and if everything was good, I'd go home. So I was hooked back up, James had to go to court for work, and I laid around watching tv. I attempted to read about baby's first year, but I couldn't stay focused. Luckily I didn't freak out at all the whole time we were there. The nurse came in around lunch and said that Baby A was moving around a lot, but Baby B wasn't getting as many spikes on the monitor so she was going leave me on longer than expected to see if he would move around more. B is my little buddy that moves all the time so I was completely surprised by that. After a little while longer, I was taken off and not too longer after that the dr came back. She said the same things as earlier, they were going to do an exam, test me for an enzyme that your body produces if you're going to go into labor within a weeks time and if that was negative I'd get to go home. The nurse was in with us so she mentioned the movement of B and so the dr ordered a BFP which I believe she called a Beta Fetal Profile to check movement, breathing, heart and organs. If we got an 8 on that and the enzyme was negative, we'd get to go home. So I ate dinner and the nurse told me the on call ultrasound tech wasn't back in until 7:30 so we'd have to wait until then to do the BFP but she went ahead and did the exam and sent down the swab to test for the enzyme. Thankfully, we were not dilated any further than the 1 we had been on Monday. Just after 7:30 I was wheeled over to the Maternal Fetal Med office for the ultrasound. I had a little chat with the babies and asked them to move for her so we could go home and they listened. We got an 8 out of 8 on each boy. The thing that kind of shocked me, a week and a half ago they were both 2.5 lbs, this time one was 2.11lbs and the other was 2.14lbs. Those babies keep growing and growing, which we're thankful for. That's just almost 6 lbs of baby in there. I'm measuring 33 wks at 28. No wonder my uterus is contracting :) Thankfully, shortly after the ultrasound, I was able to go home. The enzyme was negative, my body wants to keep these babies. I was so happy. I wanted to come home and shower and put on my own clothes and lay in my bed. Thank you for all the prayers!!!

I Passed!!

My doctor's office called today and gave me the results of the sugar test. The nurse said I passed with flying colors. What a relief!! I couldn't be happier.

Hope everyone had a great Easter!!

Dr's App Went Well/26 weeks!!

So we had an interesting day today. We started off in ultrasound rather than drinking the sugar stuff first. We've had two different girls do ultrasounds at the office and luckily, we got the one I like better (the other just doesn't have any tact and honestly shouldn't be around pregnant woman with her attitude). We were there for a growth u/s. It was very informational :) Baby A is head down. That's exactly the position he needs to stay in! His feet are high up on the right side of my belly. I've been feeling him A LOT lately. Baby B's head is up in my ribs.....he's the culprit. I guess I know why my ribs hurt. Here's the real kicker. They are measuring at 2.5lbs each. EACH! They are in the 72nd percentile for growth. They are bigger than most single babies at this stage. Are you serious?? No wonder I feel so uncomfortable. I think it's almost funny that they have some extra cushion....I'm calling them chubbs :) Of course it will even out since once into the 30 weeks they no longer grow like single babies.

After the u/s, I drank the fruit punch sugar stuff. Honestly, it wasn't that bad. Tasted like sugary gatorade with a bit of a sandy/salty after taste. Then we were called back to the room to wait for the dr. By this point I was completely red faced and started to break a sweat. This usually happens every afternoon at work. So my dr comes in, finds their heartbeats (we didn't listen for them in the u/s) and measures the belly. Guess who is measuring big?? Of course, if the babies are big, I'm going to be bigger than the avg twin mommy. No wonder I feel so incredibly uncomfortable. Then we talked delivery options. Since Baby A is head down, as long as he stays that way, we are a go for a vaginal delivery. YAY! If I can avoid a c-section, I definitely want to. She was very on board and encouraging about delivering vaginally. This made me feel very good about it. Guess I better go ahead and sign up for the birthing class! She said my blood pressure is great and everything is moving along perfectly. No swelling or anything and I've only gained 25lbs. I wasn't keeping count b/c I was afraid it was much more than that. Makes me feel better to know I haven't gone overboard. They said to gain about 50 or so pounds with twins and I'm on a good track. We go back in two weeks and they're going to check my cervix. She said that's about the time we could see some changes so they want to make sure it's still closed. If there's any hint of it not being closed, we'll be discussing bed rest. If not, I'm asking for shorter work days. Until then, I'm to take it easy, keep my feet up a lot, minimal work and breaks as needed. After work I met up with one of my friends and she took some belly shots for me. When she emails me some shots, I'll post them. It was fun!!

This weekend is Easter so other than church, we'll be seeing our families for food and I'll be taking it easy. I do want to put together more items we got at the shower though. More so me telling James which items to put together :)

On a final note, I have become reobsessed with Twilight. I've watched the movie like 6 times since I got it and I finally decided to read Midnight Sun, or at least what she has finished. I'm very excited about it!! I know I need to start reading books on what to do when the babies arrive, but I can't focus until I finish it. Crazy, I know!

Dr App Tomorrow

I need to post about the baby shower, I just haven't had a chance to sit down with the computer this week. I need to go through the pictures so I can upload them. It was a lot of fun, had great food, and got so many presents. We are very thankful.

Tomorrow we'll be 26 weeks and we go in for our 4 week checkup. We show up first for the sugar test. We are praying praying praying that I pass. The high risk dr I think freaked me out a little bit stressing how much higher my risk is for gestational diabetes than a single pregnancy. At first I shrugged it off, but now that we go in for the test tomorrow, I'm a little nervous. I just don't want their chances to increase on developing diabetes. Then after drinking the sugar stuff, we go over to ultrasound for a growth ultrasound. After that we wait to have blood drawn and then see the dr. I really want to talk about delivery options. We touched on it once before, but I'd really like to feel more informed. I want to take a birthing class, but if we're looking at a c-section then I'd rather take the c-section class. Anyway, that's what we're doing tomorrow.

25 Weeks!!

Here we are at 25 weeks. How amazing! The belly continues to get bigger, of course. I feel huge. Luckily I'm reassured by girls at work that I'm not and I'm all belly. I do love to hear that. I can see a slight weight gain in my face, but other than that, it does seem to be all belly. My clothes still fit the same except I am outgrowing shirts like crazy. I'll probably be out of the majority of my cousin's shirts that she lent me by the end of the month. I could use some extra sleep but it doesn't look like it's going to happen so I'm dealing. Still having the pain with the numbness and rib pain but again, there's nothing I can do so I'm dealing. Even though I have a low pain tolerance, feeling those babies move really does make it all worth it.
(Here's the 24 week belly-do you see the size of it?? It's my basketball belly.)













So we've started working on the nursery. We decided to go with MONKEYS!! They're so cute and we're very happy about it.









We got one mattress last weekend. The store didn't have two so we're having it shipped. I set up the bedding on the one crib so I could take pictures of it. We're still not sure about the placement of the cribs, but you can at least see how the bedding looks with the crib.










I also made two picture frames that I want to hang on the walls once I staple ribbon to the back. I didn't want every item in the room to be too childish or themey. I think I just made up a word. One frame turned out adorable, the other, tolerable. There are a couple of other things I want to do, but this is the first project completed.









My family shower is this Saturday. I'm so excited. Of course getting all the items for the boys will be great, but I'm so looking forward to the food!! :) My sister made sure to ask what I would like to eat and got them all! BBQ, Fried Chicken Salad, lots of fruit, Chips/Pretzels with dip, homemade queso and a few other items. She said the cake is a pregnant lady so I'm excited to see how it turned out. Plus, I'll be seeing family and friends I haven't seen in a while. Since my belly is mega sensitive I am not looking forward to a bunch of woman touching my belly.
Here's something my cousin April gave me early. She gave us two, one for each boy. It's just so darn cute!!












I think I've posted enough pictures :)