29 weeks - looking good

I'd thought that not too much had happened in the last week, so I hadn't felt a rush to post this week. Looking back, I guess there has been a bit more than I remembered right off.

We had our first baby shower last week at Spencer's office. We got what his coworker likes to call the baby limo (the stroller for those who couldn't guess that), as well as a bunch of diapers and wipes (should last us a couple of days, ha ha sigh). The babies have some cute socks, a handmade fleece blanket each, and UNT onesies. It was a nice party with lots of yummy treats. We even took our first bit of nursery decor from the decorations they'd made; it's a burlap type banner that says Welcome to the Wolfpack. All in all, a wonderful shower. Thanks UNT Admissions :)

I suppose I should throw in the fact that I turned 30 last week as one of our events. I don't feel old or anything; to me 30 is just another number. Because of the pregnancy we did some rather low key celebrations, which was perfect. Got to hang out with my favorite people, which is all I really wanted.

We had another appointment with the OB on Tuesday afternoon. I'm switching these to morning appointments from now on. We got to our 3:30 appointment early and then waited until after 4:30 to be called back for the nurse. I got my whopping cough vaccine and Rh shot before we got to wait for another 15 minutes or so to see the doctor. She did a scan for heartbeats. Both babies were head down, with Elizabeth's head on my right side and Owen in the middle. Their feet are both under my left ribcage area. No measurements on size, but heartbeats looked good. Fairly uneventful appointment after that. We go see her again in 2 weeks. So we now see a doctor a week, just alternating which doctor each week.

I swear I had a growth spurt overnight the other night. I'm now up about 21 pounds since the beginning of the pregnancy. My belly seems even bigger and my maternity clothes are starting to get a tad too small in some cases. Gonna have to get bigger shirts or get the sewing machine out and transform some of Spencer's shirts into maternity shirts. Sleeping has gotten harder because I can't find a comfortable way to sleep. The babies won't stop kicking and squirming, especially while I'm at work. I can tell my pelvis isn't happy with the amount of stretching it's being asked to do; everything is sore in that region. There's alot to complain about but really I'm doing ok and getting used to my new normal. I like feeling the kids kick and know that I'm doing the best I can for them right now. Still can't believe we have another 7-9 weeks to go before we get to meet them.

28 Weeks - Third Trimester starts

We had another growth scan earlier this week to see how the turkeys are doing.  Got some of the best news we'd heard in a month or so.  Elizabeth is back up above the 10th percentile; she's in the 15th percentile now!  The doctor was very impressed and released us back to every other week scans.  Here's a screenshot of the message our regular OB sent the next day after she got our report.  It made me smile.

Owen

Owen was back in his head down position during the scan so it was hard to get his measurements.  He's starting to practice breathing on his own.  His head measured above the 99th percentile in the scan, so I'm really glad right now we're opting for the c-section.  The doctor said that could even out with the rest of his body before he comes, but overall, he's still a big baby.  He's 2 pounds 11 ounces right now and measuring about a week ahead size-wise.

Elizabeth, who graced us
with a rare glimpse of her profile

Elizabeth's face using the 3D feature

In the middle of the doctor measuring Owen, she noticed that Elizabeth was showing her profile. Every scan we've had there, it seems that Elizabeth is facing my back and we never get any shots of her face.  So the doctor stopped measuring Owen and switched to snapping a few pictures of her profile and even used the 3D imaging to look at her. I think that image is a tad weird, but it's the best we got at the time.  Elizabeth is transverse with her head under my left ribs.  She was hiccuping during the scan and wiggling the whole time.  There were times I could see my belly shaking as she danced and performed for the doctor.  She's only a few days behind her gestational age, weighing in 3 ounces above 2 pounds.  She's only about half a pound behind her brother now.

Overall, we are super excited that she's doing better.  I'd upped my protein and water intake and will continue to do so in the hopes she will start gaining even more.  I'm resting more and more as simply walking and standing can be exhausting.  My hands and feet like to swell up some if I do too much.  I got a three week pass to the Rec Center on campus to use the pool to float for a little bit a few times a week.  That was nice the first day and I can't wait to go back again.  I feel the babies move much more now, especially after ice cream.  I also had what the doctor says was my first contraction last weekend.  After sitting down to dinner, I felt it and got worried.  I wasn't sure exactly what I'd felt, but thought I'd drink a glass of water and lay down for a while (I remembered reading that somewhere).  I didn't feel any more after that, so decided just to wait until the doctor's appointment in a day or two and report it then.  I'm hoping that continuing to rest and not overdo it will prevent it from happening again.

Well until next week...

27 weeks

Evening all! I know yall are probably anxious to know how the turkeys are doing, so I'll start with yesterday's doctors appointments (that's right, with an s!).

First appointment of the day was with our regular OB. I got to do my glucose tolerance test (I passed it). We also got to see the kiddos for a quick scan with the doctor to check heart beats. Both were squirming quite a bit (apparently they like the glucose drink), so their heart rates were a tad high. The doctor answered all of our questions, as much as she could. It's all up to our MFM doctor to call the shots. We will continue to see the OB every other week for now, unless the MFM says she want more scans done.

Our afternoon appointment with the MFM was and wasn't what we were expecting. We expected to have her measure the kids again and give and update on weight gain. Turns out that'll be every two weeks (so next week). This week was all about measuring the blood flow, which still looked good for both of them. She even said that it looked like they were starting to practice breathing, which is right on target for development.

I've gotten all of my blood work back from last week now; no infections or chomosomal trisomy issues causing Elizabeth's smaller size. So we are down to just placental size or placement or she's just super small. Either way, we go back weekly for the next few weeks. If Elizabeth isn't growing enough, we will go to twice weekly monitoring (once with the MFM and later in the week with the OB). If that's not enough, hospital bed rest to monitor her much closer. The concern is that while she's better off in me for now, as the weeks go on, that could change quickly. So more just waiting and hoping.

We also had our second class for preparing for multiples. It was all about postpartum and what to expect after delivery. Got some tips on breastfeeding too. Turns out because of my PCOS there is a small chance I'll have more trouble breastfeeding (due to crazy hormone issues). I'd not heard that before, but I'm not letting it get me down. We will cross that bridge when we get there.

As for me and the turkeys, I'm really starting to feel the load. I get exhausted very quickly and my hips always hurt. Elizabeth learned a new trick; she likes to use her foot (I think based on her position in the last scan) to push out. You can see and feel her pretty good, so I know she's a strong girl. They have been very active the last few days. My hands are constantly jumping around when I rest them on my belly. Luckily they let me sleep decently in between potty breaks every few hours.

We have a few showers planned so far (and hopefully the kids don't come too early). I'm trying to finish up our registry but it's taking way longer than I thought it would. So many choices to make. I have our buy buy baby one pretty much done; just trying to transfer alot of that stuff to target and babies r us now. I left off clothing, diapers, and bottles for now because I have no clue what the babies will like; I'll take anything in small bits right now and get more of whatever works best for them.

26 weeks

It's been a busy week for us. On Saturday, we did a tour of the maternity ward of the hospital we plan to deliver at. After a long wait, we got to see the labor and delivery rooms as well as the postpartum rooms. They described how a typical delivery goes and what we can expect. It was very much geared towards singletons and not twins, but it was still nice to see and hear what to expect that day. We saw the NICU area, which we hopefully won't need.

Sunday, we went down to Fort Worth for a preparing for multiples class. I wanted to take a few classes to help prepare us for what to expect, but wasn't sure how much I'd get out of a traditional class. That's why I was so excited to see this one, geared towards twin parents. It's a two part class, so we go again next weekend too. The first class was mostly an intro to labor and delivery. We watched alot of videos on different ways to give birth and then did a few exercises to help deal with the pain of labor. Spencer and I felt the class was a little judgy toward any birth besides a natural labor. The way the video and teacher explained the epidural process and even the c-section process seemed like they were looking down on those women who use them. Maybe we read too much into it, but I felt a tad bit of shame for going straight for a c-section and not even trying attempting a vaginal delivery. I'm gonna do like I usually do and brush it off; I'll do what I want and ignore everyone else. Next week is supposed to be more about after delivery, so we shall see what that's like. I'm trying to decide whether to cancel the class on baby care basics or attend and see if there aren't a few morsels of good, new info.

And the last big baby related event this week was our second scan with the specialist to check on Elizabeth's growth. Good news is that she grew, bad news is that it wasn't as much as we wanted and she slipped into the less than 10th percentile. Owen is still measuring big; he's just over two pounds right now and measuring a week ahead. Elizabeth was one pound nine ounces and measuring a week behind. I keep telling Owen he needs to share with his sister.

The doctor has finally seen all of the structures she needs to see on Elizabeth and thinks everything looks great. Blood flow, heart, and brain structures look normal. She is just proportionally small right now. The doctor gave us some reasons why, but doesn't really know anything yet. It could be the placenta didn't attach as well attach Owen's and she doesn't get ad much nutrients. There could be an infection, which would just be good for the pediatrician to know after she's here. Could be chromosomal issues, particularly a few trisomy possibilities; she doesn't have any of the soft markers for down syndrome. Or they could just be two different people and Wolf girls run small (alot of her female Wolf relatives are on the petite side). Basically, we don't know and just have to wait. I had some blood drawn to run tests for infection and chromosomes, but neither test may be 100% accurate because they are twins. Those results should take a week or two.

The doctor has moved up the due date a week, so I will not go past 36/37 weeks now. That translates to a July 12-19th delivery. We are also now going to the specialist weekly for a scan. She said that normal bedrest wouldn't necessarily be helpful to helping Elizabeth grow, but there is a small chance I could go on hospital bed rest for the extra monitoring. She made it seem like if we came in for a scan and she saw something concerning, she'd give it one more week to see an improvement and if not I go straight to the hospital until I deliver. So hopefully if it comes to that, I'll have about a week to prepare and settle everything at home and work.

In the mean time, we see both doctors again next week. I get to do my glucose tolerance test in the morning and we get to see the twins again in the afternoon. I'm working on applying for FMLA leave at work and trying to finish up some large projects before I go out. I'm finishing up our registry and starting to get a few baby showers planned.  We are also trying to get the house cleaned up, organized, and unnecessary items thrown out/donated.  It's crazy to think we have 10-11 weeks left (at the most).

25 weeks...babymoon

Oh my! I can't believe how far we've come. Only 13 weeks to go (or less but let's hope not too many fewer). There's still so much to do and my ability to get some of these things done is quickly diminishing. So starting to get just a tad overwhelmed 

Last week, I had a library conference in San Antonio. I was a tad nervous about managing by myself down there so I brought Spencer along with me. I'm glad he was there to help drive and walk with me. For someone who barely makes her 6,000 steps each day, I walked about 12,000 steps each day down there. I wore my brace most of the time and got a bunch of sitting in during the sessions; that helped I think. But I'm still worn out even though I've been home for three days now. Spencer had a good time exploring the city while I was in meetings most of the day.  It was a nice little babymoon.

We have another scan next week to check on Elizabeth again. We are hoping for some major growth. I know they are doing ok because I feel them quite a bit now. Spencer finally got to feel both of them (Owen several times). I think the last few days they are working on their flipping skills.

Kind of blurry bump pic
from the bathroom at work
(it was this or nothing :) )