35-37 weeks: The final countdown

37 weeks. Technically, yesterday would mark 37 weeks and the babies would've been here by mid-morning (according to the scheduled c section we planned). As many readers may already be aware, that was no longer the plan. For those who aren't Facebook or real life friends, let me fill you in on the last few weeks. Apologies in advanced for the mega-long post.

I had a blog post started for 35 weeks. Mostly a familiar update. Uncomfortable but managing. Visit with the specialist again showed the babies looking good. My swelling and blood pressure were the main causes of concern. Spencer was cleared to walked in his boot without a walker. Physical therapy was making a real difference in my mobility and comfort. Final countdown was underway for the kids to arrive. Less than 2 weeks, single digits. Well, let's just say that post never got finished because life just doesn't like to go as planned.

Sunday, July 9- I started to get a contraction every hour or so.  Not my first ones, but these were different that what I'd had before.  They would last a few minutes, but only happened about once an hour or so and didn't progress.  I didn't actually feel them in my tummy; it was more my back would hurt and when I'd realize that I'd poke at my tummy to feel how tight it was.  I drank more water and spent most of the afternoon lounging and resting.  My blood pressure was on the high side still, but not high enough to meet the doctor's orders to go straight to the hospital.  I decided I have an appointment on Monday, I could wait until then since my symptoms didn't quite fit the concerned criteria.

35 weeks and 5 days

Monday, I went to physical therapy in the morning.  I actually felt rather good in most of my usual problem areas; it was just my back bothering me from the contractions.  The therapist worked on my back, helping to work out some of the knots in my lower back.  I left feeling good, but off.  I went home and put in an hour of work to finish up a project I'd been working on before leaving for my next doctor's appointment with Spencer.  We had to wait for quite a while to see the doctor, as per usual.  By the time we got back to the exam room, my blood pressure had gone up quite a bit.  The specialist kept telling me that if it got up to 160 for the upper number, I needed to go to labor and delivery.  My blood pressure at the beginning of the appointment had spiked to 161/something.  We continued the appointment and saw the kiddos on the ultrasound. After the appointment, the nurse took my blood pressure and it'd barely gone down.  The doctor wanted me to go to labor and delivery for observation and told me not to eat or drink anything until further notice.

What a pair we make right now-
one with dangerously high blood pressure and
one with a bum foot

Spencer and I walked across the hospital to labor and delivery.  This was Spencer's first time there (my third for those counting). We got to go in the normal way instead of through the ER like I'd been the last two times. I checked in with the lady at the desk who filled out a bunch of paperwork with us. I was shown back to a room and told to change and leave a urine sample.  I was hooked up to the heart monitor to watch the babies heart rates and measure for contractions.  The doctor had also ordered several blood tests in addition to the urine test.  Once those results came back, we'd have more of an idea of what the next step would be.  After about an hour or so, we were told that my platelet count was low, my creatinine ratio was high, and that the babies would be coming that day due to pre-eclampsia.  I was admitted to the hospital and the nurse started prepping me for the c-section. It was at this time that I felt like I was on the first big hill of a roller coaster- scared to death of the drop and what's to come but no way to get off.  Mom, Dad, Spencer and I hung out for a few hours until the doctor finished her day at the office; then, she came over and delivered the babies.

Our happy little family

The c-section was a very weird experience; I was very glad Spencer was there to keep me calm. It was so cold in the operating room and so many people buzzing around doing their things.  I got the epidural and laid down. Spencer came in and sat near my head while the nurses installed the drape to keep us from viewing all of the gruesomeness of surgery.  The doctor came in and the procedure started. Everything happened so fast. All of a sudden, we could hear Owen crying, then a few minutes later, Elizabeth came out crying.  Each baby had their own team of doctor and nurses who took them and checked them out.  Owen was 5 pounds, 3 ounces; Elizabeth surprised everyone by edging him out at 5 pounds, 4 ounces.  They wrapped up the kids and handed them to Spencer to hold.  We both got to see them and take a picture while my procedure finished up.  Then it was off to the labor and delivery room to recover.  We got to do skin to skin with the kids for about an hour.  We tried to breastfeed for a little while, which both seemed to do ok with me fumbling around trying to figure out what I was doing.  After skin to skin time, the nurses cleaned up the babies some more and then focused on my recovery, which took a little longer because I'd been on baby aspirin, which caused more bleeding than normal with a c-section delivery.  Spencer got more pictures of the kids and sent them out to friends and family.  His mom drove down after work and was the first of the family to see the kids.  We thought that they'd need to go to the NICU immediately, so we'd been telling family that there wasn't too much point in stopping by that night.  Turns out our kids our fighters and avoided the NICU altogether.

More to come later on our recovery and homecoming.

Meet Owen and Elizabeth

33 and 34 weeks

33 weeks (written last week, just never posted)

I started a draft for this post last week and forgot all about it.  Opening it up just now reminded me of how different our lives were just a week ago.  In order to avoid being vague and cryptic, I'll jump right in.  Wednesday, June 21st, Spencer was t-boned in a car accident.  I'm not going to go into too many details online just in case the insurance wants to use it against us later.  He is back home finally, starting the long road to recovery.

Before the accident happened, I'd had a physical therapy appointment that morning. The therapist "massaged" certain areas, helping to expel some knots and engage my muscles. I got some homework to work on to stretch things out at home.  Each visit helps a lot; I'm still sore, but it's more manageable.  I worked from home after physical therapy before we had our appointment with the OB.  I met Spencer there because he'd gone to work and had another appointment just before mine.

We got to wait for about 2 hours for our appointment this time; it's a bad sign when they bring out snacks for everyone in the waiting room.  I started to feel crummy while we were waiting, so I had a few snacks thinking it was just low blood sugar.  Once we were called back to see the doctor, the nurse got my vitals.  My blood pressure was kind of high at this point and my feet were swollen (all though that is a new normal).  The doctor talked with us about signs to keep an eye on and mentioned that it may be a good idea to work from home instead of going into work.  She did the sono to check for heartbeats.  Afterwards, she took my blood pressure again to see if it was still elevated.  If it had been, I was going to be sent to labor and delivery to get checked out.  Luckily, it went back down closer to my normal.  We go back again in two weeks for what may be our last appointment with that doctor before the babies come. Craziness!


34 weeks

This was probably the first week of the whole pregnancy that I haven't checked my app to see what the babies are supposed to be up to in there at 34 weeks.  I've just been too busy.  Like I said above, Spencer was in an accident a week and a half ago.  He broke his foot and has severe bruising and contusions that limit his mobility.  He's been home from the hospital for less than a week now, but improving a little bit every day.  In the meantime, I'm doing my best to help him out as I can while still taking it easy.

My boss has allowed me to work from home, for which I'm super grateful. I have about 4 appointments a week now, so working from home prevents me from needing to use so much sick leave and from driving by myself 20 miles to work along a fairly undeveloped highway twice a day.  I can put my feet up so they swell less while still getting some work done.  The doctors are very happy for this too; I think bed rest would have been in my future if I wasn't allowed to stay home more.

I had some more physical therapy this week. It has been helping a bunch but I'm still just super sore all of the time.  Sleeping has been much harder as of late because the hips always hurt. I just can't find a good position.  This weekend, Elizabeth has decided that my left hip bone is a good place to kick or something; probably not helping the hip pain I already have.

I saw the specialist a few days ago too.  Mom came with me this time since Spencer can't get around very well right now.  We had the doctor do a video of the ultrasound so Spencer could watch later.  The babies are doing really well. Owen was in a bad spot so it was hard to get accurate measurements.  The doctor estimated 5 lbs 2 oz, but thinks that's an underestimate.  Elizabeth was her usually squirmy self, weighing in at 4 lb 12 oz.  They are both doing great according to all the doctor's tests.  The only concern the doctor has is me right now.

My blood pressure being high and my swelling are signs of gestational hypertension or even pre-eclampsia.  I went to Labor and Delivery to get checked out the night of the accident, just to make sure everything was ok after what I'd witnessed. I also went about a week later when my blood pressure spiked.  An hour long non-stress test later, and I was sent home.  I feel bad about going with false alarms, but we promised the doctor I'd be better safe than sorry about this.  Anyways, when the specialist heard about all of this, she ordered a 24-hour urine test and some blood work to see what's up with me.  I did that all of Thursday (thank goodness I could work from home) and dropped off everything Friday morning. I am still waiting for the results, hoping for everything to come back normal, or at least just hypertension, and not pre-eclampsia.  I'm trying to keep these kids in as long as I can to give Spencer more time to recover.

So now, we wait. And try to take it easy while still getting things ready for the babies to come.  It's been hard for me to ask for help or even accept help. Partly because I'm still overwhelmed and not sure where to start on certain things.  Partly because I feel like a lazy bum asking someone to vacuum or clean up after us while I sit on the couch doing nothing.  It's going to be a learning experience.

Bump! or more like watermelon!