Great appointment update!

We had a doctor's appointment yesterday. Things are going really well!

Carter (formerly known as baby A) weighs 3 lbs. Nolan (formerly known as baby B) weighs 2.7 lbs.  I can't believe there are nearly 6 pounds of baby in me!  At my appointment, I was 29 weeks, 3 days.  Carter measured 29 weeks, 1 day. Nolan measured 28 weeks 6 days.  Since this is based on my projected due date, both babies are basically right on schedule!  They each have plenty of fluid in their sacs; their heart rates are good. Carter was at 140 bpm and Nolan was at 160 bpm.  Nolan's heart rate has been higher than Carter's every single time.  Wonder what this tells us about their personalities???

Since everything looked so great, I asked the doctor if I could attend some Christmas parties/dinners with friends and family, even if I just stop by for a bit and stay reclined.  Definitely not going to happen. He said "what you are doing right now is working so let's not change a thing." Understood. Another welcome reminder that I no longer come first.

I've added the new sonogram pictures to the slide show. Click here to view them all! Here are some funny ones of Carter. First he had his fingers in his mouth and after about 5 minutes, he had his toes in his mouth!  What is going on in there?

Nolan was in a strange position, so she could only capture this face shot.  

I'm starting to find it really funny that when the sono tech measures my cervix, she is quick and stratight forward. As soon as she gets the first glimpse of a baby, she turns on her baby charm like crazy! Baby talk, full force. It is hilarious. "OOoohh wook at zah wittle sweet baby. Say I gots my fingers in my mouf! Yes I do!" Brad and I are like, "awh, so cool!" It does seem like she loves her job so she can talk baby-talk all she wants!

Here's the goal update:

26 weeks: reached!
28 weeks: reached!
32 weeks: Will be reached Jan. 3, 16 more days.
36 weeks: Will be reached Feb. 1, 45 more days. 

Both babies were still breech-ish at this appointment. I'm practicing magical thinking and prayer to get them to turn head down so I can try to avoid a c-section. The doctor said they don't give up on them turning until delivery day. So there is still a chance!

Belly Fascination

Yesterday marked 29 weeks of pregnancy. I'm definitely getting close to 40 pounds of weight gain!  Some pregnant women are quite frightened by the numbers on the scale, but I'm more fascinated by them!  They are crazy and awesome! And my rings totally stopped fitting my chub fingers probably 3 weeks ago. About 7 weeks remain until my goal date of Feb 1, when I'll be 36 weeks pregnant. What are the chances I can not pass the 50-lb mark? If so, I'd say that's pretty good for carrying twins!  Anyway, I have been on bed rest for 7 weeks, so I'm kind of half way there!

Yes, I have some serious cabin fever. I want to get out so bad and go for a walk or something.  I CANNOT wait to get out for my appointment this Wednesday. Hopefully it is all good news then. I'll keep you posted!

So yesterday, I was just sitting there, like I do, and my belly turned totally lopsided! I have noticed this a few times before but I actually had a camera nearby this time.  Here is my belly from my perspective. Is the right side quite large or is it just me? What are you doing in there, Nolan?  It may also be a Braxton-Hicks Contraction, where the abdomen just tightens for a few seconds with no pain. Of course, I'll be mentioning this to the doctor on Wednesday. But the books say Braxton-Hicks can start as early as 25 weeks.

I'm also having to do a double take every time I walk by a mirror. You don't see me everyday so you may not be able to tell as much but my cheeks are constantly rosy and flushed!  Okay, yes I have make-up on (I have to in order to stay sane!) but just a dab. My face always feels hot!

Our brother-in-law, Eric, visited this weekend. He ran the White Rock Marathon with our other brother-in-law, James.  They are crazy and I'm totally impressed!  I would love to be able to do it, but for now, I'll set my after baby goal to a 10K and even that would be quite an accomplishment for someone who is proud after running only 2 miles!

I've uploaded all my belly pictures to our picture website. Here is a sneak peak at the first one and the last one. I KNOW! CRAZY!!!! And still 7 more weeks! The first one was taken July 31 in a normal tank top and the second one, December 13, in a maternity tank top.  Click here to view all of them!

I'll leave you with one last photo, because we got a new camera and taking pictures helps get me through the day. I get dressed in normal clothes every day, in order to feel human. Sometimes it isn't until 2pm, but as long as it happens at some point in the day, I'm good!

Sleep and Sonos

I am finally allowing myself to not feel guilty for sleeping in. I have always associated sleeping in with being lazy. That doesn't mean I didn't do it most weekends anyway, but now I'm like, "Seriously? What are you going to do when you wake up anyway? Yard work? Paint a room? No, not so much." And as many people have pointed out already, I should be taking advantage of the sleep now, while I can!

Sleeping is really becoming quite a challenge anyway. I'm a bit uncomfortable. Part of the problem could be that our mattress slopes in the middle.  That is definitely a purchase on our to do list! The other part is that I get restless legs (yes this syndrome exists and is more common in pregnant women!) and I can't sleep on my belly like I so want to. And to top all of that off, Brad and Mallie both like to snore all night!  This is why it is absolutely okay to sleep in. And for some reason, when 7am rolls around, I have no problem sleeping soundly for quite a while longer!

We record the TLC show, "Bringing Home Baby" and we only watch the twin episodes.  It tries to capture life in the first 48 hours home with your new babies. On almost every episode, the couple is up on day two and says "last night went well, maybe even better than we expected........we slept a couple of hours."  Brad and I just look at each other in awe.  I really hope we can function on little sleep for those first few....days, weeks, years.

Okay enough about sleep. I have finally uploaded the sonograms. Click here to view them! There are 50 right now and more will be coming soon! Here is my most favorite sonogram so far. It is the boys side by side, in a similar position, with their hands in almost the same position! It was taken October 5, 2009 when I was 19 weeks pregnant.

Sunday, I reached our second goal of 28 weeks! Yipee! Coming up are the 32 weeks and 36 weeks goals.

Here is what twins look like in the womb around 28 weeks. These are shown in the vertex position (head down), but both of mine were breech (feet down) at our appointment last week! It is good to know that they can still swim around and change positions, though!

Coming soon: Pictures tracking my belly growth. 

These babies must have really enjoyed the Thanksgiving feast!

Woke up early and even though we'd be at the Dr's office soon, I asked Brad to give me the weekly Tuesday shot so he could practice. He got all stressed out for bit but ended up doing a great job!

I was so super excited to leave the house today! It was such a fun time! Seriously!

We arrived at Dr. Martin's office and headed down to the sono room. We were quite anxious to see how my week at home had affected my cervix. It measured 3.1 cm, compared to 3.5 cm prior to checking out of the hospital. Dr. Martin thinks this could even be from having an active morning: showering, getting ready, and sitting in the car and in the waiting room for over an hour. She thinks the measurement is a very good one and that I must be doing a pretty good job staying on bed rest. This is great news! I just need to keep doing what I'm doing. She also told me I looked great. Ha ha. That's because she saw me looking so rough in the hospital every day!  

  

And now for the weights...and the reason for the title of this post: The babies gained about a half a pound in a week! Wow! I guess they enjoyed all the turkey and stuffing! Baby A is 2.2 lbs and baby B is 2.1 lbs. They also measured the femur and abdomen to estimate the gestational ages. They are both about 2-3 days behind schedule, according to my projected due date....which is perfectly fine! I'm technically 27 weeks and 2 days. I've been pregnant for 6 months!

I, on the other hand have reached a gain of 35 lbs! I think I'll have gained 50 by the time I deliver. Dr. Martin thinks this is also just fine! She measured my belly while letting us know the measurement is medically irrelevant, just fun. I have a belly the size of someone who is 35 weeks pregnant! She said she had another not-so-tall patient expecting twins, who measured at 43 weeks pregnant when she was only 35 weeks! Imagining my belly getting even bigger is crazy! I can barely get off the couch without help as it is! Dr. Martin wants to see me in two weeks. Then after that, I'll have appointments weekly.

After the appointment, we went to the drugstore to pick up the shot refill and followed Dr. Martin's instructions to get our flu shots. I had already gotten the seasonal so just needed H1N1. Brad got both. We are all vaccinated now! And neither of us has ever gotten any flu shot ever before! By the way this was a really cute drugstore and I was in heaven for a few minutes, looking around at the Christmas gift section! Shopping in store is just so much better than online!

Back home, I rested for quite a while after sitting and standing for so long. Later, I wrapped some Christmas gifts then went back to the couch for the rest of the evening! Brad worked the rest of the day from home. It is so nice when he is here during the day!

Goal number 1: 26 weeks: reached!

Goal number 2: 28 weeks: only 5 more days!

Goal number 3: 32 weeks: Dr. Martin says, "If we get to this point, we've won the battle!"

Goal number 4: 36 weeks: My personal goal to not deliver until February!