I really thought I would never see this day. 37 weeks pregnant with twins, that's just crazy!! Not only are most twins born by now, but this is the day when singleton pregnancies are considered full term. There is no longer any question about their health due to early birth.
I had a doctor appointment on Monday. Basically there hasn't been any progress since my last appointment a week and a half ago. I've still been having contractions, but they just aren't doing anything. My guess is because they are both breech and basically stuck in their current positions. He said unless my water breaks he will see me next Monday and go over all my pre-op instructions. That will be my last doctor appointment as the girls are set for a cesarean the following Monday.
On Wednesday I had another non-stress test. Both girls responded as they expected them to. I actually talked to the girls and asked them to take a nap during the test. I told them I know they are completely healthy and if they sleep and not respond as much then I'd be able to hold them in my arms that night. Allison didn't agree, she moved all around. Emmily on the other hand that the hiccups. When they went away, she did try to sleep. I was so proud of her for listening already! But the mean nurse came in and pushed and shoved on her through my belly to make her wake up and move. I'll have to think of another tactic for my next test on Saturday.
I was actually able to sleep better on Monday and Tuesday nights. I started using a heating pad for my back/side/ribs and hips and a cold pack for my nerve/skin burning. I thought I had finally found the solution to survive the next two weeks. But by Wednesday night it stopped working. I still found some relief, but my ribs/side never stopped hurting and my nerve burn started back up in the very early morning.
Needless to say I am ready to have these girls. I love the time we've gotten to spend together, just the three of us, and I will always cherish it. But my body is simply tapped out at this point.
Family Pic
Friday, September 25, 2009
Friday, September 18, 2009
36 weeks
YAY! We made it! There's no such thing as a 100% guarantee for a healthy baby, even with just one. But we are as close to that as we can get! Very few babies born from 36 weeks on, twins or otherwise, have any health problems.
This has definitely been a roller coaster week. I really didn't think much of it when the doctor told me last Thursday that I should go to the hospital if I get too uncomfortable or am in pain. Now I know exactly why he said that. I started having much harder contractions on Friday. They were even 10 minutes apart for a little while. But they stopped. Friday evening and all of Saturday I was very sore. My stomach from the contractions, my back and my pelvic area (since the bones are trying to move). I know I could've gone to the hospital for pain meds, them come back home, but I really don't want to take anything stronger than Tylenol if I don't have to.
On Saturday I spent more time in water than I did out of it. It started with a nice warm shower in the morning which felt wonderful on my back. Later I had to get in the bath to help with the pelvic pain. That felt so good that I heated up the pool and stayed in there for a while. It helped because I was actually able to sleep the though the night, only getting up twice. Big difference from the previous night where I was up every 2 hours. I still had contractions on Saturday, but only one every couple of hours with just a few others that slipped in between.
The pain in my stomach, back & pelvic area continued through Tuesday, which was by far my worst day. I was at my breaking point and just couldn't find any long lasting relief. I ended up taking Tylenol and 1/2 a Unisom as an attempt to get a better nights sleep. While the Unisom did help me sleep, the Tylenol only lasted a couple of hours.
I haven't had any contractions since Tuesday night. That allowed my muscles to relax, so Wednesday and Thursday I felt great!
Wednesday night however, I noticed that Allison hadn't moved around as much as she normally does, but Emmily was moving around normally. I pulled out my handy dandy heart monitor and easily found both heart rates and they were both pretty similar so I knew they weren't in any danger. We decided it was still worth a trip to the women's center to have them monitored to make sure there wasn't anything wrong with her.
After 20 minutes on the heart monitor they let us go home. I wasn't 100% satisfied with that, and made a call to my OB first thing Thursday morning. He said he thinks she's just gotten so big that she can only make small movements now, and that I just can't feel them. He wants me to go in Saturday morning and get hooked up to the heart monitors for an extended amount of time. This is called a non-stress test. This gives them a better picture of even the slightest movements the girls are making. After a non-stress test, they can safely say the babies will not have any undetected life threatening problems for 3 days. They will repeat the non-stress tests twice a week until I deliver the girls. Which we are hoping will be this week! Stay tuned to Facebook for any big developments!
This has definitely been a roller coaster week. I really didn't think much of it when the doctor told me last Thursday that I should go to the hospital if I get too uncomfortable or am in pain. Now I know exactly why he said that. I started having much harder contractions on Friday. They were even 10 minutes apart for a little while. But they stopped. Friday evening and all of Saturday I was very sore. My stomach from the contractions, my back and my pelvic area (since the bones are trying to move). I know I could've gone to the hospital for pain meds, them come back home, but I really don't want to take anything stronger than Tylenol if I don't have to.
On Saturday I spent more time in water than I did out of it. It started with a nice warm shower in the morning which felt wonderful on my back. Later I had to get in the bath to help with the pelvic pain. That felt so good that I heated up the pool and stayed in there for a while. It helped because I was actually able to sleep the though the night, only getting up twice. Big difference from the previous night where I was up every 2 hours. I still had contractions on Saturday, but only one every couple of hours with just a few others that slipped in between.
The pain in my stomach, back & pelvic area continued through Tuesday, which was by far my worst day. I was at my breaking point and just couldn't find any long lasting relief. I ended up taking Tylenol and 1/2 a Unisom as an attempt to get a better nights sleep. While the Unisom did help me sleep, the Tylenol only lasted a couple of hours.
I haven't had any contractions since Tuesday night. That allowed my muscles to relax, so Wednesday and Thursday I felt great!
Wednesday night however, I noticed that Allison hadn't moved around as much as she normally does, but Emmily was moving around normally. I pulled out my handy dandy heart monitor and easily found both heart rates and they were both pretty similar so I knew they weren't in any danger. We decided it was still worth a trip to the women's center to have them monitored to make sure there wasn't anything wrong with her.
After 20 minutes on the heart monitor they let us go home. I wasn't 100% satisfied with that, and made a call to my OB first thing Thursday morning. He said he thinks she's just gotten so big that she can only make small movements now, and that I just can't feel them. He wants me to go in Saturday morning and get hooked up to the heart monitors for an extended amount of time. This is called a non-stress test. This gives them a better picture of even the slightest movements the girls are making. After a non-stress test, they can safely say the babies will not have any undetected life threatening problems for 3 days. They will repeat the non-stress tests twice a week until I deliver the girls. Which we are hoping will be this week! Stay tuned to Facebook for any big developments!
Friday, September 11, 2009
35 weeks
What a crazy week this has been!
I started having contractions on Tuesday. Fairly mild but several of them. So we called the doctor to see what they wanted us to do. We were told to wait until I started having more consistent and painful contractions. They slowed down around 4pm then I only had one every now and then for the rest of the day and all of Wednesday. Yesterday I only had a few of them.
I had my last ultra sound on Wednesday. The technician called them a big tangle of baby. She actually had a difficult time matching limbs to the proper baby at first. After a little while she was able to match them up and get their measurements. They have plenty of fluid and are right on track and together weigh in at 11 pounds 1 once. That's a lot of baby for one body!
I had an appointment with my doctor on Thursday. He asked how the ultra sound went because the results weren't scanned in for him yet. So I told him what the tech had told me. I had my Strep B test and my first cervical check. Its a good thing I'm going to have a c-section. My cervix is pointing backwards! As far as he could tell, I'm not dilated much, if at all. My next appointment was set up for Monday. He decided that 4 days wasn't really would make much of a difference and had me cancel it, so my next appointment is on the 21st. He also had me make one for the 28th so that I will have one on every Monday up to the scheduled c-section. However, he did say that he didn't think I would make it that far. He is putting me full term as of today. If I feel too uncomfortable, sore, or think I need to be seen for anything, I'm to go to the hospital from here on out.
Needless to say we are getting very excited and anxious to meet our girls. Craig thinks they will be born today. I think they will wait until tomorrow because that is our anniversary. However since my contractions have pretty much stopped, I'm guessing it will be at least another week. I guess only time will tell!
I started having contractions on Tuesday. Fairly mild but several of them. So we called the doctor to see what they wanted us to do. We were told to wait until I started having more consistent and painful contractions. They slowed down around 4pm then I only had one every now and then for the rest of the day and all of Wednesday. Yesterday I only had a few of them.
I had my last ultra sound on Wednesday. The technician called them a big tangle of baby. She actually had a difficult time matching limbs to the proper baby at first. After a little while she was able to match them up and get their measurements. They have plenty of fluid and are right on track and together weigh in at 11 pounds 1 once. That's a lot of baby for one body!
I had an appointment with my doctor on Thursday. He asked how the ultra sound went because the results weren't scanned in for him yet. So I told him what the tech had told me. I had my Strep B test and my first cervical check. Its a good thing I'm going to have a c-section. My cervix is pointing backwards! As far as he could tell, I'm not dilated much, if at all. My next appointment was set up for Monday. He decided that 4 days wasn't really would make much of a difference and had me cancel it, so my next appointment is on the 21st. He also had me make one for the 28th so that I will have one on every Monday up to the scheduled c-section. However, he did say that he didn't think I would make it that far. He is putting me full term as of today. If I feel too uncomfortable, sore, or think I need to be seen for anything, I'm to go to the hospital from here on out.
Needless to say we are getting very excited and anxious to meet our girls. Craig thinks they will be born today. I think they will wait until tomorrow because that is our anniversary. However since my contractions have pretty much stopped, I'm guessing it will be at least another week. I guess only time will tell!
Friday, September 4, 2009
34 weeks
The count down is officially on. Some twin websites say that this is the week that most twins are considered full term. I still would like them to wait another two weeks, but they really could come at any time during the next four weeks. I can't wait to meet my sweet babies.
To be honest, I'm also happy that I'll be getting my body back. I'm ready to be able to breath and bend and lay on my back again. But being able to hold the girls in my arms will definitely be the highlight for me.
Craig asked me this week if I was worried about getting them mixed up. Honestly, I really haven't been. I've tried to plan a head a little for that. Once we are allowed to put our own clothes on them (which I think is within hours) I plan to put purple socks on one and pink on the other. I've packed several pair of both. He then asked how we would know which one we were putting which color on. I'm pretty sure the bands the nurses and doctors put on them as soon as they are born will let us know. I think this is a real concern for him. I think he might be worried that he won't be able to tell them apart as they grow. I have faith in him, and think he'll do great. I know we will find a way so he feels comfortable telling them apart.
I've been pretty lazy this week. My ankles, feet and hands have been swelling more, so I've been trying to keep my feet propped up. I've also been tired this week. I just can't sleep much because one side or the other is too sore for me to lay on it. I guess that means we really are coming near the end of my pregnancy.
Thursday night we had a quick trip to the hospital. I was having a harder time breathing and it made me light headed. Craig made me call the on call doctor. He said it might be nothing, but that we should go to the hospital to have my oxygen levels checked. He actually said we could wait a little bit and see if it got better, but Craig wanted to go right away. We were only there for an hour or so. They said I was just out of room for my lungs to properly expand and that is why I'm getting dizzy. She also said I need to get as much protein as possible to help with the swelling.
I have a doctor appointment next week on Thursday. I also have an ultra sound appointment on Wednesday. The OB appointment will be the first of my weekly appointments, which are a little more in depth than the other appointments.
I had my first major food craving this week, too. Well, it really wasn't a food. I really wanted a strawberry eegee. For those of you who don't live in Tucson, Eegee's is a fast food sub sandwich place here in town. They have this frozen fruit drink, kind of like an icee only thicker and made with real fruit. Anyhow I asked Craig to stop on his way home from work to get me one. At first he said no, but he quickly changed his mind. He said I've been good and hadn't sent him out for anything so far, so I deserved it.
Have a great Labor Day everyone!
To be honest, I'm also happy that I'll be getting my body back. I'm ready to be able to breath and bend and lay on my back again. But being able to hold the girls in my arms will definitely be the highlight for me.
Craig asked me this week if I was worried about getting them mixed up. Honestly, I really haven't been. I've tried to plan a head a little for that. Once we are allowed to put our own clothes on them (which I think is within hours) I plan to put purple socks on one and pink on the other. I've packed several pair of both. He then asked how we would know which one we were putting which color on. I'm pretty sure the bands the nurses and doctors put on them as soon as they are born will let us know. I think this is a real concern for him. I think he might be worried that he won't be able to tell them apart as they grow. I have faith in him, and think he'll do great. I know we will find a way so he feels comfortable telling them apart.
I've been pretty lazy this week. My ankles, feet and hands have been swelling more, so I've been trying to keep my feet propped up. I've also been tired this week. I just can't sleep much because one side or the other is too sore for me to lay on it. I guess that means we really are coming near the end of my pregnancy.
Thursday night we had a quick trip to the hospital. I was having a harder time breathing and it made me light headed. Craig made me call the on call doctor. He said it might be nothing, but that we should go to the hospital to have my oxygen levels checked. He actually said we could wait a little bit and see if it got better, but Craig wanted to go right away. We were only there for an hour or so. They said I was just out of room for my lungs to properly expand and that is why I'm getting dizzy. She also said I need to get as much protein as possible to help with the swelling.
I have a doctor appointment next week on Thursday. I also have an ultra sound appointment on Wednesday. The OB appointment will be the first of my weekly appointments, which are a little more in depth than the other appointments.
I had my first major food craving this week, too. Well, it really wasn't a food. I really wanted a strawberry eegee. For those of you who don't live in Tucson, Eegee's is a fast food sub sandwich place here in town. They have this frozen fruit drink, kind of like an icee only thicker and made with real fruit. Anyhow I asked Craig to stop on his way home from work to get me one. At first he said no, but he quickly changed his mind. He said I've been good and hadn't sent him out for anything so far, so I deserved it.
Have a great Labor Day everyone!
To my sweet baby girls.
Dear Allison and Emmily,
Four years and ten months ago Daddy and I started to work on our dreams of having a family. Never in a million years did we think it would be as much of a struggle as it was. There were times when we thought it just wasn't going to happen. But we never gave up. Now you are only a few weeks away from being born. We couldn't be happier. We loved you for such a long time and I can't wait to see your little faces and tell you just how much that is.
I've been very lucky to have a fairly uncomplicated pregnancy. I was on bed rest for the last three weeks of my first trimester, but that really is it. All the scary things I've read about being pregnant with twins, I've managed to avoid. You have both grown right on track with where the doctors think you should be. I'm already so proud of you both.
Allison, the doctors call you Baby A because you are going to be the oldest. For the longest time you were laying right around the middle to lower part of my belly. I felt your movements first and more often through out my pregnancy. During our ultrasounds you seem to want to be the star of the show. Your measurements are usually taken first. Once the technician moves on to your sister, you tend to try to get back on the screen. Either by kicking, punching or moving your head into the area. From the ultrasounds you have a cute little button nose and are slightly smaller than Emmily. I can't wait to see how your personality develops. Maybe you'll be our little movie star.
Emmily, the doctors refer to you as Baby B because you are higher up, which means you will be born second. You have spend the majority of my pregnancy in my ribs. You like to be stretched out as much as possible and as a result made my ribs spread out quite a bit. Because you were under my bones I didn't really feel your movements as much, but I did feel the side effects of them. My ribs got very sore. During our first big ultrasound you were laying on your belly. At the second one you looked like you were trying to wiggle your way up as high into my ribs as you can go. You are a little bigger than Allison, but you also have a cute little nose. I think you have your Daddy's cheeks. I can't wait to see if you are going to be our snuggle bug.
As of our last ultrasound you two have moved to more of a side by side position. You like to push your heads in opposite directions to my sides. While it is cute to see you both moving around at the same time, it also tends to make it hard for me to breath. Today I am 33 weeks 4 days pregnant with you two. I've read that twins are considered full term as early as 34 weeks, that's only 3 days away. I hope you keep growing and developing your lungs a little longer than that. My guess is that you will be here right around 36 weeks. My hope for your birth is that you are both completely healthy and able breath on your own. No matter what, Daddy and I will be there with you the entire time.
We love you more than you can ever know and we are so excited to finally meet you. We're not the only ones, either. Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Rachelle and Uncle Jason and your cousins Jordan, Skyler, Jadynn and Kenzee will be there to see you as soon as possible. Grandma might even be there when you are born. We have so many other family members and friends that are waiting to meet you, too.
So keep growing my sweet angels. Get as strong as you can over the next few weeks. Daddy and I will see you very soon.
Love always,
Mommy
Four years and ten months ago Daddy and I started to work on our dreams of having a family. Never in a million years did we think it would be as much of a struggle as it was. There were times when we thought it just wasn't going to happen. But we never gave up. Now you are only a few weeks away from being born. We couldn't be happier. We loved you for such a long time and I can't wait to see your little faces and tell you just how much that is.
I've been very lucky to have a fairly uncomplicated pregnancy. I was on bed rest for the last three weeks of my first trimester, but that really is it. All the scary things I've read about being pregnant with twins, I've managed to avoid. You have both grown right on track with where the doctors think you should be. I'm already so proud of you both.
Allison, the doctors call you Baby A because you are going to be the oldest. For the longest time you were laying right around the middle to lower part of my belly. I felt your movements first and more often through out my pregnancy. During our ultrasounds you seem to want to be the star of the show. Your measurements are usually taken first. Once the technician moves on to your sister, you tend to try to get back on the screen. Either by kicking, punching or moving your head into the area. From the ultrasounds you have a cute little button nose and are slightly smaller than Emmily. I can't wait to see how your personality develops. Maybe you'll be our little movie star.
Emmily, the doctors refer to you as Baby B because you are higher up, which means you will be born second. You have spend the majority of my pregnancy in my ribs. You like to be stretched out as much as possible and as a result made my ribs spread out quite a bit. Because you were under my bones I didn't really feel your movements as much, but I did feel the side effects of them. My ribs got very sore. During our first big ultrasound you were laying on your belly. At the second one you looked like you were trying to wiggle your way up as high into my ribs as you can go. You are a little bigger than Allison, but you also have a cute little nose. I think you have your Daddy's cheeks. I can't wait to see if you are going to be our snuggle bug.
As of our last ultrasound you two have moved to more of a side by side position. You like to push your heads in opposite directions to my sides. While it is cute to see you both moving around at the same time, it also tends to make it hard for me to breath. Today I am 33 weeks 4 days pregnant with you two. I've read that twins are considered full term as early as 34 weeks, that's only 3 days away. I hope you keep growing and developing your lungs a little longer than that. My guess is that you will be here right around 36 weeks. My hope for your birth is that you are both completely healthy and able breath on your own. No matter what, Daddy and I will be there with you the entire time.
We love you more than you can ever know and we are so excited to finally meet you. We're not the only ones, either. Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Rachelle and Uncle Jason and your cousins Jordan, Skyler, Jadynn and Kenzee will be there to see you as soon as possible. Grandma might even be there when you are born. We have so many other family members and friends that are waiting to meet you, too.
So keep growing my sweet angels. Get as strong as you can over the next few weeks. Daddy and I will see you very soon.
Love always,
Mommy
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Pregnancy Memories
It's September! Since this is officially the last month that I will be pregnant, I thought I would do a post about some of the comments I've experienced while being pregnant.
Since I was about 16 weeks, Craig has constantly said how large he things I am. He seems to only be shocked more and more every couple of weeks. Somehow I think that this is one thing I'm not going to miss once the girls are born. Constantly being reminded that you are as large as a house is not fun. However, I'm sure his amazement will turn to how much the girls change grow and learn, which will be fun.
Anytime I'm checking out at a store with anything pink, purple or slightly girlie, the clerk usually says, "oh, are you having a girl?" Ummm.... no... I just like buying baby things for girls, I'm having a boy. So far I've been nice enough to keep that comment to myself, but it crosses my mind every time. At first I would say, "yep, two of them." That pretty much always turned into a conversation about twins with one or all of the twin questions I will mention below. Usually after being on my feet shopping I'm ready to get to the car so I can sit down and relax. So, I learned to just smile and say yes. It's really a big time saver.
I have been asked a million questions about having twins, here are a few of the most common ones:
"What's it like being pregnant with two babies?" Well, I guess its probably not much different than being pregnant with one. But I've never been pregnant with one, so I really can't completely answer that.
"Do you know if they are identical?" I actually think this is a pretty smart question. I always say that they aren't and that yes, they can tell that on an ultra sound. However, I've read on twin websites that this becomes the most dreaded of questions after twins are born. Even mothers of boy/girl twins still get this question.
"Were you surprised that they are twins?" I suppose most people would say yes to that question. But I told my parents when I was about 11 that I was going to have twin girls when I grew up. Also, since we did IVF and transferred two embryos, we knew it was a possibility.
All in all, I've enjoyed my pregnancy. I think I've been pretty fortunate in avoiding several of the higher risks that come with being pregnant with multiples. Really the only thing that's been different for me is that the normal things that happen with pregnancy happen a little earlier. Now that I'm at the end I get more and more anxious every day to meet our sweet little girls.
Since I was about 16 weeks, Craig has constantly said how large he things I am. He seems to only be shocked more and more every couple of weeks. Somehow I think that this is one thing I'm not going to miss once the girls are born. Constantly being reminded that you are as large as a house is not fun. However, I'm sure his amazement will turn to how much the girls change grow and learn, which will be fun.
Anytime I'm checking out at a store with anything pink, purple or slightly girlie, the clerk usually says, "oh, are you having a girl?" Ummm.... no... I just like buying baby things for girls, I'm having a boy. So far I've been nice enough to keep that comment to myself, but it crosses my mind every time. At first I would say, "yep, two of them." That pretty much always turned into a conversation about twins with one or all of the twin questions I will mention below. Usually after being on my feet shopping I'm ready to get to the car so I can sit down and relax. So, I learned to just smile and say yes. It's really a big time saver.
I have been asked a million questions about having twins, here are a few of the most common ones:
"What's it like being pregnant with two babies?" Well, I guess its probably not much different than being pregnant with one. But I've never been pregnant with one, so I really can't completely answer that.
"Do you know if they are identical?" I actually think this is a pretty smart question. I always say that they aren't and that yes, they can tell that on an ultra sound. However, I've read on twin websites that this becomes the most dreaded of questions after twins are born. Even mothers of boy/girl twins still get this question.
"Were you surprised that they are twins?" I suppose most people would say yes to that question. But I told my parents when I was about 11 that I was going to have twin girls when I grew up. Also, since we did IVF and transferred two embryos, we knew it was a possibility.
All in all, I've enjoyed my pregnancy. I think I've been pretty fortunate in avoiding several of the higher risks that come with being pregnant with multiples. Really the only thing that's been different for me is that the normal things that happen with pregnancy happen a little earlier. Now that I'm at the end I get more and more anxious every day to meet our sweet little girls.
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