29 Week Update

Had yet another dr’s appointment today, but no sonogram this time. From here on out, I go every week for a non-stress test (where they monitor the babies’ heartbeats/movement and see if I’m having contractions over 30 mins), and then a sonogram every other week to check that the babies are growing at roughly the same rate.

The midwife could tell that Baby A is still head down but Baby B has scooted so he is side-to-side. I have no idea how there is room for that! Not a big deal — as long as A is still head down, I may be able to avoid a C-section. Both heartbeats were good, and I’m measuring about 34-35 weeks (full term is 40 weeks) and feeling pretty huge.

We’ve made a lot of progress on getting the house ready — the nursery is painted, the new carpet is installed, we bought a dresser for baby clothes and assembled it, and Jim got a new TV for upstairs. Not sure how he convinced me that was necessary, but there you go. Next step is assembling cribs etc. and organizing the room! I’m done with work as of Dec. 16th and still feeling pretty good although a little more uncomfortable at times. Some days are better than others, and I’m just taking it one day at a time.

26 Weeks

Oops, I missed an update in there.

Let’s see, I had an appointment at 24 weeks, including another ultrasound. The sonographer was still kind of grouchy; he printed out pictures for me but they were totally blurry and didn’t even look like anything to an experienced sonogram reader like myself. But Baby A was in the 50th percentile for size and Baby B was in the 41st. That disparity is normal, and it’s a good sign that both babies are about average in terms of size. If they were bigger than average, I might have a problem carrying to term! I think the dr just wants to make sure they keep growing at an average rate.

The good news at that appointment was that Baby A has flipped and is now head down! As long as Baby A is head down (vertex), then I can attempt a vaginal delivery (unless there are other complications).

Since then, Jim and I attended our childbirth education class. Instead of doing the one through the hospital (which lasts 5 weeks! Do I get college credit for that?), we decided to do one that my dr recommends that only lasts two weeks. And then on the first night, the instructor offered to do it all in one night, which I was all for. I’m a reader, and a planner, so I had already read a lot about childbirth and labor, and just wanted a reality check from someone who has been there. Also, she gave us a lot of ideas about how the husband can be helpful during labor, which I appreciated. I want Jim to feel like he’s a part of things and not just a bystander. And who knows? I might still end up having a C-section, but at least I feel more prepared for whatever outcome now. The one thing she didn’t go over was really specific techniques to deal with contractions, but I think that’s probably really individual. She mentioned changing positions, deep breathing, going to the bathroom a lot, eating and drinking during labor, etc. We also talked about various pain relief, including epidurals. Anyway, at my next dr’s appointment, I’m supposed to talk to my dr. about birthing options, so we’ll see what he says specifically about my situation.

And then yesterday, I had to do my three-hour glucose tolerance test. It was a comedy of errors where first I couldn’t find the lab, and then I found it (30 minutes late) but they don’t take my insurance, so they sent me to a different lab. So by the time I got started, I’d been fasting for 12 hours. I’ve done this test before, so I was prepared for the part where you feel crappy by the end, but this time I didn’t feel AS crappy as I did last time. I’m hoping that means I passed! I don’t really want to have to test my blood sugars all the time, but I’ll do it if that’s what it takes. I suppose I’ll find out the results at my appointment Monday.

I’ve been calling just about every day to see if my dr’s office has the H1N1 vaccine, and they didn’t. Until today. I asked if I should come in today or wait until my appointment on Monday. They said to wait; if I get there Monday and they are out, I am going to be PISSED!!!!!

20 Weeks

We had our big ultrasound yesterday and found out that we’re going to have two boys! I was secretly hoping for one of each, just because I’m pretty sure my shop is closed after this, and I’d love to have the experience of raising one of each. Plus I come from a family with one boy and one girl, so it’s the norm for me. But all of my friends have had two children of the same sex, including my nephews, and I can definitely see the advantages. The only problem is that we’ve had trouble coming up with boy names. We’ve got one we like, but can’t seem to agree on a second. Well, we’ve got a few months to work it out.
So going back to the start, we had our appointment yesterday. The sonogram was first, which was good because you’re supposed to have a full bladder and boy, was it. I had a different sonographer this time; he’s the head guy and when I was doing fertility treatments there, I used to have him all the time, but I haven’t seen him since I’ve been pregnant. He was kind of grouchy, to tell you the truth. I don’t know if he’s just more friendly in the mornings or what. Anyway, he was all business because the purpose of this sonogram is to measure various parts of the anatomy to ensure that everything has formed properly.

So he started by verifying the babies’ positions, and it turns out they have moved and are now both in full breech position, meaning their heads are pointing up towards my head and their legs are down, and they’re sitting side by side.

Then he moved on to Baby A, which is the one on my right side. Normally, they designate Baby A as the one closest to the exit, but since they’re pretty equal, he decided to call the right one Baby A. He measured the skull circumference, then looked at a cross section of the torso. Then he found the heart, counted the chambers, and took a heart rate (which was 140). He somehow estimated the weight as 11 oz. and measured the femur length. He found the stomach and bladder and made sure both had contents. That means that the baby can swallow and his kidneys are working. Finally, he got to the money shot and I could tell it was a boy before he even said it. It was pretty obvious!

After that, he took some profile pictures of each baby for us (which are at the top of this entry) and then did all the same measurements on Baby B. I really thought Baby B was a girl given my untrained sonogram-reading eye, but nope! The sonographer pointed out the penis and everything, so it’s definitely a boy. Baby B weighed 10 oz. and his heart rate was 153.

Video of the ultrasound

After he released us, we had to go back to the lobby and wait for the second part of our appointment, so I texted my friends. I was really mean about it and texted, “The dr is 95% sure that it’s a…” and then stopped. I immediately got like 10 texts back saying, “A what?” and “You suck!” and “Come on!” So then I sent a second text that said, “Baby A is a boy and Baby B is…”

Unfortunately, then we got called in for the second half of our appointment. I really didn’t mean to make people wait for the last part! They took my blood pressure and weighed me. I’ve gained 10 lbs since I started going there, and about 12 lbs overall. They don’t seem too worried, so I’m not going to worry either. I got a flu shot, and we got to listen to both babies’ heartbeats. Jim had never been there for that part of an appointment, so that was his first time. It’s really cool.

The midwife talked to me about the fact that they are breech. She said they have about another four weeks to flip over so at least one of them is head down for me to avoid a C-section. I would love to have a vaginal delivery since again, this is probably my only chance to experience that, but I also recognize that the babies will do what they’ll do and I don’t have a ton of control over it. Doing some searching online revealed that some babies have flipped later than that, but I’m sure it depends on the size of the mother’s torso, the size of the babies, etc. I have pretty big babies — they’ve been measuring right on or ahead of their gestational age all along — and I’m pretty short-waisted, so I’m sure that contributes.

Outside of appointment news, we ordered the replacement windows for the upstairs, so that’s in progress. I can’t believe it’s only a month to my shower! I’ve got to get cracking on painting too. And cleaning! I can’t leave it too long or I’ll be too non-ambulatory to do anything.

I still feel really good. Sometimes if I overdo it physically, like walk too much, I notice my stomach muscles get sore, but my back and hips are holding out so far. And I’m pretty sure I look pregnant now and not just fat!

Next appointment is in 4 weeks, and I get another sonogram. After that, I have my gestational diabetes test, which I am kind of dreading, and then I have to start going to the dr. every week. I’ll try to update again in two weeks, maybe with some nursery pictures. That will give me motivation to get to work, hopefully.

18 Weeks

Okay, it’s really 18 weeks, 5 days but who’s counting? I didn’t have a dr’s appointment this week so I forgot to do an update!

I went to a mothers of twins sale last week. It would have been a great deal if I were a member of the group (it’s in Rochester, so I didn’t join), because members got to shop early. As it was, by the time I got in, most of the good gear was gone. There were tons of clothes but since I don’t know boy/girl/both yet, clothes are tough to buy. I ended up getting a travel swing, a book, and some onesies.

Speaking of buying things, I’ve slowly been gearing up. In addition to the stroller mentioned previously, and the travel swing, I got our diaper bag and some clothes. And some clothes for me! For most of the big stuff, I’m waiting until after my shower to see what I get and what I still need.

I stripped all the wallpaper in the nursery and now Jim has to put in replacement windows with his brother before I paint. And then new carpet, and then start moving stuff in! I hope to have that all done by the end of October, when my shower is, so we can put all the shower loot in there.

Physically, I feel really good. My appetite isn’t as huge as I expected, but it’s way better than it was in the first trimester. Now that the weather has cooled off a bit, I’m much more interested in cooking and eating.

I’ve even started feeling movement! I feel a lot more from Baby B but I think that’s because it is in a less padded part of my belly. Poor Baby A is stuck down at the bottom, where all the flab is. I mostly feel them moving around at night, when I’m sitting here watching television, or in bed.

Only a little over a week until we hopefully find out the sexes of the babies! I’m excited but I’m also really excited to just get another peek at them and make sure everything is okay. Between the minimal movement and the lack of ultrasounds lately, I do get nervous, but I just have to trust that everything is going fine.

I’m exclusively in maternity clothes now. I can’t imagine wearing non-maternity pants. I can still wear some shirts if they are stretchy or were a little big in the first place. I think I’ve gained about 12 lbs so far, so I have another 13 to gain in the next ten weeks. I don’t think it will be a problem!

Next update will be after the next ultrasound!

16 Weeks

Had a doctor’s appointment today. It was pretty routine, although I didn’t know I would be getting a sonogram! The tech was kind of like, “Yeah, I’m not sure why you’re getting one either,” but I’m not complaining. I’m sure it was to check growth, and the good news is that both babies are measuring right on target (actually a few days ahead) and their heartrates and other measurements are all good. My next sonogram is 9/28 and hopefully we will be able to find out the sexes then!

I’ve been feeling pretty good for the last two weeks. I get headaches once in a while, more when it’s hot and/or humid, but not every day. I’ve had some soreness in my lower back, and over the weekend I had some stabbing type pains in my stomach, but the midwife today said that’s all normal and just a part of my body readjusting to this heavy load I’ll soon be carrying.

Now that I’m back from a week at the lake, I need to get cracking on the renovations so the nursery will be ready. It was kind of bittersweet thinking that it was probably the last time I’ll be staying at the cottage without two kids! Next year, I’ll have infants and probably won’t be able to stay as long, but I’m not going to put the cart in front of the horse. I’m anxious about all the stories I’ve been hearing of people with twins delivering early and I just want to have everything done so I can relax and concentrate on work and growing these babies! I can’t believe this pregnancy is nearly halfway over, so I’m just going to try to enjoy it, since this is highly likely to be the only pregnancy I’ll have (and I’m fine with that).

14 Weeks

Well, I guess I’m officially in the second trimester now! There are like three different ways to measure when the second trimester begins, but whatever way you measure it, I’m here.

I’ve been really anxious about registering for my shower because I always have this fear when making major purchases that I will get the wrong thing or spend too much money or have buyer’s remorse. I’ve gotten better about it over the years, though. So I took my sister-in-law and my best friend to the store with me to help me register, which was a great idea. They pointed out a ton of things that I might need, as well as stuff they said they got and never used. Or thought they needed, but didn’t use with their second kids. I feel like my registry is way too long, but anything that doesn’t get purchased, we can get a discount on it afterward, so I just threw it all on there. It was kind of exciting! But also exhausting. I’m glad the bulk of it is done and now I can just tinker with it online.

I also recently joined the Syracuse Moms of Multiples group. They have an e-mail list where you can ask questions and get advice, and they have monthly meetings and various outings and playgroups for once the babies are born. They also have a semi-annual sale where members get advance notice and you can buy gently used items from other multiple moms (and eventually sell your stuff there too). And finally, they match you up with an experienced mom of multiples to be your “Big Sister” until your babies are six months old. So my Big Sister e-mailed me and we are going to get together for lunch on Friday. I have heard great things about how much support this group will give when you have the babies and in the first few months, and since we don’t have a lot of family locally, I’m really grateful for that and hope to return the favor someday when my kids are older!

So those are the most recent developments. It’s been super hot here lately and while I want to get started on redecorating the nursery while I’m on break, it’s not going to happen today because it’s just too hot out. But I think I’ll have time to get it done later this week, or at least get the wallpaper stripped off. Then we need replacement windows, and to clean out all the junk that we’ve been stowing up there, and then new carpet and paint before we move in all the furniture! It’s quite a job, and I’d like to get it done while I’m still feeling good and not uncomfortable, since I know that’s coming down the pike shortly.

13 Weeks 2 Days

When discussing the myriad testing you can have done while the babies are in utero to check for genetic or chromosomal abnormalities, we decided to go with the least invasive, and then if there seemed to be a problem, discuss what to do from there. The least invasive is also the least accurate, of course. So for us, that meant something called the NT (nuchal translucency) scan. Since I’m AMA (Advanced Maternal Age i.e. over 35), my risk for complications like Down’s Syndrome is higher, and we decided that if one or both of the babies are affected, that’s something we’d like to know pre-birth so that we can prepare if possible. But we don’t necessarily want to know so badly that we’ll put the pregnancy at risk via more invasive options like CVS or amniocentesis.

So that said, I had some blood taken on Tuesday. My dr’s office explained that the bloodwork is not as accurate with twins, because they’re testing for a certain level of two particular hormones in the blood. The way it works with twins is that they take the total number found, and divide by two. Well, if one twin has a too high amount and the other has a too low amount, they will cancel each other out and appear normal. Thus, less accurate.

The other part of the test is an ultrasound where they measure a bunch of things, most notably the fluid at the back of the neck. If it’s too thick (at our gestational age, that would mean over 3 mm), that can indicate a problem.

My dr’s ultrasound guy was out last week, so we had to go to the hospital for the scan. This is the same hospital where I will deliver, so it was a good test run for us. And of course, we missed the exit and got lost. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen when it counts!

We parked and headed into the hospital, where I checked in and did the paperwork and was then told I had to go to a different building across the street. So I did, and checked in, and didn’t have to wait too long before we were called back by the tech. Now that I’m having the Doppler ultrasounds (like you always see on TV where they squirt the gel on your belly), I have to remember to have a full bladder when I go in, and boy did I. So I got settled, and the tech did her thing. She first had to navigate my innards and sort of map everything out and measure and she did it SO FAST. She was flying through it. I commented that she must have done this a few times and she chuckled. At first she wasn’t sure if we could even do the testing, because it has to be done before the babies are 13 weeks 6 days, and apparently mine were measuring a little ahead at 13 weeks 5 days. But after she checked, she said it would be fine; they weren’t too big.

Then she spent quite a bit of time looking at each baby, waiting for them to get in the proper position for the measurements she needed. She got a great shot of Baby B — little did we know she should have taken the measurement then! Baby A was (as usual) very cooperative, lying on its back and she got the measurement quite easily. It was 1.6, which is a great sign. Baby A was also kicking its legs around. This was the first time Jim got to see the babies now that they are actually moving around, which was great. She checked the heartbeat and everything looked good.

Baby B was not cooperating. At first, it was lying on its side, facing away from us, and would not move. The tech kept shaking my belly, but no dice. Also, Baby B is kind of positioned behind my belly button so that made the scan more difficult to get as well. Finally after about 10 minutes, she told me to go empty my bladder and we’d try again. I got back and after a lot more shaking and trying, she finally got the measurement she needed. She mentioned that she could tell visually that there wasn’t a problem and everything looked fine, but Baby B wouldn’t stay in position long enough to get the measurement. She finally did, and it was 2.0. I think that might even be a little higher than the real measurement as the baby’s head was kind of flexed, which makes the back of the neck thicker. Regardless, those are great results. My dr’s office said they would call once the bloodwork results come back if there was any cause for concern, but like I said, the bloodwork is not as accurate so I’m just happy the scan turned out well.