An Imminent Finale

We had two appointments today.

First we went to the O.B.. I found free street parking, score because I had no cash on me. I got to walk a block outside, which was really nice, Los Angeles has had gorgeous weather the last two weeks.

Blood pressure and weight gain were all great, and I'm measuring 42 weeks, so a bit on the small side for twins. I'll take it.

My doctor walks in and says "you are 37 weeks on Thursday! Let's schedule to get the babies out that day!" Me "NO!!"

I went into full panic mode and was practically pleading for that not to happen. The doctor repeated several times that if I had even a single complaint of discomfort, he would deliver the babies, that the babies would be fine with likely no NICU time at this point. I kept responding with "let's wait till next week."  He finally conceded that he absolutely cannot schedule an elective c-section without patient consent, and since I was clearly NOT consenting, there would be no elective Thursday c-section. He did threaten to call my specialist to see if the specialist would agree that the babies should be delivered soon. I didn't get a call back from the O.B. so I guess no news is good news. My next appointment is Monday, January 6th.

I then went over to the hospital for our twice weekly Non Stress Test - both the babies passed the test faster than they ever have, with the usually quiet and uncooperative baby A passing within 10 minutes, and B passing soon after.  I didn't pass as well and had a few very mild contractions while being monitored - I am blaming this 100% on the stressful appointment with my O.B. I felt fine about an hour later when I was home and relaxing. Next Non Stress Test is Thursday, January 2nd.

To recap: our obstetrician is ready to deliver these babies.  The babies are fine and happy as clams where they are. I need to mentally prepare myself for something to happen soon. Time to finish packing the hospital bag, ya think? ;)

Happy 36 Weeks, Pebbles and BamBam!!

So happy to report that yesterday was NOT babies' first Christmas! Instead, the kids are snug inside their warm and cozy cocoon. So this week, according to various sites, the babies are the size of a head of romaine lettuce???

I guess I will go along with it, I like a good Cesar Salad! 

Not much going on here - the babies are just growing now, though a lot more slowly than a single baby would be. They are each adding about a quarter of a pound a week, and may have hit the 5 lbs mark since their last measurement. (Lord knows I am feeding them plenty!!)

This week is yet another where Baby Center compares the single baby to the twins:

Thank goodness they labeled "skin"!!

Cozy!!!!

Yeah, that looks and feels about right!

We have another non stress test and biophysical today, and will continue to have these twice a week, then an appointment with the OB on Monday.  The scary thing about the non stress tests is if you fail, you immediately get admitted!! I had no idea that was the case until the nurse told me at this past appointment. So, not quite sure what to do and whether to bring my bag with me to these? I'm sure whatever I need, James can get for me, as the hospital is only 7 minutes from home. (Or 15 minutes if there is a long line at the McDonald's drive through...I am not making this up.) Anyhow, I am not worried, these amazing kids (who are not related to me, apparently) have passed each test with flying colors. 

We will keep everyone updated - if you do want to be on a text message or call list for labor updates, email me your contact information! Thanks!! 

Its a Merry Christmas After All!

Yesterday was Christmas, and also "hump day/bump day" so this is coming a bit late. We had a wonderful Christmas - Becky and Tom came over and we made a delicious dinner, watched movies, sang Christmas karaoke, opened gifts, and ate way more than we should have. It was great. (though I was missing the wine, white wine and Christmas are so perfect together!!)

Anyhow, the bump, as you will see, has taken on new dimensions. It is no longer just out, but its now starting to point down, like its collapsing under its own weight. Each step is pretty brutal, like my legs are made of cement - its like the opposite of feeling light on your feet. And I can maybe do one task, like wash one counter or one dish, before my back is in pain. So, we plan accordingly!

36 weeks

As I've said to some friends: if it wasn't for the holidays and the horrible curse it is to have a birthday during the holidays, I'd be doing jumping jacks and whatever else could get labor rolling along!! Instead, I am on self imposed bed rest the rest of the month. By the way, this is totally self imposed, my Dr. says the babies would be totally great and [perfectly healthy if born any time now, and he's waiting for the call.

Thankfully I have a wonderful husband who brings me ice water, and puts my feet up, and cleans the place for guests on Christmas, and encourages long baths with netflix :) xoxoxox Thanks James!!!

Pre-Christmas Appointments

We had two appointments today - one with the OB and the other with the hospital for a non-stress test. Both went great!

The OB checked and there is no change from last week at all as far as pre-delivery signs. No effacement, and only one cm dilated, which is normal. This is great news because it means that the minor contractions I've been having have no effect at all on going in to labor.

The non-stress test went even better - this was the best the babies had done so far and we were done in a half hour! Their heart beats were both super loud, they stayed on the monitor, and they were both nice and active. This is great because the OB said one little thing wrong on this test and he would admit me to deliver!

So it looks like we are safe to leap frog over the Christmas holiday. Not that I am unpacking any hospital bags - we're looking at maybe 17 days maximum left on this journey, but according to everyone, likely less.

35 week bump picture

A little late this week, but wanted to wait till I was dressed up to meet James at his office for a little baby party! Nothing new to report - my face is still swollen, as are my feet, ankles, legs...you name it. Babies are having an absolute party in there now, moving a ton! Also - I am still measuring 40 weeks. My belly button is no longer an innie, but not really an outtie either. More just...flat. NO STRETCH MARKS! THANKS MOM!!!!!

35 weeks!

35 week update, happy in utero day babies!

Pebbles and Bam Bam (aka the nuggets) are 35 weeks today. According to the interwebs, babies are each the size of a honeydew melon.  Though, we now know that these little guys are going to track small the rest of this pregnancy, so the inaccurate fruit and vegetable comparisons will become even more inaccurate. OR just picture the smallest honeydew melons you've seen? Or just wait a few weeks and see our babies for yourself, its THAT SOON. :|

Hardy har,,,look where he's holding them...

The babies are done. They have everything they need - lungs, eyesight, full body functions, dreams, and hopefully faces, fingers and toes. They are as long as they will likely get. The next 2 - 3 weeks that I can keep them in is all just about getting them fatter. Babies born a little later than 35 weeks tend to do better at feeding and growing outside the womb, so while they would likely survive with no problem if born today, they could need some NICU time to learn to eat and grow. 

Upcoming stuff: NST today, then OB appt on Monday. We have been released from the Perinatologist since these little guys are such awesome and amazing, freaking rock star champions (whose kids are these!?!?!?!). 

I have the following message for Pebbles and Bam Bam: 

Dear babies: Today is December 19th. A perfectly respectable non Christmassy type birthday. Feel free to come out today. If you so choose to stay in today, you better believe that mommy and daddy expect you to stay in until at least December 30.  Don't get any ideas that a birthday that looks like Dec. 2_, 2013, is acceptable. Nope, its not. This is for your own good, you guys. If you guys decide to come in the next 11 days, please note that this was your choice, and not ours. You may blame each other, but not mom and dad. Mom is doing everything she can to lay still and rest so you don't come early, and Dad even did dishes last night, along with a ton of other miserable chores, after a long day of work! I know its nice and cozy in there, so please, feel free to continue to enjoy. 

Video

Just added this video to the post below, but in case you missed it:

Bump day, growth scan and appointment.

Today is bump day but it is also the first day I don't have to leave the house, so I am not changing out of my PJs and will not be taking a photo of my bump until Friday. Friday, I am meeting James at work for a little baby shower so I will get dressed up for that, and take a bump picture then :)

Instead, here are some pictures of my toenails - I thought it would be fun to do mystery babies toes just in case we go to the hospital in the next few weeks - so they are various shades of pink and blue :)

Swollen Feet, 35 weeks

Growth Scan:

We went to the growth scan yesterday morning and are happy to report that the babies are doing fantastic! Baby A was moving around a ton, which shows that there is still a nice amount of room and fluid for movement, which is good news. A measured at 4 lbs and 10 ounces.

B was moving a little less, but still showed nice fluid levels and a strong separation membrane between the two babies. B measured at 4 lbs 9 ounces! They are so similar again, and nice and big for twins at this stage.

Our MFM specialist, Dr. Incirpi, is very pleased with everything he sees, and thinks that if the babies were to come in three weeks or so, we would be looking at babies in the 5 1/2 pound range, which is apparently a nice size for full term twins.

We learned that at this stage, a single baby grows about a 1/2 pound a week, where our twins are slowing in growth to just a 1/4 pound a week, due to lack of room in the womb.

Here is the video from the growth scan, it is straight from the actual ultrasound machine, so no one is talking over it, but you do get to hear some heart beats!

OB Appointment:

After some various tests, there are no signs of imminent labor going on. My blood pressure is just great, my weight is "ok" (jumped quite a few pounds now that swelling has kicked in) and everything is good. My OB still thinks we will deliver at 36 weeks (next week, yikes!) but, he finally explained that that is not based on any signs I am showing, and is based solely on the average twin delivery of 36 weeks. He then explained that I've been progressing really well and he hopes that we can keep the babies in as long as possible, and his dream would be 38 weeks.

Non-Stress Tests:

I had another one of these on Monday, and all is well. As you can tell, I am asking all medical personnel to provide me with educated guesses as to when these babies are coming. The poor nurse administering the test was not spared: she said everything looks great, and there is lots of fluid, so she thinks for sure January 2014. Then asked me why I wouldn't want the 2013 tax break (ha ha - a tax break is not worth a lifetime of Christmas birthdays!!).

Here are some pictures of me relaxing at the non-stress test. Beware, no make up.

Relaxing with creepy baby photos behind me.

All strapped up! Baby B is the blue band and Baby A is the pink band...is this a sign!?

Next non stress test is tomorrow, Thursday, which is also the 35 week mark. Crazy!

Tired and Cranky

As of yesterday, and according to charts, the babies each weigh 5 lbs. We will be able to confirm that tomorrow at our growth scan. They feel like 5 lbs, let me tell you, I just emptied the dishwasher and thought my back was going to break in half.

I totally cursed myself last night and told Becky how lucky I've been to not have to sleep in a seated position. Well...guess who was woken up almost puking bile*?? THIS GIRL!!! I took my prescription Pepcid and some Tums and propped myself up on the couch with a "snoogle" folded in half and surrounded by a pillow fort, and slept there for two hours before climbing back into bed. It was not a great night. Between that and the tremendous hip pain (way worse than when I ran the L.A. Marathon!!) and bathroom breaks, there was no real sleep to be had.

*I apologize, that is disgusting to share. But it happened, so there it is. Also, to be fair, I have spared the blog from much worse.

Snoogle, and proper use of snoogle which has never worked for me since my hands fall asleep.
And, frankly, this would be fantastic if I didn't have to get up so many times in the night. 

I know when the babies come it will be hard to sleep, I know this. But there is a difference between your body revolting against you in every way causing the quality of sleep to be so poor versus being woken up (often) from good sleep. I am so overtired now I am like a 3 year old who needs a nap, and will cry at the dumbest things.

Every day I tell myself "three more weeks" - 21 days - we can do this. I know that means nothing when its the same number every day, but eventually that will start to countdown! And 21 days seems totally manageable. Sort of. Ask me again if I have a few more nights like last night.

Non-Stress Test - PASS!

We went for our first non-stress test today. Pebbles and Bam-Bam passed with flying colors. The idea here is that the nurse wants each baby to move twice within a period of time where each movement causes a bit of a rise in the heart rate. The nurse gave me some cold orange juice and clearly the babies loved that, because they went nuts, moved around like crazy, and we were done the test in record time.

They also checked fluids and the membrane separating them, all of that was good too. And we managed to get through another ultrasound without finding out the genders.

For anyone trying to predict genders: both babies' heart rates were perfectly within normal range, but one was in the 120s and one was in the 150s.  I'm not sure what that tells anyone, but thought I would provide the information.

Going back on Monday for another non-stress test, and twice a week until they get here.

Friday the 13th!!

It is my last day of work in the office.  I will be wrapping some things up from home next week, but in a much more relaxed fashion, i.e. pajamas will be involved.

James is on his way home. There he is at 10:35 this morning PT

Getting dressed today, I had to change my clothes because a large portion of my maternity outfits don't fit anymore. The belly is just too big. Getting ready was exhausting, and that is when I knew today was a good last day for work.

I was having a lot of mixed emotions about leaving work, but I have to remind myself that 1- I was told I would need to leave at 32 weeks, so I beat that by two full weeks; 2 - Many other twin moms end up on bed rest and that thankfully never happened (some much earlier than 32 weeks!); and 3 - we are just a few weeks away from having these babies. Realistically, we will likely have these babies in the next 20 or so days. Many women take time off before their babies arrive. I will not feel guilty!

My yogurt this morning expires on January 5th. Seeing dates like that, on my yogurt, is such a reality check. I think I ebb and flow between complete denial and pragmatism. The yogurt is a reminder that I need to make a list of phone numbers for Becky and James to call when everything happens, and a list of things I need if we end up rushing to the hospital and I can't finish packing my bag.  I need to decide if the names I have picked are cruel and unusual punishment.  I am trying to decide if I feel fear or excitement, but I don't think those are the right words for the emotions. I do know that when these little guys/girls get here, though, that I will just want to stare at them forever.

In Utero Milestone - 34 weeks!

Mom is super busy wrapping up work so we (the Nuggets) are going to update the blog today.

We turned 34 weeks today!! This is a huge celebration because it means that if mom were to go into labor, we could be born! We would have a survival rate of 98.9% and would not have any long term effects of our premature birth, though could need a few days in the NICU. Our lungs are pretty well developed, even aunt Becky saw us breathing on the ultrasound the other day :)

That is us this week - though somehow there are two of us in there.

Other cool stuff about us: we are losing all of that weird baby hair, so when we are born, we will look like human babies. We are also dreaming: we are experiencing REM sleep! Its so cool. We like to dream about floating around in darkness and muffled voices.

We weigh 4.73 lbs each and are 17 inches long. We are each about the size of a butternut squash or a cantaloupe.

These kids look thrilled to be modeling some melons.

We've been partying it up at night, especially in the early mornings, at 4 and 5 a.m. That is our favorite time to bounce around and stretch. We really hate when its quiet.  We are just like mom and love to misbehave, so of course we are both still breech (head up). 

Tomorrow is a big day - we are going to be tested to see if we are under any stress (ha ha no way, its like Margaritaville in here! We love it!!) It is also mom's last day at work, and dad is coming home from Madrid. So much fun stuff!! 

Its BUMP DAY!!!! 34 weeks (WTH!)

Sorry this is so late today. Work is kicking my ass - I am so so busy and stressed out wrapping things up to take leave, I might as well just stay!! In fact, I may have to work from home the first few days of my leave to finish wrapping things up. 

Without further ado:

From the front!

34 weeks tomorrow - holy heck

Some bare belly action for posterity - not sure why this picture is a warm glow...

How I feel about the bare belly

Thanks mom, for the amazing genetics that have allowed me
to grow this big without stretch marks of any kind. 

Full frontal belly - and proof of sort of innie belly button!

Clothed side shot

I had a Dr.'s appointment yesterday with my obstetrician and everything looks great. The babies had their arms and legs intertwined, which I did not know was possible since they are in separate sacs! Very cute though! Their heart beats were very loud and strong, so different from when we first heard them and they were so quiet and super fast. 

I am still measuring 40 weeks, which is fine by me. I am having some Braxton Hicks but he said that is very normal, just some tightening of the belly with no pain every few hours...mostly when I am stressed at work or over do it with walking or cleaning around the house. Ice water and relaxing helps. 

The doctor does not think the babies will be here before Friday, which is good since James is in Madrid this week for work. My sister Becky, who was at the appointment, seemed extremely relieved by that news. Doctor is still thinking 36 weeks (Christmas) though with any luck, it will be at the end of 36 weeks and we can get into January....I have never wanted to skip Christmas so bad in my life - I just want January 1 to get here!!!! (CAVEAT: First and foremost, I want healthy babies. Second, I want to avoid Christmas babies.) 

Walking and sleeping are super painful - and the babies' movement is also very uncomfortable and feels sharp. Like I am being clawed at from the inside. I am getting some bloating on and off if I don't drink enough water.  Getting ready for work is exhausting beyond explanation, so I am glad this Friday is my last day. This may be the most complaint filled post I have done to date! Sorry! 

Fun with Count Down Timers

Wishful thinking, this goes to January 9th...

We'll see!

(posted here mostly for my convenience/sanity/mental health)

Happy 33rd utero-week, babies!!!

You are now, apparently, each the size of a durian fruit. What the hell is a durian fruit?
This lovely couple is modeling a pair of these things for us:

I have heard of these fruits, they are usually banned from taxi cabs, and other locations, because they smell so bad. Hopefully the babies don't smell bad. Well who knows. Remember that time Han Solo cut open the tauntaun and stuck Luke inside it to sleep? I remember that smelled pretty bad. 

*also note geeky twin reference: Luke and Leia of Star Wars!

NO DURIANS!!

Anyway, I digress. Babies are about 17.2 inches each, and weighing about 4.23 lbs each. So we've got almost 8 and a half pounds of baby going on. Again, from now on, they are just packing on the pounds and fattening up for the real world. Their lungs are going through their final development - which we got to see on Tuesday as both babies were "practicing" breathing. We could see their little chests moving up and down rythmically. The doctor was psyched about this, so I guess our babies were already being awesome. Duh. It was very cool. By 34/35 weeks, their lungs should be ready to breath real air and our chances of NICU time will drop significantly.

I think we've got a few good weeks left in us. The doctor thinks Christmas, based on our one-baby due date of January 23, but I am feeling like we will make it to January. What say you? Enter your guess here! I guessed a while ago that it would be January 2nd, and I will stick to that. Though every day I wake up and think, yes, we can do another month! So perhaps it will be January 5th. We shall see. 

Belly Button update: STILL IN. 

And the Photobucket of all of the baby images are still located here. 

The Bump - 33 weeks

Whoomp there it is:

33 weeks tomorrow, measuring 40

Front view - much prettier

Dr Appointment at almost 33 weeks

Everyone looked good - the babies were practicing breathing!! Very fun. The doctor keeps threatening that they will be here at Christmas - I guess there is really not a whole lot we can do about that. Our next goal is next Thursday, the 12th, when they will be 34 weeks along. Once we hit next Thursday, any labor will not be stopped and we will have ourselves some new family members!

My last work day is officially December 13. And I am ordered to stay away from carbs (bread, rice, pasta, potatoes. Fruit is good.) - how the heck will I be able to do that?!?! In other news - I am measuring 40 weeks. So full term. This is what I would feel like full term with one baby.

Next week we start NSTs - Non-Stress Tests - which means heading to the hospital to be monitored for an hour twice a week. We also have our regular OB appointment, and then the week after that we will have all of those plus a visit with the Perinatologist/MFM - very busy!!

Sunday thoughts

Halfway through 32 weeks. Babies are now a combined weight of 8 lbs. I was supposed to be on bed rest starting now, but luckily will not have to endure that.  While being off of work would be nice, I just don't know what I would do with myself after a few days stuck on the couch. I will self impose couch-jail from Dec 20 - 30!

This four day weekend has been heavenly. Lots of resting, catching up with work, enjoying some time out of the house with James, going to movies and spending time with friends. It is exactly what I needed right now. We've even spent some evenings out past midnight!

Thankfully nothing to report baby wise - they are moving around like mad and that has been totally fun - lots of baby high-fives as they push out with their hands. But no sign of labor at all. Nothing at all. So that is good.

Hopefully the rest of this week will be uneventful and next Sunday's post will be just as boring as this one, along with the next 4 Sundays!!!

Oh!! And don't forget to enter your guesses as to when the babies are going to arrive, and what they might be!! Crocket Babies Guessing Game If this link does not work, just go ahead and email me your guess. At stake is a $25 Amazon Gift Card!