We're almost to 28 weeks now!! The doctor said yesterday that I'm measuring at term. What does that mean? That means I'm as big as I'm supposed to be in 2 and 1/2 months. NOT now. ;-) Because there are two of them in there, they're taking up more space, more quickly! What that seems to mean is I'm going to have to go buy more clothes. I've almost outgrown the clothes Sandra's given me, and she's giving birth in a week or so; two months minimum before I should!
We'll have another ultrasound on Veteran's Day, and I imagine they'll be telling us they're getting really squished and I need to be very careful about preterm labor. My ankles are swelling a little, but not too much. The worst part right now is the near constant heartburn, and that Baby B's bum shifts and squishes my stomach. When that happens, eating even a kids' meal worth of food is too much because my stomach cramps and I feel like I'm exploding. We thought it was a newly developed aversion to tomatoes, but it doesn't always seem to matter if it's tomato based. Not that they don't make it worse I think...but they're not the sole cause. They're also kicking REALLY low, and REALLY high. Especially into my ribs right now, which sure does cause me to struggle to get enough air sometimes.
The babies are definitely making me more tired, but I'm not overly anemic yet, so that's a good sign. I also took the dreaded glucose test, but passed! My numbers were right in the middle. Some say that's a little low, some say it's just fine. I only care that I didn't have to go in for the 3 hour test. I am NOT in favor of anything that makes me not eat purposefully! We're on to two week visits now, which is getting harder to accomplish, since I'm still working. They want me in earlier because they want to do stress monitoring on the babies, but they want me in no later than 3. I don't know enough about the stress tests to know whether or not this is vitally important, but I really do wish a doctor's office would accept appointments until a reasonable time. Ultrasounds can't be scheduled past 1:30 either. Are you kidding me? Who can accommodate that schedule!?
Eddie keeps saying I only have 6 more weeks left (he's talking work), which isn't helpful, because I'm not done now, but is a really nice thought. I can't wait to be done...and to have these babies come! Although I do think I'll miss feeling them moving around. It's so cool to think that they're awake, or asleep, or will move when I push on them! Eddie'll have tons of time off with me, and I'm excited for that too! He's done SO much today, including ripping carpet up, installing lights on the porch outside, and even with his dad a week ago fixing the light that marks our driveway. Now we just need to build our crib, and the cradle, and start truly setting things up. Eddie has to finish the floors first.
Anyway-I'm hoping the ultrasound shows me they're super on-track, or even more developed than they should be...I worry about them coming too early. Eddie tells me to stop being pessimistic or it'll come true, but I just really want them healthy!
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Monday, September 7, 2009
16-20 Weeks
Well, by popular request, here's blog number two. I'm sure I'll get better at this, but it's hard to keep up! School has started, and it seems weird to put something on here when there's not much to share.
We have another ultrasound this Friday. We had one at 16 weeks, and as soon as I can find the pictures Eddie (hopefully) scanned, I'll add them to our picture collection. While at the doctor's, we got to see both of them, but of course now they're big enough they don't both fit on the same screen! The ultrasound tech thought it was funny because I said I liked the 9 week ultrasound better. Well, who wouldn't, I could see BOTH of them at the same time on the SAME screen! Of course, at 9 weeks they didn't look at all like babies. This time around I felt like even though I couldn't really see all of them at the same time, I could see parts that looked baby-like, which was pretty neat. They still look like little blobbies to me, but Eddie was great and pointed out things like the outline of their brains, and some ribs. The tech showed us their stomachs, which just look like gigantic black holes in each of their middles. The coolest part was I could see AND identify for myself a whole leg. At 16 weeks their bones aren't fully calcified, so it can be hard to see and measure their bones. They measured their femurs, and their skull size, and their stomachs for the most part. We did discover there are two placentas, which means it is less likely they are identical, and more likely they'll be stable. When there's only one placenta, it can cause complications, like twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, where one baby gets all the blood and the other gets little blood. Even though it reduces our chance for identicals, I'd rather have them be healthy, and have less risk for complication, so the two placentas discovery was very welcome.
This coming Friday we have the next one, where hopefully we can tell boys/girls/both and move forward! They are making me SO hungry, it's frustrating. I'm tired of packing enough food for an army to go to school, and then trying to find the time to eat it too. We have a nut allergy in my classroom, so I have to be careful not to pack things that could transfer to papers, pens, or books that student touches. I never knew how many different versions of peanuts, almonds, pistachios I ate until they were taken away from me! I'm also tired of eating dinner and being hungry again under two hours later. I sure hope this evens out sooner rather than later!
Other than feeling like I'm never going to be full again for more than a few minutes, things seem to be pretty good. I'm sick about once a week, and it seems directly tied to whether I've eaten enough or not. At our last Dr. appointment they asked if I could feel the babies move. I wasn't confident, but said no, because there's been no definitive "I am here" movement. But as we go along, I'm pretty sure that the weird things I feel are babies, and not extra gas or digestion. That's really weird, and I'm still not 100% positive (I'm the kinda person that probably won't be convinced until I SEE a foot kick!), but it sure seems like I can't attribute this movement to anything else! Provided that's true, the babies kicked Eddie this morning three times. Of course, he can't feel them, but if it's them, then I can!
I'm definitely showing, although in general, I still feel like I look like I just gained weight instead of gained two babies. Eddie told me yesterday I looked like a pregnant ballerina. He wasn't trying to be mean, it was actually a complement in context, but still, it didn't exactly make me feel super happy. My friend Robin was here this weekend and we went to Motherhood Maternity for my second, though abbreviated, go-round with clothes. I didn't get much this time either, but I mostly had some borrowed short-sleeved shirts, and it is starting to get cold here in the Northwest! Good thing I love sweaters and work with kids! They don't care what I wear!
More to come later...
We have another ultrasound this Friday. We had one at 16 weeks, and as soon as I can find the pictures Eddie (hopefully) scanned, I'll add them to our picture collection. While at the doctor's, we got to see both of them, but of course now they're big enough they don't both fit on the same screen! The ultrasound tech thought it was funny because I said I liked the 9 week ultrasound better. Well, who wouldn't, I could see BOTH of them at the same time on the SAME screen! Of course, at 9 weeks they didn't look at all like babies. This time around I felt like even though I couldn't really see all of them at the same time, I could see parts that looked baby-like, which was pretty neat. They still look like little blobbies to me, but Eddie was great and pointed out things like the outline of their brains, and some ribs. The tech showed us their stomachs, which just look like gigantic black holes in each of their middles. The coolest part was I could see AND identify for myself a whole leg. At 16 weeks their bones aren't fully calcified, so it can be hard to see and measure their bones. They measured their femurs, and their skull size, and their stomachs for the most part. We did discover there are two placentas, which means it is less likely they are identical, and more likely they'll be stable. When there's only one placenta, it can cause complications, like twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, where one baby gets all the blood and the other gets little blood. Even though it reduces our chance for identicals, I'd rather have them be healthy, and have less risk for complication, so the two placentas discovery was very welcome.
This coming Friday we have the next one, where hopefully we can tell boys/girls/both and move forward! They are making me SO hungry, it's frustrating. I'm tired of packing enough food for an army to go to school, and then trying to find the time to eat it too. We have a nut allergy in my classroom, so I have to be careful not to pack things that could transfer to papers, pens, or books that student touches. I never knew how many different versions of peanuts, almonds, pistachios I ate until they were taken away from me! I'm also tired of eating dinner and being hungry again under two hours later. I sure hope this evens out sooner rather than later!
Other than feeling like I'm never going to be full again for more than a few minutes, things seem to be pretty good. I'm sick about once a week, and it seems directly tied to whether I've eaten enough or not. At our last Dr. appointment they asked if I could feel the babies move. I wasn't confident, but said no, because there's been no definitive "I am here" movement. But as we go along, I'm pretty sure that the weird things I feel are babies, and not extra gas or digestion. That's really weird, and I'm still not 100% positive (I'm the kinda person that probably won't be convinced until I SEE a foot kick!), but it sure seems like I can't attribute this movement to anything else! Provided that's true, the babies kicked Eddie this morning three times. Of course, he can't feel them, but if it's them, then I can!
I'm definitely showing, although in general, I still feel like I look like I just gained weight instead of gained two babies. Eddie told me yesterday I looked like a pregnant ballerina. He wasn't trying to be mean, it was actually a complement in context, but still, it didn't exactly make me feel super happy. My friend Robin was here this weekend and we went to Motherhood Maternity for my second, though abbreviated, go-round with clothes. I didn't get much this time either, but I mostly had some borrowed short-sleeved shirts, and it is starting to get cold here in the Northwest! Good thing I love sweaters and work with kids! They don't care what I wear!
More to come later...
Saturday, July 18, 2009
The Beginning
I can't say I think this is the best idea-I generally fail at all things that require routine time and maintenance-but people seem to want to know what's going on with our expanding family.
Yep-expanding. Eddie and I are going to be parents of twins sometime in January! Those of you that ask...no, twins do not run in the family. Should be interesting when we can find out boys/girls/boy&girl since with no twins in the family to pass down we have no idea what we're in for! We have some in the family that want to be surprised though, so when we find out, and anytime I talk about gender specific things, I'll make a special heading-like a "spoiler alert" so they don't have to worry about finding out. That means I'll need your help in keeping gender specific comments to THOSE posts so it doesn't accidentally leak!
Originally I was taking a tennis class, that got increasingly tougher as it went on and as we got more pregnant...which translated into hard to eat enough to have energy, and really hard to go to class after teaching all day. The class ended when we were about 7 weeks along, and I miss it, but definitely am glad I don't have that commitment right now!
So far, the babies've been exceptionally tortuous, with me spending an overwhelming chunk of the last 3 weeks (since I FINALLY finished at SVSD June 26) extremely sick. For someone who's never sick, and generally likes to eat, that was quite the eye-opener. Eddie's been absolutely stellar, going to the store, getting dinner, cleaning, and getting me things that really work. For awhile, Coke Slurpees were a complete lifesaver. And yes, I'm well aware of the caffeine scare the world tries to put on pregnant women. The babies have decided they don't mind a little, and since the allowable amount is something between 4-6 cokes a day, I think a slurpee once in awhile is probabaly not going to cause too much harm.
Luckily, they seem to have settled down a little and my body seems to think might actually be okay to be pregnant now. Morning (or all day) sickness seems to be easing to the point I can leave the house and actually accomplish shopping, meeting with friends, or eating lunch with Eddie without worrying too much about what could happen.
I'll do my best to update this as we go along. Technically, our due date is somewhere around January 24th, but with twins, they tend to come on average 3 weeks early. We're just hoping for healthy and developed so they can come home. I really want them to come home with us instead of days or weeks later!
Yep-expanding. Eddie and I are going to be parents of twins sometime in January! Those of you that ask...no, twins do not run in the family. Should be interesting when we can find out boys/girls/boy&girl since with no twins in the family to pass down we have no idea what we're in for! We have some in the family that want to be surprised though, so when we find out, and anytime I talk about gender specific things, I'll make a special heading-like a "spoiler alert" so they don't have to worry about finding out. That means I'll need your help in keeping gender specific comments to THOSE posts so it doesn't accidentally leak!
Originally I was taking a tennis class, that got increasingly tougher as it went on and as we got more pregnant...which translated into hard to eat enough to have energy, and really hard to go to class after teaching all day. The class ended when we were about 7 weeks along, and I miss it, but definitely am glad I don't have that commitment right now!
So far, the babies've been exceptionally tortuous, with me spending an overwhelming chunk of the last 3 weeks (since I FINALLY finished at SVSD June 26) extremely sick. For someone who's never sick, and generally likes to eat, that was quite the eye-opener. Eddie's been absolutely stellar, going to the store, getting dinner, cleaning, and getting me things that really work. For awhile, Coke Slurpees were a complete lifesaver. And yes, I'm well aware of the caffeine scare the world tries to put on pregnant women. The babies have decided they don't mind a little, and since the allowable amount is something between 4-6 cokes a day, I think a slurpee once in awhile is probabaly not going to cause too much harm.
Luckily, they seem to have settled down a little and my body seems to think might actually be okay to be pregnant now. Morning (or all day) sickness seems to be easing to the point I can leave the house and actually accomplish shopping, meeting with friends, or eating lunch with Eddie without worrying too much about what could happen.
I'll do my best to update this as we go along. Technically, our due date is somewhere around January 24th, but with twins, they tend to come on average 3 weeks early. We're just hoping for healthy and developed so they can come home. I really want them to come home with us instead of days or weeks later!
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