Friday, June 28, 2013

Just a quick update!

Finally finished with all the appointments for this week.
The twins are doing great!  Passing everything so it looks like we should be good to move into July!
I am learning that things can change so quickly though.  I hope they stay in as long as possible though so they can get big and strong and come home with us with no time in the NICU.  I think if we can make it to the 10th of July then we stand a good chance of that as long as Grayson is gaining weight well.  We won't know until the 10th how his weight gain is going, so I would like to make it to that appointment.  If we make it then we will have a discussion on 37 versus 38 weeks for delivery.

2-3 weeks until delivery MAX!!!  AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

The Official Baby Pool

Okay ladies and gents!  Time to get your guessing on.  As we get closer to the arrival of our bundles of joy you get the opportunity to guess when they might make their appearance and also the weight and the length.

Click here for Todd and Karen's Baby Pool for Grayson!!

Click here for Todd and Karen's Baby Pool for Evelyn!!

We look forward to seeing how close you get!

Just some basic information.  I won't go past 38 weeks which is July 22nd.  As of last week our son was 3lbs 11oz and our daughter was 4lbs 12 oz.

Good luck!!!!

Monday, June 24, 2013

34 Weeks!

How Far Along: 34 Weeks

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Up about 20 pounds, but 9+ of that is baby so still doing well.

Maternity Clothes: Yup – though I hate anything that is too tight on my stomach.  Most nights I hang out on the couch with my bare belly hanging out.  J

Movement: Yes – though sometimes they are quiet and it worries me so I do what I can to get them to wake up and move.  I feel him more these days.  I think she is so low and cramped she has less room to move around

Sleep: Definitely getting worse.  Taking my Tylenol PM and it seems to be helping a bit.  Still up between 6 and 15 times a night to pee though…

Gender: A boy and a girl!!!

Symptoms: Fatigue, round ligament pain/cramping, stuffiness, hip pain.  Now some cramping and aches and pains.  It’s just uncomfortable.  I will admit that it's truly uncomfortable 24/7.  The round ligament pain is the worst right now.  The weight of the babies makes it feel like I got kicked in the crotch!  Walking hurts, lifting my leg or turning one way or another – it all hurts!!!

Cravings: Sweets, just because I can’t have them.

Freak-out of the Week: No freak-outs.  Just resting as much as possible and drinking a ton of water. 

Looking Forward To: Meeting our little miracles!!  Not too soon but SOON!!!  My friend who was a week ahead of me with boy/girl twins had her babies this morning…that really put it in perspective that these babies are coming SOON!!

Next Appointment: Wednesday I have MFM for blood flow, fluid check and then off to the hospital for my NST.  OB on Thursday and another NST on Friday.  This will be my appointment schedule for the durations I believe.

Miscellaneous: Wildfire is 100% contained near us though there is another huge fire burning and causing poor air quality and smoke around here. Other than that there isn’t much going on.  Just spending my days on the couch as much as possible and trying to find energy for all these appointments.  J

We did have our first NST at the hospital on Friday and the babies were fine - plenty of movement and the heart rates did exactly what they needed to and no contractions from me.  

34 Weeks - At less than two months to go, baby weighs in at about 4.2 to 5.8 pounds and measures about 17.2 to 18.7 inches. By week 34, she's recognizing and reacting to simple songs, if you're

Thursday, June 20, 2013

OB Update

Met with the OB this morning and here are the updates.

I am measuring 46 weeks...which means I am HUGE!

I am only up 20 pounds and 9 of that is baby.

OB is not concerned with the growth restriction.  Grayson is in the 11th percentile and Evelyn is in the 61st.  Apparently the NICU has a term for this - WWB - Wimpy White Boy.  LOL!  Grayson is anything BUT wimpy!!

I am now on weekly appointments with the OB.  Weekly blood flow and fluid check with MFM.  Bi-weekly NSTs.  So lots of close monitoring as this is usually the point of the pregnancy where things start to get out of control.  Blood pressure, blood sugars, etc.  OB was pleased that I made it where I am and he is pleased that everything is looking so good.

35 weeks is my new goal.  Anything after that is a gift!

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Growth update

So we went to our growth ultrasound this morning.  Evelyn gained about 1 pound 5 ounces, bringing her to an approximate weight of 4 pounds 12 ounces.  She is still head down and will be the first one out.

Grayson on the other hand, continues to give mommy and daddy worry.  He only gained around 8 ounces.  Bringing him to about 3 pounds 11 ounces.  They called it a moderate growth restriction.  They did an additional ultrasound that checked his blood flow to make sure the placenta was providing what he needs and everything appeared to be fine with that.

I'm not overly concerned, as they will be checking that blood flow weekly to make sure there are no issues with the placenta causing the restriction.

The plan moving forward is weekly Doppler appointments checking on the blood flow for Grayson.  I will probably be moving to weekly OB appointments too if I had to guess.  I will also be doing bi-weekly NSTs at the hospital as well, which I need to discuss with my OB tomorrow as well to find out how to schedule those.

There is still talk of a possible vaginal delivery which would be great and seeing how Grayson would be the 2nd baby out there is a possibility that they could get him out regardless of positioning because of the size difference. 

My goal is still 35 weeks.  Anything over that would be a blessing.

Monday, June 17, 2013

33 WEEKS!!


How Far Along: 33 Weeks

 

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Up about 20 pounds, but 7+ of that is baby so still doing well.

 

Maternity Clothes: Yup – though I hate anything that is too tight on my stomach.  Most nights I hang out on the couch with my bare belly hanging out.  J

 

Movement: A TON of movement.  Though there are days they are slow and not real active and then I get payback at night when I lay down and they get CRAZY (like last night). 

 

Sleep: Definitely getting worse.  Started taking Tylenol PM to get to sleep.  Then woke up at 4am for like 3 hours…then back to sleep for a while longer.  Between hip pain and getting up to pee (more on that below) sleep SUCKS!!!

 

Gender: A boy and a girl!!!

 

Symptoms: Fatigue, round ligament pain/cramping, stuffiness, hip pain.  Now some cramping and aches and pains.  It’s just uncomfortable.  I will admit that it's truly uncomfortable 24/7.

 

Cravings: Sweets, just because I can’t have them.

 

Freak-out of the Week: On Saturday I had a considerable amount of cramping.  I went back upstairs and had a little water and laid on my left side and little relief.  I took a hot shower and felt better for five minutes and then had some abdominal pain I actually had to breathe through.  Between that and back pain I called the on-call doctor since my OB was out of town.  We were instructed to head over to Labor & Delivery and we did just that.  We got hooked up to the monitors and they were fine.  Moving and heart rates were good.  After some monitoring we determined I was dehydrated and had an irritable uterus causing a couple of contractions but nothing very strong or regular.  SO I have been instructed to drink around 150oz of water a day.  Which directly leads to me peeing ALL. THE. TIME…  Though they did check my cervix and it high and long so no dilation or anything so these babies are staying put.  And so am I!!

 

Looking Forward To: Meeting our little miracles!!  Not too soon but SOON!!!

 

Next Appointment: Growth scan on 6/19 and OB on 6/20.  Should be starting the NSTs at the hospital shortly too.  CRAZY!!!

 

Miscellaneous: The wildfire in our area is now 75% contained.  We were not directly affected by the fire but it was scary to have it so close.

 

33 Weeks - At week 33, baby weighs about 4.2 to 5.8 pounds and measures about 17.2 to 18.7 inches. She may even grow up to a full inch this week! She's turning into a curious kid who can keep

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Wildfire Update!

Just wanted to let friends and family know that we are okay!  The closest wildfire is about 10 miles north of us.  We can see the smoke in the distance and it's crazy but we are fine.  No worries.  There is a very tiny, tiny, TINY chance it would ever effect us so we should be just fine!  We just hope it gets contained quickly so everyone can return to their homes.  We feel for the people who lost their homes today.  We have SO much to be thankful for!

Monday, June 10, 2013

32 Weeks!!

How Far Along: 32 Weeks
 
Total Weight Gain/Loss: Up about 18 pounds, but 7+ of that is baby so 10 pounds isn’t too bad at all I don’t think!
 
Maternity Clothes: Yes! but mostly wearing dresses - they are much more comfortable thatn anything else.
 
Movement: A TON of movement.  Our son is mostly active in the middle of the night and early morning and our daughter is active the rest of the time. 
 
Sleep: Getting worse.  Finding blocks of insomnia in the middle of the night.  Like this morning it was from 5-6:30am.  I did manage to get back to sleep for a couple more hours.
 
Gender: A boy and a girl!!!
 
Symptoms: Fatigue, round ligament pain/cramping, stuffiness, hip pain.  Now some cramping and aches and pains.  It’s just uncomfortable.  I will admit that it's truly uncomfortable 24/7.
 
Cravings: Sweets, just because I can’t have them.
 
Freak-out of the Week: Just trying to tell myself that I am almost at the end and they will be here before I know it!  I'm starting to question my parenting and mothering abilities but I am sure I will be just fine and it will all kick in once I get them home!
 
Looking Forward To: Meeting our little miracles!!  Not too soon but SOON!!!
 
Next Appointment: Growth scan on 6/19 and OB on 6/20.  Should be starting the NSTs at the hospital shortly too.  CRAZY!!!
 
Miscellaneous: It's hard to stay on the couch.  I did get out this weekend and I used the electric scooter at WalMart and the grocery store.  Here is a picture of me at the grocery store.
I didn't hit anybody or knock anything over so I did pretty well.  It got me out of the house and put no stress on the babies so I wouldn't mind going out and riding the scooter again if I felt the urge to get out of the house.

I'm thrilled to hit 32 weeks today.  This made the difference between what hospital I was going to deliver at.  If I was prior to 32 weeks I would have to deliver at Memorial Central which is downtown.  they have a higher level NICU which would have been necessary for the babies to be in.  Now that I have reached 32 weeks, if I were to deliver now, I could deliver at my hospital of choice, Memorial North.  So this was one of my last milestones to reach.  The final milestone now is birth!!!

32 Weeks - At week 32, your baby weighs in at about 2.5 to 3.8 pounds and measures about 15.2 to 16.7 inches. She's likely to be in the head-down position now, getting ready for her descent -- the journey down the birth canal. And not a minute too soon, because at this point, she's probably feeling even more cramped inside Mommy.

SQUASH!

Monday, June 3, 2013

31 Weeks - Less than 49 days to go!!!


How Far Along: 31 Weeks – 49 days or less to go!!
 
Total Weight Gain/Loss: Up about 17 pounds, but 7+ of that is baby so 10 pounds isn’t too bad at all I don’t think!
 
Maternity Clothes: Yes! Now that I don’t have to go to work I have been dressing comfy.  Surprisingly I am wearing a lot of dresses and no shoes.  No need to if I’m not going anywhere!!
 
Movement: A TON of movement.  From both of them.  I have started to do kick counts.  My OB says 10 kick in a 2 hour period.  Sometimes I get that in 2 minutes or less!!!
 
Sleep: Eh it’s alright.  I get up to pee 6-10 times a night.  I have had little bouts of insomnia but I do manage to fall back to sleep eventually.
 
Gender: A boy and a girl!!!
 
Symptoms: Fatigue, round ligament pain/cramping, stuffiness, hip pain.  Now some cramping and aches and pains.  It’s just uncomfortable.
 
Cravings: Sweets, just because I can’t have them.
 
Freak-out of the Week: Still no freak outs…just kind of anxious…I wish I knew when they were coming so I could be prepared mentally and emotionally.
 
Looking Forward To: Meeting our little miracles!!
 
Next Appointment: OB appointment on 6/6 and next growth scan on 6/19
 
Miscellaneous: Just trying to stay on the couch.  It’s so hard when you think you can get up and do something that you have always been able to do.  But I know I need to let people get me lunch or water or whatever it happens to be.  I am allowed to get up to pee and minimal moving around, but otherwise I am on the couch!!
 
31 Weeks - At week 31, baby's about 15.2 to 16.7 inches long and weighs about 2.5 to 3.8 pounds. She's also going through major brain, nerve and eye development. Her irises even react to light. All five of