32 weeks - 2 heads of cauliflower or a squash

I called my doctors office yesterday and all of my blood work was normal. I mentioned the swelling and it's basically a coincidence that it happened all of a sudden. I had to take my wedding ring off yesterday morning because it was almost stuck on! :-( they told me to stay hydrated and elevate my feet daily. 

I had my first nonstress test today. It went well. I had a monitor for each baby placed on and a contraction monitor. The babies reacted how they wanted. They basically look for a baseline heartrate and make sure it elevates with movements and doesn't drop down far also. My doctor wants me to go twice weekly, I return on Saturday. The nurse discussed all the symptoms and reasons to call my doctors office if needed. 

In other news, I got a phone call today from my doctors office that my csection will be scheduled for March 13th. I am irritated because I gave two doctors I wanted to do the surgery and was scheduled with a doctor that I have not seen before. My doctor made it seem like she would be the one performing surgery or if not then Dr Lacey. It was unexpected to hear this! I asked why? And if I could please have the doctors that I wanted and she said she would look into it. 5 minutes later, the actual surgical coordinator called me back and said the doctor I am scheduled with is the only doctor available in my two week window between 38-40 weeks. I have an appointment with my doctor in a week or so and I'm going to ask her about it then. Otherwise, I'll plan on scheduling my next appointment with the new doctor so I can meet him prior to surgery. And if I go into labor before this date, who knows who will deliver the babies!!! 

almost 32 weeks!

I had a doctors appointment on Friday last week. She asked me the positions of the babies at the last ultrasound, which I told her. She then asked me, "Have we scheduled your c-section yet?" I was taken by surprise for a minute. As one would think! So we talked about that for a few minutes. Someone is supposed to call me to schedule this at 38 weeks. She "put in" that she wants to be the one who does it and asked me who my second choice is and that is Dr Lacey. It's getting real now!! My blood pressure was 120/88 which was borderline and up from what it has been. Also, I mentioned that I had a headache last week so she decided to run some bloodwork to rule out preeclampsia. She told me that they would only call me if it was abnormal, I haven't heard anything so far.

Saturday morning, I woke up and my hands and feet were swollen! I thought I had escaped that part of pregnancy as I hadn't had any issues thus far. I had to work on Saturday and it was super busy and so by the time I got home, I was really struggling with swollen feet and hands. It's been more of the same since then.

I'm going to call and ask about my bloodwork because I know swelling is also a sign of preeclampsia but it's also considered a normal part of pregnancy.

I start the nonstress tests tomorrow at the hospital and my doctor wants me to have them twice weekly.

I have been having trouble sleeping now too so I guess this is where all the fun parts of pregnancy start! Woohooo.

31 Weeks

BabyBump says the babies are the size of four naval oranges or a bunch of celery :-)

Just got back from our ultrasound. Both babies were uncooperative so I have no pictures :-( but baby boy is 3 lbs and 7 ounces and baby girl is 3 lbs and 1 ounce. The weight difference isn't concerning at this point but something to be watched. He is breech with his feet up in front  of his face and she is transverse so still not in the right position! Both were facing towards my spine.  The doctor said things could change but it gets less likely as time goes on. And no wonder why I'm so uncomfortable, her head and butt are actually under my ribcage, ouch! I have another ultrasound in a month on February  14.  I need a non stress test in two weeks. Just trucking along until then... 

Here is a picture I found of their position 

30 weeks

Wow... 30 weeks have gone by! The babies are the size of cabbages. I have less than 55 days left until 38 weeks. Huh?!?

Everything is going fine.

Driving is becoming more and more challenging, especially long trips. The baby girl is up under my right ribs and it gets quite uncomfortable when I'm stuck in one spot driving, especially when she is moving and stretching. 

I've been doing 100% receptionist work now and it is pretty boring but better than standing for 8 hours at a time. I also started my reduced schedule which is 7:30am to 12pm everyday. Let's just say the afternoons are boring. I can't really go out shopping or anywhere because its difficult to walk too much and carry much. I spend a lot of time watching boring and terrible tv shows and hanging out with the dogs. 

We have an ultrasound tomorrow, we will see where to go from there and what position the babies are in. 

These are our twin babies from our "Breastfeeding Basics" class at Isis Parenting on Saturday. Sadly, Isis has closed it's doors since the weekend. I was looking forward to going there once the babies were born because they did mom and me classes. I will have to find an alternative now. 

Baby Shower pictures!

Cute diaper cakes made by Betsy's coworker 

Attendees painted alphabet letters for the babies room

Reading suggested baby names. Ichabod was a big hit 

One of Bill's favorite onesies :-)

Twins shirt, "you go first. no, you go first!"

And this is how all the gifts fit into the nursery :-) 

lots of updates!!

So much has happened since my last post. Where to begin?

Last week, I discussed with my managers that working as a technician was becoming an issue as far as standing and restraining animals. By the afternoons, my back is really sore making it very uncomfortable and difficult to do my job effectively. We decided that I would cut back my hours slightly and change my duties at work. I am now working more of a part time schedule with more receptionist/phone responsibilities. I do miss doing technician duties but I'm happy that they're able to accommodate me for as long as I feel comfortable working. I did mention that it could be a few weeks, days, I'm just not sure.

We had our hospital tour on Saturday. It was nice to see where we are going to deliver. While we were there we saw the discharge of TWO sets of twins. That was really cool. We didn't get to see much action but we saw an example of a postpartum room that we will be in for a few days after delivery, they're very small! We were also told to not have anyone come to the hospital too early as once we get admitted and go through delivery, it will be at least two hours before there can be any visitors. So visitors are recommended to stay at home until notified. The maternity waiting room is also TINY, it holds about 10-15 people max and I feel like they did that intentionally so that people have nowhere to wait. Also, I already knew this but because we're having twins, I will have to deliver in the operating room regardless if we have a csection or not. I will be there between 2-4 days depending on what kind of birth I have. It makes the hospital seem less scary but seeing where we will be.

I had my baby shower on Sunday. It was organized by my sister in law, Mary and Bill's mom and stepmom, Betsy and Nancy as well as my mom. I was very happy that Bill was not only willing to attend with me but wanted to. It was a great day. We had a brunch type buffet. I was so happy to see everyone who came to celebrate with us. We received sooo many gifts that we couldn't fit them all into one car. Luckily, friends of ours were able to help transport them back to our house. As far as putting everything away, that's another story for another day. But for now, they are inside the house. :-) I am still receiving presents as of yesterday from people that were unable to attend or who weren't invited like my male boss at work. People are so generous when it comes to weddings and baby showers. It is so much appreciated.

I had a doctors appointment on Monday, it was very uneventful but I did get to see my regular ob/gyn doctor that has seen me for my yearly appointments. She had looked up my case before I came in and was so excited to hear about our IVF process.

I have an ultrasound next Friday at the hospital.

This week is 29 weeks!!!! The babies are the size of BUTTERNUT SQUASH. Wow.

Pictures from Bills building adventures

28 weeks

28 weeks = Chinese cabbage! :-)

I found out that I'm slightly anemia which I read is common for carrying twins. I have to take a slow release iron supplement along with my prenatal vitamins and vitamin D. Also the urine culture was normal. 

I've officially entered the THIRD TRIMESTER! woohoo! Nothing much new, growing and uncomfortable as usual, burning back pain. Maybe I'm starting to notice my feet are swelling slightly because my shoes sometimes feel tighter. 

My baby shower is this Sunday, January 5. I'm excited and nervous. My mom recently bought us a nice changing table/dresser from Target. And my dad bought us a rocking recliner! Rochelle sent us a double baby monitor and Nancy finished up with our larger registry items such as two awesome bouncer/swings, highchairs (one a shower gift from Lois), and our double stroller!! We are very lucky! Now to start organizing... :-) 

Here's what Bill is doing for fun today