Glucose tolerance test results
So I got a call from my doctor around 4pm yesterday with my results. He said I passed (but by the skin of my teeth). Basically he is suggesting that I cut out all sweets and monitor my carbohydrate intake just to be on the safe side. We've got our check up scheduled on Monday with our 28 week sonogram to check on the little berry girls so I'm hoping to go talk to him about how strict I really need to be. I already make the choice of complex carbs over simple carbs when I have the option so I would like a little more direction as far as What exactly my 'limit' is. I'm a little frustrated that the one time in my life I'm supposed to have a little leniency regarding food, I can't take advantage of it. Then again, I am very lucky to have two happy healthy little girls and I want to make sure to keep them that way. I'll do anything for my little girls.
On Monday's appointment we're also planning on asking the doctor if we can go a head and 'schedule' a date during the week that he was anticipating we'd get to meet the girls. That is unless the girls pick a date before that, but the plan is to hold out for as long as we can.
Baby Related classes:
Seeing as how we're probably going to have a cesarean section, when the woman from Presby called to tell me they were moving my Multiples Lamaze class to another day I went ahead and canceled it and scheduled a cesarean section class that will include a hospital tour. That class will be on Wednesday, March 19th. I have the breastfeeding class the next day on the 20th. That week is really going to be busy since my mom will come in on Friday night and we'll have my local baby shower on Saturday! June 14th we have our Babycare and CPR class. We're also looking at scheduling baptismal classes soon too. Hopefully that will get us all caught up on classes :-D
Cribs:
Purchased, put together, and photographed -
We finally had the opportunity to go through all of our shower gifts too and put them in places. Everything is really starting to come together! Now I just need to finish up all the thank you notes.
New Poll - Day Care / Early Education
After the babies are born, I think our biggest decision will be what to do for day care / early education of the girls. I've added a new poll to the right, so give us your opinion!
26 Week Doctors Appointments
So I had two appointments on Wednesday – one with my pulmonologist and one with the OB (the big gestational diabetes screening).
Pulmonologist
The first appointment with the pulmonologist went well. My lung capacity test showed that I had slightly less capacity than I did last time, which is most likely due to the girls taking over my midsection. The doctor said I wouldn't need to come back until about a month after the girls are born, unless I have any issues. Things have been going well so I'm hoping that I won't need to go back till then. For now I just need to stay on the meds that I've been on and everything should be fine.
OB Visit
After I visited with the pulmonologist I drank my orange dextrose drink for my glucose screening and headed over to my OB's office (across the hall), about 45 minutes early for my appointment. The drink was not as bad as I had heard from others. It was very sweet (like a flat sweeter version of Sunkist or Crush). I think drinking it quickly through a straw helped a lot though. The check up with the doctor went well, I got right in even though I was early. I told him all of my new 'symptoms' which all seemed to be within the normal range of what to expect when you are pregnant. Really it's only been the round ligament pains that seem to happen in little spurts. They had just been pretty painful lately. I think the girls are just going through a growth spurt. He listened to the girls' heartbeats and checked my cervix. He was happy with where I was. It was really a pretty quick visit so I went out to the waiting room till my hour had passed so that I could have my blood drawn. It was only one vial so no big deal.
Glucose Results - PASS OR FAIL?
I got the call from the nurse yesterday about how my test came back and it turns out that I didn't pass my first round. I scored 146 and needed 140 to pass. Close, but no cigar. Now I'll need to go back on Tues. for my 3 hour test. It'll start with a fasting blood draw (no food after midnight the night before) at 8:30am. Then I'll drink 2 orange dextrose drinks and they will do more blood draws, 1 at 1 hour, 1 at 2 hours, and 1 at 3 hours after I finish. This will be so much fun – NOT! I tried really hard to eat really well the 2 days before this past one so I'm really kind of disappointed, but at least I know I did everything I could. The bottom line is the girls are taxing my body a little more than it's used to. I definitely need to be careful about what I eat and make sure that it's nutritious, even if my next test has more favorable results.
On a more fun note:
The trim is all finished in the nursery! We've got the dresser moved back in and we're ready to start putting some of the girls stuff in there. Our friends and family at our baby shower were very generous! I'll make sure to take some pictures of the gifts and put them in the album if anyone wants to see. We're going to order our cribs, mattresses, and glider with ottoman this weekend too! So excited!
As far as things upcoming. I have my test on Tues. so I'll let you all know how the next test goes. The next sonogram and Drs. visit is May 3rd :-D I'll be getting a belly shot up later today too!
Baby Shower (Nothern Edition)
Tara and I had a wonderful time in Amarillo at our (Nothern Edition) Baby Shower. Everyone really outdid themselves in preparing us for the girls, as you can see at right. Super big THANK YOU to everyone who was able to make it out, especially those of you who traveled up to Amarillo. It was great toenjoy the wonderful Cakes and Company. I know I saw a lot of cameras flashing, so if you have any pictures you'd like to share, please leave a comment with a link or drop us an email. If you need an easy online place to put your pictures, I highly suggest a service like Picasa or Dropbox.
24 Week Doctors Appointment
Sonogram: So our 24 Week Dr. Appointment went well. We had to reschedule the actual visit with the doctor for Tues. since he was out of the office sick. On Monday we got to see our beautiful little ladies again. The measured their noggins again and checked their heart rates. At this point baby A is about 1 lb 10 oz and has a heart beat around 143. Baby B is about 1 lb 8 oz and has a heart beat around 153. They both have plenty of fluid around them, but are looking a teensy bit more cramped than they were last time we saw them. When we first got her up on the screen, baby A was moving her mouth like she was talking to us - so cute. When we went to take a peek at Baby B she must have been practicing some yoga moves as she was apparently bent at the waist with her head between her knees. It doesn’t quite look comfortable to me, but the ultrasound tech said she sees it all the time. Such a silly girl that baby B.
Baby A Profile
Baby A 3D
Baby B peaking out between her legs (1 of 2)
Baby B peaking out between her legs (2 of 2)
Baby A 3D
Baby B peaking out between her legs (1 of 2)
Baby B peaking out between her legs (2 of 2)
Tuesday I went back for my Dr. apt. Here are some things we talked about:
Overall, the doctor was nothing but pleased with my progress. He said the weight difference between the girls was less than 9% and really anything less than 15% is good. Both of the girls look to be developing very well and my body’s still doing well at providing them a safe place to grow.
Pregnancy symptoms we discussed – I’ve been experiencing a little numbness in my hands later on in the day. It seems that carpel tunnel may be the culprit. I’ve been advised to sleep with wrist supports and to try and wear them at work if at all possible. I’ve got to say sleeping in these contraptions is really cramping my snuggling L I still need to try them at work though…
My next appointment – with bonus Glucose screening - So next visit I will get to down my sugary drink and they’ll test my blood for insulin resistance. The doctor gave me some tips on how I can increase my odds for passing the test, especially since with twins I have a 1 in 4 shot of failing it. If I fail it then I will have to do the four hour test with involves 2 sugary drinks and 1 blood draw each of the four hours after. Since that’s not really high on my list of fun things to do, I think I’ll take his advice and do my best to eat the most balanced meals possible the few days leading up to my test.
The girls arrival - We talked a little about when we might want the girls to make their debut, provided if the girls don’t choose their own date. According to the studies that he’s read, it’s been proven that twins develop faster in utero than singleton babies do. So when it’s commonly believed that singleton’s lung development is done around 37 weeks, it’s 35 weeks for twins. I never would have thought that, but I guess my body is much further ahead in its preparation for the girls than I am ;-) That being said, the doctor said he wouldn’t want to schedule anything before 37 weeks just to be on the safe side. He really didn’t think it was necessary for me to go past 38 weeks though. So it looks like we’ll have the girls sometime between July 2nd and July 9th. That’s about 12 weeks away – can you believe it!
In other news – last night, April 13th was my first Plano Mom’s of Multiples meeting. I was amazed at the turn out! They are very sweet to their expecting mothers, providing water, snacks, and very helpful welcome packets. There was a woman there that spoke to us about cloth diapering (which I am very interested in) and another woman that talked about chemical pollutants to be on the look out for. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to stay for the potluck dinner or the main speaker (about safety in the house), but I did have a good time and am looking forward to seeing these ladies again. There’s a lot I can learn from them. I also got to meet my MOM (mother’s of multiples) mentor, Juliet. She’s so helpful and encouraging. She makes me believe I can actually do this whole twin thing! There’s no meeting for May, but I’m definitely going to try and make the June meeting.
As far as what we’ve got coming up soon –
Pregnancy symptoms we discussed – I’ve been experiencing a little numbness in my hands later on in the day. It seems that carpel tunnel may be the culprit. I’ve been advised to sleep with wrist supports and to try and wear them at work if at all possible. I’ve got to say sleeping in these contraptions is really cramping my snuggling L I still need to try them at work though…
My next appointment – with bonus Glucose screening - So next visit I will get to down my sugary drink and they’ll test my blood for insulin resistance. The doctor gave me some tips on how I can increase my odds for passing the test, especially since with twins I have a 1 in 4 shot of failing it. If I fail it then I will have to do the four hour test with involves 2 sugary drinks and 1 blood draw each of the four hours after. Since that’s not really high on my list of fun things to do, I think I’ll take his advice and do my best to eat the most balanced meals possible the few days leading up to my test.
The girls arrival - We talked a little about when we might want the girls to make their debut, provided if the girls don’t choose their own date. According to the studies that he’s read, it’s been proven that twins develop faster in utero than singleton babies do. So when it’s commonly believed that singleton’s lung development is done around 37 weeks, it’s 35 weeks for twins. I never would have thought that, but I guess my body is much further ahead in its preparation for the girls than I am ;-) That being said, the doctor said he wouldn’t want to schedule anything before 37 weeks just to be on the safe side. He really didn’t think it was necessary for me to go past 38 weeks though. So it looks like we’ll have the girls sometime between July 2nd and July 9th. That’s about 12 weeks away – can you believe it!
In other news – last night, April 13th was my first Plano Mom’s of Multiples meeting. I was amazed at the turn out! They are very sweet to their expecting mothers, providing water, snacks, and very helpful welcome packets. There was a woman there that spoke to us about cloth diapering (which I am very interested in) and another woman that talked about chemical pollutants to be on the look out for. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to stay for the potluck dinner or the main speaker (about safety in the house), but I did have a good time and am looking forward to seeing these ladies again. There’s a lot I can learn from them. I also got to meet my MOM (mother’s of multiples) mentor, Juliet. She’s so helpful and encouraging. She makes me believe I can actually do this whole twin thing! There’s no meeting for May, but I’m definitely going to try and make the June meeting.
As far as what we’ve got coming up soon –
- Our West Texas baby shower is this Saturday – April 17th. We’re super excited to see everyone!
- We’ll have our next appointment on April 21st, so I’ll make sure to update you all on that.
- We’ll be interviewing some more daycares soon too – such a crazy big decision!I’ve got to admit, I’m a little overwhelmed and nervous about it.
25 Week Belly Profile Pic
details soon.
Nursery Build: Detail Day
I'd been holding off on posting any more nursery pics until we were done, but I just can't contain the final detail pics we got yesterday. HUGE thanks to everybody who came out to help. Tara had a distinct vision for what she wanted and you guys pulled it off perfectly! I especially like the flourish of the branch with the lovebirds on it over the door.
24 weeks belly profile pic
So today the girls are supposed to both be the size of a large papaya :-D That's quite a coincidence since I had a papaya smoothie yesterday!
The best thing about week 24 though is that the babies are "legally viable" now. This means that they would have a reasonable chance of survival outside of their womb in an intensive care unit. It'll only get easier for them from here :-DOB appointment on Monday at 3pm! Stay tuned for the update!
