October visitors and birthday parties

I started writing this post on the blogger app on my phone, but now the app keeps crashing (booo!) so I'm just going to start over.

Mina on playground equipment at Story Park

Last week and this weekend have been pretty crazy. Mina was not acting like herself (she was lethargic, very irritable and running a low grade fever) at school on Wednesday so we decided to take her to see her pedi on Thursday.  Her Dr. said confirmed that she had fluid in her ear (she’d been congested for a couple of weeks) and that her throat was irritated.  Mina was so sweet to her doctor and even sang a song to her after she let her get a good swab of her throat (which fortunately testing negative for strep).  We started antibiotics that night and by the morning she was already feeling better.  Since the doctor said she was not contagious and Mina was in a better mood, we all got ready for school/work. Unfortunately in the short amount of time it took to get to school Mina’s fever came back so she got to spend the day with Dad.  He took her with him as he went for his liver ultrasound and after that they had a good time at Breadwinners for breakfast.  The rest of the day was spent snuggling. Later that day my dad, stepmom (Pam) and my brother arrived in town.  Since Seth had a softball game we all picked up some Chipotle, ate it at the park, left Seth to finish his game and then took the girls home so they could make their bed time.

Evie wanted to climb up by herself

Saturday the girls had a birthday party to attend (their friend Abby).  Since Mina and Evie had a good night and were feeling well we decided to take them to the party at the Park.  They enjoyed playing with Abby and Karmela.  Since the playground at the park wasn’t crowded, all of the girls got to enjoy interacting with it.  Mary (Abby’s mom) put together a wonderfully intimate party.  She paid attention to all the details and even provided a hand washing station for the kids.  The girls loved that!  Even though Mina was a little clingy, the girls had a really good time.  They had so much fun they crashed for a good couple of hours after we got home :-) Evie woke up before Mina did and got to feed Perry bird a treat when he escaped from his cage.  I'm working on the video of it.  It was too cute - she clearly says “bird” and when she tells him “bye”.  She even does her version of the sign language for bird :-)  I hope to post it soon.

While we were at the party my dad, Pam, and Jared rode the DART to the Historic West End to see the area where I work.  They had a good time running around but had to leave after my dad had a close encounter with a pigeon…

Grandpa Jack and Uncle Monkey tell the girls about their trip to the West End

That evening, my dad, Pam, and Jared looked after the girls while Seth and I went out for dinner to celebrate our seventh anniversary.  Can you believe it’s been that long?  Seth and I had the most delicious meal at 52 seasons and spent the evening reflecting on our time together and all the people that have supported us along the way.  We really do have the most wonderful friends and family!!!

The girls had a good night with my family and went right to bed. Sunday was not as good for Mina.

The girls were happy in the morning so we went out to Cabela’s with my family to let the girls see the fish.  Both girls both enjoyed emulating fish lips and seeing all the stuffed game displayed around the store.  Unfortunately we overstayed our time there and Mina let us know that she was not happy.

Mina (yellow) and Evie (pink) enjoy looking at the fish

So Seth and I left my dad, Pam, and Jared at the store to put the girls down for a nap.   They both slept for a long time, but every time poor Mina woke up she was just not happy.  Since we didn’t want to upset her anymore, but we still wanted to take Pam and Jared out for their birthdays, Seth and Mina stayed home while Evie and I took the others to Babe’s Chicken (believe it or not, it was Seth’s recommendation).

Evie at Babe's Chicken

Dinner was delicious and we all had a good time, but I missed Seth and Mina.  It wasn’t the same without them.   When we got back from dinner, Mina was like a brand new person.  She was so smiley and happy.  Her daddy knows just what to do for a happy Mina.  He gave her a bath as soon as we left and then they ate tons of gnocchi :-)  You should have seen the smile on her face when we got home.  Oh how it made my day!

Moving on into the week - The girls both had a good days at school (even though Evie has become one of the “biters” in class.  She never does it at home, so I don’t know what to do…. The school said that both of the girls have been really happy and social, but at home Mina has still been on the irritable side (and is continuing to pull on her ear).  The antibiotics have made her tummy all wobbly too.

She's got another appointment with her pedi on Thursday for a check up so well hopefully she'll be better before then.   It just makes me realize how lucky we are.  The girls are are so sweet and really only fussy when they don't feel good.  Comparatively they really haven't gotten sick very often.  The doctor reacted in suprise when looking at Mina's chart she noticed that it had been over six months since she'd been in.  Regardless, illness is not easy on any mom and it breaks my heart to see her cry.  I hope I can report back soon with news of sweet smiles from our Mina bean.

16 weeks in our Berry world

So today we had another first, our first 'sick visit' to the Dr. :-(  It wasn't really too bad, the girls have just been super duper congested for the past two weeks and yesterday Ms. Alberta (the girls' teacher) said she thought she could hear some congestion in the chest.  In addition to that the girls haven't really been eating as well for the past few days and we were a little worried about that.  The Dr. gave them a good look and found an infection in Miss Evie's ear.  She went ahead and prescribed an antibiotic for both girls that should knock out the congestion and take care of little Misses ear.  Good news is the girls haven't had a fever and are really holding up well, despite the constant stuffy nose.  They did really well with their first dose of medicine and we are looking forward to getting over this little. 

We did get a quick little update on about how much the girls weigh - Mina is around 10 lbs 12 oz and Evie's around 10 lbs 4 oz.  I say around since they had their diapers and all their clothes on so it wasn't an 'official' weight.  The fantastic thing about that is that both girls are finally on the weight chart.  Evie's in the 4th percentile while Mina's in the 7th.  This is really great since they weren't even on the chart before.  Our little berries are catching up!

In other news we got a visit from Grandy this weekend and even got the girls out for a bit for their first Greek Food Festival - yum!  The girls managed to sleep the whole festival.

For your berry goodness we have some pictures to share:

16 Weeks Grandy visit

 

 

Tutu Berries

Miss Mina Berry

Evie in her cool shades

Over Two months without an update!

So it’s been a long time since we’ve updated our berry blog, but that doesn’t mean that things haven’t been moving along for us.  Really we’ve just been busy trying to settle in to our schedule and getting ready for the girls to start their Montessori school (they start on the 13th).  Some of the highlights:

    *          Aunt Trish came to help out (Auntie Trish is hard to catch on camera)
    *          We started our cloth diaper journey (we’re really loving it so far)
    *          Mom and Dad went to classes for the girl’s baptism

double berry goodness

    *          The girls had their first pediatrician’s appointment.  Mina weighed 6 lbs 2 oz and was 19 3/4 inches long.  Evie was 5 lbs 12 oz and was 19 3/4 inches long.

Froyo visit

    *          We took our first trip out of the house - for froyo

Grandmom Leane double burp pose

    *          Grandmom Leane has been helping us a ton
    *          The girls enter the system – we receive their social security cards

Off a walking we go

    *          We went for our first ride in our jogging stroller

First Play date

    *          The girls got to have their first play date with Miss Clara

Mia and berries

    *          Granddad Richard and Miss Mia came to help out

Evie boppy berry

    *          The girls made an appearance at their first Bluepers softball game

Granddad Richard with berries

    *          Seth & Granddad cut tons of dead leaves off a massive tree in the back yard

Evie the game show host

Mina the Flamenco Dancer

    *          Magnifico reveals what our girl’s are going to grow up to be – Evie a game show host, Mina a flamenco dancer

Aunt Lala and Unkie Monkey with Berries

    *          Grandee, Unkie Monkey, and Aunt Lala came for a weekend to help out

Auntie Trish captures some fun photos

    *          Auntie Trish came for a weekend to help out
    *          Our great friend Larry took pictures of the girls for us

    *          The girls started sleeping together in a crib in their room

Yin/Yang Twin moment

    *          The girls had their second pediatrician’s appointment (with bonus immunization shots).  Mina weighed 7 lbs 8 oz and was 21 ½ inches long.  Evie was 7 lbs 4.5 oz and was 21 ¼ inches long.

Snuggleberries

    *          Mommy had her follow up appointment with her OB and was released for all activities, she still is on meds for her blood pressure
    *          Mommy started swimming again (1-2 times a week)

Grandee, Mom, Berries

    *          Grandee came for a week to help out
    *          The girls attended their first knitwits
    *          The girls got to go up to Mommy’s work to meet all her coworkers
    *          Daddy was put back on the job market

Berries with Grandma Pam and Grandpa Jack

    *          Grandma Pam and Grandpa Jack came to help out for a week
    *          The girls had their first visit to IKEA

double daddy changing system

    *          Mommy and Daddy had a week or two flying solo
    *          The girls started sleeping 4 hours between their feedings at night
    *          The girls outgrew all their newborn clothes!

Mina Smile

Evie Smile

    *          We've seen some real smiles from the girls
    *          Mommy started back at work

Mina Spider booty

    *          Grandmom Leane came back to catch us up before the girls start school
    *          Mina saw the Dr. to have her umbilical cord site recloterized, Mina had her weight checked at the Dr. – she’s over 9 lbs!
    *         Daddy accepted a new position at SoftLayer in Addison (Starts September 13)
    *         The girls have started mimicing us (especcially when daddy sticks out his tongue).
    *         The girls lift up their heads really well (with great neck control) and have started grasping things
    *         We've finally managed to take all our feedings from mom over the weekend - boy is it nice to not to have to worry about bottles 24/7!  This definitely helps us all out!

Three months

    *          The girls had their third pediatrician’s appointment.  Mina weighed 9 lbs 7.5 oz.  Evie was 9 lbs 2.5 oz.  The pediatrician is beyond impressed with their weight gain and says we can feed on demand now and don't have to wake them for feedings any more.

Now that you all are caught up, here’s the plan for the future – I’m going to start a new feature – “TWIN TUESDAY”.  Every Tuesday I am going to do a quick update on what our family has been up to and post at least one photo.  Hopefully this will keep mommy from slacking off on the blog.

Week 32 Doctors Appointment

A few days after our visit to labor and delivery we went to see the doctor to follow up.  My blood pressure was still a little higher than the he would have liked, so he wants me to monitor it twice a day now.  Thus the purchase of a handy digital blood pressure cuff.  Yeah!  The doctor listened to the girls and checked me out.  He doesn't seem worried about my cervix any longer since we've been able to make it this far.  What he is worried about is my blood pressure and any swelling that might indicate signs of pre-eclampsia.

At this time his recomendation is that I go on home rest so that I can minimize the amount of time that I am up on my feet.  He's fine with me working from home so I have made arrangements with my firm to do so part time so that we can put off going on short term disability for a bit longer. 

I'm heading back to the doctor after one week so that they can do another sonogram of the girls (a bpp - biophysical profile).  They'll do lots of measurements on the girls and make sure they aren't under any stress.  Until then all I can do is make sure I do take it easy until then.  Everyone keep their fingers crossed for us until we verify that they aren't under any stress.  I'll get up another update after our appointment.  Hopefully we'll get some more pictures of them too. :-)

Week 31 Doctors Appointment

Sonogram:
Can you believe the girls are still changing locations!  Baby A has shifted to a breech position with her feet constantly dancing on my bladder and her noggin is angled to my left side. Baby B is oblique transverse and is folded in half with her head angled toward my lower right side and bootey around my belly button.  The girls had lots of fluid in their sacs still, but are definitely cramped for space.  It was really hard to get a decent picture of them since they are so smushed, but we were able to see little A berry kick little B berry in the noggin.  The sibling rivalry is back in full swing!

Sibling Rivalry pic

Baby A Face

HB 135
Weight 3 lbs 14 oz

Baby B Face

HB 153
Weight 3 lbs 8 oz

Visiting with the Dr.:
The doctor was quite pleased with the way things are looking.  My cervical length hasn't changed since he last saw us, which is great news!  We were a little worried since the past week had been pretty busy.  He said that now that we're past 31 weeks he'll still be checking the length, but we're past the point he was really concerned about :-D  He was happy with the weight gain and my blood pressure.  We talked to him about the braxton hicks contractions I've been having.  They happen several times a day, but nothing's been painful (just uncomfortable).  He told us what to look for that might indicate something more and told us to give him a call if any of those things happen.  All in all things are great.  Momma berry is a little more tired each day, but she gets two more weeks of going to work (which means I get two more weeks with the girls after their born - so yippee!!!)

Next appointment is June 7th at 3:30pm (one month from D-day) :-D

Week 29 Doctors Appointment:

Sonogram:
So the girls keep shifting around - not quite sure how since they don't have a ton of room.  They're still looking great.  Baby A had a heart beat of  136bpm and Baby B had a heartbeat of 145bmp.  We managed to get a couple of pictures of them and got to see our little Berry B give us the biggest cutest yawn in 3d.  Too bad we couldn't have recorded that!  It was beyond adorable.  The girls are kind of oblique at this point with their heads down on my left side and their feet up by my upper right rib.  No wonder I'm getting lots of punches in the bladder and kicks in the ribs (boy are my ribs sore)!

Baby A Profile

Baby B Yawny girl

Meeting with the Dr.:
Basically he said I narrowly missed being put on bed rest.  So I bought myself two more weeks before another appointment.  My cervical length had dropped 1 millimeter, but he was confident that if we could keep it to that for each week we'd be fine carrying the girls to the date we want to.  I am to continue on the restricted activity that I was on this past week that essentially means I can go to work, but I need to be laying down on my side when I am home.  We can go out on occasion, but I'm not to do a lot of walking around while we're out.

He suggest that if I have any of the symptoms that might indicate that I might be headed into premature labor that I should call him and let him know.  He suggested we have an 'itchy trigger finger' when it came to anything like that.

So for now - Yeah for two more weeks!  Now I can go to Revit training at work and we should be able to go to our breastfeeding and cesarean section class at the hospital :-D  We have opted to miss our last two operas (Madame Butterfly and Moby Dick) since it won't really allow me the opportunity to at least put my feet up.  It's a small price to pay though to keep the girls 'cookin'.

Our next Drs. appointment is Monday May 24th.

49 more days till the 7th of July!

Week 28 Doctors Appointment:

Sonogram:
Our little berries aren't quite berries any more, or at least they are the biggest berries I've ever seen!  Baby A measured at about 2 lbs 14 oz with a heart beat of 143 (puts her in the 53 percentile) and Baby B measured at about 2 lbs 10 oz with a heart beat of 136 (puts her in the 36th percentile - that's up from 28th percentile).  They both have plenty of fluid in their sacs and seem to be quite happy.  Man are they wiggly too, despite their cramped quarters :-D  It's definitely harder to get good pictures of them since they don't have as much room, but we managed to capture a few pictures.  The Dr. said he was very pleased with their development, especially since their size discrepancy had gone down from 9% to 8%, which he said is fantastic (anything below 15% for twins he said was good).

Baby A 3D - Snugly little girl

Baby B - Smiley little girl :-D

Meeting with the Dr.:
So after the Dr. said how pleased he was with the girls he moved on to a different subject.  Something I noticed during the sonogram, but didn't quite realize how much had changed.  Apparently my cervix has shortened to a point where he wants me to come back in a week for him to check it.  If the rate that it is shortening continues he will put me on bed rest starting next week - boo!

To give you an idea of the change - we started out around 16 weeks with a measurement in the 50's.  By week 24 it was down to 37.  By week 28 it's down to 24.  The Dr. said that there are two camps of doctors when it comes to cervical length, one camp that will call for bed rest at 25 and one at 20.  I'm fortunate that he belongs to the 20 camp - although, he said with the twins he was really teetering on the edge of going ahead and putting me on bed rest...

So at this point, bed rest isn't necessarily a matter of if - it's more a matter of when (and where since he wouldn't speculate whether or not it would be home or hospital bed rest).  I guess it all depends on how I measure next week.  For now my activities have been limited, so no more walking, weights, yoga, or swimming for me.  I can go to work, but I need to keep my feet propped up and when I'm at home I need to spend the majority of my time laying down on my side.  In the meantime I am talking to HR at work and trying to get things set up for my absence (which is a little earlier than I was anticipating).  I don't know at this point if I will be able to work from home or not, they said they would tackle that hurdle when we get there.

So that's what's new with us.  As surprising as this development is, ultimately we're just happy to have two happy and healthy little girls.  We'll do whatever we can to keep them that way.  I may just get to spend more time knitting soon.

As far as our date is concerned, we talked to the doctor about July 7th and he said we shouldn't have any issues making that work :-D  Hopefully we can keep the little girls in for that long.  I'm feeling pretty positive about it.  I just need to relax for three now and enjoy my little wiggle worms while I get to have them close.

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 -

Aren't they lovely!

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.

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 3^rd :-D I'll be getting a belly shot up later today too!

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 ProfileBaby A 3DBaby 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 2^nd and July 9^th. That’s about 12 weeks away – can you believe it!

In other news – last night, April 13^th 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 21^st, 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.

As you can see, things are moving right along for us. All the Tberries appear to be moving in the same direction – early July :-D

22 weeks and 3 days OB with bonus Dentist appointment (was Monday March 22nd)

So today was a really busy day, or at least it was supposed to be.  I had a Pulmonologist appointment scheduled at 9:30, an OB appointment at 10:15 (no worries, they're right across the hall), and a dentist appointment at 11:15 (now that one was cutting it a little close)...

The Pulmonologist cancelled about an hour before the appointment saying there was a medical emergency - so one down, two to go :-D  Fortunately I haven't had any additional respiratory issues (at least since Thanksgiving) so this was really just a check up to make sure everything was going o.k.  Good thing it is :-D

The OB appointment went well.  I found out my little firefly friends (I had a couple of incidences where I was seeing little floaty light - very pretty, but probably not supposed to be there) were probably signs of me skimping on the water.  This wasn't an intentional skimping - more a matter of just being busy.  No worries, I'm definitely making it a priority.

The OB said everything is looking great.  Blood pressure was normal, cervix was nice and closed.  He listened to the girls with a doppler doing his best to listen as they flipped and turned.  He ultimately decided they were doing just fine since they were movin' and groovin' so much.  :-D

I talked to the Dr. about who will be able to be in the room during the delivery.  He basically said that since each baby is going to have their own medical team, he'll have a medical team, and then the anesthesiologist will have a medical team that Seth would really be the only one allowed in with me while the girls make their entrance.  This is a little disappointing, but understandable.  I was hoping the grandmas would be able to come in (especially since they both have medical backgrounds).  Seth will just have to take the girls out one at a time as they make their arrival to show them off.

Regarding the actual delivery - while I was hoping to be able to try for a normal delivery it seems the odds are not really in my favor.  95% of multiples, or so I've been told, are delivered via C-Section.  Apparently there was a study done (the Hannah study I think) that came out saying that (multiple) babies did better when delivered that way, basically since doctors didn't have enough experience with multiple vaginal births.  Ever since that study Drs. have done even less, boo.  I am lucky that my Dr. said if the babies presented themselves favorably that we could talk about it.  He did deliver many sets of multiples that way when he worked at Parkland (back before this study), but even he admits, the opportunity presents itself so rarely that even he is out of practice when it comes to multiples.

Ultimately though, the check-up went well and I'll be back in two weeks for another follow up with an ultrasound.  I am seriously so spoiled getting to see them every month!  I just love it!

After the OB, I made it to the dentist with time to spare.  The appointment went really well.  I was told my teeth are in great shape and there's no sign of infection (I only mention this because I've read that it can negatively impact the pregnancy if there were).

That's about it for the appointment updates.  I'll make sure to update when we have our next one.  It's fun times in Berry land!

4D Sonogram photos

Tara posted the pictures from our 4D sonogram last week. Here's a small collage I made for Grandma Buchanan so she could take some pictures back with her. That's baby A on the left and baby B on the right. I think baby A looks just like Tara. :D

22 Weeks - 4D Scan

20 weeks and 3 days Drs. appt

Today was the 'big scan'. It was so amazing. Seeing not only the girl's hearts beat, but seeing the four chambers of each of their hearts beating beautifully. The technician measured around their little noggins and their tummies. She measured the length of their legs and arms. We got to see their adorable little feet as well as their kidneys and stomachs. The technician even surprised us with a 4d picture of each of them. They're just beautiful. They've apparently already started sucking on their thumbs and playing footsie with one another. Baby A was especially active starting out head down, kicking her sister in the head, and then flipping over so that they were both feet down.

Baby A had a heart beat of 148 and was 14 oz and baby B had a heart beat of 152 and was 13 oz. Needless to say they are two very healthy girls.

After the Dr. reviewed our scans he came into the patient room saying that really he couldn't be happier with their development and progression. He also said that with the way my body is adapting to the pregnancy he was really optimistic about us being able to make it to term and come home with two health 6 or 7 pound little girls. My Dr. seems has started referring to my support system as a 'cervix of steel'. He gets a big grin on his face every time he says it. Even though it's silly, part of it makes me feel a little proud. It's like I was made to bring them safely into this world, even though I've got to admit sounds a little scary from the view point of my elastic belly. Really though, I'd do anything to make life easier for our little girls.

Here are some of the pictures from today's visit:

Baby noggins:

Baby A 4D:

Baby A Profile:

Baby A 'girl':

Baby A stretchy legs:

Baby B 4D:

Baby B profile:

Baby B 'girl':

Baby B feet: