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.

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

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:

16 Weeks and 3 Days OB visit

Looks like they're both little girls! They were playing footsie with each other too!

Footsie

Baby A's a girl!!!

Baby B's a girl!!!

They're both girls!!!

Baby B profile

Baby B looking at us

Baby A Profile 1

Baby A Profile 2

12 Weeks and 3 Days OB Visit

From the e-mail I sent out Jan. 11th:

Just thought I would send out a quick little update. I know some of you have sent e-mails that I'm behind on responding to. Please don't think I forgot about you, we've just been busy. Things are slowing down from the holidays and hopefully I'll have time to catch up soon. Pleas know that Seth and I really appreciate all of your well wishes.

We couldn't get video this time, but should be able to on the 20 week scan.
They were both sleeping till the tech woke them up (by bouncing the ultrasound scope on my belly), then there was no stopping them them from moving and grooving. They were both stretching out and wiggling their arms :-D Baby A kept rolling over and waving - too cute! I swear baby A was banging on the top of it's sac telling baby B to cool it up there - haha!

Baby Stats:

Baby 'A' (closest to the cervix) is measuring at 12 weeks and 4 day (1 day ahead) with a heartbeat of 155.
Baby 'B" (up higher, closer to my belly button) is measuring at 12 weeks and 5 days (2 days ahead) with a heartbeat of 163.

Testing:

They did the Nuchal translucency scan and from the measurements the tech said everything was in the normal range for both of them, hopefully the blood tests will say the same. Ultimately, the Dr. said he couldn't be happier with the pictures we got and with the way things are progressing.

Thank you again for all of your thoughts and prayers. Love from the big berries and little berries!

Baby A and Baby B head

Baby A Wave

Baby A looking at us

Baby B Profile 1

Baby B Profile 2

Birthday surprise

Since today is my birthday I thought I might share some news.

I had originally wanted to wait a little longer to start spreading the news, but my darling husband couldn't contain himself and posted something on facebook (really I can't blame him too much). I am sure has already started to work its way around, so some of you may already know this via social networking...

Seth and I are about to go through a major….. MAJOR life change.

It looks as though we are expecting, not one…. but two additions to our family (and no, they are not new little birdies).

See the photo below if you want to see what I mean. :-D

Not only are we pregnant, we've got twins!