We had an awesome ultrasound yesterday. The normally cold and sterile ultrasound tech was super friendly and even turned on the 3D ultrasound for us! She was super chatty and talked all about her experience with a c-section and my doctor who performed it.
Emma Cate is weighing in at 3lbs 2oz and Holden is a bit bigger at 3lbs 8oz. That's a lot of baby in my tummy! We saw Dr. Wicker who is hilarious, and he commented on how much bigger my belly has gotten. I did indeed gain some weight this week my official weight gain is 23lbs. I think that I'm holding onto a lot of fluid. My rings wouldn't come off without a fight today so I'm taking them to the jeweler this afternoon to be resized.
Both Emma Cate and Holden look fabulous. They are swallowing fluid well and their systems are working perfectly. My cervix is still holding strong at 4.65cm. Holden has turned head down and it looks like a vaginal birth is possible, even though I'm still leaning towards the c-section. I've got two (large-if they take after Mom and Dad) baby butts pushing on my rib cage and causing me grief when I have to sit up straight. I'm thinking of moving the reclining glider into the family room to sit on instead of the couch for time being.
I talked to Dr. Wicker about my contractions and he suggested I cut my hours to part-time or stop working all together. I'm not quite ready to do that yet. As a teacher, you can't really cut hours down to part-time so I'm just going to plan on leaving as soon as I can in the afternoons (luckily I have planning last period) and keeping my feet up.
Yesterday I stayed seated most of the day, kept my feet propped up, laid down for almost 2 hours at the doctor's office and still had contractions when I was leaving. I think they are going to come no matter what and my best defense is LOTS of water, keeping my bladder empty, and changing positions.
My doctors want to see me every week now and I'm nervous about scheduling all this coverage for my classes. At this point of the year, no teacher wants to work extra during their planning period and I just hate asking for it but I don't really have a choice. I've got 4 sick days left and I'm trying to hold off on using them.
Here are a few pictures of the babies from yesterday:
Holden- hand is in front of face in all of these pictures
Holden
Holden
Holden
Emma Cate snuggled up to Holden's head
Emma Cate
Emma Cate
Emma Cate
30 weeks 1 day
Please excuse the unmade bed!
I feel like this picture is most like what I look like in real life!
30 weeks 1 day
30 WEEK POST:
We're in the 30s! So exciting. I am so happy to have carried the twins this far but I am soooo uncomfortable.
This week has brought us a lot of pregnancy challenges and not a ton of positives (except for the biggest being that I am still pregnant at 30 weeks! and that I PASSED my three hour glucose tolerance test with flying colors- YAY!!!!). I've been feeling very very tired this week. The extra energy I had is dwindling. People are commenting on how huge I am and I've definitely got my waddle on. Contracts are happening a lot and I've been scared a few times when I've had several within the course of an hour in the evenings. We've debated calling the nurse line and heading to the hospital to get them check out but I'm almost positive they are just braxton hicks as they haven't developed a pattern. They come on in the evenings and I assume they are just warning signs that I need to rest, relax, and drink more water!
All of the baby blankets, sheets, and towels have been washed and organized. Tonight's mission is to pack my hospital bag. I go in for my ultrasound tomorrow and our labor and delivery class nurse has told us multiple mommies to have everything ready to go when you go to each ultrasound after 28 weeks. Scary but I'd rather be prepared!
Jay and I attended childbirth class last night and had a different teach than the first class we attended last week. The rest of the class must have thought the first teacher was awful too because only two couples (including us) came back for the second class. The class was sooo informative and real. The teacher was awesome and told us "how it really works" compared to just reading from the text provided. While I'd been considering trying a vaginal birth if both babies were head down (I have a feeling they are right now), I think I've decided that c-section would probably be better for giving the least stressful entry into this world that I could. I'm also feeling more comfortable with the length of the hospital stay after a c-section compared to the 2 day stay after a vaginal birth. That is definitely not the main reason but to two new parents of twins, we want all of the help and education we can get before bringing them home!
I'm looking forward to my mom and sister coming in town for mother's day. It will be really good for Jay to get out of town for the weekend and be relieved of his duties around the house. Hopefully he can get some rest and relax while he visits with his mom this weekend.
I have my doctor's appointment tomorrow so I'll update with more specifics and some pictures but until then...
Pregnancy Highlights:
Today's Date: Wednesday, May 9th, 2012
How Far Along: 30 weeks
Pregnancy Countdown: 56 or less days
Size of babies: A cucumber. The babies are 15.2-16.7 inches long and weigh between 2.5- 3.8 pounds (it will be interesting to see what they are measuring at tomorrow!)
Total Weight Gain/Loss: 25 pounds. Up 6 pounds this past week. I definitely feel like I've gained that much in my stomach. These babies had better be huge!
Maternity Clothes: Yes, tried to put on a tank to sleep in last night and the hem around the bottom was cutting into my belly! Not a pretty sight.
Gender: Girl- Emma Cate and Boy- Holden.
Movement: I had a chick-fil-a milkshake yesterday and babies went nuts. I'm feeling some definite jabs and gurgles (I'm not sure how else to explain it). Entire bodies are moving around and pushing against my insides to get out!
Sleep: Sleep is terrible. My belly weighs too much to even lay on my back on the couch to watch tv. When I lay on my sides, my hips fall asleep and I think I'm having restless leg syndrome. Last night Jay told me that I was waking myself up every 10 minutes kicking my legs. Poor Boomer got kicked pretty hard too :(. Also last night, I woke up choking again and threw up over the side of the bed. Luckily it didn't hit the sheets and Jay is SOOOO sweet to clean up after me without complaint. I'm going to talk to the doctor about adjusting my acid reflux meds because I think something is off.
What I miss: being able to get off of the couch without assistance.
Cravings: The list so far of things I've craved the most this pregnancy: Icees, Mac & Cheese, Chocolate Ice Cream, and Coke
Symptoms: braxton hicks, acid reflux, getting incredibly hot, cramping, extreme pressure when I stand up or walk, stretch marks, itchy skin on my stomach.
Best Moment this week: Spending quality time with Jay and hearing him talk about how excited he is to be a dad. I know I've said this a lot but I am so excited to be starting a family with him. He is going to make an awesome dad. Second best moment would be learning that I passed my glucose test and don't have gestational diabetes!
Your baby's the size of a cucumber!
Your 15.2- to 16.7-inch, 2.5- to 3.8-pound baby continues to grow.
