33 Weeks: Size of a Pineapple

This week has been pretty uneventful in terms of the pregnancy. Thankfully, there were no more unplanned visits to the hospital or any scares of any kind. We are just thanking God that he has allowed at least one more week for these babies to keep growing.

Kyle did have a concert two nights in a row (the last one is tonight, actually). I always enjoy going to these concerts every year. Kyle even had a little speaking part this year. I'm pretty sure I could have gone on stage to do that part since he said it over and over so many times, I pretty much had it memorized, too! He did a great job, even though I was a nervous wreck hoping he wouldn't forget his lines.

We also received our maternity pictures, which was very exciting! They are currently under copyright protection so I will need to ask our photographer if she won't mind me posting them on this blog so people can enjoy them (if you're not on Facebook). Therefore, it may be another week or so until some of you get to enjoy them. Kyle and I really liked them and will probably have a hard time picking out just a few to have printed so we can frame them. No use in printing them all. We might make a photo book through a program called Shutterfly, though, just so we can look through them that way. I will meet with our photographer next week to discuss the twin session which will be in a few weeks. :)

Symptoms:

• Heartburn - supposedly I should be eating smaller, more frequent meals to help lessen this problem. 
• Back Pain
• I officially weigh more than Kyle. Ugh. I wasn't looking forward to this happening but he couldn't be more excited to say that he is no longer the person who weighs the most in the house. I had gained 30.4lbs as of the beginning of this week. 
• Overall discomfort - primarily at night
• Contractions
• My belly button is starting to stick out. Ugh. I was hoping it wouldn't simply because I think it looks weird.  
• My pelvic bone area is now feeling really sore. I'm assuming this is from all the weight the babies are putting on it. 

I had another baby monitoring session this week. Kyle was able to accompany me, which was great! They hooked me up so each baby's heart rate was monitored as well as my contractions for about 30 minutes. Baby A was being sneaky and kept moving out of the way of the monitor so the nurse had to keep coming in to re-find them.  According to the machine, I was having regular contractions but since I couldn't really feel any of them, they didn't seem worried about it. The nurse said the heartbeats were doing great, even though they seemed to jump all over the place from 130-180 bpm within a few seconds. Another nurse came in after the monitoring was finished and did an ultrasound to find the membrane that separated each baby into their own amniotic sacs. It took him a little while because he's never worked with identical twins before. Finally, he found it! Unfortunately, baby A has decided to flip and is breached at the moment. I guess that just proves that I don't know what's going on with these babies since they flip around and I can't even tell. Hopefully they both decide to be good and go head down before I go into labor and give birth!

I can't wait for my next doctor's appointment next week. I'm hoping we can set an actual date for when we will meet our babies! I'm also trying to get Kyle to write another blog, so hopefully you'll hear from Daddy soon! :)

I can't really think of anything else exciting to write about from this week. I am trying to get Kyle to learn a few more signs so he can use sign language with the babies. It's a very slow process, that's for sure, haha!

Until next week... 

32 Weeks

As previously stated in my other post, I am currently 32 weeks along! Well, technically, I'm on the last day of my 32nd week. Another week finished! I keep praying that God's plan is to keep these babies wait until the end to be delivered.

My unplanned visit to the hospital proved to be the most "excitement" I've had this pregnancy. For that, I certainly cannot complain...especially since I'm carrying twins. I came home with 2 massive bruises on my forearms that just looked worse in the aftermath as they turned dark purple and blue. Poor Kyle had a hard time looking at them. I know he hated not being able to go to the hospital with me since he had work all day. Mom had a bit of a struggle with being so far away, too. I can't sit here and honestly say that I preferred to go by myself but I understand there was nothing I could do about it since we live all the way in California and Kyle has obligations because of the military. 

I had another growth scan ultrasound this week. I always enjoy these simply because I get to see how much the twins have grown. Usually they take like 45 minutes and my back hurts because of all the pressure the babies are putting on me. Somehow the technician from this scan only took like 15 minutes! I also was allowed to lie on my side, taking all that pressure off my back. She quickly measured each twin and whatever else she needed to do and then she was done! Both babies are head down. Hallelujah! Basically how she described them, they were almost mirroring each other by the way they were positioned. Both babies' butts are at my rib cage, which is why I always feel so much pressure up there!  I did make sure to tell her I didn't want to know the sex of the babies. I'm always nervous whenever they do ultrasounds that they will end up telling me what sex they are, so I try to make sure to tell them as soon as they start that we want it to be a surprise!

Baby A weighs 4 lbs with a heart rate of 147 bpm. Baby B weighs 3lbs 12oz with a heart rate of 163 bpm. They are right about on track for my 32nd week of pregnancy, which is great. The technician said she could also see hair on both of their heads already! Considering they are a product of both me and Kyle, I can't honestly be surprised though. The tech was able to get a picture of Baby B's chubby little face but since their head is basically lying on top of Baby A's head, she couldn't get a picture of both. 

Symptoms:

• I've gained 29lbs by the beginning of this week. 
• Heartburn
• Lots of strong baby movements
• Baby hiccups
• Difficult with moving and turning from side to side. 
• Braxton Hicks Contractions

Being pregnant around Marines has been rather entertaining. For the first time I had someone tell me I was big. Granted, it was by a guy and they tend to be a little more direct about things, hah! I guess his actual phrase was, "You look like you're about to explode!" Another Marine told Kyle that I looked huge, but chose to tell him when I wasn't around! Of course men will have a different opinion than women do, but regardless, it doesn't hurt my feelings since all I've heard until this point was, "you're so small for how far along you are" etc etc.  Another one saw me and immediately asked if I had stretch marks. That comment caused him to get a few odd looks from people standing nearby.

On a fun note, I think our nursery is ready. It certainly isn't decorated like a lot of nurseries probably are, but there isn't much I can do since I can't paint the walls, etc. Also, having to put 2 cribs in one room makes it a little more challenging to add other things to the room. That's okay, though. We will wait to really decorate their rooms until we buy our own house (hopefully next year)! I've even packed a diaper bag and hospital bag, just in case the babies decide to come early.

So, I'm hoping we are pretty much finished with the preparations. I still have to do a few more things like boil parts for my breast pump and sterilize the bottles even though those bottles aren't going to be used for a while if I can avoid it simply because I want to exclusively breastfeed for as long as possible. Of course, I may periodically pump a bottle, but only so Kyle can feed them occasionally and have that experience with his babies. For those coming to visit...if my breastfeeding is still going well, then I won't be pumping bottles for you to feed the twins, only for Kyle. Sorry, we still love you! But that is non-negotiable.

I also still need to set up a little basket with diaper changing stuff for downstairs so I don't have to run upstairs every time they need a change. Little things like that are still left, but thankfully they are little.

We also should be getting our maternity pictures back very soon!! I can't wait to see them. I love our photographer. We are even going to set up a date to chat about the twins' newborn pictures soon. Most of you will expect pictures that are done in a studio, but please remember that our photographer is a natural light (outside) and more lifestyle photographer meaning there is no studio. She doesn't carry props either, so if we have props then Kyle and I have to supply them. Even though our newborn pictures won't be like the typical studio ones you see, we are okay with it. We believe she'll do a beautiful job regardless. Working with twins is going to probably be a challenge, but it will be fun nonetheless!

I have posted my 32nd week picture. I feel big. Actually, I feel bigger than big, but that's okay. :) I only have a few short weeks left (probably due between Feb 15-22) until my beautiful babies are born and they stop attacking me from the inside. Since they are both head down at the moment, the idea of not having a C-section seems much more real which would be fantastic!

Babies are the size of a Bok Choy! What a fun veggie name...

An Unexpected Visit to The Hospital

Today, I am technically 32 weeks + 3 days along into my pregnancy. The past day or two, I felt like where I normally felt Baby B, had gone quiet. Obviously this worried me a little bit, but with twins, they are obviously moving and hard to know for sure what baby I am feeling or know where they are. So, I went to the hospital, up to Labor & Delivery and asked if I could be checked.

They did a quick ultrasound to find the heartbeat of both babies and checked to make sure they both had enough amniotic fluid, which they did. They were both also head down which was new for me. Shew! Then, they hooked me up to a machine that tracked each babies heart rate as well as if I was experiencing any contractions for at least 30 minutes. When the nurse came in, she looked at the chart and said the babies were doing well, but I was having more contractions than I should be, so they left me on the machine to monitor them and they had me start drinking a lot of water.

After a while, they sent in another doctor to take some vaginal swabs as well as check my cervix to make sure I wasn't going into preterm labor. First of all, having your cervix checked is one of the most uncomfortable and somewhat painful experiences that I have had to endure during this entire pregnancy. I hated every second of it. He said my cervix was closed and he would send the swabs to the lab to check for a few things. The labs came back negative for anything which was also good. In this situation when they have someone contracting as much as I was, they like to keep the patient hooked up to the machine and then recheck the cervix in about 2 hours.

So, I just hung out in the room, watching the chart mark my contractions, drinking my big jug of water. Unfortunately, the water wasn't helping. Water can help when you are experiencing contractions because the uterus is a muscle and if it's dehydrated then it can cause it to contract. Since the water I was drinking wasn't helping, they wanted to put me on an IV of fluids to help. That was a pain. I had 3 people poking me, trying to find a good vein in my forearm. Apparently my veins weren't being very cooperative today. So, I now have 2 huge bruises where they stuck, nicked the artery, but couldn't get what they needed so pulled out. They are so tender! Since the first 2 people couldn't get it, they had a lieutenant come in to finally put the IV in my arm. Thankfully, she succeeded!

They pumped me with 2 IV bags and I was still contracting. I was moved into another room because they needed the one I was in apparently. That was fine with me, because I went into a delivery room it looked like, with a TV and a view of the ocean! So, I laid there for a while longer and had my cervix checked twice more during this time. The doctor I had at first was switched out for a midwife, who I didn't like the first time I met but by the end of my visit, I loved.

While I was at the hospital, I asked 3 different people when I was supposed to deliver with identical twins. The first lady who did my ultrasound said 38-39 weeks. Um... Wrong. Then I asked a nurse who said about 37 weeks. I liked her answer better. Then I asked the midwife and she said about 36-37 weeks. I explained to her that my next doctors appointment wasn't for another 4 weeks, which i would be 36.5 weeks along and she seemed concerned.

"You should be getting checked every 2 weeks."
Luckily, I agreed!

I told her which doctor I used (and they varied every appointment but I told her my favorite one) and she went and called him! She asked why I didn't have an appointment for 4 more weeks and he agreed I needed one sooner, so I have another appointment set up for 2 weeks from today with him. He also told the midwife that my expected delivery was at 36 weeks which is Feb 15. If we follow through with him, which I want, I'm assuming the babies will be born (if they don't come early) between Feb. 15-22.

They sent me home about 6 hours after I arrived. Talk about an unexpected full day at the hospital! I also didn't eat anything from 9am until 5pm. Thankfully I wasn't too hungry since they were pumping me with water and fluids. The midwife said that I may just be contracting because its more common with twins. Since my cervix didn't change within the time I was there, they didn't seem worried I was experiencing preterm labor.

Tomorrow, I have a growth scan ultrasound so it will be nice to see how much the twins have grown in 4.5 weeks. I am very glad that everything turned out okay today, even if my day was spent with needles and machines hooked up to me.

Prayers that everything goes well for the last 4-5 weeks of the pregnancy! We want these babies to cook more and develop as much as possible.

31 Weeks and a Very Happy Birthday to Daddy!

Happy Birthday to Daddy! Kyle celebrated his 28th birthday this week. Since we celebrated a birthday, we broke our No Bad Sweets rule for the year and I made him some Chocolate Chip Banana Mini Muffins for his birthday breakfast and then for that night, I made him a Coca Cola Cake with Ice Cream. This is our last time enjoying sweets until the next birthday...which will be mine in a few months! While cleaning up my mess from making his Coca Cola Cake, Kyle was so nice to bring me a chair to sit at so my back could have a rest. He's so sweet, haha!

Thankfully, he had a good birthday and got a few things in the process :). I bought him a (faux) brown leather jacket and my mom bought him some matching leather gloves that you can still wear while using a touch screen cell phone! Most of the time you have to take off gloves in order to use your cell phone, but now he won't have to! So, when we move home next year during January, he will be able to enjoy these much more than he can in Cali. I also bought him a ping pong net that attached to our kitchen table, because he loves the game. So, naturally, I will be recruited to play frequently. He got a few more things and cards, too, that I know he enjoyed :) Then, that night we went to Outback and ate a yummy meal!

Symptoms:

• Weight Gain: 2.2 lbs this week. Actually, I typically weigh myself every Saturday morning (the first day of the new week for my pregnancy) and when I weighed on Saturday morning it said I had gained almost 4 lbs in one week! Holy crap! So, obviously I was gaining more weight by eating more. I weighed again on Sunday morning and it went down to 2.2 lbs, so I'm using that weight as my actual weight gain simply because the 4 lbs seemed really excessive. Who knows, though. With the 2.2 lb weight gain, I'm up to about 25 lbs. 
•  I still have a hairy stomach and it is still really weird.
• Pressure in my stomach - sometimes I feel like my stomach wants to explode.
• Limited movement. This is one I am really struggling with. It is hard to turn while sleeping; it is hard when I try to get up from the couch; it's hard to bend down or over for any reason. This is the one symptom that is beyond aggravating.
• Crazy baby movements - When they move, and I look at my tummy, it looks like there is something trying to get out! It's crazy! Kyle and I can also easily find where a baby is because my stomach will look odd shaped, because a baby is pushing up against it. It's also much harder in that area than in other areas in my stomach, so it's obviously a baby is nestling right there.
• Bloody Nose 

I am still crocheting like a crazy woman. I am making a big, fluffy blanket and I'm so stinking excited. I'm worried about my color choices though, since I am using several different colors and I didn't really think it through before I started the project but I'm too far along to go back and rethink it, so we will just see how it goes! If anyone wants to donate yarn, I will gladly accept them ;-)

By the end of this week, I finally had another doctor's appointment! I've quickly figured out that these doctor appointments are useless. My appointment was considered my 32 week appointment and my next one scheduled isn't for another 4 weeks....on Feb 18. Um...I'm sorry...I thought I was supposed to be delivering at that time?? I don't have a date for a possible delivery. I don't have anything or know anything about what I'm supposed to do or expect for a due date for me. It's ridiculously annoying and frustrating. The good thing is that I am supposed to start weekly monitoring starting next week. This is when I go into some department (different than the OB clinic) and they monitor the babies for 20 minutes. I'm assuming if they notice anything wrong, then they will address the issue. Who really knows? They haven't checked me to see if I'm dilated or anything. I feel like the doctors have done basically nothing in terms of treating me. All they've done is make sure each baby has a heartbeat and then they're done.

 They did tell me that I tested negative for gestational diabetes which was fantastic! My iron is a little low, but the doc didn't seem too concerned about it. I will just need to make sure I take 2 prenatals from now on. Both babies are still alive and have good heart rates, which is wonderful. Baby B is still in breach which isn't shocking. I figured that would be the case since I can feel what appears to be its head up under my right ribcage which becomes extremely uncomfortable and makes me stretch out my torso by lying down. At least I know when I feel them moving that they are doing okay, though. :)

We set up our pack and play downstairs, so we have an area downstairs for the babies to lie in. I've started packing up diaper bags to get them read, and I've ordered some more baby stuff like burp cloths, receiving blankets, towels, baby powder, etc etc but I think we are almost finished with the baby buying for a little while, thankfully. I do need to set up a box for downstairs with stuff to change the babies' diapers, as well as a few other things. Maybe this next week I can finish that.

Only a few more weeks left! In fact, next month I'll be a momma! How exciting and terrifying all at the same time.... hehe.

Much love.

30 Weeks

This week marked my 30th week of pregnancy. Sometimes I cannot believe how quickly this pregnancy has gone by! At the same time, I feel like I've been pregnant for forever. 30 weeks is quite a long time!

We had our maternity session this week with Tara Yarte. She was super fun and very easy to work with. It's always nice to meet and support another military wife. She's really excited about the twin session, too, which makes me even more excited for it! The location was super cute and had a nice big tree that was beautiful. Why, you ask? Its leaves were falling and were a mixture of yellow and orange...just like fall...but it's January! Our pictures may look like they were taken in October, but I'm super excited about it! Luckily, since we are both military wives, she will be close by for when the babies need their newborn session. Just a few more weeks until babies are here and I get beautiful photos of them :)

I have started knitting and crocheting. This is good and bad for several reasons. Good, because it gives me something to do and I will feel good when I actually finish it. Bad, because the yarn is taking my money! However, I really want to make a big, comfy blanket that we will hopefully have for a while! 

Symptoms:

• I only gained .2 lbs this week which worries me since I only have 6-7 weeks left, max. These babies need to grow as much as possible to avoid any time in the NICU. Therefore, I'm once again forcing myself to eat more and hopefully grow these babies as much as I can in their last few weeks. 
• Itchy - I am still itching from my skin stretching and growing. I don't scratch too much though. 
• Feeling stretched out - I am finding that by the end of the day, my stomach is super uncomfortable and I hate to stand. I think it has to do with the amount of weight being carried in my midsection now. Often times my belly button will actually experience a little pain, too. 
• Bloody Nose
• Struggling with Deep Breaths

On a side note: We finally got the new part to our crib! Furniture wise, we are finished with the nursery! We still need to get a few more things but our check list for the babies has dwindled quite a bit which is a wonderful accomplishment!

 

  

 Kyle and I had 2 friends over who are also in the band: Josh & Mollie. One is in Kyle's band and the other is from another band in the San Diego area. We had a great time playing games as well as making dinner! We are trying to get in as much friend time as possible before the twins arrive, since it will be a rare treat afterwards!

Kyle had to go back to work full time this week, so I found myself feeling much lonelier than usual. I was so spoiled having him with me daily, for all hours of the day! Now, I'm lucky if I get 4 hours of time to spend with him. He will be so busy for the next few weeks, all the way until the babies are born. That's why we are also hoping the babies don't decide to come early, because for some of those concerts he will still be required to play even if it's during his 10 days off with me and the babies! We obviously don't want that to happen.

I can't believe I only have 6-7 weeks left of being pregnant! If I only had one baby, I'd still have 10 left, but these twins are obviously going to arrive before that mark. We are hoping that they hang on as long as possible and don't push me into any preterm labor. My pregnancy has gone really well thus far, and we are praying it continues!

30 Weeks: Size of a large Cabbage

29 Weeks & It's 2014!!

"24 Year olds should not pee their pants every time they cough!"

Yes, that is what I shouted at the beginning of this week as I stomped up the stairs and threw a little temper tantrum. This whole, inability to control my bladder muscles really got to me while being sick. It was so incredibly frustrating. Plus, I went through underwear rather quickly. Bless Kyle's patience as he would just sit and listen to me complain about how I had no control over this ridiculous cold, even though I was doing everything right: resting, drinking tons of fluids, taking what medicines I could, etc. Thankfully by the end of the week, I was beginning to feel human again. :)

This week was New Years! This was the 3rd year in a row that I have been in CA with Kyle and haven't gotten to spend it with him. His band is in the Rose Bowl parade every year, so he always leaves on New Years Eve for Pasadena and comes home on New Years day. I'm hoping this will be the last time since Kyle gets out of the military early January next year. Hopefully they won't make him do the parade again. I'd like to celebrate with him and the twinnies for their first time! (Even if that celebration means they are peacefully asleep and we don't have whiny babies).

Symptoms:

• Braxton Hicks Contractions - I experience some kind of cramping almost daily now.
• Hip pain - thankfully its not everyday.
• Increased appetite - I am noticing that I want to eat all day! 
• Stretched out feeling. Almost daily, especially at night, I feel like my stomach is beyond stretched and is going to pop! It's pretty uncomfortable. Unfortunately, nothing helps with it. 
• Weight Gain: Almost 23 lbs
• Itching - specifically around my belly button. I try to only lightly scratch. 

I can't believe it is 2014. This year, I become a mommy! By the end of this 29th week, I was able to say "I'll have babies next month!!" Whoa! How freaky and a little scary is that?? Of course, it is incredibly exciting. I cannot wait to meet the little boogers who are constantly jabbing at my insides.  With this new year, Kyle and I have set up our new years resolution. We have decided to cut out unhealthy sweets but we are opting to keep things like yogurt as a healthy option. Soft Drinks are also forbidden unless we go to the movies. We successfully completed that resolution for 2013 and want to continue it into 2014. Hopefully we are as successful with the sweets as we were with the soda!

Not too much went on this week. I have my next growth scan and doctor's appointment in 2 weeks, so I will have to be patient until then.  Next week is my maternity photo shoot and I am super excited! Hopefully the weather holds up (Hah! who am I kidding, it's San Diego) and we can make some pretty pictures :)