Almost 30 weeks...

Feeling very huge, tired, out of breath and uncomfortable. lol I'm getting to the point of being embarrassed to go out. People stare, and people that know me get the "YOU'RE HUGE" shocked look on their face. At this point, I really don't wanna hear how big I am.......I certainly FEEL it. I don't want to imagine how much bigger I'm gonna get...it actually scares me. I'm thankful I'm all belly but it certainly makes it hard to hide. :) Two babies are no joke!

Ultrasound 29 weeks

We have good news again! Babies look great. They now are 3lbs each! She looked at my cervix and said it's still in good shape as well! So far the contractions aren't doing anything which is good. She said it's going to be very hard for me to tell when to go to the hospital. She said if I'm at all worried about it go...but I'm going to be having more than 4 an hour at this point. The other great news is at this point if the babies are born they won't have any long lasting health problems from being premature. :) She said the 30 week mark is another milestone that means the babies are likely to do very well if born. They would be in the NICU but the outcomes would be very good. She said if I go into labor anytime after 34 weeks, they won't stop it because the outcomes are even better. She said if I don't go into labor before 38 weeks (YIKES) they would do a c-section then and not allow it to go any further. She said anything past 38 becomes high risk for still birth just like anything beyond 42 weeks with a single baby becomes high risk. She said if I have any symptoms other then contractions to go to the hospital. She also said starting at 32 weeks the doctors with put me on a monitor every 2 weeks to check the stress on the babies and monitor their heart rates. She said I look great and it's a good sign that I'm not gaining any other weight other than my belly, she said that will make things easier for me. She said some women are huge by this time. Nick asked what happens if I get completely miserable, and she said SHE WILL. lol She said I could take tylenol PM to help me sleep at night and it's just something you've gotta get through. As far as the babies positions....they are STILL the same. Boy is very head down, very low and the girl is head up. The doctor said that they are pretty comfortable and most likely will stay in those positions. She said the boy as low as he is won't move but the girl still could although most likely not. She's sitting on his head and his feet were on her head. They are pretty tangled up in there at this point as far as their limbs. It's hard to tell who's arms are who's. I did confirm that it is the boys butt that keeps popping out from under my ribs and sticking out my side. It hurts! When I push it back in he kicks. lol Her head pops out from under my ribs on the other side. I can't imagine them getting bigger. They are going to be poking out everywhere! Not many pictures this time....she took some heart and belly shots of them together but most of the shots are very abstract at this point. The feet and legs are so much bigger and thicker then last time but they move so much it's hard to catch any good shots. We could see them practicing their breathing by their chests inflating with the amniotic fluid. Pretty cool. She still has her hands up at her face and was opening and closing her mouth. He has his head down toward my back so we couldn't see his face at all this time.

The doctor got this shot of the girl. It was so cool because she was blinking her eyes. It's her head sideways and you can see her left eye open in this shot.

Follow up

Good news, yesterday my blood pressure and protein levels were normal. :) My blood pressure has consistently been 110/70. Now we're anxious for the ultrasound tomorrow. :)

Docs Appt Mar 14, 2008 & test results

I went to the doctor for my normal 2 week check up. I was supposed to have the new female doctor but she got backed up and I ended up having another female doc who I hadn't heard of. She was really nice though. Dr Hassinger. I gained another lb since the last visit so I'm now up to 119. I thought that was pretty good being that I was sick. Blood pressure was still good 110/70. It's been that 5 or 6 times in a row she said. The babies heartbeats were good. Boys was 145 and girls was lower than his this time at 142. One thing is I had a little bit of protein in my urine which they want to make sure is not an early sign of Preeclampsia. We certainly don't want that, especially this early on. The doctor said she isn't too worried though because my blood pressure was still good and stable so I just need to go in Monday and have them test urine and blood pressure again. I asked how my diabetes and anemia tests went and she said the diabetes test was good but that I was a little anemic so she's asking me to take additional iron along with a stool softener and to try to eat more red meat. It kinda explains my craving for beets and broccoli salad since both are high in iron. How awesome is it that your body knows this stuff?

I told her about my contractions and told her that I had called the doc on call when I was having them every 10 mins and told her that he said they weren't real contractions unless they hurt regardless if I was pregnant with twins or not. She about had a fit. She said I absolutely should have come into labor hall and had a monitor check them out and I should have been examined. I told her I was frustrated because I was told to call if they were frequent regardless of if they hurt or not and then when I did, I was told it was nothing. She said she would certainly talk to that doctor and make sure they are all on the same page. She said it IS different if you're pregnant with twins and they need to be able to catch preterm labor as soon as possible. She said, even if it is nothing, it's better to come in and make sure. She said if they happens again, if any doctor tells you to wait, just tell them you're going to labor hall to be sure and GO. She asked when I was having the contractions and I told her pretty much whenever I'm on my feet for any length of time and it doesn't have to be long. Yesterday I walked around the house once and the contractions started. I sat down and drank water and they slowed down again. She said I pretty much need to be a couch potato from here on out. It's okay to get up and move around for your circulation but then make sure you sit back down and rest. She said she wanted to check my cervix before going into a weekend to make sure nothing was happening. In 2 secs she told me my cervix is still closed and she thinks its about 2 inches long yet which is good. She said she felt a head that was very low which explains why I feel the need to pee constantly but that it was okay and nothing to be concerned about. The boys head and the girls feet have been low for awhile now. When I get my ultrasound Wednesday, they will take a measurement of my cervix and we'll see how these babies are laying. They are becoming more overlapped now which makes things harder to see.

There is one thing I forgot to mention before that I learned in the breast feeding class. I keep thinking about it because it's amazing. She was talking about how they are trying to encourage skin to skin time before breast feeding. (baby lays bare chest on mom's bare chest) I remember hearing about this from our friends that had the premature baby. She said in the NICU they use this skin to skin technique with the babies to help regulate the babies body temp since premature babies have trouble maintaining their temperature. They use fathers and mothers for bonding experiences. This is the cool part, a mother's body temperature will change in order to regulate the babies temperature. So, if the baby is cold, when put skin to skin the mother's temperature will go above normal to warm the baby. In the same way, when placed skin to skin, if the baby is overheated the mother's temperature will drop below normal to cool her baby. How awesome is that? The NICU especially encourages this skin to skin contact for emotional bonding and for the babies physical needs. The father can't do the same thing but they still encourage the fathers to participate for premature babies for bonding and even the father's normal temperature will help warm the baby. I think to myself......how in the world can you not believe in God with the little miracles our bodies perform? Who else could create such a thing in our own bodies to take care of our babies? It's amazing to me. In the classes the teachers would mention "mother nature" as being the one who creates all these things. "Mother nature" is GOD and they aren't mysteries, they are MIRACLES!

Christmas 07 Picture

I forgot I had this one....poor mariah got cut off. :(

Lots of Contractions

The last two days I've had lots of Braxton Hicks contractions. They seem to really start around dinner time until I go to bed. Last night was a little frustrating. I was told by the high risk doctor at my ultrasound appt to call my doctor if I have four contractions in an hour EVEN if they don't hurt because it could be a sign of preterm labor. I've also read this in my twin books and online as well. I can't say I've exactly listened so far because I easily have four in an hour but by drinking water and laying down I can usually get them to stop or at least slow down. Last night was different. They just kept coming. They didn't hurt but they were consistently 10 mins apart and water and laying down didn't stop them. I waited a few hours to make sure they weren't stopping and I decided to call the doctor on call. It was a doctor from the practice that I haven't had yet. His response was "unless they hurt they aren't real contractions so drink water and lay down". I told him I'd been doing that for the last few hours and they weren't stopping. He said not to worry about it and if they start hurting to call back. I told him what the high risk doctor said about it being a sign of preterm labor and that I was calling because she told me to and he said if you feel like it you can go to labor hall and have them monitor your contractions. It was strange, I was frustrated that I was being told different things again but yet I didn't feel anxious about it. Nick left and went to the Y with Jordan and I told him to keep his phone on but I didn't feel like I really needed to go to the hospital. I'm hoping when I do need to go I get that sense of .....OK THIS IS IT. lol I felt like I was going a little nuts so I looked it up on the twin site I visit and my twin books and sure enough....it says to take frequent contractions that don't hurt seriously. I go to the doctor on Friday to see a new female doctor. I'll see what she says. The contractions became less intense and I fell asleep and I am fine so far today. I just keep praying God gives me that sense of when to take it seriously. I'm sure if I have painful ones, I'll be ready to have them check me out. :)

Worship Music & Morphing Belly

The babies love worship music. Every sunday in church as soon as the drums start, they start kicking. They kick the whole time we're singing and now that they are kicking harder and harder it almost startles me at times. lol

When I'm laying or sitting down I can see arms and legs moving across my belly. Every once in awhile her head will pop out from under my ribs which is really strange looking and it hurts until I can move it back. It's neat to be able to move their feet around with my hands and sometimes they give me a kick back. Nick always tells me to stop pestering them but I love to be able to touch them and have them react to me besides I think they like it. :) I wish I could feel the girls feet easier but she seems to still be breech and her feet don't poke out like his do. I'll be anxious to see how they are laying on the next ultrasound....I'll be 29 weeks next week when we see them again!