20 Weeks: Contractions, and lots of them.

This past week has been a whirlwind. Holiday prepping, house projects and contractions. That's right. On Friday, one day shy of 20 weeks, I had my first set of real, preterm contractions. Before now, the most I had ever had were 3 in one night and they were nowhere within the time frame to even be concerned. As a side note, they generally tell you if you have 4-6 in 1 hour you should call your doctor and be prepared to go to the hospital.

I took the day off Friday and while I was around the house I noticed, off and on, a tightening sensation in my belly. It definitely seemed a bit different than normal, but I thought maybe I was imagining things or that the babies were just lying more forward that day (thus making my belly more tight, which does happen frequently). What was so different is that this day, the feeling kept coming and going fairly often and it didn't last long at all. Looking back, the main difference between this and when it's just the position of the babies is that it positioning lasts longer and my belly physically looks a bit lopsided and harder on the one side.

Around 3pm I decided I needed to follow what they tell you - lie down, drink tons of water, start feeling my stomach for tightness with my hands and count what I thought were contractions (though at the time I wasn't entirely sure still). I noticed only 2 the first 2 hours, but later that evening, when Jay got home from work, I had 6 within 40 minutes and another 2 in an hour for a total of 8. At this point we gathered all of our resources from the classes we've taken which talk about preterm labor and called the emergency number for my doctor's office.

Within 10 minutes I received a call from one of the doctor's on call (Dr. Pearce). He asked me to tell him what had been going on and when then repeated "you're 20 weeks?" Making it seem like this was bit odd, but not unheard of. He then asked me to describe them in more detail. I told him that they were no more than 15-20 seconds in length, but at one point 3 of them were 2-3 minutes apart. They didn't in any way hurt. I could feel them coming on though through a tightening sensation and both Jay and I could verify that by touching my belly. He said that based on the fact that they didn't hurt and their length (which I'm guessing means they also wouldn't likely cause significant cervical change), he didn't want me to go to the hospital, but instead I should keep drinking lots of water and take it easy. If over the next couple of days they continued or intensified, I should call the office again and come in to get checked.

The good news is that they didn't continue for long. For the next two hours I maybe had 2 more, but that was it. I attribute this to drinking tons and tons of water (they tell you 4-8 in 30 minutes... yes I was drinking and visiting the restroom non-stop) and the fact that I finally stopped crying.

Why was I crying? Well. I'm pregnant.

Need I say more? :)

Actually, Friday was a really great day for us. I should have been jumping off the walls. But, with the preterm labor contractions I was upset and new news that came my way scared me a lot at the time. You see, Jay got a new job. This is the really, really great part. It's something he's worked very hard for and will likely present him a very nice career path for his future. It will also give us a more stable income for our family once the kids arrive and will allow him to work from home full time, which means more security in case of an emergency while I'm at home with the babies full time. So, all great great news. The upsetting part was due to the fact that we learned he would have to go out of town for training longer than expected. We are now looking at 3-4 weeks minimum, maybe even up to two months, with the bulk of this time occurring in January. I will be in my mid-to-approaching late 20s (weeks wise) by then and preterm labor becomes more and more of a concern around this time.

The thought of being all alone during something like that happening and not having him really freaked me out, which explains the crying. During this time, I was having the most contractions I'd ever had too. You hear about stress contributing to all sorts of things and this would be one of them. So, lots of water and a stress-free lifestyle are what I what I need right now to help maintain a contraction-free lifestyle. Hmmm... maybe I should go to a tropical island until the babies come...

A quick note...

Baby girl, you gave me your first official big kick this week. Tuesday, 12/14 to be exact. I was sitting at work and you gave me a few good jabs, letting me know you were up to something! Until now, you've been more famous for "balling up" and moving around in my belly as a noticeable lump. Your brother, on the other hand, is quite the kicker! Looks like you too have been rubbing off on each other. :)

For weeks mommy has spent time trying to find the perfect decorations for your room. It's really hard to find cute things for both boys and girls, but you can't go wrong with fun, colorful animals, so that's what I've decided to do. Daddy insisted on "more monkeys!" in the decor, so we'll have to see what we can do. I hope you grow up loving your puppy dogs and other furry creatures just as much as your daddy and I do. They are great to cuddle with and will make you smile when sometimes no one else can. One of God's greatest gifts!

Eeek! We're having a baby boy and girl!! :-D

Us being giddy about the news! Ok, in truth the dogs wouldn't leave us alone
and were making us laugh, but you'd never know the difference :)

Final pic. Yes, I am getting a bit of a double chin. :-)

Of course we would have been thrilled with any combination, but this certainly allows us to have fun watching our little boy do "boy" things and develop into a man and our sweet little girl with all of her girlie tendencies grow into a young woman. I have fallen in love with this idea more and more each day. To be truthfully honest, I was slightly worried about the idea that I might be a bit sad if I had to let go of either boy or girl clothes that we've accumulated. Each is so adorable for different reasons and was already laundered and folded all nice and neat in their drawers just waiting for them. And, now they are here to stay!!

To think of a "mini" Jay and "mini" me is so fascinating. We often talk about which traits they might inherit, in particular eye color. Will it be chocolate brown or blue? And who's nose will they get? So incredible and wonderful to begin to think about.

The BEST news of all is that each baby looks perfect according to growth and measurements for their gestational age. I am so very thankful of that and hope it continues through the rest of the pregnancy. My weight gain is up to 24 lbs total (yes, another 9 lbs added in just four weeks), but it's all worth it.

We weren't able to video this particular ultrasound, unfortunately. For insurance reasons, they don't generally allow you to do so at a time when they're measuring and such. I'd like to share a few things though that I love and remember most about the day. We were VERY anxious the entire day, for obvious reasons. We went into the room, scanned each baby's heartbeats and immediately she asked us if we were finding out genders. Yes - of course!!

So, without further ado, gender was the first thing she went looking for. It was one of those moments when time felt like it was standing still. The first baby to be scanned was Baby A, the one lower and closer to the cervix. And... VERY quickly she announced "BOY!" and there he (he and his "parts" that is) was displaying proudly on the ultrasound screen. Let's just say our little boy isn't the least bit shy. :) I turned my head to see Jay grinning from ear to ear!

Our precious little boy show off his parts (directly beneath the text).
Both of these gender photos were taken from a "seated" position,
looking directly up at their little behinds :-)

Then, she started scanning Baby B who is higher up. It took a few seconds, and as she was scanning we started to talk about how, in the car during the drive there, we were joking that the lower baby poked the baby on top and the voice Jay gave the top baby was a bit "girly". I laughed and said "I take it Baby B is a girl - that or we have a very effeminate boy on our hands". We had a good laugh about that. In the middle of us recalling our story, the ultrasound tech calls out, you're right "IT'S A GIRL!" This is the point when Jay said my look of slight concern turned into a complete smile. (yes, I was admittedly a bit worried about having two rambunctious boys!)

Our sweet little girl and the only time her parts will be public!
(again, beneath the text, but a bit harder to make out
than brother's, in my opinion)

Another neat thing to mention is that they are, in fact, lying top-bunk/bottom-bunk style in my uterus, meaning their sacs are stacked in that fashion just like our infertility specialist, Dr. Ahlering, said! I don't know how he could tell this so early on, but he was right. The ultrasound tech said that they will remain like this the rest of the pregnancy, meaning our boy will always be on the bottom and our girl always on the top. I love this because it makes carrying them even that much more neat. During the ultrasound we saw baby girl standing on her head, forming a T shape with her horizontal brother (at the time). Throughout the hour though, they both moved around all sorts of ways. She tended to favor being balled up on my left side, which is exactly how I tend to feel her. We also saw her sucking her thumb for just a brief second and as soon as the tech had it on a good position to watch her, she pulled it out of her mouth as if to say "I wasn't sucking my thumb!" It was darling.

Something else funny to mention... about two weeks ago I decided to shampoo the cushions for the new glider we bought for the nursery (a Dutailer we found on Craigslist for just $15!!). The baby books must be right when they say babies begin to hear around this time because not long after I turned on the machine, they both formed this big heavy ball in my belly. Guess I woke them up! I felt so bad!! Now I always make Jay do the shampooing when the dogs have carpet mishaps!

Our next appointment is set for December 31 at 3pm. I will be nearing the 23 week mark at that point. After that, our doc said that we would start coming in every 2 weeks or so, instead of the roughly every 4 weeks, which is what we have been doing. It will be so nice to see them more frequently! Please keep us in your prayers as we enter this second half of the pregnancy and that we don't go into pre-term labor and that I can carry these babies as long as possible.

Here are some more pics that came out of this ultrasound. They really didn't end up taking too many of our little girl, but I will hold them to it next time! Little man sure is cute though :)

Childbirth Classes: The closest thing to a baby manual

As of this past weekend, most of our pre-birth classes are out of the way. They are fun and very informative, but tire me out!

A few weeks ago we took a class called "Breastfeeding for Multiples". Yes, Jay went :) He was a bit hesitant, but I assured him I needed him and that there would be plenty other men there (going out on a limb, but I figured this was the case since it recommended it in the class info write-up). Thankfully, I was right. There were four couples of twins - complete with Dads! For the most part we reviewed initial days and weeks "how-twos" after the babies arrive. Generally speaking, we'll treat them a bit like singletons until each of them can feed well on their own. Once we've got it down, we'll figure out how to do tandem feeding. Yes, I've already begun to think about the sheer logistics of this and yes I'm sure it will prove to be challenging. Hopefully the babes (and mom) will catch on quick so that I can utilize any help that's still coming by. Either way, I'm sure we'll get there with time and lots of patience.

What I really took away from this class was the concept of how important it is to begin breastfeeding as soon as possible after delivery (if no NICU of course) and that the size of a babies stomach is itty bitty when their first born so what they will require will be equivalent to what their little bodies can actually process. In fact, when they're first born, their little intestines haven't fully learned out to process "true" food (hence why they go through various stages of really weird looking poo - if you look, beware of the icky but informative photos). So, essentially, demand will increase as supply does. Which is a relief since you often hear that women worry that they're babies aren't getting "enough" milk. Our instructor literally said that the first day or two you might feed in 10-15 increments every 2 hours and that would be enough. Above and beyond that time, is time dedicated to pumping. Pumping in combo with breast feeding can be critical, especially for mothers of multiples. This is because supply is often a direct result of demand. The more you empty your breasts, the more you are telling your body how much to make. She said that on average you should empty a minimum of 8 times per day (total of breast feeding and pumping). In the very beginning (when baby isn't demanding a lot), you need to finish emptying your breasts after baby feeds in order to get your supply really going. The other key thing to breastfeeding multiples, she said, was to alternate which breast each baby feeds on and the angle at which they feed. This is because the sucking power will vary among babies and you want to make sure to empty each breast as equally as possible.

Yes, there was a lot of boob talk, but it was interesting to learn! We also watched a video and used a baby doll to each practice feeding positions. I'm looking forward to getting into the class booklet a little more in-depth in the months to come. Oh I hope we have success with this as it will ultimately be best for the babies and will help in so many other ways, including weight loss and moola :)

The most recent class we just finished our Childbirth in a Day class. Rather than string it out over several weeks, especially because we may end up going the c-section route anyway, we elected to take the one-day class. Lots of info and another booklet with videos to review as it draws closer.

Now, all that's left on this front is to buy for and pack our hospital bags in advance, get a pediatrician lined up and take an infant CPR class. Ok, so there's still a lot to do but we're making headway!


What's New with Mommy...

Movements: Last night I felt Tweedle A "kick" for the first time (3x in a row!). It was soooo awesome! I tried to call Jay in to experience it too, but, of course, baby stopped moving.
Slowing Down: On Sunday I decided to catch up on some housework. Nothing major - a little laundry, dishes, cooking, general vacuuming and dusting, etc. I didn't stop and lie down a ton, but I figured I'd be ok since I wasn't doing a ton of walking. Boy was I wrong. By the end of the night my body was hurting and the next day I was a zombie. So, I need to find a way to always do a little each night that way I don't have to "catch up", because frankly I don't want to wear myself down like that again.
Symptoms: I never thought I'd be saying this, but my tailbone hurts like crazy!! Who would have thought that would be something associated with pregnancy, but I guess it does make sense. Especially because I have a strong feeling that I'm carrying Tweedle A pretty low and more to my back, whereas the Baby B seems to be up front and to my left. So far it would seem that the only thing to relieve or prevent this is to not sit upright for long periods of time. That, in combination with the fact that standing or walking for too long also makes my back and belly sore, it sounds like more, true pelvic rest (lying down) is in my future, like it or not.

17 Weeks Tomorrow! Have I mentioned I love my new belly?

Because I do! Sure, the bigger it gets the more challenging things are becoming, but that's just part of it. I am too much in awe of the little lives that are at work here to focus on the aches and pains for too long. I bought my first official maternity pants a little over a week ago and, let me just say, those are heavenly. They are the next best thing to pajamas or nudity. :) They feel so much better on my tummy and are much easier than dealing with the belly band rolling up and down all the time.

In other belly news, I am getting not only growing in the front, but also out to the side (I laughed at the thought of possibly eventually looking like a moo cow!). I attempted to capture this in the pic below, but it's harder to see straight on than I originally thought, though you can see a hint of it on my left side in the pic.

And if you're not totally done with belly shots by this point, the one above is my newest side at 16 weeks and below is an updated slideshow with weeks 14 & 16 added. Life is good!

We can feel you babies!

I've not noticed you "kicking" yet, but for the past two weeks off and on, I have felt different spots in my uterus become balled up and firm... it must be your sweet little bodies curled up and rising to the surface. I love every second of it! Last night was the first time your daddy was able to feel you, too. I was laying in bed getting ready to call it a night when I felt one of you (Tweedle A)... I called him over and after several seconds he said he could feel you turn or move! Further proof you are growing bigger and bigger by the day.

I am quite proud of being able to show you off now!

Just look at how much you are making mommy's belly poke out!!

{16 weeks}

In just two short weeks we will go to the doctor to get an ultrasound to find out what each of your gender is! Daddy and I have been talking about names and have a few ideas we like that we keep coming back to. We've decided to keep your names secret for now and will surprise everyone with them the day you both are born! It is so exciting that you will share this occasion with each other for years and years to come.

God has created each of you with a mind and independence of your own, but has also given you a life-long friend and confidant to share lots of laughter and even troubles with. I pray that you will never take this for granted, treasure what he's given you and will always stick by each others' sides no matter what.

We love you forever!
Mommy & Daddy

Week 15! Date set for the gender scan!!

Our 14w6d appointment last Thursday was a good one. Nice and uneventful, just like we like.

First item of business was the weigh-in. The big question: Would 3 1/2 weeks be enough time to put on enough weight to "catch back up" to where I should be? Well, in my case, yes. It was plenty of time. Actually, I gained more than I needed to. {Whoops!} At my last appt I was at 115 1/2. This next appt, I was 122! 7 lbs in 3 1/2 weeks is 2 lbs a week. Holy cow! I was instructed to either keep it up (starting small never hurts to gain a bit more, at least I'm told) or take it down a notch to 1-1/2 lbs a week. I'm going to keep on eating just like I have been while I'm still nauseous and then I might rethink how this whole food thing will work. For now, it's a must eat situation and I know my babies are benefiting from it. They have plump little bellies now! (So cute!!)

Ok, enough about my weight... onto the babies! Any and every time we get to see them we are happy. Would I be a bad mom if I said this wasn't the "best" ultrasound ever? Nah, that's not their fault. I think it had to do with where the Dr was placing the scanning device and, consequently, it made it hard to get good identifiable shots at times. Just a few short days ago when the other doc did it, she focused in more on the top of my belly and got great shots. Not that I'm critiquing or anything ;-) Anyhow, what peek we did get of them was really neat. Their little skeletal system is quite evident at this point. Tiny spines and arm bones and even little skulls... you'll see what I mean a bit later. Let's just say cute and a bit creepy at the same time!

Also, lots of movement and we could see a glimpse of tiny heart valves. Tweedle/Baby A (the lower tweedle, which, by the way, they always refer to the bottom-most baby as "a" and the top-most as "b") *almost* gave the Dr a gender shot, but no such luck, which is ok. Our appt was running a bit behind, which meant we were running late for our last class that night, and I found it a bit hard to concentrate as a result. I even forgot to ask detailed questions about the bleeding incident. We did talk briefly about it and he said didn't seem all that concerned about it and he tried locating it again on the ultrasound, but had no luck, and said that was a good thing.

The big news from this appt is that we have a date for our Level II ultrasound, which is also the day we find out the genders of our babies!! We are pretty darn excited! The date is Thurs, December 3. We will definitely let everyone know what we find out, as I know lots of people are just as eager to hear the news. This is also the ultrasound where they will be measure to make sure their growth is still on target and take closer look at the heart, bladder, stomach, brain, spine, heart rate, placentas, amniotic fluid... and who knows what else. I'm hoping that the excitement of learning the genders will take the focus away from the slight nervousness of having our babies looked at in such detail for any possible issues. In all, the scan itself will take around 1hr and then we will have an appt immediately following with our OB. The nice thing is that after this ultrasound, we will begin seeing him every two weeks until week 30, instead of every 3-4 weeks. Bonus!




Above: If you look really close, and turn your head upside town :-), you may
notice a slight hint of a chin and nose on Tweedle A. We haven't had a profile shot
of him or her yet so I just love, love, loved this!



Tweedle B (top) was referred to as "skeletor" by our Dr. :|
Fitting in this case, yes, though I refuse to think of my babies as anything else
but cute and adorable and skeletor is neither of these. I did study this
one for a bit and am pretty sure that I can see its little tongue.
That is totally adorable, so I am satisfied! :P



Another skeletor-like shot, minus the tongue.