32 week belly pics

How far along? 32 weeks, 2 days
Total weight gain/loss: + 9 pounds

Stretch marks? sadly, yes.... i feel like my skin is going to just tear open. i can't see them yet, but i'm 99% sure they are on their way to making an appearance.

Sleep: horrible. i've gotten to where i'm waking on my own before my alarm goes off to take my 4am procardia dose.

Best moment this week: going to the dr. on wednesday and having no changes. yay!

Movement: they do not like me lying on my side. if i lay on my left side, jeffry starts kicking and wiggling because sadie's squishing him. vice versa if i lay on my right side.
Food cravings: apple juice.... which makes me sad, because i can't drink it anymore. makes my heartburn flare like mad.
Labor signs: contractions have lessened significantly since being home and on the procardia - thank god. still had the + fetal fibronectin, which makes me nervous, but we're just taking it one day at a time.

Belly Button: more an outie than an innie now.

What I miss: getting in and out of the tub easily. i think i had my last soak in the tub last night... jeff had to come in and heave me out. it's shower city from now on.

What I’m looking forward to: actually meeting these two!

Weekly Wisdom: nothing new to add.
Milestones: 4 weeks and 3 days left!

the date is set!

after my appointment today (in which there was no change, just a one pound weight gain - yay!), i asked dr. e. about delivery options.

i came to the conclusion that if i go into active labor on my own (water breaks, dilated, contracting), and if both babies are head down, that i would attempt a vaginal birth. however, if i have had no progress by the cut-off time of 36-37 weeks, then i would opt for a scheduled c-section. i would much rather have a scheduled, coordinated, organized delivery than be induced with pitocin and run the risk of having to have an emergent c-section many hours later.

so, for now, we have a date set of october 27th, which is on a tuesday. i will be 36 weeks and 5 days. dr. e. is confident that i'm going to "go all the way" and not have anything happen early, although anything can change.

eek!!!!! four and a half weeks!!!!

31 week belly pics

How far along? 31 weeks, 4 days

Total weight gain/loss: + 8 pounds
Stretch marks? sadly, yes.... i feel like my skin is going to just tear open. i can't see them yet, but i'm 99% sure they are on their way to making an appearance.
Sleep: horrible. i've gotten to where i'm waking on my own before my alarm goes off to take my 4am procardia dose.
Best moment this week: getting out of the house and going to church.

Movement: keeping me up at night. it's almost to the point of getting painful when they don't settle down.

Food cravings: strawberry toaster strudel.

Labor signs: contractions have lessened significantly since being home and on the procardia - thank god. still had the + fetal fibronectin, which makes me nervous, but we're just taking it one day at a time.
Belly Button: top half is an outie and bottom half is an innie. eww.
What I miss: getting in and out of the tub easily.
What I’m looking forward to: another dr's appt. on wednesday - hoping there's no change!

Weekly Wisdom: nothing new to add.

Milestones: 5 and a half weeks left!

30 week belly pics

How far along? 30 weeks, 4 days
Total weight gain/loss: not really sure... because of all the iv fluids, i gained 8 pounds in the hospital, but my swelling has gone down siginificanly, so i'm assuming the weight gain did too.

Stretch marks? sadly, yes.... i feel like my skin is going to just tear open. i can't see them yet, but i'm 99% sure they are on their way to making an appearance.

Sleep: horrible. can't roll over, can't get up to pee easily, can't lay flat on my back.

Best moment this week: i finished two more baby blankets. since being put on bedrest, that's all i've been doing. at the rate i'm going, i'll have about 20-30 itty bitty blankets to donate to the NICU by the time i go in with these two. =)
Movement: keeping me up at night. it's almost to the point of getting painful when they don't settle down.
Food cravings: rocky road ice cream from baskin robbins.
Labor signs: contractions have lessened significantly since being home and on the procardia - thank god. still had the + fetal fibronectin, which makes me nervous, but we're just taking it one day at a time.

Belly Button: top half is an outie and bottom half is an innie. eww.

What I miss: being able to just pick up and go somewhere whenever i feel like it.

What I’m looking forward to: another dr's appt. on wednesday - my one chance to escape the house.
Weekly Wisdom: nothing new to add.
Milestones: i can't believe we're down to 6 and a half weeks left.

home on bedrest.

a quick update!

i was sent to the hospital saturday because i was having contractions and not able to hold anything down (again). got hooked up to the monitors - this time, three - and was contracting about every 3-5 minutes. they bolused me with 2 liters of fluids, hoping it would help, then gave me two more doses of Brethine to stop the contractions.

the kicker, though, was the doctor ordered a fetal fibronectin test, which can predict early labor. if the test is negative, it's very reassuring. a positive test indicates that your chances of delivering in the next two weeks goes up by about 20%... and mine came back positive.

because of this, i was sent up to labor and delivery, where i spent the most awful night of my life. i was still hooked up to all 3 monitors, and i literally couldn't move in the bed, because every time i would shift positions, one of the babies would disappear off the monitor and the nurses were coming in to readjust everything. my ob also ordered the 48 hour round of steroid shots to help speed up the babies' lung development, just in case anything were to happen. sunday morning, i was taken off the monitors and sent up to the med/ob floor for observation, with plans to go home monday morning.

monday rolls around, and lo and behold, the contractions return.... 10 to 12 an hour. the specialist came in and told me he was going to start me on procardia, which is a cardiac med that works on all smooth muscles, including your uterus. my ob came in next, and told me that he was going to keep me another night to see how i tolerated the procardia and if it would work.

tuesday morning - contraction free - thank goodness! i had been in bed, hooked up to a continuous iv for almost 72 hours straight. i was discharged home, but on bedrest orders until these babies decide to arrive - which hopefully isn't for another 7 weeks!

i missed this week's belly pic, but will catch up at the end of the week with a 30 week pic. but here's one for you of my grossly swollen cankles from all the iv fluids:

a few new pics

today's appointment with MFM was good - both babies still head down and active as ever! sadie weighs in at 2 lb, 10oz and jeffry weighs 2 lb, 6oz. both were smacking their lips, swallowing, and doing their practice breathing. =)

jeffry:

sadie was facing the back, so we couldn't get any good face shots of her, but jeffry was positioned perfectly. sadie decided to stick her hand in the picture, so that's all we got of her today.