37 Weeks + Dr.'s Appointment #12 + Fetal Monitoring #4 + Ultrasound #8 Results

Wow, I cannot believe that I'm actually considered 'overdue' now (it's a day past 37 weeks). I can't believe the end is here. We're almost done.

I started this week with an ultrasound on Monday. Here are the results:

DATA	BABY A	BABY B
Heart Rate	137	141
Lie/Position	Cephalic	Cephalic
Est. Fetal Weight	2819 g (6.21 lbs)	3086 g (6.80 lbs)
MEASUREMENTS
Head Circ.	328 mm	336 mm
BPD	94 mm	93 mm
Abdominal Circ.	315 mm	322 mm
Femur	66 mm	71 mm
Gestational Age	36 weeks + 3 days	37 weeks + 4 days

I had asked the technician if she knew the approximate weights when she was done taking her measurements, just in case I went into labour before I would have access to the results. When she told me that the boy was approximately 6lb 3 oz, I nearly died. And then she said the girl was approximately 6lb 13 oz! Here I thought I was going to be giving birth to preemies! The technician went on to explain that fraternal twins typically develop at the same rate as singletons do, because they each have their own placenta to feed off of. Interesting! No wonder I weigh so much now, I have over 13lbs of baby in me! My weight gain so far is 49.5 lbs. Almost at the 50 lb mark. It will be interesting to see how much of that I lose just from the delivery alone. Would 20lbs be asking too much?

On Wednesday I had another fetal monitoring appointment. It went really well. The nurse was impressed at how well she was getting readings of the twins' movements, and kept jumping every time they moved because you could see it in my stomach. She couldn't believe how tight my belly is. She said that you could tell on the readings that there is little fat around my belly right now because every time one (or both) of the babies would move, the contractions monitor would show that my abdominal muscles were reacting. I guess if there was more fat in between the babies and my muscles then the muscles would not react as much. I think it only took about 20 minutes before she had enough readings.

On Thursday I had my last doctor's appointment. Dr. Huckell told me that if I don't go into labour before Thursday, then the hospital will call me on Thursday morning to let me know what time to come in to be induced. If, for some reason, the hospital doesn't have enough room for me on Thursday then I have to go in for fetal monitoring, and then they will induce me on Friday. That's one week from today. This weekend is officially our last weekend as just Jon and I (at least, for the next 20 years or so...or, if you're my parents, probably forever because there is always someone over. Usually me, I know). A Thursday/Friday induction is PERFECT for Jon and I because this coming week is his last day of classes before he has a two-week spring break. That means he gets to be the one to help me out in the middle of the night instead of a family volunteer. Lucky Jon :) This will give him two weeks of spending time with us before his crazy schedule resumes again.

I'm 'officially' done work now, at least in Service Canada's eyes. I won't be going into the office this coming week at all; they're worried that I might go into labour at my desk. If I feel like it I'll put in some hours from home, and then I'll just bank them and get paid out when I switch over to parental leave or when I return next year. Next year. Not working for a year. Crazy. I didn't work much this week due to all of my appointments, but to have it be official that I'm on maternity leave now is crazy. And scary. Makes everything more real, you know? Here's hoping the application process for maternity benefits goes smoothly! I hear that it can be a real pain some times.

I'm still feeling really good, for the most part. I definitely am more tired than I was a month ago...but it also doesn't help that I haven't been working a consistent schedule so I'm sleeping in some days and not others. Last night I didn't fall asleep until after 12:15am, and then woke up at 4:30am wide awake. I started doing some kakuros (math puzzles, sort of similar to sudokus) to put myself to sleep, but started getting hungry at 5:00am. I got out, made myself a peanut butter and jam sandwich, poured myself a glass of milk, and climbed back in bed (yes, with the food...Jon's a deep sleeper) to continue my puzzles. By 5:30am I still wasn't feeling the least bit tired, so I decided that I might as well just go to work early and then I could always sleep afterwards. Unfortunately, I wasn't tired until 4:00pm at which point I climbed in bed to "rest"...just because it's more comfortable to lie in bed than on the couch, and I fell asleep. Until 5:30pm when Jon came home. SIGH. Exactly what I did NOT want to do. When I sleep for too long in the afternoons or early evenings it throws my sleep cycle off, and that is exactly why I am typing this post at 11:45pm, wide-eyed. It's going to be another messed-up sleeping night. I'll just have to set my alarm so that I wake up on time in the morning and then be tired all day. I have 6 days to get my sleep cycle straightened out and to be perfectly rested before the babies come. And then...well...then their sleep cycle becomes my sleep cycle.

Here is my 37 week picture:

Anyways, I think that's all I was intending to say in this post. My stomach is telling me that it is yet again hungry, so I shall make myself a sandwich in hopes that it keeps me satiated until morning. And not 5:00am morning, but 8:00am morning. We'll see. I'm not counting on it.

6 days...but hey, who's counting?