35 Weeks + Dr.'s Appointment #10 + Fetal Monitoring #2

Fatigue has set in. No matter how much I sleep at night, I find myself yawning as soon as I get up. I'm working 4 hours each Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, and have all of Wednesdays off. It's a good balance right now. I'll probably follow this schedule for another week and then will re-assess.

Jon was at Fleetwood Park until 9:00/10:00pm every night this week. I think I ate at my parents' house every night this week as a result. I always struggled to find the desire to cook, and now, with the increased fatigue and only having to cook for one, my desire is even less. Thankfully, my mom doesn't mind to cook for one extra :)

I've also started to have swollen ankles and feet for the last week or so. I wear flip-flops to work because my dress shoes are too tight. I still manage to fit into my runners when I have to leave the house for appointments. I had Jon take a picture last Saturday:

The babies were much more active with this second fetal monitoring appointment. They were almost too active! I couldn't leave until they saw each baby have at least one minute of 'down' time, where their heartbeats were relaxed. The entire monitoring took about 30 minutes, which wasn't too bad. My next fetal monitoring appointment is on Wednesday (and I will continue to go every Wednesday until I deliver).

I had a doctor's appointment on Thursday, and she said everything is looking good. She figures that if I were to deliver now, the babies would both be able to go home with me right away, which is good! The longer I can keep them in me, the better (for them! They're starting to reek havoc on my skin...Jon pointed out some stretch marks under my stomach that I couldn't see! Oh well, I guess I shouldn't be complaining. I didn't honestly expect to come out of a twin pregnancy with no stretch marks).

I gained 4 pounds since last week, making my weight gain at 45 lbs. I now weigh the same as Jon. He nearly died.

I'm pretty comfortable for the most part. I do get tired of lugging around my stomach every now and then, and I look forward to clothes actually fitting me. It's nice to have a large selection of 'comfy' clothes to choose from, because they're pretty much all I wear right now.

Can you believe that in less than 3 weeks, they'll be born? I can't. Jon can't. It's a little bit scary. We'd both be fine with another 3 months. Maybe by then we'd feel ready for what's going to hit us!

Hmmm...what else? Oh! I know! Pet peeve: people who park their car too close to mine! How do they expect for me to climb into the driver's seat of my car when they only give me 1 foot to open my car door?!?!?!? Also, it's become difficult to sit on the toilet. I find I just have to stand in front of the toilet and drop, hoping my butt lands on the seat. I can't do it slowly because I can't see the toilet seat anyways, and my muscles aren't strong enough to prevent me from just dropping. Luckily, there's no room on either side of the toilet for me to miss. It would be pretty funny if Jon woke up in the middle of the night to me sitting beside the toilet lol.

I'm still in the process of giving our house a good clean. I wiped down and cleaned up the fridge today. On the list for this week is: wiping down the freezer in the fridge and washing the walls in the bathroom. I think the latter has been on my to-do list for 4 months. I'm running out of time to get it done, so I'm hoping by telling everyone that I'm going to do it will keep me accountable to actually doing it. I also intend to make a pot of soup tomorrow.

Here are my 35-week pictures:

3 weeks left...but who knows, maybe this is my last pre-baby post? I'm quite enjoying being pregnant, so it will be sad to not feel them moving around anymore. Maybe if I hadn't have had such an easy pregnancy I would be more 'ready' for them to be born?

33 Weeks + Dr.'s Appointment #9 + Ultrasound #7 Results + Fetal Monitoring #1

So, this is pretty late...I'm practically 34 weeks now, but I was waiting to get my ultrasound results back and have Jon upload some pictures before I posted.

Here goes...

Things continue to go well, which is great! I'm still working and still coaching, which I'm very happy about. Last Monday (the 7th), I was starting to feel really cramping at night and my braxton hicks contractions were coming pretty frequently so I went to bed right away, at about 8pm. I took the next two days off of work, until my next doctor's appointment. By then, things were back to normal. Phew! We were a little worried. Dr. Huckell figured it was because 1) I had had a busy day on Monday and 2) my uterus is 'full-term', but it doesn't realize that it can't deliver yet because there are twins. Since then, I've slowed down quite a bit. I have so many sick/personal/vacation days banked at work that I don't have to be working for financial reasons...so I'm definitely putting the babies (and myself) first. Starting this week, I'm only working about 20 hours a week, and am taking Wednesdays off. Jon has been really understanding and is the first to tell me to stay in bed longer in the mornings and to take the day off.


Speaking of Jon, he has been putting in super-long days at Fleetwood Park (usually staying until about 9pm) so that he can be as far ahead as possible in preparations before the babies arrive.

I went for my first Fetal Monitoring appointment today. The babies weren't overly cooperative, but the nurse (who had kids at FVC when my younger siblings were there) finally managed to get enough data on them. I have to start monitoring their movements daily myself, timing how long it takes for me to feel 6 movements from each baby. If I don't feel 6 in two hours, then I have to call the hospital. I also have to go for a fetal monitoring appointment every Wednesday now.

The babies' movements have really changed the past few weeks - they are less 'kick-like' and more 'movement-like'. I can tell they are getting really squished in there because it's getting really easy to tell what part of the body I'm feeling, whether it be a foot, or a butt, or the head. Hiccups are also a daily occurrence, at least for the boy. He has less room to move his head, so every little 'jump' is easily felt. The girl likes to stick her butt between my hip and ribs on my right side, so often you can see a bulge sticking out.

Here are the results from my ultrasound on February 7th:

DATA	BABY A	BABY B
Heart Rate	137	141
Lie/Position	Cephalic	Cephalic
Est. Fetal Weight	2064 g (4.55 lbs)	2088 g (4.59 lbs)
MEASUREMENTS
Head Circ.	310 mm	299 mm
BPD	86 mm	82 mm
Abdominal Circ.	275 mm	283 mm
Femur	59 mm	62 mm
Gestational Age	32 weeks + 1 day	32 weeks + 0 days

Looks like Baby A (Boy) has a Vander Ende head and Struik legs. haha. Although, we are talking about measurements in mm...so they're VERY close!

Sleeping has continued to be pretty easy for me. I've added an additional pillow under my head (so now I sleep with two), but that's only because it raises my head higher which helps with my nasal stuffiness at night, and gives me more air as Jon's fan (on the other side of Jon) is the only one we're using right now. I get about about three times each night to go pee, which is the result of 1) drinking a lot of water before bed and then after each time I get up, and 2) a squished bladder. Most of the time I'm able to fall asleep again right away, thank goodness! Jon has yet to wake up yet when I'm getting up, which makes him pretty confident that he'll "conveniently" sleep through each time the babies wake up crying during the night. We'll see about that :)

I'm waiting for Jon to come home from Fleetwood Park (it's 9:48pm...he must be coming home soon!) so that I can post a couple pictures. I think I'll just add them in the morning, so make sure you check back. I'm going to post this and then help myself to a warmed brownie topped with vanilla ice cream, and chocolate and caramel syrup. YUM. I'm going to miss not eating extra calories! Have a good night!

As promised...here are the pictures taken at 33 weeks (last week)...wearing one of the few 'nicer' shirts that kinda fit...and now looking at the pictures you can tell it is being stretched!

31 Weeks + Dr.'s Appointment #8

Nothing much new.

I had another doctor's appointment yesterday and everything is looking good. My blood pressure is still perfect, so I'm still able to work and coach basketball, which was music to my ears. I've been really nervous for each appointment since 2011 began because I don't want to be put on bed rest. I think I would go crazy! Plus, it's too soon to leave work. Almost all of my duties have been trained away, but we're super busy so I don't want to leave them just yet. Luckily, I don't have to yet!

Baby A (boy)'s heartrate was between 145 /150 bpm, and Baby B (girl)'s heart rate was between 150/155 bpm.

I'm now measuring 40 weeks. Yikes. I still have 7 more to go. Yikes. Actually, it's not really that bad. I don't feel big at all...to be honest, I even forget that I have an extra large belly sometimes.

The babies continue to move around like crazy. It's not a visible from the outside as it was a few weeks ago (I could actually see what looked like arms move across my stomach), but my stomach is definitely always moving. I've noticed that the boy (Baby A) has really increased his activity this past week. He woke me up a couple nights ago because he was moving around so much. I swear he was actually jumping in my pelvis. I sent him "go to sleep" thoughts, and he calmed down. It's been nice that he's been more active because I thought he might not have had enough room to move around. Now I know he does. Whenever he moves it causes me a little more discomfort/annoyance because of the tight quarters he's living in. A few times I've let out a little "oh!" due to the sudden feeling of him moving. The girl's favourite place to move around is right underneath my belly button. All I have to do is touch my belly button and I can feel her move around....and eventually push up under it. It's surprising that my belly button hasn't popped out at all.

I've really started to notice my increased body temperature. I'm used to being really cold during the winter, but now I never am. I'm so glad I'm not this pregnant in the middle of the summer because I don't think I could handle it. I start to go a little crazy even now because I feel like I can't breathe because it's so warm. It's gross. Luckily, it's not 24-7!

Total weight gain so far: 35lbs. Not bad.

My next ultrasound is on February 7th, doctor's appointment on February 9th, and then a fetal monitoring appointment on February 16th. I'm looking forward to seeing what that will be like.

I'll post an update with an updated picture again in a couple weeks.

29 Weeks + Dr.'s Appointment #7 + Ultrasound #6 Results

It's been busy since the last time I updated!

I went for my gestational diabetes screening/blood work and it came back fine! No diabetes for me...thank goodness! My iron was a little low, but it must not have been concerning as my doctor didn't mention anything today.

I had an ultrasound done at Surrey Memorial this past Friday, and that went really well. Baby B (the girl) is now head down as well! Hopefully they both stay head down so that I can deliver naturally.

The night before, I was laying on the couch when Jon came home and he asked what I had been doing, and I said "playing with the kids."

I explained that the girl's butt kept pushing up at my stomach, and I would push back at it and it would move over and push up. We did that for about 5 minutes. Now that I know she's head down, I realize that it was her head I was poking at! Oh well :)

Here are their two heads, side by side:

Here are the results/stats from the ultrasound:

DATA	BABY A	BABY B
Heart Rate	139	154
Lie/Position	Cephalic	Cephalic
Est. Fetal Weight	1254 g (2.75 lbs)	1380 g (3 lbs)
MEASUREMENTS
Head Circ.	269 mm	264 mm
BPD	75 mm	72 mm
Abdominal Circ.	219 mm	254 mm
Femur	51 mm	53 mm
Gestational Age	27 weeks + 5 days	28 weeks + 1 day

My mom's first comment when she saw that the girl was heavier than the boy was "what a little porker". hahaha. Reminds me of pictures of Jon as a toddler (he was skin & bones) and myself (I was a porker). According to my "What to Expect..." book for singletons at 28 week they should be 2.5 lbs, so when both babies were more than that I was definitely super-excited! Let's hope I can keep them inside for as long as possible!

I was nervous for my doctor's appointment today because I know that at any time they could put me on bed-rest, and I'm not ready to stop working/having a normal life yet. It was definitely not worth it to worry though! My blood pressure is still "very nice" and the doctor said that there was no need for me to make any changes to my working hours. Phew. She took my fundal measurement again this time, and I'm measuring between 36 and 37 weeks. And everyone tells me I'm small. Pshh. :)

My hunger level has definitely increased these past couple of weeks. I feel like I could eat ALL THE TIME. I feel like I am eating ALL THE TIME! It's nice getting special treatment now that I have to intake so many calories for the babies. I get the bigger portion of dinner if I want it, I get double the dessert if I want it. Yum. The only downside is having to force myself to eat even if nothing seems appealing.

The babies have also been kicking/elbowing/kneeing up a storm the past couple of weeks as well. It's simply amazing. The best time to see them "in action" is right when I climb into bed. As soon as I lay down and let my body relax, they start going crazy! My stomach looks like rolling hills, literally. You can actually see them push up against my stomach and move all over. Their favourite spot is right under my belly button (and yes, it's still an innie...barely there, but definitely not popping out...yet...). I don't get tired of feeling them kick. Annoyed at times, yes, when they are distracting me from work or if they are kicking at my ribs, but overall, I love it. I never thought it would be possible to grow so attached to it. How could you not? It's amazing.

Jon and I are getting excited now that the end is approaching. Yes, it's going to be a huge adjustment for us. But man, it's going to be great. The baby room is coming along. I had Jon hang up a couple shelves last night, so as soon as his tools are out of that room I can start moving things around a bit. Once we have it 'finalized'

then I'll post some pictures.

I can't believe we only have 9 weeks to go (max). CRAZY. Crazy good though :)

I don't think I have much else to 'report'. I start seeing my doctor every two weeks now, and ultrasounds will continue to be a monthly occurrence. Starting at around 33 weeks I will have to go to Surrey Memorial every week for about 30 minutes of fetal monitoring, where they strap two fetal monitors to my stomach and monitor the babies' activity. It's going to be busy! I'm definitely grateful for a job that is completely flexible for whatever appointments/basketball practices & games I have. I'm also grateful for the number of vacation/personal/sick days I've been saving over the past three years so that I don't have to worry about making up missed hours!

I'll end with a current picture of myself:

26 Weeks + Dr.'s Appointment #5/6 + Ultrasound Results

I'm sorry for the delay in updating...I haven't been able to motivate myself to type out an entry...and the longer I put it off the more I want to put it off. It's a vicious cycle.

Not a whole lot has happened the past few weeks (I feel I say that every time!). I'm already over 2/3 of the way which is crazy!

I had my last appointment with Dr. Wagner two weeks ago, and then my first appointment with Dr. Huckell a couple days later. Both said the exact same things:

1. Babies are growing well so far. Here are the results from the latest ultrasound:

DATA	BABY A	BABY B
Heart Rate	141	165
Lie/Position	Cephalic	Frank Breech
MEASUREMENTS
Head Circ.	215 mm	211 mm
BPD	63 mm	58 mm
Abdominal Circ.	191 mm	197 mm
Femur	40 mm	40 mm
Gestational Age	23 weeks + 5 days	23 weeks + 5 days

They will be closely monitoring their growth because as soon as (if) one starts growing more than the other then they will have to put me on bed rest. I've trained practically all of my senior duties away at work so I'm left with just the basics again, so if I leave all of a sudden it will be okay.

2. I need to do my glucose test between Christmas and New Year's. I'm not too concerned about that. I like sugary drinks :)

3. Because I have a negative Rh factor I'll have to have an injection at my next appointment. Not too concerned about this either...I'm pretty used to needles by now!

4. My blood pressure is (was) still perfect.

5. If the babies stay in a head down/head up position then it will be up to me if I want to give birth vaginally or via c-section. Dr. Huckell said that most women with head down/head up twins opt for a c-section because there is no guarantee that the head up baby can be flipped around once the head down baby is delivered. If they can't flip the baby, then I would still have to have a c-section (in addition to a vaginal birth for the first one). That's a tough decision! It will definitely require some thought and I'll have to ask her what she thinks the chance of flipping the second baby is.

Jon set up the cribs & glider chair the first weekend he was off of school...we had fun :) Here are some pictures:

He then tested the chair to see how it would work if (when!) we had two crying babies:

I have also been quite blessed in receiving a lot of baby clothes from family, so my Mom and I have spent a lot of time washing and sorting and folding. Baby clothes are so cute!

The girls at work surprised me with a baby shower two weeks ago as it was one of the last days that we were all in the office before Christmas holidays began. They wanted to make sure that they had a shower for me before I got put on bed rest. I got spoiled by them :)

I've started to feel light-headed every now and then, so I've starting trying to pay attention to when I'm eating so that I'm eating on a regular basis. Hoping that it's just a low blood sugar level or a low blood pressure level. Either way, it's something that I need to be careful with.

The babies are moving like crazy. Some nights I just lay on the couch or bed and watch my stomach bounce up and down all over. One day, one of the babies was kicking/punching my pelvis. It was a little annoying...but funny at the same time. There are times when they are moving around that I can sort of make out whether I'm feeling a head or a butt. It's pretty cool. Weird, but cool.

Here's my 26 week picture:

My next appointment isn't until January 13th, so I probably won't update before then. Enjoy your holidays!

Ultrasound #5

And it's confirmed...one boy and one girl! Pretty exciting.

The ultrasound went really well. I had it done at MedRay this time and was very impressed. The building/equipment looks really new and I had a really young female technician. I would definitely request to go there again!
I had only drunk about 600 mLs of water this time, and even then the technician said that I could go pee before we started if I wanted to. I was fine, so we proceeded. She had a really hard time getting the Baby A's head measurement (the boy, on my left side, head-down), so she asked me if I would go pee and then she would try again. Eventually she got it, but she did call the boy stubborn. My reply was, "I wish I could say that he gets that from his father...but it's likely more from me." lol. She said the girl was very cooperative. The girl, Baby B, is still on my right, head-up.
This was the first ultrasound where I nearly passed out a couple times. I guess the pressure of her pushing down on my stomach while I was laying on my back was a little much for my lungs now. She let me lay on my side after that so that was a huge relief.

And for those who are curious, Baby A (the boy's) heart rate was 141 bpm and Baby B (the girl's) heart rate was 165 bpm.

Here are a couple pictures...looks like they saved really small when I scanned them. I'll have to try to rescan them...enjoy looking at them with a magnifying glass for now! The top picture is looking directly at Baby A's face and the bottom picture is a side profile of Baby B's head.

22 Weeks

Not much has happened over the past two weeks...

Jon felt the babies kick on Friday, November 19. It's pretty neat to see his reaction. I put his hand on my stomach and then you can see his eyes light up when he feels them. My mom felt them a couple nights ago and kind of gave a little shriek when they kicked. It was pretty funny. I feel them all the time now, and they're slowly getting stronger and stronger.

My stomach continues to grow and grow and grow. Most nights it feels pretty tight. The stretching is less annoying if I'm sitting down because then my body isn't stretched out. I've gained about 20 pounds so far. It's crazy! I'm starting to notice that I can't be on my feet for as long as before because my shins start to get sore...I guess from carrying the extra weight. I definitely don't do any window-shopping anymore! I get what I need and then I'm gone!

One thing I should have done at the beginning of my pregnancy was take a picture of my belly button. The change in it is absolutely crazy! I never would have imagined it. I've always been quite proud of my belly button (LOL I bet no one has ever said that before!)...it was a nice and deep innie. Now, I call it an Asian belly button...it looks like a slit in my stomach...there's no way you can even attempt to find the bottom because it's all squished together. I'm hoping it stays that way and doesn't pop out. Probably wishful thinking!

Jon and I have now purchased all of the major essentials for the babies. I don't think we paid full-price for anything; they have all been on sale. We did struggle with the car seats. I didn't like a lot of the fabric patterns, and then the ones I originally purchased didn't even fit into the backseat of the Jetta! If we were both shorter than it would have been fine because we could have moved our seats forward, but being 'taller' and driving a standard there wasn't much room for movement. We returned them and actually found two that I ended up liking better and were $20 cheaper each...and they only require Jon to pull the driver's seat about an inch closer. I never would have thought that we would have space issues with the Jetta! I guess it should only be for the first year max until they outgrow the car seats.

Hmm...I think that's it. I haven't looked at the 22-week picture Jon took of me yesterday, but if it's good enough, I'll add it to this post.

Our next appointment is an ultrasound on December 7th and then an appointment with Dr. Wagner on December 10th so I'll update again after both of those are done.