37 Week Update & Eviction Notice Served!

We had what we thought to be our last growth ultrasound on Monday, August 16. Babies are super smushed in there so the measurements were hard for the tech to get on their bellies. The babies are still measuring slightly ahead with their head and leg measurements, but their bellies are measuring small. I think it is because the tech wasn't able to get good pictures of their bellies since they are so smushed. Otherwise, our babies are going to have big heads and super long legs, but barely any stomachs. A slight fear of mine. Anyway, babies were estimated at weighing: 6lbs 8.5oz and 6lbs., 3oz. :-)
When we left the ultrasound appointment we were under the impression that Baby B's fluid was low. Which got me and Jim thinking that maybe we would go in to our regularly schedule OB appointment on Tuesday and be sent to the hospital to start an induction. Well, nope, that didn't happen. Apparently, the U/S tech was mistaken when she said Baby B's fluid was low and instead it looks fine, it is just less than Baby As. Everything else was fine with both babies and Dr. D isn't concerned at all about their stomach measurements. So we didn't get sent to the hospital for induction, even though that is kind of what we were hoping for (or at least what this uncomfortable mom-to-be was hoping for).
Well, they finally checked me out to see if I was making any progress towards labor... and to everyones surprise, I am (or was) 3cm dilated, 70% effaced with baby at -1 station.
YAHOOO! Which I thought meant that labor was going to happen within a day or so. Again, nope, still here, waiting and waiting and waiting. Uncomfortably might I add again. I haven't really been feeling any contractions, or anything that would signal me to start timing things. The random crampiness and lower back pain is very sporadic, nothing even worth timing. So after googling my statistics (3cm, 70%), I learn that I could stay like this for weeks. AHHHHH!!! Noooooo!!
Which leads me to say that our babies eviction date has been officially set. I am scheduled to go to the hospital on August 24th at 6pm to start the induction. But of course, I must call 2 hours before to make sure they have room for me. All those other moms-to-be may be hogging the rooms up because their bodies going into labor on their own.... So as of right now, that's the plan. But truthfully, I am hoping something happens before then, this Sunday would be great. If things happen on their own on Sunday, then it is very likely that Dr. D will be delivering the babies on Monday (when she is on call) and not Dr. M, who is my least favorite doctor in the practice. Ugh - just my luck.
Ok, enough rambling. Here is a picture of the belly today - 37 weeks, 1 day. (Oh and apparently my belly is not measuring small like the babies - too much birthday cake- and instead it is measuring at 40 weeks).

Another L&D trip - and 36 week bump

Yesterday, during my normal NST and OB appointment check-up, my blood pressure was running high again. This time it was pretty high; all three checks were in the 150s/100s. So the dr. sent me to the labor and delivery unit at St. Joes to be monitored and make sure it goes back down.

After about 3 hours of monitoring, I was sent home with the instructions to increase my blood pressure medication. All my blood work came back normal and the babies were doing awesome on their monitors. So, another scare for no reason.

But things are getting close now! When I was in the hospital, the nurse informed me that I was having contractions every 8 minutes or so. I was shocked to hear that since I was feeling fine and didn't notice anything. So I of course am optimistic that all my contractions will be unnoticeable and easy. Haha! Everyone laughs when I mention that... I wonder why?!

My normal doctor is back in town this weekend (August 14/15) and on call both weekend days. I am not expecting anything to happen that soon, but you never know. Otherwise I spoke with Dr. D about scheduling the induction (which she still wants to do by 38 weeks) for a day when she is on call. So my awesome hubby printed out the on-call schedule one day while he was at work and it turns out Dr. D is on-call August 14 and 15 (too soon), August 18 (37 weeks), and August 23 (two days shy of 38 weeks). So, if the babies continue to enjoy their comfy and cozy environment, and my blood pressure behaves itself, then it is very likely I could be heading in to the hospital to be induced on August 23! Who knows though - it really could be any day now! AH!

So, here I am at 36 weeks. I decided to wear the same gray shirt I wore for most of the other pics so you could really compare the weeks.



Next week we have a growth ultrasound (our last one!) - scheduled for Monday. This will be the last time we "see" the babies (most likely) before they are out and about and we get to meet them!! Woohoo! Hopefully, both babies have gained over a pound (or more) each since the last ultrasound. Last time they were 5lbs and 4lbs 14oz, so hopefully they are both over 6lbs by now. I will keep you updated!

35 Week Belly...Video!

Ok, so Jim and I bought a new camera a couple weeks ago and as you can tell, I am loving the video feature! I am trying to take more videos now so that we can make a video of the pregnancy and first year of the babies' lives (notice how I left off a video of labor/delivery... that won't be captured!!)... Anyway, here is the latest belly shot. I am 35 weeks today - and boy, I am fairly sure this belly can't grow much more! Only a maximum of 3 weeks to go!

Movement - Caught on Video!

I have been trying to get a video of the babies moving... and boy, has it been difficult. Everytime I turned on the video camera to try to get a video of the babies moving, the baby(ies) would immediately get camera shy and stop all movement. It was very frustrating! But today, to my surprise, I was able to get a video of the baby(ies) moving!! Woohoo! And you can actually see it on the video. I am so happy I was able to get it on tape (tape! what's that?!) so I have an actual visual reminder of what the babies moving was like, because as we all know, very soon these babies will be out and about and moving (crying and pooping) out with us in the real world. So anyway... I hope you enjoy. (Please ignore my silly comments)

Oh, I am slacking...

Sorry for the delay in posts... I haven't been very motivated to post anything. Which is surprising because being at home on modified bed rest has given me a lot of time to do anything, yet I seem to be doing nothing more often.

So the update is... there isn't really an update. My blood pressure is a little higher than earlier in the pregnancy, which is causing some stress for my doctor(s), but it always seems to go back down. I am already on blood pressure medication, so if necessary, the doctor may increase the daily dose. The early signs of pre-ecamplsia that were present weeks ago seemed to have disappeared. My blood work is perfect and the 24 hour urine collection (that was fun!) came back in the normal range for protein. So all is good.

Here is a picture of me at 33 weeks and a couple days. I am definintely uncomfortable more than comfortable these days. I sleep horribly most nights, and the nights I do sleep well are few and far between. I have noticed that when I take a unisom, I tend to sleep much better, but I fear that I shouldn't take it too often. I am not sure if it affects the babies too... I guess that is a question for the doc. Anyway, back to the picture (sorry for the dirty mirror):



And check this angle out... I barely look pregnant from the front! How awesome is that?!


Hmmm...so what else can I talk about??? I have no idea what else is new. I should have an update tomorrow since I go in for another NST and for an actual doctor visit. So maybe I will get some news to share... we will see.

Oh and PS - yesterday was July 25... and d-day is August 25... so yesterday we were a month away (max) from meeting out babies. YAY!

31 week update - warning: long!

On Wednesday, July 7th, we went in for our regular OB check-up. The appointment wasn't until the afternoon, so I worked in the morning and then met up with Jim to head off to the appointment around 3pm.

When we arrived at the office, we were called in right away - which was shocking because Dr. D usually runs behind a bit. On the way back to the room, we stopped at the scale for a weigh in... my absolute favorite part of appointments (ha! ya right). Well, my weight was up 8lbs from the last appointment only two weeks ago. Yikes! I guess I should lay off the cake and ice cream now!

When the nurse took my blood pressure, we were disappointed to hear it was 142/94. Eh - not good. I reminded the nurse that sometimes they use the bigger cuff since I am bigger than most girls. So, the nurse took my BP again with the larger cuff - but it didn't help....my BP was again around 144/96. Not good.

When Dr. D came in, she expressed concern with my blood pressure reading and took it again herself. And again, it was high; near the same numbers. After doing a reflex test (result: rapid reflexes) and checking the swelling in my hands and legs/feet (incredibly bad - though I blame the heat since it was 95 degrees), Dr. D explained that she is worried I may be in early stages of pre-eclampsia. She pulled me off work that day and to make sure things weren't progressing to pre-ecamplsia, Dr. D sent us to Labor and Delivery at St. Joes hospital to make sure everything was ok. Oh, and I should mention, earlier in the day, I think I had my first couple contractions. Nothing regular, but definitely nothing I had felt up until that point. So after telling Dr. D about the possible contractions and then having the high BP reading, with rapid reflexes (sign of neurological issue, which I guess goes hand-in-hand with pre-ecamplsia and swelling), Dr. D thought it was best to go to L&D for monitoring. What really scared me was when she said she is worried that we are going to have some premature babies. I wasn't worried about her telling me about the pre-eclampsia until she brought up how she thought the babies would be her soon and be premature. Now I know that most likely the babies will be early and may end up in the NICU, but it seemed more real once she said it that day, and that it could be any day that the babies may arrive. And that scared me. This was the first time I was really worried that my body was starting to have issues with the pregnancy and that it would be my fault if we do have premature babies. Up until that point, I have been really impressed with my body and how it has been handling the pregnancy...but now I am nervous and I hope we make it at least a couple more weeks.

Anyway....we were off...well, after stopping at home to get a couple things to keep us entertained if we ended up being there for hours (ipod, magazines, etc).

After checking in to L&D, we were called back right away. They hooked me up to two heart rate monitors to keep track of the babies' heartrates and hooked up a contraction monitor. I also had a blood pressure cuff hooked up that would occasionally take a reading. When we first got there, after right after having some blood taken, my blood pressure reading was 150 (something) / 103. YIKES! After seeing that number I started to get really nervous that I was actually developing pre-ecamplsia and the babies were going to be born sooner rather than later. But after a couple more readings, my bp started to decrease and head back into the "normal" range. Whew! Also, the contraction monitor didn't record any contractions. After they monitored the babies' heartrates for 40 minutes or so, and after a couple normal bp readings, and my lab results came back normal, they decided to release me to follow up withe Dr. D on Friday.

On Friday, July 9th, we went back in for my blood pressure follow-up and had an excellent reading of 130/82 (or somewhere right around there). Whew! Also, my weight was down 4lbs. from Wednesdays reading (much better) and my lab results were perfect. Dr. D said that my blood uric acid level was in the normal range (Normal: 2.6-6; Mine: 3.8). I had no idea what that meant, so she explained it and said that if my blood uric acid level was high, then I would be well on my way to pre-eclampsia. Instead she was pretty confident from the blood results, that we have many more weeks ahead of us with (hopefully) no more pre-eclampsia scares. Fingers crossed!!

So now I am going to Dr. D's office twice a week for the NST test (non-stress test). Read more about the test here... I can't explain what the purpose is yet because I need to read up on it! :-) Not only will I be going in for the NST, but they will also be monitoring my BP at each appointment, just to make sure it is still staying in the normal range. And then the next week, we go back in for a growth ultrasound... I am super excited to see what the babies are weighing in at again! Hopefully close to 5lbs each!

Whew - so that's the updated. If you made it this far, congrats! I know it's not a fun read, but now you are at least updated!

Oh, and here is my 31 week bump pictures... bigger and bigger and bigger... no going back!

29 Week Appointment and U/S update

Hello 29 weeks! It is amazing how fast the time seems to be passing!!

Here's the latest update on the two different appointments we went to today. First, we met with Dr. Hronzensik at the OB office. Dr. D was unvailable so I scheduled the appointment with Dr. H- which is encouraged since it is unpredictable who will be "on-call" when I go into labor. So it makes sense to meet all the other Doctors in the practice.
Anyway, the appointment was pretty uneventful! My blood pressure was awesome again - which is surprising to me since I have been expecting a dramatic increase at any point now. But so far so good. No other issues. Both babies had strong heartbeats - in the 140s-150s. My belly is measuring 38 weeks. Yes, that is right, I said 38 weeks. So basically, this is what I would look like with one baby, two weeks before delivery:

Instead, I am only 29 weeks, and have a maximum of 9 weeks still to go. Yikes - this belly is going to be HUGE!

After the appointment with Dr. H, we traveled on over to the growth ultrasound appointment. These (of course) are my favorite - we get to see the babies everytime and we get new pictures! They measured each baby's head, belly and femur and checked out the heart again. Both babies are superstars. They are both mesasuring ahead - right around 31-32 weeks. Baby 'A' is weighing 3 lbs., 15oz; Baby 'B' is measuring 3 lbs., 13oz. OMG!! The babies are almost 4lbs each! You have no idea how happy this makes us (me for sure!). A lot of babies are born at 4 lbs. - and they do fine, with a little help from fancy medical technology initially, but they survive! So, in my mind I am optimistic that if labor starts sooner than expected, I am completely confident that the babies will be ok!

So here comes the best part of the post...here are our chuncy monkeys- making mom and and dad so proud already.

PS - Do you think they look alike??

Baby 'B'

Baby 'A'

25 Week Update(s)

Well, the appointments are coming every two weeks now, and soon to be every week. Wow - it is amazing how fast the time is going.

Last week, I had to go to Labor and Delivery for a quick check. I woke up in the morning with a lot of pressure, so when I called the Doctor's office and spoke with a nurse, she recommended that I go to L&D to get checked out.

After monitoring the babies heart rates, checking for contractions and doing some other (embarrassing) exams, it was determined that Baby A was most likely laying really low and causing the pressure. So after an hour or two, we were sent on our way. Thankfully, all was well.

Today we went in for our Growth Ultrasound to check the growth (duh!) of the babies. They did measurements of both babies' heads, bellies and femurs. The babies' heads and bellies were measuring in the 26 week range, and the femurs were measuring in the 27 week range. The u/s tech made a comment about how we're gonna have tall babies! Duh! ;-)

Once the measurements were completed, the u/s tech was able to estimate their weights. Baby A is estimated to weight 2lbs.; Baby B is weighing 2lbs., 2oz! Woohoo - those are some good size babies.

Which explains why I look like this:


Also entertaining during the u/s was watching the babies move around. Baby A is head down, the first one to exit during delivery (non-c-section delivery), with it's feet up near Baby B. Baby B is still transverse, laying long horizontal across my belly (babies are forming a 'T'). So during the u/s, we were able to see why Baby B is so cranky most of the time... Baby A's feet are kicking right into Baby B. It seems like Baby B is taking a beating on a regular basis from it's sibling. Hehe - poor Baby B.

Later in the day I went in for my 2 week OB check-up. I was seeing a different Doctor today since they recommend you schedule appointments with some of the other Doctors in the practice to get to know them too - cause who knows who will be "on call" when labor starts.

My weight was good (I guess); I am up 22 lbs (I think) now. My BP was good and there was no evidence of protein in my urine (sorry if that is TMI), which is good, since if there was protein, it could possibly indicate the start of pre-eclampsia.

So that's the update. Both babies appear to be doing well, as am I! I am just now starting to get more uncomfortable at night, and now that it is getting warmer out, I am noticing the swelling picking up. I am almost to the point of not being able to wear my wedding rings anymore. Boooo!

Next appointment is scheduled for June 11th - I'll be 27 weeks (and 2 days!) by then - whew - time is flying!

Big Changes in Just Two Weeks...

Check this out - the first picture was taken at 19 weeks... the second at 21 weeks. Whoa - there's no going back now!

A Funny, Rambling Kristine Moment

Well, it has happened. I received my first comment from a stranger about the babies. Haha – and I didn’t even know it. Here’s what happened...

Every week I go shopping at a little local market by my house. I always go to the deli counter to buy a pre-cooked chicken breast to shred and use in pitas and wraps for lunch. So this week, as I was ordering my one Teriyaki Almond Chicken Breast from the counter, the lady behind the counter says, “So what are you having?” And I think to myself before responding, well obviously she knows what I am having… chicken. Duh! Well, I proceed to ramble on about how I use the chicken breast to make pitas. I shred the chicken and put it in a pita with cheese and lettuce. And I continue rambling about how “it makes a quick, easy and filling lunch.” After I stop, I notice that she has a funny look on her face, and then BAM – it hits me; she was referring to the pregnany, not what kind of sandwich I make for lunch.
Haha, oops... So I ask her, “What did you ask me?’ She said, “Well, you’re pregnant right?!” Haha – my face must have been bright red and I stutter my answer, “oh, uh, yeah, I am.” And I proceed to tell her that it’s still so new that people are noticing that I am pregnant.

I guess I need to get used to people asking about the babies. After Sunday, I had two more questions about “what are you having” on Monday. I guess there is no more hiding this belly.

Here's a belly shot for you – you can see, it doesn’t hid very well, does it?! (This was taken today at 21 weeks)

16 Week Appointment Update! (on week 15, day 6)

And Happy Birthday Shannon! LYH!

Today we had another appointment with Dr. D to check up on our little ones. All is going well.

The appointment was rather anti-climatic. We did get to hear one of the babies heartbeats (around 155 bpm) and then we did get to see them both on the ultrasound again. So I don't know why I am feeling sort of let down by the appointment. It is quite a silly feeling really. I think it is because we weren't sent home with any new pictures of the babies. Booooo! But otherwise, we did get to see them briefly and while we were peeking at Baby B, Dr. D pointed out that he/she had the hiccups. Awwww.... (I couldn't tell though). On a side note: why do babies get the hiccups? I will have to google it.

Dr. D is having me take a 24 hour urine test. Ugh - gross. I guess the purpose of the test is to get a baseline of what my urine normally looks like for protein and sugar readings. Since I am at a higher risk for preeclampsia, Dr. D wanted to get a reading now, before things potentially get all out of wack.

Next appointment with Dr. D is April 20th at 2pm. But, drumroll please.... our big ultrasound is the week before that, on April 14 - just a short 3 weeks away. Yay!

So on a side note... I saw a website that predicts the gender of the baby based on the heart rate reading. So, according to the heart rate of 155 - it looks like one of our babies is A BOY! AHHAHAHAH!!!



Well, I also have a bump picture for you. I am definitely starting to show now. Some days the bump is more pronounced than others, and I am having trouble sucking anything in anymore! So as of yesterday, this is what the baby bump looked like. YIKES!



That's all folks. More later!

The Latest and Greatest...2nd Trimester!

I haven't been blogging much of anything lately, as you can tell. Nothing major is going on. But today, well maybe it was yesterday, is a big day for us! We are officially in the 2nd Trimester! Ah, yay! What does this mean you ask?! Well, it means that the risk of miscarriage drops significantly and we are **this** much closer to meeting out two little miracles!

The 1st trimester wasn't horrible at all for me! The only thing that caused me great stress was the thought of miscarriage. Every week that passed I was more and more confident that things were going to be ok. But now, I feel great and am very positive that things are working out perfectly (which changes by the day). I never really had any morning sickness (haven't thrown up once), nor any crazy fatigue, and weird cravings (yet). I have been really lucky. My mom has been reminding me that she didn't have any morning sickness or many cravings either while pregnant, and lucky for me, she passed down such wonderful pregnancy symptoms.

So, I did pop in for an impromptu doctor's visit last week due to some spotting. All is well (!) and I got to see the babies again. Want to see their pictures?! Haha, that's the best part of the blog, right - the pictures!

Here is Baby 'A' - what a great picture! What a cute little hand!

And this is Baby 'B' - yep, I can't see him/her either. Jim points out where the head is and belly and feet, but truthfully, I still can't see it.

And last but not least... Here is a picture of me. I think I might be starting to get a little belly. Now, I've always had a belly and some chubs, so the baby belly is hiding very nicely in there right now... but I imagine it's only a matter of time before my belly 'pops'!

It's a New Year - and a BFP!!

Happy New Year! 2010 is going to be a great year, I can already tell...

Surprise, surprise, I was able to wait until New Years Eve to take a pregnancy test. I was supposed to wait until after work, but, hey, I was just happy that I held out long enough to get to NYE. So, I tested before work on Thursday and.... surprise, BFP (Big Fat Positive)! See below.

So, I am nervous to tell anyone, and excited at the same time. I am really feeling that this pregnancy is going to be different and this baby is going to make it! I really hope that "mother's instinct" is kicking in and I am going to be right.

I am still feeling very slight pregnancy symptoms. The main symptom I have been experiencing is backache. Pretty much everyday my back hurts at some point. I also have had small bouts of nausea and tiredness, but not very often. I am really looking forward to morning sickness and major fatigue, because I think that will make me feel like this pregnancy is going to last.

I called and spoke with the nurse soon after my + test. She spoke with my Doctor and they prescribed Prometrium, which is a Progesterone supplement. I am not 100% sure I even need it, but since they said it couldn't hurt, I decided to try it. Well, when I went to the pharmacy to pick it up, they were hesitant to give it to me because I am pregnant. I guess the main use if for premenopasal women as a hormone supplement. From my neurotic google searching, I have found out that many expecting moms and those TTC are prescribed Prometrium too to help sustain a pregnancy. The jury is out on whether or not it actually helps, but I thought if it wouldn't do harm, then why not try.

Well, then I googled it some more and found out that there is a higher risk of birth defects (like Cleft Lip) if I take it. AHHHH! SO, as of right now, I am not taking it. My doctor left it up to me, and didn't necessarily thing I had to take it, so I am not (as of now).

I went in for my first Beta HCG blood draw on Saturday. After waiting for awhile with the urgent care patients and possibly picking up the H1N1, I was called back for the quick blood draw (my veins are awesome, by the way!). I called the lab later that afternoon and was ecstatic to hear the result of 2000. Yay! FYI: If you don't know much about Betas, they are supposed to double (or close to it) every 24-48 (or so) hours to show the pregnancy is on-going.

So, as I explained before, I tend to be a little neurotic when it comes to google...so I googled Beta HCG levels. The average beta result for 17 DPO (days past ovulation) is 132... with a average range of 17-429. Um, mine was 2000. After more googling, I have discovered that the higher HCG level, the more likely to be multiples... Oh, my!

Well, I plan to go and get another Beta HCG tomorrow, so I will report back then!

Oh, and a couple more pictures... Me at 4 weeks and 5 days. Looking normally chubby! :-)