29 and 30 Weeks

Woo! 30 Weeks! For some reason, 30 weeks seems so much further along than 29. At this point I know I have eight weeks left before the docs start talking induction. I don't want an induction so I'm sure I'll do my best to negotiate around it, but...if I'm being honest...I really hope I don't go past then anyway. September 28th seems like a good day to me! I'll be 37 weeks and some days. 

**Whine alert, skip for the good stuff**

Time is passing, as it has all summer, so slowly. My energy and ability to live life seems to come in spurts. Some days I can get things done. Some days I can't seem to even stand long enough to cook a decent meal, much less deal with a messy or unclean house. Yesterday afternoon I stood at the sink and cried a few self-pitying tears, as I tried to make a meal, some muffins for breakfast, and get the kitchen cleaned up, and it all seemed so utterly impossible as I stood there in the devastation of my mess of a house. I'm thinking a belly support belt would be a big help, as much of my problem seems to be the huge heaviness, the pain of the hernia, and the amount of contractions I have when I'm standing. Going for walks is also incredibly uncomfortable--the pool is only a short walk away and that takes me forever. I actually DROVE to a friend's house this morning, and it's a ten minute walk--because I only have to much energy for the day, and I didn't want to waste it on a walk. Last night I wrote a completely whiney and complaining email to my mom, wondering what I'm going to do in my last few weeks and how am I going to fail my kids at being a good mom and housekeeper and cooking anything other than cereal or a sandwich! Of course I completely regretted sending it this morning but sometimes you just feel the way you do! This morning I read a perfectly timed and encouraging verse: 2 Corinthians 12:9, "But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' " Part of my discouragement, I think, is knowing that I'll be doing my last month pregnant on my own and somehow that seems even more overwhelming and difficult than doing newborns and little on my own, because at least then I'll be physically able. On the other hand, I keep telling myself that inside babies are the easiest it will ever be, and I'm getting WAY more sleep now than I will for months to come! I hate complaining and I try really really hard not to complain in real life, but at the same time I know I've combed other twin mom blogs wondering what its really like and right now, today, this moment, this is what it's really like for me. But enough venting, lets talk about the good part of life!

Sorry but no veggie or pics with the kids again, same reason. If you need a fix of the kids, you can check out my last post. At 29 weeks the twins were about he size of butternut squashes, and at 30 weeks they are supposedly the size of large cabbages. I'm not going to lie, these size comparisons seem to jump around a lot! Symptom wise things are fine. The geographic tongue I mentioned in the last update went away, and I've suddenly developed heartburn. I KNOW, I can't believe I got away without having it until so late in the game! Don't worry, I paid my dues with Shane. I got heartburn with him before I even knew I was pregnant! 

I had two appointments last week: a follow up with my endocrinologist and a full morning at the OB office. I did the three hour glucose test (AGAIN) at the doctor's and I passed. Low fasting, pretty high one hour, low two hour, below normal low three hour. In between my sticks they worked me up and did the monthly growth ultrasound on the twins. I really really liked the tech who did the U/S this time and I think I'll try to get her each time from now on out. She was so personable and friendly, and the other two techs are not no matter how hard I try.

Per the doctor, Dean is now twin A since he's lower, and Dani is twin B. That puts an end to the confusion about A and B, and they just made a note of the changed designations. As the tech was scanning nose/mouths she asked me who had the big nose in the family, because according to her Dean has a perfect pug nose that looks nothing like mine. Then she compared shots and we thought it was cute that Dani's features look so much more delicate than Dean's. Probably my favorite part was watching Dani's teeny tiny little perfect mouth take big gulps of amniotic fluid as she practices "breathing".

Dean on top, Dani on bottom

Dean is a little more spread out than his sister, and Dani is kind of curled up into Dean's neck and torso. We were able to get a nice profile of Dean but not Dani because of how she was curled into him. Dani hangs out all the way over on my right side and she's the one I often feel bulging out or have to push out of my ribs. Dean hangs out more on my midline and also more inside, if that makes sense, so I feel him but he's not quite as obvious. It's CRAZY how they both manage to hang out on my right side, and you can really see it when I have a braxton hicks. Nathan is a little creeped out by them and calls them the aliens and tells them they should spread out and take advantage of the space while they have it!

Dean

Dani is estimated to weigh 2 lbs 10 oz, and Dean is estimated to weigh 2 lb 14 oz (At 29 weeks). The tech said they usually gain about a half pound a week from now on out, as the third tri is all about gaining weight for babies. That means the would both weigh a little over 7 lbs each by 38 weeks. However, twins to tend to slow down their weight gain a little earlier than singleton babies do so that 1/2 lb a week may actually be a little less. I guess we'll find out in eight weeks! It's fun to guess though. If it helps you be a little more forgiving of my earlier whining, I'll put this to you in numbers.

I am 30 weeks pregnant. 

As of last week's visit, I measured at 37 weeks pregnant, with eight weeks still to go.

I am carrying 5+ lbs of baby (probably more like six now).

Each baby includes about ten pounds of placenta and amniotic fluid, since they both have their own of each.

That's about 25 extra pounds, which is what I've gained (I can't believe I just admitted that).

That's a lot to carry out in front!

And finally, my favorite moment of the fortnight was a ladies night out for out Women of the Chapel group! We went to eat Mexican food, and then hung out at the home of one of our ladies and played games and had microwave smores. (We were supposed to have a campfire and smores at the beach, but we got rained out).

The owner of the restaurant brought out a bunch of sombreros at the end for us all to play with and take pictures. I had to laugh when I saw this picture--I'm pretty sure my belly and the sombrero are the same size! The evening was SO much fun and just what I needed. I'm so grateful for that group of sisters!

Twin Gender Reveal: Then and Now

Part 1, April 21st, 2014

What will they be?

I'm not publishing this post until I get confirmation at my next ultrasound, since we found out so early, but on April 21st we went to an elective ultrasound for an anniversary present. I'd wanted to get one while I was in Ohio for my Dad's graduation, since my mom hasn't ever gotten to see an ultrasound or one of my ultrasounds, but that plan changed when Nathan was unable to get leave to come along. I didn't think it was fair to potentially find out the twins' genders if he couldn't be there, so we did the next best thing. We went to the ultrasound and got a video to take her to see!

I was shocked, since I was only 14 weeks, but the sonographer was absolutely certain of what she was seeing. She told us the genders! The twins were so sweet and active--one was cuddled up to it's placenta and one was punching and kicking the other.

Before we went, Shane helped me sort out pink and blue candies to put in two little eggs for a gender reveal. We had to use plastic eggs since, after all, it was right after Easter!

Shane loves to sort things...especially when you get a piece as a reward after!

So when I got home that night I filled my little Easter eggs and packed them up to take to Ohio...where the kids gave them to my parents!

And the babies are...

...One of each! Wahoo!

I know these pictures are hard to understand. This twin was the one cuddling the placenta, which is that large blob. Head on the left.

The twins have been spooning each other in every ultrasound so far. Hope that continues all the way to a double vertex delivery!

Part 2, June 2nd, 2014

Now that I've had my "official" anatomy scan I'm glad to be able to finally publish this post. Both twins look healthy and whole. The difference is that twin A is actually our girl, Dani, and twin B is actually our boy, Dean. Dani (A) is estimated to weigh 12 ounces, and Dean (B) is estimated to weigh 14 ounces. Both placentas are posterior (toward my back) and both were extremely active during the ultrasound. At one point when the tech was trying to measure Dean's humerus he was kicking to fast that his legs were little blurs! For the first time the babies aren't spooning each other: Dani is head down, Dean is feet down, and both were kicking each other in the head the whole time. In the picture below Dani has her hand up by her cheek.

Dani, Twin A

The tech was really nice about explaining what she was looking at and measuring and thanks to my Anatomy and Physiology class I was following along really well. She didn't have a very good sense of humor though. As I laid down on the table I told her I hoped she didn't find a third hiding in there, and snickered. She very seriously told me that it was highly unlikely, and if I was having triplets I would have found out at the same ultrasound in which I found out I was carrying twins. Ooooookay. I didn't make any more jokes! I was grateful to her for her explanations though.

Dean, Twin B

 I wanted the big littles to be involved in helping introduce "their" babies, but they were more interested in playing with the balloons. I just LOVE how excited Shane is. He tells every random person he meets that hes having two babies; one for sister and one for him, and he'll share with me sometimes. He plans on sharing his bed with "his" baby. Azaria doesn't get it quite as much, but she loves to pat my tummy and say "babies", and then try to look under my shirt to find them.

I have about 15 funny outtakes, but I'll spare you and just share one. They were bouncing their balloons together so much that the above is the only one where they were still!

20 Weeks {Belated}

This past week was a week that we had been looking forward to for a long time--the week we got to have our ultrasound! We had it at 9AM on Thursday morning and the office was an hour from our house so we were up bright and early.  We got there a little bit early so Shane ran laps around the outer hallways.

The machine they used looked pretty old so while they were able to get the measurements they needed to tell us that Baby was healthy and a GIRL, it's pretty hard to see anything but blurs in the pictures they gave me. That's ok though, we saw that she is developed and healthy. She was also being stubborn and didn't want to give us a profile shot.

This is the only ultrasound I will be having, Lord willing. As much as the curious, technology loving part of me would love to go for an elective 3D/4D sono (Have you seen those things? They are creepy/cool.), the conservative, natural side of me won't allow it. Much as I'd love to see her pretty face again I don't care to subject her to another ultrasound.

After our ultrasound we stopped at Kid 2 Kid, which is a local kid stuff resale store where I had some store credit from selling a few things of Shane's. I used my store credit to buy a cute little outfit (right) and a stool for Shane's table.  The outfit on the left I bought months ago on a whim. It was only 2 bucks and both grandpas predicted girl so I got it just in case.

And, we decided on her name! Azaria Natalie V----! Azaria means "helped by God". Natalie is both my middle name and my mom's name. Originally I had wanted Jeanette for a middle name, after a beloved Great great Aunt, but Natalie won out.

How Far Along: This is my 20 week post, but I am actually 21 weeks today.
Total Weight Gain: 7 lbs
Maternity Clothes: Yup. 
Stretch Marks: A bazillion. But no new ones.
Sleep: Pretty good this week!
Best Moment of the Week: Seeing our baby and finding out that she is a GIRL!
Worst Moment of the Week: Almost leaving my wallet at Walmart--oops! And only getting three hours of sleep on New Years Eve. That was not fun.
Movement: She's really strong now, and I can feel her from the outside all the time! Nathan even got to feel her when we went on our date a few weeks ago.
Food Cravings: None
Gender: Girl!
Labor Signs: I started having Braxton Hicks around 14 weeks. They are getting a lot more frequent now, and stronger.
Belly Button: No change really.
Wedding Rings on or Off: On.
What I miss: A good night's sleep. But I've been missing that for a long time now, and I expect to continue to miss it for as long as I have little kids or am pregnant! It's a privilege of motherhood, right? If you'd like to wake up early to feed my eternally starving son so I can sleep in, let me know. I'll take you up on it.
What am I looking forward to: Finding out when we move--c'mon Navy, I need some answers!
Weekly Wisdom:I got a chance to talk to Emily about the trouble I've been having standing without passing out and she said it's because of low blood pressure. Huh.
Milestones: Seeing Baby and finding out her gender.
Weekly Verse: Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a hope and a future.

36 weeks, 5 days

I had an ultrasound on Tuesday, and Nathan and my MIL Daphne got to go to see the baby. It was really neat because we could actually see bones and skin and all sorts of things. We sort of got to see his face but not very well since it’s so low in my pelvis and he was turned away. I did see him stick his tongue out, silly boy. Unfortunately since he was moving so much and he was in a bad place the ultrasound tech was unable to get a picture of his face. I did, however, get a picture that confirmed the boyness of it all, and another of lots of hair. Which proves that all the heartburn is not in vain. He is also estimated to weigh 7 lbs. Which means that at an average weight gain of ½ lb per week, by 40 weeks he will weigh around 9 lbs and by 42 weeks he will weigh around 10. Oh joy. I was hoping for a little 6 or 7 lb peanut that would sort of just slide out. Maybe he’ll come a little bit early.

Boy parts

All that blurry white stuff by the writing is hair.

 

I had an internal exam and Dr. H said I am 1 cm dilated and 75% effaced. I’m not getting too excited because it doesn’t mean I’m close really, just that my body is gearing up for the big day. I told Nathan it would be cute if he was born on Mother’s Day, but that is way soon I think. I was just kidding.

And here I am, huge and getting bigger! I’m doing ok. Tired but finding it a little difficult to get comfortable. Piglet is still very active and I really enjoy that. Well, 99 percent of the time anyway. I don’t like being woken up by the breath stealing kick to the ribs, haha!

Date Day and Dr. Appointment

We were driving home from a friend's house late Friday night when we saw a lady trying to push her Blazer up a hill. Alone.  Nathan quickly flipped a U and ran to help her push.  He managed to get it out of the intersection and then hooked up a tow chain and towed her into a parking lot.  Thank God we were in the truck and not my car!  Then he found out she lived across town and didn't have a ride home so we gave her a lift.  She was very grateful, and we were glad to help.  My honey is such a gentleman. Well, usually!

Since Nathan was able to be home this weekend and the weather is nice we went to the Fine Arts Festival in downtown Fort Worth. It's free!

 

It was PACKED.  We saw a comedian, El Gleno, doing a funny little act as a zebra. 

We didn't stay too long. I would've loved to look around more, but it was just SO crowded that I couldn't stand it. And, to be really honest, we were there walking and standing for about and hour and a half and that is just really pushing my limits at this point. I feel like a wuss because I would normally have spent all day at this kind of thing, but that's just the way it is right now.  And we had fun for as long as we spent there.  

Once we managed to get out of the parking garage, which was an adventure in itself, we went to a big field near where we used to live to fly my old kite.   Apparently Nathan was the kite flying champion in Elementary school but try as he might he couldn't get that kite up.  I guess there's a reason the kite was on sale for five bucks--the little side fins bring it spiraling down as soon as you get it up! So we went to Wal---- to find another kite, but they were sold out. So, we drove up the highway to T.oys R Us and found a kite that he liked. It looks like a Macaw.  We saved it to fly on Sunday though, because we had planned to see a movie that night.

After we bought movie tickets we got supper in the food court and walked around for a couple of hours until the movie started.  We saw How to Train Your Dragon, which was super cute.  I actually liked it enough to buy it. 

On Sunday we didn't go to church, because I was half asleep and didn't set the alarm right.  Oops!  Instead we helped SIL and BIL go get their new couches, and they gave us theirs which are only about a year old.  A little upholstery cleaner and they'll be good as new! We are so grateful to finally have comfortable furniture that looks nice.   

This morning I dropped Nathan off at the warehouse and went to my appointment with Dr. H.  I went last week but my morning sugar numbers were a little high so he gave me a week to get them under control.  Today he said that all of my numbers look good--better than 90% of preggo's who don't have G.D.  So yay!  He also gave me a lovely compliment, saying that he admired my discipline to have quit smoking when I found out I was pregnant and now to be monitoring my blood sugar and trying to eat properly and learn about diabetes without the benefit of  all the classes and the personal nutritionist consult.  It made me feel good.  Piglet is growing well and I have to go back again in a week to get my Strep B test done.  I'm not sure if I'll have to keep going in weekly or if I'll be able to go back to the two week schedule for a while but it doesn't really matter as long as its to keep us both well. I'll also have an ultrasound a bit later on, probably around 36 weeks. That will help Dr. H determine Piglet's size and whether or not I can wait to go into labor naturally (which is my goal). Oh, and I actually lost a pound!

Twig and Berries

16 weeks, 5 days ultrasound

It's a boy!  Will try to upload ultrasound photo later.