Birth Story

It all began on Thursday night, June 26th, 2008. Ben and I had found out that afternoon that I was going to be scheduled for a c-section sometime the following week due to me starting to develop preeclampsia. I don't think either of us expected to get too much sleep that night from the excitement of knowing that the following day we were going to learn when we would become parents. I actually took an Ambien when I went to bed in hopes of that helping me get some sleep. I was definitely not prepared for how little sleep I ended up getting...

I woke up sometime during the night and was having some pretty intense stomach pains, but they just felt like really bad gas pains to me. Then I realized that some of them were accompanied by contractions. I assumed it was just more Braxton Hicks contractions and that I had gas, so I went back to sleep- or at least tried to. Around 2am I woke up again and had the same pains with and without contractions and also was starting to feel nauseus. At about 2:30 I got up to go to the bathroom and ended up throwing up everything I had had for dinner. I thought maybe that would make me feel better and I went back to bed. By the time Ben's alarm went off at 4:30 I had been up and thrown up two more times. Ben heard me the last time and was worried so he decided he wasn't going to go to work- he was going to stay home with me and make sure I was okay.

About 5am Ben paged Dr. Zaita. She called back and Ben told her what was going on and then I talked to her. She said to rest for a couple of hours and if I still didn't feel better to call her back. She said I may have to go to the hospital for some IV fluids.

Two hours later I still felt just as awful, so we paged Dr. Zaita again. She called back and when I answered the phone the first thing she said was, "Still sick?" When I told her I was she said to go ahead and go to the hospital for some fluids and to get checked out. Ben and I called our parents and told them what was going on. I somehow managed to get out of bed and get dressed and after I threw up again, we headed for the hospital. Ben had the great idea to have his mom go with us to the hospital, so we picked her up on the way.

We got to the hospital and after suffering through several long minutes at registration we went to labor and delivery and they took us right back to the triage room. They hooked me up to monitors to check on the babies and put in an IV to get me the fluids I desperately needed. They also gave me some Zofran, which was a miracle drug, for the nauseau. Within a few minutes of getting the Zofran I felt much, much better. They drew some blood to repeat the bloodwork I'd had the day before at the OB's office, told me they needed a urine sample when I could provide one, and left us to rest.

When the bloodwork results were ready Dr. Hodges came by and told me that everything looked good with that. No big changes from the day before. He said that he was hoping I'd give him a reason to deliver that day, but it didn't look like that was going to happen. By this point I'd finally managed to give a urine sample, a small one at least. I was so dehydrated that I didn't have to go to the bathroom. So we were waiting for the results of my urinalysis and if that was good, it looked like we were going to get to go home.

I remember Ben and I sitting there talking and thinking how we should be on our way home by around noon and we would get something for lunch on the way. And how we should be able to get the c-section scheduled for the next week while we're at the hospital and everything should be good to go.

And then they got the results of the urinalysis... I heard the nurse talking to Dr. Hodges on the phone, but she wasn't in with us, so I assumed she was talking about another patient. It's not uncommon for Dr. Hodges to have several patients in L&D at one time. But I guess that was just wishful thinking. Then the nurse poked her head in to our curtained area and said that she'd just talked to Dr. Hodges and that because of the results of my urinalysis, he wanted to go ahead and deliver that day. Apparently the protein level in my urine had gone up from the day before.

We asked for an idea of when the c-section would be and the nurse said probably not until 4:30 or 5:00 because they were really busy that day. So we waited. A little later Dr. Hodges came by and told us the same thing the nurse had told us. We'd gone to the hospital thinking that I would get some IV fluids and we'd go home, but instead we were going to have our girls.

At this point they started talking about moving me to a private room. Apparently they were preparing for more women coming into triage, so they needed to find a place to stick me until my surgery. Ben decided to go home, eat lunch, change clothes and get some clothes for himself since he would be staying at the hospital with me. I guess I should say that by this point Ben's mom had already been to our house and walked Jefferson. She had also called my mom earlier just to let her know how things were going. As soon as we found out that we were going to have the girls that day she called my mom again to let her know and also called Ben's dad to let him know. Everyone started to head for the hospital, except Ben who was heading away from it- but he'd be back soon.

Ben's mom stayed with me while Ben was gone. They moved me to a private room where I would stay until I went to the OR. When we got there we met my nurse for the day, Diana. She hooked me up to the monitors and was quite entertained when the girls kept kicking at the monitors. A little while later Ben's dad showed up. He had been pulled out of a meeting when Ben's mom called the last time and immediately headed for the hospital. My parents showed up a little while after that and then Ben came back.

I called the only people that I felt like I needed to call that day- Beth and Mollie. Beth was getting married that evening and Mollie was going to be in the wedding. I called Beth first, but after I got her voicemail I called Mollie. Mollie called back first, so I let her know what was going on and she told me she'd make sure Beth called me. A little while later Beth called back. Beth and Mollie were both very, very excited that our girls were going to be born that day- on Beth's wedding day.

So we spent the next few hours in our room in labor and delivery. Our parents were with us most of the time, but they did leave us alone for part of the time just so that we could be alone together and process what was happening. Our nurse, Diana, was with us a lot of the day, too. She was great about explaining the process of everything to us, including how they would do my spinal block for the surgery. They kept telling us that the surgery would be sometime between 4:30 and 5:30, but probably closer to 5:30. They couldn't give us a definite time, so we just waited.

At some point in the afternoon Ben and I decided that we would tell our parents the names before the delivery. We wanted them to be the first to know them, but also wanted to be able to tell people in the OR, so we told them in the labor and delivery room. It was so nice to be able to finally share the names we'd decided on months ago. And, of course, our parents loved the names. And Ben and I both teared up when we told them.

Then around 4:30 or so Dr. Hodges stopped in and said he was going to try to get us into the OR around 5:00. That's what he was pushing for, but we didn't know if it was going to happen. It was probably about 4:45 or so when Diana came back in the room and started messing with my IV. Apparently they wanted me in the OR in about 15 minutes, so they needed to get the IV fluids going again. At this point everything was kind of rushed. I guess the IV fluids should have been started earlier, but no one knew that they were going to be ready for me so soon. The anesthesiologist came in and introduced himself and explained what he was going to be doing.

Then a little while later I said goodbye to our parents and Ben and I was walked into the OR. When I got in the OR, I sat on the operating table and the anesthesiologist did my spinal block. It wasn't bad. The hardest part for me was relaxing while he did it and staying bent over so that my back was curved the way he wanted it. The surgical assistant in front of me kept having to tell me to curl my back more. At this point I was a nervous wreck. I could feel when he put in the spinal block because it felt like a cold liquid running down into my legs. When that was done they helped me lay down on the table and started prepping me for the surgery.

It was about at that point when they realized that Dr. Hodges, my OB, was missing. The anesthesiologist, Dr. Lee, started freaking out. He kept leaving the room trying to find Dr. Hodges and then would come back without him, still kind of freaking out. The reason he was so freaked out was because I had a spinal block they only had a set amount of time to do the surgery before the spinal would wear off. Eventually they found Dr. Hodges- who had been off delivering another baby- and he was ready to do my surgery, so they brought Ben in.

At this point I was starting to freak out. It was finally really hitting me that not only was I about to become a mother, but I was going to have major abdominal surgery in order to have the babies. I thought I was going to lose it, but I managed to hold it together, somehow. But, man, did I feel better when I had Ben sitting by my head. It all became a little easier to handle with him there with me. I don't know how I would have managed without him.

Next thing I knew they were cutting into me (all I felt was a little pressure) and we heard Paige cry. That was the most amazing sound in the world. As soon as we heard it Ben and I both started to cry. We were so caught up in that sound that we didn't even realize that Virginia didn't cry when they pulled her out. Ben said he realized something was wrong when he looked over and there was one nurse with Paige and two nurses and the neonatologist with Virginia. Of course, I didn't know anything about this until later.

Both girls were born at 5:36pm on June 27, 2008. I learned later that when Dr. Hodges had gone to break the amniotic sac for one of them he accidentally broke both of them, so he pulled them out faster than normal. They ended up being born about 30 seconds apart.

I saw them bring the girls over to weigh them since the scale was on the side of the room I could see. Ben got some pictures of them getting weighed. Then the nurses wrapped them up and brought them to Ben for our first family pictures.

After some pictures were taken, the nurses took the girls back to their warmers and started preparing for the move to the NICU. Ben left with the girls and went to the NICU with them while I got sewn up. The atmosphere in the OR got a lot more relaxed once the girls were gone. They turned on music and apparently Dr. Hodges was dancing some. I couldn't see it, I could just hear the anesthesiologist (a new one, Dr. Lee left during the surgery for some reason) talking and making fun of Dr. Hodges' dancing.

It took them a little while to sew me up, but once that was done they moved me to the post-op recovery room. When I got over there they brought Ben in to see me. I think that was when he told me that Virginia had come out blue and not breathing. But they revived her in the OR and she was doing fine. I could only have 1 visitor in the recovery room at a time, so Ben left and each of our parents came in individually.

They had me stay in the recovery room longer than normal because there was a shift change going on in the NICU and they wanted to be able to take me by the NICU to see the girls before taking me to my room. Ben had come back in with me and showed me all the pictures he had taken of the girls while we were waiting for me to be moved. Around 7:45 it was time to move me. They took me to the NICU and right into Paige and Virginia's room. Both the girls were in their warmers and when I got there the nurses took them out and gave them to me to hold. It was an amazing feeling getting to hold my little girls for the first time. We got some pictures taken and I held them for a little bit and then it was time for me to go to my room.

Ben came with me to my room for a little while and then went back to the NICU with our parents so that they could see the girls. Check out our other blog: therowlandtwins.blogspot.com for pictures.

I spent four nights in the hospital (the max my insurance would pay for) and came home on Tuesday afternoon. The girls were still in the NICU and leaving the hospital that day was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I knew they were in the best place for them, but it was so hard leaving the hospital without them. It was like leaving a piece of myself there, or really two pieces...

The girls spent a total of 9 days in the NICU, mainly to learn to eat and in the end to start gaining some weight. They did great there, but it's so incredibly wonderful to have them home with us. Bringing them home that Sunday made everything so much more real.

June 27, 2008- BIRTHDAY!!!

Paige Madison and Virginia Rose were born on June 27, 2008 at 5:36pm via c-section. Paige was 6 lbs 2 oz and Virginia was 6 lbs 8 oz. Both girls were 19 inches long.

For more information on them, check out our other blog at therowlandtwins.blogspot.com

At some point I'll get around to posting the story of what happened Thursday night and led to the girls' birth on Friday, but I don't know for sure when that will happen...

35 weeks 5 days appointments

I'm way late making this post, but I've been a little busy since I had these appointments. More about that later...

Last Thursday (6/26) I went to see my OB at 8:30am. I actually saw Dr. Hodges who I hadn't seen in the office in months. I saw him when I was in the hospital on bed rest, but all of my office appointments had been with Dr. Zaita. Actually, now that I think about it, Dr. Hodges was the one that admitted me to the hospital... Anyway, the appointment went well. My blood pressure was a little high again, so he decided to repeat my blood work from the week before. I was told that my urine was fine. He didn't check my cervix. I'd been having 2-3 contractions an hour pretty much all week, so he didn't want to do anything to irritate my cervix. My uterus was measuring 45cm, which would be about 45 weeks in a singleton pregnancy! No wonder I was having so many contractions- my uterus was practicing for getting the babies out. The contractions weren't painful, so they weren't anything to worry about, but they were definitely there. When we left Dr. Hodges said he would call me that afternoon to let me know how the bloodwork was.

We came home for awhile and rested and ate some lunch before going to our next appointment. We went to the high risk office for a non-stress test and a growth scan. The non-stress test went fine. Oddly enough, I didn't have any contractions while hooked up to the monitors. And we managed to get both of the babies on the monitors without many problems, so that was nice. Then they did the ultrasound. Both babies looked great. Baby A was measuring 6lbs 10oz and baby B was measuring 6lbs 12oz and had flipped to breech! I don't know how she found the room in there to do that, but she did. And I'm pretty sure I know when it happened. One night a couple of days before the ultrasound I remember telling Ben that it felt like one of the babies was trying to come out through my belly. I'm guessing that was actually her flipping over.

We got home and called our parents and let them know how the appointments went. And Ben sent out an e-mail to a bunch of people letting them know what was happening. Within minutes of the e-mail going out, my cell phone rang. It was Dr. Hodges. He said that my bloodwork came back and it was okay, but the levels they were looking at were a little higher than the week before and I was definitely headed down the road towards preeclampsia, so we needed to set an end date for the pregnancy. He wanted to get me to 36 weeks, which according to the due date he had (7/30) would have been the next Wednesday (7/2). We had been talking about me attempting a vaginal delivery, so Dr. Hodges was ready to schedule an induction. Then I told him the results of the ultrasound we'd just had- the babies' sizes and the fact that baby B was breech. So he suggested a c-section, and I agreed. He was planning on being at the hospital all day on Friday, so he said he would call me from there and get the c-section scheduled for the next week. Dr. Hodges had told us Memorial Day weekend when I was in the hospital that they didn't believe in holiday babies, so we figured the c-section would be scheduled for Wednesday or Thursday.

And that's where we left things Thursday afternoon/evening- probably about a week until we would get to meet our girls. Little did we know what would happen later that night...

34 week 5 day appointments

On Thursday we went to both my regular OB and the high risk office. Exciting day- I got to leave the house twice!

First we went to the OB. That appointment went fine other than the fact that my blood pressure was higher than normal. It was borderline, so not really high, but high enough to be something to watch. Dr. Zaita asked me about contractions and since I really hadn't been having many at all, she didn't check my cervix. She wasn't worried about it. She checked the heartbeats, which both sounded good. She downgraded me to "modified" bed rest until Wednesday (tomorrow!) and told me to keep taking my Procardia until Saturday. She also said that if I were to go into labor, they would still try to stop it until after Wednesday- assuming my blood pressure was okay. They did some blood work because of my blood pressure and said I'd only get a call if something was wrong with it. I didn't get a call, thank goodness. I go back to her on Thursday of this week.

Oh, she also said that if we decided to schedule a c-section she would do it sometime between 37 and 37 1/2 weeks. But for now the plan is to at least attempt a vaginal delivery. Granted, I could change my mind on that after we get the results of our growth scan this week...

And then Thursday afternoon we went to the high risk office for a fluid level check and a non-stress test. They tried to do the non-stress test first, but she could only get one baby on the monitor. So they decided to do the ultrasound to find where to look for the babies on the non-stress test. Well, the babies looked good. Their fluid levels were good as were their heart rates. Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures, but, really, they're getting too big to be able to see much in a picture. So then we went back and they tried the non-stress test again. Even though we knew where each baby was, they still couldn't get both on the heart monitors. We knew there was a chance of this because they're so close to one another in there. The ultrasound tech had done what they call a biophysical profile- checking for movement, practicing breathing, and I can't remember what else- when she did the ultrasound just in case they couldn't get the non-stress test to work. So the high risk OB was okay with that and let us go. We go back on Thursday for a growth scan and, supposedly, another non-stress test. I can't wait to see how big they've gotten...

Of course, since those appointments I've been having some contractions. Ben made me page the doctor on Saturday because I was having contractions. Of course, none of these contractions have been painful, so it's just my body practicing for labor. When I talked to the doctor on Saturday she said that she wasn't worried about it since I'd only had 5 contractions in 2 hours. She told me to lay down and drink lots of water and if things get worse to call her back. Well, from that point, the contractions slowed down some, but I was having them about every 30 minutes or so. That continued on Sunday, but finally got better yesterday. I've had a few this morning, but nothing to worry about. Of course, I'll talk to Dr. Zaita about all of this on Thursday. I doubt she'll be concerned about it, though. Unless, of course, there's a change in my cervix.

Well, that's the update for now. Today I'm 35 weeks 3 days. There have been times during this pregnancy when I wasn't sure I'd ever make it this far, but here we are to almost 36 weeks. YAY!!!

Our new blog

Ben and I set up a new blog for the girls. Right now all it has on it are some nursery pictures, but we'll be updating it with pictures and stories once the girls are born. The address for it is therowlandtwins.blogspot.com

I'll continue to update this blog until the girls are born and then I'll switch over to updating the twins blog. I'll do another post like this when I am going to stop updating this blog, which hopefully won't be for another couple of weeks.

Nursery

Here are some pictures of the nursery that Ben took so that I could see it while I'm stuck laying on the couch. Here's one of the cribs with the bedding on it:

This is a picture of the valance over the window. You can also see some of the decorations that Ben has put up on the walls.
This is the nightstand that we got that matches the cribs and dresser. It's got the lamp and picture frame on it that match the bedding.
This is the second crib and the nightstand. They're directly across the room from the other crib. That's all the furniture in that room. We have another room set up with the dresser/changing table and the glider, but I don't have pictures of that room all set up.
We're still not done with the crib room. We're going to put the girls' names up on shelves on the walls over their cribs, but we're waiting on the shelves and we can't put the names up until they're born since we aren't telling anyone their names. The letters are all ready to go, though. Ben painted them the red color that is in the bedding. It's pretty much fire engine red and looks awesome! I can't wait to see the whole room put together. I'll try to remember to post pictures after it's all done.

33 week 5 day appointment

We went in for another ultrasound yesterday.  It was a real quick one.  The ultrasound tech checked my cervix, although she said there's really no point to it at this point.  Yet the doctor ordered it, so obviously someone sees a point to it.  It's still really thin, but looked about the same to Ben and I.    

Then she took a quick look at the babies.  The heartbeats were good and they're definitely getting big in there.  The fluid level on baby A looked good, but we're not sure she checked the fluid level on baby B, but they must not be worried about it because they didn't take me back to get a fluid level.

She told me to make sure we head for the hospital pretty much as soon as I start feeling contractions or have any strange mucousy discharge.  She doesn't seem to think my cervix is going to hold for long after labor starts.  I've already been told repeatedly to call my doctor as soon as either of those things happen, so I plan on doing that.  I trust what my OB tells me more than I trust what an ultrasound tech tells me.

Then we met with a doctor.  He wants me to get to 37 weeks, but doesn't seem too sure that my cervix will hold up that long.  What Ben and I found kind was odd, though, is that my OB seems perfectly happy with my cervix, but this high risk doctor seemed really concerned about it.  But since I've only met this high risk doctor once and I've seen my OB many times, I'm going to stick with what she says.  I trust her to know what's best for me and the babies.  And she's well aware that my cervix really hasn't changed much in a month or so, but still seems confident that I can get to 35 or 36 weeks and she'd be happy with that.

So basically, we're exactly where we were before yesterday's appointment.  We go back to the high risk doctor next week for a fluid level check and a non-stress test- that's where they monitor the babies heart rates and for contractions.  We also go to my OB next Thursday, so it's going to be a busy and exhausting day.  But hopefully I'll get word from my OB that I can start moving around more soon.  What I'm anxious to know is when she'll take me off the Procardia...

Here's a couple of shots of my belly from last week.  Is it just me or is it really getting big?

My husband

I thought about waiting until Fathers' Day to do this post, but I've decided that since I have no idea where I'll be on Fathers' Day, I'd go ahead and write it.

I have the greatest husband in the world! He's been so wonderful to me through this whole bed rest and hospitalization thing and really this entire pregnancy. I never could have made it through all of this without him. He comes home from work every night and does everything he can to make me comfortable and make sure I have everything I need. He goes with me to every doctors' appointment (although he did miss a couple in the beginning) and always makes sure he's prepared with questions for the doctor.

We knew from early on that bed rest was a definite possibility for me, so we made sure we got registered and picked out our nursery furniture fairly early. But the only thing that was done in the nursery when I was put on bed rest was the paint. My parents and I had gotten that done a few weeks before bed rest. Ben took care of everything else. And I mean everything. He ordered the furniture, then he and his dad put it together. He organized the closets (with our parents' help). He put decorations up on the wall. He came up with the idea to put the girls names over their cribs, bought the letters and painted them. He went to Babies R Us and bought everything that we needed and didn't have yet. And he's started putting things together like the strollers. He's read about putting the car seat bases in the cars, but hasn't done it yet. I have a feeling he may do that this weekend or at least sometime very soon. Oh, he also picked our pediatrician. We had gotten the names of a few pediatricians from our OB and I did the research on them, but he went and met with the one I had picked out- and he really liked her. Basically, he has taken care of everything to make sure we're ready for when these little girls get here.

I don't know what I would do without him. He's taken such good care of me and I can tell he already loves these girls like crazy. He says good night to them every night and normally says goodbye to them when he leaves home. It's so cute! He calls me from work everyday to check on me and the girls- at least once.

I never knew it was possible to love someone as much as I love him. And we're both preparing to learn about a whole new type of love. I can't even imagine how much we're going to love these girls as soon as we see their little faces. We both already love them, but I know that love will just grow from here.

When I met Ben almost 7 years ago I had pretty much given up on ever finding a guy in Charlottesville. I'd been there for 5 years already and hadn't found anyone worth keeping, so I didn't expect that to change. Little did I know that working just two townhouses over was the man I was going to marry. At that point I never imagined that almost 7 years later we'd be preparing for the birth of our twin girls and getting ready to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary. 5 years. We've been married almost 5 years. That's hard to believe. And we'll be celebrating that anniversary just one week after our girls' actual due date and the day after one of my best friends gets married. It'll be a little surreal being at a wedding the day before our own anniversary, but hopefully we'll be able to enjoy that wedding almost as much as we enjoyed our own.

Here is a picture of us from a vacation we went on a couple of years ago for our anniversary. We went to Wyoming and visited Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. This picture was taken on a hike we went on around Jenny Lake in the Grand Tetons. That's Jenny Lake behind us. You can't see the Tetons, though, because they're in front of us. That was a wonderful vacation and I truly cannot wait until our girls are big enough that we can take them out there and they can enjoy and remember the experience. I know I'll never forget any of my three (so far) trips out there. And I'm glad Ben and I got to experience it just the two of us before starting a family. Ben, I truly do love you more with every passing day and I can't wait to raise our children together. I know that you're going to be a great father. Heck, you are already! I LOVE YOU!!!

Yesterday's OB appointment

I went to the OB yesterday for my first check up since getting out of the hospital. We heard both of the heartbeats, which both sounded great. She measured my belly- but didn't tell me how big I'm measuring. She checked my cervix and although she said it has changed a little bit, I'm still not even a centimeter dilated. And apparently I could stay at this level of dilation for quite awhile.

She also checked my blood sugar level chart. I've had some readings that were somewhat high, but she was not at all concerned. That's nice to know- that she's okay with my blood sugar. I was a little concerned about it, but not anymore.

We also talked about delivery. Basically, as long as both babies or at least baby A stay head down and baby B doesn't get to be too much bigger than baby A, it's up to me whether I attempt a vaginal delivery or have a c-section. So now I guess I need to figure out what I want to do. I'm leaning towards attempting a vaginal delivery, but that will depend on how big the babies are estimated to be when I go into labor, I think. I don't really know yet.

The really good news we got yesterday is that I only have to be on bed rest for another two weeks! That's when I'll hit 35 weeks, at which point we've been told I can do whatever I want. I just hope I make it to that point...

So for now I'm stuck in the house for another week. I go for an ultrasound next Thursday and then back to the OB the following Thursday. I can't believe I'm going to be 33 weeks pregnant tomorrow. These babies are going to be here before we know it!

I'm home!!!

Okay, so actually I've been home for a couple of days. They released me from the hospital on Thursday afternoon. It's so nice to be home. My parents brought Jefferson back yesterday and all he's done since he's been home is sleep. He hasn't even eaten- he's too exhausted.

I went for my ultrasound Thursday morning- my nurse wheeled me downstairs for it. We didn't have our regular ultrasound tech, but the one we had was really good- she explained everything she was looking at. She started by checking my cervix. It looked about the same as last week. She even got some measurements that looked better than at my ultrasound two weeks ago, but then she got a couple that were a little shorter. It looked good, though, which was such a relief.

Then she looked at the babies. They're both still head down and baby A's head is right by my cervix and baby B's head is right at baby A's chin. The babies both looked great. We could see them opening their mouths and got good looks at their beating hearts. The tech also pointed out their bladders, kidneys and stomachs. It's amazing what you can see with an ultrasound. Then she told us the approximate weights on the babies... Baby A is measuring about 4 pounds 13 ounces and baby B is measuring right at 5 pounds!!! They're so big for their gestational age, but still within normal limits. They are running the upper 70s to low 80s percentile for their gestational age. And the tech told us they're growing about 1/2 a pound a week at this point. That means that if we make it to 36 weeks I could end up having two 7 pound babies! That's just crazy! Especially after we were so worried about them being born early and being so small. Just a couple of weeks ago we were trying to figure out if we needed to get preemie clothes. Well, I don't think that's going to be a problem now. They may not even last in newborn clothes for very long at this rate!

Their fluid levels looked good, too. Oddly enough, after all this time with baby A being bigger and having more fluid, now baby B is bigger and has more fluid. Their fluid levels are still within normal limits, too, though.

So basically, everything looked great at the ultrasound. We talked to the doctor down there for a couple minutes. She asked me how long they'd kept me at the hospital after my last ultrasound and seemed surprised when I told her that I was still there and whether or not I had to stay depended on this ultrasound. So she said she would call my OBs and let them know how the ultrasound went so they could decide if they were going to send me home or not.

We went back up to my room and my nurse came in and did my daily non-stress test. Of course it was one of my worst. Baby A would not stay on the monitors and I was having quite a few contractions. The contractions slowed down after I'd been on the monitors for 40 minutes or so and I went quite awhile without any- which made the nurse feel better about it. So she took me off the monitors and went to try to get in touch with my OB to talk to them about it and see if she needed to put me back on. Well, they never called her back, instead my OB showed up at the hospital.

She came in the room and told us that we were going home! She said she wasn't concerned about the contractions because the ultrasounds (especially the internal one) can irritate the uterus and cause contractions and cramping. She said that from what she'd been told everything was good with my ultrasound- although all she was worried about was my cervix- and that I was good to come home and be on bed rest here. Ben asked her if they'd told her how big the babies are and she said no, so he told her. She said those were great sizes and that 5 pounds is really the weight they want them to be before they will send them home from the hospital, so it's great that our girls are already about that big. But we still want to keep them in there for another 4 weeks. She also told us that she had been prepared to come examine me before sending me home, but after my ultrasound she didn't see any reason to. She'll just check me when I go in for my appointment (which she had already made for us) next week. So now I'm free from doctors until Thursday unless something happens. She sent me home with prescriptions for Procardia (to control contractions) and Ambien (to help me sleep).

Ben left me at the hospital one more time and came home to get a suitcase in order to pack up all my stuff. I had lunch at the hospital and took my 2pm dose of Procardia and then I was free to go home!

Here are the pictures from the ultrasound. In the first one you can see baby A's profile and then baby B's head right at her chin. If you look closely at the third picture, you can see the membrane separating the babies right up against baby A's face.

Baby A:

Baby B:
So now I'm on the couch for the next few weeks. I have no idea when or if my OB will lift any of my bed rest restrictions. I'm really hoping to make it far enough that she'll loosen my restrictions or possibly take me off of bed rest. It'd be nice to be able to go out to dinner at least once with my husband before these girls are born...

Day number seven at the hospital...and counting

Today is my 7th day in the hospital. I'm sorry I haven't written before now but I can't for the life of me figure out how to post blog entries from the funky internet system at the hospital. My wonderful husband is going to post this one and any future hospital posts for me from home.

We went in last Thursday for a routine ultrasound. The babies looked great- they are definitely my little girls- you can tell by the nose. We were hoping they would get my family nose, so it's nice that we've seen them in 3D and it's pretty obvious they do have that nose. Anyway, their fluid levels looked great and so did their heart rates. But then the tech checked my cervix... I could tell as soon as it appeared on the screen that things didn't look good. I had started to dilate. The doctor (this was at the high risk clinic) came and checked my cervix manually and she said I was about a centimeter dilated. So they got in touch with my OB's office and the doctor who was already here came down and admitted me.

They wheeled me up to the third floor and put me in my room- which had to be one of the smallest rooms they have. It was tiny, but they told me that they would try to get me into a bigger room once one opened up since I would be here longer than most of their other patients. At this point we were under the impression that there was no way I was going to get to go home until after the girls were born. Things seemed pretty bad to us.

Thursday night was a tough night. Ben left for awhile to go home and get me clothes and stuff for my hospital stay. Then he came back and stayed with me until pretty late- he had already decided he wasn't going to work on Friday. Unfortunately, I only got about an hour of sleep Thursday night. I woke up about 1:40 and I don't think I really fell slept at all after that. Around 4 I started feeling contractions. I kept hoping they would stop, but after about half an hour of feeling them pretty regularly, I called the nurse. They hooked me up to monitors and sure enough I was having contractions. They actually had to get a labor and delivery nurse to come over to get both babies on the monitors at the same time. Well, she talked to my doctor and she said for them to take me to labor and delivery for continuous monitoring. So they wheeled me over there...

Over in L&D they gave m a shot of terbutaline to try to stop the contractions, and that slowed them, but didn't stop them, so then they started me on a medicine called Procardia. It's normally for high blood pressure, but it also works to relax the uterus and stop contractions. That did the trick. I'm now taking that every 8 hours. I was also put on IV fluids while in L&D , which made getting up to go to the bathroom an adventure. Anyway, the other OB in my practice came by L&D to see me on Friday morning. She's the one that had been examining me, so she checked my cervix. She said that she didn't feel much of a change from the week before and that I was really only about a fingertip dilated. That made her feel better, which in turn made me feel better. Around noon on Friday I got moved back to my room in the post partum area. By that time the contractions had stopped and Ben had gotten here.

The rest of Friday was pretty uneventful. My parents came up for awhile, and Ben was with me most of the day. I was so tired, though, that the simplest tasks, like eating, had me in tears. By dinner time I was too tired to eat, but I knew I had to, so I forced myself, crying through the whole meal. Ben promised to stay with me until I fell asleep, which helped me a lot. I took Ambien that night (my new favorite thing). and I was snoring by the time Ben left. He said he actually had to wake me up in order to kiss me good night. I slept great that night- for about 6 straight hours until the alarm on my IV went off because it was out of fluid. And then I went right back to sleep after that- and a bathroom trip.

Saturday was a MUCH better day. Dr. Zaita came by Saturday morning and she had good news for me. They had gone over the results of my ultrasound from Thursday and things didn't look nearly as bad as they had been told. Yes, my cervix is thin and starting to funnel, but it was not as extreme as they thought it might be. She told me that if they could keep me stable for a week or two and keep the contractions under control, I might get to go home. That was like music to my ears. Just knowing that going home sometime fairly soon is a possibility made me feel 100 times better about everything. It's also been reassuring that my doctors don't seem too concerned about my condition. Dr. Zaita even told me the other day that she didn't see any reason right now that I couldn't go to 35 or 36 weeks with this pregnancy. That was nice to hear.

I had a bunch of visitors on Saturday, too. Ben was here- of course, and my parents, Ben's parents and Beth and James also came by.

Saturday night I got moved to a bigger room. This room is over twice the size of the other one. It's actually designed as a double room, but it's set up as a single room- and I'm alone in it. It's much nicer than the tiny room I was in before. Ben spent the night with me Saturday night. It was so nice to wake up and be able to see him right away. It was also nice that he was here when Dr. Zaita came by so that he could talk to her and ask any questions he had.

The rest of my days here so far have been pretty unexciting, which is exactly what we want. My mom or Ben's mom have been coming up and spending the day with me while Ben works. Then Ben comes over in the evenings. I've gotten into a bit of a routine here. I know what to expect now, which makes it much easier to deal with. I'm also getting a lot of the same nurses over and over, which I love. And they're all very nice.

My nurse on Sunday was awesome! She used to be an L&D nurse and she has 15 year old twin boys. She talked to us a lot and made us feel better about things. She was put on bed rest at about 28 weeks with her cervix in the same position mine was when I was admitted. She ended up not delivering until almost 38 weeks! And her boys were both about 8 pounds. Oh, and she had gestational diabetes, and she went to UVA. What more could we ask for in a nurse? Well, she only works one day a week, but when she does work they give her the twin moms, so we should get to see her every time she's here for as long as I'm here.

On Tuesday Dr. Zaita ran a couple of tests on me. She did a Fetal Fibronectin test and a rRoup B strep test. Both came back negative! That's especially good news about the fetal fibronectin since that indicates that I only have a 2-4% chance of going into labor in the next two weeks! So that's great news!

Yesterday they were picking up some minor contractions on my morning monitoring, so I ended up having to go back on the monitors in the afternoon. They picked up a few more then, but Dr. Hodges said that my uterus is probably just irritated and he's not worried about the contractions. There was talk of putting me on a third time because the babies had not been cooperating and didn't want to stay on the monitors, but, thankfully, Dr. Hodges said it was fine, so I avoided being on them even longer.

That's my news from the hospital for now. Hopefully things will continue to go well and they'll let me go home next week after my growth ultrasound. It's hard to believe that I'll be 31 weeks on Saturday, but it's great that I'm already so far along!

I failed.

I got the call on Monday- I failed the 3 hour glucose test- I have gestational diabetes. I went to a class about it on Tuesday and got my eating plan and learned how to check my blood sugar, which I have to do 4 times a day. The eating plan really isn't that bad. I just have a set number of carbs that I'm supposed to eat at each meal and each of my 3 snacks a day. The good news is that there are no banned foods, I just have to watch how much of things I eat. My blood sugar levels have been pretty good so far. I've had a few readings that were high, but that's okay since I'm just starting out. And my OB said that what they really care about is my fasting glucose and that has been fine. Really it's just been my after dinner number that's been high a couple of times. But I think that may be from me not waiting long enough between my afternoon snack and dinner. I go back for a follow up at the diabetes center on Tuesday, so I'll ask about it then.

I went to the OB on Thursday. She checked my cervix and said it doesn't really feel any different to her than when she checked it two weeks ago. That was really good news. So it looks like bed rest is working. Which, of course, means I'm still stuck on it, but that's okay.

I realized the other day that the reason I'm doing so well on bed rest is that I'm so introverted. I'm fine not being around people most of the time. I actually like being home alone all day, I just wish I could do stuff around the house instead of just laying around all the time.

Oh, I almost forgot our other big news- Ben is done with shift work!!! His last 12 hour day was on Wednesday and starting Monday he'll be back on a normal schedule. I am so freaking happy about that! It's going to be great having him home for dinner every night. Although I will miss having his mom's cooking for dinner during the week, since she's been bringing me dinner when Ben's at work...

Tonight is a sad night for me. Ben and my dad are at a Drive-By Truckers show right now and I'm stuck here on the couch. I had a ticket to the show, but Ben was going to try to sell it when they got there. I think this has been the worst night of bed rest, just because I really, really wanted to go to that show. I love seeing the Truckers in concert! I hope they're putting on a good show since this is the first time my dad is seeing them play a full set. And I guess this makes up for the show I went to by myself last summer while Ben was in Chicago. Now we're even on how many times we've seen the band. But I sure wish I was still up one show on him...

Yesterday's appointments

So yesterday morning I got up and went for my 3 hour glucose test. It wasn't all that bad. I got there and they drew my blood, then made me drink the glucose solution. Then I had to have blood drawn again every hour for the next three hours. Between the blood draws, they had a nice comfortable recliner that I got to hang out in. The two women working at the lab were very nice. It sure was nice to get out of there and go get food.

I came home from that and ate lunch and hung out until Ben got home a little after 2. Then about 2:30 we headed for the hospital for my ultrasound appointment. Ben's parents went with us to this one. The tech started by checking my cervix. At first it looked really good, longer than at my last appointment, but then Baby A moved her head off of it and it looked much thinner. She got measurements anywhere from 3.6cm to .78cm. Then she did the normal ultrasound to check out the sizes of the babies. They're looking good! Baby A is about 2 lbs 13 oz and Baby B is about 2 lbs 11 oz- both good sizes. I think the doctor said they're in the 66th and 57th percentiles, respectively. When we met with the doctor her biggest concern was making sure that I am on strict bed rest- which I am. She didn't seem too concerned about my cervix. She said it's possible for it to stay where it is for quite awhile- as long as I don't have contractions.

So they're keeping me on strict bed rest and I'm going to try to be even better about it than I have been, even though I think I've been pretty good about it. I think this week and having all of those people in and out of the house probably didn't help things.

I'm having occasional Braxton Hicks contractions, but nothing to worry about at this point. I did have some last night with some discomfort, but I really think that was just gas. I called Dr. Zaita about it and she told me to drink lots of water and lay down. She said to give it an hour and if the contractions hadn't stopped to call her bad, but, thankfully, they stopped after about half an hour. I'm so glad they did- I really didn't want to have to make a trip to labor & delivery last night. Today I feel much, much better. I've been making sure to drink plenty of water and stay laying down as much as possible. I guess I'm going to have to be very careful to stay hydrated to keep from getting contractions...

We had our new windows installed today. The ones I've seen look really good (from the inside at least). I think it's quieter in here now, too. I'm glad we're done with strange people being in and out of our house now. Jefferson and I will both be able to rest better during the day now.

We didn't get many pictures from yesterday's ultrasound. And the ones we got aren't that great, but here they are. The first one is of both babies' heads. The 3D pictures are all of Baby B, I think. The tech didn't tell us which one it was, but based on where she was pressing the ultrasound probe I'm pretty sure it was Baby B.

2 weeks down

Well, I've survived another week of bed rest. Really not much has changed from last week, except that I failed my 1 hour glucose test. Oh, and I'm slightly anemic. So I go on Thursday for my 3 hour glucose test and I have to take an iron supplement every day now. Hopefully I'll pass the test on Thursday. I also go for my ultrasound on Thursday- hopefully that will go well, too. Ben's parents are coming with us to this one, but hopefully it won't be nearly as long or eventful as the last one when my parents were with us.

This is actually a busy week around here. Yesterday our nursery furniture was delivered. The dresser/changing table came all put together- and looks awesome! The cribs are in boxes and Ben will have to put those together at some point. Today we had our A/C serviced. A couple of weeks ago it decided to stop working for two days and then start again (weird, I know) so we had them come out and check it out. Turns out it's in fine working condition and the guy couldn't find anything wrong with it, except that it's 18 years old. But as long as it works, we're not going to do anything about it. Tomorrow I've got electricians coming to put in ceiling fans in the two rooms for the girls. I've made a request for someone good and trustworthy since I can't be on the same level where they're working. Hopefully they'll actually send the guy they told me they might be able to send... Thursday I have my glucose test and ultrasound. And then Friday we're getting our new windows installed. It's kind of nice having something to look forward to each day. And Thursday I actually get to drive myself to my lab appointment, so that will be exciting. I haven't driven at all since I was put on bed rest.

Ben's parents finally got the pictures from the last ultrasound scanned. Here they are:

One week down, hopefully 9 to go...

So I've survived my first week of bed rest. It really hasn't been as bad as I thought it might be. Turns out I'm pretty good at laying around all the time. And Jefferson is loving it! He's actually curled up snoring on my legs right now. He lays with me basically all day every day. And he especially loves that he gets to see at least one of his grandmas almost every day.

Speaking of Jefferson's grandmas, I don't know how we would be managing with me on bed rest if it wasn't for our parents! Ben's mom comes over pretty much every day that Ben has to work (or sleep) and takes Jefferson out and hangs out with me for a bit. And this week she's also been bringing us food for dinners. My mom came up today and took Jefferson to the vet to get his nails cut and went and got me lunch. She also brought me books and clothes and food. Both of our moms have also brought me cross stitch projects to do. They want to make sure I don't get too bored. And they're doing a good job of it so far.

Today was my big day when I got to leave the house for a little while. I had an OB appointment. Good news- the doctor didn't find any changes in my cervix from what she felt last week! So now we just wait until my ultrasound next week and hope for no changes on that. And then they "might" loosen my restrictions if there are still no changes. I don't know what loosening my restrictions means, but I'll take it if I can get it. It'd be nice to be able to get up occasionally and do some stuff around the house. But I'm also fine just laying around all the time if that's what is best for my girls. I also did my gestational diabetes test today. If they find any issues with the bloodwork, I'll probably get a call on Monday, but no news is good news, so hopefully I won't get a call. We'll see, though.

You know, I thought being on bed rest I would update this blog more often, but so far that hasn't happened. I'm still working on finding a position that is really comfortable for working on the computer. I can handle it for short periods of time, but after awhile my back and neck start to hurt from the position I tend to be in. I'm going to try to update it more often, though. Especially since I still need to post about Mollie's bachelorette party and my shower from this weekend. But for now I need to stop typing before my back starts to hurt even worse than it hurts right now...

Busy week...

Wow, it hasn't even been a week since I last updated this, yet so much has happened! I'll write about the bachelorette party weekend later, I'll start with the pregnancy news...

At my appointment on Monday my doctors pulled me out of work and put me on bed rest. The babies are fine, but my cervix is thinning, so they're being cautious and putting me on bed rest to try to ensure that these babies stay in there for as long as possible. My cervix went from about 4.8cm to 2.3cm in a week and a half- not good.

My parents went to the appointment with us thinking we were just having a routine ultrasound. But after the ultrasound they took me up to labor and delivery to be monitored. I was hooked up to heart rate monitors for the babies and a contraction monitor. Both of the heart rates looked good and they didn't pick up any contractions with the monitor, so that was good. They gave me a shot of steroids that will help the babies' lungs develop just in case they're born early. I had to go back to the hospital Tuesday for the second and final dose of steroids.

When I went in Tuesday I got my second shot of steroids, they hooked me up to the monitors again. The heart rates still looked good, although Baby B kept trying to avoid the monitor. The contraction monitor, on the other hand, wasn't so good. They were picking up minor contractions. I wasn't feeling a thing, though. They called my OB and since I wasn't feeling anything she let me go home knowing that I had an appointment with her today.

At today's appointment the doctor did an FFN test. This test is to give us an indication as to whether or not I'm going to to into labor in the next two weeks. If it's negative there's a 98% chance of me not going into labor in the next two weeks, but if it's positive there is only a 30% chance that I will go into labor in the next two weeks. I'll get the results in the morning. But the results won't really change what we're doing right now. I'm stuck on bed rest until further notice no matter what. But that's fine. I'll do whatever I need to do in order to keep these babies inside of me for as long as possible.

Ideally we'd like them to stay put for another 10 weeks, until I get to 35 weeks, at which point I'll be allowed to get up and move around as much as I want. I just want two healthy babies. That's all I want in this world right now.

I go back to the OB next Wednesday for another cervix check and to do my gestational diabetes test. That should be loads of fun. Let's hope my cervix doesn't change between now and then and that I manage to stay away from the hospital until my next ultrasound. My OB wants me to be more paranoid than normal, so if I notice anything out of the ordinary, she wants me to call her.

I go back for another cervix check on May 1st and if everything looks good at that, they might loosen up on my restrictions, but I'm just planning on being on strict bed rest until the babies are born. Right now I'm only allowed to get up to go to the bathroom and to take a shower. It looks like Ben and I are going to be spending a lot of time at doctor's appointments over the next several weeks. But I'll be happy to just stay off of hospital bed rest, which is still a possibility.

I think I'm handling bed rest alright so far, but I'm only 2 days in. I'm sure I'll get more and more bored as time goes on, but I'm hoping I come up with some projects that I can do to keep myself entertained...

Bachelorette Party Weekend- WooHoo!

I'm going out of town this weekend for Mollie's bachelorette party in Bethany Beach, DE. I can't wait! I had to call the doctor's office on Monday and get permission to go, and she said to go and have fun, so that's what I plan on doing! I'm so glad that I'm getting one more (that makes it sound like I do this often, which I don't) weekend away with the girls before the babies are born. It's basically my last hoorah before becoming a mommy. And I won't be the only pregnant one there. One of Mollie's oldest friends is also pregnant. She's actually going to miss the wedding because she's due a couple of weeks after it, but she's coming to the bachelorette party. It'll be nice to not be the only pregnant one there. At least I know one other person won't be drinking. I'll post about the weekend next week sometime, after I recover from it...

I've had to rearrange my desk a little this morning. I was handing out paychecks this morning and realized that my feet were starting to swell, well, mainly my left foot. So I scooted my keyboard, mouse and monitor so that I can sit further back and be able to put my feet up. I have them resting on my CPU. And I have a fan blowing on me because I'm so freaking hot! I'm actually glad it's supposed to cool off some for the weekend, or my feet might have exploded this weekend.

I ordered a new pair of shoes the other day and I really hope they come today so that I can take them to wear tomorrow night, but I'm not holding my breath. They're crocs, but they basically look like ballet flats. One of the girls on one of the message boards I frequent recommended them. I hope they're really as comfortable as she made them sound... Okay, I just checked on my shoes on the USPS website and they arrived in Centreville this morning, so I should get them today. YAY!!!

Speaking of packages, we've started receiving some baby gifts in the mail. Just this week we've gotten 4 packages- from Gene & Raluca and Scott & Tara. Our house is filling up with baby stuff. Ben cleaned the paint supplies out of the crib room last night so that we can start moving some of the baby stuff from the living room to the crib room. We definitely need to start cleaning out the closet in the changing room and figure out what we're doing with the closets. We're going to need that space very soon, especially with the shower being next weekend.

Here are some pictures from my work shower last week.

And the most recent belly pics- taken at 24 weeks 1 day:

And here is Ben torturing poor Jefferson by making him ride in the stroller. Ben asked Jefferson if he wanted to go for a ride, so of course Jefferson got excited- thinking he was going in the car, not in the stroller! He was a good boy, though, and just sat there.

My work shower

My work threw me a shower yesterday afternoon. It was great! We had lunch (Baja Fresh), cake, played games and I got presents. The company got us our double stroller and our car seats! And some of my coworker got us other stuff- a bathtub full of bath supplies, bibs, onsies, photo albums and things to use to get molds of the girls' hand prints. We actually have a decent amount of baby stuff in the house right now!

After work I went for my prenatal massage. That was fabulous! It was an hour of bliss. I wish I could go all the time, but that would get really expensive really quickly. The massage therapist said she would like to see me back there once a month until I have the babies, which would be nice, but we'll see how long I last before my doctors wouldn't let me get a massage...

When I got home from my massage Ben unloaded the car and then he started getting the stroller out. He put it together and after we ate dinner he put poor Jefferson in the stroller and strolled him around the living room. Jefferson was very good, though, and let Ben do it. He just sat there until Ben took him out of the stroller. We also took out one of the car seats to check it out. I love them! We'd never seen them in person, I just found the pattern online, so I'm glad we actually liked them when we saw them. So now we have a double stroller sitting in our dining room and an infant car seat in our recliner.

I've been looking online today trying to find closet organization stuff so that we can get the closets organized and start to put some of this baby stuff away. My shower that Beth and Mollie are throwing is in 2 weeks, so we're going to need to have somewhere to store stuff after that one. And, hopefully, I'm going to be out of town next weekend for Mollie's bachelorette party, so hopefully Ben and I will be able to get out one evening this week and look at closet stuff and get the nursery furniture ordered. I just want to get stuff taken care of as soon as we can...

Busy weeks...

We've had a busy last couple of weeks. We bought a new car- a 2004 Honda Pilot, we bought new windows- after a good 8 or more hours with window sales people in our house, and we had another ultrasound. We also got the second nursery room cleaned out- at least furniture wise- and Ben put the glider together. Our next big things are actually ordering the nursery furniture and selling my Civic. I don't particularly want to get rid of it, but there's no reason for us to keep it.

We had another ultrasound yesterday. Everything looked great! Baby A is still head down and is 1 pound 8 ounces. Baby B has flipped back to breech and she's about 1 pound 7 ounces, so we have two good sized babies in there now. We no longer have a fat one and an average one. I don't know what kind of percentiles they're in now, but I know they're good sizes. Their fluid levels are still a little uneven, but they both have plenty of fluid, so that's ok.

Here are the pictures from yesterday.

Baby A- she's going to be our camera hog after they're born. She acts like she loves to have her picture taken. Here are a couple of 3D shots of her and then one 2D shot of her. The odd looking thing in front of her is an umbilical cord, but we're not sure whose umbilical cord...

Baby B- she wasn't in a good position for us to be able to get any good 3D shots of her, so all of hers are normal 2D pictures.Ooh, I have an appointment tonight for a prenatal massage. It's with the massage therapist at my chiropractor's office. I can't wait!

And today is my baby shower at work. Apparently they're going to play a game where they have to guess how big I am around. I just had to cut a piece of yarn to be used as the piece to compare everyone's guesses to. This is going to be a good, fun day!

They hired my replacement at work, and two days after she started they fired her. Apparently it's not a good idea to lie on your application and omit information about criminal charges... So now we're back to searching for a replacement for me. Hopefully they'll find someone soon so I can get them trained and be ready to leave when the doctors decide to pull me out of work.

Here's a couple of belly pics from 23 weeks. They're not very good since I took them myself, but Ben's working weekends so it's hard for me to catch him to get him to take pictures. But next weekend is his last weekend! And tonight he's starting his last 4 weeks of nights. I can't wait for him to be off of this schedule. 4 and a half weeks and he's done with shift work, for now at least!

Now for the belly pics:

The nursery is painted!

My mom came up yesterday and she and I painted the "crib room." I took an accessory from our bedding set and had them match the color for the paint. It's about the color of a Granny Smith apple, which is funny since that's my favorite type of apple. My dad came today and we painted the trim in the room and my dad fixed some of my mom's slip ups from the edging yesterday. The room looks great! Now we just need to clean out the other room and order the furniture. I can't wait!

I went to the OB last Wednesday. We met the other doctor in the practice and we both really liked her. She's very cautious, which is nice. She wants to be sure to keep a close eye on our little girls since there is a size discrepancy between them right now. She said that things are alright for now since, as she put it, we have one fat baby and one average one. As long as Baby B stays average size or bigger, we're alright. Baby A also has a little more amniotic fluid than Baby B, but apparently their fluid levels are closer now than they were at our last ultrasound. Ben and I didn't realize that. The doctor said that the levels getting closer is a good sign.

I asked her about traveling since Mollie's bachelorette party is 3 weeks away and in Bethany Beach. The doctor wants to see the results of my next ultrasound before she makes the call on whether I can go to the bachelorette party or not. I'm hopeful that things will look good and I'll be able to go, but it all depends on their sizes and fluid levels at the ultrasound. I have to call the doctor's office after the next ultrasound and find out if I can go.

Oh, I asked the OB how big I am measuring and I was measuring at about 28 weeks, so only 6 weeks ahead. I don't think that's too bad. It was kind of odd, every time we asked if something was normal the doctor couldn't tell us if it was or not because they don't have "normals" established for twin pregnancies. You would think that after all these years of women having twins, someone would have gathered data and come up with some normals or at least averages... The couple of things she could tell us were that women pregnant with twins generally gain about 50 pounds and that half of them end up on bed rest. My weight gain may be a little high at this point, but it's hard to tell because we don't know what will happen with my weight gain for the remainder of the pregnancy. So I guess we need to keep an eye on that...

We had an exciting moment in the pregnancy last night- Ben felt one of the babies move for the first time! We were laying in bed and I could feel the movement- I'm pretty sure it was Baby B. I reached over and took Ben's hand and put it on my belly, at which point, of course, the baby stopped moving. Ugh! But then a few minutes later I felt her moving again so I asked him for his hand and put it on my belly again and she kicked! He felt it and said, "Was that it?" I told him it was and he was so amazed. He said it felt like a little tap, which is a pretty good explanation of it. I'm so glad he finally got to feel one move. Hopefully the other one will move for him to feel soon.

I'll post some before and after pictures of the "crib room" when I get a chance to take the afters and get them downloaded.

Big Ultrasound- 20 weeks 5 days

I'm going to be lazy and just cut and paste an e-mail I sent to a bunch of people on Friday after our level 2 ultrasound...

Ben and I went in for our "big" ultrasound yesterday where they did all the measurements and checked to make sure everyone looked alright. Some of you may not know, but we found out two weeks ago that we're having two little girls! We're very excited about them. Ben's family has not had a girl born into it in 4 generations, so it's really exciting that we're bringing two in at once!

Yesterday's appointment went great. Everything looked good on both of the girls. We saw all four chambers of their hearts, all of their little limbs and lots of other stuff. They are both currently head down, which is good. At our last ultrasound Baby A was head down and Baby B was breech. But now their heads are right there next to each other. In the pictures (which are all of Baby A) Baby A was actually laying with her head on the back of her sister's head. Then she pushed her sister away. It was pretty crazy to watch on the ultrasound.

We also got approximate weights on them for now. As of yesterday Baby A is 1 pound, which is in the 81st percentile for their gestational age. She's going to be our bruiser- especially since she's already pushing her sister around! Baby B is 14 ounces, so she's holding her own in the 51st percentile, but not as big as her sister. I'm not surprised that they're big, though, since their mommy was a 9 pound baby! Hopefully they'll keep growing like weeds like they have been. As uncomfortable as it may make me, I'd love to have a couple of big babies in about 4 months.

I guess I could throw in an update about me, too, huh? I'm doing fine. This pregnancy has been much easier so far (knock on wood) than I ever imagined it would be. I had no morning sickness to speak of. My biggest problem has really been heartburn, but at least that's treatable. I'm starting to get uncomfortable, but that's to be expected as my belly keeps getting bigger and bigger. And, boy, is it getting bigger! I can only imagine how big it's going to get by the time these babies are born! I've been seeing a chiropractor once a week for the entire pregnancy and I really think he's made a big difference in keeping me comfortable. He works on my flexibility and if I go in complaining about a certain area of my back or specific joints he works on those and really helps. I can't imagine what this would be like if I wasn't seeing him.

And here are the pictures: