Today we had another visit with our preventative pre-term labor lady. While in the waiting room, Melissa met another mom-to-be of twins, only she was having girls. The woman had her hands full with her own two boys, aged two and three, running around the room, climbing on chairs, doing what boys do best. It was another little glimpse into our future. A few moments later we were taken back to meet with our nurse.
Today's appointment was focused on nutrition. From what I gathered, it looks like Melissa needs more calcium and protein in her diet. I know my wife doesn't like milk, so the calcium part may be a little tough. There are plenty of other alternative ways to get calcium, so we will just have to change up our eating habits a bit. The protein problem can easily be fixed by breakfast tacos, in my opinion. Eggs, bacon, beans. Check, check, check. Throw on some cheese and there's some of that calcium.
Our nurse was very happy to see how much I help Melissa. I take care of my wife and the mother of my children, and I pay close attention during our appointments. The nurse doesn't see that enough, and it was very reassuring to her. Melissa will read this and ask what I am sucking up for? The answer is nothing, except maybe a trip to Cabela's.
Immediately after our nutrition lesson, we had an ultrasound scheduled. I'm not sure what all the fuss is about our diet. These boys are definitely growing big and healthy. Don't worry. We won't ignore our eating advice, but seeing the boys today reinforces that we are on the right track.
On a side note, Melissa's cervix is looking great. Whatever that means.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Monday, February 20, 2012
Nursery Progress
Less than 24 hours until we have our growth scan and get to see our boys again! Less than 120 hours until V day! This is going to be a good week.
This weekend has definitely been good. It started off with a nice, relaxing Friday night on the couch. I always plan to sleep in on the weekends but never seem to be able to so I was up bright and early Saturday morning. I puttered around while Andy got a little more sleep, then once he was up I started on laundry. I'm not too worried about accidentally washing our darks with whites, but I was terrified of messing up the baby clothes! Thank goodness Andy was there to reassure me. It's funny how the little things bring out my anxiety right now.
That is what the room started out looking like on Saturday. We had finally cleared out almost everything except for baby stuff. My mom made the curtains and had put them up on Wednesday when my parents came to dinner. They're adorable! My mom is so incredibly talented.
I was planning to help Andy out as much as possible but we both knew it would be slow going since I'm just not as physically capable right now. Thankfully my dad offered to come over to help us! Have I mentioned how much I love my parents?
Andy had started installing the ceiling fan but my dad arrived in time to help him finish it.
Then they started on crib #1. Andy had fun with the packaging.
I took more progress photos of crib #2. Pixel even came to inspect their work.
Last on their list of jobs for the day, other than rearranging furniture to my specifications, was to assemble the bookshelf/changing table.
I'm so proud of them and thankful for their hard work! It took them less than four hours to accomplish something that would have taken Andy and I all weekend to do together.
Far from finished but a heck of a lot closer! The boys then went on a well deserved fishing trip, although unfortunately they didn't catch anything. I spent awhile hanging up all the clothes in the closet and organizing a few items.
That night Andy and I went to Redbox and rented three movies. I watched Breaking Dawn that night while Andy played computer games. I know I wrote a post on my other blog about how irritating the Twilight movies are. I still totally believe that! But it was nice to be able to watch a total fluff of a movie I could laugh at.
Yesterday morning we went out for donuts. Jacen and Spencer were happy with all the sugar! Then we went to Babies R Us and bought a swing and tested out gliders. I love the look of my leopard print rocking chair but I'm not convinced it's going to be the most comfortable thing to sit in as either of us tries to hold both babies. I'm not sure the nursery has enough space for a glider though. After that we went to Target and I bought an organizer to fit their bibs, hats, socks etc in. I also picked up four Dr.Seuss books since they were on sale 2 for $10. The rest of the day was spent laying on the couch watching movies (me) and fishing (Andy).
Today is a holiday so I'm off from work. I plan to relax with my feet up as much as possible and enjoy feeling my boys wiggle around. Life is good!
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Hospital tour & Specialist visit
Our hospital tour, Valentine's day, and my first pre-term labor prevention visit have all come and gone within the past few days. My car was also hit in the parking lot at work while I safely sat at my desk. It's been an eventful week!
The hospital tour was good but I cried on our way out. It's so incredibly overwhelming and scary to have such little control over when and how our babies come. The nurse doing the tour made me sit in a wheelchair while Andy happily wheeled me along. It was so embarrassing! I'm really not a center of attention kind of girl. Most of the mom's to be were 36+ weeks pregnant so it was so weird to be only 22w and the only one in a wheelchair. But the nurse made a good point: it was okay if those other mom's went into labor, definitely not cool if I did. Apparently they make all twin mom's ride in a chair. Andy actually really enjoyed wheeling me around, I think.
It was nice to see where to go and to see the rooms. I'm still hoping and praying for a vaginal delivery although I'm fully aware a c-section might be needed. We were not able to see an OR, which is where I have to deliver, or the NICU. But we learned a lot of valuable information. I'm glad we went on the tour.
On monday afternoon I was sitting at the desk working when I got a cal from the south security desk. I immediately checked to make sure I had my badge and I did. Crap. Those are never good phone calls. Turns out a coworker was attempting to pull into the parking spot next to my car and managed to hit the driver side wheel well and tire area. Thankfully it was just cosmetic damage but it's still an annoyance. Our car is now in the shop getting fixed up, hopefully as good as new.
Tuesday morning we had our first pre-term labor prevention visit with the peri's nurse. Andy and I both really liked her! She went over my medical history and was happy to report that other than carrying twins I have no other risk factors for PTL. She spent a long time explaining PTL symptoms and answering questions.
She also went over my expected capabilities within the next few months. At 22w I'm encouraged to rest an hour during the day and two hours at night. Thankfully I can put my feet up at work any time so this isn't really a big deal. The issues start arriving at 28w when I'll be strongly encouraged to change to part time work, then at 32w when I'll be strongly encouraged to stop working all together. That's not an option at my job, it's an all or nothing thing. So I told her that I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make sure the boys stay in as long as possible so if it's medically necessary I will do it. But if it's just down to my comfort level I'm a tough girl and want to keep working. She said it's really case by case so we'll have to see how I do. Yikes.
Then came the fun cervical length check! Normally these don't start until you're about 36w along, lucky me gets one a week from now until the babies are here. But it's more than worth it since cervical length is a good indicator of impending PTL. Not to brag, but my cervical length was 5. Average is 4 and they don't worry until it's less than 2.5. So mine is kind of awesome. It was an incredible relief!
This coming weekend I get monday off so my goal is to do tons of nursery stuff. My work shower is 3/6 and my friends/family shower is 3/24 so I want to have everything set up before then. My goal is to be completely finished with the nursery by 29w so I can take it super easy and not worry about anything. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures of us assembling the cribs and everything else!
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Kicks and Punches
I think I have officially entered into both the most awesome part of pregnancy and the beginning of the second annoying part. Don't get me wrong, even if it sounds like I'm complaining I'm really not. I am so beyond thrilled to have these growing boys inside of me! I also feel very blessed that so far everything is going very smoothly with no complications. I will happily take any annoyance if it means our boys are growing big and healthy!
Last week I began to feel what I thought was tiny little flutters of movement from Righty. This week I felt my first movements from the outside beginning on Monday. By Tuesday I could tell that he loves lunch time and tends to throw a party between 11:30am-12pm, right before I eat lunch. It is the neatest thing to feel him kicking, put my hand on my belly and have him move my hand! I could watch/feel it for hours and never be bored. Yesterday I felt outside movements from Lefty for the first time! I can't even begin to explain how cool it is to be able to feel them both. I know we still have a long way to go but it certainly eases my mind every time I feel them.
The annoyances are with getting around and sleeping. I am officially a woman who waddles when she walks and my feet have begun to swell a little if I'm on them for too long. My hips have been hurting, especially my right one. Throw together a funky left rib with a sore right hip, and the inability to sleep on stomach or back, and you get a crummy nights sleep! I can usually sleep for about five hours pretty solid first thing before I have to get up for bathroom trip #1. After that I usually am awake to roll to a different side at least once per hour with another bathroom trip or two thrown into the mix. I'm really not sure how Andy is getting as much sleep as he is. All work week I was counting down the days until today when I could sleep as long as I wanted. I slept in for 30 minutes extra, that's it. My hip/rib just couldn't take any more. I'm thinking a nap is in order for this afternoon.
We're slowly getting together the nursery and buying essential baby items. I bought two carseats a few weeks ago thanks to Target's fantastic baby sale. I saved $130! I am a thrifty momma. Last week we ordered our cribs because I was mistakenly told it would take 8-12 weeks to get them. We're picking them up today. I think we will also be picking up a stroller today. It's so exciting and scary at the same time! But I seriously cannot pass up a good deal. Babies R Us is doing a great trade in event where if you take in an old big ticket item they'll give you 25% off a new one. My mom's friend gave us a car seat for free which saved us a ton on one of the cribs. My mom also found a highchair to trade in, hence the reason I think we're getting the stroller today. It's scary to buy so much stuff so early but I've been told by other twin Mom's to try to get as much done before 28w (six weeks away!) since that's when it'll probably get really difficult for me to do much.
Time really seems to be flying by and standing still at the same time. I can't wait for the next two weeks to pass, I'll be so happy to reach 24w and let out a tiny bit of the breath I feel like I'm always holding! I'm definitely hoping and praying to hold onto these two until the end of May but it's nice to know the doctors and hospitals would do all they could for them if they're born early. I keep telling them they have to stay cooking until all of my tv shows have their finales in May! We'll see if they're good listeners.
Tomorrow we're taking a tour of the hospital where I'll deliver and on Tuesday I start my weekly preterm labor prevention visits with the peri's nurse. I'll be sure to update afterwards since I'm really not sure what the visits will entail.
Last week I began to feel what I thought was tiny little flutters of movement from Righty. This week I felt my first movements from the outside beginning on Monday. By Tuesday I could tell that he loves lunch time and tends to throw a party between 11:30am-12pm, right before I eat lunch. It is the neatest thing to feel him kicking, put my hand on my belly and have him move my hand! I could watch/feel it for hours and never be bored. Yesterday I felt outside movements from Lefty for the first time! I can't even begin to explain how cool it is to be able to feel them both. I know we still have a long way to go but it certainly eases my mind every time I feel them.
The annoyances are with getting around and sleeping. I am officially a woman who waddles when she walks and my feet have begun to swell a little if I'm on them for too long. My hips have been hurting, especially my right one. Throw together a funky left rib with a sore right hip, and the inability to sleep on stomach or back, and you get a crummy nights sleep! I can usually sleep for about five hours pretty solid first thing before I have to get up for bathroom trip #1. After that I usually am awake to roll to a different side at least once per hour with another bathroom trip or two thrown into the mix. I'm really not sure how Andy is getting as much sleep as he is. All work week I was counting down the days until today when I could sleep as long as I wanted. I slept in for 30 minutes extra, that's it. My hip/rib just couldn't take any more. I'm thinking a nap is in order for this afternoon.
We're slowly getting together the nursery and buying essential baby items. I bought two carseats a few weeks ago thanks to Target's fantastic baby sale. I saved $130! I am a thrifty momma. Last week we ordered our cribs because I was mistakenly told it would take 8-12 weeks to get them. We're picking them up today. I think we will also be picking up a stroller today. It's so exciting and scary at the same time! But I seriously cannot pass up a good deal. Babies R Us is doing a great trade in event where if you take in an old big ticket item they'll give you 25% off a new one. My mom's friend gave us a car seat for free which saved us a ton on one of the cribs. My mom also found a highchair to trade in, hence the reason I think we're getting the stroller today. It's scary to buy so much stuff so early but I've been told by other twin Mom's to try to get as much done before 28w (six weeks away!) since that's when it'll probably get really difficult for me to do much.
Time really seems to be flying by and standing still at the same time. I can't wait for the next two weeks to pass, I'll be so happy to reach 24w and let out a tiny bit of the breath I feel like I'm always holding! I'm definitely hoping and praying to hold onto these two until the end of May but it's nice to know the doctors and hospitals would do all they could for them if they're born early. I keep telling them they have to stay cooking until all of my tv shows have their finales in May! We'll see if they're good listeners.
Tomorrow we're taking a tour of the hospital where I'll deliver and on Tuesday I start my weekly preterm labor prevention visits with the peri's nurse. I'll be sure to update afterwards since I'm really not sure what the visits will entail.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Weekly Funnies
Andy is a funny man, he can make me laugh like no one else can.
Saturdays are "ticker" change days. It's the day we hit whole week numbers, yesterday was 21w. I have my Saturday morning ritual of looking at the "how big is baby" websites and then I go into the kitchen and change our dry erase board. This week our babies are the size of bananas (or a fanny pack?). When I told Andy he began to sing this to the tune of Gwen Stefani's Hollarback Girl:
"The babies are bananas. B-A-N-A-N-A-S!"
It has been stuck in my head ever since!
His other pregnancy funny was sleepily comparing me to a turtle on it's back as I tried to get out of bed one morning. Luckily for him I found it to be a hilarious comparison. And so incredibly accurate!
I can't wait to hear what he'll come up with next.
Saturdays are "ticker" change days. It's the day we hit whole week numbers, yesterday was 21w. I have my Saturday morning ritual of looking at the "how big is baby" websites and then I go into the kitchen and change our dry erase board. This week our babies are the size of bananas (or a fanny pack?). When I told Andy he began to sing this to the tune of Gwen Stefani's Hollarback Girl:
"The babies are bananas. B-A-N-A-N-A-S!"
It has been stuck in my head ever since!
His other pregnancy funny was sleepily comparing me to a turtle on it's back as I tried to get out of bed one morning. Luckily for him I found it to be a hilarious comparison. And so incredibly accurate!
I can't wait to hear what he'll come up with next.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Ups and Downs
My newest favorite words? "My boys". I love saying it, I love thinking it! I love looking at my ever growing stomach. I love feeling the little flutters and thumps that I'm pretty sure are their movements. I love when Andy puts his hand on my stomach, sings, or talks to our boys. I love people's positive reactions when I tell them we're having twin boys.
What I don't love is having a fractured rib! I've had a nagging cough since the majority of my bronchitis symptoms faded. On Tuesday night I was laying in bed, almost asleep, when I had a small coughing fit. I felt a pop and instantaneous excruciating pain. Poor Andy then had a crying wife in tons of pain on his hands. I ended up sleeping in the recliner in the office that night because laying down hurt too much. Two years ago I fractured some ribs and tore the muscles in between them. I know what a rib fracture feels like and my OB's nurse agrees it's likely a fracture. Unfortunately there really isn't anything that can be done for a rib fracture except to take it easy and let it heal on it's own. The nurse approved me using the cough syrup with codeine for a few more nights to let me get some sleep at least. The codeine worked like a charm last night and allowed me to get a solid nights sleep. The pain is less today but definitely still present. From experience I know it'll feel a little better each day.
While a fractured rib may sound awful I'm really trying to look on the brightside. I will gladly take physical pain like this over something being wrong with my boys. If this is the worst thing I have to complain about I think we're doing pretty darn good!
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