Unbelievable that I’m sitting here writing 38 WEEKS!

The past two mornings Adam and I woke up to the glorious feeling of sunlight shining through the windows. I snuggled into the crook of his arm and whispered, “This is what it feels like to wake up in the morning on your own, not to screaming kids.” Most nights one or both of our kids wake us up in the middle of the night. But here was a sign that we were finally rounding a very tough corner in child rearing.

What were we thinking getting pregnant again?

Last week my Non Stress Test was good. The Ob/Gyn appointment showed me still 2 and 1/2 cm dilated. She mentioned that next week, if I was still pregnant, we could talk about inducing.

The comment rubbed me the wrong way, but I didn’t say anything. Instead I went home and did some research on the internet. I do trust my doctor, but my instincts were telling me that waiting until labor seemed the natural and best path.

I realize that modern science has made infant mortality decrease drastically. We have come such a long way. I’m amazed that we can now create life in a petri-dish. But there are still so many things we don’t know, like what makes women go into labor.

I found many comments about doctor’s inducing twins at 38 weeks, but no real reason for it. Some mentioned aging placenta, but I couldn’t find a study confirming it.

Anyway, I’ll listen to what my doctor has to say and try to keep an open mind. Who knows if we’ll even make it to this talk?

Stretch Marks

Tuesday morning I met my friend Pam in the park and told her about possibly being induced. She was induced 3 times, all with good experiences. Then she told me about a friend of hers who was 40 weeks pregnant and decided against getting induced. Three days after her doctor’s visit she found out she was leaking amniotic fluid and subsequently had a still born child.

It was then that I stood up and felt a gush in my underwear. I’d been feeling these for weeks in increasing amounts, but just thought it was a bladder control issue. I went home and searched leaking amniotic fluid online. Most blogs said, if you are unsure, get the ph test.

So that afternoon I found myself in triage, checking to see what exactly I was leaking.

Turns out the babies are fine, and although I’m leaking a lot, it’s not amniotic fluid.

As of today, the twins have actually lasted longer than Jack did in my body.

Last friday I had a non stress test, a growth ultrasound, and an Ob/Gyn doctor’s appointment.

Now we are nearing the final stretch, they are monitoring me very carefully.

The non stress test went good, as usual. A short 20 minutes and I got the report back that the babies look beautiful.

The ultrasound measured the babies, estimating that Twin A is 6 pounds 5 ounces and Twin B is 6 pounds 1 ounce. The thin line between them was 3 cm, which the ultrasound technician said means the twins were dizygotic, or fraternal. She said if the line was thinner it may prove differently.

I weighed in at 174 pounds, a gain of 54 pounds. I also was checked for effacement and dilation. This time I was 2 and 1/2 cm dilated! When I texted my sister with the news, she wrote back, “tick tock, tick tock.”

That evening I thought I was going into labor, but it turns out I just had a bowel movement.

Also this week Adam explained to me that the red lines across my belly were stretch marks. I had never seen them before and thought they were bruises. I guess 50 pounds is my limit when it comes to stretching gracefully.

Pregnancy, so beautiful and so ugly all at the same time!

So big that my belly has a double chin!

Starting Tuesday I really felt the weight of the twins on my body. I decided to start driving the short 2 blocks to Jack’s school to pick him us as I just can’t walk that far anymore. Sometimes I am scared to sit because I don’t want the pain of getting up, but in the end I have to sit because my back hurts too much to stand.

Adam and I were looking at the very expensive photos we got of our first pregnancy from Classic Kids. We were giggling, remember how big we thought I looked at the time. So, we did a spoof on it….

At my last doctor’s appointment I learned that I was 80% effaced and 1 cm dilated. This made me want to go home and pack a bag, but apparently you can be effaced for weeks without going into labor. Still, I never heard that I was effaced before labor from my last two pregnancies and it makes me constantly think with any pain – am I in labor? I don’t want to deliver these kids on my bathroom floor!

Belly Shot - 36 Weeks

The doctor also said no sex, no exercise. Ha ha ha! It wasn’t my normal doctor, who was delivering someone else at the time and I completely ignored his advice. I admit I’m taking it easier with this pregnancy, but I still have to walk around, run errands, pick Ben out of the tub, etc. I have no idea how people do when they are ordered on bed rest.

We get to see the twins again this week for another growth ultrasound. Even Jack asked if he could come. It won’t happen until Friday, but since the bigger they get, the harder it is to get a good picture, I didn’t bother waiting for a photo to post my weekly update.

Jack is very excited about the twins coming. Unlike Ben, he actually gets it. Often he offers to help when the twins arrive. Like offering to feed them. When he sees me dozing on the couch he’ll turn off the lights and tell me to rest, that he, Ben and Papa will go upstairs.

Recently he asked how they were coming out of my belly. I showed him the cesarean scar that he came out of, and explained that Ben came out of a hole down below. And that hopefully the twins will also come out of that hole but I won’t know until it happens. Not exactly the technical explanation, but good enough for a 5 year old, right?

I can’t tell you the relief I feel typing “Week 35” in the title of today’s blog.

It means that I have made it full term!!!

So many people scared me about twins coming early, about having kids in the NICU, it really freaked me out. I couldn’t imagine having two kids in the hospital and two kids at home.

Non Stress Test

I must admit, all the warnings did make me take it much easier this pregnancy. Unlike the last two pregnancies, I did a lot less and felt no guilt for it. For example, instead of big events each day for Jack’s spring break, we hung around local parks.

I’m continuing my weekly non stress tests at the hospital. You can see me in the picture hooked up to the monitors. They monitor both babies heart rate for 20 minutes. They do these for pregnancies that are considered high risk. I’m still not sure why I have to go every week, since my pregnancy seems completely normal, but I have a great OB/GYN. After having two kids with her, I completely trust whatever she says. Plus now I know I get a 20 minute guaranteed nap every week. Bonus.

I have been a bit on edge all week. My plan for birthing the twins is to have my friend Carrie, who lives close by, cover my kids until my mother in law can make the long drive from the suburbs to the city and take over.

But this week both Carrie and my mother in law are out of town for Spring Break.

On top of this, I heard from a woman at Starbucks who had twins that a lot of people she knows gave birth at 34 weeks. So it was in the back of my mind all week.

My first non stress test last week did nothing to ease my fears. Adam took Ben for lunch while I went to the hospital. I was told by the nurse? resident? that the test only takes 20 minutes if all goes perfectly. But sometimes it’s hard to find the heart beat and sometimes they move away from the monitors and you have to start all over again. I laid on a hospital bed, propped up. The first time she strapped on the monitors, she found 2 strong heart beats. “Too easy” was her comment.

I was left alone in a room for 20 minutes where I promptly fell asleep. I’m like a narcoleptic these days, can fall asleep anywhere, anytime, and can stay some what asleep even if there is a toddle jumping on me. After 20 minutes, she returned. She asked if I felt any contractions. No, I was sleeping. She was asking because she saw a few on the monitor.

Contractions already?! Argh! I’m not ready! Apparently she said it doesn’t mean I should start packing my bags just yet. But it’s out there, and getting closer every day.

Pregnant with Twins, 34 Weeks

I’m starting to get very uncomfortable. My four little twinkle toes have turned into Olympic gymnasts. They have gotten so big they are starting to push under my ribs. And they are stretched the entire length of my abdomen. When I stand there is a lot of pressure on my bladder and ligaments. Much more than previous pregnancies. I swear there is a little hand punching my bladder a few times a day, resulting in a little leakage. That never happened before either.

The view of my belly from the front looks just like it did 2 days before I gave birth to Jack. Lopsided. And just… well, wrong.

This week we had another ‘growth ultrasound’.

The babies are measuring in the 75% again. This time she estimated they were about 5 pounds each. I can’t believe I’m carrying ten pounds of baby. No wonder I got up to pee three times last night.

Heart rates were 136BPM for twin A and 149BPM for twin B.

Also, I weighed in at 167 pounds, 5 pounds up from my check up 2 weeks ago and a total of 47 pounds so far.

I’m starting to get nervous about how much work it will take to have the twins. Some people have told me they were not able to get their twins on the same feeding schedule and the only way to survive the nights is for the husband and wife to sleep in shifts. I know this will not be possible for Adam, his job is too demanding for him to live off 4 hours of sleep or less a night indefinitely. I can see my dream of breast feeding exclusively for a year drifting away from me. Or the reality that I’ll probably have to give up some fun mornings with Jack and Ben (we hired someone every week day morning during the summer) to get some sleep.

This week also starts my weekly non stress test at the hospital. I’ve been scheduled for Friday so I’m not sure what is involved but I’ll let you know in next week’s update. If I’m still pregnant. Lord please let me still be pregnant as long as possible!!!

Having twins has challenged everything that I believed in as a mother.

When I first had children, I read every book to decide what kind of mother I should be. In the end, I was much more of a naturalist then a scheduler. I believed in baby wearing. I used cloth diapers. I had a hard time letting either kid ‘cry it out’. And I breast fed exclusively, both kids for a year.

With one kid it was quite easy, in fact easier than using formula. We were never apart. So I had a  great way to carry the milk without worrying about temperature or supply. I used the Bebe Au Lait Breast Nursing Cover where ever I went. With Ben, I learned how to breast feed him while on the run with Jack in my Ergo Baby Carrier.

But breast feeding twins exclusively for a year? And run after two other kids at the same time?

Peanuts for Sale!

After much internet research I’ve learned that there is no way to breast feed twins discreetly in public. Which leaves my choices to blatant breast feeding, not feeding simultaneously, or confining myself to the house.

I couldn’t stomach the thought of punishing my older kids by keeping them at home during the summer or having someone else get to go out and have all the fun with them while I sat at home missing it.

Enter San Diego Bebe Twin. This massive contraption is the only solution I’ve found to breast feed twins in public.

At Adam’s request, I am currently researching twin baby carriers. So far everything looks pretty awkward and/or painful.

31 Weeks

Last week I dreamed we had the babies. It all happened so fast that I went to the hospital and gave birth before I could inform Adam. Then they released me and I was standing in front of the hospital with a kid in each arm calling Adam to pick me up. Over the phone he was upset because we didn’t even have the car seats yet.

The next morning I told Adam about the dream. His first question was, “What was the sex of the babies?”

“Two boys,” I replied.

When Adam heard he said, “Oh no!”

When we were pregnant with Jack, Adam guessed it was a girl. I dreamed it was a boy.

When we were pregnant with Ben, Adam guessed it was a girl. I dreamed it was a boy.

Now Adam is guessing it’s a girl and a boy. And I just had a dream that it’s two boys.

It’s quite possible that every time, regardless of gender, I dream I’m having boys. Or a could have some sort of intuition. I guess only time will tell!

Oddly, the next day, the car seats that Adam had been pushing me to buy online arrived on our doorstep. So I know at least that part of the dream isn’t coming true!

Monday night I spent most of the night tossing and turning in bed. I felt sharp pains in my abdomen, coming and going. I was worried I had started early labor.

In the morning I watched the clock. About every 30 minutes I would get these pains. They didn’t feel like the labor pains I had before. But people say every pregnancy is different.

I consulted my pregnancy book and the internet. Perhaps it was Braxton-Hicks? I surely hoped it was that – I did not want to deliver this early.

The symptoms did not match for Braxton-Hicks. Braxton-Hicks, or false contractions. The book told me they are suppose to be painless. And although you may feel them on the front of your abdomen, they are suppose to be irregular.

Still these pains didn’t match labor either. They didn’t get more intense. They didn’t feel like menstrual cramps.

Luckily on Tuesday morning we had our appointment with the doctor.

I asked her about the pains. She said if they were not Braxton-Hicks it was probably gastrointestinal. Basically, I had a stomach bug. A huge relief!

To make me feel better, she check my cervix. I was about 1cm dilated, which she said was perfectly normal for someone who has had kids before and is carrying twins.

Then she suggested we schedule another growth ultrasound for 3 weeks from now. I was please to see I don’t need to start my weekly hospital visits yet!

Finally, I weighed in at 162 pounds. No weight gain for two weeks.