Another pretty good day...

So... let's see.  

1. I do not have gestational diabetes.  Thank god.  I really did not need that on my plate right now.

2.  The blood pressure meds kept me contraction free this AM.  Absolutely quiet.  However, this AM it also lowered my blood pressure to 70/30 and made me almost pass out.  There has been a lot of debate over whether or not I really need it... but they're sticking with giving it to me.  My blood pressure was at 80/40 for the afternoon.  My mom-- who is a nurse-- said "When we see blood pressure like that they're usually going into shock or bleeding out profusely."  Hmmm..

3. I took dose 1 of steroids today.  They're giving in the butt like PIO, but holy cow, do they hurt.  They burn and sting for awhile after injection.  I get my second dose tomorrow and then they'll be considered full strength on Thursday.

That's all I have for now!

Updates again

Things happen quickly...

Let's see what we have found today.

1. I failed the first glucose tolerance test... 3 hour test tomorrow AM.

2. Apparently my cervix has shortened a little... though we were cautioned not to worry too much about the measurements because they can differ depending on who is measuring.

3.  Apparently my cervix has opened a little... though not much.  Enough to freak me out and to make the doctor nervous.

4. I'm having mild contractions that I can't feel... I'm on blood pressure meds to stop them.

5. Steroids are coming tomorrow... not Saturday.

I was pretty shaken up, but like my hubby said... I'm doing absolutely everything I have been told.  I'm doing my part... the rest is up to my body.

The babies??  They're still great.  They're what we're pulling for.  :)

The moral of today?  I would not have made it though all this bad news if my hubby hadn't been here.  I miss him a ton when he's not here.

24 weeks 2 days

How far along? 24 weeks 2 days

Total weight gain/loss: I would guess around 25, but I haven't been weighed in awhile.

Maternity clothes? Well, now it's more oversized tshirts and pajamas.  I have no need for regular clothing anymore.

Stretch marks? They're heeeereeee.  Just on the underside.  And you know what?  They make me happy.  More proof that these babies are growwwwing like they should.  I'm all for them now... nothing else matters.

Sleep: Well, I lay down all day long... but I still manage only about 7 hours of sleep.  :)

Best moment this week: I love the baby kicks.  I love every time a monitoring session or ultrasound yields nothing but "they look great".  I will take it.

Movement: Yes.  It's amazing when we're being monitored how much they move.  Every time they move, a little back dot appears on the print out.  It's usually more of a long black line because they move so much.  :)

Food cravings: Hmmm... pickles would be nice.

Gender: 2 boys

Labor Signs: Apparently I had "minor irritability" aka a minor contraction this AM during my monitoring appointment, but I didn't feel it and I was reassured by the nurse and the doctor that it's totally normal.

Belly Button in or out? In-between-ie

What I miss: Walking around... being able to plan all the fun stuff... baby shower, their nursery, etc.  But I KNOW it's worth it.  I'd rather miss out on that stuff for a few months than to miss out on these babies.

What I am looking forward to: A few more relaxing and uneventful weeks.

Weekly Wisdom: Take it EASY!  You may feel like you can do everything you used to do while pregnant, but you really can't.  I learned the hard way that you really do need to take it easy and stay off your feet.  It's best for you and it's best for the baby.

Milestones: Entering the hospital.  I have NEVER been in the hospital for ANYTHING... not an ER visit, not an overnight... nothing.  Now here I am and you know what?  I'm surviving!  :)  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yesterday was my birthday and it wasn't too bad.  :)  My parents and brothers came to visit.  As did my brother-in-law's girlfriend.  The babies were soooo uncooperative with monitoring!  It was crazy!  But they were awesome today... both A and B stayed on the monitor for a decent amount of time and showed the peaks and valleys they wanted.  Good work boys!

So, yes, the babies are still looking A-okay.  We had an ultrasound yesterday and they're just so wiggly!   I can't wait to meet the little guys--- when their bodies are ready of course!  The past few years have just been so surreal... it's crazy and a little overwhelming when you find yourself getting your dream!  :)

That's all I have for now!

Update

Just to give a quick update...

Yesterday we went back to see our doctor and there had been... drumroll, please... zero change from Monday!!!!  Thrilled as we were, a length of .96 cm is still scary, so we were admitted to Beth Israel in Boston.  Well, we started the admittance process at about 4pm and I wasn't transferred to my room until past 9pm!!!  We weren't exactly high priority... which I guess is good.  :)

So here I am in my wonderful room all by myself.  It's great.  I just ordered my room service (yes, they call it room service here) and am patiently waiting for my hubby to return to me!

That's all for now.  Thanks for checking in!

scared

23 weeks and 5 days.  I'm still here.  Tired of laying down but doing exactly what the doctors told me to do.  :)  The babies are still doing their kicking/punching/headbutting things inside.  I still love it, but I have to admit that every kick scares me a little.  Sure, it assures me that they're still in there and healthy, but I'm so scared that I'll get so attached (more so than already) and something will happen.  I've lived the past few days in constant fear that I would miss something and that these babies would come way too early.  I can't have that... it's been too long and we've come so far and the idea of starting over is just too scary.  These little guys are meant to be my little guys.  I'm supposed to be caring for them in a few months.  They're not supposed to be in danger.  My body isn't supposed to be making things difficult.  .... it's just scary.

Uneventful No More

Suddenly weight gain isn't so important.

Went to the doctors yesterday expecting a pat on the back and a job well done.  Ha.  Immediately they did the internal u/s to check my cervix length.  What had been long, closed and perfect the past handful of times was very, very short.  As in just over a cm.  Insert heartattack here.

So, my doctor comes in with the opening line : "The question is whether or not to admit you into the hospital tonight... or wait a few days."  Apparently I'm dangerously close to having these babies.  And as he put it... babies at 23 weeks means no babies.  I cannot have no babies.

So, I'm at home on very strict bedrest til Friday.  Then I'm packing a bag, going for another appointment, and very likely being admitted to the hospital for steroids and a very long extended stay.  

Needless to say, we're shocked and I'm terrified.   I don't want to fail these babies.  He told me to call immediately with changes or anything or contractions.  I have never had a baby.... I don't know what those are!!!!!!  So, while I was terrified of the notion of the hospital, I'm actually anxiously looking forward to it simply because then I won't have to worry that I'll miss something.  I'll be constantly monitored and taken care of and these babies will be in the best possible hands.  

But I just hope and pray and wish that they'll hang on until at least 30 weeks. 

23w2d

How far along? 23 weeks 2 days

Total weight gain/loss: More than 20. I have an appointment today, so I might get a more accurate measure.

Maternity clothes? Always

Stretch marks? Still none.

Sleep: I love it and cannot wait for school to be OVER so I can sleep in

Best moment this week: Seeing baby kicks. The baby shower last Monday!

Movement: Yes and I love it. It never gets old.

Food cravings: Mashed potatoes and pizza.

Gender: 2 boys

Labor Signs: Nope

Belly Button in or out? In-between-ie

What I miss: Nothing!

What I am looking forward to: Today's appointment and relaxing this summer. All my stress can't be good for the guys!

Weekly Wisdom: I've got nothing!

Milestones: Seeing the babies kick, entering the 6th month.

There You Are!

I've been so busy these last few days!  I had my surprise shower, a going away party for our principal, grades due, packing the room, getting lessons ready for next year, papers, discussion boards, thank you cards, field day, annoying mortgage people... like I said.  BUSY.

Anyways, yesterday I was relaxing and the babies were kicking as usual.  (It doesn't ever get old, does it?)  I finally had the presence of mind to not only FEEL them but to LOOK too.  And you know what?  I saw TWO kicks from my little guy!!  It was beyond cool.  

Sometimes I still can't believe that I'm having two babies.  We are so incredibly lucky I can't even describe it.

Why So Boring?

I don't know if you guys could see it... or if it was just my computer yelling at me... but I was being told that I was exceeding bandwidth or something.  Now, I have no idea what that is and I couldn't get the thing to go away, so I had to get rid of my templates for now!  Perhaps if I have a minute or two I'll get them back.

On another note, my fabulous aide from school lied to me and threw me a baby shower!  :)  It was great and I got lots of cutie stuff!!  :)

How far along? 22 weeks 2 days

Total weight gain/loss: Right around 20 still.

Maternity clothes? Always

Stretch marks? Nope!

Sleep: I miss it!!! I have been so busy lately with my grad classes, getting things ready at school for next year, the babies, and the house stuff.

Best moment this week: Just the multitude of baby kicks!! And I got a massage on Saturday! I think it make my back hurt more because it was SO relaxing that afterwards the first pain was especially painful. I don't know if that makes sense...

Movement: Yes! Yes! Yes! :) LOVE LOVE LOVE IT. I'm not sure if I can see them on the outside, though. I never seem to catch them.

Food cravings: Mashed potatoes! Watermelon.

Gender: 2 boys

Labor Signs: Nope

Belly Button in or out? It's still half-way, but enough to see through clothes.

What I miss: Nothing! I really do love being pregnant!

What I am looking forward to: More kicks! Next Monday's ultrasound. Summer vacation. (5.5 days incase you were wondering.)

Weekly Wisdom: I've got nothing!

Milestones: I'm still alive. They're still alive. We're happy.

Blahhh

Johnny leaves for his cross country trip in about 3 hours. I have a paper due in 6 hours. I'm sitting in school. Blah. I just want to go home and have this week and next week be over.

Guest Post From Daddy

We have another blog that we use to update friends and family about the babies--- basically it's for those people that we didn't share the difficulties/miscarriage/IVF with. Anyways, Johnny updates on there... and here is the post he made the day that he felt the babies kick. :)

Well everyone I've been lazy and have not been making as many posts as Mommy has, but I couldn't wait any longer. I felt one of the twins kick tonight for the first time!!!! It was CRAAAAAZY!!! The whole experience of having a baby is cool enough, not to mention it being twins, but there are just some moments in your life that are so earth shattering they burn a permanent mark in your brain and you will never EVER forget them. I'll never forget sitting in the doctor's office looking at the ultrasound screen and seeing not only one, but TWO little tiny babies staring back at us. Then to have them flip a little switch and hear clear as day, 2 little baby heart beats, INCREDIBLE...I will never forget that day. But then there was tonight, and man oh man was it crazy. Stace has been talking about feeling the babies move around and roll around and even a few little kicks here and there. Tonight we were sitting in front of the couch watching A Few Good Men when Stace was like give me your hand. She put my hand on a certain spot of her stomach and after staring at her for about 20 seconds I felt something from the inside touch my hand. I immediately pulled away and was just like WHOA!!! Going by the ultrasounds we pretty much know what position the babies have been facing in there and if my calculations are correct that bump I felt was a high five. As Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson went back and forth about a Code Red all I could think was I CAN handle the truth, and it's AWESOME!! Like I said the whole "having a baby" experience is amazing, but there are those specific and certain experiences you go through that just far surpass anything else you have EVER felt in your life and feeling one of my little twin boys reach out and touch my hand tonight... ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!!! I'm sure any parents out there reading this are thinking oh jeeze Johnny's got no idea how much more amazing this is going to get, and all I can say is bring it on I can't wait. Tonight was by far one of the best moments in my life and if it only gets more amazing and more life changing then I couldn't be more excited!!!!!


P.S. Don't tell Stacey I said this, but I think the kick/touch I felt tonight might have been one of the twins trying to stretch out his pitching arm. If anyone wants to call Theo and let him know there are 2 highly touted prospects that will be on the scene very soon that would be great.

21w2d... how did that happen?

How far along? 21 weeks 2 days

Total weight gain/loss: I'm going to round up to a good even 20. I think it's a little less, but it fluctuates so much that it's not even worth trying to be accurate!

Maternity clothes? Always

Stretch marks? Still none. Which freaks me out a little... do certain people just not get stretch marks?

Sleep: The past two nights have been the best sleep in forever and I don't know why.

Best moment this week: Last night when Johnny felt one of the babies kick for the first time! The look on his face was priceless!!

Movement: Yes! Yes! Yes! :) LOVE it. I was up til midnight last night just keeping my hand on my stomach feeling the babies play!

Food cravings: Mashed potatoes!

Gender: 2 boys

Labor Signs: Nope

Belly Button in or out? It's not fully out, but it's out enough that you can see it through my clothes.

What I miss: Nothing!

What I am looking forward to: More kicks! More kicks! :) And of course when these guys arrive!

Weekly Wisdom: I've got nothing!

Milestones: Johnny feeling that baby kick! :) Ahhh, bliss.

Woohooo!

I've been feeling the babies kick for awhile now.  

BUT....

Daddy felt the babies kick for the first time!!!!!!

... Hm... Update? And a few pictures

I remember reading journals about a year ago... at that time 90% of the people who I was reading were pregnant or just becoming pregnant (I had a much smaller list back then!). I remember being a little disappointed when they became pregnant... not because they were pregnant, but because they STOPPED updating! The 3 times a day poster would become a mayyyybe once a week poster. Then what would I do to keep myself entertained? Nothing!

My point? Once again, I have succumbed to what I said I would never succumb to. I have become the bag poster. The one who doesn't know what to write because everything is going fabulously and daily postings of "I love my life" or "My back hurts" just doesn't seem to warrant attention or care anymore. So, there you go. I'm a bad poster, but I guess it's the "no news is good news" concept.

Today was the Pond Walk at school-- a 2 mile walk around the pond across the street. It was beautiful, warm, sunny... my kids, aide, and a few parents walked with my class. Me? I stayed behind and got SO much done! I've been frantically trying to get everything ready for September to December of next year. Things are falling into place. I'm almost all ready for September! Stay home or back to school, I'll be ready. :)

Johnny's planning a cross-country trek with his brother next week. His brother just commissioned to the Air Force after graduating from UML ROTC. So... his orders say he has to be in California at the base by the 19th. So, Johnny and Danny are packing up the car Thursday and driving through 14 (15?) states and then Johnny is flying back on Thursday of the following week. That week is also my final week of school! We only have 11 days left. :) I love, LOVE, LOVE my job, but I cannot wait for the break. :)

Well, I'm sorry. I know I promised that I wouldn't write about something pointless, but I guess I failed. : )


Have a fabulous weekend!!

20w3d

Still no stretch marks! Lots of blue veins though! :)

And just a comparison...

18w4d

20w3d

Kicks, please!?

So, here I am, impatiently waiting for kicks from A and B.  Yes, I've had bubbles, but I want kicks.  I'm a little nervous they'll be hard to feel, though.  When we went to the last u/s we were told that Baby A has an anterior placenta and Baby B has a posterior placenta.  According to What to Expect the anterior placenta means that there is more cushioning between my belly and the babies so it might be harder to feel and see kicks.  Ah well, as long as they are there and growing as they should!  I'll be happy... 

20w2d

How far along? 20 weeks 2 days

Total weight gain/loss: About 16-18lbs.  It sounds like a lot... but I am half way.  Maybe it's not so bad?  :)

Maternity clothes? Always

Stretch marks? Nope

Sleep: I still miss it.  I feel like I don't have time to stop between school and my classes and everything else.

Best moment this week: There have been lots of little movements lately.  :)  No kicks, but enough that they make me smile every time I feel them!

Movement: Little bits, but I can't wait for the big kicks that other people can feel, too!

Food cravings: Nothing notable this week.

Gender: 2 boys

Labor Signs: Nope

Belly Button in or out? Can you believe that it still is in-between?  Just decide already!!

What I miss: Nothing!

What I am looking forward to: Only 16 days left of school!!!  :)

Weekly Wisdom: I've got nothing!

Milestones: I'm over half way!!!!  :)