Hello!

Just popping in because I'm THRILLED it's the weekend. It's been a long day and a long week, so I'm looking forward to being off a few days! I am going to try and get some nursery pictures up in the next few days, because things are really coming together nicely! Tomorrow is the Club 100th Reunion, Concerts, Banquet, etc so we'll be in Oxford most of the day. I think it's just about the perfect time to stock up on a few items for our future Redhawks while we're at it! ;)

Pity Party over...

I appreciate all the good thoughts, well wishes and prayers for a bit less pain :) I felt guilty this morning for whining so publicly last night, so I thought I'd pop on and say thank you and try and get over it a bit. Sure, I still wish the stork from Dumbo would come sing Happy Birthday and drop off a few babies in blankets..... but we love these girls, we wanted them more than most of you know, and we will get through whatever it takes to get them here when the time is right! :)

(You know, since they can hear and distinguish my voice now(!), I made sure they knew this and everything this morning..... and yet I still pulled over to grace 2 unsuspecting West Chester residents' yards with, um, bodily fluids on the way to work. Babies are so ungrateful! ;))

Have a good day! It's Wednesday, which means 2.5 days until the weekend!

A relaxing facial, and pubic symphasis dysfunction.

I treated myself to an express facial today at Becoming Mom Spa, to take advantage of my discount for having a "membership" there. They are tricky, offering those discounts just to make me spend my money there... :)

Anyway, it was glorious. It was relaxing, it felt wonderful, and I left actually glowing and with a little color, like I'm supposed to have during this "honeymoon trimester" (ha!).

I also finally got a diagnosis for the crippling pain I've had in the left part of my pubic bone (sorry ;)) since I was about 8 weeks pregnant. Said pain has gotten so bad lately that I can hardly walk, even with scheduled Tylenol. We knew early on it was pubic symphasis pain (read this article if you're interested in a good explanation of the pubic symphasis, and what happens to it during pregnancy). Well it turns out, it's not just stretching because it still thinks I have to get a baby or two through it (seriously, I wish we could skip all the stuff I'm not going to need without a vaginal delivery! ;)). In fact, it's just that my pelvis is screwed up. And my ligaments. Both of which are facts we already knew.

Why we didn't come around to this a bit sooner, I have no idea since - for my entire adult life and then some - I have had issues with my SI joint and hips (a predisposing factor for SPD), and have required PT for several joints because my ligaments are already "too floppy", even without help from pregnancy hormones.

What does all this mean? Nothing really worthwhile! It means that I have a label for what makes me unable to move. It means that I can continue taking scheduled Tylenol that doesn't really help, but that "some day" (when I'm not pregnant or breastfeeding) I can take stronger anti-inflammatories that should help. It means that I will likely get PT, which I seriously don't have time for, but will do if it helps me stand up like a normal human being again without wanting to cry. (Heck, the last week or so I can't stand, sit or lie down without wanting to cry!).

I am being told that it doesn't mean I will be at any more increased risk for pre-term labor than I already am, but that I could need surgery, etc at some point if the joint actually separates, ligaments tear, etc. I am being told that I will likely not be able to have a vaginal delivery ever depending on the severity of this condition, but you know that's something I couldn't care less about and wasn't planning to need anyway.

I'm also being told (hooray) that since Baby A prefers to be head-butting my cervix and cramming herself into my pelvis all the time anyway, it's going to get a lot worse before it gets better, since I have so many factors that play into it already, and am carrying two babies.

Aaaargh. I have done my very best to not fill this blog with a boatload of complaints, but I'm at my wits end on this one. I am truthfully quite tough, despite appearances. I have a very high pain tolerance, and have an especially high tolerance for stupid joint, back, hip, etc problems since they are mostly baseline for me. But this hurts. And I'm tired of it. :(



Can I have another facial? Say, one that lasts another 12 weeks or so? It could even be intermittent, I don't mind. I could alternate between a facial, a massage and a nap.

Spring Face-Lift

I am DESPERATE for spring to get here. I am not sure what makes this year different, because ordinarily I would love a little sunshine but I don't have this urgency that I do this year. For the most part, I pretty much loathe hot weather and can do without it except for maybe a month or two.... but this bitter cold, high winds and ice we've been getting all February is all getting quite old!

Here's hoping a face-lift for the site will encourage a little extra sunshine -- and quickly!

My faith has been restored (!) ........

Many of you have heard here, but might not believe, that I just don't do sweets anymore. I know! Jennifer, who never met a dessert too rich, just isn't interested! It's not that they make me sick, I just have no desire for them. In my brain, I think "Ooh, _____" so I'll grab a (cookie, piece of cake, piece of chocolate, etc). I'll be excited about it. I'll take one bite, and then I will be done with it. It's like an illness, really.

The most recent nail in the coffin of my sweet tooth was on Valentine's Day (or, rather, the day before). We went to The Cheesecake Factory, and I didn't want to order dessert! I asked Kyle to get something I like, so I could have a bite. He, of course, assumed then he would have to order the most chocolatey slice available, but I kept refusing. The only thing that sounded good was some lemon raspberry thing. What in the world?! (Just so you know, it WAS excellent, and I did have a bite).




But then, something happened. Yesterday when I got to work, someone said they were in..... The Girl Scout Cookies I had ordered! I paid for them, completely unenthusiastic since I wouldn't be enjoying them anyway thanks to this pregnancy-inflicted sugar hiatus.

Kyle opened the Thin Mints last night, so I grabbed one out of habit -- not all that interested in it or all that hungry.

It was like the first time I ever ate a cookie! They still taste fantastic. I ate another, and another, and they continued to taste better than they ever have.

Maybe I'll gain weight after all! ;) I don't think my sweet tooth is really 'back', but the Girl Scout Cookie season is still young......

Thoughts from the (ever-expanding) uterus... 20w

The babies now measure about 5-7 inches crown to rump (and almost 10 inches head to heel, which is how they'll start measuring soon)! This is probably why they are actually starting to replace some water ballet moves with jabs and kicks.... if only their Daddy could feel them yet! They are getting much bigger overall, too, probably weighing in around 9-10 ounces each.

Their skin is beginning to thicken, and is forming four layers like ours. Sebaceous glands are starting to form vernix ("the cheese stuff") to protect the skin from continuous immersion in amniotic fluid. Hair and toenails continue to become more evident.

They are practicing swallowing (amniotic fluid... yum!), which helps their digestive system. And speaking of digestive systems... the ever-lovely meconium is beginning to be formed and is beginning to fill up their bowels. Pleasant, no? :)

If I were having a singleton, the fundus (top of my uterus) would just now be approaching my belly button, and you may start to notice I'm pregnant. If you've seen me lately though (or read here that I'm measuring 28+ weeks and know what that might look like), you know MY uterus is practically in my diaphragm, and I look QUITE pregnant!


As for things outside the body, I think everything is starting to come together nicely! A while back, we posted how everything is supposed to be "ready" by about 28-30 weeks. As far away as that seemed then, it's finally beginning to make sense! I'm being ordered to rest more, I'm quite uncomfortable at the end of each day with this much pressure on my fairly small frame. I imagine that advice was well-given, and I won't want to (or be able to) do much after that point!

Registries are done, bedding/nursery accessories came in (and it's all adorable!), names are being narrowed down (although a) you won't find them out, and b) that certainly can be done even if I'm not up and about... but still :))... maybe someday soon, it will actually feel like we'll have 2 beautiful baby girls to hold eventually! I swear, it can't come soon enough!

Team.... PINK!

Yes, two girl balloons = two girls! I'm too exhausted for anything more creative than that, I'm sorry. Everything looked good though, they were very cooperative again in letting us see everything that needed seen, and my cervix is holding up nicely.

I did get told that if I'm working 45-50 hours a week I have to rest when I'm home.... I can handle that for now, especially since we can't kick the anemia for anything.

Sorry this is so brief.... but I figured I wouldn't get away with not posting for a few days! :)

Gender news tomorrow, along with more pictures!

I logged on here to give you a sneak preview. I thought about posting the ultrasound pictures without any arrows or typing (each say "Baby A/B is a ______" -- a little too easy!). I thought maybe you would enjoy trying to figure it out rather than be held in suspense another day....

But the shots were too good. Sorry about your luck!

You're going to have to wait just a bit longer...............





We're really excited about tomorrow's scan. I'm still significantly more relieved after having seen the babies last weekend than I would have been otherwise, but tomorrow's ultrasound is going to be so much cooler! Because there are two, and because we're high risk (multiples. body frame, etc) it will be almost 2 hours of quality time with our babies! :) We'll be able to see in detail so many parts of their tiny bodies, and watch them move around, interact with their environment (they tend to move a lot with the doppler or ultrasound!), etc. Even more important, we'll be able to verify and begin monitoring for cervical insufficiency -- the thing that scares me more than anything thus far in this pregnancy journey. All in all, it should be a good afternoon!

If only it would come a bit sooner.....

Aagh! Happy February 16th to me!

Where have I been this winter?! Tom Glavine (one of my all-time favorite pitchers) and............. Javier Lopez (the first love of my life (Kyle is aware) ...

HAVE BOTH REJOINED THE BRAVES!

Hallelujah! It's like old, championship-winning times! I might be a bit insane, but I seriously can't control my excitement over here. Sorry if you hear me screaming at 8am from Liberty Township.......

Feb 14

18.5 week appointment (what an odd schedule we're on...)

My OB appointment went well today. I saw a different OB, who I don't click with in the slightest -- our conversations were awkward, we had nothing in common... but she is approaching my pregnancy as if I were having twins (go figure!) so I'll take it. It was by far the best appointment I've had yet, even if we didn't talk about Disney, etc like old friends! We of course have our Level II on Tuesday, and are on every 4 week visits this one more time. After that (starting around 24 weeks) I will be seen every 2 weeks, and will have an ultrasound every 4 to start. What a novel idea, to follow the standards of care for a particular field.....

The other news that I always look forward to hearing (just so you know, about 50% of the time that would be sarcasm, the other 50% I'm totally serious!) ..... at 18.5 weeks, I'm measuring just OVER 28 weeks! (*faint*) I was 3 weeks ahead, then 5.... now about 10! Eek! Still, it makes me feel so much better about how many secondary issues and discomforts I'm having this "early". I would be 3/4 finished with a singleton pregnancy! Then I remember how absolutely enormous I'm going to be, and I sing a bit less thankful tune! ;)

As it stands, they are still looking at ~37 weeks as a goal, but this OB was much more realistic about my body frame and the ability to get there -- what it might take, the fact that it really might not happen, etc. Maybe my previous OB didn't want to "scare me", but I'm a healthcare professional for crying out loud. I already know these things, I'd love it if my doctor would pretend he/she does, too!

So all in all a good visit. I have finally gained about 5 pounds which was the "requirement" for this visit, so no Boost/Ensure just yet! Now if only I would start feeling remotely human again! And just think.... there's still about 15-20 more weeks. Yikes! I have totally given up on the 'honeymoon phase' that is supposed to be the second trimester though. With twins, apparently you aren't guaranteed that. So, any good day will just been seen as a bonus good day -- I won't complain about them when they come! :)


So there you have it. The entire recap of my appointment, whether you wanted it or not!

In other news.... wait, no, there is no other news, really. Work gets longer and more stressful all the time. I am quite sure I won't be working up until I deliver, bedrest or not. You can take my word for it. Kyle and I are going to dinner tonight since he's on call tomorrow. That pretty much sums up the rest of our life together. Exciting, huh?

Take care!

Ultrasound pictures (minus a few key money shots...)

FYI - You can click the pic to see better images... I didn't want to post this many and make them huge on the blog. Don't bother though, if you're looking for gender clues -- those pictures are still safely hidden on the computer..... ;)

Baby A, 6 weeks

Baby B, 6 weeks

Twins, 8 weeks

Baby A, 8 weeks

Baby B (the fish), 8 weeks

Twins, 18 weeks

Baby A foot, 18 weeks

Baby B foot, 18 weeks

Baby A, 18 weeks

Baby B, 18 weeks

Can you keep a secret?

So..... Kyle and I had an ultrasound today! Some of you have heard the frustrations with my OB (which, by the way... the latest on that is that everyone in the city, in the freaking field everywhere, thinks my practice and Dr. S specifically, are/is the best. I'm stuck).

Anyway, "The Best" or not, she wasn't meeting my needs, and comments like "You can't ever really be sure you're hearing two heartbeats with a doppler" (followed up by flat out refusal for an ultrasound to confirm that the babies we HAVE seen, and DO love, are still there and have heartbeats) just finally wore me too thin. I love the day and age we live in, and so for a small price (really, I would have paid any price for the peace of mind I now have) we have seen our children again, for the first time in almost 10 weeks!

Yes, there are still two of them ;) Yes, we saw 2 heads, 4 arms, 4 legs, and 2 beating hearts, among other things. It was only 10 minutes, so we're still really looking forward to the Level II, but it was enough. We even got lots of pictures! The pertinent medical details are as follows:

(I'll even throw in a bit of interpretation, so that some of you might care who couldn't care less about the nerdy stuff ;))
- Dizygotic, Dichorionic, which we already knew (2 placentas, 2 sacs -- which mostly just means fewer risks, such as Twin-to-twin transfusion, etc. And it confirms, as we knew, that they are fraternal instead of identical).
- Twin A is vertex (head down), Twin B is breech (head up). (The baby on the right side is closer to my cervix (getting the Twin A monomer), and is doing a headstand in the bottom right of my uterus, the baby on the left side has it's head in my ribs and is dancing on my cervix, effectively appearing to kick Twin A in the face (although not really, since they are nicely cushioned by separate sacs, etc).
- Placenta A is posterior (to my back), Placenta B is anterior (to my front, which explains the difficulty at times in hearing a strong heartbeat).
- LVP measurements are at 2.52cm (A) and 3.85cm (B) (This is one method of measuring amniotic fluid levels. The results are on the low end of normal, but still normal. I seriously have to work on my gallon+ of fluid each day, but that's an entirely different challenge.)
- Heart rate was 152 (A) and 140 (B) (These are both normal... but really anything between about 120 and 170 is considered normal. And no, there is never truth to the saying that heart rates vary with girls vs. boys, so don't even go there ;)).

And now, the answer to the question you're all asking....


Yes, we saw gender(s)! But just so you can all kill us (hmm.... who knew we had such a death wish?), we are waiting until our Level II to share. It's not that we think the results are wrong (because, while possible, at this late in the game it's pretty easy to tell)... it's just that it is a really big deal, and I need a minute to process my thoughts with my husband about a) the fact that we are really having babies, and b ) they are actually son(s) and/or daughter(s), instead of just ambiguous, gender-neutral humans. Regardless of the outcome, there is definitely some processing that has to happen, that nobody warned me about! ;)

So, regarding the title of this post... I suppose it doesn't matter if YOU can keep a secret. It just matters whether or not we can................ :-D

Pictures of the (Quite Empty) Nursery!

So here's our furniture anyway. :) (Ignore the Mickey and DVC paintings, I think they'll find a new home.)


PS - When the heck was it this sunny?!




The babies' first Disney Bears, from our December weekend trip:
















Entry view















Crib(s)















Opposite corner
















Dressing, Changing Unit































And even though we decided against a Noah's Ark theme in general, this is the cutest frame ever! Thanks Shelly! :)

(I didn't title this before?)

I sit here ashamed of my lack of posting (what's new, really?) and full of great things to post. Still, I feel so overwhelmed with what else I'm supposed to be doing that I can't get a single thing down! Kyle and I are doing well, I assume the babies are doing well (who knows really, my OB sure doesn't), and life goes on. I have on my camera nursery furniture pictures and belly pictures (only at request.... and maybe only this once. I'm not sure I'm a big fan! :)), so stay tuned. Seriously, I mean it this time. I'll be back as soon as I can!