"Hello!"

2 more appointments scheduled...

Today's appointment was fine. Just about a pound weight gain, BP a tad higher than usual but not concerning. PUPPP confirmed, sympathized over and then ignored as predicted -- through no fault of my OB, I know. I can try the topical steroid, use Benadryl as often as necessary to sleep, and hope it only lasts a week or two after delivery (which, in and of itself, appears to still be ages away. Who knew bedrest was so efficient?)

The babies looked great on the BPP, and passed very quickly. I have a picture or two to scan when I get upstairs, but you know by now not to expect much in that regard! Slight cervical changes but nothing significant enough to put me in the hospital (yay) or make it seem like relief is in site (boo).

That's all for now, exciting I know!

Isn't Pregnancy a gas?!

No, this is not about gas. You're welcome.

A Gas. (noun, 60's slang word for something that is a lot of fun)

I had to come up with something that sounded so utterly ridiculous (at least in this day) that you would not have any doubt in your mind about the sarcasm being employed. I suppose I should take a minute to write 'out loud' that I'm thankful I don't have pre-eclampsia. Or gestational diabetes. Um.... yeah, that's about all. I started thinking a couple weeks ago that I was developing PUPPP. "Pruritic Urticarial Papules and Plaques of Pregnancy" -- sounds yummy, no? Basically, it means this rash that is from the devil himself that afflicts 1 in about 200 women pregnant with their first child. It's almost always experienced by women pregnant with boys... or pregnant with multiples. Hmmm... should I be glad it's not 2 boys at least? Nah, I think this is an all-or-nothing diagnosis. I started getting wheals (like hives) on my stomach on occasion, but they'd seem to go away. The itching didn't, but I assumed it was just from the stretching of my skin, which is undoubtedly happening quite quickly these days! Well said itching got worse and worse, until I would often scratch so much that.... well, it would be gross. Just take my word for it.

As the time progressed, I started having more and more manifestations of all different sorts -- wheals/hives, vesicles, papules, plaques, etc. Basically, all different sizes and shapes of "rash". (Hives/urticaria think allergy, vesicles think chicken pox, papules think... inflammation?, plaques think scales like eczema and psoriasis.... isn't dermatology boring? You get the idea, though -- lots of itchy red crap that is raised or flat, large or small, filled with stuff or not (ick)..... but all capable of inducing misery). I kept thinking it strange, but not being quite sure what it was because it seemed to only be, literally "inside" of a few stretch marks on the underside of my stomach. Well, it turns out after doing a little research, that's exactly where PUPPP starts. Always. And then it spreads, which mine has. Now, my stomach has raised (we're talking 1-2 cm raised!) striae that are BRIGHT red, as well as various other rash "crops" in between and around all of those stripes. It's totally sweet looking, let me tell you. Be thankful you can't see my stomach, that's all I have to say!

As for the itching, when Kyle is not home I scratch the crap out of it. Doing so makes it itch worse and worse, makes me jump around like a maniac and make faces and noises that are far from lady-like (or, actually just far from suitable for public, regardless of ones gender), and then makes it hurt like fire, especially when ANYTHING touches it. You'd think I would learn, right?

When Kyle IS home, he yells at me. Or, in the case of 4am and 5am today, he physically refuses to let go of my hands. So I don't scratch. It nearly kills me when the itching starts and I'm not allowed to scratch. I make an entirely different set of noises and faces that are borderline hysterical, but eventually it subsides a bit. You know, until it starts back again several minutes later.

My OB would like to talk tomorrow about treatment options. I hear there are none, so I think she's just pulling my chain. I'll likely go home with a topical steroid which will at least make it look a little prettier, and might make me feel better in a week or two ... at which point I might deliver anyway, and - supposedly - it will go away on its own.

I'm SO tempted to take a picture, just to try and BEGIN to give you an idea of how lovely this is. Thankfully, it has been said in numerous articles that there is "no harm" to the baby or mother, except temporary insanity (I can vouch). I think if I posted said picture though, that there might be readers down all over the globe, and I would be responsible.

Again, just take my word for it. Just 3 more weeks? :)

Ultrasound

After all of their somersaults, Baby A is now facing my back and being camera shy, while Baby B finally gave us a nice profile shot - the first in several weeks. Cool! Um.... except that it looks mostly the same as the rest. Can we just fast forward to the part where we get to see these babies for real?! :)



EDIT! I wasn't going to post this picture, because it's pretty pointless, no?


But look how much they've grown?! The same size screen, and I had forgotten just how much baby could fit on there before! :)


If you're in the mood to reminisce as well, or missed the original posts, this post has all of our ultrasounds from 6, 8 and 18 weeks. This post has a few of our 3D ultrasound pictures, and a link to more. Enjoy!

Headed Home...

Well the doctor never actually made it up here, because he kept getting called to deliveries, surgeries, etc. I knew that might be an issue, hence the reason I thought I'd be here all day. As it stands, after waiting 3+ hours the nurses must have felt sorry for me and just got an order put in and got his verbal instructions. I think it helps that I have an appointment with them in 4 or 5 days anyway, and know the drill as to when to call. They aren't happy with the contractions they saw (seriously, it's always something with these people! ;)) but they will just be extra cautious checking cervical progress, maybe add an ultrasound, etc and add medications when it becomes necessary.

As a side note, before my computer dies and/or my mom gets here to take me home (hooray!), the babies are right at, or at least very close to our goal weight for them (2kg = 4.4lbs (4lbs, 6.7oz)). At today's scan, Baby B was approximated at 4lb, 7 oz. Baby A was sort of approximated at 4lb, 10 oz -- this was put on the chart anyway -- but Kyle and I, the perinatologist and the sonographer all know that it is highly inaccurate since she is too squished/low to get a good measurement (or was at least today, no matter what we tried). B's measurements were very easy to obtain since she has more room, but they struggled to get head circumference and humerus length on A. That, coupled with the fact that she's always been smaller and continues to LOOK a tad smaller, makes us all realize they are probably both at or just below 2kg. Still rocking the 40th percentile! Their growth continues to stay very concordant other than that one time Baby A fell a bit behind, and the peri thinks that they (in spite of good to fair fluid), look "awesome".

As another side note, hospital food - with the exception of Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (and it's fancy room service) - sucks.

I think I should be good on posts for a while.... ;)

Nausea, a one-handed shower, and a great view. Oh, and waiting.

I'm back in the room now, waiting for the OB on call to come have a chat with me, and hopefully get me the heck out of here! The BPP looked good... the babies were tired (I'm sure, nobody slept last night!) so they mostly just got annoyed with the sonographer and tried to get away from her (seriously, in what extra space?), but that provided the movement and breathing efforts that we needed to see, regardless of the motivation. The fluid pockets are at about 2.9cm (A) and 4.2cm (B), which is within normal limits. The perinatologist seems to think (and generally, I think they are the some of the smartest people ever) that IV hydration doesn't really do the trick except in very few specific cases. He thinks instead, that Baby A has hovered on the low end of normal (right around 2.5-3cm) for weeks - which she has. He thinks that yesterday she was just a bit low (2.3cm) when we checked her since, after all, the fluid levels are dynamic. He thinks that today, when we checked anyway, she's just back into the low end of normal. Hmmm... so I DIDN'T have to be here last night?!

At first I did find that news a bit annoying. Especially after the sleepless night, and now the after-effects of being off of the IV fluids, which (I failed mentioning yesterday) are Lactated Ringers with dextrose ----- something like "sugar water". Because.... I need extra sugar? No, "because OBs are surgeons", according to Kyle. Weird choice. Anyway, now I feel hypoglycemic icky, and food would help - but there isn't really any. The nursing student was sweet enough to offer me orange juice, but I'm thinking that would just be more of a problem in the long run. Teaching opportunity? No thanks, not today.

Still, I quickly remembered that I am ALWAYS appreciative of overly proactive doctors, in lieu of the ones I've had (even in the beginning of this high-risk pregnancy) that don't really seem to give a crap. As long as I am truly going home :), then I will just be thankful for the extra monitoring. And heck, fluids never hurt. Well, except maybe if they are loaded with sugar, but why would I get sugar in my fluids? (insert rolling eyes smiley here).

I did get to get a shower, sort of, which was refreshing and I am now goo-free. It was a difficult task trying to do it all one-(left-)handed since I had nothing with which to cover my IV, and now my hair looks utterly fabulous and I have no makeup.... but I'm clean. And in a not-sticky shirt. The nursing student thinks she is coming back to hook me up again, but I might have to protest unless the doctor insists on keeping me here for more monitoring. If I'm just going home, I think we can skip the goo, the belts, and the discomfort for the rest of the day, no?

I must also say, I am thankful that I'm so OCD and had a bag packed and in the car. I got to hang out in my sweats instead of a backless hospital gown, and I had plenty to keep me occupied. I'm thankful for a husband that wants to be around me when he can, and also happens to like that he could take advantage of being so close to work this morning :) And I have a lovely view of the Museum Center, the train tracks, the river, etc. TCH is really a great hospital, but I think I'll leave my several day stay here until June, if I have a choice.

Check back soon... well, or eventually. When the doctor gets here, I will update right away!

Oh, what a night!

Seriously, I was very pessimistic about how my night was going to be almost from the beginning.... and yet even then, I wasn't prepared. Blech!

First things first, I have no idea when my rescan is scheduled. The nurse came in a few minutes ago and said they would call at 8 when the office opens to see if something is set up, etc. I sure as heck hope it is, but nobody seems to really think so. After that, we come back here and wait on the on-call OB from the practice to come by and give me the verdict, which is obviously going to happen between deliveries and OR time. I'm thinking I might be here a while today, which I'm not particularly stoked about. Oh, well. Thankfully I should have some idea after the scan how things look, and can at least make some assumptions about the day. Hopefully, anyway.

Secondly, both babies did fabulous on the monitors all night. Before you get too thrilled, I don't know that it matters all that much. That was only a secondary "concern", if you can even call it that. Mostly, since Baby A got a 6/8 on the ultrasound portion of the BPP yesterday, they just had to do a NST (refer back to my recent enlightening post if you're lost ;)). Since they were pumping me with fluids anyway, and I needed to be back down here first thing in the morning, I think it just made sense to have me here all night. And why not monitor the babies all night if we're stuck here?



Well, I'll tell you why not. :)

Because then Jennifer gets about 80 minutes of sleep, and not in a row. Never in my life did I think I would be so anxious for the opportunity to sleep so unsoundly in my bed for 3 hours, still interrupted.... but that which I have become so used to (and was previously annoyed by) sounds downright glorious! First, the monitors continued to have issues picking up the babies' heartbeats. It's hard to distinguish multiples anyway, especially when they are so big (determining 2 babies from an echo of the same one). Add to that that Baby A is so low in the pelvis, that the monitor wanted desperately to pick up my heartbeat instead. The 7a-7p nurse apparently thought that 78-80 was an acceptable heart rate for a not-quite-newborn, which was incredibly unsatisfying. Just so you know, it's not. You are still likely great at whatever it is you do, even if you didn't know that. She's an RN. Not ok. I spent about 2 hours while Kyle was running home doing their job, hooking myself up various ways, gooping up with doppler gel, adjusting my IV catheter that was blown when she first inserted it, etc. It was ridiculous.

At about 8pm, the night nurse came on, who was competent AND nice. Score! We still had a heck of a time, but at least she made it happen. Had she not, I would have walked out the door and slept in my own bed. If we weren't actually going to monitor Baby A, then there would be no point in me staying.

Throughout the night, I was of course uncomfortable. You might recall that pre-pregnant Jennifer had to take scheduled pain relief to get sleep because of lower back issues. I'm sure I haven't let you forget that pregnant Jennifer has those issues as well as plenty of others, and pregnant-with-twins-and-now-measuring-43-weeks-Jennifer just doesn't even bother answering pain questions or talking about it all that much. So you can imagine that nights are spent tossing and turning, trying aimlessly to get comfortable. Well, even that wasn't an option since the monitors wouldn't work even if I were perfectly still. Fun! I spent hour after hour watching the monitors, watching Kyle sleep in the bed across the room, fidgeting the smallest amount that I could and still 'survive', and fixing my monitors so the nurse wouldn't come back in as often.

At 2am, my nurse and another came practically running in the room. "Are you awake?" they asked. Of course I was awake. "Are you feeling those contractions you're having?" Of course I was feeling them. "Oh. Um..... is that just normal for you?" Why yes, yes it is. I hardly even notice them. It turns out, as I watched for the next hour or so, that they were quite regular and apparently doozies (right in the range of the "active" phase of labor)! Hmm. Weird. Apparently you get used to some strange things when they happen for months. :) Since I had assured them they were normal (and they are!), I staved off a middle-of-the-night internal exam from a random house doc. That was definitely a bonus.

At 3:30am, and about 5am, my nurse came in to check again, to be sure the contractions "weren't bothering me.....?". Nope, not really. What bothers me, is how incredibly tired I am, and how long it takes each time I have to get up and pee -- untangling phone cords, laptop cables, IV cords and poles, etc from my left side, and an equal number of cords from the monitor on my right side (all while not pulling the IV out or knocking everything in the room over!). The sticky goo that is accumulating all over my abdomen and clothes bothers me. The belts and bands and wraps all around my entire torso trying to keep monitors in place (unsuccessfully) bother me. Thanks for asking, though :)

At about 4am, after 11 hours of increasing pain from a worthless IV, I finally called the nurse and made her start a new one. Not an easy task in this girl, but oh, so worth it. At least that was one thing I could get fixed!

At 5:00, Kyle pretty much woke up but I was still trying to get a few more minutes of sleep. At 6, we were both up for good. Sweet night, no?

So now, I wait. I have an RN and a nursing student in her role transition taking care of me this morning, who are nice ... but not very efficient. It wasn't long ago that I was a student, I suppose... this poor girl is way too nervous though, for her own good -- and I think she graduates in a week or two! Still, I'm just anxious to get moving so I really don't care who is here, especially since the babies are "fine" on all of the measurements they are able to gather here.

Time to enjoy my miniature bowl of rice krispies. Breakfast comes around 9, but we're thinking I won't be here then. Fine with me! Be back soon....

Happy Birthday "We're sorry, Daddy!"

Today's post was supposed to be entitled simply, "Happy Birthday, Daddy!" It would go on to talk about how, especially since today is Kyle's birthday, they would let us stay home another week, blah blah blah.

Apparently, Mommy has no control over these little gals. Here I sit (well, half sit ....?), posting from the hospital. The good news is, my cervix is actually holding up, or at least holding mostly steady. Still closed, which is great (and surprising to us all!), a bit more effaced. Everything else was as to be expected for the appointment as well. BP still low, weight up a bit (total now = 13lbs), both babies looked good and moved well, etc.

The bad news for the day was that Baby A's fluid went from "low normal" to just "low"... which means time for intervention. The current plan is a lot of fluids overnight (1L bolus just completed, which is beeping incessantly in my ear, plus 150/hr all night - Ringers, if that means anything to you ;)). Tomorrow morning, we'll repeat the scan at the peri's office (connected to the hospital) and then the OB on call from my practice will round at some point during the day. If the level went up, then I'll go home tomorrow and we'll probably recheck it again at the end of the week. If it stays up, we're back on track to have BPP's and appointments every week until further notice. If it doesn't go up, or doesn't stay up, then they will consider steroid boosters and a fairly quick delivery. We'll see!

This isn't a very nice birthday present for Kyle, and I have told the girls' that, in the future, we'll have to do a little better! Instead of the nice dinner and fun evening we had planned, we sat around at the office all afternoon, didn't eat for hours, then had Wendy's in the hospital room -- and not a good room at that, an L&D triage room since I'm just short stay at this point. It might be a long night... 2 heartbeats and a monitor in my right ear, an IV pump in my left, a nurse that comes in continuously because Baby A is so low the monitor won't pick her up at all the second she moves any...... but hopefully it's just one night!

I will, of course, keep you posted......

32 weeks!

So here we are, at a HUGE milestone -- week 32! We have 32-weekers (at the worst)! I still shudder at the idea that it might be a couple more weeks, but when I just look at today, I'm thrilled we have made it this far. And to think... 4 weeks, 2 days ago I sat in an ultrasound room to see whether my bedrest would be at home or at the hospital, for the duration of the pregnancy. At that point, I felt like the pregnancy was threatened so immediately, and was so fragile... and I truly believe it would have been were it not for the mandated rest. And yet, we have bought 4 more weeks!

It's been a rough, exhausting night and day, so I'm going to try and nap a bit. Well, rest. I can't really nap, because I'm too busy playing with and attempting to upgrade my Mac. Woohoo!

I wanted to check in though, and take a minute to celebrate another week gone by. Now, our goals will come one week at a time. Next stop, 5/23/08 -- 33 weeks!

Ultrasound Pictures, etc

So the last time I posted pictures from an ultrasound was April 15th... that's been a while, considering we've had several more since then. Just goes to show you that there isn't much to see anymore! Still, here are a few if you're interested. And might I add today while I'm writing, since I forgot to mention it yesterday, that I have finally hit the jackpot and measure 40 weeks. Woohoo. Please, know that it is with utmost sarcasm that I write that Woohoo.

From 5/6

Baby A's foot, side view


Two heads together now, beginning to really start plotting


From 5/13

Baby A's face


Apparently, both have hair! I'll believe it when I (actually) see it.

BPP and Weekly Appointment - 31w4d

Both girls did much better on today's BPP! It's getting harder and harder to catch them moving limbs since they are so cramped, but they looked great! As usual these days, we have very few worthwhile pictures from the scan. I'll look back at the last few weeks and see if there are a couple worth sharing. Mostly, we keep getting exactly the same shots, and/or the tops of heads. They simply don't fit on the screen! As for non-stress tests, they will skip them as long as the ultrasound portion of the BPP is adequate each week. Unfortunately, they don't bother with growth estimates at these weekly scans because they would fluctuate too much from week to week to really see a trend, so we won't have an update on approximated weights for another 2 weeks or so. Boo!

At my appointment, my OB was quite sympathetic to my increasing misery :) She was very supportive, and practically did a little cheer. She delivers a lot of multiples, and said that she gets so excited at 32 weeks. "The scary stuff is really over, AND they should be here before you know it. It's a great time!". Yes, I did want to hit her. It was sort of cute though, I suppose.

I gained nearly 2 pounds which made her happy, and my blood pressure is still perfect. As for labor/cervix issues, things are starting to change again... but slowly at least. I'm still not dilated at all, which is good. I'm effaced about 50% (up just slightly from the last several weeks), but "significantly" softer. She of course advised me to continue monitoring contractions, etc and call as soon as anything changes. Otherwise, it's on to next Tuesday....

T-5 weeks and counting....

Five weeks from right now, if our baby girls haven't made an appearance on their own yet, Kyle and I will be headed south to the Christ Hospital (notice that it's 5am. Yikes!) to check-in for my c-section. Well, that is of course if I'm not already boarding there ;)

I have a plethora of emotions about this. For so long, I prayed that we would at least make it to 30 weeks. When I got put on bedrest at just shy of 28 weeks, I took each new day with a grain of salt, and was thrilled that we had made it as far as we had. Now, however, I'm nothing short of terrified that I will go that long.

I have to pat myself on the back and remind Kyle (and anyone interested) that I have been such a lovely pregnant girl, despite being thrown one insanely uncomfortable obstacle after another. I didn't turn into psycho chick with all of the hormone changes of the first trimester. I don't recall complaining one time (neither does he!) about the incessant vomiting, inability to walk, etc. I have cried (a lot) about these back spasms, but haven't really lost my mind or gone too nuts on anyone :) When the third trimester hit, I got a little more emotional but still have spared Kyle quite the difficulty that supposedly comes with raging mad pregnant women. Heck, he almost missed out on any of the attacks since he won't get any of the hysterical fits during labor, either.

We should have known we couldn't come out of it without any battle scars, or at least interesting anecdotes! :) These last few weeks have become increasingly trying for me emotionally. I'm positive it doesn't help being stuck at home all day, most days, often alone, just me and my brain. It doesn't help that sitting on the couch all day makes me feel physically more and more like crap. And it doesn't help that I continue to grow rapidly, measuring above and beyond full-term. I know all pregnant women struggle at the end of their pregnancies, especially with any additional pains, etc. But to be larger than that, and still theoretically have longer to wait, is just depressing. Then comes the guilt for feeling so desperate to get these girls out that I very often think I'd rather stay at the Christ a little while longer than stay pregnant for that same length of time.

Ugh! Please just keep me (us) in your prayers, for emotional peace. Some nights, as Kyle can attest, are very hard. I have, at times, made up for my lack of strange rants that might come during a delivery, just getting them out ahead of time. There are just some days that I don't know how I could possibly make it any longer under these circumstances. :'(



And then sometimes, of course, I remember that it's all just in God's hands. He knows whether or not they'll have hair on their heads. He knows who will come out first. He knows their birthday, even if we can't begin to guess when that day might come. He also is in control of every other aspect of the outcome. If they come at 33 weeks, they could be fine - with little to no intervention necessary. If they come at 36.5 weeks, when they should be perfect, they might need some help. Each pregnancy, each baby is so different, and it really doesn't matter when we think they will or want them to come out to meet us all. The details are simply not in our control, the OB's control, or even the hospital's control. Truthfully, we're realizing that the outcomes are not even directly related to the gestation once you reach this point.

That provides a little bit of peace, most of the time. The rest I guess needs to come from knowing that we were blessed with two at once very much on purpose, and that we are going to get through these weeks and be doubly blessed in the end. If only my body would stop sending such awful signals to my brain. Too bad it doesn't understand any of this... it just knows, that if it were up to us, we'd be done! What a bummer (or a good thing?) it's not.

A (Very) Beautiful Surprise!

Kyle and I are up in the study, organizing some stuff, cleaning out some piles of crap, enjoying the beautiful breeze and sunshine through the open windows.... when a Flowers by Nyla van pulls near our driveway. "Why is he here, does he have the right address?" I literally ask out loud. "I mean, it's my favorite florist(!), but who would be sending me flowers. Did you send me flowers?" I interrogated Kyle. "If they don't have a name on them, then yes I did," :) he replied.

It turns out, the gentleman was here for me. He had the right address, and my name on the card. It was a beautiful Mother's Day bouquet from Mike and Shelly! I was so surprised, and the arrangement is absolutely gorgeous.

Thank you guys, for really making my day special!

Zoo Babies!

Kyle and I finally made it to the zoo today, after a 5+ month hiatus. If you know us, you know that it was killing me to get back, so I even went along with the notion to go and be pushed in a wheelchair. I hated that part, but it was absolutely wonderful to be back. And, what more appropriate time to attend the zoo carrying two big babies, than during the kickoff of Zoo Babies!? We got there early and it was a bit cool, so we saw TONS of action. It's absolutely our favorite time to go (the morning, that is), and this year's collection of babies/toddler animals was actually not disappointing. We got to say hello to Amy, Kevin, Alyssa and Matthew (who were there to visit Curious George!), and had a great morning out - together! I don't have a lot of good pictures, but the ones I kept can be seen here. I realize that I should have gotten a picture of my totally sweet ride, but it never crossed my mind. Honestly, that's one I would have liked to remember! ;)

Happy 25th Anniversary, Allen and Lisa!

That's right, my parents are celebrating 25 years today! :) They are such a beautiful example of marriage -- choosing to love one another every day, even when things are hard, and continuing to truly enjoy one another's company. They talk, they play and serve together, and they show not only their two girls, but the youth they serve, what a wonderful blessing marriage is truly meant to be!

We love you guys, and look forward to celebrating the next 25 with you! :-D

30w, 5d Appointment

Just the facts, we're about to walk out the door!

* Still house arrest -- no (expensive) Hotel Hospital yet!
* BP: 116/78 -- hooray!
* +1 pound since last week (net gain = 10.5 pounds)
* Heartbeats great
* No cervical changes
* BPP next week, and some sort of ultrasound weekly (BPP or growth check)


By the way, Cassi says hi :)

All is well! (And other updates)

So who knows what Baby A was trying to pull on Friday, but everyone's concerns are alleviated a bit today! We had an ultrasound this afternoon, and things looked much better. It was scheduled as a growth check, but after Friday's scan we ended up receiving some extra time. It's much harder to see structural stuff as these babies get bigger, but what we did see still looks good. And, most importantly, both babies moved around - enough anyway. Baby B is still our rambunctious girl compared to her laid back sister, to say the least! I can handle that, though. Laid back is quite different from no movement! Needless to say, everyone was very much relieved!

The concerns for Baby A's growth were also largely dismissed. She and her sister both had perfect growth spurts (just under a half a pound per week, which is what is expected of a singleton in the third trimester). They are now being approximated at 3lb 10oz, and 3lb 12oz -- back to being very close in size, and both measuring still (or again) around the 45th-50th percentiles. We are aware and have been reminded that it is at this point that growth of multiples starts tapering off significantly from that of a singleton, but we are still optimistic that they might hit our target of at least 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds)! It's no wonder I struggle to gain (or even maintain) weight, they literally do steal every last drop of everything! :)

Baby B has at least been somewhat productive in her movements, in that she is no longer transverse with her head to my right side. Between April 15th and May 2, she dropped much lower and flipped herself around to be transverse with her head on the opposite side. Today, she is almost vertex -- which means Baby A is no longer getting pummeled in the face non-stop! Woohoo for Baby A's freedom! ;) Unfortunately, it does not mean - as we had hoped - that my ribs moved back where they belong and the back spasms have stopped. In fact, they have become worse. Go figure.

No worries, though. All the laundry that belongs in the dressers have been washed. We're moving on in the next few days to linens and closet stuff. Hospital bags are packed (which really should have been done weeks ago, when I was placed on bedrest with the real threat of hospitalization... but I digress). I still would like a few more weeks at home before meeting these girls, but I feel like I might survive this pregnancy at least. Even if it is with about 1 hour of sleep per night. (Ugh).


On to tomorrow's OB appointment.... hopefully I'll update after that I'm home for another week or so!

Why didn't anyone remind me

how much softer baby clothes are after they are washed?!

One good thing...

... about worrying about Baby A's central nervous system is that we get a lot accomplished around the house and off of my to-do list. Much needed distractions have been found by being rather productive, which certainly requires some creativity. Each morning, I determine what (off of my already too-detailed to-do list) can be grouped together to do while I'm up for small chunks of time, what needs delegated (who am I kidding, this is already determined by the color of the list entry), what can be done sitting down (and what I'll need to gather while I'm up in order to accomplish said tasks), etc. If you know me, you know I'm not joking about any of this. {If Eric read this blog, he would be rolling in the floor. He was always entertained by my so-called "antics" (color-coded calendars, complete reliance on the Palm, etc) and would be pleased to know, I think, that some things never change.}

So anyway, the things that I had planned to accomplish by taking off of work May 2 and having a few weeks "free", are actually happening to some extent - despite being thrown a bit of an obstacle in not being allowed to run so freely around. Some of the things on this list are baby-related (laundry, picking out and ordering baby books, etc). Many of them are what some would consider "nesting", except that I've been keeping such a list for about a year now. As long as this pregnancy has felt, I'm sure it hasn't technically been a year. :) We have re-organized the kitchen, and plan to tackle other similar projects if time allows. But tonight, this is one of the more fun things we accomplished:



Ok, so it's a bit shocking to see that just adding the babies literally fills up our car! :-O We had talked previously about holidays, road trips, etc in which we might take the dog, and how that would effectively do it. But I don't even know if the poor dog crate is going to fit between the seats! Oh, well. We'll fit her in there when she needs to ride along! :)

They look awfully cute, don't they? I made Kyle leave them in while I got a quick picture, but now the seats are safely back in the basement since we won't need them for a little while. We'll have the base installation checked out, and be ready when these girls want to make their appearance!

At first, we debated actually doing this item on the list. There are some things for which we will obviously have plenty of warning. By having a c-section (and the babies potentially needing to "feed & grow" a bit before coming home), this could happen during those few days. Kyle will have enough to do, though, that can't be done ahead of time, that we decided to forge ahead on the things that CAN be done in the next few weeks. As depressed as I have been sitting around with nothing "happening", it is becoming more and more evident that my body (and these babies!) are preparing for an arrival fairly soon. As long as we're talking a couple more weeks, you won't hear Kyle or I complain!

BPP+NST

Welcome to the world of medical acronyms! I'm not sure how long this post will turn out, but I'll try to keep it brief, a) because some of you will be bored and b) because I need to do something else with my time!

So just as an explanation, a non-stress test is (for those of you who have never had/seen one) called such because there is no stress placed on the baby. Literally, that's the extent of the nomenclature. Stupid, no? Anyway, mom-to-be wears these stylish elastic belts around her belly, which keep in place various tools. In my case, 2 belts kept probes in place that picked up each baby's heartbeat and graphed it, and 1 belt kept in place what they call a tocometer, which (externally) measures uterine tone -- resting vs. contractions. The presumption is that, if the baby is properly oxygenated and the placenta is working well, then the heart will respond a certain way with the baby's own movements. The test is 20-30 minutes long, and during this time they want to see 2 or more "accelerations" in response to fetal movement (increase in heart rate of at least 15 beats per minute, lasting approximately 15 seconds before the heart rate returns to the baby's baseline). In this case, the test is called "reactive". This is what the brain is supposed to signal the heart to do with movement, so reactive = good. Regardless of these accelerations (or, I should say in addition to watching for them), they never want to see decelerations of the heart rate -- especially in response to uterine contractions. By definition, which is quite important, a deceleration that "counts" is at least 20-25 beats per minute below the babies baseline, for several seconds at a time.

The biophysical profile test is made up of 5 parts. For each part, the baby can score 2 points (for a "normal" response) or 0 points (for an "abnormal" response). There is no 1 point, no in between. It's all or nothing, pass or fail for each category :). The categories are as follows:

1) non-stress test results, whereby Reactive = 2 points, Non-Reactive or Inconclusive = 0 points.

The remainder are done by ultrasound exam:
2) amniotic fluid adequacy: They take a measurement (which we have posted about before) called the "largest vertical pocket" of fluid, where >2cm = 2 points, <2cm = 0 points. 0 cm is really, really bad and they'd probably deliver your baby immediately, regardless of the rest of the results of any testing they might do.
3) breathing movements: Babies do this thing in utero called "practice breathing", where their little bellies just go to town as if they were breathing (if only they were in air and could do so). At least one "episode" of breathing movements of 30-60 seconds or more = 2 points. No practice breathing episodes, or sporadic ones that aren't substantial lengths of time = 0 points.
4) fetal movement: Limbs or body should have 3 distinct sets of movement (a shaking of a fist or something continuous like this would be one movement) in a 30-minute period.
5) fetal tone: babies are generally in a flexed position in utero (chin toward chest, arms and legs tight to their torso. In a 30-minute period, they want to see at least one episode where a limb or head is extended and returned back to this flexed position. Even the opening and closing of a fist counts.


So now that you know as much as I ever learned in OB during nursing school (I always hated pregnancy crap), I'll brief you on our specifics.

Baby B is a little firecracker, which we've known since the very first ultrasound 13+ weeks ago. Her little heart just reacted away with each of her (incredibly frequent) movements. She moved so much during every minute of the ultrasound portion that it was hard to "catch" her heart long enough to track a rate. Limbs kicked, she practiced breathing probably 2-3 times for at least a minute each time. Amniotic fluid was the highest it's been, even towards the higher end of normal (both babies have been low normal for as long as this has been measured). She passed her BPP very quickly with a score of 10. (FYI, 8-10 is passing with no concerns, 6 is worrisome and requires more testing/monitoring, 4 or less likely means immediate delivery is necessary).

Baby A is testing her mommy and daddy's strength a bit. This test was to happen next week with our growth check ultrasound, but was moved to today because she hasn't been moving as much as she used to. This could be totally normal, as she grows bigger and runs out of room to wind up and make a big, fat kick to my ribs. This could also be abnormal, with varying levels of importance. So, my OB just wanted to be safe and put our minds at ease going into the weekend by moving the BPP+NST to this morning. The non-stress test was reactive, although it took quite a while to get any accelerations. This caught me a bit off guard, until I remembered that even non-reactive tests are totally inconclusive because the baby might be sleeping, etc. No movements, and there aren't even to be any accelerations expected. Still, the cutoffs are laid out above. She had 2-3 appropriate accelerations in about 20-30 minutes. A perfectly acceptable, reactive NST result.

The ultrasound was more frustrating. She is an expert "practice breather", maybe even the best to ever pass through The Christ Hospital perinatal center. It was practically non-stop, and she looked great! Amniotic fluid is at about 2.5cm, which is exactly where it has been from week 17, which is fine (2-4ish is normal). The girl, however, would not show off her moves no matter how much we begged. She (very adorably, I might add) yawned a ton, flapped her mouth as if she were telling us off, etc... but she must have been very sleepy, because that was the extent of her movements for quite some time. The sonographer busted out "the buzzer" (a cruel device that scares the living crap out of babies when they put it right to their head and make this awful buzzing/vibrating commotion), and used it several times. We walked a lot. We rolled (me) from side to side, sat up, laid back more, etc. Baby A would yawn a bit more as if we were totally bothering her, and then do nothing. Almost 40 minutes passed, when finally she sort of tossed and turned, moving her torso what I would consider one time, knowing that the motions are supposed to be distinct motion sets, with continuous motions counting as one.

And yet.... the sonographer said "oh, she's moving", gave her a 2 and told the perinatologist both babies passed. There was no flexion and extension, and I wasn't totally satisfied with the fetal movement in general. By my calculations, she more likely got a 6/10. I don't see how she could have possibly been given a 2 for movement when she moved one time, and it took 40 minutes for that. We didn't continue watching for any additional movements, or to see if - once she finally got going - she would have had enough, in a short enough time frame. And she obviously didn't have any extension and flexion, since she hardly moved a muscle! Extra credit is cool and all, when you're trying to get a student to pass a math test. Being generous (EXTREMELY generous) with scores on a biophysical profile is not so cool.

After I left, I immediately called my OB office to make sure they heard my concerns. I got a return phone call assuring me that they get "detailed" results (God forbid their results say "Baby A scored 8, Baby B scored 10" with no further details. This was my greatest fear!). The nurse said she is making a note that it took so much to get my sluggish girl moving, and that I am still uneasy with the so-called results. She assured me that they will repeat the testing as necessary, and that she understands my concerns. I told her that I am trying to keep in mind that the perinatologist, of all professions, will not blow things off that seem poor. At the same time, though, he wasn't in there for the BPP. All he heard was "both babies passed", as he hardly paid attention to the NST since they "passed" even without it (supposedly).

I want to believe that all is well, and that I just have a super laid-back girl (lazy?). Still, next Tuesday's ultrasound can't come quick enough. While it's supposed to just be a growth check (15 minutes of quick measurements), I think we're going to insist that they linger a while on Baby A. If she could just throw out a few good punches and kicks while we're watching, we will be infinitely less concerned.

Oh, and just for fun, my uterus let out several mild contractions and about 3 "moderate" ones during the 20-30 minute non-stress test. Awesome.

I will keep you up to date when we go for more testing. For now, I'm going to get the heck off of the internet -- and hopefully take a nap!

Net Gain = 9.5 pounds....?

Somehow, despite Ensure shakes all day and bedrest, I lost two pounds! Sheesh! They aren't really concerned though, as long as the babies continue to check out ok. I am mostly just baffled! :-P

The rest of my appointment went well. BP 122/82, cervix still "the same". No hospital just yet! My OB has scheduled a Biophysical Profile and Non-Stress Test this morning, which I will likely get every week or so going forward, just to make sure that neither baby is in any distress - including during contractions, etc. More on that later, since I'm supposed to be heading out at rush hour (boo!) to drive downtown for said test.

Kyle and I are now amazed that we now have "30-weekers"! :)