A full set

On Wednesday I had an ob appointment and a level II ultrasound. All is well with the babies. They are measuring exactly on track for their age (21 weeks) and appear to have all the necessary parts.

On the left is a little boy who has had no problem making himself right at home. He's totally stretched out with his head way down low and his feet planted firmly up under my ribs.

Squished way up on the right side is a little girl who was suffering a little bit from her brother's room-hogging ways. She spent most of the ultrasound curled up tightly (with her ankles crossed demurely) and trying to fight for a little wiggle room. Don't worry about her too much though. Of the two she is the one who is far more active and I suspect that sooner or later she'll get her brother in his place.

All is well on my end too. The measurement of the thickness of my cervix impressed everyone. (4.6 centimeters? I guess that's good?) At 21 weeks pregnant I am measuring 30 weeks. I have just now gotten back to my pre-pregnancy weight. Everything I've read said a woman of my height and weight should gain between 30 and 40 pounds when pregnant with twins. I guess that means I get to spend the next 17 weeks or so eating nothing but chocolate cake. (I kid of course. I also plan on eating lots of cream based sauces and pasta.)

The guys were able to come to town for the ultrasound. They're beyond happy. Of course they mainly wanted to hear that they babies were healthy but they were also excited to be getting a boy and a girl. It's kind of nice how it's working out. A whole set in one shot. I'm very happy for them.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to roll myself into the kitchen. There is a package of string cheese calling my name. The dairy addiction I have developed this pregnancy is insane. These kids are going to have bones of steel.

Three years ago I was eloquent.

The end is in sight

Yesterday was my baby shower. It was lots of fun and I got a ton of really cute stuff. Let's keep our fingers crossed that this baby is a girl otherwise I'm going to have a lot of returning to do! Anway, lots of cute clothes and other fun baby stuff recieved so all is good.

Tons of contractions today. Sometimes they're as little as 8 minutes apart but then I'll go for an hour or so without one. They must be doing some good though because my doctor said I won't have to go into the hospital tonight to get the medication to open up my cervix. I'm no more dialted than I was but she says my cervix is a lot softer and thinner than it was. She thinks the medication I'll get tomorrow to get ym contractions going will be enough to get my cervix to open up.

After I get to a certain point in dialation my doctor will break my water and then I will be able to get an epidural. I can't get one before that just in case I get to a certain point in labor and just things just stop. Then they would have to send me home. That would suck but it does happen once in a while. I'm thinking good thoughts though and saying that I'm not leaving that hospital without a baby in my arms.

Ack, I'm having a contraction and a hot flash and I have to pee. I'm no longer able to make sense. I'll try to give a quick update before I leave for the hospital tomorrow. Otherwise I'll have Jesse update things after the baby is born. God lord, it's hot in here.

The good with the bad

Ok, I had stuff to say yesterday but I didn't because it made me too crabby. It's allowed, I'm 9 months pregnant. My doctor's appointment did not go as swimmingly as I had hoped it would.

Let's see, first off, the doctor thinks the baby weighs about 7 pounds right now. She asked if I was a big baby and I said no but big babies with big heads ran in my husbands family. We laughed and agreed that's not really the sort of thing you think of when you're dating someone.

She scheduled me for inducement on Tuesday at 7 AM. I may end up actually having to in on Monday night though to get some additional medication to get my cervix ready. In spite of all the pain and contractions I've been having for the past week my cervix is no more dialated than it was so if it still hasn't changed by Monday we'll give it a little extra help.

My blood pressure has gone way up in the last week. My doctor guesses it has something to do with the pain I've been having since everything else (blood, urine and whatnot) seems to be ok. She wants me on bedrest for the next week. Even as she was telling me that she laughed and said she has never seen a stay-at-home-mom actually do bedrest but I'm supposed to just do my best. Mostly I'm just supposed to take it easy and rest as much as I can. That all is what has put me in such a bad mood and I can't even put my finger on why. Maybe it's because it already seems like the last few weeks have just dragged by and I'm just ready for this all to end without any further complications. Sigh. One more week to go.

As for some really good news, we get to pick up my little boy tonght! Hooray! I've missed him so much, I just can't wait to see him at the airport. It makes me a little bit teary just thinking about it.

Update!

The doctors appointment went well. I asked her to please, please, please induce me a week early and much to my suprise she agreed. I have to go in for a regular check-up next Tuesday and that's the earliest that she can put me on the list for inducement on the 11th of October. The only bad thing about being scheduled for an inducement is that if there is an emergency I will get bumped to make room. Oh well, who cares? The end is in sight! I am a happy girl today.

In other news, I have another update on what I know everyone has been waiting to hear about: my cervix. Big changes this week. The doctor said I am dialted about 1 cm and that my cervix is (in her highly medical sounding terms) "squishy" and getting softer. Looks like those contractions I've been having have actually been doing some good and not just keeping me up at night. I know it's only one teeny little cm but I prefer to think of it as 1/10th of the way there.

I was able to take a nap today too so things really are looking good. An inducement date set, a squishy cervix and a nap. What more could a girl ask for?

Too much information

First off, Ben, I got your email.

Next, I had a doctors appointment today. Everything is looking pretty good. My blood pressure is up a little bit but it's low to start with so that's not a big concern. The doctor mentioned that being stressed out or in pain can cause that and I told her that I'm getting very little sleep at night because I'm in so much pain (what with the torn muscle and all). She encouraged me to keep on taking tylenol during the day but gave me something stronger for at night when the pain is the worst. I hope that helps since right now I'm probably getting about 4 hours of sleep a night.

I only gained 1/2 pouind ince my last appointment. Color me suprised. At this stage the baby gains about 1/2 a week and it's been about 2 weeks since I was last weighed. The baby is bigger (she's measuring at 37 weeks now) so much to my suprise I haven't really gained any weight at all.

Now the really personal stuff all about my cervix. If you don't want to hear about my cervix then I suggest you stop reading right now.

.........................

........................

For those of you still with me, what are you? Sick? Even I don't want to hear about my cervix. But here goes. I'm not dialated at all but she thinks the mucus plug is gone. When she pressed against my cervix she said right away that she could feel the baby's head right against it. So the baby has dropped down (or "engaged") and that is probably why I hurt so much and why I pee with the force of a fire hose. Anyway, that all looked good and healthy.

So far things are looking good, right on track. I think I'll be feeling a little better if I am able to get more sleep at night too. I can't complain because the baby is active seems healthy. I can do this for a few more weeks I guess.