34 weeks pregnant

Your baby now weighs more than 4.7 pounds (Mine are both 4 pounds 10 ounces) / 2.2 kilograms and is 18 inches / over 45 centimetres from top to toe. She's filling out and getting rounder -- she'll need her fat layers later to regulate her body temperature.

If you don't already talk to your baby, this is a good time to start -- at 35 weeks her hearing is fully developed. Don't feel ridiculous if you're already chatting in baby talk. Some evidence shows that newborns pay closer attention to high-pitched tones.

If you've been nervous about going into premature labour, you'll be happy to know that 99 per cent of babies born at week 35 can survive outside the womb -- and most have no major problems. Although your baby's central nervous system is still maturing, her lungs are nearly fully developed by now.

Many women start to notice a tingling sensation or numbness in the pelvic region or pain as they walk. This may be caused by the pelvic joints loosening, ready for labour. If you're terribly uncomfortable, mention it to your midwife or doctor.

34 week belly...no laughing please!

It kind of looks like the helm of a boat out there in front of me. I can no longer see the floor let alone my feet.

And back home again...

Just talked to the Dr. and I am heading home again this afternoon.

My BP is looking great again 136/78 was my last reading, and babies continue to be fine. So a few more days at home sounds like a good idea. If BP goes back up, back here I come... Hopefully it will stay down until they are ready to arrive at 36-37 weeks, but if not they will have had their steroid shots and be safe to arrive any time.

Back in the hospital...

Yesterday I got a couple of high blood pressure readings at home, plus I started having some contractions that actually hurt a little. I also was feeling the babies move less than they normally do. Sooo we packed our bags up again and headed back to the IWK.

After many hours in admitting, numerous blood pressure checks, monitors on the babies heartbeats, contraction monitors, ultrasounds, blood work and urine tests they decided to admit me again. By now it was 1 in the morning!

I am in room 718 in section 7a if anyone wants to call or come visit.

The babies will be 34 weeks on Saturday. Twins on average arrive around 34-35 weeks, so we are in a good place. A great place when you consider that they were pretty close to arriving at 19 weeks. They have stayed in and growing for longer than we could have even hoped for a few months ago.

Today I have had even more tests. My blood pressure was slightly lower today. I have to pee in a bucket for 24 hours so they can test my urine. For the first time last night I had some protein in my pee, which is a bad sign. Hopefully the 24 hour test won’t show anything too terrible. They did blood work which shows organ function last night and everything looked great, so the protein could be a one time thing. It is looking like I might be developing pre- eclampsia though, so I am glad to be in a place where I am being monitored so carefully.

I went for a BPP, Doppler and measurement ultrasound this morning. Babies are looking great! Babies both scored 8/8 on their BPP ( practice breathing, movement, muscle tone, fluids, etc.) Their Doppler readings were great, which shows the placentas are still functioning fine and they have both had a growth spurt in the last 2 weeks, putting on over a pound each (no wonder my belly feels like it is stretched tight like a drum). They both weighed in at 4 pounds 10 ounces!

I received the first of 2 steroid shots today (my butt stings a bit now), and will get the second tom. These help to mature the babies lungs and get them ready for the outside world.

It looks like within the next 2 weeks I will be having a C section. Both babies are still breech, and running out of room to turn.

IWK visit

Back at home for now. I had one scarily high blood pressure reading at the OB's office. After that they sent me to the hospital and I was admitted. When they checked my blood pressure after admitting me, it was in my normal range. They kept me for 24 hours and all my readings were fine, as well I had no proteins in my urine. They sent me out shopping yesterday afternoon to see if activity would spike my blood pressure. They took it when I got back, and it was still fine, so they sent me home. I am to monitor it at home, and if it spikes I will be admitted again right away. They said chances are it will eventually go up and at that point we will look at delivering the twins. It would be nice to delay delivery until 36 weeks, but that might not be possible. So chances are within the next 3 weeks I will be having these babies.

ultrasound pics

Our scanner doesn't work right now, so I haven't posted any ultrasound pics. I didn't get any new ones the last couple of weeks, but I have a few from before. I decided to try taking a picture of them with my cell phone, and although more blurry than the originals you can sort of see the babies. The first 2 are profile pics of their faces. The girl has the top of her head to the left and the boy has the top of his head to the right. The picture of the 2 circles is the top of their heads together.

Biophysical profile #1

I had a biophysical profile done on the babies this morning (basically just an ultrasound). Both babies scored 8/8 on the test. Yay! The looked at things like the heart, practice breathing, movement, fluid levels etc. I go back in a week for another BPP and in 2 weeks for a full measurement ultrasound and another BPP.

Worry

Even though I just had an ultrasound on Friday and everything was fine, I have spent the last 2 or 3 days in an almost constant state of worry.

I came across this quote:

"Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties tomorrow of its strength"~ Corrie Ten Boom

For some reason it just allowed me to see clearly and to take a big breath.

Cloth Diapers

So far I have found 2 (sort of) local stores that sell cloth diapers. Anyone local know of any others?

http://valleyclothdiapers.ca/Scripts/default.asp

http://nurtured.ca/Scripts/home.asp?extra=8

nursery

My handy hubby got the changing table/dresser and the 2 cribs put together this weekend! It is starting to look like a nursery in there. I have 4 Beatrix Potter framed posters to hang, curtains to put up and a bit more tidying to do and then I will take a few pictures. There are still things to do, but stuff that can wait if need be. I want to get a comfy chair/ottoman, a rug, a lamp, some shelves to hang over the changing table and some more decorations. It will all come together eventually I am sure.

We have been doing lots of research on cloth diapers lately. I had always planned on going that route with one baby, but was undecided with two. We have pretty much decided that that is the way we will be going. Environmentally it makes so much more sense. I hate throwing away huge amounts of garbage and disposable diapers are such a waste. The water used to wash CDs is less than the water used to produce disposable diapers as well. Financially is where you see a HUGE difference. Disposable diapers are soooo expensive. With cloth you have a large purchase price at the beginning, but then you have them. I know CDs aren't for everyone, they are more work and are not as convenient. If I wasn't able to stay at home with the babies and had to go back to work right away I wouldn't be considering it. I am lucky and plan to be home with the twins for 2 years. We still haven't bought any diapers, but are strongly considering Bum genius 3.0 s. (picture above).

32 weeks pregnant

Another goal met! Our first goal after the surgery was to make it to 24 weeks (a chance of viability and survival) and then to 28 weeks (a good chance of survival). 32 weeks means that there is a great chance of survival and the risk of health related issues goes way down from here on out. If the babies were to come now they would have to stay in the NICU for a few months, but chances are they would be just fine. It is a good place to be.

Next goal? I guess to make it to July. July 1st I will be between 34-35 weeks which is the average gestational age for twins. 2 1/2 weeks to go... Although I always like to be above average, so hopefully we make it past that goal too!

Here is the twin update for week 32:

Your twins' arms, legs and bodies continue to fill out - and they are finally proportional in size to their heads. By 32 weeks, they weigh about 3.3 pounds/1.5 kilograms each and look more like newborns. (Mine are 3 1/2 pounds each) They measure about 16 inches/ 41 centimetres from crown to toe.

You may notice that your twins aren't moving around as much this month.(If anything mine are moving MORE) Don't worry; they're just running out of space in your uterus. As long as you can feel them squirming, you'll know they're fine. Believe it or not, they still have some growing to do. You can expect them to gain at least one and a half pounds/600 grams more before birth.

Your twins' organs are continuing to mature and they are passing large amounts of water through their bladders: good practice for the urinating they'll do after birth. Soon you can wonder what your twins are wishing for - brain scans have shown that fetuses have periods of dream sleep around month eight.

Some babies have a head full of hair already, others have only a few wisps. Thick hair at birth doesn't necessarily mean thick hair later on, but babies with fine hair after delivery usually have thinner hair in adulthood. (I was bald with white fluff for a long time)

Your twins should already be getting ready for delivery by turning upside-down - their heads should be pointing down. Your doctor or midwife will be paying careful attention to your twins' position in the coming weeks - as some do turn back round again. (Mine are both breech, which means a planned C section if they don't turn soon.)

Your twins' skulls are still quite pliable and not completely joined, in part so they can ease out of the relatively narrow birth canal. But their bones in the rest of their bodies are hardening. The fetuses' skin is also gradually becoming less red and wrinkled.

If you don't already talk to your twins, this is a good time to start - by 32 weeks their hearing is much more developed. Don't feel ridiculous if you're already chatting in baby talk. Some evidence shows that newborns pay closer attention to high-pitched tones.

Ultrasound update

I had another ultrasound today. It has been 2 weeks since the last one. Babies have both gained exactly 1/2 a pound in the 2 weeks. Baby A (Boy) Is 3 pounds 7 ounces and Baby B ( Girl) is 3 pounds 9 ounces. They are in the 17th and 24th percentiles I think over all. Little babies. Although it would be nice for them to be chubbier, they are both growing the same amount and their rate of growth is pretty steady.

The Dr ran a few new tests this week on the babies, mainly checking the blood flow in the heart (cool to see as it was done in different colors) and other internal organs. Everything looked good. The dopplers on the cords was good too, it is always nice to hear the galloping of their heartbeats.

The babies are still both breech with A on the left more towards the bottom and B sort of in the middle sideways into the right side. I asked if there is still time for them to turn, and the answer was still a yes. They still have their heads together (left and center) pushing up into my ribs making it hard to breathe at times. I didn't think they had changed position as I still get most of the big kicks in the lower 1/2 of my belly and more like pushes farther up.

Now that I am almost 32 weeks we will be going to weekly appointments at the IWK as well as my appointments with the OB. They aren't doing another ultrasound until almost 35 weeks, but I will be doing some sort of other test where they measure movements/blood flow etc. Should be interesting. ??

Although they had told me that they were done checking my cervix, the Dr decided to do one last check. No change. He told me that from now on there is naturally going to be some changes to that area as things are widdening etc.

Good news is that I am no longer on as strict bedrest. I am still to take it really easy, but house arrest has been lifted. To celebrate we stopped in at Nurtured and the Royal Diaperer on the way home for quick looks, and picked up subs at Subway. It was strange to be out in public again.

31 week belly

Here is a picture of the belly at 31 weeks.

nursery color before and after

This is the new color going up (thanks Keith for helping!) it is a big change from the before color (see below)

This is the before color, Terra Cotta. It was lovely color for an office/spare room. Not a great color for babies.

My boys...

One of the hardest things about being pregnant on bed rest is that I don't get to spend any time with my boys, Tony and Vinnie. This picture was taken a few months ago when my friend Wendy came to visit. Their paddock was all muddy and slippery, so they were turned out in the riding ring to play for a while. Vinnie has so much fun bucking and galloping and spinning in circles. Tony (feeling "older" these days) is a tiny bit more sedate. They both look dirty and scruffy in this picture, but boy were they having fun!

31 weeks pregnant

Here is part of what my weekly update said this week:

Your baby's arms, legs and body continue to fill out -- and they are finally proportional in size to her head. She weighs about 3.3 pounds/1.5 kilograms and looks more like a newborn. She measures about 16 inches/ 41 centimetres from crown to toe. You may notice your baby isn't moving around as much. Don't worry; she's just running out of space in your uterus. As long as you can feel her squirming, you'll know she's just fine. Believe it or not, she still has plenty of growing to do. You can expect her to gain at least two more pounds/900 grams before delivery. Your baby's organs are continuing to mature and she is passing water from her bladder: good practice for the urinating she'll do after she's born. Soon you can wonder what your baby is wishing for -- brain scans have shown that fetuses have periods of dream sleep around month eight.

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

I had my OB appointment on Thursday, once again it went well. I had gained a couple of pounds, had no proteins or sugars in my urine and everything looked okay. My blood pressure was slightly lower than last appointment, although still slightly high for me. She wasn't worried about it though as I have no real swelling and no proteins in my urine (both signs of pre eclampsia).
We discussed labour, and basically it is still wait and see. Both babies are breech which, if they stay that way, means a C section. She did bring up that studies have shown there is less risks to the 2nd baby with C sections as opposed to vaginal birth. I would still like to be able to do a vaginal delivery, but will try not to be too disappointed if I end up with a C section. Being able to experience childbirth is something I have, I wont say looked forward to, but wanted to experience, to go through. Depending on what the future brings, this is possibly my last pregnancy and I won't have that chance again. Also a C section this time might rule out the possibility of a vaginal birth if I was ever to have another baby. I guess the important thing is to have TWO babies arrive safely.
The nursery is coming along. My wonderful hubby and our friend Keith got it all painted last weekend. It is very bright and cheery. I am still waiting for the furniture to arrive (due next week) and to be set up. We do have shelves set up for books and toys as well as shelves in the closet for clothes. I have all the baby clothes sorted into categories : boy/girl, Newborn, 0-3 months, and 3-6 months +. Between shower gifts, hand me downs, Frenchies and Kijiji purchases I am doing pretty well for clothes for the first 6-9 months or so (could still use a few more really cute outfits and some more boys clothes). I got a great deal on Kijiji last week. I got over 120 baby clothes items from NB to 9 months for $60. It worked out to about 50 cents per item. Many were name brand things as well, Carters, Baby Gap etc. I was happy to find this deal. They were mostly girl or unisex clothes though, so our girl twin will be better dressed than our boy unless I find another deal on boy clothes.
I still feel pretty good. I don't have any real pain (nothing over a 1 or 2 on the pain scale) but feel very awkward and tired lugging this giant belly around. I get sore and achy if I do anything, so that helps to keep me on bed rest. Car trips are no fun. I feel like my belly is pulling me over every time we go around a corner. I feel a bit like a beached whale at times, and am scared to sit on the floor as I am not sure I would be able to get up anymore. I also can barely touch my feet or bend over to pick things up. I feel like the babies are squished (and they kick to tell me they are) if I try to bend over. It sucks if I drop the soap in the shower...