oh-that looks painful

I have gotten more than one comment within the past week that my belly looks painful. Ha! It's actually starting to get painful at the bottom since it's sticking out so far now. I am so happy that we have been having cooler weather, as I'm not swelling so much now. I really do have to post another belly picture and keep saying that I will but I'm just putting it off since I don't really want to see what I actually look like. lol. I'm avoiding mirrors right now! I'm having more and more contractions lately. I think it's a combination of stress, dehydration (even though I drink a TON of water/juice a day) and the fact that my uterus is measuring much larger than full term for a singleton pregnancy. I'm so scared that my body can't handle that much more. And I still have about 11 weeks to go until I want the babies to come. I don't really sleep anymore and I'm more cranky because of it. At least I'll be in good practice for when the twins are here and not letting me sleep at night either! I can't wait for my next appointments on 9/8 and 9/9. Each appointment makes me feel closer to delivery day!
I am hoping that I will be able to see that Madeline has flipped head down on the next ultrasound. Pretty soon there will be no room for her to flip over - or very little chance that it will happen. And if she stays where she is then I will for sure have a c-section which I don't want.
Nothing else new...

Doctor Appointment

I just got back from my 24 week doctor appointment and it went well. I am happy yet sad about the amount of weight I gained...10 more pounds!!! That puts me at 23 total at 24 weeks. The doctor was happy about it, and so am I - it's just shocking to see the numbers rise so much. The doc told me that he was happy with how big the babies are and listened to the heartbeats. Nothing else really happening. I have to start going every two weeks now. I am going to feel like I live at that hospital! So now my next appointment is 9/8 at the regular OB and 9/9 at Maternal Fetal Medicine. I tried to get both on the same day so I don't have to drive up there two days in a row but things never work like that! Especially with the MFM, they are so hard to get appointments with. I forgot to ask when I have to start getting the non-stress tests done. I think I have to get my next glucose screening at my next appointment. Oh- and my blood pressure was a little higher than usual but nothing to be concerned about. Overall it was pretty uneventful. And I like those appointments!

Contractions

I am having contractions and cramping. It sucks. It hasn't been bad enough to go to Labor & Delivery but it's scary and uncomfortable. I'm going to be 24 weeks this week. It's waaaayyyy too early for this to be happening. I know I've said this before, but this is one of the things that I hate about pregnancy, the worry. I try to not worry, and barely have time to this pregnancy but it's still in the back of my head.
The babies are moving around and waking me up all the time at night. They always seem to get hiccups at the same time, and that makes for a violent good time! lol
Not much else going on, i'm just trying to drink lots of water and make sure I sit down for a few minutes whenever I can and put my feet up.

Doctor Doctor

We had our doctor appointment today at Maternal Fetal Medicine and it went really well! Our girls are growing so fast!! They are both weighing exactly the same which is awesome for twins. They each weigh 1.6lbs!!!! That is more than the average single baby at this gestation!! I'm thrilled! They were moving and shaking all over the place. We got more pictures of them but they weren't being very photogenic. The only "issue" is that Baby A is still footling breech. She needs to flip over because I don't want a C-section! But, what will be will be. I was literally "high-fived" by the doctor for my weight gain! That was too funny! The doctor did say that between now and 32 weeks I have my work cut out for me since that is the time that twins tend to show growth restrictions so I have to keep eating and resting, resting, resting. But all in all it was an awesome appointment. I go back on the 9th of September to MFM. I have a regular OB appointment next Thursday where I will find out how much more weight I have put on.

Dr appt tomorrow

We have a dr appt tomorrow at MFM for an ultrasound to check the babies and to measure my cervix. I can't wait to see how much the babies have grown and pray that they are still right where they should be. I pray that my cervix hasn't shortened any b/c if it has that usually means definite bedrest and drugs of some sort and I don't even want to go down that road. I had to take medicine to stop preterm labor with Grace and it was horrible. It makes your heart race and you sweat and the whole room spins....it's just nasty stuff. I feel ok so i'm hoping that that is a good sign. I can't wait to see how different the babies look from 4 weeks ago. They have 'some' fat on them now so they should look a little less alien like! The 20th of August is a big day for us since it's the date of viability! I can't believe that it's going to be here soon and sooo thankful. But these kiddos better stay put for at least another 12 weeks at the minumum! I'm hoping for another 14 weeks - so they would be born at 37 weeks! I'll post an appt update tomorrow after our appt.

Name update!

We think that we have finally decided on names for these two little girls!!!

Madeline Avery and Leah Michelle

Twin facts!

I just found out some interesting information on twins. The type of twins we are having are diamniotic dichorionic twins. All that means is that they are developing in separate amniotic sacs and have separate placentas. I knew that we had a 10% chance that they were going to be identical but I didn't know that if they were they would be classified as the most identical out of all twins. Now - I'm having a little trouble understanding what " the most identical" means since I thought if your genetically the same then you can't get much more identical than that. Also, if we 'think' at birth that they are identical then we will see if their blood types match. If they do then we can send away to get their DNA done to see if they are in fact identical. I don't really care either way if they are or aren't. I think there are pros and cons to both - not that anything would change since if they are they are!! I just thought it was interesting.

I can't wait for my next ultrasound on Tuesday!! I always get nervous right before we go but I'm still really excited about it!

Sleep...

I just can't seem to sleep well at night anymore. I can't get comfortable and the babies are awake pretty much all night long. I can't sleep through their kicks and turns anymore. In the last few days I have noticed that I'm having a lot of trouble breathing, I can't take deep breaths anymore. My stomach is a lot more full at the top and it's uncomfortable. I just don't see where I have to get a lot bigger. I've had people say that I look huge, and I've had people say that I look small for having twins. I 'feel' huge. I'm trying to keep up with the kids as much as possible and continue to clean out the house of everything that's not necessary since we hope to have as much room as possible - as well as not have to move things we don't need when we decide to buy another house.

Last night

Last night was a great night! The babies were so active! I sat and watched them moving around in my stomach more than I ever have before! It was so cool to see. I couldn't believe how active they were. I had a hard time sleeping because at least 3 times during the night Baby A, the one on my left, flipped upside down. She was doing somersaults all night long. It was a neat feeling but kind of painful at the same time!I didn't think that I would be able to know for sure which baby is which this soon but there's no mistaking it sometimes! I can't wait to see them again on the ultrasound on the 12th! I had some really bad stretching pains yesterday throughout the day so I know that they're growing big and strong!!

Belly pictures

Here is a recent belly picture at almost 22 weeks pregnant....I was tired, just before bed when it was taken. I am going to need a shelf or something to put my belly on in a few weeks! lol...the babies weigh about a pound each now- I can't imagine what i'm going to look like when they're up around 4-5-6 pounds!!!! Whew! I can't wait though.

I am kind of sad about leaving the mountains this weekend. I now know that I can't go back until after the twins are born. I thought maybe we could sneak another trip in in September, but this weekend proved otherwise. I get so exhausted and dehydrated that I just don't think that it's wise to go again. I barely make it to the rest stops for potty breaks and thought that I might have to use Grace's emergency potty that we have in the car!!! lol...I didn't have to though, thank goodness!! I'm anxious for my next appointment at Maternal Fetal Medicine on the 12th. I can't wait to see how much the babies have changed and how much weight that they have gained. Not much else to report other than I'm hungry all the time and get really intense cravings for things i'm not allowed to have - hoagies, beer, wine....Oh well, only a few more months!!