Hospital stay

I don't even know where to begin right now...I went into the hospital Saturday around lunchtime and just came home today. I was having bad cramping and contractions on Saturday so we decided to have me checked out fully expecting to just be sent home and told to take it easy. That wasn't the case. I am 1cm dilated and my cervix shortened from 3.47 to 2.1cm which is not good. My contractions were coming every 3 minutes and weren't stopping so they admitted me. I was put in Procardia to try to stop the contractions which it was helping with however my body could just not tolerate the medicine. It's a smooth muscle relaxer which is why it relaxes your uterus and helps stop contractions however it also effects your heart rate and blood pressure. My blood pressure kept dropping to dangerously low levels so they have to stabilize me and try to change my meds. I was switched to Brethine and it works to help stop the contractions however has nasty side effects also. I shake uncontrollably, my heart races, get intense head and spinal pain, and get very sick to my stomach. I was also given 2 steroid injections to help develop the babies lungs in case they come early. However, it's all worth it to keep these babies in for at least another 5 weeks. Right now I am taking things two weeks at a time in regards to the babies. My next big milestone to hit is 32 weeks, then 34, and finally full term at 36. For me I'm just trying to take things one day at a time and follow the doctors orders to the letter. I have to go to the doctor tomorrow and will hopefully get more positive news tomorrow. I have so much more to say but that's it in a nutshell. If you're the praying type, say a little prayer for us that we can keep these babies in for a while longer.

Swollen

My toes look like cocktail weiners. I am a swollen mess by the end of the day if I attempt to do a little bit too much which lately is feeling like everything is a little too much. I'm super frustrated since there's so many things I want to do with the kids but am feeling more and more like I can't. The babies are still not in the right position for a vaginal delivery. Baby A (Madeline) is head up and Baby B (Leah) is head down. They both need to be head down for me to be able to avoid a c-section. My next dr appt isn't for another week and I'm anxious to get this one done with because I absolutely HATE the doctor. He's the only one that I don't like and will have to say that I'd be a little disappointed with if I had a vaginal delivery and he was the doctor. If it's a c-section, I don't think it will really matter all that much who does it since you don't have all that much interaction with the doctor like you do when you're pushing out two babies. At least that's what I'm thinking.

Nothing else much to report except that I'm sleeping less and less and it's catching up to me on some days. I might end up taking the Ambien the doctor gave me...but I'm not there yet.

Man, these twin posts have become just a b*tch fest lately. Sorry to all those that read it.

Trying to stay positive....

Doctor Appointment

I had yet another doctor appointment today and it went fairly well. I gained about 4 lbs in a week but the doctor said a rapid weight gain is normal for this point in a twin pregnancy. I have been having a lot of back pain and other issues and it turns out that I have the start of a kidney infection so I'm on medicine for that. Hopefully it will clear up soon and I'll feel better. I had my cervix checked today and it's closed and doing well. It was measuring a 3.47 at my last MFM appointment last week and that's really good. Since I'm doing well I don't have to go back for 2 weeks! Thank goodness! I have another 3-4 weeks before I have to start my NST's and go to all weekly OB appointments and then biweekly MFM appointments. I am not allowed to travel any longer than an hour in the car at a time. I asked specifically to see if I was able to go to the mountains and obviously that's not going to happen. But I have to put the babies first. We also had a discussion about the possiblilty of a c-section and the timing of it...I'm NOT happy about when they will schedule it. They won't schedule one until my 37th week. Granted, I don't want to have the babies too early but I highly doubt I'll make it to 37 weeks and would rather they schedule it for 36 weeks in the hopes that I don't have to go into labor just to be in agony for no reason.

3rd TRIMESTER!!!!

I'm finally in my third trimester!!!! I'm so relieved and happy that there is an end in sight now! I'm feeling ok for the most part. Usual discomfort, backaches, ligament pain in my stomach, peeing ALL the time, hungry all of the time, swelling, trouble getting up and down, trouble bending over, just the usual stuff. I am having contractions yesterday and today but I think it's just because I'm sick and I get them whenever I blow my nose or cough. Hopefully everything will check out ok at the doctor tomorrow. The contractions aren't regular and I'm not having more than 5 in an hour so I'm just trying to rest. (With the exception of going to Walmart this morning! oops!) I'm very thankful that the weather is cooling off, there's a nice breeze today so that's helping my swelling a little bit. But (knock on wood) so far so good....I pray it stays that way and we don't meet these two little girls until November 10th at the earliest, I would be 36 weeks at that point.

To swing or not to swing....

I have been debating on whether or not to buy a baby swing since we're having twins. We had one and sold it after we didn't use it with Evan. We didn't really use it with Grace either and that's why we decided to just sell it even though we knew we wanted another baby. However, now that we're having two more babies I just keep thinking that maybe it would be a good idea to have one. If one baby is crying or something while I'm trying to feed the other one then maybe the swing would be helpful?! However, we're not having any more kids after this and I would think that the twins would only use a swing for a short period of time is it worth spending the money on one? I have looked for a used one but haven't found anything that looks promising.

I'm really having trouble breathing lately. It's pretty frustrating when I'm pretty much doing nothing but household stuff and get winded like I'm running a marathon. I had a dream last night that I was having the babies via c-section and didn't really like that dream! I am still holding on to a little bit of hope for a natural delivery. I thought going into this pregnancy that I would do this one without medication but now I don't have an option. They pretty much force you to get an epidural when you have twins. They want you to so that if the need for a c-section arises they can just top off the epidural and you're good to go.

Maternal Fetal Medicine

I had my MFM appointment this morning and it went really well! Both of the girls look big and healthy! They are each weighing the same still at 2 and a half pounds each!! That is in the 60th percentile for singleton weights so I'm thrilled that they are doing so well! It really does make me feel better about my weight gain knowing that it's going to the girls and making them grow big and strong! My cervix still looks good but again I got a lecture about not doing too much and resting as much as humanly possible and that if I worked outside the home they would make me stop working at this point and blah blah blah...I really am doing the best I can with not doing too much. I found out that Baby A (Madeline) is head down now!!! I pray that she stays that way!! However, Miss Leah how was head down all along is now footling breech...stinker. I pray pray pray that they both turn head down by 32 weeks.

After my appointment at MFM I went and did my 1 hour glucose test. Yuck! I had the Lemon-Lime flavor and it *almost* made me vomit. Literally. I should get the results from that tomorrow. I also am having my blood tested for anemia. It wouldn't surprise me if I was anemic since I was with both Grace and Evan. No biggie though. Just have to take iron supplements in addition to the horse-pill prescription prenatal vitamins I take every night.

OB appointment today

I went to my regular OB appointment today and it went well according to the doctor. Everything looks fine to them. I'm measuring large even for a twin Mom but that had them happy. I'm severely depressed all of the sudden about my weight gain though. I was so shocked by how much I gained in just 2 weeks that I cannot even bring myself to say it on here. Not much else to tell from this appointment, I have to go to Maternal Fetal Medicine tomorrow for my ultrasound/growth scan/cervix measurement appointment, then over to get my glucose tolerance test done (yuck). I'll update again tomorrow with hopefully more interesting news!

half rant/ half rave

Rant first...I *try* not to bitch and complain too much about my pregnancy aches and pains but these last few days have been ridiculous! I can barely walk because of severe nerve pain in my back and ligament stretching cramping pain in my lower pelvis. I'm expanding rapidly and I can literally feel my skin pulling...I don't think I'm going to be escaping stretch marks this time around. I can barely eat anything because I fill up so darn fast so I find myself eating all day long but only a few bites here and a few bites there. It now makes sense why they say that twin growth rate slows for the 3rd trimester! It's because you can't eat anything!! It's still hot and humid outside lately and I'm still swelling up like a blimp. So much so that I can't wear sneakers because they don't fit on my huge feet but I need to wear sneakers when I'm doing anything because it helps with the back pain. Sleep? What is that?? I don't sleep anymore. I can maybe sleep for about an hour and a half in a row before it's a trip to the potty and to try to get comfortable again. It's hard for me to lay on my sides because then I put lots of pressure on my shoulders and they come out of joint just enough to cut off my circulation and make my arms go numb. Ugg.....I think I'm done bitching for this blog......

On to the the rave....I'm in my last week of my second trimester! I have two doctor appointments this week, on Monday I have an appointment with my regular OB and then on Tuesday I have an ultrasound/growth scan/cervical measurement at MFM. I'm a little anxious about both appointments because despite my complaining about being majorly uncomfortable I feel like I'm doing really well with this pregnancy and hope that it continues. I am just the most worried about cervical changes that will put me in the hospital on bed rest or at home on bed rest. I've been through every situation in my head and there's no easy solution to me going on bed rest. If I am at home it would be a little easier since my Dad is laid off...he could fill in the gaps between people being here with me, and if the kids needed something he couldn't do I could help out in some ways like if Evan needed a poopy diaper changed, I could do it in bed - that type of thing. BUT I'm trying to keep positive about it. I'm following what the doctors are saying and keep my activity level to a minimum. I will do something like clean the kitchen and then sit for a while on the floor and play with the kids or on the couch with my feel up...then do something else and sit again. I feel kind of silly doing it, but I want big healthy babies with no NICU time! I will post more after my appointments this week. I'm excited to see how big the girls are at my ultrasound on Tuesday and that they are still measuring the same. When twins start measuring vastly different weights - it can be a sign of a larger issue. AND I'm praying that little Miss Madeline decides that head down is the way to be since she's the one who will determine if I need a c-section or not and as of right now, she's still head up...and not much time left to turn since they are getting really cramped in there!!

I'll post more tomorrow after my appointment.

Whew! Week 26!

25 weeks and a few days pregnant

I am 26 weeks pregnant this week. My goal is to make is at the VERY VERY minimum another 8 weeks which will put me at 34 weeks pregnant. I think I will breathe a small sigh of relief when I hit that milestone. Not to say that the babies will have an easy road if they are born then but I can rest assured that the health issues they would have then would be temporary. I really want to make it to 37 weeks but I just really don't see how that is physically possible. I mentioned before that strangers are telling me that my belly looks painful - well not I can't go ANYWHERE without someone saying that to me! On a selfish level - I feel so fat and cumbersome it's ridiculous. I waddle more than I ever remember waddling with Grace and Evan. It's a little embarrassing actually. I am looking forward to my next set of dr appointments - I can't wait to see how big the girls are. I'm a little sad that Matt can't go with me but we will have many more appointments that he can go with me to. I just like that extra set of ears if nothing else. Sometimes the dr's throw so much at you during the MFM appointments that I can't keep up!