Uneventful Update...That's a good thing!

Things have been pretty uneventful around here and we are very thankful for that. The babies are still moving around like crazy! I am continuing to go to Dr. Hales twice a week for a non-stress test in which they are monitoring the babies' movement, possible contractions/uterine activity and the babies' heartrates. I think these kiddos are already quite stubborn (wonder where they get that...poor things are doomed from ALL sides! hehe) as it has taken over 30 minutes to get them set on the monitor a few times, resulting in over 2 hour sessions at the doctor!

Everything still looks good and we are still shooting for the week of April 13-17, although it could really be any day now. Today was my last day at work (minus the box of things I brought home to work on) and now we'll just focus on finishing getting ready for Laney and Mason's arrival and me resting as much as I can.

Nursery pics are still on their way...have to finish up some projects first...

9 pounds of baby....6 more weeks to go

Today, we had another ultrasound with Dr. Hales. It had been three weeks, so we were anxious to see how big these babies were getting. I knew that they had to have had quite a growth spurt just based on how uncomfortable I was getting. They measured approximately 4 1/2 pounds each. Laney was 4 pounds 5 ounces and Mason was 4 pounds 8 ounces. That's about 9 pounds of baby! This is about 2-2 1/2 weeks ahead of schedule. YEA! We would much rather them be big than too small. It is also really good that they are so close in size. The doctors say that as long as the two babies are within 20% of each other's weight everything is fine, but our babies have been pretty much the same size the whole pregnancy. Everything looked great today. Laney is in the breech position, and Mason is still laying sideways towards my left side. No wonder my left side and back have been causing trouble! Their heads are together at the top of my belly.

Everything looked good and the doctors are still thinking that the chances of me going into labor anytime soon are very slim. I am still being monitored twice a week for contractions, but that is pretty standard at this point in the ballgame. Last week, I was given the steroid shots to help mature the babies' lungs in the event that they are born early. As of right now, they aren't planning on giving me any more of those shots. I am on medication to help relax my back muscles and another medication to relax my uterus, so those seem to be working as expected.

We are hoping that we make it about 6 more weeks! It's so hard to believe that it's almost time...this pregnancy has really flown by!

P.S. Nursery pics will be posted as soon as I get it finished...I've got to get on the ball!

Update

Well, it's been an eventful last few days. Between a trip to labor and delivery and now being monitored twice a week, things definitely have changed around here!

We laugh because our doctor told us that when we hit 30 weeks it really becomes a test...and he wasn't kidding! On Sunday, which was the day that I hit 30 weeks, I was having major back spasms and couldn't move at all pretty much. I have been dealing with a bad cough and congestion the last 3 1/2 weeks and my muscles were really sore anyway from coughing, and I think they had just had enough. It was extremely painful and nothing I did could help me just relax. So, we called Dr. Hales since we had his numbers, and he happened to be up at the hospital and wanted me to come in for monitoring. We did, and at the time, I wasn't contracting, but he wasn't convinced that it wasn't back labor, so he checked me to see if I was in labor. That was enough to send me to contraction land. They gave me a shot to stop the contractions and then gave me a dose of demerol to ease the pain (which did absolutely nothing...scary). They kept me on the monitor for a while to make sure the contractions stopped--which they did--and then gave me a muscle relaxer since the demerol wasn't doing anything and sent me home with some pain pills.

I had to call Dr. Hales office the next morning, and he wanted to monitor me that day to make sure I wasn't contracting. Well, I wasn't exactly contracting, but my uterus is what they call "irritated," meaning that there is some activity in my uterus. Not enough to send me into labor or anything...or even not enough to even count as contractions, but enough that they want to stop the activity. So, he put me on medication for that and wants to monitor me twice a week from here on out.

I think everyone at both doctor's offices could tell I was pretty disappointed yesterday, because they all assured me that this is 100% normal and happens in ALL twin pregnancies. It's just my uterus is stretched to the size of a full term pregnancy and it's tired! The surprise here is that it usually happens a few weeks later than your 30th week, but because the babies are bigger, it's happening sooner to us. This by no means indicates pre-term labor and the doctors still think I will make it to 37 weeks.

So, I am working part time now...until March 13th when I'll be off work for good (or at least until next August).

We are just relieved that this is a normal occurence and something that I couldn't have prevented or anything...it's all part of having twins.

Drum roll...

We have decided on some names for poor "Baby A" and "Baby B"...or the boy and the girl...or Pancho and Lefty as they've been called...

Laney Kayte and Mason William

William is Kodi's middle name...and a name that has been on his side of the family for MANY generations. As for Kayte, my middle name and my mom's middle name is Kay, and then it is honoring Kaylee. We got Kaylee's name from the Kay being our middle names and then Lee is Kodi's dad's middle name. So, this way, we are honoring Kaylee, too.

Doctor's Appointments

We have had both doctor's appointments this week. They were pretty uneventful! We saw Dr. Owen on Monday. My blood pressure was 110/70 and my belly measured 37 weeks. That's pretty much full term with a singleton! The heartrates sounded great and I had lost 4 pounds. I've had the chest and sinus crud pretty badly, so she did give me some antibiotics for that since everything else were trying short of medicine wasn't working.

The ultrasound with Dr. Hales was on Tuesday. The boy measured 2 pounds 14 ounces, and the girl measured 2 pounds 11 ounces. I was very concerned about this as it didn't seem like they had gained enough since the last appointment. But--it was a different ultrasound tech and their measurement points could have been slightly off. Kodi had to remind me that this is just an estimate! Either way, that is still about 2 weeks ahead and everyone was pleased with that. They had changed positions--the boy is now laying transverse, or horizontal across the left side of my belly. The girl--who has ALWAYS been head down--is now breech--and laying at an angle from the top right to the bottom left of my belly. It really doesn't matter for the delivery since we'll be having a c-section, but it sure does make it hard for me to tell who is who! Evidently I didn't have a blood pressure at Dr. Hales' office as they tried to take it 4 times and couldn't get a reading. They just said that my reading from the day before was ok.

Dr. Hales' comment from the appointment was, "It's about as perfect as we could ask for." So, that is a big relief. He doesn't see any reason why we can't make it to 37 weeks, but he also made sure that Kodi and I understood that anything can change in a heartbeat.

My last day to work--right now--is March 13th. Both doctors were very relieved that I had narrowed down a date...I had been avoiding it for quite a while so that I could just see how I felt. But--they were about to the point where they were going to mandate my stopping work if I didn't make up my mind. This DOES NOT mean bed rest, but just means rest and relaxation.

I will see Dr. Owen again in 2 weeks--February 23--at which we will most likely be starting steriod shots to mature the babies' lungs in the event that they are born early. The next ultrasound will be on March 3rd.

It's so hard to believe we are this close--the time will just fly by and then they'll be here!

BIG Babies!!

Yesterday was our appointment with Dr. Owen. Everything was great...my blood pressure was great, I had only gained 4 pounds (for a whopping total of 10 so far...this is important information for the rest of the blog...hehe), the babies' heartrates were great. Dr. Owen started measuring my belly and got this puzzled look on her face...and then her eyes got really big. She said, "That can't be right" and measured again...and again....and came up with 33-34 centimeters, which means I was measuring 33-34 weeks gestation. She said these are some big babies! I had my gestational diabetes test and that came back great, so no worries about diabetes! She mentioned that she doesn't really want us going past 37 weeks--my goal had been 38 weeks--but she doesn't want me to go any further because you can also have problems with the babies if they are in the oven too long. So, that puts us at looking at the c-section the week of April 13-17 sometime. Right around Kaylee's birthday...April 12th. How perfect could that be?

Today was our appointment with Dr. Hales, the high-risk doctor. This means ultrasound! We told the tech when we went in what Dr. Owen measured me at yesterday and so we were all very anxious to see just how "big" these babies are. And yes, they are big. The girl weighed approximately 2 pounds, 3 ounces and the boy weighed 2 pounds 4 ounces. That means they gained just about a pound in the last 3 weeks. They are technically measuring about 2 weeks ahead of schedule. YEA!! We are so relieved at that...if they were to be born early, then their survival rate is that much higher due simply to their size. That means if the babies are weighing that much and I've only gained 10 pounds...I am not up very much at all! YEA!! I asked what they thought they would weigh at birth, and they said that if all continues to go as it has, then they'll be well over 6 pounds. YEA!!! Again!! The bigger they are--the chances are better that we stay out of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and can go home when I am ready to go home. All of the organs and everything looked great and we got to watch them in 4D which was really cool.

We are so thankful that everything has continued to go so perfectly so far...and we know that is because of all of the prayers and thoughts on our babies' behalf. We can't thank you enough! Our continued prayer is that everything keeps progressing this way....it can all change in a heartbeat, but we're going to do everything in our power to keep these babies going until April 12!

Our next appointments are in 3 weeks!

**I have had lots of people say that they haven't been able to leave a comment...I changed the settings on the comment box to where you don't have to have a password/user name to leave a comment. You can either click on "name" or "anonymous" and then hit publish.**

Latest Ultrasound.....

We had another ultrasound on Tuesday, December 30th. Yes, I know I am late in posting this, but the holiday break from everything has included my computer for some reason!

Everything looked great--we got some good pictures this time. There is ABSOLUTELY NO DOUBT that these babies are a girl and a boy!!!! Both babies were head down. They were able to check all of the organs and everything on both babies checked out a-ok. Thank goodness!

Baby A--the girl--weighed 1 pound, 4 ounces, and Baby B--the boy--weighed 1 pound, 5 ounces. We are so thankful that they are so close in size. This size continues to be on the big side...better big than too small! We pray that it continues to be this way!

We did get some 4D images--a great one of the little girl's face and one of the boy with his head on his forehead as if to say, "Good grief...what are they doing now?" I am trying to get them scanned in but for some reason the new scanner isn't cooperating. I'll keep trying.

My blood pressure continues to be on the low side, which is also good...and there are no indications so far of pre-term labor. The doctor had a "pep talk" with us that we would be shooting for 37 weeks and I told him that my goal was 38 weeks. Kodi's goal is 40 weeks. HE obviously isn't carrying them! HAHA

They are moving like crazy...all of the time! That is a big relief to me, because then I know that everything is ok. I keep telling them though, that it is ok to take a nap every once in a while!

We're working on getting the nursery and everything ready! I'll post pictures of that when we get it done.