Hospital Tour

Last night was our last labor and birthing class at the hospital.  It's a 4-week series, but the last class is next Thursday and we'll be in Cleveland for my sister-in-law's wedding. 

Our class also included a tour of the Women's Pavilion and Birthplace at WakeMed Cary.  It is a very nice facility.  They have free, easy parking, which is great.  The pavilion itself was just completed in the past couple of years, so the facilities are very new.

They have a website where you can see the recently born babies.  Maybe this will be useful for some of you to check out some first pics of our tiny stars.

The labor and recovery room is very nice, with a gliding rocker and another recliner for Jason to hang out in.  They have televisions with VCRs and DVD players.  I can bring my laptop and they have free wireless (because I'll definitely be sending emails between contractions... right...).  The rooms also have jacuzzi tubs. 

They have a coach's lounge with food and drinks for Coach Jason.  We'll labor in the labor room until it's time to push (hopefully, if we're not having a c-section), and then they will move us to the operating room.  Even if the babies are delivered vaginally, it will happen in an OR in case they need to do an emergency c-section (especially if something goes wrong with our little girl, who should be born second).  After the delivery, they will take us all back to the labor room to recover for an hour or so, depending on how I'm doing.

If the babies are delivered via c-section, they may take them into the nursery for a little while.  If not, then they will keep them with us if we like.  We got to see the nursery last night.  We could see through the nursery into the NICU in the back, but we weren't allowed to go back there.  If our babies go there, we would be allowed back to see them, of course.  But the general public can't go into the NICU (or even into the hall to get a better look).  I'm hoping that we don't have any reason to be in there.

Then they'll move us to the postpartum room.  These rooms are very similar and also very nice.  They have a full-size pull-out sofa that Jason can sleep on.  We can have visitors between 11 AM and 8 PM only, but no children under 12 are allowed past the waiting room outside.

They said that we would stay 2 nights for a vaginal delivery and 3 nights for a c-section, typically.  Our insurance covers up to 5 nights for a c-section if we need it.  I'm not sure whether I'll be scared to go home or whether I'll be dying to go home.

25 Weeks

We were at 25 weeks yesterday.  I'm so glad that we're getting close to 30.  Every day is a day closer to meeting our babies.  And every day I feel like I get more acquainted with them as I feel them moving around and kicking and punching.  I really enjoy watching my belly dance in the evenings when I'm lying in the recliner.  (I now live in the recliner when I'm not working.)

The babies should be 13.5 inches long and a pound and a half.  I'm proud to announce that my babies are 1.5625 and 1.625 pounds, just a wee bit above average.  I think that's outstanding for twins.  I'm proud of them already.  =)

The structures of their spines are developing, including 33 vertebrae (rings of bone), 150 joints, and 1,000 ligaments.  So for us, that's 66 vertebrae, 300 joints and 2,000 ligaments.  If the babies were born now, they would have an 82% chance of survival with aggressive ICU treatment.  Of course, we hope that they aren't born for at least another 11 weeks (maybe even 13).

I feel pretty good.  I'm still having a weird problem with some sort of nerve pinching on the front of my ribcage on the right side.  I ice it each night, and I also ice my back (though my back hasn't hurt since I starting going to a chiropractor).

It's definitely less than 100 days from when we'll meet our babies.  Wow.

Wonderful OB Appointment!

We had a wonderful OB appointment yesterday morning.  We started by getting a growth scan (ultrasound) first thing in the morning.  They checked to be sure that the babies are growing well.  Baby A is 1 lb. 10 oz. and Baby B is 1 lb. 9 oz.  I was glad to hear that they are both right on target, because I feel Baby A (boy) kick a lot more frequently (or a lot harder) than the little girl.  I'm glad that she's doing well in there.  I was starting to worry about her just a bit.

For the first time, we could see one of their faces very clearly.  We could only see Baby B's face, because Baby A's face was getting interference from the other baby (either that or a bad angle or something).  It's hard to capture her little face in the still shots that they print for us, but we were able to see it very clearly live at the ultrasound.  I cried when I saw her, of course.  She just looks like such a perfect little person.  It's amazing.  I can't wait to meet her.

The babies are both still head down, which is great.  I'm just hoping that they stay that way for another 3 months or so.

They also took another measurement of my cervical length during the ultrasound.  It was back up to 4.2 cm!  I'm thrilled!  We were at 4.5 cm around 12 weeks, and then somehow got down to 3.1 cm at 19 weeks (which is not good).  The cervix is basically what holds the babies in, so you do not want it getting smaller early on in the pregnancy.  I'm still not sure whether the 3.1 cm measurement was a fluke or a mistake in the records or if my cervix can actually get that much smaller (30% smaller?) and then jump back up to 4.1 cm again.  That's a little confusing, but I'm just happy that it's back to 4.1.  The measurement technique that they used yesterday is supposed to be more accurate than the one that was used for the 3.1 measurement, so that also increases my confidence.

We also had an appointment with the OB, who said that everything looks great.  My blood pressure is something like 106/68 - awesome.  My iron is right on track (just over 12 - not surprising, considering that I eat red meat and about 3 eggs every day).  My weight looks good, and the babies are thriving.  The babies are also the same size, which is great (one of them isn't taking the bulk of the nourishment and starving their sibling).

The OB said that they wouldn't let me get to the 40 week mark (August 11).  So our babies will definitely be born in July at the latest.  Of course, we hope that they do not come before July, because we want to give them plenty of time to develop strong little lungs.  My biggest fear is that they will come early and we will have to leave them in the NICU.  I don't think that will happen, though.  Positive thoughts, positive thoughts...

It was just a great appointment.  I'm so thankful that my babies are growing - now if we can just decide on what to name them!

Here are the pictures (if you click on a picture, you can see a larger version of it):

This is Baby A (boy) showing off his boy parts.  They love to give us pictures of their genitals for some reason.

Here is an assisted picture with labels so you can more easily see what you're looking at.  It's like looking at him from the viewpoint of the seat of a chair.  You're looking up at his thighs and cute little hiney.

Baby A (boy) from the front.  This one has lots of shadows, so it's hard to figure out without assistance...

... and here is some assistance.  Here is the little guy with his Groucho Marx get-up.  You can more easily see where his eyes, nose and mouth are in the above picture.

Baby B (girl) showing off her girl parts.  They are much harder to see than the boy parts, of course.

Here is some assistance.  The lines running down each of her legs are her femurs.  This is the same as the first picture of Baby A - it's like you're looking up at her from the viewpoint of the seat of a chair.

Here is our beautiful little girl. 

And her gorgeous profile.  She takes after her daddy.  =)

And here is a combination of her perfect profile a shot of her from the front.

Here is a shot of both babies from the front.  The little guy is on the left and our little lady on the right.

No More Wedding Rings...

We had a great OB appointment this morning.   I need to scan in the pics and post the full story.

Today I took off my wedding rings.  It's so sad!  The OB said that my hands looked swollen and that she's had some patients who wore them too long and had to have them cut off.  Eek!  I think she said that it can be worse for twin mommies.  She recommended that I just go ahead and take them off to be safe.  Some women wear them around their neck on a chain.  I'm worried that the chain might break and I would lose my rings, so I probably won't do that.  My left hand just looks so naked now!

So at least for the next three months, I'll look like a single, very pregnant lady.  =)

Adorable Laundry Room Art

I finally bought some art today for my newly painted (and extremely bright yellow) laundry room from a great artist on Etsy (her shop is here).  I couldn't resist.

I bought them each in 8x10, printed on canvas, and I'm going to try to use coupons at Michael's to buy some frames for them.

She was also having a sale where you can buy 2 prints, get 1 free, so I got this print:

It might end up in our guest room.  I'll have to take pictures when they get here and I get 'em framed.

Big thanks to Dad for helping us putting up the cabinets in our laundry room.  We love you!   =)

Bridesmaids Dress Update

A while back, I wrote about ordering a bridesmaid's dress for my sister-in-law's wedding (read here and here).  After speaking with the David's Bridal folks, who encouraged me to buy a size 18 (EIGHT sizes bigger than my early first trimester size), I spoke with another seamstress in Cary who suggested I go for a size 14.

Well, I tried on the size 14 this week, and it actually fits pretty well.  I'm completely shocked.  I took it to the seamstress today, and she did a few quick little tricks and basically only had to pull the straps up (way, way up, because it was looking completely inappropriate on top).  $10 and it fits like a charm!  I'm thrilled that it was so easy, and I'm so glad that I found a great seamstress who could steer me in the right direction.  She even adjusted the straps while I waited. 

I looked for silver shoes for the wedding and actually bought some little silver flip flops.  I would usually want a great pair of heels, but I figure heels would be an extremely, extremely bad idea right now.

I'll have to upload a pic of the dress so that you can get a preview.  I'm excited to have my picture taken with Jason in a tux again.  We haven't done that since our wedding.  And I'm glad it will happen before I bust past the 200 pound mark.  =)

Labor & Birthing Class

We have started going to a Labor & Birthing class for multiples at the hospital where we're going to have the babies, WakeMed Cary.  The first class was sort of ho-hum... not much information that we didn't know before from reading books.  It has been fun to meet other parents expecting multiples, though.  (Luckily, the class is nothing like the pioneer birth scene above.  We've come a long way since 1877.)

Last night was better, I think.  We talked about vaginal birth, and we learned about all the stages of birth and the hormones involved at the different stages.  We practiced a lot of different positions, breathing techniques and soothing techniques.  Jason had to massage my back and hands a lot, which is a definite bonus.  I'm a fan of the hand massage for sure.  Well, I guess I'm a fan of all of the massaging!  =)


All in all, I'm glad we're taking the class.  We'll miss the last class to go to my sister-in-law's wedding, so next week will be our last class (it's a 4-week series).  We'll talk about c-sections next week.  50% of twins are born via c-section, so we need to be ready for that possibility.

After the class last night, Jason took me by Chipotle to grab a steak bowl on the way home.  I'm trying to eat more protein.  I'm supposed to eat 176 grams a day, which is a LOT of protein.  For the past 5 days, I've been over 120 grams per day.  Over the past 3 days, I've had between 160 and 185 grams of protein.  This is a lot of eggs, protein shakes and steak.

We have a growth scan (ultrasound) and another doctor's appointment on Tuesday morning. I'm hoping that the babies are still both head down.  We would love to have a vaginal birth if we can, because it's better for the babies (and generally a faster recovery time for me).  I'm also hoping that I get a good cervical length measurement.