30 Weeks

We are officially in the 30’s!  Do you know what this means!?  We are only 6 weeks away from our goal of 36 weeks!  And 7-8 weeks away from meeting our baby girls!!!  It seems like it took forever to get to 20 weeks, and then all of a sudden, I blinked, and bam! 30 weeks.

We had both MFM and OB appointments this week, and both went well.

At our appointment with Dr. Weiss, we had another growth scan.  Both girls are doing well and still weigh just a bit above average for their gestational age.  They’ve also managed to get themselves in somewhat wonky positions – A is breech (with her butt down) and B has moved back to a transverse position.  I’m not joking when I say these girls are all over the place!

Babies’ current positions

I also had a cervix check (ugh!) and there has been no change since my last check a month ago.  Which means no bed rest and these babies are staying put for now, woot!

At my OB appointment, I saw Dr. Wendy Parnell – another doctor in my OB’s practice who also happens to by my doctor’s daughter, and a twin herself!  She was super nice – so friendly and open to all of our questions without judgment, just like her dad. J  We talked about how the babies’ current positions spell out a definite c-section and about when they’d most likely schedule my c-section (around 34-35 weeks for sometime between 37 and 38 weeks).  This is of course assuming that the girls don’t move into more favorable positions.  And even then, if they do, they’ll still schedule an induction for sometime between 37 and 38 weeks.  And again, this is all assuming the girls don’t come before then.  Which we’re hoping they don’t.  Anywho, we also talked a little bit about my hands swelling and going numb at night and Dr. Wendy seemed to think it was normal due to the amount of blood I have pumping through my body.  I also mentioned to her how sometimes I feel my heart pounding (again) which leads to me feeling a little weak and/or dizzy and out of breath.  She reassured me again that this was most likely due to the increased volume of blood and my heart having to work a little harder to get and keep it all pumping.  She said that while my blood pressure has slowly started to rise over the course of my last few visits, it’s still within the normal range – at yesterday’s appointment, I was at 133/71; high is anything over 140/90.  She suggested that if it’s something that I’m concerned or nervous about, that I get a heart monitor cuff to check my blood pressure throughout the day/night or when I get those heart-pounding spells.  I think I’ll do just that!  Overall, my appointment with Dr. Wendy went well and we’re scheduled to see both Dr. Weiss and Dr. Parnell (my original OB) in another two weeks!

P.S.  I received the flu shot while at my visit with Dr. Wendy, and I was fairly certain my arm was going to fall off for a few hours after receiving the shot.  Good news though – it didn’t fall off. ;)

And now, our weekly update (as told by the girls)…

Sleep: I’ve been sleeping ok this past week.  Once I get into a comfortable position, I can sleep with no problems.  It’s getting into those comfortable positions that are tricky.  I’m pretty much at the point where turning over takes some serious effort.  And sometimes I need Henry’s help to either push or pull me one way or the other – ha!  The weight of my belly leaves me waking up with really sore, really stiff hips sometimes too.  Again, this isn’t really something that bothers me while I’m sleeping; just when I wake up and try to move.  Overall I think I’m pretty lucky that I’m still able to sleep in my own bed and don’t really experience heartburn or any other side effects while trying to sleep.

Cravings: Pizza!  I’m usually not a super huge fan of pizza because it typically gives me heartburn, and also because I’ve gotten pretty good at making my own pizza at home – why pay for something I know how to do myself!?  But for some reason this week, I was craving pizza pretty intensely.  And I ate it twice in one week!

Amanda and Jesse came over on Monday (since nobody worked but me – and I took the opportunity to work from home) to help Henry sort out and organize the girls’ room again – thanks guys, you’re the best!  It had already been sort of organized once before, and then we got a bunch more stuff (Henry’s Godparents brought all the rest of the gifts we received from the El Paso baby showers with them two weekends ago and we just dumped everything in the girls’ room).  So since the three of them were working, I had the genius idea to order pizza – score!  I ordered a 20” pepperoni and ham pizza from Piggie Pies and it was awesome!  I didn’t get a picture of it – we ate it all too quickly – but just imagine a pizza that is 20” in diameter. :D

Then… on Wednesday, as if 20” of pizza wasn’t enough, we went out to eat with my aunts and cousins, and we had more pizza!  We went to Serious Pizza in Deep Ellum and had a 30” pizza!  THIRTY INCHES!!  It was gigantic and amazing and delicious and humongous!!  

Thirty inches of pizza!

Super long slice of delicious pizza!!!

Needless to say, my pizza cravings have been thoroughly fixed. :D

Symptoms: I’m beginning to feel more and more like I got hit by a bus.  I try not to complain too much, but it’s hard not to when everything aches and is swollen and you’re tired all of the time.  Going from a sitting to standing position is a difficult task – going to church is a full blown work out! ;)  Dr. Wendy assured us though that it is all part of a normal twin pregnancy.  If I wasn’t feeling cruddy, that would mean babies aren’t growing, and that would make me feel even worse.  So I’ll take the aches and pains in exchange for two healthy babies any day.

How we’re growing: We’re growing a lot!  Each one of use is about 15.7 inches long and weighing in at 2.88 pounds!  This means we’re both a little above average (which is 2.54 pounds).  While I think our sizes put a little more stress on mom, she says she’s happy that we’re both healthy and growing well.  Our eyes are continuing to develop, maturing our eyesight.  We plan on sleeping a lot when we’re first born though, so we won’t be seeing much at first.  We’re anxious to see our mommy and daddy and puppy sisters in about seven more weeks though!  We have a lot more growing do to in a short amount of time – brace yourself mom!

 

Best moment of the week: Seeing our baby girls via sonogram during our appointment with Dr. Weiss, and hearing that they’re doing great!  Dr. Weiss said there has still been no change in my cervix, which means the risk of going into preterm labor is still very low.  This is something that we are super thankful for!  In fact, a couple visits ago, his words were “You’re pretty good at carrying twins!”  Score 1 point for this 5’2” girl carrying two babies like a champ! 

(Even though I don’t feel like a champ sometimes, ha!).

What Mom & Dad are looking forward to this coming week: We started washing some of the girls’ clothes throughout this last week, which has been exciting.  Henry said separating and hanging all of their little outfits really made it set in that we’re about to have two babies.  I asked him if he was nervous, and he said: “No.  I’m excited.”  This week, we’re looking forward to washing more of their clothes and blankets and continuing to organize and setup their room.  Even though they probably won’t ever sleep in their room (we’re hoping to move out of our apartment and into a house a few months after they’re born), it’s still exciting to have a place for all of their stuff.