We went in for our weekly Perinatal check yesterday and once again the girls passed with flying colors! The Sonographer was new to Perinatal and it took her a bit to get all of the girls measurements and stats (in fact it took her two ultrasounds...it's ok, though, its hard being new!) Their amniotic fluid is great, their reflexes and movements are above standards, they're 'practicing' their breathing and their heart rates are great. After a longer than normal BPP and NST due to our new tech we finally saw the Perinatalogist. She said the girls are doing great for 33 weeks and I have no signs of labor...in fact not really even many Braxton Hicks Contractions. These girls are entrenched! We asked the doctor if she was still feeling confident about being able to go 40 weeks and that is where the surprise came in...they do not let known identicals go beyond 37 weeks! So...due date has been moved forward to September 22nd...eek! Appointments are now 2x weekly until they come and if growth is not what they want on their September 8th check we will be having them on the 9th. SO...we thought we had almost 2 months left and now discover it is potentially 2 weeks --> 4 weeks max until they make their appearance. OVERWHELMING! The good news, though, is at this point if the girls came they wouldn't have to be in the NICU and would probably only have to stay and extra day or two in the hospital. Because of their weight and number of weeks we are pretty much out of the danger zone for most things except lung development.
The other hard part is that my level of discomfort has increased almost tenfold. I sleep about 2 hours a night and have alot of ligament and back pain. Hoping this is a good sign, though, as this hopefully means they're growing growing growing. Fat babies are our goal!
Overall we are mostly ready for them to get here! My Mom is coming next Friday and staying for a week and then they will be back after the girls are born. Hopefully with her help I can finally feel 'ready' for them to come and not so overwhelmed!
Lots of love to all! <3
Friday, August 26, 2011
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
The best laid plans!
So about 7 weeks ago I decided that I would be blogging weekly (as I don't already have enough on my plate!)...well as you can see my last post was June 18th...ha! So rather than put parameters around what I should do I figured I'd just go with the flow!
On June 18th I was 23 weeks pregnant and the idea was still pretty new to me! The first 6 months flew by pretty darn fast. Mom came to help set up the house, I had already had 2 kidney infections and was starting to feel pretty tired. After 23 weeks we had a few more surprises in store.
The 4th of July was a fun weekend for me and the husband. We drove all over including Hudson, Stillwater and even further into Wisconsin (2x!) for fireworks. We shot more than most professional fireworks displays and spent way to much but it was more fun than we had in awhile! On the 4th we ended up sneaking into Stillwater at the last minute, double parked the bus and sat right up front for fireworks. We talked about how this would be the last year that it would all be this 'easy.' Part of me is sad by that and part excited. I won't lie, I will miss the ability for us to be so spontaneous but also find it interesting to think about bringing the girls to these things. All in all it was the most fun we had in awhile.
Some days it's hard to remember we're still newlyweds!
I ended up having another kidney infection that they found around 27 weeks. Thankfully they 'diagnosed' it correctly this time so I go the correct antibiotics and finally kicked it...whew! That behind us and weekly appointments scheduled we started seeing both the OBGYN and Perinatal specialists more than we see each other!
Week 29 gave us our biggest challenge yet. We found out at our weekly Thursday Perinatal appointment that although heartrate, bloodflow, amniotic fluid, movements, brain activity, mom's blood pressure and weight were all excellent, the little girls were not growing as they should be. Based on that information as of July 26th I was put on modified bedrest with the hopes that getting me off of my feet from my 60 hour work week would help the babies get more blood and nutrients. Based on that I decided to drop my second summer semester class to reduce stress and started living the life of veal. My husband has been amazing even though I have been lonely, feeling useless and a little sad. Sitting on your rear is NOT as fun as it sounds!
Week 30 came and went still on bedrest but with their second BPP and Non-stress test...which they aced! We found out that I started having Braxton Hicks Contractions which is pretty normal and the decision was made to talk about returning to work around week 32.
Week 31 BPP and Non-stress was even better than week 30. The little girls are practicing their 'breathing' like champs, constantly beating each other up and have awesome blood flow and fluid levels. We however found out that Momma is the one not doing so hot. My perinatalogist is not so happy with the OBGYN clinic at this point. My hemoglobin test at 26 weeks showed my hemoglobin was around 8 g/dl. Non-pregnant women should be between 12-16 g/dl and pregnant women between 11-12 g/dl. Hemoglobin moves nutrients and oxygen to tissues and low hemoglobin causes a host of problems. The perinatologist let me know that a low hemoglobin count can lead to low birthweight babies and other problems for Moms. Based on this they retested my blood and the new number came back at 6 g/dl. Basically super low hemoglobin which may be causing the low weight in the girls. SO....iron supplements 3x a day as well as iron rich foods. Were hoping the influx of iron will help me feel better and help the little ones grow in the last 8 weeks. I'm still mad at the OBGYN for not taking action back at week 26 but we can only change things from here on out.
Tomorrow is our week 32 perinatal appointment. I was hoping to go back to work on a modified basis after this week based on their weight, but now feeling so run down and unable to sleep I am almost hoping for a continued work reprieve. All in all things are progressing as well as they can!
We got a new rocker for the girls room, had our 2nd baby shower (thank you everyone who came or sent gifts, we appreciate it very much!) and Mom and I have made a comprehensive baby clothes list trying to fill in missing sizes before they come. Mom and Dad will be here next week and I couldn't be more excited to spend my days with people! We only have a few more things to do around the house before it is 'baby ready' as we are definitely in the home stretch!
On June 18th I was 23 weeks pregnant and the idea was still pretty new to me! The first 6 months flew by pretty darn fast. Mom came to help set up the house, I had already had 2 kidney infections and was starting to feel pretty tired. After 23 weeks we had a few more surprises in store.
The 4th of July was a fun weekend for me and the husband. We drove all over including Hudson, Stillwater and even further into Wisconsin (2x!) for fireworks. We shot more than most professional fireworks displays and spent way to much but it was more fun than we had in awhile! On the 4th we ended up sneaking into Stillwater at the last minute, double parked the bus and sat right up front for fireworks. We talked about how this would be the last year that it would all be this 'easy.' Part of me is sad by that and part excited. I won't lie, I will miss the ability for us to be so spontaneous but also find it interesting to think about bringing the girls to these things. All in all it was the most fun we had in awhile.
Some days it's hard to remember we're still newlyweds!
I ended up having another kidney infection that they found around 27 weeks. Thankfully they 'diagnosed' it correctly this time so I go the correct antibiotics and finally kicked it...whew! That behind us and weekly appointments scheduled we started seeing both the OBGYN and Perinatal specialists more than we see each other!
Week 29 gave us our biggest challenge yet. We found out at our weekly Thursday Perinatal appointment that although heartrate, bloodflow, amniotic fluid, movements, brain activity, mom's blood pressure and weight were all excellent, the little girls were not growing as they should be. Based on that information as of July 26th I was put on modified bedrest with the hopes that getting me off of my feet from my 60 hour work week would help the babies get more blood and nutrients. Based on that I decided to drop my second summer semester class to reduce stress and started living the life of veal. My husband has been amazing even though I have been lonely, feeling useless and a little sad. Sitting on your rear is NOT as fun as it sounds!
Week 30 came and went still on bedrest but with their second BPP and Non-stress test...which they aced! We found out that I started having Braxton Hicks Contractions which is pretty normal and the decision was made to talk about returning to work around week 32.
Week 31 BPP and Non-stress was even better than week 30. The little girls are practicing their 'breathing' like champs, constantly beating each other up and have awesome blood flow and fluid levels. We however found out that Momma is the one not doing so hot. My perinatalogist is not so happy with the OBGYN clinic at this point. My hemoglobin test at 26 weeks showed my hemoglobin was around 8 g/dl. Non-pregnant women should be between 12-16 g/dl and pregnant women between 11-12 g/dl. Hemoglobin moves nutrients and oxygen to tissues and low hemoglobin causes a host of problems. The perinatologist let me know that a low hemoglobin count can lead to low birthweight babies and other problems for Moms. Based on this they retested my blood and the new number came back at 6 g/dl. Basically super low hemoglobin which may be causing the low weight in the girls. SO....iron supplements 3x a day as well as iron rich foods. Were hoping the influx of iron will help me feel better and help the little ones grow in the last 8 weeks. I'm still mad at the OBGYN for not taking action back at week 26 but we can only change things from here on out.
Tomorrow is our week 32 perinatal appointment. I was hoping to go back to work on a modified basis after this week based on their weight, but now feeling so run down and unable to sleep I am almost hoping for a continued work reprieve. All in all things are progressing as well as they can!
We got a new rocker for the girls room, had our 2nd baby shower (thank you everyone who came or sent gifts, we appreciate it very much!) and Mom and I have made a comprehensive baby clothes list trying to fill in missing sizes before they come. Mom and Dad will be here next week and I couldn't be more excited to spend my days with people! We only have a few more things to do around the house before it is 'baby ready' as we are definitely in the home stretch!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)