27 Week Update

Another week has flown by and the babies are still growing and doing well. I had an OB appointment last week; apparently my scale at home was off. I gained 3 pounds in 2 weeks so I'm up 21 pounds overall. My OB was pleased with my weight gain. I had been putting on 1 pound/week and this got me sent to a nutrition consult appointment. I added an extra 0.5 lb/week and this made my OB content. Who knew a half a pound could really make that much of a difference?
I had an ultrasound, but measurements were not taken. Heartbeats and amniotic fluid levels were the only thing looked at via ultrasound. Both were looking great! I have a hard time differentiating what we're looking at on the ultrasound screen these days; baby parts fills every single available space on the screen!! It's babies everywhere you look!!

We talked about birth and what my 'plan' was. Can you really have a plan if you're having twins? I have about a 50% chance of being able to have a vaginal birth. Of course this is what I hope for, but I'm also trying to be realistic. If one baby is head down and one is breached, I have the option of trying for vaginal delivery (if the head down baby is coming out first) with the hopes that the other baby will flip once there is more room or the OB can try to turn the baby. This scares me...I don't want to have a vaginal delivery and THEN a c-section because the other baby won't flip. I think we're leaning toward a vaginal delivery if both babies are head down. If not, we'll opt for a c-section. I want one or the other, not both. I also learned that we'll be giving birth (even if a routine vaginal delivery) in the OR specifically available for c-sections. They do this with multiples just in case there are any complications; this way I can have a c-section and have the kids out in 2 minutes (according to my OB) if necessary. Although I'd much rather be in the comfy birthing suite rather than the sterile OR, I feel comfortable knowing I won't have to be whisked off in a rush if I need a c-section. I'll be prepped and ready for anything in the OR. Talking about the delivery was strange. It reiterated that this is actually happening. Sometimes I still think of myself as infertile Amber and find it hard to believe that I am over that hump and expecting babies in 2 months...

My MIL and niece came from Iowa to visit from Wed-Sun. We (or I should say they because I'm fairly useless these days when it comes to physical labor) made a lot of progress on the nurseries. We put together cribs and one dresser. We also picked up the second dresser from Tar.get. The changing tables are consistently out of stock, but we got them ordered online. We also went to Babi.es R Us to pick up a plethora of baby items while they were here. I'm a planner and slightly paranoid the babies could arrive at any day and I want to be as ready as possible just in case! Sure the nurseries have a ways to go, but they are coming along. We have all the essentials we need (even if they aren't organized yet) in the meantime. We had a great time with the fam visit! We got to do a few fun things that were non-baby related as well. I only wish we could have done more (I would have loved to taken my niece to Dolly.wood, but physically I can't make that happen).

Pregnancy wise, I'm starting to feel uncomfortable all the time. I swell up very easily. In fact, my feet remain swollen most of the time no matter what I do. Sleep is becoming more challenging by the night. I continue to need bathroom breaks every 1.5-2 hrs. I also wake up in between those breaks needing to reposition myself because my back/hips/shoulder is sore. Rolling from side to side with my preggers pillow in tow is quite the chore these days. My husband was awake during the night last night and got to witness one of these repositioning episodes; he told me this morning he was surprised how much effort it took for me. Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful for all these inconveniences and wouldn't have it any other way, but I'm just trying to be honest with how I'm feeling these days (I don't want to sound like I am complaining). I did have a bout of nausea that was serious enough it sent me to the bathroom today. I managed to hold off actually vomiting, but it took a lot of will on my part. I hope this was a fluke and not a sign of things to come! The babies movements are incredibly strong. Every time they move, you can see it from the outside. Sometimes they both are moving at the same time and it provides quite the scene on the outside!! They definitely have a routine of when they are asleep and when they are moving around. The movement, although sometimes a tad creepy to witness my entire belly moving, is a beautiful thing.

I worked a 12 hour night shift for the first time in nearly 2 weeks this past week.WOW. My working days are numbered... I was incredibly sore, swollen and completely exhausted the next day. I had an easy assignment with low maintenance patients too, I can't imagine what I would have done if I had ill patients circling the drain of death... I came home and slept on and off from 8a-4p and went back to bed from 11p-9:30a. I was one tired girl to be able to sleep that much. I emailed my bosses at both hospitals re: upcoming leave. My plan is to work through the first week of Aug and then take leave. This will put me at working until 31 weeks. For carrying twins and working in a demanding line of work, I think this is pretty damn good.

Quick update on our pup, Miles. He has an abnormal thyroid; it's a long story, but basically his thyroid doesn't function properly but it's not functioning improperly enough to be put on thyroid meds. This means we just keep dropping money on blood work every 3-6 months to hear the same thing: it's not considered hypothyroid yet! Anyway, because of his thyroid, he has dry skin. It turns out the spots/lumps were a skin infection. We were paranoid he had some kind of tumor lurking below his skin, so an infection was positive news. He's on antibiotics and an antihistamine for a few weeks. The infection has made significant improvement already; I just hope the hair grows back!! He looks terrible with several hairless patches where the infection was. Thanks for the kind thoughts on the pup!!

The house continues to be a work in progress. We're getting there slowly but surely...I don't have enough energy to do all the things I want to do.

I have another OB appointment next week. I'm on the 2 week schedule for now. The babies will get measured at the next appointment. I can't wait to see how much they have grown!!