Week 26 Update

Well it's been several weeks & the changes have been dramatic!

The babes have doubled in size. At my last update they were both around 1 pound, now baby A is 2.4lbs & baby B is 2lbs. Both are measuring right on track & I'm happy to report that Baby A's femur is measuring 2 weeks ahead - long legs like mom!! So inevitably, with the babes getting bigger, so is this belly! At the beginning of my third trimester in 2 weeks, adding the babes weight together will equal the size of a full term singleton! That fact reminds me - I'm going to be huge!!

I haven't gotten really uncomfortable just yet - but I might be interfering with Dave's sleep pattern with my frequent trips to the bathroom & tossing & turning. All those books that said I would see some bladder relief during the second trimester were lying! The bathroom & I have become great friends.

I'm also starting to slow down a bit.  After running next to Ava & helping her ride her 2 wheel bike on Friday, I had to take a break because was completely winded! She made me work hard, but of course I didn't let her know I was tired :) Our weekend walks have also gotten shorter, but mainly due to constant need to find the loo!

Now, here are some baby & belly pix!

The babes are getting harder & harder to photograph! They are getting pretty squished in there, but our OWU alum (awesome right?) ultrasound tech was able to get some good ones. There's even an up close shot of Baby A's lady parts - never modest us gals!

The belly has finally risen higher, which helps me a ton!

Week 22 Update

The past few weeks have been pretty hectic, but thanks to Dave we are getting close to being prepared for the babes to get here. We decided it was smarter for us to get things done early, since we have no clue when they will come, or whether or not I will be up for "nesting" part of pregnancy.

So far we have rearranged the loft to give the babes a space of their own, set up a small nursery, & purchased a mini van. Holy shit. That's a lot.

Last week was a visit with our normal doctor. These ones have been easy so far...nice, fast, and cheerful. A quick check on babes, hello to the doctor, and we are on our way.

This week's appointment was with the perinatologist. I like these ones, because each time they do a thorough check to make sure the babes are growing properly, & that there are no complications. The babes are getting big!  Together they weigh about 2.5 lbs (which is about what a 28 week baby weighs). So needless to say, I am going to be giant. I really am appreciating my height & stature at the moment, hoping this will help in the long run!

Here are the latest pictures of the babes. Baby A is giving us a "I'm #1" - already a sports fan, I dig it.

And of course the ever expanding belly. I really felt like it grew a lot in the last week!

Third Ultrasound - 11w6d

Talk about anxiety week. As we get closer to the 2nd trimester, where I hope to breath some sign of relief, I instead find myself googling ridiculousness & worrying about every twinge that just doesn't feel right.

Neurosis aside we made it to our Perinatoligst appointment. I like to think it's an early introduction to the hospital where the babes will be born.

Not knowing what to expect at all, I was more excited to see the babes than the implications of the scan itself. I had already told Dave that no matter what these tests showed, I wasn't going to do any further testing.

In the exam room, my heart was racing. I had only known that our babes were twins for 2 weeks, but the idea of us losing one or both, was absolutely fresh on my mind.

And then, there they were.

Two babes, two heartbeats, sitting on top of one another like a bunk bed.

Squirming, dancing, playing.

Doc gave us the "normal" measurements.

Then Baby A (on the bottom bunk), started kicking Baby B (on the top bunk) & was making s/he bop all around. Sibling rivalry has begun.

We are ecstatic.

Second Ultrasound - 9w5d

We were so excited & nervous to get back to the doctor for our 2nd ultrasound.  Since the babe was still small I was just hoping to see that little heartbeat flicker again.

And oh boy did we see a heartbeat.

In fact, we saw 2.

2?!?!?!?! Excuse me doctor??? What did you just say??? 2?!?!?!

Holy Shit. Twins. In fact, I believe that Dave might have dropped an F-Bomb or 2.

The rest of the appointment was somewhat of a blur. Next thing I knew, we were scheduling an appointment with the Perinatologist at Northside Hospital for our NT Scan in 2 weeks.

What?

Why do we have to go to the hospital?

I guess they are better prepared to monitor twins than my doctor. But in the long run, the extra monitoring makes me feel better & I hope to get to see our babes more often.

Post appointment, I email the grandmas the ultra sound pix & tell them the news. We get pretty excited/WTF happened phone calls from both our mothers approximately 5 seconds later.

From here on out come all the OMG we need 2 of everything thoughts. However, after all that settles, the idea of 2 becomes so wonderful that you can't imagine anything else.

Our 2011

The year 2011 has been pretty bumpy.

Dave & I found out that we were pregnant back in June, only to miscarry a few weeks later.

We were devastated & I was withdrawn.

So we coped the best way we knew how. We ran. We focused on ourselves, our health, & our well being.

Per Doctor's orders, I had to wait 2 cycles till we started to try again. In my mind, I never knew when I would be ready. I wasn't sure if I could handle this disappointment yet again. I pushed it out of my head & continued to run. I figured that I didn't have to worry about it for awhile.

Two cycles passed.

Our approach: we would make an attempt, & if it happened it happened. Our current goal was the Atlanta Thanksgiving Half Marathon.  If baby news came before that we would be happy, but knew that we would have other things to help keep us in good spirits if it did not.

One Saturday a couple months back, I had the worst long run. EVER. I felt so slow & everything ached. This was so disappointing. I had been running so well, so fast, with only minor knee pain (a real problem for me) and felt so confident. I was kicking Dave's ass & on this day he completely dominated me. I fell back and finished about 5 minutes after he did.

I didn't think much about it, but had some strange feelings the next few days. Weird cramping & heartburn were among the few. I decided on one particularly long drive home, that I was going to test.

It stung to pull out the other test from the packet we had our initial BFP on.

However, pretty quickly, the test read Pregnant.

All at once there was a flood of emotion. Joy & excitement, followed by fear & doubt. Dave & I decided that we would wait a few more days to test again, and use a less sensitive non-digital test. Those too came up positive pretty quickly.

Three betas later we had our pregnancy confirmed & my HCG & Progesterone levels looked good. We were then scheduled for an ultrasound at 7 weeks.

7 weeks. The same as when I miscarried last time. I couldn't help but worry & question every symptom. Dave probably was so annoyed by my chattering, but the day we saw the little tiny blob & a fast little heart beat, my heart melted.

I can't say that the fear has gone away, because it hasn't. I experienced some spotting & brown CM for several weeks & that kept me on edge. But each day we still had our babe we were happy.

The next appointment was scheduled for October 25 - where we would be 9w5d. I had everything crossed that all would be okay!