Wednesday, June 29, 2011

24 Weeks- Viability

I have had so much anxiety about bad things happening during the pregnancy, but I feel that I can rest easier now that I am at 24 weeks!!  This is the point at which if the babies were born, they would actually try to save them.  I am really hoping that they won't be born any time soon, but if they were at least they would have a chance! 

Its crazy to think that in 14 weeks or less (the doc will only let a twin pregnancy go to 38 weeks) Brian and  I will have babies!! WOW! =D

Monday, June 27, 2011

Doctor Appointment

I went to the doc today for a quick appointment so that I could get my cervix checked.  Between my last 2 appointments my cervix had shortened by 1 cm which was a little concerning.  But, all is well and the babies are looking good.  There was a Physician's Assistant student with the doc today who listened to the heartbeats with the doppler and measured my belly.  She was able to hear the HBs right away and they were both in the 150s.  My belly measured that of a 30 week singleton pregnancy and I am only almost 24 weeks!  Crazy stuff. 

Anyways, I go back in 2 weeks just before going back to Minnesota for a growth ultrasound, meeting with the doc, and the Glucose Tolerance Test (GTT).  That one should be fun.  The doc gave me some super sugary stuff to drink approx. 45 min before my appointment and then they draw my blood at the 1 hour mark.  This just tests to see if I have gestational diabetes because if so, that's just no good for the babies.  I was so happy that I got to see them today! They look so big and are very active.  The doc said that Baby B was kicking me at the time he was looking at her..... but I can't seem to feel it at all. 

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Bathroom Remodel

Brian and I have been going back and forth on this crazy idea about remodeling our bathroom before the babies come and I think we have decided to do it! 

Here's the problem:
1. Our washer and dryer are downstairs and with Brian being the one to take care of the babies when I go back to work it is virtually impossible for him to wash laundry.  (We have a chair lift that goes downstairs, but it would be a huge pain for him to do that.)

2. The bathtub that's in our bathroom is a claw foot tub that sits super low and has huge tall sides.  This would not be the safest place for him to try and bathe the kiddos either because he couldn't really reach them.  Our other tub is in the main bathroom which only has a 24 inch door and his wheelchair needs at least 29 inches to get through a doorway.  When we opened up other doorways we didn't do this one because there was a vent in the way and nowhere to really open the door up to since the bathroom is pretty small anyways.

The Solution! (as crazy as it may be)

1. We have a cabinet in our master bathroom that sits in a cut out (sort of like an alcove) that we hardly ever use.  It just collects junk really.  Well, we will remove the cabinet and put it somewhere else and put in a stacked washer and dryer.  It would have to be a small one since the opening is only about 25 inches, but it would sit flush with the other sink and not really be in the way at all.  We would still keep our washer & dryer that we have in the basement down there so that we can do big loads of towels, blankets, etc. but Brian could do some small loads of baby clothes and anything else that needed to be done.

2. Our claw foot tub is pretty, but it would have to go.  The legs always fall off, so we have never even used it actually.  After the tub is gone, we would put in a long vanity (we have a 7 foot wall so maybe a nice big 5ft counter top) with a deep kitchen sink like basin in it.  We would have to custom build the vanity so that Brian could get his whole wheelchair underneath the sink and then still have a few drawers.  Our thoughts are that with a big enough basin on this sink, Brian could not only bathe babies, but toddlers as well.  The kiddos would be at his level so it would be easy for him to get them in and out without having to do any awkward reaching.  The rest of the counter top could also serve as a changing table if need be or a place for him to get them dressed. 

I am feeling anxious about spending all this money to re-do a bathroom that seems perfectly fine, but I think it would really be convenient once I go back to work. 

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Vote!!

A friend of mine's blog was recently chosen as a finalist for RESOLVE's Blog for Hope or something like that.  RESOLVE is a National Intertility Association and this friend of mine is super excited to be a finalist!! If she wins, she gets to go to an event in September that they are putting on. 

She has been through a ton and is an amazing and honest writer about infertility.  Please check out her blog and vote if you like it! (Trust me, you will!)  Congrats Whitney! What an amazing achievement!

http://www.whitneyanderick.com/?p=3076&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+WhitneyErick+%28Whitney+%26+Erick%29

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Progress!!

Our unfinished basement has been sort of a sore subject between Brian and I lately since I want it finished ASAP and shouldn't really be painting, etc. while pregnant.  Well, today we went to the Home Depot and picked out our colors!  We are doing the ceiling a light grey, the walls a darker grey and one wall a purpley grey.  We also picked up some of this spray texture stuff to fix a couple rooms before they get painted. 

Also, the guy that is supposed to be doing all this was kind of procrastinating or something because of who knows why.  But, Brian talked to him today and he will be here on Monday to get started!  I feel like a huge weight has been lifted since I know this project actually has a start date which means there is an end in sight!  I think that once the work gets started it will go quickly!  Here's what needs to be done:
  • Finish texturing
  • Prime the whole basement
  • Paint
  • Install new doors and trim
  • Install carpet
  • Install new vanity and toilet in the bathroom
I am really hoping this will take two weeks or less so that I can start emptying out the room for the babies which is currently full guest room stuff, about 1,500 DVDs and a few random things that were stored in the closet.  Yay!

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Growing Babies, Growing Belly! 22w4d

I have gained about 20 pounds so far in the pregnancy and some days it really feels like 50!!



I am proud to say, however, that I can still wear some of my pre-pregnancy jeans!  Sometimes a girl just doesn't want a huge stretchy hot thing over her whole belly when its warm outside!

Friday, June 17, 2011

Love at first sight

I was looking through my blog posts the other day and I can't believe how fast this pregnancy has gone!!! It feels like just yesterday that I found out I was having twins and this was the ultrasound photo that I saw:



Now, at 22w2d I am feeling crazy thumping going on inside my body like two aliens are trying to break out!  Sometimes I can even see my tummy move which is a little nuts.  Last week my friend said to me, "Jess, do you realize that you have two humans in there?"  That thought really struck me!! I have two HUMANS growing inside of my own body.... So strange...

Now instead of looking like blobs, they look like tiny people just waiting to scream, poop, and pee.



Today I went shopping and stopped by the Baby Gap.... huge mistake!!  They were having a sale and everything in that store is just so stinking cute I can't hardly stand it.  I only bought a couple of things including the funniest onesies.

I saw this onesie a couple weeks ago and it wasn't on sale so I waited until it was!! I bought 2 of them so they could have matching cuteness on. 


Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Weekend Adventure in Minnesota & Wisconsin

Last week Brian and I went to a wedding in Northern Wisconsin and had a blast!  We packed a ton of good times into one weekend.  Here's a recap of the weekend! (With pictures of course!)

Thursday: We woke up at the crack of dawn to catch a plane.  We even woke up a little late (3:45 instead of 3:30) but still managed to get out the door and to the airport on time.  Since I wanted to go to the MN Twins game with my family and friends, Brian decided to hang out with his buddies instead!

Emily (sister), Michelle (friend) and Me! All in TWINS gear of course


We even brought signs to the game so that we might be "circled by Bert!" and get on T.V.!  The signs say "We <3 MN Twins... But our favorite twins are girls"  It also says Baby A and Baby B pointing to my belly!

I didn't get home from the game until about midnight, but it was so worth it!!! I had a blast! The game was super exciting and we won in the bottom of the 9th against Texas 5-4

Friday: Once again, we had to get up super early (6:30) so that we could be ready to go at 7:30 to get our rental car and be on our way to Wisconsin for Al & Mary Lee's wedding.  While we were on our way to the wedding, there wasn't much cell phone service so we really didn't expect to get any calls.  BUT, at about 10 a.m. Brian's phone rang.  He didn't recognize the phone number so he just ignored it.  As soon as his phone stopped ringing, mine started.  At that point we decided we better figure out who's calling. It turns out it was Camp Bow Wow... the place that we were boarding our doggie Urza.  They usually don't call unless something serious happened.... and yup, something serious had happened.  While Urza was playing with the other dogs, a German Shepherd decided that he wanted to attack Urza for no apparent reason.  The German was mad at some other dog and took it out on my dog.  I guess he lunged right for him and the employees had to actually put the German between her legs to control it and pry its jaw off of my dog.  Lovely picture eh?  Lets just say that Brian and I were not happy at all.  I worried all weekend about my baby Urza.  It turns out he had to get 8 staples in his shoulder. 

I already don't like to leave my dog behind when we go on vacation and now this? I think I will find a new place to board him.


Saturday: Before the wedding, we needed to get some breakfast since the place we were staying didn't have a restaurant.  We went to this Little place called Lake Placid Inn and the food was fabulous!

Verbie and Brian enjoying their Bloody Mary's with breakfast. 

The wedding was on Saturday and it started out to be a very chilly day.  As soon as it was time for the wedding to start the sun came out and the wind somewhat died down.  It was great!  I was so happy to be at a wedding for two people who were so in love!  Congrats Al  & Mary Lee!!!!!


Al & Mary Lee (Beautiful!)




Brian and I outside after the ceremony


Friends George and Sack- all dressed up! How handsome =)


The scenery- so beautiful!



Brian and I- Hanging out during the cocktail hour which I obviously could not partake in
In the background you can see a woman signing a book.  Brian wrote out their ceremony and then had people sign this book with advice for the couple! What a cute idea.


Brian giving me a little kiss

Table centerpiece


Pasta Buffet for dinner- yummm!


Sack being Sack- playing with the giant clothes pin

First dance as bride and groom


It was cold outside as soon as it started to get dark so I wanted a picture of me and my preggie belly in the dress I wore before putting on sweatpants and returning to the reception!

Bill (a friend) decided it was a good idea just to carry around a bottle of wine instead of a glass! ha ha


Brian and Bill (right) dedicated Ice Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice to Al (middle)

After the reception, we hung out by the bonfire for a little while.  At about 11 p.m. I honestly was pretty tired and went to bed, but the party went on until about 2:30 I was told.  Everyone had a great time!!!

Sunday:  Sunday we left the wedding at about 2 p.m. and drove back to MN.  It was a scenic drive but not the most exciting.  I ended up driving the whole way home! wowsers!  When we got back, Brian's brother, sister-in-law and their two kiddos met us at Brian's parents house for dinner.  We didn't get to spend much time with them since it was getting late and we had to be up early, but it was good to see them anyways.  After that, I finished up some homework and went to bed since we had to be up at 3:00 to catch a 6:30a.m. flight.  Luckily, Melissa (sister-in-law) was nice enough to take us to the airport so we didn't have to get a cab.  Thanks again!



Wednesday, June 8, 2011

And the verdict is......

We have two baby GIRLS!

I couldn't sleep last night and was very nervous about today's ultrasound.  But, there was nothing to be nervous about- all is well!  They checked everything out.... spine, brain, chambers in the heart, bladder, kidneys, hands, fingers, feet, toes, EVERYTHING!  As far as they can tell, the girls are "normal" babies.  Now to choose the names.... hmmmmmmm........

Both babies were measuring right on track at about 21 weeks.  They might have even been a few days ahead.  Baby A (the one who likes to kick and punch me already) weighs 15 ounces and Baby B (the gymnast that I can't feel yet) weighs about 14 ounces.  They are both in the 50-60th percentile which is fine. 

They measured my cervix today and it was 3.6cm.  When I went in 2 weeks ago it was 4.6cm so how it shortened by 1cm in 2 weeks is beyond me.  Just one more thing to worry about!  The doc said that it could just be normal shortening and it could hold here for a while... OR it could shorten more and he would have to put in a stitch to keep it closed.  I go back in 2 1/2 weeks to get the cervix checked and then the doc will make a decision about what to do depending on the situation.  Until then, I am going to keep taking it easy and not lift anything heavy so that we can keep the cervix nice and long and closed.   

Like our last big ultrasound, they told us to bring a flash drive so that they could upload some pictures for us. 





this picture looks odd, but the tech was looking to see how the valves in the heart were working



























Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Seriously Distracted

I know that its only Tuesday, but I have sooooo much to do before going back to MN/WI for a wedding this weekend.  I am my last class to get my Master's degree and our work for the week is due on Sunday.  The only problem is that we are leaving CO on Thursday morning and not coming back until Monday.  I do have a laptop and plan on bringing it with, but what the odds that I will seriously have any time to work on class work.  I am thinking slim to none. 

I have to write this incredibly boring literature review to turn in on Sunday.  I have already searched for my articles, reviewed the articles, and organized the material into themes so that it will hopefully flow nicely.  Yes, it may sound like a lot of the work is done, but that was really the easy part.  Now I have to worry about my "voice" in the paper, the real organization, word choice, correct citations, blah blah blah. I am honestly being very childish because I just don't feel like writing!  I really don't have anything going on tonight (besides maybe watching the MN Twins game) but I can write and keep an ear open at the same time. 

I could wait until tomorrow to work on this, but tomorrow I have to go to the doc to check out the babies..... its the Level II ultrasound where they measure EVERYTHING so the ultrasound alone will take 2 hours and then we will meet with the doc to go over the results.  So if no one is late or takes too long we will be at the doc for 2 1/2 hours.  After that I need to go to Target and buy some laundry soap so that I can wash my clothes.  I also need to try on some different options for this wedding and actually decide on something to wear because I am only bringing a carry-on luggage.  I would really like to get a pedicure before going too.  I have such big ugly feet that I feel I always need to have pretty polished toes with a cute flower of some sort so that I don't look like Bigfoot in my size 10 shoes.  Last but not least, tomorrow I need to actually get some sleep! We have a very early flight and I don't want to wreck our 1st day in MN on Thursday by being super tired and cranky. 

Ok, well now that I've proved that I know how to type, I suppose I have no excuses left for why I shouldn't be typing my paper.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

*WAM* *POW*

Every day I am feeling the babies kicking/punching/head-butting me more and more.  I only seem to be feeling the twin that hangs out on the right side though.  Sometimes I feel some movement on the left side down low on my belly, so I guess that one just hangs out there.  Also, I think that I remember the doctor saying that one of my placentas is at the front of my uterus and one is at the back, so the twinkie on the side of the one at the front wouldn't be able to kick me as much because he/she would just be kicking the placenta instead. 

I was worried about that at first, but when I went in last week both hearts were beating away and everything was all good.  I wasn't supposed to go in until Wed. but I was having some strange pains in my lower belly and wanted to check things out.  I am honestly scared to death of pre-term labor and have never been in labor before so I wanted to make sure the babies were fine.  They also checked my cervix to make sure that it was long and it seems to be holding steady at about 4.6cm which I was told is a great number. 

Basically, the doc told me to drink more water.  Seems obvious, but I find myself having to make a conscious effort to actually drink more water.  I bought a Britta water pitcher and a new water bottle to make it easier, but all it seems to do is make me pee more often which is super annoying.   Oh well, I guess thats a small price to pay for having two healthy babies.

Only 3 more sleeps until I find out what they are!! I can't wait!!!

Friday, June 3, 2011

Baby Bump 20w2d

Here is the half way there picture!!


Update on the baby stuff crisis from last week: I met with the other twin mom that I met at Old Navy a couple weeks ago and got a TON of stuff from her! She was super nice.  I got 2 car seats, a snap and go stroller, 2 bouncy/vibrating seats, a play mat, boppy pillow, huge cute teddy bear, baby wipe warmer, baby bjorn, a huge back of super cute maternity clothes, and lots of good advice!  She also has a changing table that she wants to give us, but I didn't have room in my SUV with all the rest of that stuff!  All I can say is that I was very lucky to meet such a nice woman.  She was so happy to be able to give her stuff away to another (soon to be) twin mom.  I really hope to keep in touch with this woman.  The only problem is that she lives about 30 miles away from me.  But, I guess thats what e-mail and phone calls are for, right?

On a side note, only 5 more days until we find out if we are having girls or boys!!! I can't wait!! =D

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Half way there!

Today marks 20 weeks which is officially half way to seeing my babies!! In reality, this is probably more than half way since I don't expect to keep the kiddos cooking until the 40 week mark.  As many people have told me, at the end of this pregnancy I will be so huge and uncomfortable that I will just want them OUT! I will also be working the last month or so of the pregnancy so I'm sure that will help the time go quickly. 

The plans for today are to get outside and enjoy the beautiful weather! Its going to be 90 degrees today so I think that sounds like the perfect weather for going to a pool!  My friends have a community pool in their neighborhood that they let me use when they don't want to go... so the best part about it is that its free!

I know that I shouldn't sit outside too long so that I don't overheat or get dehydrated so I am only going to the pool for about 2 hours.  I sent Brian out to Walmart for some SPF 30 sunscreen last night so that should do the trick.  Normally I put on SPF 15 so that I can get that light golden brown, but my skin seems to be more sensitive lately so I think I will take more precautions as to not get burned.

After the pool, I am going to meet a woman and buy her used twins' carseats for my twinkies!  This is the woman that I met at Old Navy.  She said that she also has some other random baby stuff that she wants to get rid of, so we will see whats there!  I already emptied out the back of my SUV so that I can fill it up with lovely stuff!  In fact, I actually emptied it out yesterday so that I could fit a CRIB in there!  We ended up finding one of the "Babee Tenda" cribs on craigslist for only $75!  They retail for about $900 so that seemed like a steal of a deal to me.  We will have to modify the crib still, but if we are unsuccessful then well, we didn't spend very much on it in the first place so its alright.  The crib is in really good condition too.  There are a few nicks and scratches on it, but its white so thats nothing a fresh coat of paint can't cure. 

I will definitley be taking a 20 week bump picture today, but I will wait until I have actually showerd and  brushed my hair so that I don't look like a mess! =D