Contractions

    SO, Braxton-Hicks contractions are supposed to be these "painless" practice contractions for your body to get ready for labor.  First of all, I find this unfair seeing as I am having a c-section and I have no need to practice for labor, secondly, my nurse told me they are painless but "they will definitely take your breath away"...she was NOT kidding.  Sometimes, I have had to lean back in my chair and try to steadily control what little breathing I have left while they pass.  So, last night I woke up several times in the night with this tightening/breathless feeling in my belly and in my back.  I just attributed it to all the wonderful other pains I have been having and tried to go back to sleep.  As today has worn on, the pains have been more frequent, a little longer, and breathless is an UNDERSTATEMENT.  Around 2:30 I went to my Assistant Principal and told her the situation and that I wanted to head to Labor and Delivery JUST TO BE SURE...she sent me on.
   I arrived at L&D at about 3 and there was no one in front of me.  I signed in and was back in a room and a gown by about 3:30.  I got a very sweet nurse, Jo, and she came in and told me she would be taking care of me.  Now, here's the thing about Jo.  She was MUCH older and she was wearing a mask over her mouth and nose so I was immediately alarmed but she quickly explained she had jaw surgery.  I told her I had the same surgery when I was 12 but it became increasingly clear that I wasn't understanding Jo.  Anyway, both babies monitored fine and I was, indeed, having contractions and they were decently close together but they were "small and short".  I kept asking what that meant, was that a cause for concern etc. and Jo just kept saying "we will keep watching and I will let the doctor know".  Ughhhhhhh...finally, she comes back to me with a pill and some water and says the doctor wants me to take this pill, Procardia, and see if that doesn't "calm things down".  She also said the doctor wanted her to check my cervix...I will spare you the full details of that experience.  Let's just say, her last words to me before she started were "I will be gentle..." well, I would hate to feel what rough was like. Whew. After my roto-rootering, she found that I was NOT dilated which was great news. After about 45 minutes on the monitors and 459845 solitaire games on my phone, Jo came back and looked at the paper and sure enough, contractions had slowed to nearly nothing.  She brought me back my discharge paperwork and it was time for me to make the million hour trek home in the Dallas traffic.

Pink for McKenna, Blue for Owen, and Blue for Mommy's contractions!

   I consider it a successful visit...I got to hear both babies (although my active son moved around so much that the monitor lost him...twice) and I was not in any sort of active labor.  I go back to the doctor on Tuesday and I intend to ask him if I need to continue taking the Procardia at home if this continues to happen. I hope and pray the next time I go back to that hospital its to have my healthy, full term babies....so I will keep on praying!

Everything Hurts....I mean, we had a busy weekend!

    Yes, its getting to where I don't know that I have lots of positive things to say about this pregnancy at this very moment EXCEPT that I really do:

1) My babies are big and healthy!
2) We have made it to 30 weeks and 5 days and if they were born tomorrow the likelihood of long term birth defects or difficulty is very, very low.
3)  They are growing similarly which means that one is not getting more nourished than the other...also wonderful signs.
4)  I am still "complication free" (knock on wood)...no pre-eclampsia, high blood pressure (took it in the nurse's office today 122/62) and everything is still locked up tight down there.
5)  We are about 90% ready for them...and I am not entirely sure we will ever get 100% ready so maybe I should be pumped for 90%!!!
6)  My sister's wedding, which has been my goal attend/be matron of honor this entire pregnancy, is in 18 short days and its gonna happen...I'm gonna waddle up that aisle and be there to see her big day!!!!

   I am sure there are more but the pain radiating from my rib cage down into my belly and wrapping around into my lower back keeps me from continuing to surf the positivity wave.  Ok, now I will write my list of things I don't love...

1)  I.cannot.breathe....I am out of breath CONSTANTLY and I think its starting to freak Mason out. Seriously, mid-conversation it will become clear that I have spoken more words than the babies are happy to allow and I start panting like a dog who hasn't had water in a year.  Sexy, I tell you.
2)  I am never NOT in pain.  There are positions that "ease" the pain, namely, laying back in the recliner in the nursery and laying flat on my back in bed.  However, once I lay flat on my back I begin to stop breathing so I have to nix that plan.  But pain, pain, pain, pain, all the time.  In my ribcage, my back, my belly, my legs, my hips, my knees...you get the picture.
3)  I now require a stool in the bathroom to sit on to dry my hair, brush my teeth, or do my makeup (hahahahahahahaha...that's funny).  The stool then moves to the kitchen in order for me to assist with cooking dinner, reading the mail, or eating dinner with Mason.
4)  My belly button is about to pop and it freaks me out. Mason, however, thinks its hilarious and takes every opportunity possible to poke at it. I also itch constantly and no lotion has proven capable of taking the itch away.
5)  I can't eat as much as I want to because there is no more room for food, babies, AND air.  So I have taken to eating a pint of Blue Bell every night...slides down just fine!
6)  The production that has become bedtime and trying to sleep is actually somewhat comical but nonetheless, obnoxious.  I have to lay two pillows vertically on the bed, then one horizontal for my head, then another down towards the end of the bed to go between my feet and legs.  I throw back the covers once all the pillows are in place, then I climb up on the bed on my knees and literally fall/flop/drop into the pillow nest I have made.  Then I tuck another pillow behind my back and have to have Mason cover me up...by this time, I am usually breathing like a 60 year-old man who has smoked 3 packs a day for the past 50 years.  This position lasts 4 minutes until the hip I am laying on hurts and its time to flip over.  Repeat above.

    I don't like to be slow, I don't like to have people help me with things, and I don't like that if I want to get things done I have to evaluate whether I will have the physical or BREATHABLE capability of completing all tasks.  So anyway, end of rant....I am sure I will be posting a similar post again in the next ten days or so.

    This past weekend we knocked out SEVERAL things on our baby-to-do list and we only raised voices maybe once...ok, twice!  Mason got the carseats installed and then tutored me on how to work them.

   Mason hung me an old Elfa shelf on the door of the nursery closet to help with some organization of diapers and bath supplies...

  We also worked on our hospital bags and they are about 90% packed after a run to Wal-Mart for travel toiletries, slippers etc. 

   I am also now pre-registered at the hospital, I have submitted my claim to the insurance company for my FREE Medela Breast pump (covered by insurance) and it has already been approved and is on its way to me!!! We also worked in the guest room closet cleaning and moving things around because that is going to be the overflow for whatever doesn't fit in the kids closet.  My wonderful mama is coming over this weekend and next to help me organize their dresser and closet and sort through some more wonderful clothes that were given to me and get them put into bins and stored away. 

   My wonderful sister-in-law and Owen and McKenna's Aunt Sissa spent WAY TOO MUCH and purchased us lots of little things we were still lacking.  Exciting stuff like butt cream and hangers...but nevertheless, she pretty much set us for supplies. 

   So to wrap up...pregnant with twins is hard, we are pretty close to being ready, I need a nap....

29 Weeks + 2 Days (54 days until C-Section!)

    Today is Doctor Appointment day!!!  I really do look forward to these appointments because I get to see the babies but I am a little nervous about today.  I am entering the time when complications like preeclampsia and preterm labor start up for moms carrying multiples.  Not to mention I have been in pain this week like NO OTHER.  It was so bad Monday I was near tears.  Its a burning, stretching, aching that is under my ribs in both front and back and radiates down my sides (or flanks as WebMD calls it...appropriate because I feel about the size of a horse and that's what they call their sides too). I have also been having lots of Braxton-Hicks contractions especially at night.  They aren't painful, they just make my belly really tight and I have to slow my breathing a little until they pass. The babies have still been moving around a lot (Owen more so than McKenna) although now, when Mason puts his hands on my belly they stop...sneaky little things. 
   Anyway, I have been adding to my running list in my phone of everything that needs to happen before the babies come and its getting longer and longer and more overwhelming really. Here are just a few tidbits:

* Finish Nursery
* Finish shower thank you notes
* Clean out the office
* Research/Interview/Select Pediatrician
* Pack bags
* Get coming home outfits
* Install carseats
* Get all Disability/FMLA Paperwork completed
* Get contact list together for Mason
* Figure out dog arrangements 
* Call insurance about breast pump

    And the list goes onnnnnn to include things like "make freezer meals" "schedule housekeeper for the week after we come home" etc.  Some of these things are obviously not going to get done like clean out the office, pssssshhhhh, thats been on my list to do since 3 summers ago, and every Christmas break, and Spring break etc. since then.  Anyway, what will get done will get done and they are coming regardless so I just hold onto that little piece of knowledge.  

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   Doctor visit(s) were a SUCCESS!!!  Dr. Richards and I discussed everything from cord blood banking to childbirth classes to what happens if I go into labor prior to my C-section.  He said that after 34 weeks he won't stop labor, he will just deliver me.  We also talked about the NICU and the Special Care Nursery and whether or not I would get to hold them immediately in the delivery room if they come on time at 37 weeks.  I really, really love Dr. Richards...he's the best.  I also told him all my pregnancy complaints symptoms and he said "sounds pretty right for the third trimester of a twin pregnancy"...awesome!  AND THEN he got out the tape measure and measured this belly....you ready...FORTY THREE WEEKS. This stomach is the size of a woman who is carrying one baby and is THREE WEEKS overdue.  No wonder I can't breathe, or sit up, or walk further than 20 steps...and I still have 7.5 weeks to go.  I cannot even imagine how giant I am going to get. My blood pressure was great and he also actually said he was "pleased" with my weight gain.  First and last time I will probably ever hear that one!  He felt comfortable not repeating my blood test so I scheduled my next two appointments and I was out of there!  On to Dr. Rhinehart!
   I have made previous posts about the wait time at Rhinehart's and I was expecting the same today.  I signed in at 2:32 (appointment time was 3:15) and settled into a chair with my phone ready for the marathon wait.  5 minutes later they called me back. I immediately texted Mason and told him it was our lucky day and to go buy lottery tickets!  I got on the table and figured this would be where I would wait...maybe 6 minutes later, in comes the tech.  She was wonderful and started her measurements and taking pictures of the babies.  She measured Owen first and her exact words were "his head is GIANT" and he was facing my back nearly the entire time so she couldn't get great photos of him but she also said his femur bone was "looooooong" and that he was going to be tall if that kept up.  So after she measured his head, his belly, and his femur he weighed in at 3 pounds 9 ounces!  She moved over to McKenna who I was so glad was still there because she never moves.  She said "she has an average size head but a large belly" to which I replied "hmmmm kind of like her mother".  She also had an average size femur bone and weighed in at 3 pounds 6 ounces.  I was so glad a) they have put on nearly a pound and a half in 4 weeks and b) their weights are still very close.  I've been told that if one starts to drastically outweigh/outgrow the other then that's a big problem. To recap, my son has a giant head and my daughter has a Buddha Belly...and I can't WAIT to see that giant head and belly!!!  She checked my cervix...long and closed and I also wondered aloud if they may have hair yet.  She checked McKenna...no hair.  She couldn't check Owen's head because it was jammed so low in my cervix...yummy.  Owen is head down with his feet in my ribs and McKenna is head up in my ribs and feet down at my cervix...no wonder my rib cage burns all.the.time. She finished up and told me the Doctor would be in momentarily.
    I got to see Rhinehart again!!!  He came in and put the wand on me and his first comment was "they're huge"...thaaaaaaaaanks!  He looked around a bit and asked how I was feeling. I told him IN PAIN and he agreed with Dr. Richards...sounds like 3rd trimester with twins!  He cautioned me to really watch my back because I have no more core and only the use of about 50% of my abdominal muscles.  He also told me that babies born past 28 weeks have a 97% survival rate so I am in a great spot time wise.  He looked at me and said "awesome kids and lets go three weeks this time"!  So I cleaned up and scheduled my next appointment (I will be 32 weeks) and I was out of there by 3:15...my actual appointment time!  It was fabulous!  I was back in Rockwall by 4! 
   I leave a belly shot...a giant, 43 week measuring belly shot!!

Maternity Pictures

    Soooo, in case I haven't made it clear in this blog thus far, I am not one of those glowing, dewy, happy pregnant women.  I am the pregnant woman that has already outgrown her maternity pants, hurts most of the time, can't bend over, loses her breath, and feels like the size of a small circus tent most days.  It has really been a struggle, actually, because I feel very, very strange during pregnancy. I don't really wear makeup or put much effort into my appearance past showering and making sure my hair looks semi-manageable. I don't know why...I just don't feel...myself. Don't get me wrong, I know what I am doing is super important and I wouldn't trade it for anything, I guess I just look at it as an "out of body" experience for these 9 months and then I will go back to being myself after they are born, maybe?  To which people laugh and say "HAHAHAHAHA...no you won't" which incites a fresh wave of panic, but I digress.  When the opportunity to have these maternity photos came about I knew I should do it because I want to look back one day and say "ohhhhhh, I was still a little pretty and look how my body grew TWO babies, etc.".  So, I did it up big.  I had my good friend Randi do my makeup, curled my hair (and used product!) and put on my lacy shirt and only pair of pants that still fit and Mason and I headed out to Royse City. 
   I cannot say ENOUGH about Nicole Woodard, our photographer that took these pictures.  She was also VERY pregnant and still managed to climb into bushes and all around to get these shots.  She loves to use the sun and I think they came out AMAZING!

                               

We saw a picture like this on Pinterest years ago and Mason said he wanted to recreate it when our time came...HILARIOUS!

 

  

This guy...Mason...I cannot say ENOUGH how awesome he was during this shoot.  He had his pregnant wife AND a pregnant photographer so he was having to help us both up and down and breaking sticks and twigs to help make shots easier for Nicole.  He's a trooper...even though he told me he is SOOOOOO over pictures!  

  I have to say after seeing them, I still clean up decent.  Maybe a few years from now when I have cheerios in my hair, spit up on my shoulder, and two toddlers clinging to my legs I will look back at these pictures and long for the days I had a choice in putting on makeup and actually doing my hair. Until then, I will stick to just showers, decent hair, and wearing one of my 6 tops I haven't outgrown yet!

Roosting...

   One of my very best friends Melissa, has two boys, Dalton and Wyatt.  She has been saying that the MINUTE I found out whether I was having a boy she was packing all her boy stuff up and sending it to my house.  She even promised to do it if it were a girl too because "who cares" if she wears blue.  So she has been lovingly giving me things for MONTHS.  My guest room looked like a baby bomb went off in it but in all seriousness, there are a lot of things I won't have to get because she gave them to me already.  One of her, ahem, gifts was 9...count them NINE boxes of baby clothes.  All packed lovingly in old diaper boxes which are super legible to read sizes on...NOT.  So one of my projects has been to get all those boxes opened, gone through, and organized into month sizes. That way, when Owen starts to outgrow 6 month clothes I can simply go to the 6-9 month bin and pull it, wash it and be ready to go.  Well, this turned into a bigger project than I expected (I should really have this put on a t-shirt...walking from the bedroom to the living room is a bigger project than I expected at this point too). But, 2 hours, 9 boxes, and 2 loads of laundry later I was done...here's the evidence:

   I washed/hung/folded anything that was newborn up to 6 months because I don't know if I will have normal sized babies or super chunks.  Now, I have NO IDEA where we will put these finished masterpieces boxes but they are there and organized and labeled and they make my heart happy.  I still have the girls stuff to do as well but it is not nearly as IMMENSE as the boys clothes project.  Earlier, as all these clothes were strewn about the kitchen (had to work at the kitchen table...can't get up off the floor) Mason kind of looked at me funny.  He had been running the empty boxes to the trash without complaint but I finally stopped and told him the definition of of "nesting".  I explained to him that our house was filthy, nothing was done, and my head was going to explode if all chores didn't get done before the babies came...not really, I just tried to make him understand a moms need to make things perfect etc.  So later, after I have finished my clothes project, I fell down on the couch next to him and mumbled something about sorry I missed watching our TV show or whatever because I was busy and he said, "it's ok babe...I know you were roosting"...I nearly lost it I was trying so hard not to laugh.  LOVE. THAT. MAN... Roosting vs.Nesting...Close enough!

Nursery Update!

   Thank the LORD for 3-day weekends.  This has been such a great one and to know we don't have to go to work tomorrow...makes it 100x better. 
    So I have a running list in my phone of things that need to get done/cleaned out/prepared before the babies get here.  Since we are about 2 short months away from delivery I have been feeling the pinch and really I would like it all done right now...like today. This is a problem since I can do very little anymore without getting winded or being in pain so I have to rely on those around me.  Luckily, they have all stepped up!  We found shelves we liked at IKEA and still needed to hang the letters over the cribs so we tackled that...

 

Mason and Justin and some shelves that were SUPPOSED to be easy...

Finished Shelf Project!

Now I just need to organize them and put frames etc. up but this was just for visual purposes! (Can you tell I am obsessed with initials?)

   Next, we were onto the letters and praying they were a little easier than the shelves (they were...I say that as I watched from the recliner). Although, it did take 3 people...Mason to hold the laser level, Justin to mark the spots, and Sissa to stand back and make sure they were straight. The finished product...

  

  Its coming along!  My next project is to go through/organize all the clothes everyone has lovingly given us. But if they for some reason arrived today and came home tomorrow (ummmm no) they would have an 80% finished nursery and places to sleep. Not too much longer now!!! 

27 Weeks 1 Day and a Drs. Appointment

    Today was my first Drs. appointment in the "every 2 week" rotation.  Dr. Richards, my OB, wants to start seeing me every 2 weeks from here on out and my perinatologist wants to start every two weeks when I hit 30 weeks.  So, today was urine, blood pressure, measure the belly, and heartbeat check.  All was fabulous, however, he did send me for bloodwork when I told him I have been itching like CRAZY.  He said there is something pregnant women develop where they itch like crazy called Pups or something...he's 99% sure I don't have that but wants to rule it out.  Belly is measuring about 33.5 weeks and two strong heartbeats!  McKenna's was actually faster than Owen's which surprised me since he is like the energizer bunny in there.  Here's me today...

27 weeks 1 day

   Yesterday, when I got home from work we had so many packages on our front porch!  Our carseats, Owen's Rock N' Play from the Spanglers, and some miscellaneous things I had ordered that included McKenna's very own pink booger sucker which I am sure she will just LOVE as much as Lindsey and I loved when mom came at us with ours...NOT.  Here are our carseats with the adorable covers we ordered shortly after we found out we were having a boy and a girl....

I wish I had gotten her letters in block...hard to see her name but it's cute up close!

  I still can't believe someone is going to let us take PEOPLE home from the hospital in these seats AND let us KEEP THEM...but I sure can't wait!