34 Weeks

Baby’s senses are continuing to improve -- when light peeks in through your (extremely) stretched belly, those tiny eyelids and irises blink and dilate. And, baby can now recognize and react to simple songs… time to start practicing your lullabies! Growth (at least inside your womb) is starting to slow, and you may notice baby descend into your pelvis at the end of this month.

I'm 34 weeks and one day pregnant today with the twins! And we have now entered the time of crazy doctor appointments! Since last Monday I have been to 5 appointments at various different places! 1 regular ob appointment, 1 ultra sound, and 3 non stress tests (from here on out, called NST). Time to give an update on all!

My OB appointment last week was uneventful. Same as it always is. Everything is good with the babies, and I am now measuring 40-41 weeks! She got us set up to start going to my nst's twice a week, starting immediately after that appointment. Bad news was she told us that our hospital is now restricting visitors during the flu season, and anyone under the age of 18 is not allowed in unless they are a patient themselves. This mean's that Sean has to take care of Lily at all these nst's that I now have to go to alone. And of course means Lily wont be able to come to the hospital to meet the babies after they are born. So very very sad about that. We knew it was coming, as other hospitals in the area already had similar policies in effect. I was hoping we would luck out with our smaller hospital though. No such luck!

So directly after that appointment we headed off to the hospital for my first nst. Once there I have to go through the ER to get admitted. I'm not going to get started on how upsetting that is to me, that they are putting all these restrictions in place to keep their patients and staff healthy, but yet they make us pregnant women, who are among those at the most risk if H1N1 is contracted, walk right through the ER, where all the sick people are going! Twice a week I have to go through the ER, and sit in the same room as these people who may be sick, just to get admitted each time! Anyway, while getting admitted, I notice a piece of paper taped to the desk further detailing the visitor restrictions at the hospital, and learn that on the family first wing (where I'll be having the babies) they are limiting their visitor to the spouse or significant other only (if spouse is sick though, he can't come in either, and I can have one support person). So it looks like the whole time at the hospital it will be just Sean and me. This whole h1n1 thing is making a big mess of this birth! It's kind of depressing!

Anyway, back to the NST itself. Each time they hook me up to two heart beat monitors and a contraction monitor, and give me a button to push when I feel the babies move. The goal I believe is to get a certain number of movements in a set time, and for the babies heart rates to respond appropriately to these movements. (I believe the heart rate is suppose to increase with the movement, and then go back to normal. I could be wrong about that though!) I think they are also watching for how the baby responds to a contraction. This first nst went well. Both babies were a little lazy at first, so we had to wake them up with some soda, but they got moving after that, and both passed easily. And I had no contractions at all during the test. I unfortunately was very uncomfortable the whole test. At the beginning when the took my blood pressure it was low (90/74) and I was dizzy. The soda was suppose to help with that too. I was dizzy the whole test, most likely from the pressure of the babies on my back. My BP did go up some by the end before I left though, and the dizziness ended once I was off my back.

Last Friday I had my second NST. This one also went very well. I ate a piece of chocolate right before we left, which got both the babies moving around like crazy! No dizziness and bp was fine this time too. I had one contraction during the test, but it was no biggie. Good appointment!

Monday was my 34 week u/s. I was concerned about this one because of the weight discordance we had last time. Sean wasn't able to come into this one either because he had to watch Lily, so I was dreading getting bad news about baby B's weight all by myself. Luckily, this was a GREAT u/s! Baby B is doing great in size, and closing in on baby A! Baby A weighed in at 5lbs 1oz, and baby B at 4lbs 13oz. I'm so happy to see that they are much closer in size now! And wow is that a lot of baby to be carrying around all at once. Almost 10 pounds combined! And they are still growing!! The doctor said they are right on track for 34 weeks. Baby A's heart beat was 156bpm and B's was 160bpm (first time B's heart rate has been faster!) And the best news we got...they were both head down!!!!

Yesterday was my 3rd NST. This one did not go as easily as the first two. Baby B was difficult to find. Since I had just had my u/s the day before, I was able to tell the nurse that they were both head down, so we found heart beats at where they should be for 2 head down babies, but the beats were very similar and were following each other. We couldn't be certain we were monitoring both babies, or the same baby twice. I believe it was both babies at first, but B must have flipped during the test, and we were just recording A. After search for B for quite a while, she pulled in the u/s to get a quick look to see where each heart was...and sure enough, B has flipped...no longer head down (well that excitement of them both being in the ideal position for birth was short lived!). Then we sat for a while waiting for B to move so we could get the reading needed so I could go home. B just did not want to move for us! In total I was there for just over 2 hours trying to get B to respond. These test are only suppose to take 30 minutes. It wasn't until the nurse had my OB come in to check on things (who was already at the hospital with another patient) that B started moving around. Literally as soon as she came in the room, B started moving like crazy! Figures. Mean while, the whole test I was having regular contractions, with some that were painful. My doctor didn't seem to pay much attention to those though, and said I was finally free to go home! Let's hope my next nst isn't that difficult!

As for how I'm doing, as well as can be expected for 34 weeks pregnant with twins. I'm starting to get nervous about how little time there is left before they are here. They literally could be here any day now! The doctor at my u/s said they would expect me to deliver within the next 1-2 weeks. I'm hoping to get to at least 37 weeks though, and I think my body can do it. I don't have another regular OB appointment until next Thursday, and I expect to get my cervix checked then. I wouldn't be surprised if I was dilating already. The contractions I get every night have been getting stronger, and I can now feel the weight of baby A on my cervix every time I stand up. But I also know I could be walking around 4cm dilated for weeks and then have to be induced! All I can do in the mean time is try to get our house as prepared as possible, so we're ready for their arrival at any time. I think it's time to pack that hospital bag!

And as for the babies, here's what I'm starting to learn about their personalities. Baby A is my mover and shaker. This baby moves around a lot more than it's sibling. B is my laid back baby! They both love chocolate though, and will bounce around whenever I eat any! Baby A also gets the hiccups almost every day now. I don't feel them with B hardly ever, but usually at least once a day I feel that A has them. This reminds me of Lily, because she had them every day before and after she was born! It's fun feeling that sensation again!

Ok, this is getting terribly long, so I'll end with another baby belly picture of me and Becky. I'm 33 weeks and 3 days pregnant, and Becky is 26 weeks pregnant.


Picture stolen from Becky.

Wish me luck for my next NST on Friday! I hope this one goes more like my first two!