Just a quick update. We went to the doctor today for our weekly checkup, and were told that it seems the cervix might be a bit shorter, but it is still closed up tight. So no hospitalization for me yet!! WooHoo. But back to bed rest at home.
So thankful for that.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Baby Room
Now on official bedrest, I have some time on my hands to update my blog… It has been about all things baby lately, but I cant help it! My life has been consumed by these two little girls growing inside of me.
So here is some more, but maybe a little less drama packed as my last week!
When Ben and I found out we were pregnant, we started thinking about our home, and how we were going to fit 2 more little people in it. When we moved here both of us were pretty bummed. We had a great house in TX, and it would have had PLENTY of room. In fact, we already had a “baby room” that would have just needed to be done up a little.
Here is a little different story. Apparently houses in TX are cheaper than houses in WA. We had to pay quite a bit more money for less house. So back to the dilemma. We really do have enough space, we are just picky and want what we want!
We have 2 bedrooms plus the master. Ben was using one as his office, and the other one is a guest bedroom. And we don’t live by family, and we really like them to visit. So we did not want to eliminate our guest bedroom. So we had to figure out where to put all the office furniture. So we have a huge desk/organizer that took up two whole walls in the bedroom, another smaller desk, and two roller chairs to fit somewhere else. So we reorganized the living room by adding all the bookshelves that were in the dining room, and moving the table a little closer to the door to be able to move the office furniture into the dining room. It is tight, but it all works.
So then it came time to fix up the office to be the new guest bedroom. Little did we know when we started…it became a huge job.
We knew that the previous owners had let their dogs sleep with their girl, and their dogs I do not think got “let outside” enough, because of the smell in that room. It had never been TERRIBLE, we just knew that we wanted to do what we could to eliminate it. So Ben cleaned the carpets…once…twice…three times, and all I can say is cleaning the carpets actually made it worse. So we had no choice we had to rip out the carpet and replace it.
Since the floor is also wood, we then had to buy some sort of “special paint” to paint the floor to make sure that the urine did not then come up from the floor boards into the new carpet.
We were always planning on re-painting the room because it was a nasty shade of blue (if pepto bismal was blue…the color of this room is what I would imagine it would look like).
BEFORE
So Ben works his butt off getting the carpet ripped out, the stuff painted on the floor, then we went and picked out paint for the walls, and he got that painted. (He is such a stud!)
AFTER
So in the meantime, we have been accumulating baby gear, and had to move all the stuff out of the office room into the spare room. So the spare room is a heaping pile of stuff!
SPARE BEDROOM
And the garage is a heaping pile of stuff too! So I have added some pics to show our before, our after, and our mess!
GARAGE
We are hoping that we can get the babies room done. Well, I guess with the situation I am in now I hope Ben can get all this done!
Bens Dad is coming next week to help out with some of the stuff that needs to be done, and just to visit. It will be so good for Ben to see his Dad, he has been excited about it for days.
So here is some more, but maybe a little less drama packed as my last week!
When Ben and I found out we were pregnant, we started thinking about our home, and how we were going to fit 2 more little people in it. When we moved here both of us were pretty bummed. We had a great house in TX, and it would have had PLENTY of room. In fact, we already had a “baby room” that would have just needed to be done up a little.
Here is a little different story. Apparently houses in TX are cheaper than houses in WA. We had to pay quite a bit more money for less house. So back to the dilemma. We really do have enough space, we are just picky and want what we want!
We have 2 bedrooms plus the master. Ben was using one as his office, and the other one is a guest bedroom. And we don’t live by family, and we really like them to visit. So we did not want to eliminate our guest bedroom. So we had to figure out where to put all the office furniture. So we have a huge desk/organizer that took up two whole walls in the bedroom, another smaller desk, and two roller chairs to fit somewhere else. So we reorganized the living room by adding all the bookshelves that were in the dining room, and moving the table a little closer to the door to be able to move the office furniture into the dining room. It is tight, but it all works.
So then it came time to fix up the office to be the new guest bedroom. Little did we know when we started…it became a huge job.
We knew that the previous owners had let their dogs sleep with their girl, and their dogs I do not think got “let outside” enough, because of the smell in that room. It had never been TERRIBLE, we just knew that we wanted to do what we could to eliminate it. So Ben cleaned the carpets…once…twice…three times, and all I can say is cleaning the carpets actually made it worse. So we had no choice we had to rip out the carpet and replace it.
Since the floor is also wood, we then had to buy some sort of “special paint” to paint the floor to make sure that the urine did not then come up from the floor boards into the new carpet.
We were always planning on re-painting the room because it was a nasty shade of blue (if pepto bismal was blue…the color of this room is what I would imagine it would look like).
BEFORE
So Ben works his butt off getting the carpet ripped out, the stuff painted on the floor, then we went and picked out paint for the walls, and he got that painted. (He is such a stud!)
AFTER
So in the meantime, we have been accumulating baby gear, and had to move all the stuff out of the office room into the spare room. So the spare room is a heaping pile of stuff!
SPARE BEDROOM
And the garage is a heaping pile of stuff too! So I have added some pics to show our before, our after, and our mess!
GARAGE
We are hoping that we can get the babies room done. Well, I guess with the situation I am in now I hope Ben can get all this done!
Bens Dad is coming next week to help out with some of the stuff that needs to be done, and just to visit. It will be so good for Ben to see his Dad, he has been excited about it for days.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Update
The Fetal fibronectin test came back positive, which is not a good thing. But they said my cervix is still closed, and has stayed the same length for a few days, so they let me go home to bed rest.
I have an appointment this Friday, and I am not sure what they are going to do. I do know they are going to do another ultrasound and check my cervix length, and the girls growth, but if all is not well, I am really not sure what the next steps are.
I am still having consistent contractions, but they expected this, and as long as they are not getting stronger, or causing other issues, they are fine.
They did give me the steroid shots while I was in the hospital for the girls, so that is one good thing. At least we will have that advantage if they decide to show up early. The Doctor originally told us that we need to at least make it to 32 weeks, to reduce any long term issues. So that is our next goal. We have 3 more days to make it to 32 weeks. Once we make that goal, our goal will be 34 weeks.
With the positive Ffn test, that may be stretching it, but it has been known to happen.
We just want to have these little girls come into the world as healthy and developed as possible.
Bed rest, and the meds they have me on are making me a bit crazy, and making poor Ben a little crazy too since he has to do everything! And then I want him to do it my way because all I can do is sit and watch. :) geez poor kid.
I have an appointment this Friday, and I am not sure what they are going to do. I do know they are going to do another ultrasound and check my cervix length, and the girls growth, but if all is not well, I am really not sure what the next steps are.
I am still having consistent contractions, but they expected this, and as long as they are not getting stronger, or causing other issues, they are fine.
They did give me the steroid shots while I was in the hospital for the girls, so that is one good thing. At least we will have that advantage if they decide to show up early. The Doctor originally told us that we need to at least make it to 32 weeks, to reduce any long term issues. So that is our next goal. We have 3 more days to make it to 32 weeks. Once we make that goal, our goal will be 34 weeks.
With the positive Ffn test, that may be stretching it, but it has been known to happen.
We just want to have these little girls come into the world as healthy and developed as possible.
Bed rest, and the meds they have me on are making me a bit crazy, and making poor Ben a little crazy too since he has to do everything! And then I want him to do it my way because all I can do is sit and watch. :) geez poor kid.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
What a week
We went to the specialist on Friday and did all the specialist things to check the babies, and he said that while they are small, he is not too concerned. They are not dangerously small.
That is the great news. Here is the not so great news.
My cervix has now shorted from 2.6 to 1.3cm. So the specialist called my doctor and they decided that it was time to put me on bedrest. It was a pretty stressful day. I had gone to work early, then gone to the doctor, then had to go back to work for just a bit since they were putting me on bedrest to clear up just a very few things.
We got home and I had been having contractions on and off all day that day but they were starting to get kind of bad. So I laid down for a couple of hours and drank two large glasses of water. Unfortunatly it did not work, and the contractions got harder and closer together. So off to the Birthing center for us. We thought we would get there and they would give us the same treatment as last time, just a shot of something, and that would take care of it.
But no...they admitted us, and they have kept us here in the hospital all weekend. They had me on an IV of Magnesium all weekend, which makes the contractions stop, and makes you feel terrible. They finally got the contractions to be far enough apart for comfort this morning that they took me off of the Magnesium IV, and off the monitors for a while. They have me on another medication 3 times a day to keep the contractions stopped but it is a pill, so I can actually move around a little bit without being hooked up to all those things. They still hook me up about 3 times a day for an hour to monitor the babies and my contractions, but this is so much better.
They are saying that if we can keep the contractions at a minnimum overnight, and they will take another Fetal Fibronectn test and if it is negative, they will let me go home.
But I will be on bedrest. I will have to have poor Ben do pretty much everything for me. That is going to be hard. Dont know how I will do stuck in one spot. But I am sure that I will be fine, and it will be so worth it to get home, and then to keep these girls where they need to be for a few more weeks.
That is the update. Hopefully it will be good news tomorrow.
That is the great news. Here is the not so great news.
My cervix has now shorted from 2.6 to 1.3cm. So the specialist called my doctor and they decided that it was time to put me on bedrest. It was a pretty stressful day. I had gone to work early, then gone to the doctor, then had to go back to work for just a bit since they were putting me on bedrest to clear up just a very few things.
We got home and I had been having contractions on and off all day that day but they were starting to get kind of bad. So I laid down for a couple of hours and drank two large glasses of water. Unfortunatly it did not work, and the contractions got harder and closer together. So off to the Birthing center for us. We thought we would get there and they would give us the same treatment as last time, just a shot of something, and that would take care of it.
But no...they admitted us, and they have kept us here in the hospital all weekend. They had me on an IV of Magnesium all weekend, which makes the contractions stop, and makes you feel terrible. They finally got the contractions to be far enough apart for comfort this morning that they took me off of the Magnesium IV, and off the monitors for a while. They have me on another medication 3 times a day to keep the contractions stopped but it is a pill, so I can actually move around a little bit without being hooked up to all those things. They still hook me up about 3 times a day for an hour to monitor the babies and my contractions, but this is so much better.
They are saying that if we can keep the contractions at a minnimum overnight, and they will take another Fetal Fibronectn test and if it is negative, they will let me go home.
But I will be on bedrest. I will have to have poor Ben do pretty much everything for me. That is going to be hard. Dont know how I will do stuck in one spot. But I am sure that I will be fine, and it will be so worth it to get home, and then to keep these girls where they need to be for a few more weeks.
That is the update. Hopefully it will be good news tomorrow.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Dont know what to think
We went in for a growth ultrasound today, and the results were that the girls were about a week behind in growth. They were pretty much the same size. But small. We are hoping that they are just small. However, our doctor is referring us to a Perinatologist to check for other things that it could be. Things that I looked up on the Internet(don't know why I do this to myself). There are some really scary reasons why babies are behind in growth. Now I am feeling very nervous for both of them. I am hoping that we can get in to see the specialist soon. My doctor said he is the only Perinatologist in the area, so he is usually swamped but they were going to call him and try to get me in this week or next.
I am hoping for the very best which from what I see is just that I am not taking in enough calories that should be easy enough to fix.
But my heart is nervous for my babies.
Ben and I both would appreciate any prayers that can be sent our way. It may be nothing big, and that is what we are praying for. That these little girls will be happy, healthy, normal little girls.
I am hoping for the very best which from what I see is just that I am not taking in enough calories that should be easy enough to fix.
But my heart is nervous for my babies.
Ben and I both would appreciate any prayers that can be sent our way. It may be nothing big, and that is what we are praying for. That these little girls will be happy, healthy, normal little girls.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Little Scare
On Tuesday morning about 1 in the morning, I woke up with a feeling that something was just not right. I got out of bed, visited the bathroom, and then went out and sat on the couch for a bit. Things still felt wrong, so I called the nurses line that is available with my insurance to explain my feelings, and see if they were fine, or something I needed to be concerned about. They told me that the would suggest I call my After hours doctor, which where I live is actually the birthing center nurses. So I called them, and they asked if with the feelings I was having I was also having contractions. Never having contractions before, I told them I really did not know. They told me that I would figure it out if they got strong enough or close enough together that I would need to come it. Then she said the guide is if you have more than 4-6 in an hour to go ahead and come in.
The last few minutes of our conversation I thought I figured out what a contraction felt like. So I sat on the couch for about a half hour seeing if I was indeed having contractions. I soon figured that I was, and in one of our birthing classes we were told that the difference between Braxton-hicks, and real contractions was that real contractions were very consistent. And BH contractions were sporadic. So...I went and woke Ben up and asked him to use his phone app that is a stop watch to time my contractions. When they got to be a consistent 8 minutes apart, we decided to go in to the birthing center.
Once we got there and got all hooked up the contractions were 4 minutes apart. They gave me a shot of something to stop the contractions which worked pretty quickly. Then they monitored me for another 6 hours to make sure they were gone. The contractions came back, but now they were more like 30 mins apart, so they checked all the other things they need to and did a fetal fibronectin test which came back negative, and released me saying that I needed to talk to my doctor about the possibility of going on some contraction reducing meds for the rest of my pregnancy.
The contractions have not gone away, but are just mild, and not as often. (usually start up after a long day)
I spoke to my doc yesterday, and he said that for now he would prefer not to have me start any other drugs, and he would like to wait and see if my body can maintain the contractions that are further apart before he adds any drugs.
He did have me go from full time working to half days to try to make me less worn out which in turn would maybe give my body a better chance of not starting labor.
Everything else looks good, and so they are not too concerned with contractions at this point. So I guess I will try to take it easier and not worry about it too much either unless they get close together again.
Not sure I want to go back to the birthing center again until I am good and ready to let these girls come into the world for good.
The last few minutes of our conversation I thought I figured out what a contraction felt like. So I sat on the couch for about a half hour seeing if I was indeed having contractions. I soon figured that I was, and in one of our birthing classes we were told that the difference between Braxton-hicks, and real contractions was that real contractions were very consistent. And BH contractions were sporadic. So...I went and woke Ben up and asked him to use his phone app that is a stop watch to time my contractions. When they got to be a consistent 8 minutes apart, we decided to go in to the birthing center.
Once we got there and got all hooked up the contractions were 4 minutes apart. They gave me a shot of something to stop the contractions which worked pretty quickly. Then they monitored me for another 6 hours to make sure they were gone. The contractions came back, but now they were more like 30 mins apart, so they checked all the other things they need to and did a fetal fibronectin test which came back negative, and released me saying that I needed to talk to my doctor about the possibility of going on some contraction reducing meds for the rest of my pregnancy.
The contractions have not gone away, but are just mild, and not as often. (usually start up after a long day)
I spoke to my doc yesterday, and he said that for now he would prefer not to have me start any other drugs, and he would like to wait and see if my body can maintain the contractions that are further apart before he adds any drugs.
He did have me go from full time working to half days to try to make me less worn out which in turn would maybe give my body a better chance of not starting labor.
Everything else looks good, and so they are not too concerned with contractions at this point. So I guess I will try to take it easier and not worry about it too much either unless they get close together again.
Not sure I want to go back to the birthing center again until I am good and ready to let these girls come into the world for good.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Friday, May 6, 2011
Work Baby Shower
Today at work I was surprised with the management team throwing me a baby shower. I work with some great people. First, they kept it a surprise which in a retail store is NOT easy. Second, they were very generous, especially in such times as these.
I was given a baby stroller for twins, 2 car seats, and many other baby items; Homemade hooded towels, homemade receiving blankets, clothes, blankets, a diaper bag, gift cards, a monitor.
I feel so incredibly blessed to have such a great group of people that I work with. It puts my mind at ease that I now have most of the essentials.
So now with the craigslisting that Ben and I have done and gifts from awesome people, we have both cribs and mattresses, the bumper/bedding sets for both cribs, a nice big changing table/dresser with lots of drawers, a baby bathtub, a double stroller, 2 car seats, a pack and play, baby clothes, blankets, bath stuff. All of this has been incredible.
We still have more to get (it seems the list actually never gets smaller!) but with the generosity of others, I think I can breathe a little easier. We have some quite spendy things that I think we can now scrape together money for which before we were quite worried!
Now we have to get the nursery started. It is going to be a big job, and we have been slow at getting started. But it is getting that time.
I was given a baby stroller for twins, 2 car seats, and many other baby items; Homemade hooded towels, homemade receiving blankets, clothes, blankets, a diaper bag, gift cards, a monitor.
I feel so incredibly blessed to have such a great group of people that I work with. It puts my mind at ease that I now have most of the essentials.
So now with the craigslisting that Ben and I have done and gifts from awesome people, we have both cribs and mattresses, the bumper/bedding sets for both cribs, a nice big changing table/dresser with lots of drawers, a baby bathtub, a double stroller, 2 car seats, a pack and play, baby clothes, blankets, bath stuff. All of this has been incredible.
We still have more to get (it seems the list actually never gets smaller!) but with the generosity of others, I think I can breathe a little easier. We have some quite spendy things that I think we can now scrape together money for which before we were quite worried!
Now we have to get the nursery started. It is going to be a big job, and we have been slow at getting started. But it is getting that time.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
The Girls
We went in for another "growth" ultrasound today, and once again have a few things that have changed.
First - They found two placenta's, (apperantly they are right next to one another, so easy to miss) so we are back to having either di/di identical twins, or fraternal. If the girls look alike, we may never know. If they do not look alike, we will know!
That is a bit of a relief to me. mono/di twins are kind of scary.
Second - They are growing within the normal boundries. One is within the 50% ranking, and the other one in the 44% ranking. The little smaller one is B, and poor little girl has a squished head. Instead of round it is quite oval. It has to do with her position in the womb, and the Dr. said it was not anything to worry about.
We also got some of those kind of creepy looking photos from the ultrasound. At this new place, they do not let you record the ultrasound, so we only have the pictures that they printed for us. Which I then took a picture of with my phone, so the quality is a bit off.
Here are the 3D pics of our little girls. (Baby B is the one who has the quite oval squished head, so trying to get her pic was quite a bit harder)
Baby A (Emily)
Baby B (Ana)
First - They found two placenta's, (apperantly they are right next to one another, so easy to miss) so we are back to having either di/di identical twins, or fraternal. If the girls look alike, we may never know. If they do not look alike, we will know!
That is a bit of a relief to me. mono/di twins are kind of scary.
Second - They are growing within the normal boundries. One is within the 50% ranking, and the other one in the 44% ranking. The little smaller one is B, and poor little girl has a squished head. Instead of round it is quite oval. It has to do with her position in the womb, and the Dr. said it was not anything to worry about.
We also got some of those kind of creepy looking photos from the ultrasound. At this new place, they do not let you record the ultrasound, so we only have the pictures that they printed for us. Which I then took a picture of with my phone, so the quality is a bit off.
Here are the 3D pics of our little girls. (Baby B is the one who has the quite oval squished head, so trying to get her pic was quite a bit harder)
Baby A (Emily)
Baby B (Ana)
Hmmmm
Seems like each new day brings along new friends!
My newest friend is Mr. Heartburn. I have been pretty lucky so far to have only had Mr. Heartburn visit occasionally. Usually when I did not eat soon enough, but I think he has decided he likes me, and wants to now hang around!
I finally broke down and bought some tums since I have not in the past had real heartburn issues, I did not have any remedies. I am hoping that tonight I can sleep. I may have to start sleeping sitting up somewhere if this continues!
These girls are just getting big enough that I think my stomach is getting pushed up enough that the esophagus and stomach are kind of squished which makes it easier for Mr. Heartburn to linger around!
But at 25 weeks and counting I will put up with a lot to keep these girls where they need to be for a few more months! I can't say I won't complain, but I will try to keep it to a minimum! Especially since I have been blessed so far with health!
My newest friend is Mr. Heartburn. I have been pretty lucky so far to have only had Mr. Heartburn visit occasionally. Usually when I did not eat soon enough, but I think he has decided he likes me, and wants to now hang around!
I finally broke down and bought some tums since I have not in the past had real heartburn issues, I did not have any remedies. I am hoping that tonight I can sleep. I may have to start sleeping sitting up somewhere if this continues!
These girls are just getting big enough that I think my stomach is getting pushed up enough that the esophagus and stomach are kind of squished which makes it easier for Mr. Heartburn to linger around!
But at 25 weeks and counting I will put up with a lot to keep these girls where they need to be for a few more months! I can't say I won't complain, but I will try to keep it to a minimum! Especially since I have been blessed so far with health!
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