34 weeks Smooth Sailing

34 weeks people. That is where we are at in this pregnancy. 34 LONG weeks. Actually, it really hasn't been that bad. I thought that this pregnancy would seem to take longer since I have been a little nervous at times because of my pregnancy with Violet. But really, the weeks have gone by pretty fast and they seem to be getting faster as we are approaching 38 weeks (I don't think that my OB is letting me go past 38 weeks). It seems there is so much to do and so little time. And I get tired easily, so that makes it hard to get things done. Nolan or my mom has to do them if I'm too tired and well, they both know that I'm picky and some things are just better to wait for me.

I have been procrastinating setting up the nursery. I think because that was one thing that I was so glad we didn't do before Violet's death. We had been talking about it and thinking about it, but just hadn't gotten around to it. It would have been almost too much to come home, no longer pregnant, but without a baby and have a nursery to look at everyday. And at times random, stupid thoughts creep into your mind....you think, "if we buy these cribs, our babies are going to die." Now, you know that buying cribs has nothing to do with dead babies, but in your messed up little mind it does, at least for a few minutes. It's those thoughts that you have to push back and promise yourself that you are never going to think about something that silly again.

So, for those of you who are wondering, Nolan and I have been working hard on a nursery for these babies. Our babies will have a place to sleep when they come home from the hospital. And they have clothes, diapers, car seats, blankets and toys. And, at least I have been having a good time putting it all together. Now that doesn't mean that those pesky little thoughts don't creep back into my mind, but I've gotten good and telling them to BACK OFF and let me have this.....I'm not going to live in fear of losing my babies. But the room is almost done, just a couple more things and then I will be showing off photos of the room I created....with the help of Pinterest.

For our weekly update.......

First of all, Monday I went back to the hematologist's office. I was able to see Dr Walling and was told that my levels sky rocketed with just 3 infusions and I would not need any more unless I was feeling bad. I have been feeling pretty good since the middle of last week, so I decided not to get a 4th infusion, and the doc was perfectly fine with that decision. So, I don't have to go back to that office unless I start feeling crummy again. THANK GOODNESS. It's not that I didn't really like most of the people that I met on my visits there, its just that it took so long at every. single. appointment. For those of you that want to know all the medical stuff, on 7/2 my Ferritin level was at 10 and on 7/13 it was at 259. This is what let Dr Walling know that I have enough iron in my blood and that I should be just fine delivering these babies.

Today, I went for my long appointment at the OB office.....ultrasound, NST and appointment with the OB. I'm usually there for about 3 hours or more on days like these.

My ultrasound showed that both babies are still VERY low and still head down....ready to make an escape! Baby A's heartbeat was at 130 and she is weighing in at 5lbs 2oz! Woot, woot! Baby B's heartbeat was 146 and also weighs 5lbs 2oz. Both babies gained almost a pound in 2 weeks....they were just a couple ounces shy. They are in the 49th percentile right now, which is great for twins! My ultrasound tech is just amazed at how close in weight they have been the entire pregnancy. They have never been more than a few ounces different than one another. This is just an estimate on their weight so we won't know for sure how close they are until their little bodies are placed on the scale.

All the other measurements looked normal for their gestational age and their organs looked good as well. Baby A was snoozing during most of the ultrasound. That is normal for her, especially when my ultrasounds are in the morning. Baby B was wide awake after feeling the pressure on my tummy. She did her breathing exercises soon after waking up and was able to give some good kicks and jabs to so the tech that she was still doing just fine in the womb. Baby A, well, she took her own sweet time waking up. It didn't seem to matter if she was poked, jiggled, kicked by her sister, or had a horn sounding off near her head....she was NOT going to wake until she was darn good and ready.

After almost an hour of letting her sleep, the tech suggested that I get up and go to the bathroom. Then she could do my cervical check and after that she would check Baby A one last time. If she wasn't moving around she was going to fail two parts of her test for the day. Which that would probably mean that I would be heading over to the hospital for more tests....that is the last thing that I wanted. And really, I felt that she was not in any kind of distress, she was just sleeping. She really is a little more active in the afternoon, but mostly in the evening after dinner until I go to bed. And sometimes I feel her moving around when I wake up in the middle of the night to turn over or get up to make a trip to the potty. If I could only have my ultrasound done around 9pm, I'm sure that things would look fantastic every single time. Anyway, I did what she asked and when I came out of the bathroom I told her that usually when I lay on my right side, Baby A moves around a lot more than when I lay on my back. So she did the cervical check and then entire time I was rubbing and pushing on my belly where Baby A lays and hoping that she would start moving a bit more and do those breathing exercises like she was supposed to be doing. Like I said, I wasn't nervous, I just didn't want to be at the office longer than I had to be there. After finishing the cervical check she went back to look at Baby A. She was moving a bit....waking up it seemed. And she started to do her breathing exercises. But then she stopped. But before she could go back to dreamland, I turned on my right side and low and behold, she started kicking around and doing those exercises......my wish was granted! She passed all her tests! It took a while, but the tech was pleased with what she saw.

My cervical length is still holding strong at 2.6 cm. The ultrasound tech was amazed at how I'm keeping these babies in my body since they are both so low and Baby A's head is just pushing on my cervix. I guess most ladies wouldn't be so lucky. And she also said that after today's visit they wouldn't be measuring my cervix anymore because now is the time when it should start to get shorter and I should be preparing to have babies in the next couple of weeks.

Next I was off for my NST. Beatrice was waiting for me, so I got back right away....that's what I like! She was able to find heartbeats right away for both babies. The babies did great with their heartbeats and all of their movement. Also there were no signs of contractions. Fantastic.

After the NST was signed off by my OB, Beatrice told me that they were ready for my office visit. Things were just moving right along this morning.....such a nice feeling! I wasn't seeing my regular OB because she was too booked, but I was seeing another OB, Dr Stuhldreher. She was the OB that confirmed Violet's death and admitted me to the hospital because my OB was out of the office that day. When she came into the office she said, "nice to meet you." I wasn't sure if she just said that or if she didn't remember who I was. I didn't say anything because well, those just aren't great memories.

She went over all the tests that I had done that morning. She talked about how both babies looked great. She was impressed with their weight. She said that I should continue with the modified bed rest that Dr Voelkel suggested two weeks ago. Although, she did say that after about a week or so, I could resume any activity that I wanted because my babies would be coming anytime at that point and it would be fine.

One thing I had her do before I left was measure my belly. Folks have been asking how many weeks ahead I'm measuring so I figured I could now answer their question......and the answer is.........I measure about 38 weeks and I'm actually 34 1/2.....so I'm measuring about 3 1/2 weeks ahead. Not too shabby for twins!

After that I was able to go home! Yea! All in all it was an easy appointment and I got through it all relatively quickly. Now I have to get on with packing a bag and finishing a nursery and getting the house in order. Did you know that the babies needed my laundry room to be cleaned out? Well they did. And last week they wanted my hall closet to be cleaned out and organized. So, I did what every good mother does, I cleaned out the hall closet. Oh wait, I'm supposed to be resting, right? DANG!