Go swimming!

I had the most detailed dream about going swimming about a week ago. In the dream my body felt so light and free and comfortable in the water. On Saturday my hips were killing and I was dying to go swimming. So mike took me on a little day date... Swimming, cold stone, and a pedicure! It was a good day.

I highly recommend swimming, floating, stretching in the water as a way to relieve some bodily discomfort. 

Something I however did not think about.... Floating flat on my back was amazing... But the heartburn did flare up in this position.

A good day!

33 weeks!

P and N were born at 33 weeks 1 day so this will be a weird week for me. Actually I guess everyday from here on our will be weird. 

At my dr check ups on Thursday everything looked great. Babies are doing great. I have no signs of preterm labor. But blood pressure is still high at 130/90 but no protein in my pee.

We scheduled a c-section for February 20th if I don't have them before then. Scheduling their birth was a strange feeling... And I am torn to which I think will happen. On February 20th ill be 36 weeks 5 days. Modi twins share a placenta and drs like to deliver them between the 36-37 week, due to the fact that a shared placenta ages faster than a normal placenta. 

I could have picked Monday the 17th or Tuesday the 18th but I picked Thursday the 20th... Because being born at 36 weeks could still come with NICU time and every extra day in utero is 3 days out of NICU so I pushed it back as far as possible. 

So now I just have to keep them cooking!

33 weeks 1 day

I'm 33 weeks 1 day pregnant, today with my second set of twins.... And it feels so weird. Why? Because P and N, my first set of twins were born at 33 weeks 1 day when my water spontaneously broke. I feel like I should wrap myself in bubble wrap or something! I will feel weird and nervous all week I'm sure. Want to keep trucking ! 

32 weeks update

Well tomorrow I go to the doctor for another check-up so I figured I should blog about last weeks happenings.

Last Thursday I went in for a check-up. I had appointments with the MFM doctor and my regular OBGYN. My MFM doctor was running behind... I swear they are HORRIBLE about wait times... I complained about this when scheduling my appointment one day and the lady suggested I take the 1pm time slot since it is the first one after lunch and comes with no wait time. I took her up on this and the last couple of appointments I went back with no waiting.

This past Thursday we had to wait 30 minutes before being called back. We went in to the room with the ultrasound tech and she checked all the normal things and it was pretty fast about 30 minutes.

There were no signs of TTTS and everything thing else looked beautiful, normal, healthy. Baby A, weighed in at 4lbs 7oz and Baby B, weighed in at 4lbs even.

I thought we were done and then the tech said, you have to do a NST (non stress test) this appointment, but there is someone on the machine so you have to go back in the waiting room. Grrr, I told the tech that I had an appointment with my regular OB schedule for 2:15 she said no worries this happens all the time they will call down and let them know because my OB would want the results of the NST.

So back in the waiting room I went for another 20 minutes (I really hate waiting rooms as they make me really anxious.) Mike had to head back to work so I was left alone.

When I was called back to the room to do my NST, the first thing the nurse did was to check my blood pressure.... 185/92.

She said okay... we are going to have to do that again... I am going to come back in a few minutes I am going to take your blood pressure again when I return.

She came back took my blood pressure again (I dont remember what it was this time because I probably had my BP taken 10 more times during the afternoon). It was still high, she said lets do the non-stress test and we will take BP again afterwards.

The NST was fine, both babies had great heart rates, I had a couple of contractions while on the monitor but I didn't feel them.

She took my BP again still high and then again in the other arm still high. So then she made me pee in a cup to test for protein, and preclampisa.... the test was negative no protein in my pee.

They then did my BP again... still high. They called down to my regular OB to let her know what was happening.


They sent me down to her for further testing. When I got down to her office it was 3:15. I was one hour late for my appointment and the lady at the desk (a new lady, everyone else knows me by name), said I'm sorry we cant see you today you are a hour late and there are 6 people in front of you and we are running behind because we had an emergency. I had to explain... no my dr just got off the phone with the MFM, my doctor is expecting me for furthering testing.

Just when the other front desk ladies saw I was there and explain to her that I was "Heather, and on my second set of twins, and my doctor would HAVE to see me."

I still had to wait a fair amount of time to get back to my doctor... and when I did they did my blood pressure several more times, as well as my pee test, and my weight.

My doctor was going to admit me for further testing... but found out all the rooms on the floor were taken.

So she let me go, and told me to come back on Monday for a blood pressure check and more testing. She pulled me out of work... saying my BP is too unstable for me to work, and told me I was on modified bed-rest. Basically it is okay for me to be up walk, etc, since my cervix is fine, but to keep everything relaxed and peaceful for my BP. So I worked until I was 32 weeks pregnant this time... sure does beat 26 weeks. I only worked until I was 26 weeks pregnant with P and N due to a shorten cervix and at the point was put on strict hospital bed rest. With P and N I had no blood pressure problems. It is interesting how different pregnancies can be.

When I went on Monday, my BP was 130/90, no weight gain, and no protein in pee.

So she said we will check everything again on Thursday.

So tomorrow I start with a 1 pm appointment with the MFM and a 2:20 with  my regular OB.

Hoping this pregnancy continues to be different and healthy and that I can cook these boys longer than I was able to P and N.

It all goes by so fast.

I logged on to BabyCenter today to check out my twin birth month board… and saw some common themes that got me thinking, and got me extra emotional.  Some babies are being born early, some mamas are hurting, some are ready to end the pregnancy journey and meet their babies, and some are scared how they will handle life after their babies will arrive.

After reading through posts, I just keep thinking the same thing over and over… it all goes by so fast.

Now I have done my fair share of pregnancy complaining and this blog is surely proof of that.

But the second time around has definitely been a different experience for me. Yes I have complained, yes I will continue too… but it is different…. So let me try to explain.

The first time around, I was nervous and worried about EVERY little thing. EVERY little thing was such a big deal. My first time around has so far proven to be medically different from this time so perhaps this time has been a little easier.

But I think the main thing has been… being pregnant the first time, while at the time seemed like I was pregnant forever… it was over too fast. I remember thinking day after day, I can’t do this anymore! But as soon as my water broke prematurely at 33 weeks… I wanted nothing more but to still be pregnant.

As the months passed I missed being pregnant…. This sounds a little funny and is hard to explain… I was happy to have my healthy babies in my arms… but was sad I could no longer take them everywhere with me and keep them safe inside of me.

I quickly forgot about the pain and uncomfortable parts of being pregnant. The memories that stayed with me were the excitement of having life growing inside of me.

Aside from being pregnant, having P and N has really speed up life. I cannot tell you the number of times I have gotten emotional about how quickly the time passes. I look through pictures and cry my eyes out about how little and beautiful they are/were and how everything is just flying by. I close my eyes and try to soak memories of sound, smell, touch, sight in my brain because I want them to stay with me forever.

We got pregnant the second time after my first sets’ first birthday. Both my husband and I were so emotional about how fast the year had went by that we knew that we wanted to experience more kids and more 1^st birthdays.

We got pregnant quickly afterwards, without trying, soon enough, we found out we were pregnant again with twins.

While being pregnant with twins a second time my mind set has been different. I know this is a huge blessing and I feel like the luckiest and richest person in the world. I know that at any second all of this can be taken away.

So I have tried really hard to focus on the good and remember the excitement.

At times this has been really hard because people do not know how to response or what to say to me about being pregnant with twins a second time. I sometimes response with an answer I don't really mean just to end the conversation faster. 

I get a lot of negativity about the situation like: better you than me, what was I thinking, I have a boy and a girl why would I want more, how are you going to do it, don’t touch me, etc, etc.

I am going to do it. I am going to do it well, and I am going to enjoy. I am going to remember to soak in the sweet sweet memories because I already know the days are long but the years are short.

That’s been my motto this pregnancy too. I know it will be over to fast and I will miss it when it’s gone, so I want to enjoy it, enjoy what’s left of it no matter how uncomfortable I am.

I want to take each day as it is…. A blessing. 

I feel so lucky and blessed to be experiencing this. Thank you Lord for this beautiful life. 

Trip to L & D

Last week, I had a little trip to L & D, that resulted in a two night hospital stay. Last Tuesday night I had some pretty intense contractions about 7 every 5 minutes and then they stopped. So Wednesday morning I got up and went to work like normal (kind of we were on a 2 hour cold weather delay)… except for I was having isolated contractions throughout the day. During my 6^th period class they were pretty intestine and regular. I was trying to ignore them and continue teaching… when I realized I couldn’t, I couldn’t talk, and the students were asking if I was okay.

I called my doctor and was told to come in... when I got to her office, my contractions were 4 minutes apart. .. 

So they sent me to L&D and put me on a mag drip to see if they could stop the contractions and prevent cervical changes. I was told I would be on the drip for 6 hours. 6 hours later my contractions were still coming at 6 minutes apart but I still had no cervical changes, so they put on the mag drip for longer, ended up being another 8 hours for a total of 14 hours. They were able to slow the contractions down to 2 a hour when they took me off the mag. Luckily I had no cervical changes… still long and closed.However when I was on the mag drip, my blood pressure sky rocketed (mag is supposed to make your blood pressure drop) so this was extra concerning. They also noticed that my resting pulse was high staying at a constant 122.

Because of these two things…. I stayed in the hospital an extra day and night for continued testing to see what was going on. They ran every test they could and I passed them all. Therefore showing no signs of pre-term labor or risk…

The first test an EKG to check out my heart… yes my resting pulse is high, like I am working out, which the doctor said…. Well you kind of are… living for 3 is not easy… you are fine.

FFN test was negative, no mucus change in the vagina flagging labor could be in the near future. I failed this test at 26 weeks and again at 28 weeks with P and N.

Cervix still long at over 2cm and closed.

24 hour urine sample… negative for pre e clampsia… when my blood pressure went up they were concerned I could be developing pre e clampisa. I passed two separate urine samples, but they were afraid the protein was not showing up in just those samples… so they did a 24 hour sample… which meant I peed in a bucket for 24 hours.

The result was my protein level came back at less than 5, I was told they were looking for a number around 300 for it to be a concern… so yeah, all good there.

I was told to rest whenever I could, walk only tolerated amounts, and not to lift anything weighing more than 10 pounds. I was told to go to work and see how I do, if work, brings on contractions again, then I would be put on bed rest.

So I am back at work now… and just taking it SUPER easy as I do not want work to bring on contractions because who knows if I will be lucky enough that they will not cause cervical changes! 

31 weeks Bump picture with both sets of twins!

31 weeks with P and N in May 2012.



31 weeks with M and E in Jan 2014.




2012  - 31 weeks with di/di twins                                         2014 - 31 weeks with mo/di twins

19 months

Presley and Noah are now 19 months old and at a very fun age. Sometimes their behavior can be a little unpredictable and challenging but I like to think that adds to the fun.

Their schedule has pretty much stayed unchanged since they started preschool at the end of September but some days nap time can be unpredictable.

Their schedule is as follows:

7:30/8:00 – Twins wake up/get up for the day, usually when they hear us up… which is nice because on weekends we can push it a little later.  I think one of the nicest things about having twins is that they entertain each other and they have each other, so when they wake up the first thing they do went they wake up is talk to each other! They do NOT cry to get up.

8/8:30 – Breakfast

9 – 12 – Play time. This involves all types of things.  Free play in the toy room, coloring (Presley can color happily for hours), crafts, playing with stickers, some TV time. We just kind of go with the flow and it has been working out fine for now.

12 – 12:30 – Lunch

12:30 – 3:30 or 4/4:30 – Ok nap time has been a little wonky because they don’t always need to sleep the full three hours.  Sometimes we can hear them talking and giggling with each other past 2pm. So on those days we let them sleep! But I have to have them up by 4:30 at the latest or they will not go to sleep at night. Some days you put them down at 12:30 and they are immediately sound asleep and you hear them awake as early as 3pm. I like for them to get as close to a 3 hour nap as possible because when they get less… it makes for a hard dinner/bath/bed time.

4:00 - Snack time after they wake up from nap.

5:30 – Dinner, if dinner is later than this they are really hungry and fussy.

6:00 – Play until bath

6:30 – Bath time

7:00 – Bed time

19 months is a fun age because they are talking so much and can do so much and they understand so much. It is just so cool and fun to see the things they come up with and the things they do. I no longer worry about their development. They seem right on point. They are the youngest in their preschool class and mix in with the others like they were never a preemie. This has made such a difference to my worry wart level in my parenting.

Catch 22

Catch 22

I am 30 weeks pregnant and I feel like my body has got something to prove all of a sudden.  I had my check up on Thursday. And to make a long story short… because for whatever I really haven’t had the blogging juice this go round… all was good.  Max weighted in at 3lbs 8oz and Eli weighted in at 3lbs 14 oz. That is about a 10% weighted difference so the doctors will be checking to see how the numbers changes on a now weekly basis to check for signs of TTTS. So I have appointments scheduled every Thursday until the end of January, for now.

My cervix is closed and long at 2.7cm. I show no signs of pre-term labor. But I am BEAT. I am measuring 40 weeks and I am swollen all over.  Also not a medical issues because my blood pressure is staying normal at 120 over 80.

My whole body aches and my breathing sounds like Darth Vader. The heartburn is out of this world. When I walk or stand my hips crack and pop.

The last two weeks I have been home from work thanks to winter break. My mom has been heaven sent and has come over to help out everyday.

Because medically I am fine… I “have to” go back to work on Monday. I really don’t see how that is going to work out. But I feel I have no choice. Both of my doctors told me if I don’t feel like I can work then don’t…. but because there is no medical reason for me not to work… I would just be wasting my FMLA and would not be getting paid. So I have to work, I don’t want to waste time I could take off when the babies get here.

So that’s the catch 22. I am happy I am not on hospital bed rest at 26 weeks with my first set of twins… but not happy that I have to go to work teaching high school students at 30 weeks pregnant with twins when my body feels like it is quitting on me!

I measuring 40 weeks… so that alone to me seems reason for me not to be working! Seems like working would just make everything happen sooner… but I am not a doctor.

My doctor did suggest working half days… but as a teacher that really isn’t helpful… it feels like more work and trouble. I would still have to get up, drive there teach 3 classes, and then plan for the others. Any teacher knows that lesson planning for being out is just as much work as being there. In fairness yes I do have my lessons planned out… but I just want to be there or NOT be there.

I also think that half days would screw up my FMLA time and my pay. So I am going to just try to put up with working for another 2 weeks and go from there.

Another problem…. I have NOTHING to wear… I have out grown most of my maternity clothes… and it is not like buying more would really help. The belly panels are too tight and the shirts and too short. So… it’s time for the moo moos!

HA! 

29 weeks 5 days

Measuring 40 weeks... Baby A 3lbs 8oz. Baby B 3lbs 14oz. That's 7lb 6 oz of babies.