Announcing...

So sorry for the delay. I should have just done a quick post, but I was hoping maybe I'd have the ultrasound pictures scanned by now. Which hasn't happened. So Monday we went for our ultrasound. The tech was great and asked us right away if you wanted to know what they were. She had pretty much no sooner put the ultrasound probe on my stomach, and it was fairly obvious what Baby A was (once she figured out which was which). She asked if we wanted to take a guess and DH and I both said at the same time that it was a ...

BOY!!!!

So, she continued to do the ultrasound. She had some trouble with getting some of the anatomy on him because he was bouncing around everywhere. But eventually she got everything she needed and moved onto baby B. Baby B was even more trouble is some cases because of the was it was sorta curled around Baby A. She actually wasn't able to get a good profile at all so couldn't see the nose or mouth, and couldn't get one of the arms. But, she was able to ultrasound the key thing for the day and Baby B is a .....

GIRL!!!!

We are having a boy and a girl!! We haven't decided on any names yet. I did also ask her about my cervix length. She didn't give me a specific number, but said it looked just fine. So everything is looking good for now!

Tuesday night we had our first childbirth class. There were about 8 other couples in the class, and our due date was the farthest away, which I expected. I know we're a little early, but I wanted to make sure we got them in in case I ended up on bed rest. They are mostly for DH, though, anyway - and just the experience of going through them together. I see women in labor every day, so the information itself is not new to me. But, it is something that will be a good experience for DH and I to go through. Plus, we'll miss one of the 3 weeks that are focused on learning about labor because we're going to a multiples class that they have instead.

Then yesterday was my regular every 2 week OB appointment. That went pretty well. It was a bit of an appointment full of contradictions. First the doctor told me I needed to gain more weight, but then looking at it closer said that my weight was OK. He thought my sugars looked fine, but it almost seemed like he thought the metformin I'm taking wasn't necessary but told me to stay on it. Just ups and downs. The nurse also was doing her normal 20 week talk to patients, and tried to give me the glucola to take with me to do a GTT again. Thankfully I was able to talk her out of that!

The only other thing to come out of the appointment is I'm not sure now how long they're going to let me keep working. The doctor asked me what my plan was for work and when I said I didn't really have one, that I was going to see how things went, he mentioned the "traditional" 28 weeks stop time for twins. He wasn't real set on it, and did say (after we talked about what my job was like) that we'll see how things go. But, I still felt like that I should mention it to my boss today, just in case, since that is only 7 weeks away!! And it's only a week after we had planned to go away for the week to the beach. We're just driving and it's not really far away, so I don't think they'll be any problem with going. But, I did not think I'd be stopping work any time close to that - unless things aren't going well and then we won't be going away anyway.

Even with all the confusion at the appointment, he was happy with everything he saw and I just go back again in two weeks. So, it's been a good week! And now, since I didn't get the ultrasounds scanned, I can at least leave you with a 20 week belly picture.

I love cruise control

So, my big discovery this week is that I should have been using cruise control on my commute a long time ago. I had been waking up with pain in my right hip. I know that this can be a part of pregnancy, but I thought it was a little early to be happening to me. So, I started thinking that maybe my drive had something to do with it because almost all my pain that I've had has been on my right side. I commute one hour each way to work, so this week, I tried an experiment where I started using the cruise control again. And I haven't woken up with hip pain all week!

This was a somewhat eventful week. Tuesday we had my MIL, SIL and nephew over for dinner to show off our new floor that kept me upstairs all last weekend.

After dinner, DH and I headed out to Babies R Us to make our first big purchase. We bought our nursery furniture! I wish I could post a picture of it, but BRU doesn't have it on it's website anymore. It was on sale, but only through the end of the week, if you bought the crib, dresser, and dresser/changing table. So we bought the set and bought an extra crib. I didn't really plan on getting it this early, but a sale's a sale! Plus, I think since they don't have it online, they might be discontinuing it or not carrying it anymore.

Wed was just a night to relax, and then Thursday we had dinner an my in-laws. Friday was a big milestone. I hit 20 weeks!! Halfway there (and probably a little more than halfway). Only four more weeks until viability. That night, DH and I went to dinner at a friend's house and then went to services with them. The friend is a co-worker, and her husband is a Rabbi. Since my husband is also clergy, we have a lot in common and they've been trying to have us over for awhile. Unfortunately, we live about an hour away from each other - even though we both commute about an hour to work - just in different directions. I had never been to a Jewish service, and it was quite interesting. I didn't understand a lot of it, but it was interesting to see none the less.

This weekend has been quiet. We were going to go see Harry Potter, but just didn't make it. Yesterday we decided to take advantage of the warm weather we were finally having and go swimming over at the in-laws. And today we ended up watching the Brickyard 400 instead, after church and dinner. I have to admit though, as much as I want to see the movie, I get uncomfortable so easily lately that the idea of sitting in a movie for 2 and a half hours is a little daunting. Maybe next weekend for DH's birthday.

It's a big week coming up too. Tomorrow is finally our "big" ultrasound! It seems like it has taken forever to get here. It's not until later in the day and I'll try and post what we find out. My guess is there is at least one girl because all the dreams I've had involve at least one girl. But, I would love to have a little girl, so that could be tainting my dreams a bit. Then Tuesday, we start our childbirth classes. It's a little early, but we're going to the beach in early September, and I was afraid if we waited until after then, there was a chance we might not be able to finish them if these little ones came early. I just hope I can stay awake for them since then go until 9pm and lately my bedtime is around 8!

19 weeks

I made it through a whole week of work this week! It was a pretty busy week too. I think the secret is that I need to go to bed around 7:30-8:00 so that I get enough rest. I had my regular OB appointment on Wed. It went well except they didn't like how my afternoon and evening blood sugars looked, so they put me back on the metformin. For now, I just have to take it in the morning, and it is starting to make a difference I think. They seem to be a bit lower. My pain is pretty much gone. I feel the occasional contractions, but only a few a day, and they seem to be minor. I ended up not asking for another measurement of my cervix, since I was feeling better. Plus, my "big" ultrasound is a week from tomorrow and I figure they'll take a look then.

This weekend has been spent hanging out upstairs with our doggie while various people work on re-doing our floors downstairs. Our dog had torn up some of the linoleum in the kitchen at one point, so we needed to replace that. Since we were doing that, we just decided to put laminate in the whole downstairs. There was carpet in the living and dining rooms, and even though it was new when we moved into the house two years ago, it had gotten quite dirty with the dog. And there was this ugly dark brown vinyl in the foyer and hallway. So, now we have pretty laminate wood in the whole downstairs. It makes the house look bigger and brighter.

Back to work

I went back to work today after a 4 day weekend of relaxing. And it wasn't too bad. Some occasional slight pain, but nothing like I was having. I just have to be careful not to be on my feet too much and not to lift anything. Like I made the mistake of lifting up a baby in it's carseat and carrying it down the hall. A baby alone is fine, but those car seats just make them heavy! Now I'm home and laying down, and feel pretty good. It'll be another early to bed night, but it's worth it.

I went to Human Resources today too and got the papers that need filled out for a leave of absence, just in case. That way if something happens, I have them - especially since work is an hour away. The papers to fill out for short term disability are on their way too. I just feel safer knowing we have everything and don't have to worry about it if I end up in the hospital or something. Especially since DH is only working part time right now. He's trying to find another part time job until the fall when he's going to do some student teaching, but he's been having trouble with the way the economy is right now. I'm hoping I can convince the doctor to do another ultrasound on Wed at my next appointment to check my cervix again, just to see if it's changed at all. I don't know if they'll go for it or not. Just to give me more peace of mind. I'm all about peace of mind these days.

Belly Pics

These are my 16 and 17 week belly pics. 17 weeks is on the top. Sorry the quality isn't the best. We're still figuring out how best to take them. There's definitely a belly there. I had my first stranger ask last weekend if I was pregnant. She was at a 4th of July party at my Dad's.

I'm pretty sure I'll be OK to go back to work on Monday. We just got back from babysitting my nephew for a few hours, and I still feel pretty good. Tired, but I'm always tired by 8 o'clock. No real belly/low back pain. I've been extra vigilant about how much fluids I'm taking in - making sure I always have a glass of water next to me. The two days off of work were nice though. I wish I could have three day weeks every week!

I've made a resolution with myself to update this more often, if nothing else to keep a record of my pregnancy. My SIL mentioned last week something about a pregnancy journal she had kept, and I haven't started one. But I do have this blog. So, I'm going to make a conscious effort to update at least every other day, even if it's just what I did that day, so I have a record going forward. I'm sure some of the posts will be boring, but maybe some interesting ones will come if I'm more in the habit of writing. Now, I'm going to watch at least the beginning of the Nascar race, though I highly doubt I'll stay awake for the whole thing.

Resting

Wow! Over a month. I actually have time to update because I'm currently home resting. I'd been having some low back pain and lower abdominal pain for a day or so, so I went to see my OB yesterday. Everything looked OK. They did an ultrasound and my cervix was nice and long - 3.4 cm, and no funneling or change with pressure. But, they told me to stay off work the rest of the week. So, I came home, and basically have been sleeping or resting since then, and I'm feeling much better. I think I just overdid it over the weekend. My sister was up visiting, so I went somewhere every day over the three day weekend, and I usually take a day during the weekend to just relax and do nothing. I think I'll have to go back to that if I'm going to continue working for awhile.



I took my first belly pic last week - I'll have to get it off the camera to post it later. Part of me now wishes I had started them sooner, to see the change, but it was another one of those things that made me nervous. That taking the pictures made the pregnancy real and I didn't want to have them if something went wrong. But the belly is definitely growing, so now we're going to take weekly pictures. I'm sure the change will still be dramatic.

Overall the past month has been pretty quiet, which probably explains the lack of posts. I mostly just go to work, come home and eat dinner and then try to stay up 2 hours so I can check my blood sugar before I go to bed. I have started feeling the babies move. I think I started around 15weeks, though I wasn't sure what I was feeling. It's still not consistent - I feel them mostly at night when I move around in bed, but it's nice to have that reassurance that they're in there moving around.