Week 32

 

We've made it to the magic mark of week 32. This is the point at which twins would be okay if they were to be born now. There might be medical issues and a couple weeks in the hospital, but it wouldn't be anything life-threatening. So now the goal is to keep them in the oven for as much time as we can.

That's clearly getting harder.

This past week, I've really taken a turn for the worse. I've been to the hospital three times this past week. On Monday, my ultrasound showed some concerns with my cervix. Then I started having contractions too frequently (every 4 to 7 minutes). So they gave me a drug that stops the contractions, did a fibronectin test (this determines whether you might go into labor in the next two weeks) and gave me a two-dose set of shots of steroids that help the babies' lungs develop just in case they come early. The fibronectin was negative and exams showed my cervix completely closed -- so it doesn't look like they're coming immediately. But the contractions are a concern, particularly if they were to go unchecked.

The drug they gave me kept the contractions at bay from Monday afternoon til Friday. Then they were back. So off I went to the hospital again. This time they gave me pills that I have to take every 6 hours. Those seem to be working so far.

I'm also finding that being on my feet or walking any distance is getting too difficult. My belly starts to tighten and those contractions are more likely to occur if I'm up and about. So, although I'm not officially on bedrest, I've basically given myself orders to restrict my activities.

Today, Jamey and I made a trip to Target. To make it easier on me, I rode around in one of those motorized carts. It was a bit embarassing, but it sure made it easier for me to get around that huge store!

We've got an appointment with our regular doctor on Tuesday morning and I'm expecting she will give me orders for either limited activity or bedrest. This may include either only working from home or limiting my work hours, as well. I'm thinking complete bedrest is a long shot. It seems I'm okay for SOME activity, but clearly not as much as before.

So Jamey is now on laundry and groceries duty, and any major housecleaning. He's not too thrilled about that, but I just point to my enormous belly and tell him to suck it up since I'm the one doing all the suffering!

We're hoping the babies stay in there for at least another month. I'm starting to believe that they'll be born right between Christmas and New Year's. It's going to be an interesting Christmas at our house this year!

Mural is finished!

The nursery mural got finished on Friday and today my cousin and his wife brought over a crib they are lending us -- so now we've got two.

 

While they were over, their daughters played on the rocking horses that my Dad made.

 

I also wanted to post a picture of these blankets that I made. One side of each blanket is made of crib sheets that my mother had for my brother and I but never used. When a good friend of mine got pregnant 12+ years ago, she gave the unopened packages to her. My friend never used them either and gave them back to me when I got married. They wouldn't do well as crib sheets because they don't have enough elastic, but I thought they would be fabulous blankets. So I put flannel on the back side, some batting to make them warm and blanket binding around the edges.

 

Last shower for the babies

My sorority sisters threw me a baby shower yesterday and we had such a fun time! Here are some pics....

Week 29

We had a doctor's appointment today and she said we're doing "extremely well." The babies are slightly larger than usual, so we're on track to have some good sized twins (which would be in the neighborhood of 6, maybe 7, pounds). No signs of pre-term labor or any other problems. The only other thing she told us was that it looks fairly certain that we'll have to have a c-section. Both babies are lying sideways and it's unlikely that they would move into head-down positions this late in the game.

Mural, so far

 

It's slow progress on the mural in the nursery. Here's where it's at right now. She's got all the characters and trees and birds, etc, drawn out. Sometime in the next week she's coming back to start painting in the colors.

Growing babies!

We had an ultrasound today and had more excellent news. Babies are about 3 pounds each right now -- which is about the same that a singleton would be at 30 weeks (we're just hitting 29 weeks). So that is really impressive for twins! And it's also good news that they are almost exactly the same size.

Mom is also doing well. Cervix is holding steady right where it should (a big concern once you get past 28 weeks) and the placenta that was blocking the exit has moved out of the way. All good news!

Unfortunately we didn't get any good pics once again. Don't know if we keep getting a bad sonographer or a bad machine or just that the babies aren't photogenic! UGH.

Election

My biggest piece of work related to the election appears in today's paper. The online version, found here, actually contains more of the maps that I made than what we were able to get into the paper. I actually started working on this series of maps way back in January (one of my "slow" months) using historical presidential election results. The maps show really interesting patterns in how Minnesotans have voted for presidents in the past 5 elections. I was really bummed that they couldn't find a page (with color) in the paper. Oh well.

Historic Day

I just cast my ballot and amazingly didn't have to wait -- at all. I was worried about a long line and having to stand (not easy with an extra 40 pounds weighing you down!). Guess I hit the polling place at just the right time.

I'm really excited about this election. Such a historic day! We're either going to have the first black president or the first female vice president. Either way, it's a great step forward for the US. I'm glad my children will be born into this "new" world where somebody other than white men are in charge of the country. Even everything that has happened up until now -- a woman presidential candidate who had a real shot at the White House and a black man generating unprecedented levels of enthusiasm and the renewed interest among young people -- is just so wonderful.