Any Guesses?

Busy Month! So the first weekend of February Carmen finished up. Our next appointment was set for February 28th at 20 weeks and 4 days. 

During our snow week of February 11th-14th, we headed down to Meridian Mississippi for two days. Isaac stayed in Huntsville with grandparents.

The next Wednesday on February 19th, I had been feeling bad for a while and decided to call the doctor. While we were in Meridian, we made a brief stop into Wal-Mart and I got very dizzy and light headed. I ended up having to sit down on the floor for about a minute. Well off and on, I had been having contractions. Some tightening off and on and by Wednesday I was really worried. I called the doctor's office and the on call doctor set up an appointment in Labor and Delivery to have me monitored. I went to Labor and Delivery after my classes that day and they hooked me up. They monitored both babies' heart rates which were looking good and monitored the contractions. They also checked my cervix which was closed. Everything looked good and I was instructed to cease drinking Gatorade which I had been drinking since my stomach bug and drink water. Well since then, I've been drinking between 2-3 liters of water a day and have definitely noticed the difference.

The next Wednesday on February 26th, I became concerned that I was leaking too much fluid. I knew there was the possibility that it was not amniotic fluid but other icky pregnancy type things, so I looked up on the internet just for reassurance. Well of course, the internet will never offer reassurance, just panic in the highest degree. Sooooo....I called back to the doctor's office and the on call nurse told me to go back to Labor and Delivery. So I headed back. After I had completed all my paperwork at the hospital, my doctor's nurse called and told me to come to the doctor's office to get checked our there first. She said if everything looked okay, I could go home, but if it did not, they would send me back. So, I left Labor and Delivery before getting my bracelet and headed to the office.

At the office, the technicians who were super, super nice went ahead and did the big 20 week ultrasound since I was 20 weeks and 2 days. They got all the measurements for Baby A who looked great and was measuring right on schedule and weighed about 12 ounces. Baby A had a heart rate of 143. They got most of the measurements for Baby B, telling me they would finish up on my regularly scheduled appointment on Friday. Baby B was measuring ahead of schedule and had a heart rate of 157 and weighed about 14 ounces. Everything also was looking good with Baby B. They measured my amniotic fluid, and said it looked good. 

I met with the doctor who also did some tests to see if I was leaking amniotic fluid, and all tests came back negative. He also told me, my cervix was above average even for a singleton pregnancy, which research has shown lessons my risk of preterm labor. 

So everything is looking good. The babies were moving around a lot, at the hospital, the nurse had a hard time getting the heart monitors in just the right place, and they were moving around a lot at the ultrasound. Movement is good, active babies are good. I am feeling the movements more and more each day, though I don't feel every movement yet. 

Everyone is being very, very nice and reassuring and not treating me like a mental patient. I promise, I did not act like this with Isaac. This is just so much more scary this time around. I don't want to overreact but I also worry about underreacting and something going wrong. My doctor said there is no way for me to tell if I am leaking amniotic fluid or not, so if something changes and I get worried to just come back in and they can check it out. My goal is to make it to my next appointment, which will actually be in three and half weeks because of spring break, without coming in for an extra appointment. 

Because they got all the information they needed, I canceled my appointment for this Friday. The doctor said they could finish up some of Baby B's measurements the next time in four weeks.  Soooo...... even though I had told the very nice ultrasound technicians I didn't want to know the sex yet because I could wait to Friday, I asked the nurse if she would ask them to write it down for me. The ultrasound technician brought out the envelope to me.  So we plan to take the envelope to Party City and get two balloons placed in a box for Isaac to open at a family dinner on Friday. 

So now I exercise my self control and not open the envelope. ;) It's good to get some reassurance that things are going well, it will be nice to be able to celebrate. I will continue to rest as much as possible and drink tons and tons of water. Four more weeks until viability!

February Update

On January 30th I returned to the doctor, I was 16 weeks and 3 days pregnant. I knew that many people find out the gender of their babies this early and even though 20 weeks in THE time for the big ultrasound at Clinic for Women, I thought we might find out the gender since we have an ultrasound every visit. We were planning a small celebration with family, complete with gender revealing cupcakes from Gigi's, so I went in to the appointment armed with an envelope. The ultrasound technician immediately said, oh I know the gender, do you want to know? I asked if she would write down, but she said they only will write it down at the 20 week ultrasound to ensure accuracy. Oh well. She didn't see/or say anything though about baby number 2. The babies were moving around great and they had heart rates of 154 and 157. They are growing well and looking healthy. My doctor said everything looked good, my belly is now measuring ahead of schedule. From here on out, I'll be growing bigger and faster than a singleton pregnancy. 

We also had our first brief conversation about delivery. He told me that while it's true twins typically come sooner than singletons, they usually don't come much sooner; an average of 36 weeks. He told me though, that he will not allow me to go past 38 weeks because research does not show any benefit to this. June 30th will be 38 weeks, so he said July 1st at the latest-I will be home for July 4th with the babies (at the latest). So that was good to know; I went ahead and deleted week 39 and 40 from my calendar. This will also give Noah a longer time home with me before heading back to school :). Also, I have the option of not getting a c-section!!! Providing both babies are head down, I can opt for a vaginal delivery. If either baby is not head down, I will have a c-section for the safety of the babies. He also warned me that if I opt for a vaginal delivery, there is a chance the first one could be born vaginally but the second one because of either stress or being turned at the last second could need to be born via c-section. He told me it was my choice, I could opt for a c-section to begin with or I could try for a vaginal delivery if I wanted and everything was looking good.

We have scheduled our big 20 week ultrasound for February 28th. We canceled this last little get together which was actually not such a bad thing since Emily and Rush have had a pretty stressful week and were glad to not get on the road Thursday. Now we will put a little more planning into the get together on February 28th. I have now turned down twice finding out the gender of these babies, and I'm excited to find out, but nervous. I do not have names picked out. We had Isaac's name picked out from before the end of the first trimester, but this time, it is just so much more complicated with the three different possible combinations. I can also say, I felt in my heart Isaac was a boy, but I am completely confused this time. The fact that the ultrasound technician said pretty immediately and definitively that she knew what one baby was, makes me think that that baby is a boy, but both heart rates are in the 'girl' range as far as the old wives' tale goes....sooooo..... I have absolutely no clue. Nothing wrong with that. Isaac's heart rate at 16 weeks was 148, in the 'boy' range, but at the last ultrasound both of these babies had almost identical heart rates to Isaac's at 12 weeks. I had been convinced that they were both boys..but I'm not so sure anymore.

Most of all, I am still praying for safety for these little ones. I am more nervous this time around than I was with Isaac. I am starting to feel a little fetal movement, which is both exhilarating  and nerve wracking. I think I am still a little early to feel consistent movement, so if I go too long without feeling anything, I get nervous. And even though it will be exciting to know the gender of these two babies and pick their names, most of all at that 20 week ultrasound, I pray they see healthy babies. I am still very much praying for health.

Still a lot to do around the house. Haven't even started yet. Oops!!! Carmen will be over Tomorrow, Meridian Symphony in two weeks, and a wedding on March 8th, and then the harp gigs are over until babies get here. First Christmas harp gig is already on the books though... Blessed for work!