Quick birth info!

Taken Thursday morning around 9am: Brooksley, Mama, Audris

I was induced Wednesday morning at the hospital after arriving at 7:30am. They started the pitocin and things seemed to be going well but after I got to 6cm (by 8pm), I was really suffering. So I begged for an epidural, and my goodness, it was like night and day. I was able to really enjoy the rest of the birth. After A came out, B was staying up high. OB reached in to try to grab her legs but she kept kicking them out of the way! Finally she grabbed her head and had me push a bit, but then my cervix had closed to 7cm again!! So I had to lay on my side while they cranked up the pitocin again. And then I really felt I had to push, and Baby B came out fairly quickly, thank goodness, but we had passed midnight so it was a new day. (And a bonus, that meant we got to go home Saturday instead of Friday!)

So we had Baby A - Audris Mae - at 10:29 pm on March 24th, 6 lbs 9 oz, 19-3/4".
Baby B - Brooksley Anne - at 12:26am on March 25th, 7 lbs 5 oz, 19".

I was 38w2d/38w3d.

There is a giant full birth story being written that will hopefully get posted later today if I can get another thirty minutes to myself, lol!!!

Birth Story (finally!)

[I started this post on the day that Brooksley was born... sorry for the long delay in finishing it!!]

So this is a pic of my swollen feet that I've been talking about:
And here I am in one of the last things to fit me that neighbor Ilona gave me a few days before, along with a million things handed down from her son Edward who was Thomas' age:

Babies' Birth Story

Recap: With my last ultrasound scan, the doctor decided that the fluid levels around Baby A were perilously low. With her lack of weight gain over the past two weeks, the doctor felt they needed to artificially induce me so I would give birth sooner rather than later.

Although I tried several natural induction methods Tuesday (tincture of blue and black cohosh, three walks, long warm bath, acupressure, mild nipple stimulation), nothing seemed to happen until after 3 a.m. I seemed to notice several regular surges over the next hour. So I decided to get up and have a little breakfast and walk on the treadmill to see if I could make them more regular, before our 7 a.m. departure for the hospital. Sadly, it didn't work. I had a little cinnamon toast at 6:30 a.m. and that was my last thing to eat for the rest of the day.

We arrived at the hospital a little late (I was so nervous leaving the house), and were met in the hallway by our day nurse, Laurie. It was nice to see her familiar face: she had done two of my NSTs, even Mary Anne had met her at one of them, and she and I had really hit it off talking about the old days of natural births, breech births, and vaginal twin deliveries. So it was nice to be in the hands of someone who knew what kind of birth I had wanted, before being required to induce for the health of Baby A.

We brought in a dozen local bakery doughnuts for the nurses. Of course Laurie told us that she was staying away from them -- what will power! She set us up in a labor and delivery room which happened to be the same one I labored in for Thomas! By 7:50 a.m. I was being handed my gown to change into.

My OB, Dr. W, came by on rounds a short time after. She examined me and was happy to announce I was 3cm dilated, but still just 50% effaced. Baby A was also now in station -1. Lynn and I were excited that my efforts the day before had done this in less than 24 hours! If only we had had another 24 hours, we thought out loud. Dr. W said she wanted me vertical, to help engage A's head.

They started the pitocin drip at 1 mL/hour around 9 a.m., and continued to up it by 1 mL every half an hour or so. I was able to breathe through each contraction on my own at this point. I was sitting on a birthing ball stool, and rocking my hips back and forth. It surprised the nurse that babies continued to show up on the heart rate monitor so well, even though I was up. Contractions started to get regular, and seemed one to two minutes apart. I enjoyed my front row seat of watching the monitor. I think it helped to put me in a focused zone. The timing of the next events is blurred; I can't really remember when we tried different positions or when I was examined and what the results were.

For example, at one point, after many hours and painful laboring, I was still just 3 or 4cm dilated, which was hugely disappointing. I think this is when I started trying to stand and walk in place, and Lynn suggested I put on some upbeat music on my IPOD. I had a genre called Pop that I selected, and we started dancing to that. The music ranged from Avril Lavigne to ABBA, and even included that old hit, "Billy, Don't Be A Hero!" We never knew what would come up next: Glen Campbell (singing "Wichita Lineman"), Cheryl Crowe, or some of my favorite European bands.

Our group of four discussed when we thought the babies would arrive. Laurie's shift ended at 7 p.m. and we were confident she would meet the babies. Tim joked about being able to eat at Mama's Diner for dinner, and I wondered what fabulous meal I would be getting for my celebratory dinner! Sometimes I would suggest that perhaps baby A would be crowning before anyone would notice I was in active labor. The OB and nurse said that would be a wonderful thing!

The OB was waiting for baby A's head to engage (0 station) so she would be able to break the water at that point, to hasten the labor. But if A's head was not engaged, they wouldn't be able to, because her cord might prolapse down the canal through the opening. And that would be bad, as oxygen would be cut off. At 3:45 p.m., the OB examined me again. (I think she came in dancing to ABBA's "Dancing Queen" which was pretty funny.) I forget how far dilated I was. (I might have been 6cm at this point. If so, we knew the two hours of dancing had really helped.) Baby's head was engaged, so she broke my water. So much gushed out! The doctor said, a bit disingenuously, well she must have peed a ton overnight. Water continued to squirt out over the next hour, there just seemed no way to me she had had very little fluid!

(And sorry if this is TMI, but this was also the time I threw up the first time. Dr. W timed one of her visits so that she was the one holding the wastebasket for me. The nurse tried to offer me a little tiny pink crescent shaped dish and I said there was no way it would hold it. Big wastebaskets for me!)

My feet were pretty tired from all the dancing, so I sat on the birthing ball stool again, and Lynn massaged my neck and shoulders with some lavender relaxation oil we had made a few weeks prior. It felt great. Even Tim did some "goosebumps" action to help me generate some natural oxytocin. But things were hurting, it seemed a lot more to me than when I birthed Thomas. Lynn suggested it was all that extra pressure of twins, but I think it had much to do with the pitocin drip, which was set at 10 at that point. After an hour or two, when I began to start imagining pushing the baby down, they had me examined and I was still just 6 cm dilated, maybe 7cm, but OB sounded unconvinced. At least I was 80% effaced.

I felt so broken at this point. It was so disheartening to realize it had passed 8:00 p.m. and I was progressing so slowly and painfully. (I agree with everyone else, Pitocin is evil!) I looked up at Tim after one contraction with a look pleading for help. Tim interpreted it as I was going to kill him if I ever got out of my situation alive! I felt like crying, and I just begged Lynn to please let me get an epidural. She felt I had been doing well, but I really didn't agree. I had secretly been begging for an epidural in my head since the first time they evaluated me and I had hardly progressed to 4cm after hours!

Lynn reminded me that we had discussed this possibility. So I asked that someone please call the nurse to ask for the epidural. My doula was helping me through the next rapid fire strong contraction, so I was grateful to see my mother-in-law get up and make the call for me. I made the request about 8:15 or so, the nurse relayed the order closer to 8:30 p.m., and it was still 8:40 p.m. and we were waiting on the anesthesiologist. I was thinking I was going to be ready to push the baby out before the epidural would arrive! He finally came in and it seemed to take forever, but I'm sure he was done in ten minutes. Lynn and the new labor nurse who had replaced Laurie held me up on the bed while the doc worked on my back. I had several painful contractions in this position. I found myself silently pleading to Thomas to help his mother through the pain. It always seemed to help.

The OB judged that I was ready to move to the OR. At 9:15 p.m. I was a new woman! I was so happy to not being feeling anything anymore! I was in the OR and it was showtime! Tim and Lynn put hospital cover ups on. Mary Anne waited in the room. They had to coach me through the pushing, telling me when it was time. Lynn would remind me to use my birthing breath, and that really worked great. Baby A came out slowly, and she did not tear me at all using this nice slow method. We used a few positions and methods. One of them had me holding one end of a rope (a sheet tied with knots on two ends), and Tim holding the other at the end of the bed. I would pull on that during a surge, which would make me naturally bear down. (I can promise you that my arms were pretty sore two days later from this!!)

Baby A was born at 10:29 p.m. on March 24th. As she came out, they saw she had some meconium around her, so instead of handing her to me, they needed to check her out right away to make sure she hadn't breathed any in, which can be fairly dangerous. It was lovely to hear her weak cries, and know she had arrived safely after all! I think they said her apgars were 7 and then 8, due to her color. When she first came out, she exploded with poop! The nurses who were checking her out cleaned her all off, and then she exploded again, making the nurses cry out in dismay!

They wrapped her into a blanket, handing her to Tim who brought her over to me. This birth I made a point of wearing my eyeglasses, so at least I could see her well when they set her on my (still pregnant!) belly. The nurses would have left her there, but it was really awkward with me still trying to birth B. So I asked Tim if he would just continue to hold her. But I guess the nurses took her away.

The OB went to work on delivering Baby B. She reached up inside of me, all the way to her elbow, and tried to grab B's legs to deliver her breech. But the baby kept sliding her legs out of reach. The baby's sac was still intact at this point. The doc finally just settled for grabbing B's head and lowering it into place at the pelvis.

When she removed her arm, she was puzzled by some blood that she saw on it. She didn't know where it would have come from, as she had emptied out A's cord blood. So she wondered if it was somehow coming from B, but why? She set aside her concern and had me push B down until finally B was engaged. Then the OB used a hook to break B's water, which yielded a ton of amniotic fluid. The clock was clicking past 11 p.m. and I kept thinking of the calendar change about to occur! Would I deliver B on the same day as A or not?? Then the OB made the discovery that my cervix had closed back up to 7cm dilated! She said I would have to stop pushing, rest, and let the pitocin do its job. The nurse cranked the pitocin up, I think to 12.

I mentioned that the epidural seemed to be wearing off, as I could feel the contractions and they gave me an urge to push (which I had to ignore). They asked the anesthesiologist to come back in, and he didn't like the idea of adding more. He was very clear in explaining to me the pros and cons. Basically, I wouldn't feel any urge to push and if I needed to push B out, it would probably take longer and I wouldn't be too effective.

Just before this, the OB and nurses had been watching baby B's heart rate on the monitor, and finally had me lay on my right side as it made it better. But with each contraction, B's heart rate suffered some decelerations. This worried me as I know that some conservative OBs would immediately insist on a c-section. Her heart rate was dropping below 90 occasionally. So I would talk to B when I felt the urge to push (i.e. a contraction) come on. And sometimes her heart rate would climb right back up after falling only a little bit, or it wouldn't fall at all. But the doc said it was okay, she went back to a break room to read for a bit until my cervix was dilated again.

Tim and Lynn went back to the labor room to visit with Mary Anne, who had been waiting by herself. Mary Anne had already come to the door of the OR to see Audris in Tim's arms. The nurses had made up a room for us in the Mother-Baby Unit, so Tim helped Mary Anne move our belongings to the new room, and they wheeled in a recliner in case Mary Anne spent the night, too. So I was left in the OR by myself with one delivery nurse, the one who had taken Laurie's place at 7 p.m. I asked where A was and I guess she was all by herself in a little heated isolette in the back of the operating room. "She's waving her arms about," the nurse said. I was too self-involved at this point, but I wish someone had taken her out and given her to me while we were waiting. The clock made its way past midnight, and I acknowledged to myself that it was now my niece Kelli's angelversary. In the back of my mind, I had been anxious to avoid that date... oh well... best laid plans, and all that!

I was occupied watching the contraction and heart rate monitors. When the doctor had been in the room, they had had some difficulty keeping a monitor on Brooksley using the "hockey puck" and elastic strap around my belly. It would slide off after each push. I thought they were measuring B's heart rate, since it was 140, but that was actually mine! I was pretty shocked. I'm used to mine being around 70, but I guess giving birth is fairly intensive (hah). I finally asked the doctor why they didn't just put an internal monitor on B's head. She seemed surprised by my suggestion, and said they would, if I didn't mind. (So I'm wondering, why would I mind? Well later I noticed little scab marks on both girls' heads; apparently that is what happens when they attach an internal monitor to a birthing baby's scalp.) It was a relief to get the belly elastic off.

I finally told the nurse that I REALLY had to push; I was having a hard time restraining myself. She almost panicked since she was the only one in the room. She said, "Don't push yet! I'll let the doctor know," and went off to phone someone. Apparently the doctor must have had a sixth sense, because she was walking past the nurses' station, on her way back, when they fielded the call. I said it again, "I REALLY need to push," and it seemed like I was so quickly examined that they said, "OK, go ahead," even though they weren't 100% ready. Tim and Lynn weren't even in the room! This part of the evening is even more of a blur.

I remember Dr. W walking into the room and saying that it was Greek Independence Day, and that our daughter had been waiting for it! The conversation then went on that Dr. W is a choir director at her Greek Orthodox Church and that she even has an official Greek costume. She said she even knew the Greek national anthem. So I asked her if she could sing it and she did! She belted out a few lines -- her voice was great and it was pretty funny. At some point during all this, Tim and Lynn arrived back into the room, shocked at how close baby B was to being born.

The doctor wanted me to hold my breath as I pushed, she thought it would make me stronger, and it seemed to work, although I did end up tearing with this second birth. (I had not torn when A was born.)

Brooksley was born at 12:26 a.m. on March 25th. She scored 9 and 9 on her Apgars. Soon she was wrapped up and both girls were handed to me. It was a little overwhelming to see these two new daughters we had! But oh so exciting.

I got to hold them while we waited for the placentas to be delivered. When they finally came out, we got to look at them and they were fairly interesting. They had at some point joined, so perhaps B had started to take away some of A's nutrition, it is hard to say. They did look like loaves of focaccia bread, only made out of raw steak!

Dr. W examined them and noted that it appeared that baby B's placenta had apparently started to detach inside me (before being induced). If this placenta had fully detached, B would have been stillborn. You cannot detect a detaching placenta in an ultrasound scan. Only fluid levels (or cord flow problems) seem to be easily detectable and lead to most early inductions. So I like to think that Angel Kelli could see what was happening and made us know it was time to give birth to the babies -- even if we thought it was for a different reason. And she saved her day for Brooksley as a permanent little reminder. This is why Kelli's father, my brother Paul, is Brooksley's godfather.

As soon as the placentas were out, they were cleaning up the OR and shutting down. Dr. W was heading home after a long day -- she had two twin deliveries that day! (The other set of twins were delivered early, though, around 35 weeks, so spent a few days in the NICU. The two of us, twin moms, were aware that each of us was going through this at the same time. So there was like a little competition. She gave birth in the early evening, though. And she did it med-free, too. At my 6-week postpartum OB appointment, I ran into her in the waiting room. It was pretty funny. The receptionist said, "Oh how neat, we have two sets of twins here." So I looked at her and said, "Were you the other mom giving birth the same day I was?" She said, "Oh yeah, it was such a competition!" And we both laughed.)

I returned to my original laboring room where I had to wait until the epidural ran out before it could be disconnected. My doula Lynn was kind enough to drive Mary Anne home for us so she wouldn't have to sleep in the recliner. It was probably a good thing as they were able to keep each other awake the whole way home. After thirty minutes or an hour (I forget which) they measured and weighed Brooksley, and I got to nurse both babies. They were all bundled up. This was our first family portrait:

Finally the epidural ran out, so they took the two babies to the night nursery. I sent Tim to bed in our Mother-Baby room. The anesthesiologist appeared and began untaping the needle and other equipment attached to my back. He said, "I don't know who taped this, but they did a real number on you." I replied, "Nice try! I know you did it -- I'm not that out of it!" He was a nice, young doctor.

Finally at 3 a.m., I was able to go to sleep in the bed in my new recovery room. Tim was asleep on the recliner, which was more comfortable than the couch by the windows, but that still wasn't saying much. At 5 a.m., incredibly, the nurse in charge of my care woke me up to go over all the paperwork and who knows what else for a new inpatient. Then an hour later, the babies were back for their nursing. They remained in my room the rest of the day. Tim drove home to get some breakfast, shower, and pick up Mary Anne. They arrived sometime in the morning, and we all got to see the babies with clearer eyes. They were so sweet in their little gowns and caps. And so tiny! Dr. W arrived at some point to discuss my plans. Because B was born after midnight, I earned an extra night at the hospital and she wanted to know if I planned to stay. Heck yeah!

The rest of the stay is a blur. Night times were not restful, with strangers coming in to get blood draws from me, and night nurses wheeling in the two babies and helping me get them latched for nursing. I would nurse the babies for an hour, then call the nursery and ask them to retrieve the girls! I let Tim spend his nights at home as it was pretty pointless to have him suffer with me.

On Friday afternoon, we had the girls' hearing tested and the hospital photographer took their portraits for our birth announcements. The girls were so tiny then!
On our last morning, as the nursery nurses brought the babies to me for the last time, one of them handed Audris to me and said, "You should know she has spent the past hour wide awake and crying. We want to let you know so that when you get them home, you will know it is normal." I think Audris was just born hungry, and it took me a while to make enough milk to satisfy her. (I was nursing her every hour and a half at home that first week -- oh it was miserable!)

For the coming home trip, we dressed the girls up in the pink and purple outfits I had sewn for the girls. Tim showed infinite patience as the girls did not enjoy being dressed!
We returned home on Saturday noontime to find a welcome home sign hanging in our garage (it was pouring rain outside) made by our neighbors. What a welcome!

So that is the story of my daughters' births! Three months later, some of the details have been lost, but I hope I got most of it down, as I know one day they will love to read about it. My mom wrote a letter to her mother-in-law the morning after I was born, so I have her account of my birth, and it is a real treat to read.

Showtime!

What an interesting day. By tomorrow night, our girls should be here! But let me go back to the beginning...

A few weeks ago, my doula Lynn had me make a relaxation oil. She asked if I had my pendulum, which is a tool you use during energy healings to read a person's chakras, etc. She said we can use it to ask yes and no questions. So when you first start, you ask your Spirit Guide (or Guardian Angel) to show you what a yes is on your pendulum. Mine was a strong up and down in a straight line. Then you ask to show a no, and that was a counter clockwise circle. That day, we asked how many drops of each essential oil to add to the bottle, it was really wild! I had never seen the pendulum used that way before.

Early this morning, I asked my Spirit Guide if I could ask questions about my birth (after confirming what the yes and no answers looked like), and I got a strong yes. Later I asked if I could share this information with others, and again I got a yes. Lynn had told me on Monday that she had an intuition that today was the day for the girls, which finally prompted me to do this questioning.

So here was some of what I asked and what I was told:

Can you see the future? (strong yes)
Will I give birth today? (a weak yes)
Will you (Spirit Guide) be there? (Strong yes)
Will Thomas be there? (a pause, then yes)
Will the girls be healthy? (yes)
(Again) Will I give birth today? (a weak yes)
Will there be any problems with the birth (no)

I was pleased with the answers, a little puzzled about the weak yes, but thanked my Spirit Guide for answering them.

Then I went downstairs and finished sewing the purple bonnet:

I was able to bring the two bonnets to my NST visit, where the tech nurses love looking at my project. The babies passed the NST, but it was difficult finding their location. Baby A's heart beat was about 125 and Baby B's was 140. I had one six-minute long contraction during the test! My blood pressure remains normal at 114/71. While I was doing the NST, Lynne, the NP, came in and said I needed to pick a date for induction, either this coming Friday, the 26th, or next Tuesday, the 29th! I was surprised, but not surprised. She said I could talk to my husband before making a decision. (I was already thinking Friday...)

Then I had a scheduled ultrasound, with a different tech for the first time. This ultrasound was just for a limited scan where they measure the fluid levels around the babies and check the blood flow through the hearts and umbilical cords. Right away she had problems measuring Baby A's fluid pockets. She asked me if there was any history of low fluid there, and I said no, they both always had a good amount. But she could see the membrane wrapped around the baby with barely any fluid. She was able to get a profile shot of Baby A, and we watched as A opened her mouth and swallowed and stuck out her tongue. Baby A is still in the same head-down position.

Baby B was back to laying on top of A, from side to side across my uterus, otherwise known as transverse position. Her head was facing inward, so the tech couldn't scan it at all. I asked if she could find a hand or foot, so this is the picture she printed of B for us:

These are presumably the last ultrasound pictures we will have our girls. Next images of them will be of what they actually look like! Can't wait!

The cord doppler exams went really well, they had strong flow from the placentas. And their hearts were good and strong. Then the tech left Mary Anne and I in the room while she went to get the doctor.

The OB confirmed that there was only that one pocket of fluid by A's face, otherwise she was completely wrapped up by her membrane. She did not like the look of it. I asked her where the fluid went and this is how she explained it: The placenta has stopped providing nutrition to A, and thus she has nothing to urinate, so is not adding back to the fluid in her amniotic sac. This explains to me why A's growth seemed so different at the last ultrasound -- suddenly she was behind B in size, whereas all along she had been a week or two larger, and instead of measuring several weeks ahead, she was measuring just on schedule. But when I asked about that at my last appointment, I was told it was nothing to worry about! I'd heard babies slow down in growth at the end, so I dismissed it, too.

Then the doctor said that we needed to induce right away. Either that afternoon, giving me a chance to go home and get my hospital bag, or the following morning. But she needed to check with the other OB who was in charge of the L&D admissions.

After the scan, I had an unscheduled office visit with Lynne. She checked my cervix, Baby A's head position, and did another membrane sweep. There was, sadly, no change to the cervix or Baby A, so still 1 cm dilated, and still -2 position. So much for visualizing my cervix opening with each surge I've been having the past few days!! Lynne then told me to appear at L&D tomorrow morning at 7:30 a.m. to be induced. They will use pitocin, which can cause very hard contractions, and requires you to be hooked up to an IV. Many people who use pitocin end up needing an epidural to deal with the pain of these extra-hard surges. So this has me worried.

I asked if we could do anything else, like break my waters to induce. They only like to do that if you are already in labor but have stalled. This is what happened with Thomas. I was stalled at 8cm dilated when they broke his waters. Apparently, it isn't the force of the water coming out that induces you, it is a hormone that gets released when your bag of waters breaks that tells your uterus it is time to expel the baby. Learn something new every day! With Thomas, he was born thirty minutes after we did that.

So this gave me less than 24 hours to try to induce labor naturally. I called Lynn, my doula, to discuss our options. And of course I first let Tim know that we were scheduled to induce tomorrow. Ready or not, the babies will be here tomorrow!

Lynn has suggested drinking a tincture of blue cohosh and black cohosh, natural herbs that Native Americans have been using for ages. I did a little research with Dr. Google ;) and decided to go for it. Mary Anne and I also did some errands that got me walking a little bit, and we went around the block for a walk in this beautiful weather (60s and sunny). Walking is supposed to help induce labor.

When Lynn arrived with the herbs in liquid form, we used the pendulum first to talk to my Spirit Guide. We asked if each one would be safe and timely for me to use, and the answer was yes. I asked if I was to drink it once each hour, and the answer was yes. Then we used it to find out how many drops of each were to go in the tincture (a small glass with a large gulp of water and the drops), so that was really interesting!

So I started drinking the tincture at 3:30 p.m., and my understanding is I am to continue drinking it hourly until I feel I am going into labor. Sometimes it doesn't work, but that's just the way it is for all these natural methods.

Other women have suggested these various natural methods, all rumored to help with inducing labor naturally: drinking castor oil, walking, having sex, eating "labor cookies" (a special recipe), eating spicy food, getting special acupuncture performed, driving on bumpy roads, using acupressure or having a foot massage. I am passing on the castor oil because my body already is clearing out on its own -- sorry if TMI. The acupuncturist was closed today, so that was a bummer. I did print out the acupressure points and am hoping Tim will use them on me in a little bit.

So that's the story. Who knows what the next blog update will be! Wish us all well and say your prayers! Thank you!

Oh, and here is my last weekly belly shot -- 38 weeks -- taken last night:

Pink outfit is complete!

I am 38 weeks today! If anyone had told me this back at 6 weeks, I don't think I would have ever believed it. Tomorrow is the 23rd, and that is my lucky number, so here's hoping... I do have a NST and ultrasound (to check cord dopplers and fluid levels only) tomorrow morning. Doctor visit isn't until Friday.

To kill time today, I sewed the pink bonnet with scrap remnants from the fabric for the dress and jacket. It might be a little big, but it sure looks cute with the jacket! It probably took about five hours total, so I need to post this then go downstairs and work on the purple one!!

Here is a little lamb (from the Zeronas) modeling the bonnet, the jacket, and the mittens my mom knit on his feet! The dress and booties are in the background.



Here is the back of the bonnet and jacket:

Spring is here??

Woke up to 2 inches of snow on the ground. At least on Thursday, when it was in the mid-60s and sunny, I was able to enjoy a bit of a walk one evening with Tim and Mary Anne. The crocuses were out, the daffodils are in bud, the lilac is ready to leaf out. Oh well. It wouldn't be spring without another snow storm!

Mary Anne drove me to my weekly appointment yesterday. She sat in while they did the NST, and both babies did well. Surprisingly, their heartbeats were very similar. All along, Baby A has been consistently lower than Baby B by about 15 beats per minute. So it was strange to see them both in the 140s range. Sadly, I only had one tiny surge (contraction) show up on the monitor.

At the office visit, Lynne checked my cervix. I am 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced. The cervix is definitely funneling as the outside is open 3 cm. So it is nice to know that the surges are actually doing something down there! I have started visualizing them pulling up the uterine muscles that open the cervix. Lynne checked Baby A's head position and she is now in station -2, which is just above the pelvic bones. (I posted a diagram of stations back in the fall of 2008, during Thomas' pregnancy, if you want to go through old blogs to find it.) Then Lynne swept my membranes. It was a little uncomfortable but it didn't hurt.

I asked her if she had concerns about me going past 38 weeks, because Dr. Wickstrom had stated her concern the week before. Lynne said that if/when I come in next Friday (38w4d), they'll talk about induction. But I know the office really doesn't like inducing because it generally ends up in requiring medical intervention (i.e. c-section). So we'll see. As one of my friends on Facebook said, "I never thought you'd be stripping membranes to get labor started at almost 38 weeks with TWINS." I seriously can't believe I'm still pregnant, either! But it's a good thing for the most part. Other than the pitting edema I have on my very swollen feet and legs and the dry cough I get from my stressed-out diaphragm.

She also measured my fundus which is a huge 54cm, or the equivalent of being 54 weeks pregnant with one baby! Two weeks ago, the number had been holding steady at 46cm. The number doesn't mean anything in a twin pregnancy, it is just done for a laugh, really. I wasn't too surprised by the number because on Thursday night, as I walked by the mirror I said, oh my gosh, I have just really popped out and down in two days! Look at the belly pic from 37 weeks compared to two days later.

Tuesday morning:

Thursday night:


My blood pressure is still good and low, and my urinalysis is still normal. I do have that pitting edema mentioned earlier, but no swelling in my hands or face. Lynne said I would make a great surrogate mother -- I can really cook my babies!

So the waiting game continues. Mary Anne continues to be a big help around here with doing laundry, making meals, driving, etc., and Tim is tackling all the things I keep adding to his to-do list! (The latest is to paint a 4-peg board to hang on the wall, so I can hang things in the nursery, like a hat or a cute outfit on a hanger.) I haven't done the bonnets, yet, but I keep thinking about them. My mom has sent me two adorable knitted caps for the girls, hoping they arrive today. Might not need bonnets if those will work, lol!

If anything happens to indicate it is time to head to the hospital, I'll be sure to post a small blog update from home. Fingers crossed it is sooner rather than later!

Full term, false alarm, and other stuff

Tim and I can hardly believe I made it to full term with these babies!! 37 weeks is an "official" date in the pregnancy books, although I think the average delivery date for twins is about 35 weeks, but that still usually requires some time in the NICU (Neonatal ICU). I've been visualizing 37 weeks for a long time now (even as I may have secretly sometimes wished them out last week!), and it seems to have paid off. My nurse practitioner Lynne said I can keep them in as long as I want to/they stay, but she said most moms have had it by 38 weeks. My OB, on the other hand, is nervous about them going past 38 weeks, so she would like to strip my membranes this Friday if I am still pregnant. I think Lynne may have done this the day before I went into labor with Thomas.

Updates since last week
After my last post about slowing down, I woke up Monday morning even more swollen than before. My fingers were a little puffed out, and my face seemed a bit, too. I had gained two-and-a-half pounds overnight! Since these are also classic pre-eclampsia symptoms, I called the OB's office and talked to Lynne about the symptoms. She had me move my Tuesday NST appointment up a day, and asked me to come in at 11:00 a.m. So after I did my NST, I met with her. My urinalysis was back to normal (hooray!) -- no sugar and only a trace of protein as usual. And my blood pressure remained low. So she suggested I get my blood drawn for "chemical signs" of pre-e, which I did. I got the results in the afternoon. My liver and kidney functions were normal, but my blood platelets count was lower than normal for a pregnant woman (126 vs 140). So Lynne asked me to redo the blood test when I went in for my appointment on the following Friday. I had gained six pounds since the previous Friday, and she could see all the swelling, but I guess that is all that is wrong with me at this point, thank goodness!

On Tuesday I gave up wearing socks. They just cut in too much on my elephant legs. On Wednesday, I read about keeping my feet up on pillows while sleeping, so they are higher than my heart. That night, I tried it and it worked! All the fluid seemed to drain down, I had to get up and pee maybe four or five times that night, way more than normal! I had normal looking ankles for the first time in days! Of course, during the day, they swell up again, but at least the pillows help at night.

By Friday, I lost a pound and a half. My appointments went really well -- had a great growth ultrasound (more about that later), passed the NSTs even though B was sleeping through most of it for a change, and my office visit went well with the OB -- the urinalysis and blood pressure were normal again. The results of the bloodwork show that the platelets number is stable (128), so they aren't too concerned about it now. The doctor didn't do an internal exam on me, so I still don't know for sure if Baby A is engaged, or if my cervix has changed.

Pediatrician
Early in the week I asked a friend who lives nearby, is a nurse, and had a baby a year or so ago for a recommendation for a pediatrician. She gave me the name of hers, and I called and made an appointment. I wasn't sure if I should wait until after Mary Anne arrived so she could drive me, but I was also a little worried the babies would come before that could happen, so I went ahead and visited the office on Thursday. The office was beautiful, everything looked new in the waiting rooms. The area was spacious and it had three waiting rooms: sick child area, well child area, and a teen waiting room (which is where they had me wait). The doctor came out and greeted me and we talked for about twenty minutes in his office. I just had such a positive vibe from the place, the doctor, and his nurse -- so different from the one pediatrician I had visited before Thomas was born. I'm so glad to get that decision made. (Tim goes with whatever makes me happy, lol. He's just thrilled I found someone!)

"Do what you can before they arrive!"
On one of my moms of multiples message boards, I've been repeatedly advised to take care of whatever I can before the babies arrive, as we will have next to no time or energy when that happens. So I went ahead and designed the birth announcements (printed a few options and Tim picked his favorite), addressed 120 envelopes (using pre-printed labels) with return labels and stamps, including foreign stamps. Tim was great about going to the post office to pick up the stamps, too. Then I designed the baptism invitations, and Tim selected one of those. We will wait until we have the girls' names to print them all out. But it is a relief to have taken care of some of that stuff.

Taxes!
I finished our tax preparation work back on February 1, as part of my to-do list. (This is the earliest I have ever finished that.) But since we were waiting for a document that wouldn't be done until the end of February, the accountant wouldn't start the taxes. This was a bummer because we were looking forward to a nice refund, thanks to our medical deductions and charitable donations. We finally got the document the first week of March. And we got to go in Saturday to sign the electronic-filing forms. I am SO glad we were able to finish this before the girls arrived! I was worried it would get lost in the cracks otherwise.

False Alarm
My mother-in-law Mary Anne arrived Saturday night. She will be here for a month or two (we are all playing it by ear). In anticipation of her arrival, I finally tackled my last major to-do item: cleaning up the office side of the nursery. I had 3" piles of paperwork on two TV-tray-tables, a bag on the floor filled with Christmas gift receipts, piles of stuff on top of our scanner and on the desk. I've been looking at this stuff for months! So I finally did it! I put things away, put stuff in storage, finally took care of to-do things like thank you cards, paid some bills, filed a lot of paperwork, etc. This of course involved going downstairs to the lower level a few times during the day. I just got more and more tired, the more I accomplished.

I stayed up, cleaning, emptying the dishwasher, and setting up the coffee pot, until Tim returned from the airport with his mom, which was about 10:30 p.m. We chatted for thirty minutes, then everyone went to bed. At 1:40 a.m., I woke up from a strange dream about baby dresses feeling hard as cast iron, and used the bathroom. Trying to fall back asleep, I realized I was having harder, regular contractions. Now every pregnancy book I have read says to try to keep sleeping if they start up during the night, as you will need all of your energy later for labor. I lay in bed for forty minutes (or four or five contractions) and knew I would never fall back asleep. I was too excited, even though I was a little sad this might be happening on my late niece Kelli's birthday. Daylight Savings Time then occurred, so I was already an hour closer to waking up anyway! I got up quietly, and let Tim and Mary Anne continue to enjoy their sleep until 7 a.m. Meanwhile, I timed each surge, and they remained, on average, a nice regular eight minutes apart.

At 8 a.m., I went back to sleep and slept for two hours. But when I woke up, the surges became less and less frequent until I was having one every two hours or so -- back to my normal state. And that is how it has remained since then. A false alarm! And there we were, all so excited something might be happening. Oh well! But apparently that goes to show you what happens if you overwork when you are very pregnant.

Mary Anne and I spent the day organizing the rest of the nursery. She separated out all the baby clothes, so that we will only have preemie, and 0 to 3 month sized clothing in the drawers and armoire. She is washing them today.

Jackets are finished
I finished them some time ago, but never took a photo of the pink one until today. So here is a photo of the two jackets (you can click to enlarge):
This is how the dress looks with the jacket:
If I'm still hanging around this week with nothing left to do, I might work on the bonnets after all.

More more more!
"How do you like it, how do you like it?" While sewing the dresses and jackets for the girls, I would listen to the cable TV's music stations. My favorite was the 1970s music. Some of the catchier songs still remain in my head... hence the title of this section!

We have continued to receive more and more gifts in the mail. And I love sharing them with everyone, I hope you understand why. Part of it is because my family and Tim's family don't live nearby, so it isn't easy to say, "Oh look at these adorable dresses" and share that way.

On March 4th, we got a surprise present in the mail from Brenda. Brenda and I have a lot in common. We met online, struggling to get pregnant, and finally were blessed with baby boys, whom we both lost too soon, within a year of each other. She sent us a nice collection of things we did not have yet, that every parent needs!


A week later, Caroline, who I met on the same board with Brenda, had a gift shipped to us from an incredible store. The box it came in had a sweet floral pattern, was wrapped with a beautiful green ribbon, and the tissue paper inside was green with white polka dots, which matches our nursery! It was such a delight opening this gift!
The two outfits she sent are decorated with little poodles. The material is very heavy and everything is beautifully lined. When Tim saw the dress he said, "Hmmm, this puts your dress to shame!" I actually agree! The dress comes with matching pants, and the other outfit is like a jumper suit, or "bubble". The matching bonnets have chin straps to hold them in place, and the coordinating socks are just adorable. I think these outfits will go into the "save forever" pile!

Today, the girls received three more gifts! The first package I opened was one I was expecting from my mom: pink and lavender mittens for their homecoming outfits! Mom (aka Grammie) also sent a pair of pink booties she knitted, but she is now knitting a smaller pair of lavender ones and pink ones since these are a little too big for the homecoming. Mittens help keep babies from scratching their faces. Mom used a soft cotton yarn called baby yarn for these projects!

The second package was sent from a diaper store, so I was trying to remember what I might have ordered. But it was a wonderful surprise gift from my friend Becca who also is a cloth diapering mom. How amazing she could think of our girls as she was mourning her own son Jasper. She sent a pair of pink and a pair of lavender Rump-a-rooz diapers to match the girls' color themes! I was so blown away when I opened that package.

The third package today was a very sweet gift from another fellow November mom, Lara. Most of the November moms still keep our son Thomas in their thoughts. Lara saw this beautiful soft fabric baby book, "Night Night Peter Rabbit" at her friend's house. But when she saw the butterfly page with "Flutter by Tom" she just knew she had to get it for our daughters.
We are just so blessed to have such thoughtful family and friends.

Last growth ultrasound
Unless I actually go over 40 weeks (ha!), I had my last growth ultrasound Friday, at 36w4d. This was a major milestone I've been trying to reach since I made it to 32 weeks. I wanted to have the girls measured one more time to see how closely their birth weights match the sizes as measured by the ultrasound technician. Before we started, I showed the tech the ultrasound photo album I've been maintaining this pregnancy. It includes the collage I've made for each scan, followed by each printout cut and trimmed to fit inside each photo pocket. She was so inspired by this book, that she gave me a ton of pictures at this visit. Since we had a hard time seeing the babies clearly at 34 weeks, I told her that pictures of feet and hands would be just fine, but it was very hard to get good ones of those! The best scenes on the scan were things like the ribs and spine! She did print scans of their four-chamber hearts for me, along with the graphs showing the heartbeat rates.

Surprisingly, Baby B was in a different position. Baby A was much lower (but you can't tell from an ultrasound if she is engaged), and still head down. So apparently Baby B took advantage of the extra space on top and was laying out flat from left to right, with her head on the right, but not down. The tech didn't say B was transverse, I thought she said obverse, but that isn't a position I've heard of. B was enjoying kicking me in the ribs, and she was belly to belly with A, somehow! The tech needed to measure B's back leg, and she couldn't get to it, so she asked me to roll to my right side a bit. Now I find it hard laying on my left side, but I gave it a try. Immediately I felt a shift in weight, like the cargo in a hold in a stormy sea. Ouch, was that painful as everything fell to the right. Well guess what? Baby B was next found primly posed head down as if she hadn't been fooling around moments earlier. She is definitely my wild child.

Oddly, Baby B is now measuring larger than Baby A, and they are both measuring on schedule instead of week(s) ahead. So who knows how big they will really be. But for now, the tech says Baby A is 6 lbs. 5 oz., and Baby B is 6 lbs. 12 oz. I am carrying thirteen pounds of baby!!! And speaking of weight, I have now gained a total of fifty pounds! I'm actually pretty happy with that, and that has been a goal of mine since the beginning. (With Thomas, I gained 35 pounds.)

So that is where we are today. I have an NST scheduled for tomorrow, I still battle with the swollen ankles, we'll start trying natural methods to induce labor this week, and I will do a little work on some projects that have been keeping me busy on the side (non baby related). I did visit the chiropractor today to get my pelvis adjusted, so that is finally done. (I did it with Thomas, too, hearing that it helps to keep the birth canal straighter if you get it aligned.)

We are anxious and excited to meet our baby girls soon!!

Slowing down

I've been meaning to post an update for a few days, but needed to take pics, etc. which has sort of delayed me. And then I have felt out of sorts the past week, too. In some ways, I hope I'm nearing the end; if I go to my due date, poor Tim will be left pulling out his hair with my complaints.

First off, here is last week's belly pic (of course a new one will be taken tomorrow):

And what the hell, here is a front-on from week 34 and 35, showing the stretchmarks:

I started using Neutrogena Hand Cream on them and it has made them fade somewhat, and really helped stop their itchiness.

So that was Monday night. Tuesday I went in for my biweekly NST, and that went really well. In and out in thirty minutes. On Wednesday, Tim installed one of the car seats in the back seat of his car, and had it inspected. They needed to make it a little more level, and showed him how to do that. They also tightened the straps a little bit more. The woman doing the inspection was one of our baby/birthing class teachers from our first pregnancy! She was excited for us.

I started doing infant laundry in the middle of last week, wanting to make sure we have a few gowns, pajamas, onesies, hats, and socks clean just in case we need them before Mary Anne gets here this coming Saturday. (Planning on the two of us organizing a lot of the clothing and washing the smallest stuff, and storing the rest.) I also washed all the bassinet linens, all of our receiving blankets, and all of the hooded bath towels and washcloths. So those are all set!

I did finish packing the labor and hospital bags, the pillow cases for the pillows we're bringing, including our very large twin nursing pillow. So all that stuff is laying on top of the massage table set up in our dining room, with the car seats and video camera tucked underneath.

Beginning Wednesday, I noticed my pelvic bones were very sore. Any time I stood up, it was like they were broken, and I would hobble like a very old lady. On Friday, there was more pressure on the pelvis, so I wondered if Baby A's head was now engaged.

So that day I went in for another NST and my weekly office visit. It was a productive visit. The NST went fairly well, they were very active, but we needed to toot the alarm horn at them to get their heart rates to accelerate. I also had three or four contractions while laying there. Then during my office visit, they swabbed me for the Group B strep test. I'll get the results tomorrow. I was negative last time with Thomas, hoping for the same again. If it is positive, I have to be on an IV for antibiotics during labor, to prevent the babies from getting it. So just one less thing to worry about if it is negative. (Knock on wood.)

Since I was in an exposed position already, NP Lynne went ahead and checked my cervix and Baby A's station. My cervix is completely closed but I am about 50% effaced. Effacement is the thinning of your cervix before it starts to dilate. Baby A's head is still where it has been for weeks/months, a few centimeters above my pelvic bones. So she isn't engaged at all. I wasn't too surprised, since her butt is still sticking out the left where it has been wedged for weeks. I think she has tried pushing herself as far away as possible from her little sister, B! Lynne told me she thought I was safe from labor for at least another week, based on these signs.

I was writing this stuff down in my Pregnancy Journal when I asked her if she could let me know what the results of my weekly urinalysis showed. So she went and got the numbers and came back. She was shocked and suddenly serious. I had positive numbers for the first time this pregnancy! I was spilling protein and sugar into my urine! If protein is found in your urine late in pregnancy this can be a sign of preeclampsia (pregnancy related hypertension). But my blood pressure was only 111/71, so she wasn't sure if it was just a fluke or not. She says I will have another urinalysis on Tuesday when I come in for my NST, and if the numbers remain positive, I will have to do a 24-hour urine collection test. We discussed a few of the other symptoms of pre-e, and I said I would pay attention to them.

On Saturday, my pelvis felt much better for some strange reason. Tim and I ran a million errands, including a shopping trip to Target. We had a list of things to buy (hamper, dish tubs, laundry basket, etc.), but made the mistake of going off aisle to look at food and Easter items. So our quick trip really slowed down. I was very tired. I probably had about twenty contractions! (But I've been ignoring them since they really aren't doing anything, and they don't hurt. They are just annoying.) After we finished up there, we drove to the cemetery to visit Thomas and swap out his Valentines for some green St. Patrick's day flowers. Tim said I looked really flushed. I also felt a little dizzy. When we got into the car to drive home, I noticed I was seeing little black dots swimming through my vision. This is a classic symptom of pre-e. But it only lasted a few minutes and never came back.

At home, I got into bed and rested on my side with a big glass of water. I finally called the OB on call, just to make sure I was okay. He said yes, the dizziness and spotty vision could be a sign of all the fluid changes going on in my body at this late in the pregnancy. I felt better after a while, but it took it easy the rest of the evening.

Today I felt pretty normal at first. But as the day wore on, I felt I was really slowing down. My feet are so swollen, I can barely fit into my slippers. I have run out of comfy pants and underpants to wear, and only two pairs of house shoes fit me now (sandals and large clogs), and only my Ugg boots fit for outdoors! I finally crawled into bed around 2pm because I felt like the skin on my feet was going to split. Even though I stayed there for three hours, it didn't help.

I just don't feel great anymore. I really am slowing down. Now it is just a matter of surviving the next few days or weeks!

I have more to add, but I need to head to bed. Just didn't want to put off this update any longer. Hopefully will post more tomorrow or Tuesday.

35 Weeks Today!

Last week was a good week of taking care of things on my to-do list and ordering baby items and receiving gifts for the girls!

Since many of you can't be here to see all this stuff in person, I took pictures of the latest stuff to share, so you can feel a little excitement, too. (Remember to click on the images to enlarge them.) It is the month of March now, we are getting SO close!!

Early in the week, I got two more boxes of clothing from Christina, mom of two twin girls, too. They were also born at this time of year, just a year ago. She has been a real inspiration. These are 0-3 month outfits, so I will be washing these some time this week and putting them into the drawers.

Then a day or so later, A box from Texas arrived. This was from my friend Laura Kate, who had twins a month before I had Thomas. She lost her son Logan; I posted about him on the CarePages when she did her March of Dimes fundraiser last year. Her surviving twin is Ella, and all these hair bows came from her daughter. The photos she has posted of Ella have been super sweet with these fantastic bows, so I was more than happy to give them a try with these two I am expecting. I have a little bolster pillow that I used to display most of them.

A large envelope arrived on the same day from my parents in Florida. They had attended a craft fair the weekend before (my mom displayed her stained glass work at the same time). These are matching reversible bibs with coordinating fabrics. I show each side in the photo below. Adorable!

On Friday, one of my neighbors, Aileen, dropped off a large wrapped gift for the girls from her and her husband. Earlier in the month I had shown off the contents of the nursery (with all those clothes we've received!) to my neighborhood ladies, and so when she handed me the gift she said, "This is for the cooler months next winter." I waited until Tim got home from work, and we opened it together. They are just the most wonderful snowsuits! If next winter is anything like this one, they will be all set!! Each snowsuit has a coat, snow pants, and matching mittens. They are a dark magenta with silver embroidered snowflakes.

Using coupons and gift cards, I placed an order with Babies R Us for our Baby Trend Double Snap-N-Go stroller and for a Graco Pack-N-Play. We finally got to use our gift from Tim's coworkers at Liberty! Woohoo! The stroller is very light, maneuvers easily, and folds up quickly. You snap in your two infant car seats into the frame, it has no separate seats. This makes traveling to the grocery store (large basket underneath) or the pediatrician's office much easier. We will use it exclusively for the first six months, before needing to buy a regular type of stroller. Hopefully we can then find a nice one for cheap on Craig's List. The pack-n-play is a combination of a playpen, a bassinet, an infant bed, and a changing table. We have plans to drive to Michigan in June (yikes) and so this will work as a traveling crib. It also plays music and the bed and bassinet can be set to vibrate to aid sleeping. One of the babies will sleep in the infant bed for the first two months, while the other one sleeps in the other bassinet we had for Thomas. Then the baby can move to the built-in bassinet. The changing table will be handy for nighttime changes.

The stroller with car seats snapped in place:

The pack-n-play:

Tim will be taking my 35 week milestone photo tonight, so I don't have it ready to post yet. Maybe I will post it along with my birth plan later this week.

So the hospital bag is mostly packed (well, everything is laying out on the table next to the bag), the purple jacket is finished and the pink one is half done, I've balanced the checkbooks and paid all the bills. Slowly but surely Tim and I are taking care of things. Not much left to do!