I started my maternity leave today. The full 9 yards, no work until after the pregnancy is over and then until after the c-section heels. Brett and I are praying for at least another 3 weeks of gestation, hoping that the longer we can keep them inside the less time they are in the NICU. We were told that for every day they are early, they will be in the NICU for 2-3 days but we aren’t sure exactly when constitutes as “early.” Things we need to ask on Wednesday when we have the next ultrasound with the high risk doctor.
This leave feels very weird to me. I don’t feel “sick” or anything like that so it feels odd for me to be out of work. But since the results came back last week of the chance for pre-term labor I’ve been having contractions on and off so it’s definitely time to be out of work. I’m DVR-ing everything that seems interesting to me, I have a list of stuff I can do while on bed rest and my Nook is charged and ready for downloads! I’ve been saving magazines to read and I can always work on my cookbook or my non-fiction book as well. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep the boys safe so I just have to come to terms with being out of work earlier than I had hoped for!
I’m not going to try to get preachy or sorrowful here, but please send all of the good karma, thoughts, prayers, vibes, whatever you call it, our way. We’re hoping for at least July but we’re running on faith and the great care we’re getting from St. Francis right now so anything extra is most appreciated!!!
One of the reasons I love my husband so much is his sense of humor. He can always make me laugh and always knows how to lighten a tense situation with a well placed comment.
“When is this pregnancy going to stop getting exciting?” said my husband after we had spent the morning and afternoon at St. Francis and a follow up call from my obgyn office. J Cracks me up I tell you.
Yesterday I woke up with some pressure in my abdomen and sharp pain. It didn’t go away by the time I went for my scheduled appt with my doctor. She did a cervix exam which came back good and then did the fFN test which tells if a woman is at risk of going into preterm labor. That test had to go to the lab so in the meantime we were off to the hospital to be monitored and be given a non stress test. The boys were very uncooperative but there weren’t any contractions so they did an ultra sound and the boys looked good so I was told to go home and rest. About my doctor called back with the results of the fFN test. I am at 50% chance of going into labor within the next 2 weeks…….ummm what? So I was sent to have round 2 of the monitoring/non stress test today with the knowledge that I could be admitted. And they decided to start the 2 part shot to strengthen the boys’ lungs in case they do show up before they should. I was also told that at this point they would be comfortable with me stopping work if I was comfortable with it. They suggested I do but b/c of what I do they aren’t going to force me.
So last night Brett and I worked on baby stuff, shrinking the pile in our living room a bit more, I packed an overnight bag and nervously went to bed early. I must be super tired all the time b/c whenever I don’t think I’m going to be able to sleep I always do. I may not sleep through the night but I can usually get back to sleep easily.
We went today, both of us nervous and antsy, for the non stress test and the shot. The test couldn’t have been more easy, the boys cooperated more today than they ever have before, and while I had 3 contractions they said those were practice contractions, not labor contractions. Okay…shrug...they know what they are talking about. The nurse also talked to me about relaxing, letting people do things for me and staying out of work. She was more adamant than my doctor about it but still, I was told it was my decision.
Next was the shot. This shot is in the same family as prednisone and is a corticosteroid to help develop the lungs so if they are born premature, they will have a better chance of having normal lung function. The shot is given in 2 stages, 24 hours apart from each other. And that needle is HUGE. The medicine is injected in the upper part of the butt and there’s a lot of it. The nurse described the shot as “not a pleasant shot” which basically screamed to me PAIN but it really wasn’t bad at all. The shots I have to give myself every night hurt more but I think b/c I’ve basically been a pin cushion for the past 2.5 years, I’m fairly used to needles. The aftermath isn’t as nice, my hip and my butt are achy but if it helps the boys, bring it on! I go tomorrow for the second shot and then I should be done.
I’ve decided to try 3 days a week working. I will do Mon, Wed, Fri and take Tues and Thurs off for now. Unless that schedule gets to be too much or if I’m told otherwise by the doctors, that’s what I figured I would start with. Our next appointment is with the MFM (High risk) doctor and is an ultrasound appointment next Wednesday morning.
And with that, I will leave you with another wonderful quip from my husband…. “These boys are already grounded when they come out!”
I love seeing my children! If I could have an ultrasound machine in my house I would. Today I am 27 weeks AND we got to see the boys at our 3rd to last ultrasound! The boys are looking great, if not huge. Cody (Baby A on the bottom) is 2 lbs. 8 oz. and he is head down right now. Zachary (Baby B on the top) is 2 lbs. 12 oz. and he is currently transverse (laying sideways). If he doesn’t move and go head down it will be a c-section for me. He hasn’t moved from that spot since we started the ultrasounds, and there isn’t much space left for him to move around so I’m pretty much thinking c-section.
I’ve started being able to feel the boys move and kick the crap out of my insides. Cody is awake mostly in the morning, during the day and Zach wakes up in the late afternoon and stays awake for most of the evening. I love feeling them kick and move and Brett has had the opportunity to feel the kicking too.
One of the things thatwe found out today is that I am 2 cms dilated already. The MFM (basically means high risk) doctor didn’t seem overly concerned, although she certainly didn’t brush it aside either. Both the tech and the doctor seems surprised that I was still working (and that I’m okay with still working) and the doctor said that b/c my job isn’t strenuous on my body, and everything else looks good, she isn’t going to pull me yet. She said that bed rest isn’t necessary yet, that she feels that would be overly cautious. Which says to me that next month is most likely going to be different. We’ll just have to play it by ear and see what happens!
We have our next ob/gyn appointment next week and I believe it will be every other week from that point on, so they will be able to monitor everything with those appointments as well. Luckily, I was able to (finally) find a doctor in my practice who understood exactly what my gastric bypass surgery was about and that I do not have the ability to process sugar. This defeats the purpose of the glucose test which is to see how your body processes massive amounts of sugar to show if there is an issue with gestational diabetes. Ummmm……I don’t have a stomach…..thank God my husband talked me into badgering the office until I found a doctor who agreed with me that the glucose test would be a pointless way of sending me to the hospital. I just had to do blood work instead, most of which I had already been doing, monitoring my blood sugar since I got pregnant.
Other than that, the boys’ room is getting there, it looks so sweet already!! Brett and I are getting as ready as we can be. The shower is this month too!! I’m super excited to be able to see a lot of people I don’t usually get to see.
So today I am 23 weeks pregnant and we had another ultrasound today. It is so awesome to see the boys, I can’t wait to meet them in person! A lot has happened since I last posted. We found out we are having 2 boys and I don’t think Brett has come down from cloud 9 yet! He hasn’t stopped beaming yet! We didn’t have to fight about the names, we’ve known that for, ummm……probably years. Come on now, this is me we’re talking about. Thank God I have such an easy going and understanding husband. :) Cody James Allen Welles and Zachary Campbell Welles will be joining our little family soon, making it not so little anymore. I’m more than okay with that.
My last Ob/Gyn appointment went amazingly well and I really loved the doctor I saw (who happens to be the doctor who delivered my cousin’s baby a year ago). He actually answered all my questions and explained things to me. I’m still losing weight, and that’s kind of freaking me out. Every time I go, every month, I’m losing 1-2 pounds. Since I’ve been pregnant I’ve lost a total of over 10 pounds. Which at any other time, I would be happy. It was making me nervous though so I asked the doctor, again, and this time I got an answer! The reason they weigh a pregnant woman is to make sure the baby is gaining weight as well. Since I am having many more ultrasounds than regular, they know the boys are gaining so they aren’t concerned with me loosing, as long as the boys are gaining, which they are. Works for me! I had my general practitioner physical as well and my GP decided to do some blood work to make sure there wasn’t any other reason for the weight loss. Everything came back normal and my A1C (the graph for diabetes) came back at 5.4 which is excellent! I also found out that I may not be delivering as soon as I was originally told, based on the fact that everyone is doing so well. I won’t be allowed to go past 38 weeks (July 24th) but it will probably not be as soon as 36 weeks.
Today we had our next ultrasound. My parents joined us and it was so sweet to see them so excited. I can’t wait to see them as grandparents! Cody and Zachary are each 1 ½ pounds, very active, very healthy and very much on target for what everyone wants them to be. They are so silly. Both of them are stubborn but Cody won’t give it up. He fights the tech every step of the way to get the measurements needed. Zach will start out fighting but will give up fairly quickly. I adore watching them, I could lay there all day and watch them “play” and move around. I haven’t really felt them moving but we’ve been told that’s normal and also that the placenta is covering the front of my stomach acting like a pillow. We’ve certainly seen them moving though! Zach also likes to curl up on my left side in a ball at night which is both cool and kind of creepy.
One of the things we’ve noticed most of all is how loved these little guys are going to be. They are going to be sooo spoiled by both sets of grandparents who have been the biggest and best support to us in the world! Everyone has been so wonderful to us, we can’t get over it! We are so lucky to have the people we do in our lives.
It’s been a while since I updated so I figured I would do so! We had our February doctors appointment and it went well. The babies sound great, everything that they look for was good, my blood sugar and blood pressure numbers were both low and the dr. was happy about that. All of the blood work and ultrasound pictures from the Downs/Trisomy screenings came back negative/normal and we got to hear both babies heartbeats again. I’m not gaining weight yet, still technically losing weight but no one seems concerned (except me) but they say the babies look fine! The doctor did say that in addition to the round ligament pain I’m also describing the separating pelvic pain, so she thinks I’ve got both going on. Fabulous. The round ligament pain doesn’t seem so bad but the separating pelvis just freaks me right the hell out! All I can picture in my head is bones being pulled apart, which of course is exactly what’s happening and it just sends shivers down my spine to think about it!! And yeah, it’s a pretty painful combination I’ve got going on. Most of the time, sitting and standing create a lot of pressure on my pelvis so both conditions get hit at once. Walking (especially after sitting for a while) is also rather painful and makes me look like my legs are 2 different lengths. There’s really nothing they can do about it, it’s nature’s way of creating a pathway for the babies to enter, and no matter how much I try to reason with my body that, really, I’m having a c-section…it doesn’t need to go through all this trouble, my body doesn’t care.
We went on vacation to the Florida Keys for my brother-in-law’s wedding last week and omg, what a gorgeous wedding! It was everything you think of when you picture an island wedding. We stayed in a house with my husband’s family and I was able to see how my brother-in-law and sister-in-law do day to day life with their 10 month old daughter, Emily. It made me start to think and get a little nervous about us being able to spend the same amount of time/attention that we want to for each of our kids. I know it’s going to be trial and error, and we’ll figure it out, but since we don’t know what we’re doing yet, it makes me a little nervous.
On our last full day in the Keys, we went to Key West and walked around the island for about 6 hours, totaling about 4 miles all together. After the 2.5 hour car ride back to the house, I was in so much pain, I couldn’t sit, stand, shower, anything. The only thing that gave me relief was laying in bed. I know I overdid it that day but I think I saw a glimpse of WHY bed rest is a good thing. I just don’t want it to come before June!!
Our next appointment is March 12th and that’s the “find out the gender” ultrasound!!! Everyone keeps saying to me “if they cooperate” and that’s driving me nuts! First of all, we spent 2.5 hours last time for them to get the babies into position to see a fold of skin on the back of their necks……..I think they will be able to figure out gender. Not to mention, while no one is going to like it (me or the babies), it will be an internal ultrasound so I highly doubt they won’t be able to figure it out one way or another.
We will not, however, be announcing the genders on facebook until after our parents know, so don’t expect to know until at least the 13th.
SO….that being said, last chance to put in your guesses for what you think we’re having!!! I love hearing what people think! Personally, I think its 2 boys. Brett, both of my parents and both of my in laws think it’s one of each (which is what I want). Let me know!!
Our first real ultrasound was yesterday!! I couldn’t get enough of watching them, if I could take a sneak peek at the babies every day I would! They are so cute, laying on top of each other like little bunk beds. Baby A kept looking at us through the camera like it knew we were watching it. Baby B did that a few times too, but Baby A wanted to see Mamma and Daddy a lot. They were both stubborn but even though the poking and prodding hurt, the longer it took the babies to cooperate, the longer we got to watch them. They are so active in there! I can’t believe I don’t feel them moving, they are literally bouncing all over the place. We were able to get a really great picture of Baby B that looks exactly like a baby, not an alien. Baby A…….well, we got pictures anyway.
The babies are looking really great health-wise. They are the same size, both of their heads are the same, their little brains are developing, their femurs are the same size and they weigh about 2 oz. each right now. They are exactly where they are supposed to be developmentally. The fluid on the backs of their necks that they were looking to test for was nice and thin. I had blood work done and the official results will be back in a week or so, but they were confident that there are no signs of any issues.
I can’t wait to see them again! I wish it wasn’t another month and half before we can, but at least we’ll be finding out what they are at the next ultrasound. :)
So when Wikipedia went down for their protest this week, it gave me an opportunity to look through all of the information my ob/gyn gave me when I went to see him 2 weeks ago. Most of the stuff was normal…do this, don’t do that….here’s when to schedule your classes and how much they are (really? Tuition??)….just the general information that I needed to go through but just hadn’t gotten around to yet.
And then I opened the booklet on breastfeeding and it scared the bee Jesus out of me! Blocked ducts? Ummm…..that sounds horribly painful. Football hold? I’m not coordinated enough for that! And I’m sorry but I’ve heard that when your milk comes in it’s excruciating, not “mildly uncomfortable, some women don’t even notice.” That, my friends, sounds like bullshit all dressed up. I want to try it, b/c I know the first few days are crucial for the nutrients and stuff. And honestly, it’s cheaper. But it seems like the most dreadful thing after reading that booklet. So I need to know, those of you who have, are or decided not to breastfeed. Pros…cons….give me it all, the good, the bad and the ugly. I have a feeling I won’t be making my decision until it’s time, but I would like some practical advice from my favorite moms!
