Waiting for Pizza...

     I have a few extra minutes while I patiently await the delivery of my stuffed crust, veggie lovers pizza to be delivered by my secret lover, the Pizza Hut delivery man.  The previous sentence is disturbing...who orders a veggie lovers pizza?  I've only ever wanted pepperoni or cheese pizza, but for some reason my fingers got a little "click" happy on the online ordering menu.  I'm hoping it turns out to be as delicious as it sounded when I placed the order.
     After a week of bed rest, I am quite happy to be back at work this week.  While I did enjoy not having to shower until noon or later, my sanity level was quickly fading.  Thank God I haven't had any more contractions since going back to work!  (That wasn't an expression...truly...I thank God!) I still feel great teaching my class and have plenty of energy to do the things necessary in the classroom for them to learn all of the things we still need to cover this year.  The part that is becoming increasingly difficult is all the little stuff that isn't as important as my ability to continue teaching them.  You see, my classroom is in Egypt...or so it seems when we have to walk to the other side of the school for lunch, recess, special classes, and at dismissal.  If it weren't for that, I could probably continue in the classroom until the day Andrew and Lucas decide to make their grand entrance into the world.  Luckily, I have really supportive teammates who don't mind walking my kids where they need to go sometimes, but I don't like feeling like I am taking advantage of their kindness.  I do, however, need to try and last as long as possible to avoid a massive amount of unpaid time off work.  You see, everytime AFLAC has entered out building, I laughed and said "I don't plan on having any more kids so I don't need short term disability."  BAHAHAHA who's laughing now?  Not me.  I haven't been teaching forever and I have a 5 year old so the sick days that I did have were almost always gone at the end of each school year because I used them when Madison or I were sick...imagine that!  The township will pay me for ten days after the boys are born, but any days I have to take before that (except 4...I have 4 sick days left after a week of bed rest and various appointments) will be unpaid.  I don't know about you, but with two babies coming into the world, we can't afford for me to take an extremely large amount of unpaid time off.  Obviously, if I have to, I have to, but I'm kind of praying that it doesn't come to that or that if it does come to that, I might get approved to borrow days from the sick bank that the township 'mandates' us to donate to every year. 
     Anyways...my pizza is here.  The boys are hungry and moving around like crazy.  Last growth scan showed that they were 1 pound 4 ounces and 1 pound 6 ounces, but that was almost 3 weeks ago.  I'm 24 weeks 1 day now.  Hoping they decide to stay put for another 11 weeks 6 days!  We can't wait to meet them, but I'd rather be miserable now so they stay put and be able to take them home with me from the hospital than have to leave them in the NICU for any length of time, which would be more miserable. 

22 Weeks

I went for a regular growth scan and check up yesterday and everything looked great!  Lucas is head down on my right side and measuring 1lb 4oz and Andrew is breech on my left side and measuring 1lb 6oz.  So far, my blood pressure, cervical length, etc are "perfect."  Hopefully, it can all stay that way so I can keep my boys safe and sound until they are fully developed and ready to come home.  I'm already so in love with these kiddos, I try really hard not to worry about all of the problems and complications that are common with twin pregnancies at this stage.  I'll breath a sigh of relief at 28 weeks when viability increases drastically.  However, it is my biggest hope that they stay put for the full 36 weeks (even if it means I feel like a beached whale a little longer!)

My biggest concern right now is that the muscles that connect my back to my front on my right side are tearing apart from each other and it causes immense pain and the inability to walk.  While it is completely "normal", it doesn't make it any easier.  

I just realized I fell asleep typing this about ten minutes ago...so....that's all for now.  :)   

It's a BOY! and...IT's a BOY!!

I woke up this morning with the mindset that today would be a very rushed day.  We had the extensive ultrasound scheduled downtown at 8am, then back to school until the end of the day, tutoring supervision, and Madison's girl scouts.  All of this would have meant I would get home around 8:30pm after leaving the house at 7:30am...exhausting!  However, it turned out completely different...Madison's school called as soon as we left the ultrasound and said someone needed to come pick her up because she had a fever.  Her dad just started his new semester of classes so I took the rest of the afternoon to go pick her up so he didn't have to miss a class already.  So, I've been home with my baby girl since about noon and we have no intentions of leaving the house, which is perfect with the weather/roads being so yucky.
     Anyways...I was really anxious about the ultrasound.  I worry too much sometimes.  Both babies looked great and they didn't even see the tear in the placenta anymore-yay!  The only negative part of the ultrasound was learning that it REALLY isn't a great idea to lay flat on your back for any period of time when your pretty far into pregnancy...or pregnant with more than one and get extra heavy early on.  After 20 minutes or so of laying there while the tech tried to tame Lucas to get accurate measurements, I started feeling dizzy and asked her if I could sit up for a minute.  The second I sat up the lights went out...not literally, but my eyes blacked out and I was sweating like crazy and felt like I was in an echo chamber when I talked.  Apparently the books don't lie when they say that the babies can cut off the blood flow to your brain if you lay on your back too long...good to know.  I'm pretty sure Keith thought I was going to vomit and pass out as he handed me ice water from 10 feet away.  lol jk We did the rest of the ultrasound in 5-10 minute spurts propped up on an extra pillow.  I felt kind of ridiculous, but I'm certain that I would have fallen flat on my face if I had stayed flat any longer.  Luckily, the tech was VERY friendly and insisted that I didn't play tough and not let her know if I was feeling dizzy. 
   The results: Both baby boys are 9 oz and all body parts are presented and functioning.  Lucas (baby a) moved the entire time and seemed to enjoy kicking Andrew (baby b) as often as possible.  Andrew was fairly calm until late in the ultrasound.  Keith insists that Lucas is mine (a morning person) and Andrew is his (insists on sleeping as long as possible).  Lucas also spent a good deal of time opening and closing his mouth....when they ultrasound tech pointed this out, Keith didn't say anything, but his look said it all.  Yes, I know, I talk a lot so he MUST be my child.  Now that we know the sex of both babies...let the shopping begin!  (Now if only I had the energy to do it!)   

18 down, 18 to go....

It has been a fairly uneventful few weeks since my last post.  I had a couple days of spotting a couple weeks ago and went in for an ultrasound on January 3rd.  The babies were both fine, but the cause of the bleeding was a small tear in Baby B's placenta.  The doctor said that since it was small they would check it again at our scheduled extensive ultrasound on the 20th (which is this Thursday!) and to stay off my feet as much as possible...not too difficult of a request since I am exhausted most of the time and am fairly attached to my recliner anyways.  While we were in getting that all checked out, we did find out that Baby A is a boy (Lucas).  However, Baby B (either Andrew or Lauren) was being stubborn and had their legs crossed.  The hope for Thursday's ultrasound: to confirm the gender of both babies and that Baby B's placenta is doing well. :) 

Madison went with to our appointment today.  She was very excited to see the babies moving around on the ultrasound.  Both babies appear to be doing well.  They are about 4 1/2 inches long and heartbeats are at 143 and 148.  One baby was face down and flipping around when we were focused on it during the ultrasound.  The other baby was just hanging out, relaxing.  We are scheduled to go back in on January 20th, which will be when we can find out the sex of both babies...hopefully!  I've gained a whole 5 pounds since our first appointment about 8 weeks ago.  The doctor seemed happy with that...I am sure that number will increase quite a bit in the next few months.  The goal now is to stay healthy, enjoy the rest of Christmas break, and look forward to January 20th!

14 weeks down...

     This pregnancy is going by so fast.  I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that I'm operating on a 36 week full term calendar instead of 40 weeks.  With 14 full weeks behind me, the halfway point is just 4 weeks away.  I feel spoiled by getting to see them every 3 weeks..next ultrasound is on Wednesday.  I'm interested to see how much they have grown since the last visit, because I'm growing rapidly!  The pictures above were taken at the beginning of week 12 and then the beginning of week 14...must have been a huge growth spurt for babies!  I've started feeling the babies moving around a little bit.  Its about 2-3 weeks earlier than when I first felt Madison, but I guess it has a lot to do with how high upmy uterus is already and the fact that there are two of them in there tumbling around.  They still aren't moving wildly enough for their daddy to feel them, but they will be soon!  Baby B seems to be the hyper one because I usually feel the movement on my left side.  However, I suppose it could be that both of them are on that side right now. 
     While everything seems to be going well with growth...the last two weeks were pretty rough on me.  I had to start taking Flagyl for an infection, which made me weak and sick feeling 3 times a day.  The last day I took the medicine was especially rough...thankfully, it was the first night of Winter break so I didn't have to take a day off work.  The second day off the meds I was full of energy and feeling great-Thank you God!  Now, if I could figure out why my armpits have been insanely itchy for the last 3 weeks.  I try to stop myself from complaining when I'm uncomfortable, but I'm guilty of it every now and then.  However, I feel truly blessed. 

     These ultrasound pictures of Baby A (top) and Baby B (bottom) were taken on December 3rd at my 12 week appointment.  Both babies heartbeats were about 170 bpm and while they are in seperate sacs, they are laying with their heads toward each other.  I really enjoy how often they ultrasound the babies, it eases my nerves since I worry way too much.  We go back on December 22 for our next appointment and ultrasound #4.  Then, we have to go for a high resolution ultrasound on January 20th because of the high risk label.  Hopefully, we will get lucky and the doctor will be able to tell the gender on the 22nd since I'll be at the end of week 15, but if not we should be able to find out on January 20th (or at the appointment/ultrasound with the regular doc that will be scheduled sometime before January 20th.       The doctor was happy that I had only gained about 3 pounds...I'm not entirely sure that's accurate.  I mean, I know it is accurate, I saw the scale myself, but I feel more like I've gained 30 pounds.  Certainly, I couldn't wear regular pants anymore if I tried.  Anyways...apart for the typical "I can't get comfortable" and some other random ailments, everything seems to be going fine...especially now that I bought the Boppy Total Body Pillow.  However, I'm fairly certain Keith has been trying to steal it away from me after I fall asleep.  Can you blame the guy?...it's crazy comfortable!