Anatomy Scan

We had our almost 32-week (31w2d) anatomy scan of the boys on Monday.  They are both doing well.  They are estimated to be 4 lbs. 4 oz and 4 lbs. 5 oz.  They are measuring in the 70th percentile which is ahead of even singletons at this point.  They both are practicing breathing and growing well.  My cervix is looking great, so I've been taken off of ibuprofen again.  Overall, my Dr is really happy with how the pregnancy is progressing.  I have an appointment with her in 2 weeks and set up our 4-week appointment too- which is the week of Christmas.  It is crazy to think that we are getting so close to delivery! 

MFM update

Cervix check went well today.  It is the same length as last week.  I saw my regular Dr there and she isn't concerned and is backing my meds down to 1x a day.  I've gained 4 lbs. this last week which is concerning.  My Dr believes it is water weight and told me to push fluids.  Baby A is still breech and Baby B is vertex.  I checked out the spinning babies website today and we may try some of the moves to get Baby A to flip.

I had a great church baby shower on Saturday.  We got two big group gifts- our double snap n go and our baby monitors.  We also received a bunch of clothes, my diaper bag and gift cards.  It was so nice to have the women in my church do this for us.  My sister came up for the weekend and attended the baby shower along with my best friend.  My sister was able to help me get more stuff done around the house including setting up our co-sleeper and organizing the linen closet to make room for baby items.  She's the best!

Hubby and I have figured out what else we need and have started purchasing the bits and pieces to finish our layette and the nursery.  We ordered the "baby condiments" as hubby calls them today.  (diaper wipes, baby shampoo/soap, baby lotion, diaper cream) I've been using online ordering as I'm still on modified bedrest.  I did do some quick shopping at a consignment store today and was able to get 4 sleep n' play 0–3-month size outfits and 3 pairs of 0–3-month size pants for $15.  However, after shopping I was SUPER tired and had to come home for a nap.

I'm looking forward to our first prenatal appointment with our doula Kate tomorrow night.  I'm excited to start working out a plan for our birth and learning coping techniques.  We have figured out a lot of our preferences for the birth, and we are both aware that we will need to stay very flexible with what we've chosen as so much can change and change quickly with a multiple birth.

Hubby has been so wonderful through all of this.  He cooks, cleans, runs errands, takes care of the dogs, takes care of me and works full time.  I'm so blessed to have him as my husband.  He's so excited to be a papa and is going to be great.

Crafty!

I've had a lot of time on my hands and with that time I've been doing some sewing.  Here are some of the items I've completed:

The first quilt was made by my mother-in-law prior to her passing away 5 years ago.  We found it among her belongings shortly after she passed away with a note on it for my husband and I to have it for any future children.  We took it home with us at that time.  It was almost completely done.  She had pieced it, done the binding and backing and was in the process of hand quilting it.  I finished the remaining blocks by machine quilting.

The second quilt was also made by my mother-in-law for us prior to her passing.  When my husband phoned his stepdad to let him know we were having twins his stepdad told him he had just found a quilt top with our name on it.  Wow!  It had been 5 years by this point, and he had JUST found this quilt top for our future children.  I think my mother-in-law knew what she was doing. :)  This was sent to me as just a quilt top.  I found a cute flannel fabric for the backing and tried to match the binding to the blue on the front of the quilt.  I then quilted it all together and bound it.  I'm really happy with the finished product and overjoyed that our boys will each have a special quilt from their deceased grandmother.

This quilt was made by me.   It is another one made from the Elizabeth Hartman pattern I bought last year.  I decided I wanted to make quilts that were the same pattern but different colors for the boys.  This one is oranges and browns with green accents.  This quilt and the other both have an animal print for the main print and also have an owl print.  (Hubby loves owls.)  I love these fabrics and have had a great time putting it all together.  The quilt is backed in very soft minky.



This is the second quilt I made.  It is in greens and whites with an orange accent.  I love that both quilts have animal prints and they each have a color from the other quilt- yet they are each unique.  The fabrics in this one are adorable too.  I love them!  I hope our boys will love snuggling with these quilts as much as I loved making them for them.

This last project is something I made for an online baby shower I'm participating in.  I decided to make some "boutique" burp cloths.  I found this adorable ladybug fabric (the nursery theme for the gal I'm giving to) and then got some coordinating fabric to go with it.  I added the fabric edges to the burp cloths and voila- "boutique" burp cloths.  I love how they turned out.  Hopefully, she will love them too.

Now that I have these baby projects done, I'm going to start on some Christmas projects.  The first is finishing my winter/Christmas quilt that I started last year.  It is pieced together and I need to quilt the backing to it and bind it.  But I'm far too big to be crawling around and pinning it together so I will wait until my sister is in town this weekend for her to help me.  The other 2 projects are needlepoint Christmas stockings for the boys.  I haven't done needlepoint in a LONG time, so hopefully I'll remember how it goes quickly.  My goal is to finish these 3 projects this month or at LEAST before the babies arrive.

Doctor Updates

I had two appointments yesterday.  The first was with a lactation consultant at the breastfeeding center at our hospital.  The second was with MFM for a quick cervix check.

The lactation nurse was amazing.  She really asked me a lot of good questions regarding what I wanted to get out of our meeting.  She had great suggestions for things for me to do once the babies are here to try and get them both exclusively breastfeeding.  She pointed out that with twins it can take a long time to figure it all out- especially if they are early.  It was good to hear that there is a "normal range" like any other developmental milestone for breastfeeding with babies.  I am happy with how everything went and feel much more confident after practicing some positioning with weighted baby dolls.  My arms were SORE after all that holding.  Hopefully I'll have babies a bit smaller than 8#'s each, just so I can build up to that weight.

My MFM ultrasound was really quick.  They also did a fFN test.  (The nurse called later and the test was negative.)  But then my Dr was in surgery, so I waited and waited.  Finally, they asked if I would be willing to see another Dr.  Of course!  It was someone I had seen before.  She looked over past u/s's and told me she is concerned because my cervix is once again shortening.  It is 1 cm shorter than 2 weeks ago when Dr P took me off of the meds.  So, Dr C put me back on ibuprofen 3x a day and I go back in a week to be re-checked by Dr P.  It's a bit disappointing that this continues to happen.  I feel like once again my body is failing me.  But good news during the u/s too.  The tech was able to see (and show me) that both babies are practicing breathing.  Yippee!  So, if they do come early there is less of a chance of them needing a lot of breathing assistance.  The babies are getting so big.  Plus, I am starting to see differences on the u/s with their facial features which leads me to believe we have fraternal boys a baking.  It's hard to see in the pictures below, but Baby A's nose is becoming a bit longer and Baby B's nose is still snub like mine.  I am loving these little ones soooo much!  Baby A is breech still and Baby B is still vertex.  They still have time to move, so I'm hoping Baby A will flip soon.

SPD

I had my 28-week appointment with the OB yesterday. I came with a list of questions and was holding them when she came in. She said "Oh? You have questions? I'll go over my stuff then we'll go over yours." Yeah! I now know how to get her to slow down and answer my questions. Blood pressure, urine test, baby heartbeats and measurements/weight gain were all fine. She wants to see me in 3 weeks and then after that every two weeks.

I asked her my questions. First one was about the horrible pain I have been having centered on my pubic bone when I walk, roll over in bed, stand up from sitting, sit down from standing, etc. She told me it was symphysis pubic dysfunction, which is what I figured. Basically, the cartilage in my pubic bone is popping in and out of place as everything relaxes (preparing for birth) and gets inflamed. She said that there really isn't anything to do for it. She told me that some women find relief with floating in water or a belly band. My other questions were all relating to delivery. Basically, she won't commit to anything until we are closer as the babies could move, my health could decrease or we could run into another problem. She said she and her partner are happy to do vaginal deliveries, but that she sees 3 things working against me: my weight (overweight starting pregnancy), the babies' weights/sizes (still measuring about 1- 1 1/2 weeks ahead) and that this is my first birth/delivery. So- we won't know what type of delivery up until delivery. Great. But I'm glad she is open to a vaginal delivery at all. When I went to check out there weren't any appointments available in 3 weeks, so I'll see her in 4 weeks.

After my appointment I wandered down two floors to the maternity/infant boutique and the breastfeeding clinic. I signed up for an appointment next week to meet with a lactation nurse to go over what to expect and how to prepare for breastfeeding twins. I'll have the appointment right before a cervix check at MFM.

I am almost finished with the last baby quilt and will hopefully post pictures later this week of all 4 of the ones I had a hand in making. I did finish the baby shower gift and I'm mailing it off today. Hopefully the gal I'm sending it to will like it. Our new washer and dryer that we ordered about 3 weeks ago was delivered on Monday and I've been slowly washing all of the baby stuff we have. I'm almost through with all of the washing and have been trying to figure out what to do to organize it. So far, I have size newborn and 0-3 months in the dresser. The rest of the clothes 3m-18m I have hanging in the closet. I have the hats and socks regardless of size in the dresser. I have NO idea where I'm going to put all of the blankets. But I'm sure I'll figure it out