24 1/2 weeks

I had my 24 week appointment today. I had the great privilege of having to take the Glucose Tolerance Test. Yuck. At least this time I had a choice between orange or fruit punch. I chose fruit punch because orange rates higher on the nasty scale than fruit punch. I made it through drinking it, but felt ill for the next hour as I sat waiting to be seen. At the end of my appointment they took my blood, and I'll hear back from them in about a week about the results. Let's hope I passed, because I don't want to do the 3 hour test, in which you drink 2 of those nasty drinks and get your blood taken twice!!

In other news, I had an ultrasound to check growth and to look at Baby A's face, since he was being stubborn and wouldn't give the ultrasound tech a clear shot of his nose and lips at our 20 week ultrasound. This time, he cooperated, and they were able to get the pictures of what they needed. Hooray. Both babies look good and everything is normal (another hooray!). I hadn't really told anyone but a select few that at the 20 week ultrasound, baby B had cysts on his brain and a heart problem. The Dr. assured me all was well at the time, and to NOT look up anything online because it would scare the crap out of me and do me no good!! Well, of course, I didn't listen, and I looked up things online and I flipped out, cried, freaked out, cried some more and read some horror stories of babies born (if they're lucky) with Trisomy 18. Unlike others genetic problems, this one cannot be lived with and the chance that the baby actually is born living is very low. Sad disease and I hope nobody ever has to deal with it! Anyway, long story short, the cysts on Baby B's brain have resolved and all is normal with him! So, big sigh of relief!!

Baby A is measuring at 24 weeks 2 days, weighs 1 lb 6 oz and is in the 14th percentile. His heart rate was 140 BPM. Baby B is measuring at 24 weeks 5 days, weighs 1 lb 9 oz and is in the 41st percentile. His heart rate was 135 BPM. Baby A is head down (woot woot!) and Baby B is breech (sad face) and they are side by side with A on the left B on the right. This explains why I feel way more movement from A. Because his feet are up by my ribs!!! I really liked the Dr. I saw today because he took the initiative of telling me everything up front instead of me having to ask a billion questions (which I did ANYWAY). He was very thorough and I liked that a lot. He said the likelihood that B will flip is not in my favor. This is bad news. Especially since B is the bigger twin, too!! We went over the signs of preterm labor, preeclampsia and when to call for anything. This assured me that I know when things are OK and when to get to the Dr.'s office. I'm thankful for that since this whole pregnancy feels like a first-time pregnancy since it is SO DIFFERENT than having a singleton!

Now for my normal list of questions and answers.

Here is a picture from Sunday when I was 24 weeks 2 days:

How far along are you: 24 weeks 4 days

Maternity clothes: Yep.

Sleep: I'm sleeping great, actually! The only problems are having pelvic bone pain when I try to roll over/get up out of bed.

Best moment this week: Being done drinking that nasty glucose drink!

Miss anything: Cookie dough. I made some eggless cookie dough, and it was sickly sweet. Not a fan...

Movement: Tons and tons, though sometimes they calm down and sleep. Miraculously I think they even sleep at the same time!

Food cravings: Comfort fooooooods.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Glucose Tolerance Test drinks!

Have you started to show yet: Yep, and my belly is measuring 30.5 cm So it's like I'm already 30 weeks along! I wish!!!
 
Gender: Boy A and Boy B. Names: Ben & Jerry, Copy & Paste, Gregory & Gabriel (can you image that with the last name Grigsby!?) We've got real names, but they're a secret until the babies come. Why? Because I'd like to hear everyone's opinions AFTER I have named my boys. Not before, because I REALLY REALLY love the names we picked :D

Belly button in or out: Out. I'm wondering if it can get even more out? We'll see.

Labor signs: No labor signs. I have had contractions from dehydration/doing too much, but that's nothing that can't be resolved by drinking two glasses of water and lying down on my left side for an hour or so :D

Wedding rings on or off: On. No swelling here :)

Looking forward to: Hearing that I don't need to take another GTT! Cross your fingers that my blood sugars like me! Also looking forward to being comfortable again!

Everything is looking a-OK and I am glad. The Dr. doesn't want me to be doing much exercise other than living my daily life since preterm labor is such a huge risk. This means I need to cut back on the ice cream so I don't swell up like a balloon from eating my feelings and cravings since I am not really doing much to combat weight gain. I will return BACK to the Dr. in 2 weeks because they want to closely measure growth of the babies, especially since one is measuring bigger than the other. Fun. I can't wait until I get to go to the Dr. TWICE A WEEK starting at 28 weeks ;)

K, time for a nap. Ellie is sleeping, and I should be, too!

16 weeks pregnant with Twins

How far along are you: 16 weeks 1 day

Maternity clothes: Pants but not shirts.

Sleep: It's getting harder to stay comfortable while I sleep, but it's not impossible unless Ellie decides to be a monster like last night and keep me awake all night. Yuck.

Best moment this week: Going to my 16 week appointment and having a doctor who not only is in favor of pushing for a normal, non-c-section birth, but who did us an AWESOME favor that will be blogged about later :) He had a very open mind and didn't try to just shoot down my plans for an unmedicated birth like the first doctor I saw. He was also VERY impressed that I had Ellie unmedicated because he said at least 80% of the people who plan to go without an epidural don't go through with it! That gave me a reason to be proud of myself with Ellie, and more hope for having the experience I want! Thank heavens there is at least ONE doctor in the practice that's on my side!

Miss anything: Other than being comfortable, nope.

Movement: More than last week, but always very spastic and out of nowhere.

Food cravings: Sweets, SWEETS, sweets, SWEETS and SWEEEEETS! Holy moly, I have never in my life wanted so much sweet food! Luckily, I don't keep much sweet food other than fruit and honey in the house so it's not really a problem. I just let myself have cravings and get over it by replacing it with something else that is a better option.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Just when I don't get enough sleep, or haven't eaten in a while.

Have you started to show yet: Yes, but I'm still in that stage where people would probably not dare ask me, for fear that I've just had too much to eat lately and am not pregnant.

Gender: I have no inclinations one way or the other, I just want to find out! Luckily, we find out at my next appointment!

Belly button in or out: More out than in. Good thing it's not like the Turkey timer, because I am definitely NOT done!

Labor signs: Nada

Wedding rings on or off: On. I'm hoping things are similar to when I was pregnant with Ellie and I don't get super swollen, because that was one of the best things I had going for me!

Looking forward to: Like I said, the next appointment, because we get to find out what they are and I CANNOT WAIT!

Things are all going well and the babies are healthy as far as we know. We opted to not do the amniocentisis and when we have our big 20 week ultrasound, we'll be able to see that everything is going well for sure. The babies' heart rates were in the 130s for baby A and in the 140s for baby B. Does this mean they're different genders? WHO KNOWS! Make sure you take the poll on the top of my blog!

Pregnancy updates

I stole this format from another blog I saw, and I loved it, so I am going to update this way! It makes it easier!

 

Sorry, no picture today!

 

How far along? 14 weeks 5 days
Maternity clothes? Baha, since like 9 weeks I've HAD to wear maternity pants and/or wear my pants unbuttoned. These days we're rocking maternity jeans full-time.

Sleep: I sleep relatively OK for the most part. I wake up every once in a while uncomfortable and have a hard time falling back asleep.

Best moment this week: Finally having energy to do things!

Miss Anything? Cookie dough!!

Movement: A bit, but not much

 Food cravings: Bagels and cream cheese!! Can't get enough! Also salty things, fruit and ice cream!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Only if I don't stay hydrated. I usually feel pretty good most days, I just still don't have a big appetite for food yet!

Have you started to show yet: Yep. I'm as big as I was with Ellie at like 22 weeks hah!

Gender: ? Hoping for one of each!
Labor Signs: Nope
Belly Button in or out? Half & Half
Wedding rings on or off? On

Looking forward to:  My 16 appointment next Friday. Cross your fingers that they'll do an ultrasound and we'll get a peek at the genders!

 

All in all things are going well. I've finally come to terms with the fact we'll have TWO newborns! AHH! It's getting less scary and more cute the more I think about it :P