Baby Check

The OB appointment on Tuesday went well. At 27 weeks my blood pressure is normal and total weight gain is 33 pounds. There wasn't any reference to my weight gain, positive or negative, so I will assume all is good in that area and plan my next lunch accordingly. Meatball parm at Corropolese? I passed the glucose screening test on April 7, more good news. Hmm, maybe spaghetti? No protein or elevated sugars in my urine, either.
The ultrasound revealed two healthy semi-smushed babies. No pics this time. Baby girl is still head-down, I'm hoping she'll get stuck in that position for the duration. Baby boy is all over the place, and not head down, so we'll have to wait and see what he does. My next peek at them will be May 5th for the next Level II.
So the appointment went smoothly until the inevitable question came up, "So, did you pick a date to stop working?" In my mind the answer goes something like, "When my water breaks?" But I know this is the wrong answer so I hedged. For those of you who don't know, my OB's twin protocol in a healthy no-complications pregnancy is to stop working at 28 weeks and go on modified bed rest. They had a very compelling argument. Yes, not only do I see a doctor at my appointments but also the Perinatal Nurse Coordinator is there, too. Presumably so they can gang up on me in a situation like this. Words like NICU, CPAP, preterm labor, horrible guilt if I do keep working and something goes wrong, did convince me. I am not a doctor, and I'm sure my aunt who was a baby nurse for many years (yes, yes C. I know you had an official title) would agree.
Needless to say I will be stopping work very soon. For those of you who I work with you will find out very soon when that date is, as will my family. The good news is that there is a possibility I can go back to work at 32 weeks if everything is going well. By that time I will be past the dangerous point of going into pre-term labor, but nothing is guaranteed so I'll have to wait and see.

Welcome to Suburban Yuppie Life!

Yes, we finally did it. After much debate and many tears (mine) Z and I decided we would have to BUY A MINI-VAN. It only made sense, having to pull two infant buckets out of a four door sedan and not being able to take anyone else in the car with us ever, plus needing room to put the double stroller/mini tank in comfortably really tipped the scales from a roomy Camry to a Mini Van pretty easily.

I made him do most of the research, he's the car guy, not me. Besides, he had very particular ideas about what he wanted. Those ideas were: White, 8 passenger, 2007 or newer, and finally, Toyota or Honda. You can see how that narrows down the search a bit? My ideas were not as relevant: Anything that doesn't look like a mini van. I was quickly vetoed.

So here she is, a beautiful 2008, white, 8 passenger, gosh-it-really-looks-like-a-mini-van Toyota Sienna. I have to admit, it rides beautifully and it is really fun to have a new car. This post is a little overdue, since we have owned it since Easter, but it has taken a little while to get the picture taken. What with the denial and all.

Double Booked

I came home from work yesterday and found this in the mail!

It may be odd to some people that I'm getting an invitation to my own baby shower, but I love it. And it would be kind of awkward to have a surprise shower with only five or six people, my social circle being so huge and all.

My sister M. did a great job on the invitation, it's so pretty! Unless she had help, in which case everyone involved has great taste.
I'm so excited! I can't wait.

So I updated my pocket calendar with the date. That's right, no palm pilot. And at work today I called the hospital because I never received confirmation for the Birth Class I signed up for. I sent in a registration form and a check which was cashed but I have yet to recieve any informational packet, as promised on the sign-up sheet. What do I find out when I confirmed my class? That's right, the all day Birth Class I signed up for at the hospital is scheduled for May 17th. From 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. And there really is no way to change the dates, since they are held once a month, there is no class in April and the next class would be June 21st, cutting it a little too close for me.

All was not lost, I ended up calling M. and she said she could change it to Sunday morning instead, and that it really wasn't a problem, she'd just call everyone (like I said, 5 or 6 people) and update them all.

Something tells me this is only the beginning of the end of my free schedule. Two small people are going to fill it up quickly.

Wow. This week I am 25 weeks into the pregnancy. As I'm typing this the babies are kicking like crazy!

On Monday I had a level II ultrasound to measure all baby parts. This was my second, I previously went four weeks before for the same scan. The twin protocol at my OB is for a level II u/s every four weeks after the 21st week to make sure the babies are growing at the same rate.

This time Baby Girl (A) measured 1 lb. 13 oz. and Baby Boy (B) measured 1 lb. 14 oz. Each are up almost a whole pound in four weeks!

Heartrates were normal and all pieces measured right on target. The doctor wanted to get a 4D shot of both babies but Baby Boy was not cooperative and would not turn around. He did get a good shot of Baby Girl.
Those are her hands up around her head. Right now she is head down, I'm hoping she stays that way. Baby Boy is transverse with his head on my upper left side and feet on my upper right. (Is that considered transverse? Guess I should look that up!)

I have another level II in 4 weeks, this time I'm getting Z to go with me so he can see them. He hasn't been to an ultrasound since we were still at Mainline Fertility in mid-January. Has it been that long?

Here are some traditional ultrasound profiles of both babes from the scan.

This is Baby Boy, flexing his muscles for the camera!

And here is Baby Girl.

Another milestone this week was the Glucose Screening Test. This was pretty important since my mom had four very large babies and went on to have Diabetes later in life. I haven't gotten the results back yet but I should be fine, since both sisters that are moms tested just fine for my nieces and nephew.

My next OB appointment is April 22nd (Earth Day!). I'll be 27 weeks and hopefully able to get a difinitive opinion on whether they think I should stop working and go on modified bed rest. I'm planning on working as long as I can, barring any minor complications. So far the limitation of my physical activities has consisted of taking the elevator at work instead of the stairs (one flight) and getting a parking pass so I can park in Visitor Parking, close to the entrance.
We'll see how things go.