Tall Trees Turkey Trot

This year a bunch of my family members decided to participate in the Tall Trees Turkey Trot which is the neighborhood where my grandparents live. Unfortunately, I could not participate but I was happy enough to be able to just be there.

Everyone hanging out before the trot

These 2 win for the best outfits

The group who ran and/or walked

Gwen at the starting line

and the race is on.....

Kevin

Jenny

Anne and Petey

Katie....a turkey trot drop out. She was done after this picture - Boo!

My dad

My mom

Cam and Linnea

Jenny - THE WINNER!!

Then we all had breakfast together afterwards. Thanks for cooking Grandma!! It was a great way to start Thanksgiving.

35 Weeks!!

I could not be happier and more thrilled to make it to 35 weeks!! Depending on what your reading, twins are sometimes considered full term at 36 weeks so we are almost there! That is my next goal but I was told at 20 weeks that I would not go past 37 weeks so at the most we will have these babies in 2 weeks :)

I decided to not take my update picture in the same outfit because it hasn't changed. I am still measuring like I am 38 weeks pregnant with a single baby and gained another 4 pounds (total pregnancy gain of 26 pounds). At this point, the babies are not really growing in length but packing on the pounds so it is ok that I have not grown over the last 4 weeks.

I had another NST on Monday which went well. Yesterday was my fetal assessment ultrasound which was going to determine if the babies were delivered this week or not. I am happy to report that both babies are growing great and there is no reason to deliver them right now!! They are still thriving in me which I could not be happier about. Baby A previously gained 12 ounces in 3 weeks (4oz/week) and this time baby A gained 11 ounces over a 2 weeks period (5.5 oz/week) which is great! Baby B also gained 11 ounces these past 2 weeks so they are sharing nicely :) The weight estimates are baby A is 4 lb, 1 oz and baby B is 5 lb, 5 oz. Baby A is still behind by a couple weeks and baby B is right on track.

The nice thing about my bed rest is that it is not super strict. From the beginning, I decided that it would still be ok to go to church every week. So below is a picture of how I do church on bed rest. Not a week goes by where I don't hear a comment about how all that is missing is someone fanning me and feeding me grapes. I am so happy that it has worked out to go to church every week for my sanity and it is great to feel and hear the support week after week of my church family.

One of my projects on bed rest was making these little hats. Since the babies will be so small I wanted to be sure to have hats that were small enough for them since most of the ones you buy are not made for 4 or 5 pound babies. These hats are meant to stretch and be snug to their head but they are so small! I can't wait to have the babies here. Soon enough!!

Sonja Walking

First things first, I am still pregnant. Don't worry, those who check in often to find out if I have had the babies yet I will try hard to get pictures and videos up as soon as possible. I may be pregnant this morning but that may not be the case as soon as tonight or tomorrow. I have an ultrasound this afternoon that will determine if the babies will be delivered this week. Stay tuned...

In the mean time, Scott and I have bought a video camera and this will be my test post to figure out how to post a video. Let me know if something is messed up. Thanks!

Since Linnea does not have good computer access right now to do her own posts I will update everyone on a Sonja milestone....she is walking!!! Here is a short video of Sonja showing off her skills. It is still weird to see her walking around and she seems to get better every day. By the way, who thinks she needs a hair cut!!! Linnea won't do it because she thinks she will have to get a boy cut. Boy cut or baby mullet....the baby mullet wins again!

34 Weeks!!

I am very happy to be able to write a 34 week update. Every week I stay pregnant feels like a blessing and more time for the babies to mature and develop.

A development from my last update is that my OB and the Specialist talked about the ultrasound results from last week and they decided to have me do the non-stress tests twice a week instead of once a week just to keep a closer eye on both of the babies. So in case you are keeping track, I have an OB appointment every other Monday, an ultrasound every Tuesday and an NST every Monday and Friday. These babies are definitely being watched and we will know if anything goes in a direction that is not healthy. My OB said that as long as the babies stay healthy and look good through all these tests that they will remain in me but as soon as one of them falls behind in development or looks to be under stress then they will be delivered.

Last Friday the NST looked good. There were no dips in the heart rate for either one so that was great! This past Monday baby B had a dip so I was admitted and had an ultrasound. By the way, I had to wait 2 hours for the transport to ultrasound! Anyways, they checked the fluid and watched baby B for a bit and everything looked normal. Yesterday was my ultrasound where they checked the fluid levels which still looked good. They also checked the heart rate which was normal and the doppler reading for baby A which measures the flow of blood through the umbilical cord which looked normal. All normal and looking good! So this next week will be an NST on Friday, an OB appt on Monday as well as another NST and a fetal assessment ultrasound next Tuesday. Hopefully these babies will continue to grow and stay healthy in the coming week of tests so we can get to 35 weeks! One of the upsides of these tests is that I am getting to know the nurses in the labor and delivery unit and they are remembering me. So when everything happens it will be nice to have some familiar faces around.

On a different note, it is looking like I will have a c-section. Right now baby A is still head down but baby B is kind of between transverse and breech. Since baby B is bigger than A this means the opening would not be big enough after A is delivered to deliver B breech normally. So for the health of baby B it is looking like a c-section is the best option. To be honest, I have been struggling with this. I know that a c-section will be done for the health of the babies so I am not against it but it totally changes the experience that I have dreamed and always thought about. Not to mention the recovery will be different and puts more pressure on Scott since he will have to be more hands on with the babies as well as help me through my recovery. I am hoping that the recovery will go fast and that people who said that they will help us will step up because we are really going to need it! I have never had major surgery before so I don't know how my body will handle it. I am hoping for the best and nervous for the worse. I am thankful to have this time to adjust and prepare myself for this change of plans as some of the changes just break my heart.

Finally, I seem to have developed a cold. I am hoping that it will go away quickly since I am already at home and taking it easy. I don't want to be sick at all even with just a cold when the babies are born. That will not help things.

So that is it. Another week and hoping to get to week 35! Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers!!

33 Weeks...hopefully at least 2 more to go

This past Monday I had a regular check-up appt with my OB. I gained another 2 1/2 pounds (22 total pregnancy gain) and I am still measuring like I am 38 weeks pregnant with a single baby. There was no change from 2 weeks ago. More importantly, I have not dilated any more! So it is looking like making it to Thanksgiving is becoming more and more real. Cross your fingers!

I had an annoying experience after my Dr appt. I forgot that I was going to be starting weekly non-stress tests this week and because I have twins I have to do it in the labor and delivery unit. I knew it was going to be a bad experience when I was told I had to go to L & D because last time I did it I was there for 3 1/2 hours for a 20 minute test! They tend to forget about you if you are not in labor. I thought it could not be worse than my first experience but I was wrong. I got there just before 3, was checked in and someone took my vitals. All the test is, for those who have not done it, is basically monitoring me to see if I am having contractions and the 2 babies heartbeats for 20 to 30 minutes. So the person who took my vitals said that the nurse would be in to set up the monitoring. I made myself comfortable and waited...and waited...and waited.... To make it more boring, I didn't have anything to read (besides the manuals for our car seats and stroller) and of course the tv did not work. My phone also ran out of battery pretty quickly too. So after I had been there for 2 hours the nurse discovered me. Despite my attempts to be helped within those 2 hours the nurse didn't know I was there until one of the cleaning ladies, who saw me before, poked her head in there and told someone I was still there. Of course things could not just go smoothly from then on. There was a dip in one of the heart rates at one point during the test so an ultrasound was ordered to be safe. I then waited another 45 minutes for someone to transport me for the ultrasound. That took another 20 minutes and then I waited another 25 to go back to labor and delivery. I was discharged soon after that. When all was said and done, the babies are doing great and I was there from 3 to just before 9. Arg...and I get to do this every week!! Fortunately, they will be scheduled from now on so they should go more smoothly.

Yesterday I had my weekly ultrasound. This was my fetal assessment one that I get every 3 weeks. Baby A is 3 lbs, 6 oz and Baby B is 4 lbs, 10 oz. Now on Monday baby A was head down and baby B was breach. By the ultrasound, baby B was sideways again and his/her body went under A's. So baby A's measurements are accurate but B's are not because it was really hard to get a good picture of the belly and legs to get accurate numbers. There is now enough of a difference between the 2 that they have to be monitored more closely. So I will have a doppler reading where they test the blood flow from the umbilical cord for at least baby A every week and now I will have a fetal assessment done every other week instead of every 3 weeks. Based on those measurements, Baby A is 2 weeks behind in growth and baby B is right on.

At this point, I am really happy with how far I have been able to stay pregnant. My first goal was to make it to Thanksgiving and I am feeling more and more confident that we will make it! Not only do the babies need just a bit more time to develop their lungs but now baby A needs more time to put on more weight! So please pray that things continue to go well. At the most, I only have a month more to go which is really soon!!