35 Weeks Pregnant with Twins

 

Holy crap!  ~from WebMDs pregnancy app.

per whattoexpect.com

Fetal Weight Gain 
Your baby is standing tall (so to speak) this week at about 20 inches (baby’s pretty much reached the in utero limit). But at about five and a half pounds, she is continuing her steady weight gain: She’ll pack on anywhere from one pound to several, including large amounts of baby fat, up ’til delivery day. In fact, back in the middle of your pregnancy your baby’s weight was only two percent fat; now at 35 weeks pregnant, that percentage has soared to closer to 15 percent…and will increase to 30 percent at term. Which means your baby’s once skinny arms and legs are now quite plump…and irresistibly, squeezably soft.

Baby’s Skull Remains Soft
Something else that’s developing at a mind-boggling pace these day: your baby’s brain power. Luckily, the part that surrounds that amazing brain — the skull — remains soft. And for good reason: A soft skull will allow your baby to squeeze more easily through the birth canal.

Bump 35w1d

I think some little stripes have shown up on my lower belly.  I say “think” because I can’t really see what’s happening south of my belly button. Whatever…it is what it is at this point.

L&D 34w6d

You didn’t think I’d escape this pregnancy without a little drama, did you?  Fortunately, on the grand drama scale, this trip was pretty low.

I had been checking my blood pressure daily (per my MFM doctor) as it had been steadily creeping up.  I felt a little off on Tuesday morning (dizzy, nauseous, lightheaded) so I checked it earlier than normal and it was 140/86 and 142/84 within 15 minutes.  Cue panic because I was told anything over 140 systolic and 82 diastolic was reason to call and get checked out.

The doctor’s office didn’t seem too worried when I called but scheduled me to come in to be checked out.  My urine test was negative for protein but my BP was 160/90.  They had me lay on my left side and it came back down to 118/74.  15 minutes later it was 142/78.  The doctor felt that these numbers, along with my swelling and general yuckiness (technical term) warranted some monitoring and blood work at Labor & Delivery.

So off we went.  Jerry was way more worked up than I was.  He was sure that we were going to be having babies TODAY!  And he didn’t have his bag packed.

Note puffy face

They hooked me up to fetal monitors and ran some blood work.  My BP was also checked every 15 minutes.

4 hours later, the babies look “fabulous” with their perfect little heartbeats and constant dance party.  My blood pressure was kind of all over the place but never really hit any alarming levels.  The blood work came back negative for preeclampsia so they sent us on our merry way!  Crisis averted.

Doctor’s Appt 35w1d

Weight gain – +40. BP 130/80.  Protein negative.  Measuring 44 weeks.

Apparently I look 100% better than I did on Tuesday (the doctor mentioned it 3 times).  And I feel better too.  I had the Group B Strep test today and will get the results next week.  Babies heartbeats still sound great.  And I got the OK to take 12.5 mg of Unisom to help me sleep as needed (YAY!!).

Much to Jerry’s chagrin, they have no idea when these Beans might make their appearance.  He finds it unbelievable that in this age of modern medicine, they can’t take a look at me and give me a date.  The only thing they can tell me is everything looks good and these two munchkins will decide when they’re ready.  I’m OK with that.

How I’m feeling

Buckle up…this is gonna be a long one.

Sleep has been horrendous.  I fall asleep right away, but it doesn’t last long.  I wake up to pee about an hour after I crash and then it’s a struggle to try and get comfy again.  Heaving this huge belly from side to side is absolutely.  Between heartburn, aching hips, and my massive girth…I. am. miserable.  One night I sat up after 15 minutes of trying to find a comfortable position and just lost it.  After a 10 minute cry, I hoisted myself outta bed and just laid on the couch for 3 hours.

I eventually make it back to sleep for a few hours but I’ve been waking up with cramping every morning.  I get all “I think I’m in labor!” and then it kind of goes away.  Everyone says “Oh, you’ll know!” when contractions actually start, but I have a feeling I’m going to be one of those woman who just thinks they are gas pains.  And winds up giving birth in the car.

By mid morning, I definitely feel better.  Not good, by any means, just a little more human.  The cramps go away and I forget that I only slept for 3 hours.

The swelling is still an issue.  Fred Flintstone’s got nothing on me! If I’m on my feet for more than 10-15 minutes, my ankles blow up to grotesque proportions.  Want to take a nice long, hot, shower?  Too bad, cankle queen….make it snappy.  This is the sexy side of pregnancy.

I have officially tapped out of all errands.  Jerry is more than willing to hit the grocery store for us but I’m a control freak and insist on going with him.  I just can’t do it anymore and will have to trust that he can pick out a nice, unblemished red pepper without supervision.

Heartburn is back.  My hips & knees throb all the time.  My hands and fingers are constantly falling asleep.  I’m snoring like a drunken sailor.  Baby girl continues to head bang my bladder so I pee every 15 minutes.  I’m having a lot of pelvic pressure and some internal pinching pain.  I could go on….

To sum it up, I’m Shamoo-sized pregnant and will basically feel like crap for the next few weeks.  YAY!!

Thanks for letting me complain!

Movement

These kids are grounded for their first 2 weeks of life!!  I keep telling them to stop punching my organs but they don’t listen.  I’m honestly very happy that they move so much but do they have to be so violent?   Sheesh.

Sleep

What’s sleep?  Oh, I know who I can ask…Jerry!  Because he has zero problems sleeping.  Not what you want to see at 2 am when you’re bawling your eyes out because you’re so tired and uncomfortable.  I know if he could give me his sleep, he would.  I’m just jealous.

And here’s a pregnancy PSA…please stop telling me to “Sleep now while you can!”.  For the record, you can’t bank sleep.  There is no sleep savings account that you can add to now and make withdrawals once the babies are born.  So even if I sleep for 12 hours every night until they arrive, I’m still gonna be dead tired after their first night home.  Mmmmmkay?

Random thoughts/observations/stuff

* Friday is my last day in the office.  I’m so thrilled I have the option of working from home.  Because let me tell you, it makes a world of difference in how I feel.

* And this…

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