38 Weeks Pregnant with Twins

Our last weekly update!  Jerry and I will finally be meeting our babies tomorrow.   I’ve had these precious little Beans all to myself for 38 weeks.  It’s time to share them with the world. Oh. My. Goodness. Someone pinch me!

per whattoexpect.com

Your little one isn’t quite so little anymore, weighing close to seven pounds and measuring nearly 21 inches long. Only two more weeks (or plus two more, max) before your baby makes his or her appearance!

Baby’s Preparing for Birth
At 38 weeks pregnant, all systems are almost go! As you prepare for baby’s ETA, he or she is also getting ready, big time. Vernix and lanugo continue to shed from your baby’s body into the amniotic fluid. Your baby swallows that amniotic fluid and some of it winds up in his or her intestines where it — along with other shed cells, bile and other waste products (triple yum) — will turn into your baby’s first bowel movement (meconium) and perhaps your first diaper change. His lungs continue to mature and produce more and more surfactant, a substance that prevents the air sacs in his lungs from sticking to one another once he starts to breathe. Most other changes this week are small but important: He’s continuing to add fat and fine-tuning his brain and nervous system (so he can deal with all the stimulation that awaits him once he makes his entrance into the world).

Bump 38w0days

Look at me!  Mixing it up for my last bumpdate.  Truth be told….I don’t fit into much at the moment.

Ultrasound 37w5d

Big Beans = dumb ultrasound

It’s awesome that they’ve gotten big (her best estimate is around 6 lbs each) but they’re so squished in there that it was hard to see anything.  We did get some good heartbeats. They were practicing breathing and swallowing and there was lots of wiggling going on.

The biggest development is that Butterbean has flopped himself from a Vertex position (head down) to more of a Transverse presentation (sideways).  So there is a concern that if we attempt a natural delivery, once Lima bean comes out, Butterbean could stay transverse or flip to Breech (feet/butt first).  Which could lead to the double whammy of both a natural delivery and a c-section.

We had a long conversation with our doctor and I made it perfectly clear that I did not have any expectations of how these kids are born.  I want them safe, bottom line.  So we agreed on a c-section for on Thursday, 4/30.  I’m 100% ok with this decision.

How I’m feeling

Uncomfortable.  That’s all I can say.  I’m just uncomfortable all around. I have basically all of the same complaints as the last few weeks but none of them are horrible.

I have had lots of random contractions but nothing with a definite beginning or end.  Sometimes one will last 5 or 6 minutes.  They’re not really painful…I might never feel an actual contraction.  That’s fine by me!  Still getting really crampy. And my feet are all swollen again.

I’ll have a whole new set of complaints starting tomorrow!

Movement

They don’t move a ton but they’re movements have really changed.  For starters, Butterbean keeps getting hiccups!  Neither baby has really had any the entire pregnancy but it’s a daily occurrence this week.  And Lima bean’s movements are really slow but super strong.  These two are ready to stretch their limbs!

Random Thoughts/Observations/Stuff

*  Tomorrow, Jerry and I will go from husband and wife, to Mom and Dad.  I can’t even wrap my head around that.  We’ve waited for 3 1/2 years for these little Beans.  I love them so much already…I can’t imagine how I’ll feel about them once they’re here.

*  Who wants to wager on how much sleep I’ll get tonight?  I’ll consider myself lucky if I get 3 hours.

*  Thanks to everyone for all of the support and sweet comments over the last 9 months.  I’ll try and post an update on our little family as soon as I can.  In the meantime, you can always follow me on Instagram…it’s a little easier to navigate from the hospital.