Today's doctor visit

So today we spent awhile at the hospital. We started off with an ultrasound, which went very well; no almost-passing-out episodes like last time! The babies are running a little ahead of schedule, size-wise, but nothing major. I'm at 31 wks, 6 days and they were measuring exactly one week ahead at 32 wks, 6 days. Baby A weighs around 4lbs, 13 oz and Baby B weighs around 5lbs, 5 oz. About a half pound apart, so both pretty much right on target. Heartbeats are good and strong, each around 140bpm.

Next, we moved on to the non-stress test, my first of SEVERAL to come! It took the tech quite awhile to get Baby B's heartbeat steady on the monitor. Once the monitors are on, they have to monitor for at least twenty minutes and get two readings that show the babies' heartbeat going at least 15% above the 'resting rate.' Since we'd just eaten lunch, the babies were moving all over the place, so we got good readings - all is well!

Last, on to the doctor appointment. My blood pressure is great, so they aren't too worried about the swelling that has started in my feet/ankles. No contractions (that I can tell, anyway) and everything "looks great." We talked to the Nurse Midwife and she said Dr. Silver would be about 10 minutes. She came in about 3 minutes later and told us to go ahead and go home because he was "running to deliver a baby."

A sad thing that happened, though: When I went out to tell Zac I was moving from the NST room to the regular exam room, there were a couple of teenage girls out in the hall, crying. On our way out, we saw the same girls with (it appeared to be) the rest of their family in the Sanctuary Room, all in tears. I don't know what was wrong, but when you see people crying in the Maternal/Labor/Delivery area, it just can't be good. So when you say your prayers tonight, remember to pray for all those who might be in need of comfort...and be thankful for all the things you have!

Abby says...

During our scripture study/prayer time tonight, we talked about how Heavenly Father gave us our bodies, including our brains. We talked about how we should go to school and study to use our brains and get smart. Abby's thoughts on the whole thing?

"Yeah, we get smart and ask for canney (candy) from the Easser Bunny."

Huh? Not quite the spiritual discussion we'd hoped for, but Abby always manages to amuse us....

Your input...

One way to get comments on your blog is to ask for opinions....so here I go. :)

Today puts me at 31 weeks....only 6 weeks (maybe 7, but we'll hope not) left until the babies come!! So I should probably start thinking about getting my bag packed, in case we actually have a ''go into labor and head to the hospital'' type of situation instead of a planned c-section. So, here are my questions...feel free to respond to any/all! :)


**What did you take to the hospital that was a waste of packing space?

**What do you wish you'd brought?

**What did you take that you were glad you had?

Food storage giveaway!

If you are interested in food storage, you should check out this giveaway on Shelf Reliance's blog. They are giving away one of their BIG Harvest storage units - an awesome giveaway! You can enter through Friday, June 26. This is the start of a new giveaway thing they're doing - something new to give away every two weeks!

Yummies...

I just finished posting a couple of recipes on our recipe blog - check it out!! (Link is on the right - Elliott's Excellent Eats).

30 weeks comparison

If all goes well, I'm down to about seven weeks before the babies get here.

AAAAHHHH!!!!

Small freak out aside, I wanted to post the more technical, 30 wk comparison belly pictures. You can compare to my 30 wks pregnant with Abby pictures that I posted a few weeks ago.

I am now accepting all pity comments. But you are only allowed to joke if you have also carried twins. :)


And I also thought I would share Abby's "owie" from sliding down all the inflatables on her belly. She keeps telling me that she needs to go to the doctor...then in the same breath tells me that she wants to "go jumpin' with Daddy again!!" So it obviously doesn't bother her too much!

Daddy's days off

The last two days have been GREAT and Abby and I have thoroughly enjoyed finally having Zac at home for a few days. He'll be off again tomorrow and then it's back to his regular, 2.5 days off each week, schedule. While we all wish he could take a week's vacation, we just don't have it right now. Saving one week for the babies and one week for a trip home in October. But after 41 days of him working without a break, we'll definitely take what we can get!!

Most of Tuesday was spent in Salt Lake for my dr appt. The rest of the day we just hung out around the house. Wednesday, Zac caught up on a few things and then we went to Jumpin Jacks. A friend had told me about this place and it was AWESOME! Parents can jump, too. I didn't get to, of course, but Zac had a good time running around with Abby!

We started her off in this little castle play area designed for kids 6 yrs and under. She wasn't really sure about it at first - I think the unsure footing kind of freaked her out. While she was checking this out, Zac went down one of the big slides....then came back for our girl.


You can't really see her face but she was skeptical, to say the least.


Then they moved on to another big slide and she started to warm up! Not sure who this other little girl is, but she apparently thought Zac was pretty cool. She kept asking to slide down with him and Abby.


Another slide...Abby was having a BLAST!


When she went by herself, she generally slid down on her belly. Funny to watch and she had a grand time. She did, however, end up with a little owie on her tummy from the friction. But she'll be ok! :) I think in her mind, it was totally worth it!


Just a few general shots to give you an idea of the size of these inflatables....a very awesome place!!

Baby update

Ok, since nobody wants to see the kangaroos on the opening screen, I'll post something else so you don't have to look at it. :)

I had a dr appt today - no ultrasound, just a regular appointment. Everything is looking good. Blood pressure was good, no major pain in any areas. They measured my fundus height and I got a good laugh. (In normal terms, they measured the size of my uterus. In a normal, single-baby pregancy, your measurement in centimeters is equal to your gestation age. Ex - 30 cm = about 30 weeks pregnant.) Now, obviously with twins, this measurement isn't an accurate way to estimate the babies' size. They measure more to ensure that everybody is growing at a consistent, steady rate. I was discussing this with the nurse-midwife and she said, "Yeah, because you'd be a little overdue right now!" I was measuring around 42 cm. ACK!!! I've still got 7-8 weeks to go!!!

I have two weeks before my next appointment, which will include an ultrasound, appoinment, and a non-stress test. That link has some good info, if you're wondering what a NST involves. Bad news: Starting with that appointment, I will be going TWICE A WEEK to the doctor until the babies come. I'll go on Tuesdays for my regular appointments and a NST, then again on Fridays for another NST. Ugh!! I'll be able to drive to downtown SLC with my eyes closed by the time these kiddos get here!! But we'll deal with it - just need to get these babies here safe and sound!

I've got some pics to upload, promise to work on that soon! I can only sit in this computer chair for so long before I start getting really achey. But I promise, pics will be up soon!!

Twins

Found this online and thought it was kind of cute (in an ugly kind of way-hehe):

"A June 5, 2009 handout photo released by the Lincoln Children's Zoo shows twin Matschie's tree kangaroo joeys peeking out of their mother Millas' pouch. Zoo authorities say the two male Matschie's (MATCH-ees) tree kangaroos weigh about a half pound each and are about 8 inches tall. The fraternal twins were first discovered in December."

Then I did a little Google search and found this website with some other cute animal twins. Awww!!

Belly comparison

Kirsten asked me to post pics of my belly from when I was pregnant with Abby, for comparison to now. The closest ones I could find are from when I was 30 wks pregnant with Abby. Right now, I'm at 29 weeks, but I'll compare it to the pictures I posted a week ago when I was at 27.5 wks. If I remember, I'll get Zac to take some 30 wk pictures next week for a more exact comparison. :)

Pregnant with Abby at 30 weeks

Pregnant with the twins at 27.5 weeks

I showed Zac the comparison and he said, "You're gonna be ginormous." Thanks, honey. :)