27 Weeks - Never a dull moment!

Well, as my second trimester comes to an end (yay!), things are interesting as always. Sunday (the 26th) was my Crossbridge Church shower at Donna's house. I have a few pictures from that, but I will wait until I have them all to post them - that should be next week. The babies got some wonderful things! I will tell all about those things when I post the pictures, too. I was excited that my family was able to come down and spend the day with us, even if it wasn't very long. It's always nice to see them!

Mama stayed with me here in Birmingham for a few days after the shower to help me with the unpacking and take me to my OB appointment. On Monday, we worked on the babies' room and got it all put together! We don't have the bed or the rocker yet, but they are finishing touches. (pictures below) We got the baby clothes that we have sorted out and put away and the border painted. On Tuesday, we were going to visit Noah's Nook before my OB appointment, but I had another episode in the car on the way there. The same thing that happened two weeks ago happened again, only this time I did actually pass out for waht we think was just a few seconds. I'm so thankful Mama was there! (I haven't been driving anyway, so don't think that I would've passed out while driving - I haven't driven since that last episode.) So we just went straight to the OB - that was about 10AM. I'm up to 132 lbs, which is roughly 22 lbs I've gained so far. In the ultrasound, we found out that one baby has turned head down (YAY!) and the other is still transverse (across my belly). One is 2lbs 4oz and the other is 2lbs 5oz. From what I've read online, this is a little on the big end of normal for twins - lucky me! :) But they look healthy and are growing together still, praise God! Dr. P. said my iron is still a little low, but up from last time they saw me. My blood pressure is a little lower than it had been in the beginning of the pregnancy, but they don't seem worried about that. She was worried about me passing out, so guess what we got to do! 3rd floor Labor & Delivery is getting to be a very familiar place to me. It seems that if Mama comes down to take me to the doctor, I have to go get monitored!! :) But this time, we went and ate lunch first. They put me on the monitors and said a neurologist would be along at some point to consult with me. So Andrew came to the hospital until we saw Dr. Pearson (neurologist) around 4:15 and she scheduled me to come to her office for an EEG on Thursday (today). But then they said I was having contractions again, so I couldn't leave. I got 3 shots of Brethine this time and they finally let us go at 7:30 PM. LONG DAY. And I'm now back on the Brethine pills everyday. So Wednesday, we went to Noah's Nook for a few minutes and then ran some other errands. One place we went was Motherhood Maternity and we found me a few more clothes to get me through. I found a fabulous pair of pants and a skirt that have a cool over-the-belly section that is really thin and supportive without having a hard band at the top! Then we came home and set up the guest bedroom and the living room. Mama was supposed to go home Tuesday night, but stayed because of the hospital thing. So Wednesday night, Daddy came down here to the house and had supper with us before taking her home. Today, Andrew took a half day and drove us up to Dr. Pearson's office (also downtown at St. Vincent's) at 1 PM for my EEG. The test took about 30 minutes and wasn't bad at all. Just a cap full of electrodes strapped to my head and stuck down with goop. Dr. Pearson said everything looked normal and she believes it to just be fainting spells, which is much better than the alternative. Part of the reason we went: While I was passed out, Mama saw my hand shaking - kind of like a seizure. But the EEG is designed to induce seizures if that is what's going on, and it didn't. So we have no idea what that was about. Really, all the doctor said was definitely don't drive and I haven't been anyway. So I'm going to make sure I get more protein in my diet (especially early in the day) and keep drinking my 64 oz+ of water a day. And try to not faint.

So as promised, here are the pictures of the house - mostly put together and as finished as can be at this point. Curtains are being hung this week and the rest will get there slowly, but surely. But at least you can see what most of it looks like.

Guest Bedroom
Also the art/computer room

Kitchen - those chairs will be painted

Looking into the living room from the kitchen

Guest Bathroom - which will get tile floor later

Master Bathroom - bedroom not clean :)

Babies' room!
The framed pictures won't be staying

This design goes all the way around. The animals and tree are stamps (some bought, some carved by Mama) and we did 3 sets of animals - each a different color of elephant, rhino, & bird. We will go back later and add music notes around the bird. Mama did all the climbing on a chair and stamping, while I sat on the floor and painted the stamps for her. I really love it!!

The Big Move!

Here are the pictures from us moving everything into the house - the next post will have some pictures of everything settled in.

Me being huge and resting while Mama cleaned up

It hailed the Friday we were trying to get some things in before the movers came on Saturday

Saturday aftermath - Lots of boxes!!

Noah's Nook Shower

Here are Mama's pictures from my surprise shower that work did for me at Golden Corrale the week that Mama was here.

Belize

The next couple posts will be backtracking to catch up on things I didn't have pictures for! This is one is the week I spent with Sarah and the kids in Huntsville and Birmingham - when Andrew & his sister and my Mama & Daddy were all in Belize without me!! Usually we take the evangelical team down during the kids Holy Week holidays so that we can do VBS type work during the day. This trip was very different. They did some children's classes at night, but also some ladies' and men's classes. They got to work on some of the church buildings - painting and cleaning and things like that. They also got to spend a lot of time just being with our friends down there, mostly the preachers & their families, and encouraging them. Here are just a few of the 375 pictures that Mama gave me! (Sadly, the little camera that Andrew took wiped its own memory card halfway through the week.)

The tiny little plan they took from Belize City to Punta Gorda

Eating supper at Emory

If I didn't know better, I'd say he only goes for the fried fish ;)
Mama and Daddy with Elinor and Reuben and their new baby

Andrew with his buddies from last year


The church building in Punta Gorda - they repainted everything

Adrienne painting

Joe and Adrienne's friend Emily painting

One of the women's classes

Mama and Adrienne trying out "backing" a baby. They carry their babies around in this white cloth bag with a strap around their heads to keep their hands free - pretty heavy!

25 weeks - in the New House!

I still don't have pictures from last week when Mama was here and Moving Day, but I will get them this weekend.



So from over the weekend, I started taking the Brethine to keep the contractions at bay. I don't like the medicine at all - it makes my heart race and gives me the jitters. Overall, it makes me anxious, too, with all those things going on with my body. I was also supposed to start taking an iron supplement because I was anemic. I didn't start it this past weekend like I was supposed to, so I ended up not going to work on Tuesday. I got up and got ready and left the house, but coming into town I started feeling like I was going to pass out while driving on Hwy 280. Not a good thing at all. Pretty scary. So I pulled into a shopping center and parked and called Andrew. While he was enroute to me, I called the doctor and they said come in and let us check you. So Andrew and I went and saw Dr. McKee (I really like him) and of course, I was still anemic. I didn't know it could make you pass out, though. I really think it was a combination of having taken the Brethine that morning and being anemic because my blood pressure was 80/50 when we got to the doctor and that's way too low. Dr. McKee said to stop the Brethine for a couple weeks until we get my iron back up (yay!) and add some salt into my diet to help me absorb things better. He measured me and I'm measuring 34 weeks (I'm up to 129 lbs). Andrew thinks that's hilarious (not in a mean way, but just crazy) and I know that's why my hips are starting to hurt more. It's strange to sit down and have my belly touch my legs... So I laid around the house the rest of that day. I feel much better off the Brethine and on the iron. I did go to work for a couple hours on Wednesday and Thursday, just to finalize plans for the big art project. It was nice to see everybody and all the kids and get to help finish that up. Sheila has also come over this week and helped me hang some frames and things on the walls, and that really helps the house. I feel better sitting in my recliner if I know the house is getting things done to it. Also, last night (Thursday) was our third childbirth class and we talked about C-section births. The second half of class, we toured the birthing suites/Labor & Delivery unit. It was a little funny for me because I've been there twice now and am getting rather familiar with it. But after that, our nurse took Andrew and I over to the NICU. It is not at all what I thought it would be. It is so much better than a sterile hospital room full of babies strapped to things. They have what they call Pods, which are the rooms the babies stay in. They are sectioned off to allow for privacy of parents and babies. They have rocking chairs with every crib, it's carpeted, it's low-lit and very nursery-like. They are very hands on and I was so happy to see that. We don't know for certain we'll have to use it, but we wanted to be familiar with it, just in case. Most c-section babies have to visit the NICU, if only for a check or a couple hours to make sure they're breathing correctly. With the way the twins like to lay with their heads together on my side, I'd say there's a great possibility we'll end up with a c-section. I would prefer to deliver them the natural way, but as long as they're healthy, I'm happy. I asked Dr. McKee about all this last week, too, and even if only one baby is head down, they will do c-section. So we'll just see how it goes.



Tomorrow, we're going to Huntsville to have Easter with my family and my brother & sister-in-law are coming down with their baby, so we will have more fun pictures from that! We're also going to see my Nannie & Pappaw for their anniversary, which will be nice because I haven't seen them in a couple months.



Next OB appointment is April 28th, the week after my baby shower at Crossbridge!

24 week appointment

Well, we've had another eventful week!

On Tuesday, Bryson had a doctor's appointment here in Birmingham. Sarah drove her and B and Mama down and they left Mama here with me. I wanted her to stay with me for a couple days because my baby shower at school was scheduled for Wednesday and I had an appointment today at the OB with an ultrasound. So Tuesday night was supposed to be a going-away party for my director at Golden Corral. I didn't want to make Mama go and stay, but she said it was fine for us to eat with everyone. It turned out to be a surprise baby shower for me! It was a lot of fun and Andrew and his mom got to come, too. I only have the pictures that Sheila got and a lot were fuzzy, so I'll see if Mama's are better later.

So Wednesday, I didn't go to work because there was no baby shower! And I was still recovering from the hospital stay the week before. So Mama packed a bunch of boxes and we took them over to the new house and unpacked most everything in the kitchen. Well, I sat on the couch while Mama put things away, really. This morning (Thursday) we packed a few more boxes in my car for a later trip planned to the house. We went up to Hancock Fabric and got a few patterns that we think she make fit my rapidly growing belly. Then we went up to my OB appointment at 10:45. I had to do the glucose test, but I passed! Mama got to see the boys on the ultrasound, and wow they have grown! They both measured 24 weeks exactly and one was 1lb 7oz and the other was 1lb 8 oz. We finally had someone (the US tech) explain how they are positioned in my belly, too, which is helpful. Baby A is on the bottom side of my belly and toward the front. Baby B is on the top side of my belly and toward my back. Today, they were laying with there little heads together on my right side. That explains a lot of the pain I have in the right side of my back and ribs! Well, the US tech was really sweet and got excited about the twins (she is a twin) and turned on the 4D! So again, Andrew missed it! But at least I wasn't alone! She printed out some pictures for us and here are the best. Baby A always has his hand at his mouth. Baby B got tired of the noise, I guess, and turned over on his stomach right when she started the 4D. So we got no pictures of his face! We did get one of the back of his head, haha. But like I said, they had their heads together, facing each other and looked very cozy in there. Here's Baby A - Aidan:

And here's their two little hands together:
Baby B will be Jordan.
I don't remember if I had posted the names or not, but we changed them from what they were to Aidan and Jordan.

So after a nice US, Dr. Christine (my OB is out of town) saw me. She checked my cervix and I'm still not dilated (excellent!), so she was happy with that. But she did want to check and make sure I wasn't having contractions because I still can't always tell. So she sent us to Labor & Delivery in the hospital (conveniently in the next building) to be monitored for an hour. We hadn't had lunch and this was 12:15, so she gave me a bottle of water, peanut butter crackers and animal crackers and we headed over there. After more than an hour, we hadn't seen any contractions. But they keep saying that my uterus is showing irritability. So Dr. Christine came down and said with one baby, she wouldn't worry about it, but it's different with two. So she decided to give me Brethine (that's the shot I had that was so crazy the other night) in pill form. But she wanted to watch me for another hour after I had it. So we stayed (and thankfully, the sweet nurse found me some more snacks) until about 4:15. I didn't have any bad reactions to the Brethine, so that was good. But we were starving by that time! So after a McD's run, we headed back to the apartment to get Andrew and drop off Mama. Daddy is here now, so they went and ate while we went to childbirth classes - back to the hospital!! We're glad we only had to stay for the classes today. :)

Tomorrow, Mama & Daddy and I will pack and move a few more things and try to avoid the storms. Saturday, the movers will be here at 8 AM! And then we'll be in the house for Easter! Probably laid up in the recliner. Dr. Christine was adamant that I not work after this next week, too, so I'm sad about that. But I think we've got the final art project rolling enough that it will definitely get done. I just hate that I won't be there for it. And now I have officially been put on modified bedrest, starting the week after next. I'm supposed to stay off my feet for 4-6 hours a day. At least we will be in the house. I made it!

23 weeks and more contractions

Well, we had an interesting end of the week this week. Thursday after school, my friend Magen came over and helped me pack up some boxes. Really, she packed boxes and I labeled them. So I didn't get to put my feet up that afternoon, which turned out to be a mistake. That night was our first childbirth class at St. Vincent's, the hospital downtown where my doctor is and where I'll deliver. It's a two and half hour class every Thursday for a month. The teacher is a fun older lady and keeps it interesting. Everyone else in class is due the first part of June through the first of July. I'm the only one with twins and Andrew thought it was funny that I probably had the biggest baby bump in the room. So far, nothing I don't know about and Andrew got the pleasure of watching a video of a live birth, including placenta. We are agreed that part isn't pleasant. :) So we got done with class a little early and got home around 9. We got in bed and I went to sleep while Andrew worked a little. I'd been asleep about an hour when I got up to, of course, go to the bathroom. On my way back to bed, I realized I was having a contraction. That was just before 11pm. Now, the nurse had said before that unless I'm in pain or having 3 or more and hour with a change in pressure, I'm ok to lay down until they go away. And I'm probably having some contractions everyday, but I just don't always feel them. So I laid back down. But I had 4 more in less than an hour. So we called the emergency line for my doctor's nurse and she said I'd better come in to the maternity ward and let them check me. So we get to the hospital about 1:25. They knew I was coming because of my call to the nurse, so we went straight to a room in Labor & Delivery. That is a huge perk of being a patient of a doctor at a hospital. So the nurse check me and said my cervix was not dilated, but I was a little dehydrated. So she got the monitors on me (to watch contractions) and the babies (to watch their heartbeats) and said she just wanted me to drink some juice and water and see if it helped. I could still feel the contractions for some time after that, but they got much less frequent. I was drinking my fluids and they decided to give me a little medication (Brethine) to stop the contractions. About 30 mins to an hour after she gave me the Brethine I got up and went to the bathroom for her to check my dehydration. When I got back in bed I was extremely lightheaded. My blood pressure had tanked when she checked it (50/30) and I started having tightness in my chest. So the nurse left to do something (I don't know what, I was close to passed out) and as soon as she was out the door, Andrew had to hand me the trash can so I could throw up. I really don't think I've been that scared in a long time. Hearing my BP was that low and then feeling as weird as I did, I was seriously concerned for my babies. But I really didn't know what was going on, so I just kept praying in my head. So they decided I should go ahead and get an IV of fluid and stay until the on-call doctor made rounds the next morning. My BP came back up slowly, but never made it up to what it was when we went in (110/90). The lightheadedness subsided and I started breathing easier when I got some more water down. I think maybe the sugar in the juice was too much too fast. So poor Andrew settled into the tiny recliner chair with a blanket and pillow and tried to sleep. Once she got my IV going and readjusted the monitors, the nurse said she'd only come back every now and then to see if I could pee again so she could check the dehydration. So between me calling the nurse to tell her I had to get up to pee, her coming in to see if I could pee again, and her coming in to move the monitor because she'd lost one of the baby's heartbeats when I rolled over, I didn't really get to sleep until about 4:45. And then she woke me up at 5:35 to make me pee again before the doctor got there. I continued having contractions and the nurse would ask if I felt them, but I really didn't after a couple hours. Finally, we talked to Dr. McKee and he said he was confused as to why I had been dehydrated (I drink 64 oz of water a day and that day was no exception), but everything looked ok. He said those were not hard labor contractions, just some brought on by the dehydration, so that was good. I have an appointment with the OB on Thursday, so he was pleased with that. He said not to work on Friday (I had planned to meet the other art teachers to organize our final project) and just to lay around and rest. So we left the hospital about 6:30am. We both got in bed at home and slept until 9, when Andrew got up and went to work. I got in the recliner then and stayed in it all day. And I've been in it again all day today. And I'm getting very bored. :) But Sheila came and packed some boxes for us last night and my Mama will be here this week to keep me company. And I really need to rest and keep the contractions to a minimum so that I can make it to my baby showers (I have one Wednesday at work). But there is only so much you can do from a recliner. And I must say, I'm disappointed that nice weather finally comes and I have to sit inside for it. That is probably the worst part. So I'll be looking into a reclining lawn chair for the new house (we move this Saturday), so that I can at least sit outside in the sun. More ultrasound pictures to come this week! Thoughts and prayers appreciated.