32 Weeks

I am as big as a house. We were outside this evening when our neighbors pulled over in their car to chat. They were actually gawking because they hadn't seen me in awhile. "Oh my GOSH!" were their exact words I believe (about my size). I have a 30 pound belly.

It has been a rollercoaster of a week. It started out on a downhill on Monday. I was having between 4 and 6 Braxton-Hicks contractions an hour over a 3 hour period. The guideline that you always hear/read is to call your doctor if you have more than 4 in one hour. So I did and they directed me to go to our hospital's labor and delivery department to be checked. So that was a bit of an ordeal. Keith and I left work in separate cars and drove down there (it was about 3:30 PM). We took separate cars so he could pick up Colin if I needed to stay (luckily Miss Ashley said he could stay there as long as we needed him to). They hooked me up to two fetal heartrate monitors and a contraction monitor. They checked my cervix and said I wasn't really dialated at all. They checked my cervix length with an ultrasound and said it was 4 cm long still which is great. So I was hoping I would get to leave but they said that since they had registered 6 contractions on the monitor since I'd been there, they wanted me to stay for an hour and then be rechecked. At that point Keith left to go get Colin. After a painful hour (those "beds" in the triage rooms are very uncomfortable and I was tightly bound with all the monitors), they checked me again and said there was no progression so I was free to go home! They said to call my doctor if I had 6-8 in an hour.

So that was Monday.

On Wednesday we had our 32 week ultrasound and everything was very positive. The girls are both still head down. One weighs 4 lbs, 13 oz and the other weighs 4 lbs, 14 oz!! That is the 77th and 83 percentile respectively (on a singleton scale). Those are estimates of course but we were thrilled. And for the past two weeks their fluid levels have been virtually the same! Our doctor said he's never seen TTTS develop after 32 weeks before (even though it is possible). He also said that he recommends delivering mono/di twins (like ours that share a placenta) NO LATER than 37 weeks! That's May 15th! So we left there feeling good.

I was all set to talk to my ob/gyn today about how long he would let me go before inducing and how that would all work. But the conversation took a different turn. He did a cervical check and said I am 2 cm dialated and 70% effaced. I have to go back on Tuesday to be rechecked and if there is any progression I'll have to go on bedrest and have steroid shots to help develop the babies' lungs. He doesn't think we'll have to talk about induction. He said I don't have to change my activity level at this point since I have a desk job and I'm not exercising. But I think I'm going to scale back anyway. I was having about 4 Braxton-Hicks contractions an hour today so I went home about 1:30 and laid down the rest of the afternoon.

So that is all kind of scary! We just hope these babies can hold out for AT LEAST another 2 to 3 weeks. My doctor said that prior to 34-35 weeks they would try to take measures to stop labor but after that they will just let it go. We may be a family of five a lot sooner than we planned!

Luckily everything is pretty much ready. Our new recliner is ready for pick up on Saturday and then the nursery will be all done! I'll post some pictures after that :)

32 weeks pregnant with Colin

32 weeks pregnant with the twins

Colin sneaks in to give his sisters a kiss