25 weeks + other stuff

wow this post is late! sorry to whomever reads and has been waiting... last week was kind of uneventful 'cept for a few things.

i spent most of the week actually IN bed because the twins seemed to be putting a lot more pressure than usual on my cervix. every time i sat up to eat or got up to go to the bathroom i felt our little lincoln bearing down on my cervical opening. it felt like he was just going to pop right out if he pushed any harder. our poor little guy must be so scrunched up and uncomfortable in there! i could also feel our little reagan shuffling around more than usual. at times it felt like she was kicking her brother too. she's the one sitting on top right now, so she's got a lot less pressure on her.

sometime in the middle of the week, mark was laying on my belly during his "daddy and babies time." i was just watching and trying to hear what he was talking to them about that day. sometimes i can hear him talking to them, sometimes i can't and just fall asleep while they have their bonding time. while i was sitting there watching him rub my belly and talking to them, i could feel lincoln squirming around a lot. all of a sudden, lincoln headbutted the spot where mark was laying his head really hard and strong. so strong that mark jumped up onto the other side of the bed! we laughed for a good 10 minutes about it. i laughed so much that i needed to pee really badly afterwards! haha! now, every since then, mark's been scared to lay on my belly and just chooses to lay on my lap to talk to them. 

so the next morning, we had our weekly appointment with GWMFM. if you read from last week, i was quite unhappy about our last sonographer. in the middle of this past week, mark had emailed dr. matia about the experience and the horrible attitude of the sonographer. the head sonographer emailed mark back to assure us that we would no longer have that person as our sonographer and would make it a point to assign us sonographers that i have already seen and had good experiences with. it was a great sigh of relief and weight off my shoulders.

as we waited to be called in, that bad sonographer popped out to get another patient. talk about awkward. i was assuming she was reprimanded or something prior to our visit that day. she seemed to give me a bad look when she saw that i was there in the waiting room. you'd have thought that she'd learn and be nicer after getting her ass chewed out for how she treated a patient, but i guess people with bad attitudes like her just always have bad attitudes no matter what. if that's the truth, that's just plain sad on her part.

so, we got called back, the sonographer did her usual scans and then dr. manely, another GWMFM doctor, did her check up stuff. after dr. manely checked things out, a nurse came in to administer a steroid shot to me. it was to help the lung development of the twins. it's commonly given to multiples in utero. then, i had to come back 24 hours later to get the second dose. the shot hurt, but i knew it's what had to be done to keep the babies growing and healthy.

i'll try not to be late with this week's update! have a great weekend everyone!

a sonogram + a big change in plans

so we went in on monday for our 20 week anatomy sonogram and scan. it was a long appointment. we got to see the twins squirming all over the place and got to see their faces via 3D ultrasound. it was amazing!

we're thinking that lincoln looks more like mark and that reagan looks more like me... at least from what we got to see. you be the judge.

lincoln jude

reagan elizabeth

so the sonographer took a ton of photos throughout the exam. like i said, it was a long appointment. then, my high risk obgyn, dr. pamela matia, came in to discuss the results and photos.

first, we discussed the twins. they were measuring really well and were looking great. lincoln was weighing in at approximately 1 lb and reagan was weighing in at about 12 ounces. as i just typed that, regan just head-butted me pretty hard! haha! they were both super squirmy during the whole exam and at one point towards the end of the sonogram, lincoln did a full on somersault and just flipped completely! it was so funny and amazing to see it happen!

next, we discussed me. this is where it got serious. according to the vaginal ultrasound prior to the sonogram, my cervix was shorter than my last appointment. this was not good. if this continued, my cervix could open up and push me into preterm labor and delivery and we could lose the twins. i think my heart dropped about 500 feet below sea level at that point. all i could hear was "could lose the babies" over and over again in my head. you ever get punched in the gut when you really really really have to pee? that's how i felt.

we were given 2 options: 1. bed rest for the rest of the pregnancy or 2. surgery to close up my cervix to prevent the preterm labor - a McDonald Cerclage.

option 1 would have been a hail mary type approach - hope for the best, prepare for the worst. but there was no guarantee that the babies would survive. i didn't like those odds at all. option 2 would get us to at least 36 weeks gestation. i'd have to modify all my activities to basically nothing unless absolutely necessary, but the odds of the babies surviving would be significantly greater than option 1. it was a no-brainer: we were going with option 2.

so what did this mean...
1. all plans we had were cancelled until further notice. we had to cancel our babymoon/friends' wedding trip to the caymans that we were scheduled to leave for next week. we had to cancel all our baby-prep classes that were all scheduled to start this week. i had to cancel my attendance for aforementioned friend's bridal shower brunch scheduled for this coming saturday.
2. surgery was scheduled A.S.A.P. dr. matia put me on the surgical schedule for the next morning (tuesday, 11:15am)
3. bed rest until further notice. after surgery, i would get to go home the same day, but would be put on strict bed rest until my follow up appointment next week. i would only be able to get up to go to the bathroom. if i wanted to bathe or shower, it'd have to be super short. otherwise, i'm stuck in bed.

so where are we now...
2 days post-op and doing well - as far as i know. not much bleeding and discharge but there's some cramping pain and my back is sore from the spinal tap because they can't put me fully under 'cause of the pregnancy. the twins are still squirmy so i'm glad and not worried about them right now.

mark's relieved and been the best dr./nurse husband. i'm sure he's still worried inside, but he never really shows it - at least not to me. i really could not have been more blessed with such a caring and loving life partner.

so for now, we're (me and the twins) are just resting and recovering. i'm getting restless and bored, but i know i have to stay put and take care of myself and the twins. c'est la vie! now, just praying that this week goes by fast and that my follow up appointment next week goes well. wish us luck!