Thursday last week I stayed home all day and took care of Annie. I wasn't making her wear the dreaded cone on her head because I felt guilty about the look she would give me when she had it on, but I would shortly learn my lesson. By thursday evening my belly felt like it had grown again! It is so strange to say, but it's almost like I can tell when it stretches further.
I woke up Friday morning and noticed Annie's incision/staple site on her side was not looking great and it was oozing (sorry to be gross), some sort of pinkish cloudy liquid. I kept having to tell her to leave it alone, so I decided to call the vet to get her opinion. Well, I called and talked to the tech Anita, and she said yes, bring her in and she would take a look at it because the vet had actually gone into labor and had given birth earlier that morning. (Yes, I swear every doctor we go to right now is pregnant!)
We headed to my weekly doctor appointment first and then decided we would take Annie after. The ultrasound this week was with the weird lady again, who says very snide remarks and you can't tell if she is joking or serious. At one point Justin and I were asking a couple questions about what things were because it is soooo hard to tell what is what now because everything is so smushed in there. And the weirdo ultrasound lady said something like, "You guys are funny." But not in that like we are ha ha funny, like as in we are stupid funny. I don't know, I just don't like her and she rubs both of us the wrong way. But she said everything looks great with me and the babies, so that is all that is important. Cervix, heartbeats, amniotic fluid levels, organs all look normal and good. Oh, and we weren't able to get any pictures because both babies were facing my back this week, sad face!
We then went to the other room to wait for the doctor. I'd almost forgot what he looks like because we haven't seen him in several weeks. He came in and we immediately began discussing my progress. He said he is very happy with how everything is progressing and that everything looks super normal and there isn't anything to worry about at this point. He always asks me if I think I am in labor, and I always say NO, because, How the heck do I know what labor feels like?? I guess I have gotten the answer right up to this point because he always agrees with me after I answer and says, NO I don't think you are in labor either, whew, ok passed the test! I told him I was noticing the tightening about 5-6 times throughout a 24 hour period and he said that was ok and normal. He asked if I wanted to schedule my c-section and that is when I told him I was kinda on the fence again about what I wanted to do. There are positives and negatives to both ways, but forcing myself to have major surgery if it isn't necessary doesn't seem like something I should just jump into. I am going to have 2 babies to take care of after, so being in the best shape possible for them is ideal. If I'm not having to recover from major surgery, to me that seems all the better. So we agreed we will not schedule anything now. He said there are several scenarios of how this could play out:
1. I could go into labor on my own and they would do an ultrasound. If the baby further down in my pelvis is head down, then he and I will decide if I want to try delivering them vaginally or c-section.
2. I could go into labor on my own and they would do an ultrasound, and if baby further down in my pelvis is breech, I have NO choice to make and it is an automatic c-section.
3. He will schedule an induction somewhere between 36-37.5 weeks along (if I haven't gone into labor), do the ultrasound and then either one of the 2 scenarios above would apply.
4. I can schedule a c-section between 36-37.5 weeks.
5. WORST case scenario: I am either induced or I go into labor on my own and first baby is head down, and I choose to try and have them vaginally and then for some reason can't and end up having to have a c-section. Which means I go through labor AND have major surgery. THIS scenario is the biggest reason I would lean towards just scheduling a c-section, because I have been told by MANY friends that going through both labor AND a c-section is the worst and the recovery is awful!
Soooooo, I am going to I guess go with a 1-3 combo and play it by ear for now and just hope for the easiest, least painful, safest thing for me and the babies is what is going to happen.
I also asked the doctor a couple other questions.
What about skin-to-skin contact right after the babies are born. He said with twins this isn't possible because they are born in an operating room, no matter what, and will be whisked away to be monitored, so we can do skin-to-skin, but it won't be till I am in recovery which can be anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour after they are born.
I asked about having my AWESOME hospital music playlist being played in the operating/delivery room when the girls are born. He said Justin is welcome to bring his iPhone in and play the music, but honestly he said it will be the last thing on my mind at that point. He kinda laughed when I asked him about it.
Then the doctor felt my belly and measured it. He said it felt normal and not too tight which is good for this point and it is measuring................39cm!!!! Wow, pretty much full term! Crazy! Also he said I gained 6 lbs this week. Ummmmm, not sure how I didn't gain any weight last week and 6 lbs this week, but whatever, I am up to 26 lbs gained total, which he said is fine.
Oh, so the last thing I forgot to mention above is that the doctor is thinking the babies will be born somewhere between 36-37.5 weeks which gives us a little clearer timeline of September 30-October 10. He said probably not further than October 8th, but the furthest he would stretch would be the 10th. Wow, so that means the babies could be here in less than 4 weeks, or sooner if I go into labor on my own!!!!!! Insane! I CANNOT believe how fast time has gone by!
Ok, I have to calm my brain for a minute because less than 4 weeks is really soon, deep breath....sigh.
After the doctor appointment I headed back to the vet with my furry baby Annie. Anita the tech checked her incision site and said it did not look good, so she flushed it and cleaned it up and gave us a 10 day antibiotic to make sure that she didn't get an infection. Also, she said Annie has to wear the cone ALL THE TIME, until she gets the staples out. Sad face, for me and Annie. So from Friday until now and continuing till Saturday the 8th, Annie will be a cone head, and we will carry her up and down the stairs every time she has to go outside, hand feed her and give her water, and lift her up and take her with us around the house wherever we go. I tell you what, she is definitely helping us practice our nurturing skills.
My sad faced Annie with her cone!
Here she is trying to sleep in her normal spot under the covers! All you can see is the outline of the cone, funny!
Most of the rest of the weekend we spent relaxing and Justin tried to keep me from doing things around the house, which is not an easy task. If I have any sort of energy I feel like I should take advantage of it and get something ready for the babies or do laundry or make a list or something!!! We went to a family gathering on Sunday to celebrate the holiday and his mom's birthday. It was nice to see everyone there because this will probably be the last time we see the extended family on that side as well before the babies come.
A couple people mentioned to me on Friday and Sunday that my belly looked like it had dropped. I'm not sure if it is because that is what naturally happens at this point, or because it is so heavy it is just falling down, HA HA! But I did look at it yesterday (Monday) and realized that it is sloping downward more because it is harder for me to see my belly button now. Hmmmm, my ever changing belly!!
Here is my view from above looking down
Oh, also my feet are so freaking swollen I had to go buy flip flops in a size 10!!! I wear a 7.5 or 8 normally, but I had to go up enough sizes so that the flip flop strap was loose enough. So, since my feet haven't grown much in length, I now look like I am wearing boats because they are so long on me, but they are the only thing I can get on my feet. Crazy!
In the last several days I have noticed the tightening in my belly has increased in frequency to about 10+ times a day, but still nothing close together or painful. I am also getting more uncomfortable and it is getting harder for me to get up off the couch in the evenings and it is very painful on my pelvis getting up several times during the night to go to the bathroom. I am thinking I am going to be SUPER ready by week 36! At least physically I will be ready, not sure if I will ever feel mentally ready!
Today (Tuesday), I had my last chiropractic appointment with my chiropractor because she is going on maternity leave and supposed to have her baby next week. I will continue to go get adjusted by the doctor she has filling in for her for at least the next couple weeks, because I think it is really helping me not have back pain. Justin and I also took Adel (Delly as we like to call her) to the fun doggie swimming event that our local pool has on the last day of the season. It was so fun! Here is a video we took below: (not sure if I did this right or not, so you might not be able to view it)
Well I think, that about wraps it up. Here is my 8 month belly photo!
Love to all!
Jenny & Justin +5
I had music picked out for Jessica's birth, and even a scheduled induction. Totally forgot about the music when the time came. :)
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