Maternity photos

After our team moved here in 2011 to plant Antioch, it seems like there has been a steady flow of other Boston friends who have made their way out here, too!  Four different couples have moved out here since 2012.  One of those couples (now a threesome with little Mailey's birth in August!) is the Swansons.  Danielle Swanson is an amazingly gifted little lady, and one of her talents is photography.  Since moving here, she's had so many chances to do maternity and newborn photos with our influx of babies :)  and now I get to benefit from her services.  Yay!

We went to a little strip of park in Gilbert last Friday and got some great shots.  Now, all of her editing and her eye is awesome, but the subject (read: me) is another story.    I've gained serious poundage in the last month, and I feel like I look huge in these photos!  So I will only post a few.  I know, I know, I'm having twins.  But still!

My baby shower is this Saturday, and I'm so excited.  God is so faithful.  A year ago I wasn't even close to being pregnant and at times wondered if I'd ever have a baby shower.  Honestly, I can't thank God enough and will never cease being in awe of His perfect ways, His generosity, His love.

30 Weeks!

How Far Along:  30 weeks today

Weight Gain:  Ok.  Definitely think I've gained 5 pounds in the past couple of weeks.  We'll see what the doctor's office says on Friday.  

How Big are the Babies?  heads of cabbage

Maternity Clothes: Yes.  But have also broken out some regular pants and the Belly Band in the past week.  

Movement:  Kicking a lot but also slightly shifting sometimes and wedging themselves into places... like under my ribs!  Now I know what that feels like :)  They were both head down on Friday (yay!), so I'm hoping that stays true.   
Belly button in or out? Still an innie.

What I miss:  Nothing!

Milestones:  Every appointment we have, we hear how great it is that we've reached (fill in the blank) weeks... so again, 30 weeks is great.  On Friday, Baby A weighed 2 lbs 13 oz, and Baby B weighed 3 lbs 1 oz.  They're getting bigger!!

Food Cravings:  Cereal and bagels again.

Aversions: Not much.

Symptoms: Super tired.  Sour stomach/reflux is back with a vengeance in the mornings, so I'm back on Zantac 150.

Best Moment this week: I loved getting to surprise celebrate 2 awesome people in our church who got engaged this weekend!  There was a whole house of their friends hiding out when they got back to drop off their friend.  So sweet!  And we found out that Andy's brother and sister-in-law are having a boy!  Lots of Salsky boys.

What I'm looking forward to:  My shower on March 1st!

29 Weeks

I'm definitely getting bigger!  These little boys are GROWING.  Here's the latest picture of their squishly little faces...

My first week back to work was a success.  I'm feeling pretty well overall.  I have had this sore muscle ache/intense pain in my upper right diaphragm area for a couple months now, and that was pretty achey this week, but I feel good.  I'm not sleeping well, so I'm exhausted, but other than those things, I'm well!  I'm so thankful to be able to be up and about some... though I'm trying to rest a lot.  It was so great to be at church last night.  I hadn't been there in 3 weeks!  Fun to see people.  

We're getting closer to being "ready" for their arrival (which hopefully won't be for another 8 weeks!).  We are registered for the hospital Childbirthing Preparation class, which will be the evenings of March 3 and March 17th. Andy spent most of Saturday sanding, priming, and painting a dresser/changing table we bought off Craigstlist.  We still need to buy the cribs, but I'm thinking we can do that any day now.  (From Walmart).  So, the nursery is somewhat coming along.  We're keeping it the blue that we had painted last year, so we need to just set it up and decorate.  

Also, we purchased our carseats!  Yay!  Here's the first one (the second is en route... exactly the same):

It's the Britax B Safe infant carseat.  Can't wait to fill them with babies!  :)

28 Weeks and great news!

28 weeks 1 day

How Far Along:  28 weeks - Welcome to the Third Trimester!
Weight Gain:  My doctor says I've only gained 18 lbs, but I think I've gained 20 lbs or so.  I was never a fixed weight to begin with, so it's hard to say. My belly is measuring at 36 1/2 weeks today, though!
How Big are the Babies?  Eggplants

Maternity Clothes: Yes.  Loving the pants and long tank tops to wear under things.

Movement:  Yes, they are active!  But apparently they are developing regular sleep patterns, and I definitely notice they're quieter at different points throughout the day.  They are definitely up when I'm going to bed and waking up.  
Belly button in or out? Still an innie.

What I miss:  Well, I'm still so thankful to be pregnant and can't wait to meet these little boys.  But I have to say I miss getting a good night's sleep.  I've just been having these crazy vivid dreams that wake me up, and it's hard to fall asleep for some reason.  Andy is having no troubles sleeping through the night, though!  haha ;)

Milestones:  28 weeks is again a MAJOR milestone for babies.  I'm so so thankful they're still inside and doing well.  And also...  I've been cleared from bedrest!  Praise the Lord!  My doctor is comfortable with me going back to work but really taking it easy other than that.  No standing for more than 30 minutes and listening to my body really well.  I will still need to make lots of time for resting, but I'm so glad for this news.  I just have a lot I feel like I need to do in the next 2 months.  But I went to Target for about 15-20 minutes and was WIPED OUT.  So, I'm definitely aware of what bedrest did to my muscles and energy.  I will for sure be taking it easy.  Also I know that the babies are safer when I rest a lot.  

I also found out that I passed my Glucose Tolerance Test with "flying colors", and I'm not anemic!  Woohoo! 

Food Cravings:  Nothing really... but maybe pizza?  But I always crave pizza, pregnant or not!  LOL!

Aversions: Nothing.

Symptoms: Super tired.  Sour stomach/reflux is back with a vengeance in the mornings, so I'm back on Zantac 150.
Best Moment this week: The great news I received at the doctor this am!

What I'm looking forward to:  Hearing if our boys will have a boy cousin or girl cousin to play with come June!  Andy's brother and his wife are pregnant and found out the gender on Friday.  They are mailing us something fun that will tell us... can't wait!! 

Here are some other pictures of things happening lately...

 My mom completed Baby A's baby quilt!  I love it!  The Winnie the Pooh fabric is a muted "toile" style print--so it's not over the top Pooh or Disney.  It's so precious.  She did a great job!  We just picked out Baby B's fabrics.  His will be a vintage-style baby cowboys print; more of a western style quilt.  It's going to be precious! 

A lot of what I did on bedrest was read (I read a total of 5 books) and do logic puzzles/games!  This game was so fun, and I felt like a mastermind doing the whole book of puzzles in an hour or so.  It's called Chocolate Fix... you get snapshots of each box of chocolates, and you have to figure out the order of the chocolates.  It was entertaining.  I also discovered KenKen puzzles, which come on the crossword puzzle page of the New York Times magazine. It's a kind of number puzzle, kind of like Sudoku.

I was also quite proud of myself for doing these poufs for a bridal shower I'm hosting this Saturday!  Joy usually does the poufs for showers we've had in the past, so this time I had my hand at it.  To be honest, they're kind of tedious to do, but they add so much color and fun to a room, they're worth it.  

Our Boys

I'm in love, I'm in love, and I don't care who knows it!

27 Weeks!

You won't find me in this vertical position for very long these days!
Oh, bedrest.

How Far Along:  27 weeks today--the last week of 2nd trimester!
Weight Gain:  I've only gained 20 pounds so far.  I haven't gained any weight while being on bedrest...  I know I should be with the boys growing, so I'm trying to eat more (healthy) snacks.  I'm definitely losing muscle mass, though!  So maybe that's why.
How Big are the Babies?  Apparently the size of a head of cauliflower... whatever that's supposed to mean.  Who comes up with this stuff?  They're roughly at least 2 lbs and 14.5 inches long.  At their last growth ultrasound, about 10 days ago, Baby A was 40th percentile for weight and Baby B was 58th percentile.  Little guys, but right on track.

Maternity Clothes: Yes but also sweats are good too :)

Movement:  They are back to their normal bouncy, kicky selves this week.  Baby A roundhouse kicks me in the early morning after my second trip to the potty, between 2-5 am.  I love it!  I really will not get over it.  I love watching my stomach move and bounce when I'm just lying down.  Last Friday we saw them again real quick on the ultrasound, and they had their little heads together, forehead to forehead.  Even though they have the dividing membrane in between, they can still bond and conspire together :)  Precious.
Belly button in or out? Still an innie, but it's flattening out.  I have the smallest belly button known to man, I think.

What I miss:  So, I am officially on strict bedrest until February 3rd, when my doctor will reevaluate things.  So  I can definitely say I miss the freedom to move around, get errands done, go to work, WALK, etc.  But this is what is best for the boys right now, so I'm trying to have a good attitude, and when I don't, I ask Jesus to help me have a happy heart :)

Milestones:  27 weeks is huge!  I have my Glucose Tolerance Test on Thursday am.  I'm definitely nervous about this.  I know there's nothing I can do about it, and my chances are higher with twins of having Gestational Diabetes.  I go in between being nervous and just not thinking about it.  

Food Cravings:  I have been wanting meat--like hamburgers and roast beef.  The Yahoo sandwich from Dilly's Deli is AMAZING.  I will have had 3 by tomorrow at lunch (a friend is kindly bringing one by!)

Aversions: I don't think there's anything right now, but sometimes I'm hungry and nothing sounds good.  I think that's just me being annoying though.

Symptoms: Um, nausea?  What's up with that?!  I've been nauseas and gagged the past 2 mornings after getting up and brushing my teeth.  I still have tightening in my stomach but nothing too major.  And when it's major, I take 600 mg of ibuprofen, per the doctor's orders.  Ibuprofen is safe (under medical supervision/direction) until 32 weeks gestation.  If you take it around the clock (which sometimes you do if you're having regular mild preterm contractions), then you need a weekly ultrasound, as it can deplete your amniotic fluid levels.  But anyway, I'm not taking it like that, so we're good.  Just an interesting fact for you!
Best Moment this week: There have been several "moments" of friends and my mom stopping by to say hi, bring a meal, or bring me coffee.  I feel so blessed.  I love our community!

What I'm looking forward to: February 3rd--my next OB appointment.  I'm hoping since things looked stable on my ultrasound last friday (cervical length stayed the same as well as the funneling), she will lift the strict bedrest orders and change them to modified bedrest...  allowing me to return to work and just really take it easy otherwise.  I would be happy with that!

25 & 26 Weeks - And Bedrest?

25 weeks

26 weeks--don't I look funny with my hair like that?  haha.
I'm not drying it these days since it requires me to stand for too long. 

 How Far Along:  26 weeks
How Big are the Babies?  size/length of cucumbers or green onions

Maternity Clothes: Yes!

Movement:  Well, yes, they're pretty active.  But over this past weekend, there's been some unwanted "excitement" involving OB triage, being admitted to the antepartum unit to monitor for contractions...  they were super busy and active until we got home late Saturday, and they've seemed to chill out the past few days.  But they are rumbling and tumbling around in there, for sure!  When we had our ultrasound on Friday, Baby A had his legs up over his head the whole time--it was so funny!  Doing his yoga :)
Belly button in or out? My little innie is flattening out!  

What I miss:  I've been put on bedrest... so I miss normal life for sure. Read below for more deets. 

Milestones:  Well, reaching 26 weeks is major for these little guys.  24 weeks is the earliest that a baby has been born and lived, and their chances of survival only grow as the weeks go by.  Obviously, I do not want them to be born anytime soon, but this is good news.

Food Cravings:  Nothing really, but fruit is still delish.

Aversions: I don't think there's anything right now!

Symptoms: I'm having tightening in my abdomen a lot more than usual... maybe these are the contractions everyone is concerned about.  And some back pain.  The great thing is my swelling has decreased significantly.
Biggest Moment this week: So, we went in for our routine ultrasound on Friday to check their growth, etc.  They both looked great.  Baby A weighs approximately 1 lb 11 oz and Baby B weighs 1 lb 14 oz.  At the very end, we checked the length of my cervix, routinely.  Unfortunately, the ultrasound tech saw that mine had shortened by 1.5 cm in the past 4 weeks, which isn't good.  There is also "funneling" of my cervix, which indicates that it might be dilating on the inside.  The Radiologist came in and talked to me about everything, asking if I've been having any contractions, etc.  Nothing that I knew of... this is my first pregnancy!  I don't know what aches and pains are good or bad.  My OB was notified and she sent me to the hospital OB triage to be monitored for contractions.  We stayed there for about 4 hours.  They only saw uterine irritability--no contractions.  But the doctor on call was very serious about everything and said that it's very important that we keep these babies in (agreed!) and that I need to be on bedrest until I see my doctor again.  I got a steroid shot and was told to come back 24 hrs later to get the second shot--these are prophylactic in case the babies come in the next few weeks--the steroids help build up their little lungs.  He also wanted me to come back the next day to get a test done-- fetal fibronectin.  If it's positive, I will be admitted; if it's negative that's great.  So, I was planning on returning 24 hrs later at 3pm Saturday, but I was woken up at 3 am by intense tightening in my belly and back pain.  I moved to the couch but really was uncomfortable for the next few hours.  I didn't know what to do, but finally around 6:30 am I paged the on call doctor, and she told me to come in now.  Sigh.  So, we went back to OB triage and I ended up being sent to the antepartum unit for observation.  Over the course of 8 hrs, they saw 5 contractions, which wasn't too bad, and my fFN test was negative.  Praise God!  So again I was sent home on bedrest.  I have a follow up with my OB tomorrow, and we'll find out if bedrest is going to last or if it'll just be for a little bit.  I'm obviously hoping to not have to be on bedrest!!  I would love to be able to keep working and lying around all day long is NOT fun to me.  Especially when I have so much I feel like I still need to get done :(  I'm definitely taking this week off of work.  This is all a little nerve wracking (to say the least), but I'm continuing to learn how to trust God in the midst of difficulty.  We're holding onto His promises of life!

What I'm looking forward to: My appointment tomorrow!