Finally an Update!

Sorry for the slowness in updating... It's been a long week and most of my "free" time as been spent sleepy or trying to sleep.

Sunday I started having contractions at church... at first they were about 10 minutes apart, but once we got home and I laid down and rested they slowed to 20-30 minutes apart. Monday I was still having contractions 20-30 minutes apart and in the afternoon they were starting to be a little more uncomfortable, so I gave the doctor a call and they sent me to the hospital. I was hooked up to the monitors and watched for a bit. They did a test called an fFN test, which came back negative - that told the doctors I had at least another two weeks before I go into labor. My cervix was still closed, but it was soft. They told me to go home and take it easy.

Wednesday we went to Maternal Fetal for the BPP ultrasound. They basically are watching for the babies' movement and "practice breathing." They get points for moving their body, for the practice breathing, for moving their arms and legs, and other such things. Kyle and Emily both got perfect scores! Emily's heart was a lot better, but still not completely normal. Before she was having the extra beat in every pattern, but on Wednesday it was only once every 5 or 6 patterns! The tech was trying to get pictures of the babies for me, but they weren't cooperating very well. In the 3D we could kind of see Emily's face, but she wasn't staying very still and kept putting her arms in from of her face, along with her umbilical cord. We did get a 3D picture of Kyle's ear... but couldn't see his face because it was hiding behind Emily's butt! We did however see his little boy parts in 3D a couple times - he kept showing those off! Silly boy!

Friday I had an appt with my OB. She told me my cervix is all thinned out, but not dilated yet. I have been having more frequent headaches and seeing flashing lights when I have headache - apparently this is related to my blood pressure, which is a little high. She reduced my work hours to only 6 hours a day - hoping to give me time to get more rest and such. More rest should help slow down my contractions (still having pretty consistently 30-45 minutes apart) and should help my blood pressure stay down.

We got back to Maternal Fetal next Wednesday for another BPP and then Friday to the OB - pray for no trips to the hospital this week!

Just a Quick Update...

I had an appointment this morning. Emily's heart sounded good! Let's hope it does again next week when I have the Biophysical Profile (a fancy ultrasound) done.

Belly Pictures

A lot of people keep asking me to post pictures of my belly.... don't get your hopes up about this because it will not be happening. Here's some of the reasons why...

• Brent and I decided from the beginning we were not going to post pictures of my belly for the whole world to see. We have taken a few for us and to show Kyle and Emily when they grow up if they care to see, but we will not being sharing them with the whole world. That being said, we will not give in to peer pressure (or family pressure in most cases). There is nothing wrong with sharing belly pictures; it's just something that Brent and I don't feel comfortable with.
• I get sick of hearing "You're so small for having twins" from the people I see and talk to, I don't need to get more of this from friends over the internet that don't see me everyday. No, my belly is not HUGE like everyone thinks it should be, but the doctors are not concerned about my size - they have actually used the word "prefect" to describe the size of my belly.
• I am not HUGE and most likely will not get HUGE. I just look like I am pregnant - I am bigger than most people for where I am at in my pregnancy, but only a couple weeks. I have just over six pounds of babies in my belly - which isn't close to what most people have for full term singletons.
• If you know me very well at all - you would know I do not like having my picture taken.

There are more reasons, but these are the big ones. Please respect our decision not to post pictures of my belly and stop asking me about it.

Friday's OB Appointment

My appointment went well. The doctor said that most likely Emily's heart will correct itself and it won't be anything to worry about. Their heart rates were both a little higher than Wednesday, but still within the normal range. She said my belly looks good, along with my weight gain (I now weigh 9lbs more than I did when I got pregnant).

My belly button has been going back and forth from being flat to popping out the last couple weeks... I think it has finally decided to stay out. It's weird looking :)