24 weeks- Viability day!!

I can't believe we finally made it to 24 weeks.  That's 6 months pregnant.  That also means that there are only 14 weeks left!  The babies officially have a fighting chance if God forbid they are born early.  I'd post a pic, but my officialy belly photographer is out of the country: (

The belly is looking large....and stretched out.  I figured I'd get a few stretch marks during this process, but I never expected to get so many or get them so soon.  Some of them flat out hurt.  I can literally feel the skin tearing.  It feels an awful lot like a deep burn.

Now for the 24 week survey:

How far along: 24 weeks

Total Weight Gain: 23.5 lbs

Symptoms: Still really tired, emotional, and a really sore back

Stretch Marks: Yes-deep and painful

Sleep: I could always use more.  Bathroom breaks have increased to 3-4 times a night.

Best Moment Last Week: Feeling really strong big kicks and watching my belly move. Also getting the second crib in the nursery.

Movement: Yes...and I love it!

Food Cravings: Watermelon.

What I Miss: Being able to breathe and do normal activities without getting winded.

What am I looking forward to:  Our next u/s in one week.

Milestones: VIABILITY!!!

How is Daddy? Wonderful.  He's been rubbing my belly a lot and enjoying the kicks and movements as much as I am.

Not coping well

DH is out of the country until Saturday.  Business trips are no stranger to our relationship.  He has to travel often.  In fact...he moved to take his current job while I still lived in Miami and we lived apart for 6 months. I am usually just fine, but for some reason, this time, I am not holding it together very well.   Our house seems so eerie and lonely.  The dogs aren't much comfort either because they are being a bunch of lazy assess and sleeping since I got home from work.  I have realized how truly boring life is without him.

I just need to hold it together for another 96 hours. I am going to chalk my break downs over his absense on hormones.  Damn you hormones.

False alarm

So this Saturday morning was spent in Labor and Delivery at a local hospital.  I thought that I had lost part of my mucus plug which immediately sent me into a hysterical panic. DH and I decided that even if it was nothing it would be in our best interest to be seen.  So we went to the local hospital, I was put on the contraction monitor, and the doc did a cervical check. No contractions.  Cervix-long, tight, and closed. Whew.

False alarm.  The doc said that the plug is constantly changing and if I had lost any or part of it, I'd know it. She also lectured me about not coming to this particular hospital again unless the babies are literally coming out because they are not equipped to deal with high risk pregnancies and all they would be able to do is transfer me to the hospital we will be delivering at anyways.

I feel silly for panicking, but glad to know it was nothing.  Now if the babies would just keep calm while DH is out of the country through this week, I'll be a happy camper.  This Thursday marks viability!!  Such a huge milestone.  I am so thankful to have made it this far and am taking in every moment of this pregnancy.  While I can't wait to meet our babies, I want to soak up all of the memories I can of carrying these miracles in my belly: )

22 weeks

Survey time....

How far along: 22 weeks, 2 days

Total Weight Gain: 22 lbs

Symptoms: Tired (really tired), sore hips, stiff back.

Stretch Marks: Oh yes.  Bye bye belly.

Sleep: Pretty good...but I feel like I could use more than I get...no matter how much I get!

Best Moment Last Week: Feeling them move from the outside!!

Movement: They are much more active.  I love laying on the couch and watching my belly move!

Food Cravings: Watermelon.

What I Miss: Feeling rested

What am I looking forward to:  Getting our second crib next week (we ordered it online).

Milestones: Big movements and a great anatomy scan.

How is Daddy? Wonderful.  He's done such a great job helping me get the nursery ready.  He's been putting his hands on my belly a lot more and trying to feel them move.



Pics:

Eyes...won't...stay...open....

I am not a complainer.  Really, I'm not.  I haven't blogged about the stretch marks, the back pain, the hip pain, the sciatic nerves, nothing.... But this fatigue, I am going to complain about.

I woke up this morning, and my first thought was to cry.  Whyyyyyyyyyyyyy has the alarm gone off already.  I mean I went to bed at 10pm, made it all the way through the night without getting up to pee (which was a mistake), and the alarm went off 5am.  So why do I feel worse than all of those night in college where I pulled all nighters studying for organic chemistry (sorry I just vomited in my mouth thinking about it).

It seems to be getting progressively worse too.  A few weeks ago, I would simply feel a little bit more tired before bed. Now waking up is a chore.

I just can't believe that this is a normal feeling for 22 weeks pregnant.

Why men shouldn't play with baby things

Baby showers are great.  You get lots of "stuff" for your little addition(s).  Coincidently, husbands get lots of time to "test" these gifts.

Exhibit A:

You may remember this lovely gift from here:

But here is how it has been used:

Yes, that is DH testing the night vision and "Crying" to see how the sound works.

Just had to share because I died laughing when he did this.

Anatomy Scan and other updates

Sorry...I've been a shitty blogger lately.  My job is running me ragged and I just don’t seem to have the time or energy to do anything these days.   So I apologize.  Now to play catch up…

Anatomy Scan

We had our anatomy scan on Friday.  Besides the fact that this appointment kept us at the office for 4 hours (mind you the actual scan only took an hour), everything went well.

Baby A is head down right against my cervix on my left side.  It has all 10 fingers and 10 toes.  All vital organs are looking good.  Baby B is also head down on my right side…just a little higher up than baby A.  Both babies were measuring right around 1 pound each. Apparenlty neither baby would cooperate-so much so that the u/s tech asked if she could have the rights to spank them when they came out.  She asked us if we wanted to know what we were having and we told her no.  So she advised that we look away while she scanned the legs and did the sex determination.  She did ask if we wanted to know if anything was wrong…there wasn’t…so at least we know they aren’t hermaphrodites. It didn’t seem to take her long at all to determine the sex…which kind of makes me think they are boys.

Anyways, due to the lack of cooperation, she was not able to get all of the necessary measurements so we have to come back in 4 weeks to complete the anatomy scan.  We really only got a good profile pic of baby A, but just knowing they are healthy is enough for me. She also did a transvaginal to measure my cervix.  It went from 3.1 at my last scan to 3.8 this time.  That is apparently a GREAT measurement for this stage in the game. 

Then we met with the doc.  Fundal height puts me measuring at 28 weeks (which explains why I feel huge and my skin is staging a mass revolt in which fabulous purple stretch marks are claiming their territory across the bottom of my belly.  Yay.  I knew genetically I was screwed when I found out I was pregnant.  Everyone is my family has stretch marks. The doctor seemed quite pleased with my cervical measurements.  He said if we continue at this rate, barring no complications, it looks like we will be scheduling our c-section at 38 weeks! That puts us at September 23.  The later in September the better…because selfishly, I don’t want to go back to work before Christmas and I am taking 16 weeks maternity leave. So that is 114 more days…but who is counting: )

Here are the few pics we got from the anatomy scan (with and without captions):