Frequent Flyer Miles

That's what the nurse at Labor & Delivery told me they call expectant mommies of multiples last night. She reassured me that it was not intended to be a derogatory comment in any way. =)

So you heard me right... Greg and I made the trip to L&D again last night after having contractions throughout the late afternoon and evening. I was informed by the nurses before that I was to come in if I had 6 or more contractions in an hour. Well, I started timing contractions at 4:10 and had 5 by 5:10. And then I had an additional 2 by 5:30. It didn't really fit the criteria that they told me to follow, but I called them anyway and they seemed concerned about the 5 I had in an hour. The nurse suggested that I lie down and drink a couple glasses of water and time them for another hour and to come in if I had 4 more. I didn't notice having more than that so I just rested and waited for Greg to come home. We ate dinner and then a couple hours later proceeded to have 5 more contractions in 45 minutes. We then decided that it would be better to just go in and be evaluated. My cervix was checked and all was good, but the nurse had said that because our babies are still small, I do not need to be dilated to 10 cm to deliver babies... that is for big, full-term babies. I never thought about that. The monitors showed that I was having contractions every 6 minutes, but not all were "big" contractions. In between the contractions they could see that I had a lot of uterine irritability. An IV was put in and after monitoring for a while the doctor put orders in for a shot of Terbutaline. Fortunately, that quickly stopped the contractions. About an hour later the irritability and a few contractions came back, but they were very mild. By then it was 3 a.m. and we were exhausted. We were able to sleep a little bit in the room, but Greg's snoring woke me up about 20 minutes into the snooze. Poor guy. I'm sure I wasn't in a deep sleep to begin with. The nurse said that since things seemed to be under control we could take off.

I'm totally exhausted today and have been laying on the couch falling in and out of sleep. I just can't get comfortable and the urges to go to the restroom every 45 minutes to an hour keep me up. Ugh. I've had 5 contractions in 20 minutes just laying on the couch so I'm getting really frustrated. How long is this going to go on for? I hate to know the answer. My biggest fear is that I'm going to go in one day and they're going to tell me that I must be down with strict bed rest for the duration of the pregnancy. The nurse told me to just take it easy and not to do extensive lifting (no more than 3 lbs!) or walking (like around the mall). Little does she know, though, that I am pretty much on modified bed rest now and just lay around for the most part. . Aw, dang it! Just had a 6th contraction. Wish me luck and please pray for the cooperation of my body and health of our babies.

Lots of Growing!

Yesterday was a big day... well, big for someone that doesn't do a whole lot of anything anymore. I had my regular NST appointment at 8:30 and then another radiology appointment at 10:00 to check the fetal growth of the babies. I was super excited about that appointment because I knew that they would calculate the approximate weight of each baby. Each week I read about where their weights should be, but knowing that those are always approximate numbers. It was tough because they make you drink at least 32 oz. of water 1 1/2 hours prior to your appointment so that you have a full bladder. However, prior to that appointment I was at my NST appointment and they have me laying practically on my back so that they can chase down our little monkeys to monitor. I hate drinking water to begin with, but attempting to do it primarily in a flat position was a challenge. I got it down though and waddled my way down stairs to the radiology appointment. By the time I got there, I already had the scare that I may pee my pants (Ella is relentless as she uses my bladder as a punching bag!). Even scarier was the thought of having to hold it for the 1 1/2 hour appointment (I had two 45 min. appointments).

I was so excited because I got the best technician ever! She showed me everything on the screen. It was so different from our last appointment. And the appointment only ended up being about 25 minutes because she didn't have to check everything like they did before; she was just checking for their growth. She said that everything looked good and that my cervix was really long and not opening. I was so glad to hear that they couldn't find a way out the escape hatch! I had asked her how long it would take for the doctor to get the report and let me know their weights and she quickly responded and said that she could give them to me right then- Yay! So here are their approximate weights (these weights could be + or - a few ounces)...

Ella 3 lbs. 3 oz.
Evan 3 lbs. 1 oz.

Go babies go! I was so excited to hear that they were growing so well. Most of my books say that they should be around the 2 1/2 lb. area, so I was shocked and excited to hear that they were not only where they should be, but had a little more meat on their bones than expected. I was 29 wks. 1 day at the appointment and they were measuring 29 wks. 6 days and 29 wks. 4 days. We were so excited to hear that they were so close in the measurements, too. They always say that one twin is larger than another, but it would be nice if they could stay close to each other's weights.

Here are some pictures that the technician printed out for me. At one point, she exclaimed that Ella had hair so you can make it out a little on the picture of their heads together (little white lines sticking up).

Ella facing the camera... her arm is across her chin. Look at her sweet eyes!
Evan's cute little profile!
Their heads together (they ALWAYS are!). It's so sweet!

Super Cute!

I decided that at the rate that I'm going, who knows how much longer I'll have freedom to get out and about. With that said, I went on a shopping spree at one of my favorite baby boutiques - Ragamuffin. I took a couple of breaks and sat in a chair I found in one of the dressing rooms... haha. I'm sure I looked pretty stupid, but who cares. I had a 20 % off coupon on a day's worth of purchases so I decided I'd take advantage of it! The diaper bag I wanted was from there so I figured I better get it now with the coupon. I still haven't told Greg the exact price that I spent yesterday... yikes! My mother-in-law knew that I was going shopping there so she asked if I wanted my birthday money early, so of course, I went along with her suggestion! =) So here's a few pics of some of the things I got yesterday... so cute!


Hats and headbands for little Ella!

Cute Baby Lulu outfit! Look how cute the back is!

Cowboy outfit for precious Evan!

And my cute diaper bag! I love it! =)

28 Weeks & Getting Huge!

That pretty much says it right there! I feel so gigantic anymore, but it's only going to get worse. It's okay though... I figure I shouldn't worry about it now and can take care of it after the babies welcome us. =)

I went to my appointment yesterday and the nurses said that I only had one contraction. They didn't say anything about continuing the bed rest thing so I'm going to just take it easy and see how my appointment on Monday goes. My NST appointments are being scheduled for every Monday and Thursday. I know it's a lot of doctor's visits, but I feel so much better about being there and being monitored. Heck, I'm bored at home anyway, so it guarantees me an outing twice a week!

These appointments are intended to be 20-30 minutes, but... not with my babies. My little stinkers are quite fond of hide and seek. The nurses had to "cheat" many times and find them on the ultrasound machine before placing the monitors on them. And then it was only a couple minutes later (if not sooner) that they would take off again probably exclaiming, "catch me if you can!" This game went on for 3 hours! I felt really bad for the nurses, but they're so sweet and patient. They kept telling me that it will get better each week as they (or I) grow and run out of room. I think I may need to start taking Starbucks orders and pamper them from time to time just so they don't hate me! =)

Here's a picture of what the babies should look like in me now at 28 weeks. Take a close look at the woman's belly... they don't over-exaggerate at all!

My Second Home

Well, things have been busy around here again. Things are always exciting and I'm becoming more accustomed to my "special case" title.

Greg and I went to bed around 10:30 Monday night (which is WAY early for us) because he had to work at 7 the next morning. I woke up at 12:00 to use the restroom, pop some Tums, and then again at 2:00 (this every 2 hour schedule must be my preparation). When I got up at 2:00, I came back to bed and started getting really bad cramps that wouldn't go away and actually progressed to pretty severe ones. I turned over to Greg and asked him to hand me the water bottle because I thought maybe I needed more fluids. After laying there a few more minutes, Greg decided that he needed to take me in and have me checked out since the pain was still there and not easing up. We quickly got dressed, grabbed the number for Dameron's Labor & Delivery and took off for the hospital.

We got there at around 3:20 and they hooked me up to some monitors. They showed that I was having contractions every 4 minutes or so. They quickly gave me a huge glass of ice water and an IV for fluids. They say that many times dehydration is a source for contractions and can be stopped with adequate fluids. After about 1 1/2 -2 hours they decided that lack of fluids was not the reason for the contractions. The doctor ordered a shot of Terbutaline, which is supposed to relax the soft muscle tissue in the uterus, in turn stopping contractions for most women. The nurse warned me that I may have some side effects due to my mitral valve prolapse. Fortunately, the side effects were minimal (increase in pulse and shakiness), but more importantly, the pain went away!

The doctor came in to check my cervix and perform a swab test on me. Thankfully my cervix was long and closed, meaning that even though I was having contractions, they weren't causing my cervix to open and allow my little ones to escape! The doctor told me about a test that they do now to predict whether or not you are prone to deliver within the next 2 weeks. The test is called Fetal Fibronectin and it's very similar to a pap test (oh, joy!), whereas they swab fluids around the cervix. They're looking for some fancy protein that shows up usually 1-2 weeks before labor begins. It took about an hour to get the results, but all is good... the test was negative! Yay! Greg and I were both SO tired and just wanted to sleep. Greg was able to squeeze in about an hour, but I was so uncomfortable and worried that I couldn't get a wink of sleep in. About an hour an a half after my shot of Terbutaline, I started getting some irritability back. The nurse said that they may need to give me another one. The doctor was seriously considering admitting me, and I was freaking out about that. I was just so frustrated with my body and couldn't understand why my uterus was doing what it was doing. It's something way out of my control, but it's so upsetting when I think of my babies coming too soon. It makes me so emotional. It's a hard concept to put your mind around when you know how great your babies are doing inside of you, wiggling and dancing all around, but if they were to come out at this point they could face so many complications. You feel like your failing to take care of your babies and putting them in harm's way. It's very overwhelming. The doctor and nurses reassured me that it isn't anything I can control. This is very common for twins and seeing how my uterus hasn't ever been stretched before, it's stretching at a more rapid rate the first time around. Based on what my doctor measured last week, I should be measuring about 37 weeks now (I'm 28 weeks tomorrow), obviously close to someone being full-term.

As the doctor was deciding on whether or not he should admit me, he asked if I worked. When I told him that I didn't, he asked if I could do this same thing (laying around, AKA bed rest) at home. He finally decided that I could go home seeing how the contractions had pretty much stopped and I had another NST in just a couple of days (tomorrow). So after 8 hours in the hospital, we were free to leave!

I'm glad to be home, but it's so lonely and boring. I hate laying down because I can't get comfortable and my heart burn is ridiculously out of control. I don't even have to eat anything to make my throat and chest feel like they're on fire. I feel so bad for people that have this as a normal condition.

Sorry for the downer post... I just want to keep everyone updated on what's going on. Please pray for me and the babies. We just keep praying that the Lord's plan is to keep them in me for at least another 6 weeks.

So we've decided to share...

Although I had originally said that we would NOT share our babies' names before they were born, we have decided to... now that we've officially picked their names. This was actually more Greg's idea as he was chomping at the bit wanting to share! =) He knew that I would probably be asked a million times at the shower (which I was) if we had decided on their names and he wanted me to be able to share. We're hoping that since we've finalized this that people will not be stupid (sorry!) and say anything rude or insensitive about them.

So their names are...

Ella Marie Pryor and Evan Jacob Pryor!

I LOVE "E" names and we liked how simple, but sweet they sounded. Marie is my middle name and my grandma's. The rest of the names have no real significance to them... we just liked them! =)

Showered with Gifts!

Last Saturday was my baby shower and I absolutely LOVED it! It was so much fun and we were so blessed with all the wonderful people that showered us with so many gifts! I couldn't believe how much we were given! Greg and I are truly blessed with such wonderful friends and family!

It turned out to be much warmer than I had anticipated so I felt really bad for my guests (especially those in the sun! Thanks for all of those that sat there so that everyone else could be more comfortable!). Everyone was really sweet, though, and didn't ever mention that they were burning up! I put some of the pictures of the party on the slide show below. If you roll the cursor over the picture a caption will appear. You can speed up or slow down the slide show by clicking on the "-" or "+" symbols on the slide show box.

Enjoy!

So I lied...

but, I didn't mean to! I had full intentions of posting nursery pictures at the beginning of the week. This week has just seemed really busy and by the end of the day I couldn't work up enough energy to go up and take pictures of the nursery. The nursery still needs a little work as far as picture hanging, etc., but it's coming along. The baskets in the storage tent already look cluttered to me (from the picture) so I'm going to have to work on that... it's really bugging me! I suppose I should get over the obsessive desire to have everything look picture perfect or otherwise I'm going to have a major meltdown once the babies come. Well, here you go- I hope you enjoy! =)