Don't Do That Again....

As beautiful as pregnancy is in each and every moment, it has some rough times that you deal with as your baby grows and develops. I am currently dealing with a pinched nerve that can be very unfriendly at times. I toss and turn in bed every night and rolling over is agonizing! Josh has been great, giving me massages as I need them and doing everything that he can to help with the pain. I know everything that this pregnancy could possibly throw at me will be worth it when I see the faces of our little boys on their first big day out in the world!

Our last appointment was on September 17^th. I barely slept the night before, Josh was on nights and ended up calling me at midnight because I was still texting him. The boys decided to have a party all night and invited me without my permission! I have to be honest; I would rather have them kicking me all night long then not feeling them at all. Every little boot in the ribs, or push on my bladder tells me that they are still okay and doing well.

When my alarm finally went off, I had to stop myself from throwing my cell phone across the room. I really should stop using it as an alarm; it’s not safe for delicate little pieces of technology. I need the kind of phone that can survive on a construction site if I am going to use it as an alarm.

I dragged myself out of bed and got ready to head into town. Josh came home while I was getting the last of my things together and after he was ready to go we headed into town to meet up with Dr. Smith. It wasn’t a long wait before my name was called and we followed the nurse down the hall. She looked over her shoulder and said pleasantly, “Dr. Davies is covering for Dr. Smith today.” Josh instantly put his hand on the back of my neck and began massaging me saying in a lower voice, “It’s ok, I’m here this time.” I was furious!

After weighing me and taking my blood pressure, which with the news I had just received was surprisingly normal, the nurse left the room. I started freaking out, drilling poor Josh about why my appointment hadn’t been moved and that Dr. Smith was not concerned the last time that we had seen him so there was no reason for me to see the wretched man who was going to be coming into the room! Then things got worse! I heard Dr. Smith’s voice in the hallway. I turned to Josh and my eyes went wide, “Why is Dr. Davies covering for him if he is here!!” Josh had to start the whole calm down and breathe routine again to try and settle my frayed nerves. Although he got a good laugh out of it, I am sure it was still a little stressful for him as he had worked twelve hour and had not gone to sleep.

First, one of the senior residents on staff came in and asked their questions, he had me get up on the table and used a smaller ultrasound machine, that didn’t show a picture, to find the heartbeats of our little men. The first one, Baby A seemed to cooperate very well, the second one, Baby B is already taking after Mommy and Daddy when it comes to being stubborn. After the resident found the heartbeat he proceeded to move around so you couldn’t hear it anymore. Then the resident would find it again and Baby B would start with the dancing as soon as you heard three or four clear beautiful beats.

After he left I tried to remain calm, thinking about the fact that Josh was here this time and wouldn’t allow Dr. Davies to get away with talking to me the way he had the last appointment I had spoken to him.

The door opened again and Dr. Smith walked in with the portable ultrasound machine. Josh turned to me with a smile on his face and said, “There you go honey, you can relax now.” I did, I got back up on the table and waited to see our little men bouncing around. Dr. Smith couldn’t stop saying how great they looked and every time he did I felt better and better. Dr. Smith knows how to make a new Mother feel at ease!

I told Dr. Smith about my pinched nerve and he asked me if there was anything that made it feel better. Joking around, I said “Not moving.” Dr. Smith told me he didn’t want me not moving, which is obvious and I haven’t. I then told him about the prenatal yoga stretches that Auntie Cassie had told me about that I tried while I was sitting in a chair speaking with one of my agents. Dr. Smith was happy about the stretches and said that they were really good. I then told him that after doing the stretches I was stuck in the chair for about twenty minutes. His immediate response was “Okay…Don’t do that again.” The stretches are great for the side without the nerve, but not friendly for nerve issues.

We got warning from the resident that I would probably have to do the prenatal diabetes test at our next appointment. I can tell you one thing, I am not looking forward to drinking that nasty sugar filled yucky juice! One of the nurses in the hospital gave me a word of advice though, she said to drink it with a straw after having it in the fridge because you barley taste the stuff. We shall see how it goes next week that’s for sure!

I am looking forward to getting new pictures of our little men with a little more weight on them. They looked pretty skinny in their last snapshot!

And It Starts......

As every woman who has ever carried a child knows, having severe stomach pains when you are no where near your due date can cause panic. On Saturday August 28^th I experienced such panic. I was sitting at my desk at work, when all of a sudden, it felt like someone was taking a 6 inch blade and dragging it across my stomach. The pain was so intense it took my breath away. For those of you who are already worrying, our boys are doing great. I emailed my doctor and told him about what was happening and he seemed to think I picked up some sort of bug. This made complete sense to me as diarrhea followed with a vengeance! After about I week I started to feel much better, and now only have my normal gas pains that I have been dealing with since I got pregnant. Pregnancy definitely throws you through a loop some times!

I had my appointment with Dr. Smith on the following Friday September 2^nd. He came in and brought in the portable ultrasound machine. After climbing up onto the table and dealing with the cold gel on my stomach again he began to look over our little guys. He showed me the heart beating for Baby A and ran down his little spin, and then he moved to the membrane that separates our two little miracles and began to inform me of a few things. He told me about how it floats and moves around between the boys and that they would play with it and test it, but not to worry because it was impossible for them to break it. He then wiggled my tummy to show me how the membrane moved. In doing that he also poked the twins! That got them going; they both kicked back at the movement and ended up kicking each other which sparked a new investigative game! It was so adorable to watch them poking and prodding at each other, however the little sparing match does not inspire hope for when they come out and start to fight!!

Dr. Smith then moved on to Baby B, he tried to show me the heartbeat, but had the little guy so riled up that he wouldn’t stay still long enough for the doctor to find the heartbeat. We both had a laugh over how active the boys were and finally Baby B settle enough for me to see his strong little heart beating rhythmically. Seeing our boys is my favorite part of going to the doctor’s appointments!

For those of you concerned about ensuring you have the right amount of vitamins, I also had a conversation about adding additional calcium. I had been having conversations with other women from my work who had twins years ago and ended up having issues with their bones and teeth because the twins took so much out of them while developing. Dr. Smith said that it is more likely to lose the calcium from your bones then your teeth but that more calcium was a good idea.

I didn’t know this at first, but the cheapest source of calcium is actually Extra Strength Tums! Each of the little round chewable tablets has an additional 500 mg of calcium. Dr. Smith said the best idea would be to have and extra 1000 mg, so to take two tablets just before bed. Not only would it up my calcium, but it would help prevent heartburn when I went to bed.

The only issue with this, even though I brush my teeth after chewing the tablets, is that in the morning my mouth tastes absolutely horrible!!  It is not the most pleasant thing to wake up to, but I will tolerate it for our boys!! As with every mother, the health of our children is the most important think to me!

The boys have already started to be mean to their Daddy! The other night, as Josh and I were getting ready for bed, the boys started kicking around and for the first time, I could feel it on the outside!! I called Josh over immediately, but as soon as he put his hand on my stomach they both stopped! He sat there for about fifteen minutes waiting to feel the little miracles moving about……nothing happened…

Finally the sleepy feelings that had been pushing at the edges of our minds started to take over and Josh decided to roll over and head to sleep. As soon as his back was facing me the boys decided it was party time again!! That was just plain unfriendly to not let their Daddy feel them moving around! I can’t wait to see his face when he does feel them. I am now obsessed when they start moving around putting my hands on my belly immediately!

Our next appointment is on Tuesday September 13^th with our next big ultrasound on Friday September 23^rd.