38 weeks and counting down to BABY!

Yup, you heard right! 38 weeks!  Actually 38 weeks 2 days now! WOW!

Baby Hudson can come literally at any time. The anticipation is killing me!

That's okay though, I don't know that I'm ready to forfeit my sleep just yet anyway! =)

I had my weekly OB appointment on Wednesday this week.  Last week at our appointment we got some funky ultrasound measurements on little man and he was measuring smaller than he had been previously (only about 6 lbs 5 oz which put him in the 33rd percentile instead of the 55th percentile he'd been running in this whole pregnancy).  This week they were sure to get very accurate ultrasound measurements on him to make sure there wasn't an issue (like IUGR - Intra Uterine Growth Restriction) and it showed that he is a perfectly healthy, albeit chubby, little guy weighing in at 7 lbs 15 oz! Holy buckets!!

As I mentioned in a previous blog post, I intend to do a VBAC with baby Hudson.  He's getting so big though, I was really hoping he would come sooner rather than later!  I do have to push him out after all! However, it seems I'm not progressing as the OB would like me to.  I've been stuck at "soft", 60% effaced, and 1.5 cm dilated for 3 weeks now.  Baby Hudson is still "high" and has not dropped and is not engaged.  According to my OB, he should have dropped and he should be engaged by now.

My OB said that if I was "inducible" that he would induce me next week (previously he told me he would not induce a VBAC under any circumstances).  But his criteria for being inducible is pretty strict! I have to be dilated to 3 cm, 80% effaced, and Hudson has to be engaged.  So, Hudson has until Monday to drop and engage or my OB is going to recommend a C-section.  Sigh.  I can't say that I am incredibly surprised.  Livvy was our Baby A and she was head down most of the pregnancy and in perfect birthing position, but she never engaged either.   C-section may be likely. Boo.

Either way though, whether it be via VBAC or C-section, we should have a brand new baby boy next week! IF I don't go into labor before then =).

I will make sure to post pics once little man is here, but for the time being, here's a picture of me at 38 weeks 1 day.  I don't have a comparison picture with the girls because they were already 2 weeks old at this point! Crazy! =)

I will keep you all updated when little man decides to come!
Until then - have a great week!

Until next time -
Megan

32 weeks!

This pregnancy is seriously flying by! I am 32 weeks already. WOW!
Here's a picture of me now....

And of course a comparison picture of me with the girls... I was WAY bigger....naturally....

My biggest accomplishment at this point???

I CAN STILL SEE MY TOES!

I love it!

We had an OB appointment last week. Little man is weighing in at 3 lbs 11 oz....right on target to be an 8.5 lb baby if he makes it to 40 weeks. Holy buckets! The girls were 6 weeks old before they weighed that much!

Right now he is totally breech - his head is on the right side of my belly, his booty is on the left side of my belly, and his feet are jumping up and down on my bladder. My OB said that he should turn and get into birthing position by 36 weeks. If he doesn't, he will try to manually turn him. If that is not successful, at that point he will recommend a C-section. If he is in position (before or after manual turning) then I will be allowed to try a VBAC. YAY! I would love to not have the recovery icky-ness of another C-section when I already have twin toddlers at home. Fingers crossed!

I am finally starting to have some decent swelling with this pregnancy (not that I missed it AT ALL), and as of yesterday I was no longer able to wear my wedding ring. Sad day =(. I am also starting to retain water in my legs - at least one pair of work pants no longer fit because they are too tight - and my shoes are leaving decent marks in my feet after being worn for a while. I will be paying more attention to my blood pressure now, but for the time being, I continue to have no major problems or issues to report. YAY!

Oh! And we finally got a decent 3D/4D pic of little man during an ultrasound a couple weeks back - check him out!! His hand is in front of his face, which prevents it from being an awesome u/s picture, but it's still better than anything we were able to get with the girls! I think he looks like his big sister Olivia, which according to about 75% of those who make comments to us, means that he will likely look like his daddy =). So sweet!

And one with arrows (from Si) just in case you can't tell what body parts you are looking at in the picture =). Thanks hun!

Okay, that's my baby update of the day (or month, or week)! Happy Tuesday all!!

Until next time -
Megan

28 Weeks =)

I feel kind of like I am neglecting posting about "Baby C" (aka - "Baby Boy H" or "Little Man"). I posted SO much about the girls when I was pregnant, but everything is so different with a twin pregnancy; more doctor's appointments, additional monitoring and ultrasounds, more possible issues...and with one baby, well, it's easier.

Okay, so I think "easier" is open to discussion. I don't know that this has really been any easier than it was with the girls honestly!

I think another big part of my neglecting posting about Baby C is that we have two crazy toddlers running around, being adorable, and keeping us crazy busy. I don't have the time to analyze every little thing going on with this pregnancy, and since I'm only being monitored once a month, if we don't get good ultrasound pictures (we NEVER seem to get good ultrasound pictures), I have little to nothing to post about.

We don't have another OB appointment until next week, but since it's been 4-5 weeks since I've posted anything about baby C, AND 28 weeks is a milestone time point for pregnancy, I figured it's about time I just wrote some items down!

So...

We are 28 weeks this week. Wow! Only 11 weeks to go if we go the C-section route, and about 12 weeks to go if we go the VBAC route. We are on the home stretch for sure! I should probably start buying clothes for this little peanut....too bad baby boy clothes aren't nearly as cute as baby girl clothes! I'd have his little closet filled already! Well that, and I don't really know what size to buy...with the girls I knew they'd come early and likely would be in newborn clothes for a while. But with this little man being full term, he will likely be 8 lbs (or more!) at birth, so I don't know that newborn is the size that I should be shopping for! Any insight mommas?

So what else? This little man is very very active! Brianna was a very active baby too, but I think that this little man may have her beat. He really squirms all over the place and takes full advantage of all the space he has in there. Full, BIG movements are common now. I can watch my entire belly move like a wave. Very cool! The girls continue to be obsessed with my growing belly and belly button. I keep telling them that there is a baby in there, but they still don't really get it. Livvy has started giving my belly kisses though, which is absolutely adorable, so I think she maybe has some tiny bit of understanding that there could be a baby in there.

A couple of things that have been different with this pregnancy (and the reason that I note that this pregnancy may not be any "easier" really than the first pregnancy) is the amount of soreness I have been experiencing. My hips and pelvis are SO sore. So sore! All the time. My OB says that since the two pregnancies are so close together that my ligaments pretty much just stayed loose, therefore not supporting my frame and structure (and are getting more loose by the minute it feels like)! While I may not be carrying as much baby weight around, the whole act of moving around, standing, sitting, etc. is more difficult this time. I have definitely been surprised. I was looking forward to an easy, pain free pregnancy! HA!

The other thing I have been watching for with this pregnancy is Pre-Eclampsia. Since I developed pre-e with the girls I now know what to watch for. It makes the symptoms easier to spot, but I also get concerned a bit easier too when I see a new symptom pop up. My blood pressure has been elevated for about the last 6 weeks, but it's not too high yet to where it's overly concerning. They did a 24 hour urine on me about 4 weeks ago, and my protein was already at 260 (300 is clinical indication for pre-e), so that is being watched as well. I just had my week 28 blood work and Rhogam shot, and they went ahead and added on a CMP (Complete Metabolic Panel) to check my liver function and make sure that all is still well there. I feel like I'm being appropriately monitored, I just wish there was something I could do to prevent the pre-eclampsia from occurring all together! My OB told me that my chances of developing pre-eclampsia in a second pregnancy are lower, only about 15%, but with my numbers already being elevated on several of the clinical markers it makes me think that probably I will end up fitting right into that 15% the longer I progress into my pregnancy. I'm hopeful that won't happen, but I'm not counting on it.

So, that's the story! Now on to belly pictures! Just as I did last time, I will post a comparison shot - one of me now, with a singleton, and one of me at the same point with twins. Definitely smaller this time around =).

Here I am today, at 28 weeks 1 day with "baby C"

Here I am at 28 weeks with the girls

HUGE difference right? LOL!
Okay, so that's all for now! I hope you all are having a great week, and if you have any input for me, clothes-wise, pre-e - wise, or otherwise, please feel free to share it! Thank you!!!

Until next time -
Megan

Some time to ourselves =)

For the first time since the girlies were born, Si and I BOTH got to sleep in this morning! It was AMAZING!
To clarify, we made it all the way to 8:25 AM - definitely not "sleeping in" according to our previous standards - but post baby that is awesome!
Si and I were both off today, but our nanny extraordinaire volunteered to work anyway, so we JUMPED on the opportunity to have some time to ourselves and go out and about without the girlies!!

After we leisurely made our way downstairs and were greeted by two beautiful little smiling faces,

we took showers and got ready to head off to the movies. Again, our first movie together at a theater since before the girls were born. We saw Mission Impossible- Ghost Protocol. It was a great movie! An excellent choice for our first movie together in nearly 18 months!

We then decided to run to the mall and hit up Victoria's Secret Semi-Annual sale (what can I say, I'm a sucker for VS stuff), and we dropped by Target since we were right there too. I was so proud of myself for finding my bargain buy of the day....a new Chicco Playyard for Baby C...normally $189.99, on clearance for $56.84!!!! (Seriously, check out the specs on this thing - it has a play yard with toys attached, it vibrates, it plays music - holy buckets! These baby/kid items are getting so advanced!)

I figured that Baby C would need to start out in a pack n play, and I intended to buy him a new one (since Bri has killed the Winnie the Pooh one), but I didn't expect to get this particular one, and I didn't expect the purchase to happen quite this early! Oh well. The new pack and play was my one big purchase that I intended for Baby C...that and maybe a new carseat since the girl's car seats are a set and match the stroller that we intend to sell at the multiples sale in April. I figured the pack and play would be a relatively pricey purchase. I feel so proud of my thriftiness! YAY! =)

Otherwise we had a very low key New Year's. We caught the tail end of the fireworks Saturday night in the Downtown Omaha Old Market, then drove through Mickey D's for some ice cream (Dairy Queen was closed already - slackers). New Years Day we went to church, then lots of playing together on the floor and just plain old having fun=). It was a great start to 2012!

It's been over 4 weeks since I've posted a shot of my growing baby bump, and I am proud to say that my bump is coming along! I think I look pregnant now! YAY! And I really started feeling baby C move earlier in the week...it's such an amazing feeling...I remember missing the kicks so much after the girls were born...now I remember why!
Anyhow, here's a current belly shot, just shy of 17 weeks =)

Wishing you all a happy and prosperous 2012!! Happy New Year blogger peeps!

Until next time -
Megan

The first snow of the season!

We got our snowsuits just in time! It snowed 4 inches of wet and heavy snow today - our first real snow of the season! The girls watched the snow fall most of the late morning from the doorway, perplexed and amazed at what they were witnessing. Once they got up from their nap they went right back to the door and it was obvious that they wanted to go check out this fluffy white stuff that mom and dad kept calling "snow".

We packed the girls into their new snowsuits, complete with booties and mittens, and out front we went! We placed each girl into the 4" of fresh snow in the yard and they just stood there, frozen in place. After a few minutes they started moving around some, but they were still very tentative. Bri had a hard time taking steps and keeping her balance, so she spent a good chunk of her time on all fours in the snow. Very funny. Livvy, after watching her sister struggle, decided that sitting was the best option, so she promptly plopped down in a pile of snow close to the sidewalk.

Miss Olivia when first placed in the snow =)

Miss Brianna after getting her bearings a bit and figuring out that she really could walk in her snowsuit =)

Both girls sitting in the snow...much easier than trying to navigate around in it!

They made it outside for about 15 minutes before they wanted to come back in. It was still snowing like crazy, and the wind was blowing, and frankly the girls weren't fans of wet cold snowflakes smacking them in the face. Regardless, I really think they had a good time! I intend to take them out again tomorrow =)

We have our MoM's group Christmas Party tomorrow, complete with Santa, so as long as I remember to bring my camera I will have more pictures to share. Otherwise, not a ton going on here, and that is TOTALLY okay.

As many of you have asked, I did have Si snap a quick picture of my expanding belly tonight for your viewing pleasure. I don't really think I look pregnant at this point (12 weeks 3 days). I think I'm currently in that "did you eat too many bacon cheeseburgers?" phase. Bleh! Patiently waiting for the cute little pregnant belly to come forward...I suspect it will probably be 5-6 weeks yet though. I have my NT scan next Friday, and an OB appointment the following Wednesday (the 14th?). I will be 14 weeks at my OB appointment and as long as this little peanut participates, he thinks he will be able to determine gender. Woo hoo!

Okay, really, that's all for now. Hope you all are having a wonderful weekend!

Until next time!
Megan