The Weekend is Here!

I'm feeling MUCH better than I was a couple posts ago.  Starting to feel more like my old self as my energy slowly comes back.  I'm still a much heavier and slow moving version of my old self, but it's still better than the sloth I felt like while on bed rest and the 95-year-old I felt like the first few days of coming off bed rest.  It is SO nice to have a life again and be able to resume some of my normal activities.  Yesterday I even took Chloë to a nearby park on my own.  We did meet up with some friends so I did have back-up if needed, but it was my first outing with just me and Chlo in months!  I definitely am trying to make the most of those types of moments while I can.

Chloë & Sammy at the park

Myke's father, aka "Pop", left this early this morning to catch his flight back to PA after a week and a 1/2 visit.  He was a huge help to us and he and Chloë did a bunch of fun things together during the week: Sea World, Chloë's first bus ride (took the city bus to La Jolla Cove), ate numerous cheese quesadillas (Chloë's favorite), got ice cream, went on a bike ride, made a fort out of the new microwave box, etc.  He also helped us finish off our list of house jobs that needed to be done so that is a great weight off of our shoulders.  Thanks, Pop!  

Fort!  

With no parents here helping us out, we realized it was the first time it has just been myself, Myke, and Chloë (and Kyla) in the house since the first week of February!  My mom is coming back tomorrow night or Monday morning.  What are the chances I go into labor tonight--being that it's the ONE night that we don't have someone to watch Chloë if we need to rush the hospital?!  I doubt that will actually happen, but I'll have to have a friend or neighbor on call just in case I guess.  That said, I am having absolutely NO signs of impending labor (unfortunately!).  I was reading about twins last night and 50% are born before the end of week 36.  So I have a 50/50 chance of delivering in the next week.  I wonder if my chances are higher due to the shortened cervix thing?  Or maybe they are skewed in the other direction due to the fact that I carried Chloë to full term.  Either way, my fingers are crossed for sometime in the next week.  

The weather is amazingly beautiful today so we have spent the day outside so far.  First, I got up with Chloë and let Myke sleep in (after he was up at 5am to drive Pop to the airport), and we walked to get a muffin, latte and banana at a little coffee hut by our house.  After that, we packed up and headed to Ocean Beach dog beach to enjoy the sand and water.  The water is still really cold but that didn't stop Chloë from insisting on going in!  

Just the three of us!

Saturday morning breakfast- mommy/daughter date

On Myke's Lambretta

Kyla enjoying the sunshine

Dog Beach

snack at the beach

Only in Southern Cali...

Riding his motorcycle, shirtless, longboard attached to the side

A Pain in My Butt...Literally and Figuratively

(FYI: If you don't want to hear complaints, don't read this entry)

Tuesday:

Tailbone.  Coccyx.  Whatever you want to call it.  That has been the source of my most painful pregnancy symptom.  I'm not sure what causes the pain but I'm assuming it has something to do with the way the babies are positioned.  It must put pressure on that area.  I had this same issue with my first pregnancy.  It  happens if I lay on my back for even a minute or sit in certain positions.  Only the pain comes when I try to move out of that position.  It's excruciating.  I feel like a turtle stuck on its back.  If I even start to roll one way or the other to get off my back the pain shoots through my tailbone and feels worse than labor pains.  I've never had a bruised tailbone but I've heard they are pretty rough--I'm guessing the pain is something like that.

While I'm on a roll venting my frustrations, let me just update you on my doctor's appointment today.  First of all, let me just say that I'm OVER being pregnant.  Have I mentioned that already?  I'm uncomfortable, I'm heavy, my stomach is stretched to maximum capacity, I get heartburn, moving is a struggle, and I'm just irritable in general etc.   To be perfectly honest, I went in to my appointment today kind of hoping that maybe I would have high blood pressure or that the baby's fluids would look a little low...anything that would make Dr. Schrimmer decide that it was time to evict the boys from the womb.  I know that may sound horrible and selfish to wish for, but I'm just being honest.  I'm thrilled to have made it past 35 weeks.  I spent so many weeks resting and staying off my feet, being told every week that I probably would never get this far, and here I am...still pregnant.  Yes, I know that is a blessing...but now I'm done.  Emotionally.  Mentally.  Physically (well, I guess I'm not entirely done physically considering they are still in there).  This has been a long journey...started with two trips to the ER due to spotting, six weeks of daily spotting due to three subchorionic hemorrhages , months of modified bed rest, having to ride around in a hoover-round scooter (little did I know how good I had it!  This was before strict bed rest), then right when I'm in the 2nd trimester, feeling a little better and starting to get back to "normal" life, I end up with a shortened cervix that puts me in the hospital on two separate occasions, makes me endure 4 shots (with large needles) of steroids in my hip/upper glute area, 10 weeks of strict bed rest, etc.

Next Day:

It's now Wednesday.  I decided not to publish the above post yesterday because I was just too tired to continue and wasn't even sure if I should bother posting an entry that consists only of me complaining.  Yesterday I was someone to stay clear of.  I had nothing positive to say.  After a good night's sleep I'm feeling better.  Dr. Schrimmer did let me schedule a C-section or induction but the earliest he will schedule it is May 16th.  I'll be 38 weeks.  The thought of having to wait nearly three more weeks just did me in yesterday and I was basically in tears.  However, I know the longer I go the better for the babies, the more certain we can be that their lungs are ready for the outside world, the less chance they will spend time in the NICU, etc.  I have to take the focus off myself and my aches and pains and think of the good that it does for the boys.  That has just been somewhat hard to do because I think I'm still in denial that I'm about to have two more babies.  It doesn't seem real at all.  I've never fully wrapped my head around the idea and at this point I'm sure I won't until they are in my arms and I realize they are real.

 Dr. Schrimmer did say that if he were to take these odds to Las Vegas he would put all his money on me going into labor BEFORE May 16th...but I really do have my doubts that I'll be that lucky.  I hope he is right, though! If I do go into labor on my own before then, I hope I can get to the hospital in time!  Labor and delivery with Chloë was so fast and furious I didn't even have a chance to wrap my head around what was going on.  She was basically almost born in the car on the way to the hospital.  With these guys we are dealing with breech and transverse positions so, unless they do some moving in the near future, a C-section is imminent.  I want to be there in time so I can at least be awake for the surgery and not have to be knocked out for an emergency C-section.

Now that I at least have a date set and am in the waiting game, I'm no longer taking it easy as much.  I should probably take it easy more and enjoy these last few weeks of sleeping at night, being able to read a book, being able to sit down and put my feet up, but it's easier said than done.  Yesterday I went on a semi-long walk in the neighborhood for the very first time-- just me and the dog.  The entire thing was probably a mile, but that's A LOT for me.  It was nice to get some fresh air and just clear my head.

Pictures from the walk:

Hibiscus

Kyla 

Other Pictures:

snack time in the yard

Removing the microwave...the new one should arrive today!

The Week of the Manny

Chloë & Pop (aka "The Manny" / aka Thom)

We were sad to say goodbye to Myke's mom today but she had to head back to PA to tend to her class of 2nd graders.  I'm sure they miss her!  We all thought that the babies would be here FOR SURE before she flew back home, but that just wasn't the plan I guess.  Myke's dad, aka "Pop" is staying with us for the rest of the week to help us out.  When we originally planned this we had no idea if I would still be on bed rest, if the babies would be born, etc, at this point, but we figured either way we would definitely appreciate the extra set of hands.  Although I'm off bed rest it is still really nice to have him staying here. It would be very difficult to manage everything on my own due to my size and how tired I get.  The most difficult part would be wrangling Chloë, as I can't pick her up and she is still at the "learning to listen" stage, which comes complete with tantrums and all of that fun stuff.  This way we are able to get more house jobs done as well.  While Myke's parents have been here we have put up a privacy fence in the front, re-decorated the downstairs half-bath, bought a glider chair for the boys' room, organized their clothes, and more.  On top of those jobs, other things seems to be suddenly falling apart-- the microwave suddenly isn't working to it's full potential, the dishwasher started making a weird noise last night, the outdoor lights needed re-wiring, etc.  It seems when it rains, it pours, and it's nice to have Thom here to help us out with all those jobs since Myke is working full time.

This morning was very exciting for me--I went on my first errand ALL BY MYSELF!!  WOO!!  I drove to the bank to do a deposit AND I stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few items.  It was my first outing to the grocery store since January!   Don't worry, I had help out to the car with the bags and then help unloading when I returned to the house.  It was just nice to get out of the house and be on my own--I felt like a teenager taking out the car for the first time.  (On a side note, the band and the grocery store are both less than a mile from my house....so it's not like I ventured too far).  

I have a DR appointment tomorrow so I'll update then if there is any exciting news.  

Happy Easter!!

It has been a fun, long Easter weekend (Myke had Friday off work) with plenty of holiday-related activities.

35 weeks today.  Really surprised that I have made it this far--it's a blessing for sure...but I'm definitely ready for the end of this pregnancy!   :)

Hope everyone is having a fabulous Easter!





Friday:

Easter Party at Chloë's preschool- special visit from the Easter Bunny himself!

Easter treats!  

One outfit change and one Easter egg-shaped lollipop.

Easter party at Jax' house.

Chloë & Jax

Saturday: 

Pacific Beach Rec Center Easter Party

Easter Sunday:  

Heading to church with Mom-Mom

In her Easter best

Daddy & Chloë

Breakfast at Con Pane after church

Let the Weekend Begin!

Yup, still incubating the boys.  I'm almost 35 weeks and I'm now convinced that they're staying in for the long haul.  I'm going to be part of that 10% who is skipping around Target trying to start labor.  I just know it.  After spending a majority of this pregnancy on some form of bed rest trying my best to help the boys NOT to be born early, I'm now DEFINITELY ready for them to show their faces to the world.  Well, I guess after this weekend would be best--we have a lot of Easter plans on the agenda that I don't want to miss :)

Myke's parents are both in town now.  I'm for the most part completely off bed rest now and just go with the flow depending on how my body feels, which is sometimes great and at other times literally feels like there is a bowling ball or two in my torso and I struggle to walk 10 feet.  The only other pain I have is intense tailbone pain which I guess is from the pressure of the babies now that I'm back up in a vertical position.  It had all but gone away during bed rest.

Baking a cake with Pop & Mom-Mom

We are having a pretend "birthday party" for Pop later today. Chloë has been obsessed with birthday parties for the past couple months and sings "Happy Birthday" to someone on a daily basis.  Pop thought it would be fun to stage a party while he here visiting.  They got party hats, balloons, plates, etc.. 

The Hines men...about to double in number

Last night we dropped Chloë off at a friend's house and the four of us went to dinner in La Jolla at "Sushi on the Rock" - it is delicious and has a bunch of gluten free options for Myke.  Beautiful views of the ocean in the background as well.

Over Ten Pounds of Baby!

Just back from the fetal growth scan.  Here are the deets:

Baby A (the lower one) is in the breech position, meaning his head is up.  Unless he changes position, this means C-section.  No way around that.  He was difficult to measure because his feet and legs were curled up so tight and he was sooo far down in my pelvis the ultrasound tech had a hard time getting the measurement of his femur bone.  The femur bone measurement is one of the factors in the equation that determines the baby's weight estimate, so without an adequate measurement it can throw the estimate off.  After various tries, having me lay in different positions, etc, she decided she had gotten as best of a measurement as she could and we would just go with that.  So his overall weight estimate is 5lbs, but she warned us that it could be/probably is off by a bit due to the femur measurement possibly being a bit off.

Baby B is transverse and is measuring in at 5lb 11oz.  So over 10lbs of baby in there.

Fluid looks great, etc...there is NO sign of them leaving the womb at any time in the near future.  The ultrasound tech has a set of twins herself (they are 25 years old now) and she said she had them at 39 weeks.  I will go NUTS if I have to be pregnant for another 4 or 5 weeks.  I put in a lot of effort to keep them in for so many weeks....and now I'm more than ready for them to come out!  Next week I start jumping jacks!

Tuesday

Myke's mom (Maureen) is here and we have been keeping busy--I'm slowly transitioning to life off bed rest--but I still need to lay down for a few hours per day to I don't send my body into more shock than it's already in.  My ankles and feet are feeling the pain and are wondering why I'm torturing them--suddenly I'm standing up again and this time I'm asking them to carry 40+ extra pounds.  They weren't given a chance to ease into this change--it was just sudden as far as they're concerned.

 I took my first walk around the block last night and it went well.  I didn't keel over or have a heart attack or anything like that so we'll consider it a success.

Today I have an appointment at 1pm to get the boys measured--it has been a month since the last measurement so I'm looking forward to seeing how big they are estimated to be at this point.  We're hoping they are close to 5lbs each by now.  Fingers crossed!  I'll update afterwards.


 A few photos from our outings:

Sunday

My first time on the boardwalk in months!  

Toys R Us- trying out the Thomas bed

Bye Gramma, Hello "Mom-Mom"!

After over 8 weeks of living with us and taking care of Chloë, the house, dishes, cleaning, cooking, errands, AND keeping up with accordion lessons and practice, my mom has officially left the nest.  She has headed to Las Vegas to visit her sister for awhile to get a much-deserved rest.  Actually, I'm not sure if they will rest or if they will be on the move the entire time.  From what I hear there will be a lot of time spent in the pool, a lot of eating out, and a bunch of Las Vegas shows to be seen.  I'm glad my mom will get to do those things since she didn't really have a social life outside of Myke, Chloë and myself.  I'm sure evenings spents watching movies and playing cards with a couch-ridden daughter is thrilling and all, but anything can get a little old after 8 weeks.  Believe me, I know.

So Myke's mom arrived last night and she is here for awhile.  Along with that change, is the change that I'm now 34 weeks (yah!) and the doctor said I could become increasingly mobile at this point.  This week I can even take a walk around the block!  Woohoo!  I think I may do that today, even.  Exciting stuff!  I think my body is slowly getting used to moving again.  I was exhausted after my outings on Friday (last post) but yesterday I felt great almost all day.  My mom and I even checked out some yard sales in the morning, got bagels & coffee, and sat in the yard enjoying the beautiful weather with Myke & Chloë.  The yard-sale-ing was less strenuous than it might sound.  Mom drove, I navigated, and she got out of the car at most of them and I only got out if she thought there was anything worth seeing.

Mom-Mom & Pop (March 2009) with Chloë

Pop arrives this Wednesday!

Awhile back my doctor told me that when he sees patients carrying twins who have shortened cervices, about 90% deliver pre-term and 10% go full-term and are "skipping around Target trying to coax the babies out".  I'm starting to think I might be in the 10%....though I REALLY don't think I can do this for another month or more!!  My "official" due date is May 29th (Myke and my anniversary) but full-term for twins is 37 weeks--which is May 8th.  Of course no one knows when they will come, but I'd really be happy if it was in the next couple of weeks!

Chloë with her new Belle doll from Aunt Heather

(the red chairs & table are a yard sale find--$2!)

Recap of Me Over-Doing It...

I'm admitting it--I'm overdoing it.  After 10 weeks of being sedentary (not to mention that I was on a modified bed rest for the first trimester of my pregnancy as well--so we're talking no exercise of any form since basically last summer!) I'm just completely out of shape!  However, I got a little over-excited to have my restrictions lifted and I have been doing more than my body can handle.  It all started out innocently enough, for instance yesterday I decided it would be nice to get my haircut and touched up (after months of neglect).  My mom dropped me off at the hair salon at 9am when it opened--there was no wait at all so I figured it would be a pretty fast visit...but I was there for nearly THREE hours!!  I don't know how it could have possibly taken that long, but I guess my hair was in worse shape than I thought.  That said, if I had a photo of my "new" hair, you probably wouldn't barely notice that it is any different than before.  Oh well, at least it was a good price--$65 for cut, highlights, and style.

After that I headed home and rested on the couch for about 20 minutes before we had to jump in the car to take Chloë to a doctor appointment.  She's had a cold and cough for the past week and a couple times has told us that her ear hurts.  Gramma was paranoid and insisted we get her squeezed in for an appointment to make sure she didn't have an ear infection--she's never had one before so even though she seemed to be on the mend, we decided not to risk it and have her checked out.  Chloë was an absolute angel at the doctor's office.  She was very excited that they were "looking for Easter bunnies" in her ears and was all smiles and happy-little-girl for the doctors (who I'm sure wondered why we even had her there).  She's in the clear, just recovering from a cold.  No ear infection.  All looks well.  She weighs 32.2lbs with clothes and shoes on.

We got home from that around 3:15pm and mom, Chloë and I all took naps.

Grainy photo taken with iPhone

That night I went out with a group of girl friends from my "mom's group" for fondue--first outing with friends in over 2 months!  It was a great time, the food was delicious--I'm not sure how I've made it over 31 years without ever going out for fondue!  I have truly been missing out!  There were 9 of us there and all of us have kids who either just turned 2 or are about to turn 2....not to mention that all but 3 of the 9 women are expecting again.  It was kind of bizarre.  Great time, though!

So anyways, yesterday was a pretty busy day so I thought I would take it a bit easier today.  Instead, I overbooked myself today, as well (Myke just rolls his eyes and says, "she's baaaaack") and ended up having to cancel plans to let myself rest....which is what I'm doing now.  I'm back in bed and relaxing for a few hours.

The one thing I did attempt was a Target run with my mom and Chloë and quickly realized that I'm living in the body of an 85 year old.  I even used one of Target's complimentary motor-scooters to cruise the store and THAT tired me out!  I guess I'm just not quite ready for trips to the store--at least not big stores like Target.  It absolutely exhausted me - I left feeling achey, large and irritable (after going in just feeling large).

Outings!

Cafe 976

My first outing to celebrate my no-longer-confined-to-the-bed status was dinner with my mom last night at Cafe 976!  It's a cute little cafe built in an old cottage near the beach.  They have a beautiful outside courtyard where you can sit under a big magnolia tree and eat surrounded by various plants and flowers.  It's dog-friendly on the patio, so Kyla joined us as well.  The cafe is actually only five blocks from my house so it's not like we ventured out too far, but it was an outing none-the-less (and, yes, we drove there).  It was really nice to get out of the house...and I think I speak for my mom as well when saying that!  She has been here in San Diego helping us out for 7 or 8 weeks at this point and I'm sure she misses her social life and friends back in Virginia.  She does get out, but when she does it's with a toddler in tow, so this was a treat for us both!  

Today:

After quite a few months of skipping our "Outdoor Classroom" class that Chloë and I signed up for months back, we were able to attend this week!  It's a free "class" offered by the city of San Diego that meets at a different park each week.  The teacher is a child-development expert who leads the kids in parachute time, songs, bubble play, etc., after which she leads a talk and discussion on a topic related to child development appropriate to this age group while the toddlers play on the playground.  It's a pretty fun class and Chloë has quite a few little buddies who also attend.  This week was the "Spring Egg Hunt" and it was at a park near our house so I decided to attempt the outing (with my mom, of course!). 

We all had a fun time but were all pretty tired by the end of it!  

Usually there is no time for sitting in chairs at these events...

(couldn't have done it without you, mom!)

Eggs!

Sammy & Chloë checking out their treats

Enjoying time with friends on the bay

Freedom Bells are Ringing!!

I had an appointment today at my doctor's office- however, my doctor was out of town this week for a medical conference in NYC where he was giving a talk on twins (he's the multiples expert at UCSD).  So I met with one of his partners, Dr. Ramos.  She's also a high-risk OB, but she doesn't specialize in multiples like he does.  When we got there we went through all the normal steps like getting weighed (I didn't look-it has become too depressing), having blood pressure taken (it was beautiful), and then I figured they would check the cervical length--but NO!, the nurse told me that after 32 weeks they no longer check the cervix!  Myke and I were definitely surprised as we have gotten used to having it measured so often.  I guess after 32 weeks it doesn't really matter what it's measuring, if they are coming, they are coming and at this point the doctors feel confident that the babies will be okay!  Such great news!  I've officially entered the "safe zone" and I couldn't be more relieved!  Of course 33 weeks (where I'm at this week) is still premature, but knowing the the doctors are no longer really concerned about a delivery at this point just takes a lot of weight off our shoulders.

I had a list of questions for Dr. Ramos, including asking if I could get my hair cut (it hasn't been touched since early December and could use a touch up!), and she said that was definitely no problem.  She went on to say that she didn't feel that I needed to be confined to my bed or the couch any longer!  I was SO THRILLED to hear these words!  I looked at Myke and said "Did you hear that?!?!".  I had to make sure he heard the good news, too, and that we were hearing the same thing!  My bed rest restrictions have been lifted!!!!  I was so excited I could have peed my pants (but didn't, in case you wondered).

Dr. Ramos went on to say that starting at 34 weeks she felt I could start taking short walks around the block and could start really adding more activity back into my life.  As for this week, I can go get my hair cut, I can walk more around the house, I can lift light hand weights if I want to (which would probably be a great idea since I'll need to build up strength to lift two infants soon), I can go on small shopping trips if I use the motorized scooter that the store provides (Target, here I come!), I can go out to dinner as long as it requires minimal walking, etc.  Wow!

Excitement aside, I know I have to be careful not to overdue it.  I was exhausted the entire day after the baby shower on Sunday, when I am up and about for even 5 minutes I feel extreme heaviness and pressure in my belly and my ankles hurt from carrying my weight, I still can't lift Chloë, I still can't bend over to give her a bath or to pick up something if I drop it, etc.  I'm not going to just snap back to "normal" after 10 weeks of bed rest and an added 40 pounds on my frame.  However, every little bit of activity I can do will probably help to get my system a little more into shape and build my muscles a little bit more up so I can not be a blob of jello at the end of all of this.

Oh, and as for the babies--they look great on the ultrasound.  Good heartbeats, adequate pockets of fluid, but both are transverse.  They are in a yin and yang configuration (see above).

That's all for now!

33 weeks 2 days (taken this morning)

33 weeks with Chloë pregnancy 

38 weeks with Chloë pregnancy!

Baby Sprinkle Weekend

I'm not sure if I haven't posted on this blog in awhile because I've been too tired or because I've been too busy, but I think it's most likely a mixture of both.  I didn't realize it was possible to feel so "busy" while on bed rest.  Well, to be perfectly honest, I haven't been as well-behaved on bed rest the past week or so.  I guess I feel a little more relaxed about it having made it to the 32 week mark and also, mentally, I just have HAD to get up and move around a bit more.  Nine weeks of spending 95% of your time in a horizontal position can really drive a person nuts.  I've been spending more of my days downstairs on the couch than up in the bed now and I've found when I'm downstairs I'm not as sedentary as I would be when I'm upstairs.  Since I can see the kitchen from the couch I'll often just get up and get my own drink or whatever, instead of bother Myke or my mom with yet another request.  Or, on my way to the bathroom, I'll get distracted by a pile of mail the counter and sort through it, or I'll subconsciously straighten up a mess that I see.  Little things like that.  

Yesterday a few of my girlfriends held a baby "sprinkle" (I guess that's the PC term for a baby shower for a 2nd pregnancy...) for me.  I had an absolute blast!  It was so great to have a fun, non-doctor-related reason to get out of my sweatpants and to brush my hair (twice in a week!)!  Having visitors really helps pass the time--it was a fabulous afternoon of good friends, food, conversation, and more.  I had so much fun I forgot I was on bed rest -I was up way more than I should have been and I'm feeling it today.  I'm exhausted!  Thank you to everyone who came and made me feel so loved and special!  I feel so blessed to know such a wonderful group of people here in southern California :)   

Some of my "mommy-friends"

The youngest guests

Checking out Baby B

Teresa- due June 10 (with 1), me- due May 29 (with 2)

The last photo is of Teresa- it's actually one of those "it's-a-small-world" stories of how we know each other.  We "met" at a mutual friends birthday gathering last summer, started chatting since Chloë was playing with her daughter, Gianna.  We realized that our girls were both the same age, then realized they were born only a day apart, then realized they were born at the same hospital, which led us to realize we were there at the exact same time, which turned into me finding out she was admitted to the hospital in labor on Friday evening 2/27/09 and I came in on Saturday afternoon 2/28/09....she was on her 2nd day of labor and I came in and gave birth within 30 minutes of arriving....and her daughter wasn't born until the NEXT day, Sunday 3/1/09 (finally arrived via C-section after a VERY long labor process).  We then even realized that we were in rooms directly next to each other in the L&D ward.  How do I know this?  She heard my non-medicated screams of pain as I arrived at the hospital at 10cm and wasn't allowed to have any type of pain killer because Chloë was ready to be born.  Embarrassing!  However, makes for an interesting story.   Now she is due with her second child, a boy, only a week and 1/2 after me.  Oh, and we also realized that she and her fiance were in the same Childbirth Prep six-session class that Myke and I took before having Chloë!  We sat directly across from them at the table.  Small world.  

Myke took Chloë to the beach yesterday.  He couldn't get out of the house fast enough, knowing that it was about to be invaded by 20 women.  

Breakfast before the beach

Chloë &  Jax at the beach yesterday