BABIES

I had my 34 week appt. today and all went well. They did an ultrasound and BOTH babies are HEAD DOWN!! Now, we're just praying they stay this way. It would be fantastic. I think they are in good positions-at least, it's comfortable for me this time. All 4 feet are under my ribs, but I can handle that. My NST was also fine. It takes a while to do it, but the babies hearts did great and they were very active. I had a few good contractions, but nothing too concerning.

SKYDIVING!!!

Wes got to go tandem skydiving in Yuma, AZ with the U.S. Army Golden Knights Parachute team today!!! He had a blast. The video is kinda long (4:20) but it's really neat!

Video of Babies Moving

Kinda random, but here's a video of the babies wiggling around in my belly. It's the best I could get, even though sometimes they get way more wild than this. YES, it's uncomfortable!! And lately they like to get nutty in the middle of the night. Not too conducive of good sleep :-)

We're Moving!!!

I keep forgetting to blog this....but we will be moving at the end of March! Wes got a job with Avenge Aviation (farewell Army!) and will be doing some contract work in Iraq. He will probably be gone for 2-3 months at a time, but will also be home for 2-3 months at a time. When I say "HOME" I mean HOME! No work at all. So, he'll basically have 1/2 the year off! We're so excited about that. Another benefit is you can live anywhere in the world you want and they will fly him to work. We are going to get to move back in to our house in Florida and enjoy the help of family! It might be a little hectic moving just 2 weeks after my due date, but hopefully the babies come 1-3 weeks early so it'll be a little easier.

Swticheroo!

Okay, Baby A is back to being A. They made the switch yesterday. And, I am actually quite relieved. When B's head was down it was absolutely miserable for me. Everytime I took a step I could feel it grinding down in my pelvis! ICK! I didn't know how I could go on for 7 weeks like that. I noticed some relief yesterday and in the afternoon felt hiccups under my ribs on the right side. AHH--it made sense. B was back to having it's head up. In the evening, A got the hiccups and I could tell it's head was down low again! I'd still like them to both be head down, but I"m honestly not in much of a rush anymore. It was NOT comfortable at all. Maybe if A stayed in place and B just put it's head on top of A's it'd be better? I dunno.

33 weeks

I had another appt. today and everything went much better! I've gained EIGHT, yes 8 lbs. in just 2 weeks!! I was so excited. I couldn't believe it when the nurse kept pushing the scale thing to the right. I was going to be happy with 4 lbs, but 8 is excellent. :-) Just reassures me that the babies are growing healthy in there. It also makes sense as to why my skin has just been hurting lately. It feels like it's being constantly stretched and it quite uncomfortable. Also explains the first stretch mark on my belly! It's so disgusting and right ABOVE my belly button. Ick! The doc I saw today was much kinder than the one I saw last week. No mention of any exams--YAY!

The doc. did a quick ultrasound to see the heartbeats and they are good. Here's the crazy thing, the babies have switched positions. B is now headdown and A is transverse. So now, "B" is technically called "A" since it's in the position to be the first out. It's so crazy. I think I've bonded with the "A" and "B" names, now it's all switched up on me! Guess I'll just have to refer to them as right and left or something. Maybe the things I tried to turn "B" (moxibustion and webster chiropractic technique) worked. Now, I gotta get "A" to turn back and "B" to stay. So confusing with 2 in there. :-)

After the doc, I headed to the hospital for another NST. It went well. Both babies reacted as they should. I did have some contractions show up on the monitor, but I wasn't feeling any of them. I'm so thankful Elliot gets to go to Preschool and doesn't have to go to all of these appt's with me. She'd be soo bored!

Vacation

We had a fantastic vacation this past weekend! We headed to Tucson on Friday and stayed at the Marriot Starr Pass Resort. We LOVE this place as it has the best pool, lazy river, fountains, hot tub, etc. Elliot couldn't wait to get to the hotel and go swimming. Her excitement couldn't be contained! It was fabulous and almost 80 DEGREES!!!

Saturday we were in the car for a few hours before arriving in Sedona, AZ. It has beautiful red rock formations. We walked around downtown, then went to the airport lookout for the sunset.

Sunday we arrived in Flagstaff, AZ. It was covered in beautiful white snow!! We took Elliot up to the Wing Mountain Snow Play area where she got to go sledding for the first time. I guess it was my first time being around sledding too. I was so jealous--it sure did look fun! (I sat this one out..don't want to risk preterm labor or anything. :-) She also attempted a snow angel and built a snowman! It was great. Afterwards she kept saying, "I had fun sledding today." It was the sweetest thing and made every bit of the trip worth it. When we arrived at our cabin at the airforce rec. center it was fabulous. The ground there was also covered in snow and Elliot got to go sledding some more! We couldn't have asked for a better trip!

When we left on Monday it was in the 30's with snow on the ground. We drove 2 hours to Phoenix and when we got out to eat lunch at In 'N Out Burger (yumm), it was 80 degrees! Isn't that crazy?! The temperatures vary so much in this crazy state.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE PICTURES

SOME VIDEO'S (for some reason they look really foggy--maybe I was facing toward the sun or something. oh well):

32 weeks

I thought some might enjoy this lovely comparison of my belly at 32 weeks with Elliot, and my belly at 32 weeks with these 2 babies! If people think I'm "tiny" now, they must have thought I was pretending to be pregnant with her! haha

I had my first Non-Stress Test (NST) and everything was fine. They just monitor both babies heartrates for like 40 minutes and look for certain accelerations. It's kind of a pain b/c I have to go to the hospital, check in, get a bracelet, go back to L&D, get hooked up to machines, and then sit there all uncomfortable for about an hour. I just brought my hypnobabies affirmations and listened to them the whole time, so it was fairly relaxing. I get to repeat this EVERY Thursday at 10am until babies arrive. FUN! At least Elliot is having fun at school and not being tortured sitting there with me. I'm not sure how we'd manage that one.

I start going to the chiropractor again tomorrow. Pelvis and back are really hurting these days. (Can you tell I'm grumpy and pregnant?) Next week I start trying these things called Moxa sticks near a pressure point to try to get baby B head down. I'll write more about that later....

We're going on one last little vacation this weekend-so I'll be blogging about that when we get back! I can't wait.

Visit

Elliot's Nanny & Poppy came to see her this last week. She had a fun time helping Nanny with various sewing projects. She kept saying, "Watch your fingers!" haha. They made 50 flannel baby wipes!! I figured I might as well wash wipes if I'm going to be washing some diapers. I just can wait to get to use them :-) They are so soft! They also made 2 liners for our diaper pail. They turned out just perfect. Other than that we just kinda hung out. Our driveway got decorated nicely with sidewalk chalk. We went to Bisbee one day. Everyone walked around and I sat my lazy pregnant self in the library! (I can't walk too far these days.)

31 weeks

So, I'm now 31 weeks pregnant. I had an appt. with the doc. today. How 'bout I start with the positives: the babies are doing great. "A's" heartrate was 144 and "B's" was 156. I have gained 4 lbs. in 2 weeks (up to 134 now!) and blood pressure is great. I measure 34 cm, 3 bigger than with a single baby. Every aspect of our health is excellent!! Couldn't ask for anything else in regards to this.

Now, I'll move on to the negative: I pretty much can't stand the doctor! They wanted to do a cervical exam and I told the nurse that I probably wasn't going to do that. So, when the doctor storms in the room the first thing he says he how I do NOT have a choice in the matter! Woah...excuse me? I don't have a choice? Either I say no or you're raping me...so yes, I do believe I have a choice. (Don't worry-I didn't say that to him!) He mentions how I come in every week with something to say and yah, I agree with him. (I'm in tears by this point). I'm not stupid. I have done a lot of research on birth and what is healthy for me and my babies. Apparently most people just do whatever he says. I want to know WHY he wants to do things. He said he'll just write "refuses exam" in my chart. I say GREAT! Seriously, what's so hard about writing that?! As I'm crying, I just try to tell him that he needs to understand that there is nothing I would do to hurt my babies! So very frustrating. I pretty much left there feeling like the most disagreeable patient there ever was (or at least I think that's how they perceive me) and the worst mom ever too. I just pray that the way he treated me today doesn't reflect how he plans to treat me during the birth-this is my greatest fear!

I'm forced to think what it must be like to have a job where everyone just does what you say. I can't imagine if everyday Elliot did everything I said without question. OH my goodness--how nice! But, life isn't like that. And, what if I just got really mad at her everytime she questioned what I told her? All I can say is I'd be one mad person! haha. It's good to be questioned. Makes you have reason for what you're doing, not just habit. I mean, what other profession does everyone do what they're told-simply because they are told? Can't think of one.

*I just went and listened to my hypnobirthing MP3 and am feeling a bit better--it's just encouraging :-) YAH for hypnosis!

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Now for some more explanation on my refusing exams for those of you that care and want to know this stuff. Or, if you (I honestly have no idea who even reads this blog to begin with) think I'm crazy and want to know if I really have valid reasons for my thinking/actions. First, ANY kind of exam can introduce infection into the body. Why risk it? It can also irritate the cervix causing it to dilate, bleed, change, etc. Then, you get to what the recommendations are if I was dilating. According to the doc. he would send me to the hospital for Tributaline (sp?) or bedrest. The only reason (as far as I know) to use the drug Tributaline would be to stop contractions-which I am not having. If I was just dilated a little and not contracting...this wouldn't be beneficial. According to the doctor I can be having contractions and not know it. I feel quite aware of my body. I do have some Braxton Hicks contractions but don't feel they are changing my body in any way. Then, we get to the issue of bedrest. The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) has done research on this and doesn't recognize any benefit to bedrest for stopping cervical dilation. So, if I'm dilating because my body is ready to dilate, then that's just how it's going to be. If I start having contractions that need to be stopped, I'll be the first to go to the hospital to get the med's. I'm not ignorant of the benefits of medical intervention when they are necessary. :-)

1st Day of Preschool

Today was Elliot's first day of preschool! She was so excited. Of course, we had to wake her up for the big day! She usually sleeps till 8:15 or later and school starts at 8:30. Very early day, but we made it on time...much to Wes' surprise! :-)

She ran right into her classroom (past the other kids waiting to get in!) It was so cute. She acted like she owned the place and had never been there before. The teacher asked if she had been to school before. Guess she was quite comfortable. She never even came to tell me bye or give me a kiss. However, it made me feel good that she is such an independent little girl and doesn't have to be attached to Mommy all day. How great that she can go meet new friends.

She was excited to tell me about her day when I picked her up at noon. She actually ate all of her lunch I packed, made a "Q" Queen (as pictured), rode bikes and climbed on the playground, and had Spanish class. I asked what she did in Spanish and she said, "I said 'Swiper no Swiping!'' (From Dora for those of you without kids.) I totally cracked up at that one! haha. Such a silly girl. On the way to the car she said in this very annoyed voice, "You said my teacher was going to read me a book and she didn't read me a book!" Guess I just have to be careful what I tell her is going to happen because she remembers and thinks I'm a liar. oops.

Well, it was just a great day! I'm so proud of our little girl for doing her own thing. I think this will be a really special thing for her to do once the babies are born. Speaking of which, she likes to carry these 2 babies around everywhere in her play double stroller. Lately, they've been going in the car places with us. As she got out to go into school she looked at her babies and said, "I'm going to school now babies!" and gave them kisses. It was so stinkin' sweet. I hope she's like that with her siblings.

New Year Product Review

I have to give you all a little review of one of my new favorite things! We got Elliot 3 happy sacks for Christmas and they are wonderful. I was tired of using plastic baggies for snacks, so we ordered these reusable bags. She's also starting preschool next week and will be able to use them to take her lunch to school.

They have the cutest designs of fabric and snack & sandwich sized bags. If you're tired of throwing away plastic baggies all the time or using other plastic products, you really should check into getting some HAPPY SACKS (just follow the link). You can even wash them in the washer/dryer, dishwasher, or by hand. How simple is that? They seem really well-made and the velcro fastener is really secure.