Long weekend almost over

Kevin has been off of work since last Tuesday so I have been very spoiled having him around. He was kept busy with basketball practices/games, errands, house chores, taking care of his favorite patient, and of course shoveling snow, but it has been nice to have him around so much. It will be so strange to wake up early tomorrow and return to our normal weekday schedule. Note -- I am sure the adjustment of returning to a normal workday will be much harder on him than me, but that is just a guess on my part.

Overall the weekend was great. My new found freedom allowing me trips up and down our stairs resulted in dinner in our dining room both Saturday and Sunday nights as well as time spent on the couch in our living room enjoying a change of scenery and the opportunity to refill my own cup of decaf coffee. We had a nice Valentine's day yesterday despite the fact that my surprise gift for Kevin was delayed in its arrival due to the snowstorm. My father helped with my purchase of cards for Kevin from both me and the cats. It is a little strange asking your father to pick out a Valentine's day cards for your husband, but mine did a great job with his selections. I was treated to flowers, chocolate, and a scrumptious dinner of steak, asparagus, cheesy potatoes, shrimp cocktail, and caesar salad which was divine. Chef Kevin has done it again!

On a final note, here is a photo my 24 week bump for all to admire.

BR day 18
24wks3dy

Good news from the ultrasound!

Today I had my first ultrasound since bed rest has begun. The babies are looking good - Baby A weighs 1 lb 8 oz and Baby B weighs 1 lb 4 oz currently. The technician pointed out where each baby was hanging out so hopefully I will be able to differentiate between the punches/kicks I've been feeling and tell who's who in there. The best part was when the doctor came in to measure my cervix and he was very happy with its overall length. There was no sign of shortening or opening at all! He looked back at the pictures from my ultrasound two weeks ago and decided that I must have had a contraction while they were measuring the cervical length which led to the shortening they'd detected. Since I was having contractions quite frequently on that day due to the fact I was dehydrated, it is no surprise. That being said, based on today's results, the doctor felt that my restricted bed rest could be a lot less restrictive and that I can go up and down the stairs a few times a day! He didn't think going back to work was a good idea because of how much time I spend on my feet in my lab, but overall he was very encouraged and did not think I was at a high risk of going into labor anytime soon. :-)

We are both very happy with today's news and the fact that I will be able to be a little more independent at home. We celebrated by going out to breakfast after the appointment (suggested by the doctor!). Basically we will return in two weeks for another ultrasound and see if there is any change with my increased activity and go from there. I still need to take it easy and keep off my feet as much as I can to keep the weight of my growing babies off my cervix and prevent too many contractions.

In other news, we did get hit with another whopping snow storm on Wednesday. The snow drifts around our house are ridiculous and I am really happy to not be making the trek down the hill each morning to my train stop. Kevin had two snow days this week and is off today and Monday for President's weekend so he is getting a surprise winter vacation. Granted I am not sure he would describe being home as vacation with the added duties of taking care of me, our house, the cats, and doing all this shoveling, but I am certainly happy having him around more.

Thanks to all of you for your positive thoughts and prayers. They definitely helped!!!

BR day 15
24wks

No snow yet . . .

I really hope it ends up not being true, but they are calling for the Philly area to get 1-2 more feet of snow tonight and through out tomorrow. The good is that Kevin will likely not have school and be home with me all day tomorrow. The bad is that it means there will be another whole round of shoveling for him. We didn't even have time to think about buying a snow blower in between these two storms. Crazy.

My cell phone died suddenly on Sunday night. It is so annoying how these phones just stop working on you with no warning. We do not have a home phone line at our house so I have had to take over Kevin's cell until he has time to go and get me a new one from the store. (For those of you who know my husband well, this is a huge sacrifice for him!) We didn't think it was safe for me to be home without any way to get help in case of an emergency. He has had busy afternoons/nights yesterday and today with vet and doctors appointments and basketball games so there has been no time yet to get to the store. So if I have not called you back, I apologize. When it rains, it pours, I guess.

I heard today that a friend of mine who is 8 months pregnant got into a car accident early this week due to the snow/ice. Thank God both she and her baby are fine. We emailed back and forth today and I told her that really bed rest is the way to go. It is much safer to just stay in bed. :-) I had an OB check up yesterday and everybody is doing just fine. The doctor told us that we should focus on making it past the 28 week milestone as twins born after that point (though requiring a lengthy NICU stay) usually do just as well in the long run as twins born closer to full term. It was great to hear that. I still plan to keep my bum in this bed for much longer than 28 weeks, but it is nice to know that I have a milestone that it is not as far away to strive for. Makes it all seem a little more manageable when it is just over 4 weeks away.

BR day12
23wks4dys

Lazy weekend with lots of snow

We got hit with the second big snowstorm this winter on Friday/Saturday. Due to my pregnancy, I wasn't able to help with the shoveling with either storm so Kevin had his hands full literally cleaning up our driveway again. I think it is more and more likely a snow blower is in our future if these winter storms keep coming. As you can see from the photos, our driveway is long and there was a lot of snow. I don't know exactly how much we got, my dad got over 18 inches in NJ, but we were probably closer to a foot here in PA (correction: according to the paper we got over 20 inches!). Unlike my husband who also spent a good portion of today cleaning our entire house, I had quite a lazy weekend in my bedridden state. He continues to be quite a super-trooper taking care of me and keeps surprising me with delicious meals. Tonight, we plan to have a Super Bowl inspired appetizer feast which my dad kindly picked up for us from Wegmans' appetizer bar on his way over for a visit along with my brother. It is a shame that I am not allowed down the stairs as we have such a nice big flat screen TV in our living room that the game and commercials would look great on, but alas, we will make do.

I am doing fine. Not much new to report in my world. We will know more this week after our next ultrasound (Friday) which will tell us if my reduced activity is helping keep my cervix from shortening. Thanks for all the emails and phone calls. It is great to know that everyone is thinking of me and saying prayers for the babies/me. It means a lot. Thanks.

BR day 10
23wks2dys

One week down, 11+ weeks to go!

Today is bedrest day 7. One week down. I am thinking of it as a milestone and not thinking about the many weeks/hurdles still to come. It hasn't been so bad so far. Breakfast in bed every day is definitely pretty cool. In normal times, I always get out of bed before my husband does so I've never had breakfast in bed prepared by him before. Not because he wouldn't have done it, just that I am WAY too impatient to wait for him to wake up and get out of bed first - I usually want that cup of coffee way too much.

Coffee, who drinks that now? On bed rest, my special drinks are just any thing other than water. Something on ice is a big deal as most of the day I am refilling my water bottle with the room temperature brita pitcher at my bedside. At least no one can accuse me of being a bear before that first cup of caffeinated coffee anymore. (Though I make no promises that once pregnancy and breast feeding are in my past that I will not be immediately returning to my old favorite friend!)

Yesterday was my first rough day. My internet got messed up and thus was unable to go on line for a good part of the day. All that needed to be done was resetting the modem downstairs, but since I am stuck upstairs, I had to wait for someone to come do it for me which ended up being dinner time when my husband made it home. I guess I am not as able to roll with punches right now as I normally am and am pretty dependent on my lap top for my outside communications and entertainment. Luckily I had my book, was able to find an entertaining movie on HBO, and the opportunity to take multiple naps. But overall it was a rough day for more reasons than just the lack of internet, but I think I am entitled to a bad day once in awhile - who isn't, right?

So sorry for no blog update yesterday - no one would have enjoyed negative depressed me. Today is a much better day and my room is full of sunshine. Both cats were on my bed at the same time which does not happen often. It only lasted a few minutes and now I've been abandoned by both -- likely for an even sunnier spot in what will be our babies' room which gets the most am sun. I am looking forward to my Potbellies lunch and a visit from a friend. I hope she does not mind my rumpled hair and PJ bottom attire.

Do me a favor and someone try to leave a comment. I have heard that my settings weren't allowing it, but I think I have rectified the problem. I don't expect daily comments on my witty prose, but am just curious if it is even an option.

Also, attached are a couple 3D face shots of the babies from our ultrasound last week. The resolution does not scan well, but I think you can still see both of their faces pretty clear. Baby A has one of his/her arms in front of his/her mouth. YAY!


BR day 7
22wks6dy

Cute kitten shots - watch out!!!

I forwarded the link to my blog out to some of my family and friends last night so that everyone could track my progress and read about all of my adventures. Multiple people emailed with suggestions of things I could write about (book/movie reviews, posting photos taken from my bedside) and a few others emailed to make fun of my entire paragraph on reworking my to-do list. My husband got a good chuckle while reading it last night and thanked me for providing him with such comedy. I guess I deserved that. Oh well. I make no promises for this content. Read at your own risk.

Above are a couple shots of our kitten. The first was taken last week while I was getting ready for work (obviously BBR - before bed rest) and was not the first time she had curled up in the sink like it was a comfy pillow. The second was taken this weekend when she returned from the vet after getting spayed. The plastic cone is supposed to prevent her from licking her incision and she doesn't seem to mind it as much as the picture would imply. Looks pretty ridiculous to me.

I had a pretty busy day for being on bed rest. I had a lunch time visit from my sister-in-law and niece/goddaughter. I tried to take some cute photos of the baby and me, but the shots of me were not so cute and thus will not be making the blog. We returned to the doctor this afternoon for what was a rather uneventful visit. The doctor said to continue doing what I am doing so I guess that is a good report. We heard the twins' two distinct heartbeats which is always wonderful. It was nice to go outside for the first time since Thursday and to put on jeans and shoes, but to be honest I kinda missed the security/safety of my bed and got a little freaked out so I didn't enjoy my adventure as much as I could have. I will try to do a better job next week to be in a better mind frame.

Other than that, not much to report. I signed up for netflix so feel free to email me lists of movies and TV shows to put on my queue. I was sad to see the oscar nominations this morning as it was a reminder that I won't be able to watch as many of the oscar movies as I usually do before Oscar Night. If only I had the stamina to ride Septa and get all the pirated DVDs from the guys with the duffle bags in west Philly . . .

BR day 5
22wks 4dys

My return to daytime television

I discovered today that I still know the names of most of the characters on General Hospital despite not watching the show since I went to college in 1996. My mother got me hooked at a pretty young age as she was often able to watch due to her schedule as a teacher. When she was not home for the 3pm airing, she would tape the episodes and we would watch them together at night. Even my dad knew some of the story lines. Anyway, religiously watching a soap opera was not the cool thing to do at Colby College and usually conflicted with one of my labs or crew practice so I gave it up. Today I watched my first full episode in quite some time and though I have a few years of story lines to catch up on, I am excited to be back on the wagon.

I think establishing some sort of routine of activities will be good for me, keeping me occupied and feeling positive. Still working out the kinks of my said routine but will include morning TV talk shows (gotta love Regis and Kelly!), knitting, reading, entertaining myself on the internet, napping, General Hospital, and accomplishing some sort of important task on my "to do" list so that I don't feel like a complete lazy bum. Today's important accomplishment was reworking my "to do" list. I had quite a ridiculous list that I have been carrying around for the past few weeks which included all the things my husband and I wanted to accomplish before the arrival of our twins. Some of things can still be handled with on line purchases and phone calls and all of the other things have just been re-prioritized to non-essential or can wait until after bedrest is over and the babies arrive. In some ways, it is refreshing to have so much less to focus on and I can use all of my energy focusing on my babies and keeping them safe. I have always been one to take on too much ending up stressed, grouchy, and miserable (for example - planning my wedding in Philadelphia while living in Chicago and trying to graduate with my PhD). Perhaps this is my body finally taking a stand!

So in short, I am feeling good and plan to ride this wave of positivity for as long as I can. We got to the doctor tomorrow so I will be able to get an update. I did finally feel both babies kick today (something I have been waiting weeks for) so really, it is a good day.

BR day 4
22wk 3dys