25w0d - Weekly update and bump!!

Last few weeks of the second trimester!  25 weeks today!  60-80% viability!   Woo hoo!   I'm writing this after lunch so you'll have to excuse how short it is.  I feel like I'm going to explode - there isn't room for food in my stomach AND sitting upright at my desk.  What I wouldn't give for my couch right now!!

Babies this week:

• During month six, the average fetus measures about 13.6 inches to 14.8 inches and weighs about 1.5 to 2.5 pounds.
• Baby's enjoying his or her new sense of equilibrium-and now knows which way is up and which is down.
• Baby's growing more fat and more hair too!

x2 !!

24w1d - Ultrasound!!

Had a sonogram in Erie.  It was quite the sonogram.  I almost passed out!!   I was laying on my back, looking up at the TV, and all of sudden started getting super hot and nauseas.   The tech sat me up and I still felt like I was going to faint.  I started dripping sweat and my hands were tingling and my extremities were hard to move.  It was scary.   They say, laying on you back while pregnant cuts off blood to something or other.  I truly think this was a little of that and a little of a panic attack.  I've been feeling anxious a lot lately (with all the cord things).  So I wouldn't be surprised if it was part panic attack.  Anyways, babies looked great....

Baby A Measurements:
Head 24w5d 

Arm 24w1d

Belly 24w3d

Thigh 24w3d

148bpm
Estimated weight: 1lb 10oz

Baby B Measurements:

Head 24w3d

Arm 24w6d

Belly 24w1d

Thigh 24w4d
150bpm
Estimated weight: 1lb 8oz

Baby girl throwing the peace sign!

Our baby girl.

Our baby boy.

24w0d - Weekly update!!

VIABILITY!!!

We made it!!!   The babies now have a 50% chance of surviving if born today.   Not great odds yet, but every day they are in the womb it increases.   98 days until a 38 week c-section at the latest!!!  :)

Viability chart

Babies this week:

• Your 10.5-to-11.8-inch fetus weighs about 12.7 to 20.8 ounces, and every week baby gets closer and closer to being ready to survive (and thrive!) in the outside world.
• Baby's see-through skin is gradually becoming more opaque.
• And baby's got a new pink glow, thanks to the small capillaries that have recently formed.
• Your babies’ lungs are developing “branches” of the respiratory “tree” as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that helps air sacs inflate easily.
• Your babies’ taste buds are developing now.

Every 4 weeks BabyCenter has another twin diagram, look how big the twins are inside of me!!!

23w6d - MFM update

Mike and I went to Pittsburgh this past Friday to check on Baby B's (our boy) velamentous cord insertion issue.  The sono tech there, too, had the HARDEST time finding either baby's cord insertion.  After almost 30 minutes of combined cord insertion finding time, Macgee's hospital concluded that Baby B's cord is normal (not marginal, nor VCI) and that Baby's A's cord is actually marginal (attached to the side of the placenta instead of the middle, but not as bad as VCI) and that her cord is super close to my cervix (this is the bad part).   We go back to Pittsburgh on Wednesday, August 3 (about 3 weeks from the first visit) to check things out again and hopefully get a better look (though as the babies get bigger, finding cord insertions gets harder).

Needless to say, one of the sono techs was completely wrong.  VCI doesn't resolve itself.  So either the Erie sono tech was completely wrong or the Pittsburgh sono tech was completely wrong.  I mean, I'd like to side with the Pittsburgh tech since that puts Baby B in a much safer place, however, I saw with my own eyes the sonogram on the TV while the Erie sonographer was doing it.  It clearly looked like a VCI.  So who knows.  I just got to keep believing my babies will be safe in my arms one day.

The babies' stats at 23.5 weeks:

Baby A
HR 153bpm
Head 23w4d-23w6d
Belly 23w3d
Head trace 24w0d
1lb 5oz (27th % percentile)

Baby B
HR 140bpm
Head 23w1d to 24w0d
Head trace 23w6d
Belly 23w6d
1lb 7oz (42nd % percentile)

23w0d - Weekly update and nursery started!!

One more week until viability!!   Counting down the days!  :)   105 days to go to a 38 week csection!  Thought with the VCI found on baby boy's cord, they may want them out sooner than that!   Our high-res sono is for this Friday at 10:20 at Macgee's Women's Hospital in Pittsburgh.  We then meet with an MFM afterwards to discuss a plan.  Eager to hear how how they will monitor our babies to ensure their safety!!!

We started the twins' nursery this past weekend.  Mike painted the blue walls a shade of grey (Valspar Filtered Shade).  He also started tearing up the carpet and we were pleasantly surprised with such beautiful hardwood underneath!   We were originally going to get wall to wall replacement carpet, but now we are going to get an area rug (using the same stuff we picked out for the wall to wall).  Here's a few pics of the transition....

Walls still blue

Nana and Victor painting

Grey walls and surprise hardwood!

Also, here is how I plan to lay out the babies' room.  A few of my favorite options...

 

Babies this week:

• At about 10.5 to 11.8 inches and about 12.7 to 20.8 ounces, baby's not just getting bigger, he or she's getting even cuter.  
• Baby's forming little nipples (yeah, really!)
• Baby's face is fully formed now-he or she just needs a little extra fat to fill it out.
• Baby's listening to your voice and your heartbeat-and even to loud sounds like cars honking and dogs barking.

Times 2:

 Times 2:

22w2d - Ice!

So I recently found out that I'm slightly anemic.  I will be upping my iron and vitamin C intake.  My friend at work pointed out that I have been chewing on ice - A LOT - lately and that is actually a sign of anemia.  I found this on the interwebz:

"Iron deficiency anemia may cause a person to crave ice. Pica is disorder in which people crave and eat non-food items or items with no nutritional value, such as dirt, paper or ice. A common symptom of iron deficiency anemia is pica, and specifically, the strong urge to eat ice."  

Haha!  At least I'm not eating dirt or paper.... yet.  ;)

22w0d - Weekly update!!

Holy braxton hicks.   Sitting at work today and my whole uterus feels tight.   I cannot wait to get home and lay on the couch!  lol

Babies this week:

• During month five, the average fetus measures about 10.5 to 11.8 inches and weighs about 12.7 to 20.8 ounces.
• Now that baby's got more developed eyes and lips, he or she's looking even more like a newborn.
• Baby's sleeping in cycles-about 12 to 14 hours per day (hint: they're probably those times you're not feeling any kicks!).

Times two:  

The finish line is in site....