Third trimester... week 28!

I'm officially starting my third trimester this week! Can't believe how fast time flies.

I had my week 28 ultrasound scan at the perinatal clinic today. Everything is looking great. The babies are growing as they should, and even a little more ahead than a singleton. Baby Boy was breeched today, weighing 2 lb 9 oz. today. Heartbeat rate was a strong 161 bpm. Baby Girl was actually head down, weighing above average at 2lb 13 oz. and heartbeat was also normal at 153 bpm.

After a thorough check, the perinatalogist confirmed that everything is looking great so far. Best part of the visit was this amazing shot of our Baby Girl's face today.

Unfortunately, Baby Boy was turned towards my back (again) and so we were not able to get any shots of him :( He's a stubborn one!

Our next appointment will be in 4 weeks... I will be 32 weeks then, which is so hard to imagine! In the meantime, the belly is growing, and growing fast!

Week 24 scan

Yesterday marked Week 24 of the pregnancy and I'm happy to report that everything is going well with our little ones. Baby Boy is still a boy (the tech confirmed it) and Baby Girl is still a girl. Baby Boy weighs 1lb 7 oz. and Baby Girl is 1lb 6 oz... both right on target. The anatomies look great and they are both developing well. Both had switched positions on us again... Baby Boy is now breached and Baby Girl is transverse towards the back.

We caught some glimpses of Baby Girl sucking a thumb (or some other finger) and got some good profile shots of her. Way too cute.

We didn't get too many good pictures of Baby Boy. He was wiggly as always, but the main reason we couldn't get a profile shot of him was he had his back turned to the ultrasound wand and he was facing his sister! (Awww, right?)

Both babies are positioned next to each other, heads facing each other:

So thankfully all is well. I do want to share about my somewhat interesting ultrasound session. About 1/3rd of the way into the scans, I started feeling really hot and sweaty, and all of a sudden my eyesight blurred and I couldn't see the screen in front of me any longer. Then when I heard ringing in my ears, I figured that I was about to black out. The ultrasound technician was great, she quickly jumped up to grab a wet towel and raised the chair up so that I could sit up.  With DH holding a wet towel to my forehead, they laid me on my sides and did a couple of scans that way, but after every few minutes, I was still feeling very light-headed. They finally called a nurse in to check my blood pressure but it was normal. So they thought it was because I had been laying flat on my back and the weight of the uterus was pushing against a major vein, blocking the blood flow to my heart and back to the brain. My OB came in and said this typically happens to about 20% of pregnant women; some even experience it sooner in their pregnancies. It was kinda scary but I learned my lesson... no more lying on my back!

My next OB visit is in 2 weeks for my glucose testing, and then a 28 week scan in 4 weeks. Can't believe how fast time is flying by!

Week 23

I haven't been posting for the last three weeks, but traveling and work have gotten somewhat in the way. Things are going smoothly so far and I'm feeling pretty good except for some occasional lower back pain and muscle spasms in my legs. But my appetite has grown and I'm feeling pretty energetic so far. Today's OB visit showed that I have gained 6 pounds in two weeks (!!), adding up to 11 total lbs of weight gain since the start of the pregnancy. The weight clearly shows, as you can see in this belly shot.

So far things are progressing normally and the twins are kicking and moving actively. At our OB visit today, they are still lying in odd positions, although there is still lots of time for them to move around and settle down. Our Baby Boy is in a transverse position and Baby Girl is still breached. We now see a new OB (in the same practice) who does an ultrasound at every visit, so it's been wonderful to be able to see the kiddos every two weeks now.

Next week, we will have our 24 week visit at the perinatal clinic. Holy cow, that'd be the six-month mark! Crossing my fingers that things will continue to move in the right direction.

20 week ultrasound: We're having...

Today marks the halfway point in my pregnancy, which calls for a celebration... with a fetal anatomy scan of course. So off we were, bright and early, to the perinatal clinic where I had literally an extremely thorough hour + ultrasound scan. We haven't seen the little babies since week 12, so we were extremely excited to be able to see how much they've developed in there. (Even though as you can clearly see, it's pretty obvious that things are developing out here).

Week 20 belly shot

So as the scan progressed, we learned that everything is going beautifully. Baby A, who is located more on my right, is measuring right at 11 ounces with a heartbeat rate of 155 bpm. Baby B, who is located more on my posterior left, is measuring at 12 ounces with a heartbeat rate of 144 bpm. Both have normal looking brains, hearts, faces, arms, legs, kidneys, stomachs, five fingers and five toes - yes they got that specific about it.

The ultrasound technician asked if we'd like to know the sex of the babies, and we were like, um, YEAH. At the first scan, the babies were a little shy (or stubborn, however you see it), but when she went back to rescan the sexes, they warmed up and decided to show it proud and loud. She identified Baby B first before figuring out Baby A, but allow me to introduce...

Baby A = Baby Boy!

Baby B = Baby Girl!

We are too overjoyed! One of each, which is truly great news to us (of course we'd have been excited with two boys or two girls as well). We were also privy to some in-utero sibling rivalry action today during the ultrasound, where Baby Boy was discovered kicking Baby Girl in the head. He is also the one that I have felt kicking me these past few days on the right. Funny enough, all day long, he has been extremely active and I could feel him wiggling and kicking away. And the best part is, DH got to finally feel him kick tonight!

Our next OB appointment is next week and in 4 weeks time, we get to see our little babies again. I am so grateful that our little family is falling right into place.

Think I felt a kick

While DH is away out of town, I decided to read to the little ones before bedtime. After I had finished reading, I placed my palm on my belly and pressed down gently. I felt an actual KICK! It's hard to describe how it feels... it was almost like the feeling of a bubble popping? Anyway, I pressed down on the same spot again, and the kick came back again. We did this for a couple more times before the twin got tired of this little game, I guess.

Still looking forward to the day when I can actively feel them move. 

19 weeks and counting...

Quick update: we're almost at the halfway mark!! OB visit this morning went well and we heard both babies' heartbeats. In fact, while the OB was scanning for the heartbeats, he said he felt the babies move. I'm still looking forward to actively feeling them move and kick... so far, I do feel little flutters in there but only when I gently press my palm against my belly. My fundal height was measured as normal as well. We also asked about my the results from my last bloodwork (that tested for spina bifida), and the OB said that the results were normal.

So all around good news and good progress, except for the fact that my weight gain is extremely slow (only 1 lb gained from our last visit). This surprises us considering how much I've been trying to pile on the pounds (and clearly, the belly is growing). The OB wasn't too worried, however, but promised that we will monitor my weight. Since I'll be reaching week 20 next week, I have to start going in for OB visits every two weeks.

One more week to our fetal anatomy scan at the perinatal clinic!

16 weeks

Two things to know: 1) the bump is growing and 2) maternity pants ROCK!

We also celebrated reaching our 16 week milestone with DH reading to our babies for the first time. We read Dr. Seuss' "Oh the Places You Will Go!" a book to be read in-utero. DH did a fantastic job and I almost cried from the reading.

Things are going well so far - we really couldn't ask for more.