Royal bedrest

Being on bed rest requires a lot of T.V. watching. This week it’s been nothing but the royal wedding, Say Yes To The Dress, and 16 and Pregnant. All the wedding hype got me reminiscing about my own wedding and how far we’ve come in 13 years.

I remember like it was yesterday, when my husband told me he wanted to start a family. We were at our reception dinner and he leaned over and told me he was ready to start a family if I was ready too. It still gives me butterflies to this day thinking back to that moment. In fact before we left in our limo from the church to our reception, we had my husband’s little nephews and my little brother crying. We asked why they were crying and they said they wanted to ride in the limo too, but were told they couldn’t. I knew at that moment we were going to have a big family, as we invited all the kids to ride in the limo with us. You can imagine the fun we had in the limo with the kids.

It’s incredible to me that we have 5 of the most healthy, happy kids and that our family is complete. Also, that we’re helping another family complete their family too. My husband is the most amazing, supportive man and actually meant every one of his vows to me.

When I went shopping for my wedding dress, Princess Diana’s dress was my inspiration. Well, at least her train. I wanted the longest, beaded dress the store had. The looks I got at the bridal store were of shock. I was getting married in August in Texas, which means HOT! Long story short, I found the perfect dress with the longest train. My dress weighed 30 pounds and it was 115 degrees on our wedding day. I think I’m still sweating from that day. Below is a picture of the back of the dress. It’s not as long as Princess Diana’s, but was long and perfect enough for that day.

27 weeks

       I thought it would be fun to compare being pregnant with twins to being pregnant with one.

   This is me 27 weeks pregnant with my 5th child who just turned 2 yesterday.

                                                   Me again 27 weeks with the twins.

Bedrest

I had my doctor’s appointment today and things didn’t look good. I only have 1.9cm left of my cervix and now I’m on bed rest. That was not the outcome I was hoping for, but I did prepare myself for the worst. I will do anything I have to do so that these babies are born as close to full term as possible. I also have to start a medication to help stop my uterus from contracting.

I’m feeling like a failure today. The one thing I can do and do well is pregnancy. My doctor assured me that I’m right on track for twins and this is all normal. I’m just frustrated that my kids might have to go to daycare. My hope is that I find a great nanny. I’m also frustrated that I probably won’t go to 36 weeks. How do others make it to 36 plus weeks with twins? I don’t get it! Never when I’ve been pregnant have I hit a wall and last week I hit it and hit it hard. My legs and feet are so swollen and full of fluid, so walking or standing is almost impossible without pain.

My goal is still to make it another 7 weeks. That will bring me to 34 weeks and the babies will not have a lot of complications. If they make it longer that would be a bonus. I’m waiting on my FFN test result to come in which will reveal if labor is near. Let’s hope that test is not positive. If it is, I will have to head to the hospital. Please keep the prayers coming.

How I spent my Tuesday

Tuesday I woke up not feeling so well, and then at 9am it hit me and hit me hard. The stomach bug made a grand entrance. It was so bad that my husband had to call into work and play “Mr. Mom.” By about 3:00 in the afternoon, I couldn’t take it anymore. I nearly passed out and thought I was going to drown in my toilet after throwing up blood. Keep in mind that I had nothing to eat or drink at all that day or the night before, so I had no idea how I could keep getting sick. I called my doctor and he told me I had to go to my least favorite hospital, because if I showed signs of labor the other hospital (that I like) would not take me. Against my better judgment I went to that ER. I was seen right away, probably because I couldn’t stop vomiting in the waiting room. They took me back and started an IV and gave me Zofran through the IV. It didn’t work, so they added more. I finally got relief for about an hour, and then the IV fluid started making me sick. My OB came in at that time and told me I was severely dehydrated, and had a very bad UTI. I was shocked. Never in my life have I had a UTI. He said it was common when pregnant and even more with twins.

He then wanted an antibiotic started in my IV along with more Zofran and fluid. I told him I had started contracting and he checked me. My cervix was closed and thick so that was the best news all night. He left to go home and the ER took over. About 20 minutes into the new bag of IV fluids I got sick again. The ER doctor came in, I told him I was still sick and having contractions. He told me that he will give me Phenergan and that I’d be fine. So the nurse gave it to me and then took out my IV. I took a moment to throw up again and they told me it’s time to leave. I was thinking, “what the hell, I’m not better.” But I left, hoping my husband was outside waiting for me and he’s wasn’t. I sent him to the mall to pick up a birthday present for our daughter who was turning 6 on Wednesday. Even though I’m sick I want her to still have a happy day. That’s what being a mom is about.

So I was in the parking lot drugged up, tired, and I couldn’t stop vomiting. By the time my husband came,  I was throwing up blood again. He raised hell in the ER, and called my doctor. He told me just to go to L&D at the other hospital. I spent the night in L&D contacting every 3 minutes for a minute long. They slowly dripped the IV fluid in my arm with more Zofran and finally got it under control. I made it home just in time for my daughter’s birthday dinner. That was the best feeling to see her so happy, and so happy to see me home from the hospital.

The next morning I was running fever and still contracting, but not as bad or often. I go and see my doctor on Monday and he will run some more tests to see if labor is near. I have a feeling that bed rest is coming and I’m ok with that as long as babies stay in for at least another 8 weeks. Please keep these babies in your prayers that they won’t be in a hurry to get here.

Hanging in there.

We had better news Wednesday. I found out that I don’t have Gestational diabetes, but I’m anemic. I now have to take iron pills daily. Also, I’m still funneling. My cervix is measuring at 3.7 and a week ago it was 4.2. My doctor is still not too concerned because I had so much cervix lining to start with. He did run the fetal test to see if I would be going into labor in the next couple of weeks and that came back negative. That means no hospital for now.

I still have to take it very easy and I go back next week on the 20^th to check my cervix and the babies.

The good and the ok

I had my 24 week checkup yesterday and it was filled with great news and OK news. First, the great news. The babies are getting big, both are measuring at 24 weeks and weighing 1 pound 9 oz. Yea for the boys growing right on target! I gained my 6 pounds for the month like I’m supposed to, and the best news is that both babies are head down! That means no c-section if they stay that way.

A crazy thing happened to me while I was having a sonogram. I started to get very dizzy and nauseous. I told the lady that I had to get up because I was going to get sick. She told me turn on my left side immediately, turned on the fan and brought me the trash can. I just wanted to sit up, but she said no you have to lie on your left side. After a couple of minutes I started to feel better and got to sit up. She told me that because I was on my back for a while the babies were probably sitting a vein that goes to my heart. When that happens it causes women to pass out, and is very common when pregnant with multiples. Yikes! I’m glad I didn’t. From now on they are going to scan me sitting up.

Now, the OK news. The doctor wanted to have an internal Sono done to check my cervix’s lining. The news was not what I wanted to hear. In the past 4 weeks I’ve thinned out or as he called it, “I’m funneling.” My numbers are still very good and he’s not concerned about early labor yet because I’ve never had early labor and have had 5 children with no problems. If you remember 4 weeks ago I was the over achiever with the lining at 5.3 when 4.0 would have been perfect. I was at 4.2 yesterday so still good, but too early to be having any funneling. I go in on Wednesday to have a fetal fibronectin test done. I think that’s what it’s called. It’s a test to see if I will go into labor in the next 2 weeks and also another scan to check for more funneling. If any of them come back positive then the dreaded bed rest will begin, first in the hospital, and then at home. I’m praying that doesn’t happen. I’m hoping all the change happened last week when baby A flipped head down. I also have to abstain from intercourse for a week!

I’m now just hoping and praying that these boys stay put for at least another 10 weeks. The count down has begun.

And suddenly I feel like...

Up until today, I have felt so great, even forgetting that I’m pregnant with twins. Today it hit me; I feel 6 months pregnant with twins. I’m thinking that the babies might have flipped into some strange position. I feel very fat, unattractive, tired, uncomfortable, and I can’t make it up my stairs without having the air sucked out of me. Is it still worth it you ask? YES! I’ve been thinking about my IM and how much she would have loved to feel some of the discomfort that I’m feeling today, but never will. I’m just having a “poopy” day.

When my husband came home, all I could think of was how I would love to take a shower, fix my hair and put on a sexy nightgown. Yes, even pregnant I still want to look sexy for my husband.  It got me thinking again about how Victoria Secret needs to partner with A Pea In The Pod on a sexy PJ line for us pregnant women! Thanks to Reebok, I have a cute workout outfit, Heidi Klum for my “girl’s night out” outfit and Lilly Pulitzer for the cute swimsuit. Now if Victoria Secret could partner up, I’d be one sexy pregnant woman tonight. Instead, I’m going to put on my lounge pants, do my hair, and watch Say Yes To The Dress.