Oi! I gotta case of the sciatica

Yesterday the first really bad pregnancy symptom hit me. I was at work, and could feel my leg tingling...then it started to cramp. I tried to get up and walk it off but it just seemed to get worse and worse. The pain also started to radiate up my back and I feared it was my kidney saying hello. By the time I got home it hurt to walk and no matter how I sat/laid the pain would not go away. Jason pulled out the book and apparently...this is Sciatica. Sciatica is caused by pressure on your sciatic nerve. The pressure I have is either from Baby A's head being right on top of it, or my uterus pushing against it. There's really nothing you can do except get a support belt and do exercises. Today at work, I'm pacing around the office holding my hip. I feel like I look like a stereotypical pregnant lady, shuffling grabing my back with a slight pained look on my face. I miss my advil.

21 Week Doctors Visit

AHHHHHHHH  what a scary picture!  This is our son yawning but it also looks like the character from the movie Scream...Boo!

******

Got back from the doctors office today and everything is going along perfectly.  We got to see the babies, which is always the highlight of these doctor's visits.  Baby A is still a boy and Baby B is still a girl.  

Now for the stats...

Baby A is weighing in at 1 pound exactly and is now in a head down position.  So his head is right next to my bladder (explains all the late-night bathroom trips) and his body swings from straight up and down on my right side to straight across my lower abdomen.  He's quite the little show off and loves to have his picture taken.  We even got a smile out of him for one of the pictures.  I got to see a close up picture of his foot and it looks exactly like his daddy's foot.  I mean you think a foot's a foot but then when I saw it, I gasped and said, That's Jason's foot! Flat and broad with no arches.

Baby B is 14 oz and she is living up in my rib cage.  She is still laying in the transverse position (horizontal) and her head is on my left hand side.  I haven't been feeling her kicks as strong as her brother's because her placenta is at the top of my uterus, so it's cushioning all of her blows. I got to see her foot too, and it looked a little like mine, it was thin and long and had a really high arch.  She was quite camera shy today and would only allow a few glimpses of her face.  She kept putting her hands over her face and then turned over towards my spine, then refused to turn back over to have her picture taken.  Hopefully she won't be one of those babies that refuses to leave the house without her makeup on, but it looks like we're headed that way.  

Placentas are a good size and in the right places, and my belly is measuring 22.5 weeks along.  Doctor told me to go buy some Pepcid to help chill out my heartburn since the Tums I chew on a daily basis is probably not the best thing for my kidneys.  

Profile of our little boys face with a hint of a smile, probably because he just kicked my bladder

This is Baby A's thigh, leg and foot.  This innocent looking foot is what kicks the ever loving crud out of my insides.  My favorite is when this little man kicks with a 1-2 kick that actually shakes my stomach.  Jason loves to encourage him to "kick harder" to build up those muscles for all the future sports I'm sure he'll be involved in.

Make sure to tell our son when he gets older (perhaps when he's leaving for prom etc.) that you "remember when" you got to see the first pictures of his private parts on the internet.  During our last ultrasound the radiologist was pretty sure that Baby A was a boy, but said there is always a small chance that they are wrong at 17 weeks.  Well this time it was definitely a fact that he is a little man with little man parts.  This picture is looking up from the bottom of him through his legs (butt on the left, legs making a "less than" sign < ). 

This picture just assured us that Baby B is a girl.  The horizontal white lines are the definitive sign of little girl parts.  Oh, make sure to tell her too that you saw her labia in utero.  She'll love it, especially around age 15, when she's having a slumber party.

Profile of my little shy ones face, about the only shot we could get before she rolled over.

Videos:

Baby A in weird 3D ultrasound imaging.  Cute little face and he looks a bit like daddy, if you take your hands and squish daddy's face a little here and there...

Baby A in regular ultrasound.  He was a little grumpy here, in order to get a good picture of my cervix, the u/s tech had to push and push on him to get him to move.  He didn't like that so much.

And...here's Baby B's only good video of her wiggling around.  The thin white line that hovers above her face is the edge of the membrane sack that seperates her from her brother.  It kept falling on her face and she kept pushing it out of the way, I'm hoping she will move out from underneath my rib cage and find more comfortable conditions soon.

Every new parents' rant

Remember when you first got engaged and you started thinking about your wedding (if you haven't done this yet, just consider it a forewarning)...you think...why all the bridezillas, how hard could it be? Cake, dress, invitation, food, flowers...I'm done! Then, a few months later, reality hits and you consider eloping and grow angry at the industry.
Sorry to say, same goes for first time moms. How hard could it be? Cribs, bottles, clothes, carseat and stroller, I'm a mom! Well, unfortunately, the "industry" has got a hold of this miracle too. There are SO many items out there, that while not necessary, they seem to make life easier and nicer. Champions of this are BabiesRUs, who provide weak in the knees new mom's with a "New Parent's Checklist". This list almost runs to the floor and top introduction states, all the things a new parent like you needs. Notice that word "needs", subconsciously they are telling you that if you do not get a humidifier especially for the babies room, you are withholding a need, and your kid may die.
I have definitely fallen for this trap and have registered/planned to buy all of these baby needs. I plan on keeping most of them in their boxes, because luckily, almost everything is returnable and most kids don't know the difference between a 50 dollar toy and a free one.

Half way there! Sort of

I'm 20 weeks today, and if I only had one bun in the oven I would be 50% through my pregnancy.  However, when you have twins, full term is 37 weeks instead of 40 weeks.  So technically I am 54% through my pregnancy.  Nothing much to report except one of the little miracles is bouncing up and down on my cervix like a fleshy trampoline.  Not really that comfortable.  

I keep having people say, wow you're really big for 20 weeks, then when I say "it's twins" they're like....oh! thats why.  So I found a picture of another 20 week pregnant chick on the internet who is only having one.

ummm  ok fine I see their point!!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We painted the nursery this past weekend and also purchased their cribs.  However, when we went to go pick them up, they were freakishly large boxes, so we had to leave them until we borrow a pick-up truck this weekend to bring them home.  

According to the 3D pregnancy picture maker, this is what my babies look like...sooooo i will be giving birth to Smeagol and Gollum in the upcoming months. yah.

Beginning the new shopping process

So I bought my first pair of "Maternity Jeans" last night. They look like normal jeans but they have a small secret. There is no zipper nor any button. There is just a big fat elastic band that holds your pants up on your belly. I bought the kind in which the band can be brought up over your belly, or tucked underneath. Right now I'm sticking to the underneath method, but I may switch to over-belly later on to help hold in my ever-growing belly. They're actually pretty cute and I'm relieved to find out they don't look like something from the early '90s.

My body is a playground

Round Ligament pain is caused by this little ligament that stretches from the bottom of your uterus to the top of it. As you can see from the diagram above, your uterus stretches a lot during pregnancy. I can feel the top of my uterus above my belly button, so even though I'm 5 months along, my uterus has probably stretched all the way to 6 or 7 months by now to accomidate the dual roommate situation. It's a tad uncomfortable when you move from side to side, I just keep imagining this little ligament is going to snap like a rubber band one day. When it stretches a little too far it feels like a little knife jabbing the side of your uterus, but the pain is over in less than 2 seconds...very weird.
In another freakshow, my symphysis pubis (see diagram above) is starting to seperate. I can feel it move and when I push on it, it's a little tender. I always thought my hips were wide enough for any type of childbirth, but my body begs to differ and wants there to be a little more room in there. I wish I could take an x-ray to see just how much it is seperating but, I don't want to microwave the little ones either.

19 weeks

Belly belly bo-belly...It's growing, pretty soon I'm going to need a support belt or something.  My back is arched all the time now trying to support the weight out front.  I'm lovin' it though.  Jason finally got to feel a kick the other night.  The little ones are getting some pretty developed muscles and aren't afraid to show them off.

Finding Crib Bedding

Deciding upon which crib bedding you want is an important step in the design of the future babies' room. It will set the tone for decor and wall color etc. Unfortunately, the designers of these patterns are the drop outs from fashion school. Trying to find a decent crib set is near impossible. Most of them are just way over the top and I fear it may break one of my babies into epileptic fits if they had to stare at it too long.
Luckily Jason and I have seemed to weed through the mess and find two that don't match but compliment each other very nice. I'll put up pics of the sets when we think we've settled upon them (we're not looking for unsolicited opinions just yet), but for now I'm going to give you a glimpse into the horror of what's out there...

Patchwork Designs

It's called "Chocolate Heaven", more like patchwork hell...

Themed

Giddy up little baby, I like the idea of putting a cactus right next to the crib! That'll keep them in there...

Animal designs

Warning...do not look directly into the sheets...

Registering... times two

This past weekend, Jason, the grandmom's and I went on a baby registry adventure.  We chose Babies R Us because it seemed to make the most sense...even though I think it should be called Babies R We, but I shall let grammar pass for now.  For those of you who have gotten married, you may think registering was one of the best parts of the engagement.  Well, the rules change a bit when you register for your baby.  Why?  Because marketing geniuses out there have found ways to convince new mommies-to-be that if you chose the wrong product it will ultimately lead to the untimely death of your child.  Chose this carseat... if you only want your baby to live for 2 weeks, buy this bottle... if you want your child to starve to death.  The choices are numerous and overwhelming, but we did our best.  

Jason and I trying to figure out how the hell this thing worked...

Me & the grandmoms after a long day of shopping

In other news, I went up to College Station to celebrate my friend Tiffany's wedding.  It was the first time that I got to see a large group of my friends, since announcing the pregnancy and I had a blast.  I loved the fact that everyone wanted to rub my belly and that our children are going to be surrounded by so much love from so many people we love too.

The gals with the bride

We don't have another doctors appointment for about a month, but I've heard that I'm going to be amazed at how much they change, in only 4 weeks...can't wait!

So...do you want to know?

Everything is OK!!!

No abnormalities, screens came back negative, body sizes and anatomy are all correct...things are coming along perfectly.  I was relieved to see them both have 4 chambered hearts, I didn't want to be giving birth to lizards.  The ultrasound was a lot of fun today, especially watching the two of them kick the crap out of each other.  Looks like they already enjoy each other's company...OK! so let's have a rundown....

____________________________________________________________

BABY A

From the side, the nose is just under and to the left of the P in Profile

Creepy 3D picture...kinda looks human?  Face is looking to the right, you can see the little nose, lips and eye socket.  The hand and arm are touching the cheek.  The long column on the right is just uterus stuff.

Click Play to watch video of A sucking is thumb (may take a sec to load)

Baby A is my quiet one, only kicks a little here and there, always calm on ultrasound day.  The heartbeat is going steady at 146 bpm.  The size is 7oz and is residing on my right side in a breech position (feet are towards the ground) and no it doesn't mean that it will stay this way, that's just how it is for now.  Placenta is attached on the back wall of my uterus....and drum roll please Baby A is a boy!  You could see his little parts and everything...and I do mean little, apparently his package is the size of a pencil eraser right now. Now that's cute.  This poor little one got the hiccups halfway through the ultrasound.  It was very adorable to watch him jolt up and down, but I did want to give him a thimble of water or something to make it stop.  

____________________________________________________ 

Baby B

From the side, little blurry, that's the nose directly under the IL in PROFILE

very creepy 3D picture. I think it looks kind of like a lemur.  It's sort of like those puzzles you have to cross your eyes at to see correctly.  There is a long tube in the middle there, and thats the arm and hand covering up the face which is to the right of the long tube.  Do you kind of see it??  It took me a while...but the radiologists assured me that it was not a panda cub.

Click to watch video of Baby B

Baby B is always the more active one.  Always dancing and moving for the camera and kicking my insides on a regular basis.  Weight is 6.8oz and heartrate is 141 bpm and the placenta is attached on the front wall of my uterus.  Baby B is in a transverse position with the feet pointing towards my spine and the head near my belly button.  So A & B essentially make a T in my belly.  In keeping with the symmetry of life Baby B is most definitely a girl.  So very exciting I get to have the best of both worlds all at the same time.  She's sitting right on top of my aorta and just bounces up and down all day (watch the video, the up and down movement is being caused by my artery which is at the bottom middle left of the screen, just under her neck).  Apparently she's the one that has been giving my heart such nice palpitations.  It will make decorating exciting b/c I never wanted all pink or all blue anyway.  I can't wait to watch these two grow up and take care of each other.

Well that's the low down, Saturday we go to Babies R Us to begin registering for things.  It's going to be lots of fun.

Do you know how hard it is to work today??!!?? Extremely hard. I'm just watching the clock tick waiting for tomorrow when we find out the sex of the babies. I think tomorrow may be even more painful because I will be at work until my appointment at 1pm. It will be the longest morning ever.

16.5 weeks

Yep...gettin bigger.  It's becoming more and more difficult to hide this belly at work.  This is my belly in "relaxed form" but when I walk around the office I have to suck it in and hunch a little.  Luckily, I spend most of my time sitting down at my desk, so I would say only 4-5 people a day actually see me walking around.  Tomorrow I have to wear a suit, which is always nice because I can hide the gut under the jacket and not walk like I'm holding my breath.  

Can't wait to finally tell my new boss (who I'm meeting for the first time tomorrow, I haven't told anyone at work yet b/c she deserves to be the first to know, and the only one who's business it is anyway) about the buns in the oven.  Then I can let it all hang loose.

Creepy yet cool

Fact of the moment:

At 16 and a half weeks, the fetus inside of you is developing the inner workings of their sex organs. So, if one or both of my babies in there is a girl, millions of eggs are forming right now....MEANING...at this moment I could be carrying my children and my future grandchildren all at the same time, in my belly. creepy...yet cool



By the way: This will be in Bailey's very immediate future.......

Take Note People

Saw this on a T-shirt, I thought it was perfect. You know, people say the dumbest things to pregnant women, I don't think they realize that we have so many hormones raging through us that we could take their head off with our bare hands, throw the head across the room and sit down to finish our lunch.

Top 5 Things NOT to say to a woman expecting twins:

5. Oh no, how are you going to do it?

4. Uh oh, Double Trouble!!!

3. Well, better you than me...

2. So are they natural?

1. Ohhhh, twins, no wonder you're so BIG

I would also like to add "oh well, my friend's- brother's- uncle's- wife's- step daughter had twins, and she almost went crazy, she never slept, showered, ate...it was awful"

Needed: hemaglobin and a personal shopper

Doctor called with blood results. For those of you wondering, I am HIV and hepatitis negative (whew j/k) but unfortunately I am "severely anemic". The fact that I can't get up a flight of stairs without huffing and puffing like it was the last leg of a marathon, was the first clue. Luckily, it's an easy fix. I have to take Iron supplements. SlowFe to be specific. Hopefully there won't be too many side effects, but so far the only one I've heard is that it makes your toilet business turn green. eww.


In other news, Jason and I went to Babies R Us today for the first time. Things were going well, and then I got to the baby bottle wall.  I started breaking out into a cold sweat because, good lord, do you know how many types of bottles and baby bottle nipples there are out there! I mean, this wall went to the ceiling and ran along the whole front of the store. I have never felt so lost and so terrified regarding an inanimate object. I'm the first to admit that I'm slowly learning about all this baby stuff but I don't like this feeling of being so utterly stupid and uneducated.  I only have two other friends my age that have had babies in the past 2 years, so I don't have a large pool of help to draw from.  But I think I'll start there.  To all my friends who have yet to have babies, I promise that when its your time, I will provide you with a detailed and  itemized list, complete with pros and cons of all these products. This stuff is too overwhelming to dive in blindly.

Wiggle and Squirm

Ya they're moving in there. I feel it more at night when I'm laying down on that respective side. Alpha finally said what's up last night when I was laying on my right side. It was nice to feel the little one move for the first time.

Here's a video of a fetus at 15 weeks (I'm 15.5 weeks) taken with a 3D ultrasound. It shows that they wiggle and squirm A LOT, which I completely believe now that it feels like I have two angry buzzing bees under my stomach. Hopefully they will give us a video on Feb. 7th when we go for our next picture session.

Fluttering from Baby B

So I am 15 weeks 1 day today and I have been feeling the weirdest thing. Over on Bravo's side there is this fluttering that keeps happening. I would love to think that it is the baby moving and maybe it is! But I also wonder if it is just some food that didn't agree with me and I'll know exactly what all that fluttering was about soon enough. But for now, I will believe that it is my little active one moving around. I would be more confident if I felt it on the other side too...but Alpha is probably sleeping as usual...

14 and a half weeks

Sorry I'm late posting!!! (PS)...

Yes I realize it's out of focus...blame Jason, my camera's too fancy for him.  Not much to update in baby land.  I'm slowly getting bigger...none of my pants fit me.  I had to take 6 pairs of pants to a tailor last week to get them to move the buttons so I can wear slacks at work.  For my jeans, I just hook a pony tail holder around the button and loop it through the hole and back.  It works!  I also started my new job this week, which is such a change.  I don't have to stand most of the day, and having a life outside of work is not only normal, but encouraged.  I haven't told anyone yet about the babies, but I will have to soon.  The belly is starting to peek through my loose fitting shirts.

Still waiting around biting my nails until Feb. 7th.  That's when we find out the sex of the babies and also figure out if there are any major physical abnormalities (like if one of them has a third arm coming out of its head), but I'm concentrating more on the girls/boys/both part of it all.  

I haven't felt any movement yet, which I really wish I could.  It would put my mind at ease.  I thought I felt something the other night, but it was probably the mexican food.  

What I have been feeling is something called "Round Ligament Pain".  It basically feels like a hernia.  If you change positions too quick, or stand up too fast, you get this sharp stabbing (crippling) pain that shoots down the sides of your stomach.  It's not very fun, but hey, a lot of stuff is growing and stretching out down there.

I need to start making lists of what equipment we're going to need when the babies get here, but I have no idea where to start.  I don't want to be an eager beaver when it comes to all things baby.

Animals know

So I've always heard that animals know when you are pregnant.  In fact my friend Kate just told me that if you get in a tank with dolphins, and you're pregnant, they dolphins will not push you or do anything to touch you.  What a way to find out your pregnant, at least its better than killing a bunny.

Anyway, it's true.  Bailey knows I'm pregnant.  She follows me around everywhere I go, she is over protective, if I'm sitting or laying anywhere she is either right beside me or on me.  I can't tell you how many times I've woken up in the middle of the night because she is sitting half on half off of my chest standing guard.  When I take a shower, she sits outside the shower door patiently until I come out.  It's nice having a guard kitty, but this recent behavior makes me even more worried about how she's going to react when the babies get here.  Will she be loving and protective?  or angry and aggressive...hopefully the former.

Not much new

Nothing too much going on.  Still having some pregnancy unpleasantries such as really bad headaches and fatigue.  But other than that, not much to complain about.  The worse things about these headaches is that all you can take is Tylenol...which is the equivalent of taking two sugar pills.  It really does nothing.  I miss my Advil so much, but alas, it impairs kidney function of the Feti.

Slowly, I'm starting to show.  Just a little.  If I wear a tight shirt you can see a little bump, but if you had never seen me before, you would think I'm just a little poochie.

We had an appointment last Wednesday with the OB.  However, when I arrived a bunch of stuff happened.

1. They could not find my appointment in the computer (it was at 1:30)

2. They slipped me in for a 1:40pm appointment (not bad)

3.  They couldn't find my medical chart

4. Without a medical chart they couldn't see me

5. At 2:45 we finally gave up and rescheduled for this coming week

6. The nurse told me the rescheduling was also a slip in appointment, and I may have to wait up to 2 hours to get in.

If this OB wasn't Dr. Awesome, according to so many people, I would leave and go find someone different.  But I shall be patient and try to get in.