31 Weeks

Well, I had my latest ultrasound this past Monday, but it's been a crazy roller coaster of a week, which is why I've been a bit delayed in posting an update. Before I get into the craziness that is week 31, let me first post some pics.

First, I took some pics of my belly last night so you could see how it's grown. It was only when I compared these pics with the pics I took of myself at 24 weeks that I was able to realize just how much bigger I've gotten! I guess you reach a certain point and a big belly is a big belly. At last measure, it was measuring at 37 weeks, but with almost 8 pounds of baby in me (total), I guess that's about right!





OK, so enough of me--I know you all really want to see pics of the babies. Unfortuanately, it's getting harder and harder to get "cute" and clear pictures of them. Some of these pics I still have a hard time seeing what the ultrasound tech saw.

Anyhow, here's a pic of the babies's heads:



And on to baby A--he/she either weighs 3 lbs. 6 oz. or 3 lbs. 10 oz. I had a 2nd ultrasound done on Wednesday b/c there was some discrepancy in their weights on Monday, but apparently, the weights are hard to get since A is partially on top of B so these are really estimates at best. But, more importantly, heartbeat and movements are strong and on track--yea!

Here's a picture of A's face--looking out at you:



Here's a picture of A's arm. It's kinda hard to see, but it's curled up next to his/her torso.



And on to Baby B. He/she weighs either 4 lbs, 5 oz. or 3 lbs, 14 oz--either way, still the bigger baby of the two. And heartbeat and movements are also strong and on track for him--yea again!

This baby yet again wouldn't show his face--it's always facing my back--so we have a pick of his leg (this one is also kinda hard to see--you're looking at it from the side):



And a picture of his little foot:



Right now, I have another ultrasound on Tuesday to compare results with the Wed. scan I had this week, so I may have some more pics pretty soon!

Ok, so on to the drama that has been this week:

Before spirng break (which was all of last week), my feet suddenly swelled up a lot one evening. When I called the dr about it the next day, they had me start monitoring my blood pressure--swelling can indicate high blood pressure, but not always. Anyhow, I had my school nurse check it, and it was pretty high, so the dr had me come in for a urine test. The urine test indicated some protein in my urine--which is a sign of high blood pressure.

Because this was the first time I had ever gotten a high reading, they just had me get my blood pressure checked once daily to keep an eye on it. The next few days, when the school nurse would check me, I was ok. Then spring break came, and I didn't have any issues with it, other than continued swelling (but not to the extent it had been that one night).

I returned to work after Spring Break this past Monday, but only worked a 1/2 day that day since I had my dr appt that afternoon. Everything checked out ok.

On Tuesday 30 minutes before I left work, I had the school nurse check my blood pressure because I felt my feet balloon up (swell) suddenly while I was sitting at my desk chatting with a co-worker. Sure enough, it was super high again. Called the dr, and they told me to go home, put my feet up for an hour, and re-check my blood pressure (which I did at a local CVS). Fortuantly, it was down, so no need to go to the hospital to get checked out.

Wednesday arrived, I had the nurse check my blood pressure after lunch (still the daily check), and again it was super high! I called the dr, and she said you're done--go home, do the same thing you did yesterday, but no more going back to work. So, suddenly, I had to gather my things and leave work for the last time this year. And as you know me, sudden changes to plans aren't handled well by me, so it was with much blubbering and crying that I told my coworkers goodbye. I even scared Alan when I called to tell him the news b/c I just couldn't stop crying! (Stupid hormones!!)

Anyhow, so I went home, put my feet up and then went to CVS to measure it again. It was down, so I bought an at-home blood pressure cuff (per dr's orders) and, being me and thinking all was well, I stopped by Walmart to get a few items. Bad idea...

I get home, put my feet up again, wait a bit & re-check my blood pressure with the at-home machine. It gave me a REALLY high reading--I'd never measured that high before--so I went back to CVS to double check it against their machine. Their machine measured it as high (but not as high as the cuff thank goodness), but it was over the limit for what it should be, so I called the dr's emergency line. They told me to go immediately to Labor & Delivery at the hospital to get checked out, which I did.

Fortuanately, the monitors they had on the babies showed they were doing just fine the entire time I was there, my urine test only showed a trace of protein (not enough to worry about), my blood work all came back looking good, and my blood pressure continued to drop over the 2 hours I was there. So, because all that looked good, they sent me home--yea! Probably the combination of my over-the-top emotions and anxiety that day plus the extra tip to Walmart, kept it higher rather than dropping. Hard to believe all that happened just on Wednesday alone!

However, I am now on home rest until I see the dr next week: meaning, I'm not confined to the bed, but I can't leave the house. It's only day 2, so it's not too bad yet, but I'm hoping when I see the dr next week that she okays me to be able to leave the house for at least an hour a day--there's still so much to do! I still have pretty major swelling going on in my hands, feet, & face at times, but the good news is, since being forced to stay quiet at home, my blood pressure has been okay, so apparently, it's what my body needs.

So, that's our crazy week! Hopefully, that's as exciting as it gets until the babies arrive--I definitely don't want a repeat of all this!