31 week ramblings

Beware - this post is very long with my ramblings!!!!

On Monday I had a regularly scheduled appointment with my OB and an ultrasound. I had hoped to post the ultrasound pictures, but they turned out terrible. You can hardly make anything out on the pictures at all and the babies were in terrible positions, so even if the resolution had turned out ok, you can't tell what you are looking at at all. Baby Boy A was in a head down position and measured in to weigh about 3.7 pounds. Baby Boy B was pretty squirmy - starting out laying across the top portion of my belly and 5 minutes later was in a breach position. He measured in to weigh about 3.8 pounds. I know that these measurements come with a margin of error (I am a statistician, after all) but while the babies are still small that margin of error is small - as they get bigger, the error gets bigger and they say those measurements can be off by a pound (plus or minus) for a full-term baby.

I also received 2 steroid shots this week - the first on Monday and the second Tuesday. If you didn't know, steroid shots are given when they think you will have your baby (babies) prematurely, to help their lungs develop and help them accumulate fat faster (to keep them warm). So far, amazingly enough, I haven't shown any signs of pre-term labor so we are currently in the bast case scenario right now. It takes a few days of having the steroids in your system before they are really helping the babies so I am really glad to have gotten them even though it doesn't look like I need them. I know that the steroid shots helped Jacob when I suddenly started leaking amniotic fluid at 32.5 weeks and I'm glad that if the babies end up needing them, I got them - if I carry them to 37 weeks (what we are hoping for) the shots won't do them any harm.

This pregnancy has not been easy for me. In my What to Expect book, there is a chapter about expecting multiples and it gives a list of things that can be bigger problems when expecting twins or more. As I read through it the other night I was mentally checking everything off on the list: worse morning sickness - check; worse other digestive problems - check; worse exhaustion - check; worse other pains - check. There may have been more.

The thing that has been the most difficult to deal with is the exhaustion. In case you were wondering - I no longer clean my house, please don't drop by unannounced and expect it to look presentable. I guess part of cleaning the house is doing dishes - I don't do them anymore. Basically the more time I spend on my feet, the more likely I am to feel like I am going to fall over or pass out, and bending over to put things in the dishwasher with my big belly and chest kills my back, so I don't do it. I don't go grocery shopping - too much walking around is exhausting. Plus, it is just hard to deal with taking Jacob anywhere and getting him into and out of the vehicle. Pretty much we bum around the house all day.

The past month or so, I feel like I am just surviving the week. Once the weekend gets here I am so tired and sore, that I sit or lay around all weekend while Justin takes care of everything. By Sunday night I feel better and like I can tackle the week, but by Wednesday I am definitely ready for the weekend and Justin to be home to take care of Jacob. This week I have felt a little bit better - maybe the steroid shots have given me a bit more energy? I still know not to over-do it though and I make sure that I recognize those feelings of - if I don't sit or lay down now I may pass out.

By the way - Justin is amazing. It can't be easy to work full-time and then come home and have to take care of all of us. Everyday I think about how lucky I am to have Justin.

Here's to another 6 weeks before babies come!!!