No news is good news.

How Far Along: 34 weeks manana.  How did that happen?

Size of Babies:  Not sure officially. I'm thinking they will get measured this week.  I continue to grow, so I am hoping that that means that they are growing as well.  Babycenter says that at around this stage they are about 18 inches long and weigh about 4.75 pounds (about a cantaloupe).  I'd say it is completely believable that they would be about that same size. It does feel like I am carrying some melons around.  In my belly, that is.

Weight Gain: It fluctuates, but anywhere from 40-50 pounds. (Sidenote: if you're a nurse and are recording weight, please don't tell the patient, "That's okay, honey. You're carrying two."   Just keep your thoughts to yourself.  And tell me I am glowing.  And that I have really skinny ankles.  And only one chin.

Belly: Good golly, Miss Molly.  When I look down, my belly doesn't seem so huge.  But then I look in the mirror.  Or at pictures.  Or when I wear clothes.  Or when I lay down.  Or when I can't breathe. Or walk.  It's then that I realize that my belly keeps getting larger.  It's kind of amazing actually.  Like just when you think, "It can't stretch out anymore.  It's just not possible," God goes ahead and is like, "That's funny. Let me stretch your tummy out a little further.  Just far enough that when you try to squeeze past kids through a door, that you knock them over."  That kind of thing.  So, yeah.  My belly is full of melon-sized babies. The bonus is that I get to rid gansta-style in my car with my seat so far back.  Once again, it would be a lot cooler if I drove like that in a city.  Not through Kansas fields.
I don't know what my actual fundal height is.  Maybe about 2 or 3 yards by now? :)

Sleep: On the left side with intermissions throughout the night to pee and readjust my ear and knees.  It's fine.  I'm at least sleeping throughout most of the night.

Movement: Because baby melons are not able to spread out like they used to and since they are bigger, their movements are becoming painful and much more defined.  I do absolutely love watching my belly form into different 3D shapes (sphere to cube to rectangular prism) when they move their arms and legs.  I love the assurance that they are okay.  But, I will be honest and say that it hurts.

Other things:
1.  I will never make fun of anyone's swollen feet or cankles again.  You know what they say about karma?  Well not only will she come back to get you, she comes back to get you and gives you ginormous Flinstone feet in the process. Lo siento, Min.

2.  I had a doctor's appointment yesterday.  I will not mention that I was there for 2 and 1/2 hours.  Or that I was admitted to the hospital.  Because those weren't the main events.  (Seriously, I was admitted to the hospital but it was because I went there for my ultrasound and non-stress test.  And I guess they have to admit you for anything.  I was even asked if I would like visitors.).

• I am not dilated at all.  Which means, hopefully, I still have several weeks to go before delivery.
• I do have some swelling in my feet and ankles.  I knew this already from the elephant feet I have attached to my tree-trunk calves.
• Both babies passed their BPP ultrasound tests again (8 out of 8 points!).  Of course, they did it on their time schedules, not mine.  They still have great movement and tone, lots of fluid around them, and both performed their breathing exercises.  
• We got to see Puckett sucking on her umbilical cord.  Which is really cute.  Until you think about it.  And then it's gross.  But then, whatever.  She'll probably eat poop sometime in her life.  So an umbilical cord is not a big deal.
• I don't know about how I/they did on the NST.  They were moving like mad but because of that it was difficult to consistently monitor their heartbeats.  
• Both babies are now head down.
• A date has not been chosen. A method has not been chosen.  The method I pick is the one where they are are born alive and screaming and healthy. 
• My goal is to make it to December 5 and not go past December 19. Anything in between is fine. Especially 12.12.12.  Because that would be rad to have that birthday.  And my nephew's birthday is the day before, my friend's is the 12th and my dad's is the 13th.  But seriously. I don't care.

3.  After my appointment I had nursing class.  Since all the appointments took me forever, Dave had run and gotten me dinner.  So, I was that pregnant lady in class with a thing of fries.  And, Dave gets extra points for husband of the year award since he went with me to breastfeeding class.  Thankfully, he was not the guy hiding his face or playing on his phone the whole time. That was another dude.

4. We had our first shower this past weekend which was hosted by D's work peeps.  It was great fun to see and chat with people and eat delicious snacks and watch people drink delicious drinks.  We also got some wonderful things for the twerps.

5.  I also got this great, fantastic, beautiful, perfect diaper bag from my aunt (and uncle). She is an expert bag maker and she made this one for Dave and me.  I know she probably didn't even notice, but I noticed her fabric choice:  

On this side, two deer (for the twins) and one baby bird on the orange deer's back.  I thought that was Nugget right away.

On the other side, there is a bigger bird flying, which is obviously Maggie.  Imagine it. I don't have a picture.  And then, the amazing inside of the bag. She even made a wet bag and a changing pad to match.  

6.  And finally, some clothes from my wonderful family in Germany.  They will be the coolest cats in Kansas.  Fergs agrees.

Last thing...

Did you read about this lady? And her triplet boys?  She is a rockstar for sure. Just another reminder that I will get over my weight gain and remind myself that I am doing it for them and their health.  I can't even imagine--20 pounds of baby? 4 gallons of milk? That doesn't even cover placentas, amniotic fluid, Twinkie remnants.  Bless her.  And her husband.  And those little guys.  

I think we've got everything. Except a clue.

I had my first weekly appointment with Dr. Eck this week. It consisted of:

• An ultrasound with a biophysical profile
• A doctor's check-up/appointment
• A non-stress test

And, I will be doing this routine every week until delivery.

The ultrasound was to check the baby's growth and measurements (even though this gets less and less accurate the further along in pregnancy you are).  Boy (A) weighs approximately 3 pounds 13 ounces and Girl (B) weighs about 3 pounds 5 ounces.  Normal measurements since B always tends to be smaller and girls also tend to be smaller as well.

The other part of the ultrasound was the biophysical profile.  The test is checking on 4 things for each baby, which they get 2 points for each thing- his/her body movements, muscle tone (flexing arms/legs or opening and closing a fist), breathing movements, and the amount of amniotic fluid surrounding them.  They both got 8/8.  Their first A+.  Bam.

Right now, Baby A is head down and quickly running out of room.  Baby B is head up and is facing my back with her head tucked up (and slamming into) my ribs.  Her feet are either over her head or slamming into her brother's head (which is below her).  We will continue monitoring which positions they are in as we get closer to delivery time.

Of course, we got pictures but little girly wasn't cooperating.   She would rather ram her head into my ribs.  The sonographer popped over to the 3D option (or is it 4D? I never know.) and got a sweet picture of Herbie, though.  He looks like a real freaking human being!!!!  No longer a little seahorse or  a huge headed alien or really gaunt looking baby.  He looks cute (minus the umbilical cord in front of his one eye)!

And then.  Then.  To top it off?  She went ahead and showed us this.

What is this craziness?  The 2 dots in the middle of the picture are blurry arrows pointing to the blurry/cloud poofy things to the left.  But, the amazing thing is that the cloud/blurry things on the left is hair!  That's a head (I forget who owns that one) with little peach fuzzy hair.  And they both had it.  And that, my friends, is the cutest and sweetest thing I have seen in a long time.  Baby fuzzy hair on little noggins.  You can't beat that.

After that I had my doctor's appointment where I got my fundal height measured (don't know what it was), blood pressure, she squeezed my cankles for awhile, and we talked about delivery.  Here's the plan/deal/decisions we need to make:

• The latest I will go is 38 weeks (that is December 19 I think).
• If Baby A (boy) stays head down I can opt for a vaginal delivery.  I could deliver him and then she would go in and flip girly girl around (if she is still breech).
• Of course, there are risks for delivery vaginally, which we discussed (risks that you would have with just one baby two, but also additional ones that come with 2 babies).
• If I wanted, I could just opt for a C-section.
• She said that there is more stress on the mother for a c-section (especially the recovery afterwards) and more stress on the babies during a vaginal delivery.
• In addition, it could happen that I delivery one vaginally and something happens and I have to have a C-section with the other one. Which would be dumb.
• So, we haven't made any decisions yet.  And, we don't have to at this point--until we get closer to delivery time.
• I am not one of those people who must have a natural delivery or must deliver vaginally or whatever. I know there are risks with both and that having a c-section is major surgery.  However, my goal is not to win the award for least meds used or most natural delivery. My goal is for my babies to be born-- alive, healthy, screaming, and with the fewest complications and stress on them.  That is my goal. Nothing else.  

I then did my non-stress test. Lay there with a pink and blue tube top around my belly with monitors strapped on my belly for heart rates and contractions.  I then got to press a button whenever I felt movement.  Results from that looked good and normal, too.  But, let me tell you.  If you ever want to relax and almost fall asleep, just have some background noise of listening to heartbeats. It's ridiculously relaxing.

I am feeling okay. I would be lying if I said that I was feeling fantastic.  I am struggling but keep thinking about the outcome and why I am doing this.  I will make it through this- millions of women have done this.  And it ends eventually.  And I don't want to deliver now--they need more time to bake and gain weight.

This last weekend I went to the store and got all of the must-haves before they arrive so that I can start packing my hospital bag.  There were a few things that we still needed and I think we are all set (we will get the rest of the stuff after they are born).  Now, I think the only thing we still need is a clue on what the heck we are doing.  But my sister said you never have a clue as a parent.