31 Weeks

Yay! I am 31 weeks today! I have survived almost one whole week of bed rest at home, and I am sooooo not bored yet. I think I pretty much slept for the first three days when I got home from the hospital. Today is the first day that I feel almost like myself again. My legs and feet are aching to get up and move around, and my hips and bum keep falling asleep. But honestly, I am doing just fine. I am looking forward to relaxing more and feeling better these next few weeks. I had two dr appointments this week and so far it looks like the bed rest is paying off :-) Here's my stats:

OB app - 30.5 weeks
weight gain - 22 lbs.
tummy - measuring 34 weeks
dilated - 1.5 cm
effaced - 70 %
babies positions - both head down
contractions - about 3 per hour

Perinatologist app - 31 weeks

dilated - almost 2 cm
effaced - 70 %
Baby A - 3 lb. 13 oz.
position - head down
concerns - one brain ventricle slightly large
Baby B - 4 lb. 4 oz.
position - head down
concerns - none, extra fluid gone

Both my doctors seem pleased with my measurements. I'm still contracting regularly but as long as I don't progress towards labor I am allowed to stay home! My OB said that she has a very low tolerance for any change and would quickly re-admit me to the hospital if/when I start showing more labor signs. My PN is over the moon happy with the size of these boys. She said if I was pregnant 31 weeks with one baby they would expect him to be 3 and a half pounds but with twins they are usually about 3 pounds at 31 weeks. Both my boys are big! She thinks that is why I might have started labor contractions, because my uterus is streched out far enough to house an 8 lb baby! I am going to make it three more weeks for sure. And I really feel like I might make it longer than that, I'll guess only time will tell.

The worst part of my week was Wednesday afternoon when my sweet Kalle Bug left for Georgia. I cried pretty much all night and off an on all day yesterday. But I can feel my stress level is soooo much lower now. I love Kalle so much, she is just so much fun, but she is just a little ball of energy and she is so mischevious. When she was around me I would have so many contractions. Y'know how when you see someone almost fall down, or a vase of flowers almost tip over, or you almost get slapped in the face and you kind of tense up, or brace yourself for the blow? Every time I wince or tense up a little, I send my body into a contraction. When Kalle is around me, I am constantly bracing myself and getting contractions. She always is almost about to fall off the couch or trip and fall on top of me or pull something down on her head... I'm having a contraction right now just thinking about her! I love that girl. She is such a momma girl. A true homebody. All she ever wants to do is stay at home with me and snuggle. She is so rewarding and at the same time she is so crazy! Anyways, I know that its better for my body and my mind to really relax right now. These contractions are so mental. Not all of them, I still have sporatic, continuous contractions, but I can honestly decrease the amount I'm having significantly when I'm calm and still. It just takes some work since I'm so used to being both physically and mentally busy all the time.

The week before I was in the hospital, Christopher was out of town. He had a 10 day conference in Orlando. The DAY he left, Kalle got the flu. Unbelievable since she had just had the flu on Christmas. So I am home alone cleaning up vomit, carrying my 3 and a half year old back and forth from the bed to the toilet to the bath tub to the bed. I didn't have a choice. I had to hold her. I had to clean up vomit. It was on the carpets, the floors, the sheets, towels, buckets, the entire bathroom! I did soooo many loads of laundry, bleached out the tub and toilet multiple times and changed the sheets over and over again. Plus I barely slept for a few nights, I was on edge - jumping out of bed at every little whimper. I exhausted my body and my mind. I begged Chris to come home early and he incredibly found someone to take over his weekend responsibilities. He surprised me and came home four days early! Good thing, because I literally started having those strong contractions the next day and ended up in the hospital the rest of the week. What a blessing that Chris was home. I think I just overworked myself being a single mom all week, combined with two big babies its no wonder my body started to go into labor.

But I'm doing well now. My swelling has almost disappeared. My feet and hands were sooooo swollen from all of the fluids they pumped into me in the hospital. I'm just so glad that I am at home, and my mom is here taking care of me! I'm sorry that my last post was such a whine fest. Boo. I had so many people call and email me their condolences I really feel like such a complainer! Oh well, I really want to remember these details. And soon enough I'll be a sleepless wreck with two adorable, healthy boys that I won't remember much of anything. And that is just fine with me ;-)

I feel like I have finally embraced the fact that I am having two babies. For months people keep asking me "what are you going to do with two babies?" "have you wrapped your head around it yet?" "twins! you're crazy!" I just kept responding, "I'm not thinking about it yet. I'm just not thinking about it." And I didn't. I have been getting some of the logistics ready, car seats and the nursery and such. But I just wasn't mentally accepting the fact that there were TWO babies joining our family. I just kept putting that off saying to myself that I wouldn't start worrying about it until after Christmas. Well, it is after Christmas and I am having two babies. And guess what? I am honestly excited!!