Miss Ellie

We had a little photo shoot with Miss Ellie at my parent's house a while back.

She was about 4 weeks old and just adorable!! 

I love my little niece to pieces and can't wait for our girls to all grow up being best friends :)

I think she looks just like her pretty momma!

Bryson wanted SO badly to be in a picture with her. Can you tell how excited he is!?
He is really ready for Emily and Madelynn to be here :)

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I just love her :) 

 

35 Weeks

35 Weeks!!

     

{I forgot to take a picture on doctor appointment day (aka- only day with make up) so out of compassion to all of you, I cropped myself at the neck. Next week, you might be subjected to my huge puffy face;) }

Thank you for all your sweet comments and emails. Y'all are so SO sweet and encouraging and it means so much to me. Especially when I feel like a whale that swallowed a house! Aaand that you let me be completely honest {read: a whiney complainey baby} about this pregnancy.

I just watched What To Expect this past week and thought it was great! I completely related to Wendy's pregnancy this time around. I especially loved her dead honest monologue towards the end of her pregnancy ;)  And it's really funny because when I was pregnant with Bryson, I would have completely related to Skyler's 100% perfect pregnancy. It's funny how things can be so different! ;) 

I feel like I'm really starting to hit a wall. I've had a bad cough all week. Normally, it wouldn't phase me, but my "ab" muscles have been stretched thinner than saran-wrap and it is ridiculously painful. Michael was a saint and got me some medicine yesterday and it's been a life saver. :)

I'm pretty sure I stopped having Braxton Hicks contractions and am starting the big time ones. Not nearly as frequent, but they sure as heck are a lot more painful :(

We went to the perinatal specialist  and had another growth scan. Both girls were weighing in around 5 pounds 8 ounces!! I absolutely can't believe how big they're getting!! Praise the Lord!! Folks, that means I have 11 pounds of baby girls hanging out in my belly. Goodness gracious!! We're going back again next week and I'm (always) so anxious to see how big they'll be :)

I saw a different OB this week and she said that after reviewing all the info and stats from my pregnancy and all the sonograms and seeing that the placenta is still healthy and the girls are thriving, she would be perfectly happy letting me keep these girls cooking until 39 weeks. 39!! I seriously almost cried. All along, I had been told 37...maaaybe 38 weeks at the latest. And then she throws 39 out there!

We ended up scheduling a c-section (or induction if little Em decides to pull a Gabby Douglas and flip around) for February 28th at 2:30. Aaah, that is SOO far away. If for some crazy nutso reason I make it that long, I will be 2 days shy of 39 weeks. I told Michael that we might as well just wait until the Summer at that point! ;)  But, on the positive side, there is an end in sight.

I don't seem to have any problem packing on the pounds now; I've gained a little over 40lbs. blah. And, my uterus is also measuring 43 weeks for a singleton! HA!!!

While I was there, a new nurse was checking the girls' heart beats. She said Madelynn's heartbeat was bouncing back and forth between 141 and 90. The doctor came in and checked again and she was getting a very consistent hb in the 140's. Phew! She also checked me and I haven't started dilating at all yet. She said that's pretty rare for a twin mom. I reeeally hope that doesn't mean it's looking more like the 28th. Also, since there could have been an inconsistency in Madelynn's hb (or operator error), she wanted to send me to the hospital to get monitored. After a little begging, she let me just stay there and have an NST in the office. Everything was perfectly fine :)

       

After seeing the doctor, scheduling the c-section, having an NST, I left THREE hours later. Longest Ob appointment ever!!

One thing is for certain. My stomach will never see the light of day again. It looks like I was thrown into a cage with a very very angry tiger. 

I'm about to start a "tummy tuck for Kristin" fund ;)

The girls are still moving quite often. But recently, they have been having the hiccups all.day.long! It's really fun to feel Emily have hiccups way far down on the right side and Madelynn have hiccups way up on the left side at the same time :)

Anyway, good news!!! I am 36 weeks now and FULL TERM for twins!! Praise!!!

I really never thought I'd make it this far, but I am so SO thankful I have. I know I'm quite the whiney baby about most of this pregnancy, but I really feel so blessed to be able to carry these girls as long as I have. 

We'll see how much longer they get to keep cooking!! ;)

33 & 34 Weeks

You think I would be better about these posts...

I'm not sure how in the world I forgot to mention it in the last preggo update, but at 32 weeks, after the short stint in the hospital for contractions, my doctor put me on modified bed rest. I can still get up and do a few things here and there, but for the most part, he wants me to just take it easy, try to lay down as much as possible, and limit activity (which is usually what seems to make me have more contractions). 

A lot of people have been asking me how I've been doing with bed rest. the last 4 weeks. And honestly, it hasn't been bad at all. If I could actually get up and do other things or go run errands without my whole body hurting, it would be totally different. But I am perfectly content laying in bed or on the sofa during the day. It's kinda crazy. I've made quite the crevice on my side of the bed watching countless episodes of Castle and Psych and eating mountains of food.

We have kept Bryson in school this whole time, but since Michael has been super busy at work, I go pick him up at the end of the day and poor kid, all he wants to do is play soccer, basketball or baseball with Mommy. He really is SOO understanding about me not being able to do things. He usually says, "oh yeah. Mommy, you have to lay down or sit down because your tummy is so big and those are the doctor's rules." And then he waits on bended knee for Michael to get home to play sports with him. He really is so sweet about everything. :)

33 Weeks

We went over to a friend's house from church that have twins almost a year old and their older son is a little older than Bryson. It was really great getting to pick their brain and ask a million questions about "twin life" and how they have managed. It was really good for both Michael and I to hear this stuff first hand :) Plus, Bryson had fun playing with the boys :)

34 Weeks

I had another NST (non stress test) this week. Everything looked good with the girls! They were quite active, so their heart beats were all over the place, which is what they wanted to see. I had a quick sonogram to measure blood flow, fluid levels and position of the girls. Everything looked good on the sono. Emily (baby A) is still breech, which means there's a 97% chance that I'll have a c-section unless she miraculously flips in he itty bitty space. Not my first choice, so I'm trying to prepare myself for it mentally. :)

I still have contractions quite often, but nothing consistent. Some of them are getting more painful than just Braxton Hicks. These girls are also killing my pelvic bones. Pretty much anytime I move my legs or get up from laying down it is so painful. 

We have been blessed with the most amazing friends and family. We haven't cooked a meal in almost 2 weeks! We've had friends order food and have it sent to our house, bring over home cooked meals, and my mom has sufficiently stocked our freezer and fridge with all sorts of great meals. It is such a blessing :)

I really probably should save this and add week 35 to the bottom of here in a couple days since I'm so late!  Ha! I'll be back in a couple days with 2 doctor updates :)

     

34 weeks and Ellie at 2 weeks :)

Phone Dump Friday

From last week:

Bryson went to a "Big Brother Class" at our hospital. He LOVED it! Michael and I had pretty much talked to him about everything the nurse went over in the class (babies cry a lot, Mommy is going to be busy, but still loves you, you always have to see their faces when you put on a blanket, etc) so he loved speaking out and answering all the questions. The kid doesn't have a shy bone in his body :)

Michael and my mom have been AMAZING!!! Since I can't do much at all, they have pretty much taken over and helped out more than I could ever put into words. They did a lot of little things in the nursery to help get it ready for the girls. (I'll post pictures soon of it all done!)

One of the ladies I work with dropped off all of these for the girls! I was in shock when I saw the huge stack outside our door. I was blown away with her kindness! SOOO amazing!!

We all love getting in our Ellie snuggles :)

This week:

We HAD to wash Bryson's jerseys one day and he had to keep a veeerry close eye on them. He stayed in there for over 10 minutes! The kid is absolutely obsessed with all things sports (most definitely his father's son!!) 

Momma's boy! I love him so much!

    

Bryson is so in love with Ellie. He talks about her as if she is his sister. He was reaching in and talking to her and put his finger delicately on her arm. She grabbed onto it and he looked up at me with the biggest grin and whispered, "oh she loves me!" Such a sweet boy :)

    

He also likes to sit next to me, pull up my shirt and feel the girls move. He spends so much time talking and singing to his sisters. It melts my heart!! I can not wait to see him with them :)

One of the perks of having a sister that is a fashion designer at Fossil is that you get a beautiful scarf named after you!! :)

Someone gave us this little kitchen play set for the girls and Bryson went to town playing with it. He played with it for an hour and a half one day. I even took a little nap while he was cooking up a storm :)