Blogging hiatus = over. After attempting to blog once more in Jersey and accidentally deleting most of my work, I was mad enough to ignore my blog for a bit. I have other excuses of course. In the last month we...
- Finished the internship (Aaron did so with flying colors p.s.)
- Packed our little car and said goodbye
- Drove to Washington D.C.
- Saw the Washington Monument and other cool patriotic things
- Crossed the Appalachian mountains in West Virginia
- Drove through Columbus, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Kansas City, MO and Kansas City, KS (didn't know that was a real thing)
- Ate some real-life Kansas City BBQ at Zarda's
- Drove some more through Kansas, Denver, visited family in Cheyenne
- And made our way back into Salt Lake Valley
- Oh how I missed these gorgeous mountains.
- Moved our stored stuff into our new apartment (third floor - whew!)
- Have been surviving the heat without air conditioning
Now we are back with real-life friends and family, Aaron started school again (last semester!!) and I am keeping a part-time job of going to doctor's appointments and getting ready for these babies.
The update on the cute little babies:
- Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome is nearly off the radar. No signs of anything so far and once I hit 26 weeks, the perinatologist said I'm out of the danger zone. Hooray!
- I met with my OB and I am so so happy with my choice. He is one of 7 doctors that could potentially deliver, but I really like how the practice is set up and they are all very knowledgeable and on the same page with twins. It was a huge confidence booster in him when he actually addressed what vitamin/mineral supplements I was taking. He recommends taking an extra milligram of folic acid and extra iron as well.
- Some things the perinatologist told me:
- Expect to deliver a month early. 90% of twins are born between 35 and 36 weeks. She said, once your body is carrying 10-13 pounds of baby, your water tends to just break and your body says, I'm done.
- I will be induced at 37 weeks if I make it that far. The reason: increased risk for still birth in identical twins begins at 38 weeks, for fraternal - 39 weeks. They prefer to take them a whole week before the risk shoots up to avoid it completely.
- As long as Baby A is vertex, I can attempt to deliver vaginally. If Baby B is breach or transverse the doctor will just pull her out, no problem after Baby A comes out. Obviously if they are both headfirst that is ideal. Unfortunately if Baby A is breach, it'll be a C-section. This is because even if they start pulling babies out, both babies may lock chins or something else and they'll be stuck.
- Risk for preterm labor (obviously), preeclampsia, and gestational diabetes are much higher with a twins pregnancy. We don't really know why any of these things happen in the first place, but when there is more placenta, more baby, and more everything, that seems to trigger more of these problems.
- I liked her.
I have tons of pictures of everything I just wrote about, so I'm trying not to overload. Here is the belly update:
23 weeks. Provo Canyon - Vivian Park. We were throwing a football around and some little kids decided to join us. The little boy kept taking the football and throwing it at Aaron's back. I told him to pass it to me and he looked at my belly deciding he had a new target to hit. Good thing I can catch. :)
I am getting really excited for these littlies. They are kicking and punching me (and each other) all the time and every day that passes is another step toward them arriving with good health. I'm feeling pretty good - most normal pregnancy symptoms aside, and it's good to be able to get everything ready now.
Love,
Lauresa
Love,
Lauresa