27 weeks: Stats

I haven't really changed at all since my late update of my 26 week stats post, but here I am at 27 weeks. 

 

This view seems to be getting a lot bigger:

 

 

 

Ok, I said last week's would be the last naked belly picture, but this one is just too awesome. I purposely compressed it so it is small and you can't see too much awesome detail.

How far along? 27 weeks !!!

Baby's size?  2 eggplants!  (14.5” and about 2 lbs each)

Total weight gain: 12 pounds ( 2 this week)

Belly circumference:   At the belly button:  45"  At the maximum:  45"

Again, the maximum measurements aren't getting bigger, but more of my belly is getting closer to 45".  I imagine the max will go up soon.

Belly Button Status:  It appears some progress has been made on my belly button.  It is now pretty much flat on my stomach. 

What I’m Wearing:  I’m trying to decide what shoes I’ll be able to wear this winter.  I definitely can’t reach anything that requires me to tie shoelaces.  I may be able to wear slip-ons.  It might start getting snowy and icy soon, so I should probably work out a shoe plan.  I lost my belly band a couple of weeks ago, so I can’t get any of my old jeans on.  I really miss that thing.  I also don’t really have a jacket or coat that will fit.  I’m planning to just wear long sleeves and arm warmers for as long as I can.  I run really hot anyway, so I should be fine.   I could wear a jacket like normal and then a second jacket backwards to cover my front half.  I may start a new fashion trend.

Symptoms:  I have been so incredibly exhausted it is not even funny.  I get tired putting on pants.  The doctor says that is normal and will probably get worse.  The babies had a bit of a growth spurt, so I figure that is why I’m so worn out.  I still get really bad calf pain some nights.  It sounds like that will get worse as well.  I am hilariously incapable of bending or maneuvering my upper body in any way.  I can’t sit up on my own.  Finally, absolutely killer heart burn and/or acid reflux (I don't know anything about these symptoms because I never had a problem with it pre-pregnancy) occasionally strikes.... mostly at night of course.  Otherwise I’ve been relatively symptom free.

Baby Movement:  They are getting stronger every day.  They are starting to kick hard enough to see on the outside.  I’ve been trying to catch it on video, but they don’t move that often during the day.  They are really night time babies.  They still don’t move often enough to make it easy for other people to feel them.  Cody has caught them a few more times lately.  Zeus likes to press his body against my belly, so sometimes when he does that you can feel his back if you don’t push too hard.  If you’re gentle he’ll squirm around a little before moving away again.  Cody pushes too hard, so usually when he tries to feel Zeus's back, Zeus turns around and starts kicking at his hand instead.  My boys really don’t like being squished. 

How I'm Sleeping:  The answer is still the same.  The boys will keep me awake with their moving at night.  When I manage to fall asleep, they wake me up with moving.  If I roll over the baby on the bottom wakes me up with furious kicking.  Sometimes, the leg cramps are what wakes me up.  If I somehow end up on my back, I wake up dizzy and in pain.  Maybe this explains why I’m so tired all the time.

Things I Miss:  I miss eating a huge delicious meal.  I’m hungry all the time, but I can only eat a little bit at a time.  I miss really pigging out once in a while.  I also miss being able to slide into a booth without hitting my belly on the table.

Best moment this week:  Cody and I made a lot of progress on the house this weekend.  Pretty much the only place that doesn’t have siding is around the front door and the back of the detached garage.   Pretty much all of the channel to hang soffit is in.  We may be able to squeak this out by the time winter really gets here.

Upcoming Appointments:  I may need to go repeat my gestational diabetes test.  I haven’t updated with information on that appointment yet because I’m waiting to decide how much I screwed it up.  I had an MFM/OB appointment yesterday and I was informed I would be there a lot more often from here on out.  Not because of issues, just because I’m nearing the end of the journey.  We are getting to the point where things can change rapidly so I need more monitoring.  My next set of appointments is in 2 weeks, assuming I don’t have to go back to retake the 1 hr glucola test.  I don’t know if I’ve had a week without an appointment in a long time.

What I'm Looking Forward To:  We are trying to work out a time to go back to see Cody’s side before I’m too big to move.  It looks like one of the first weekends in November is our plan. 

Also, right around this week is when you can call yourself 3^rd trimester!  The range seems to be 26 weeks 6 days to 28 weeks, so I’m fine considering myself 3^rd trimester now.  I won’t make it to 40 weeks anyway, so my 3^rd trimester was really a couple of weeks ago.

26 Week Appointment: Growth Scan

Cody finally got to see his babies in 3d/4d!  He managed to find a kind soul to take over the call he needed to run today so he could finally make it to one of these ultrasound appointments.  He has missed the last 2.  They have changed a lot since then!  They are really starting to look like humans.  He was pretty pumped about that. 

The boys are measuring right on target. They seem to be built like their mommy: big head and short legs.  They do not have abnormally large heads or abnormally short legs, but their head percentiles are quite a bit above average and their femur lengths are a little below average.  Leonidas is 2 lb 1 oz and Zeus is 1 lb 13 oz.  They have grown quite a bit over the last 2 weeks!

The doctor said that since I haven't had any problems yet, they are not too worried about me having major problems the next few weeks. I will not have to start the more intense monitoring until 32 weeks as long as they boys stay within 25% of each other.  They are well within that range right now.  I'm glad to have a few more weeks until I need to start driving up there so much.

The pictures are not that fantastic.  Leonidas was in a much better position than Zeus, so all of the pictures are of him.  They are identical, so you can just pretend you are seeing both of them.  Since everyone got such a kick out of me outlining body parts last time, I went ahead and did it again this week.  I had a lot more trouble telling what parts were what, so I was not as precise.  Leonidas is head down and Zeus is head up.  They are spending quite a bit of time kicking each other in the head. 

Here are the babies: (Leonidas is in blue and Zeus is in red, non baby things are yellow)
Leonidas:

Here is a picture of Leonidas in blue.  He has his arm up by his face. I drew his other arm by his side, but that might just be his cord.  You can see Zeus's feet in red on the right side.

Here is a more disorganized image of Leonidas.  His cord may be the thing in yellow over his face.  I did give nipples and a belly button to make the image extra interesting.

Again Leonidas in blue.  His left arm is not actually bent, it is a really weird effect caused by the tuning of the 3d/4d machine.  That is actually his wrist stump.  When she adjusted the settings, his hand came in to focus.  It was weird.  All of this was way more clear on the actual machine.

Leonidas with well defined pecs.  There are Zeus pieces on the right side of the image.

Leonidas's foot old school style.

This is actually an interesting image for those of you that care about the mechanics of the mono/di twins.  You can see Leonidas's profile traced in blue.  The yellow line is the membrane that separates the boys.  The red is Zeus's foot.  The membrane is not usually visible unless they really hunt around for it.

A more full body profile of Leonidas.  The blue circle above his head is either his hand or part of Zeus.

Zeus:

Here is the best shot the tech could get of Zeus.  Zeus's face was towards Leonidas's body, so all of the images of Zeus are blocked by the parts of Leonidas.  The red is Zeus.  You can see his hand in great detail by his ear/face.  You can see his legs curled up.  All of the blue blobs are Leonidas.  I'm not sure what is what exactly. 

Here is a creepy series of Zeus face pictures old school style.  They have more fat, so their face shots do not look as much like Halloween masks.

Zeus's face in red.  I believe some part of Leonidas in blue.  The purple is probably someone's arm or leg.  Again, most of these were way more clear while she was actually doing the scan.

26 Weeks: Stats

I will update with pictures tomorrow.  We were supposed to take pictures tonight, but I fell asleep on the couch.  I'm pretty sure one or both of the babies are going through a growth spurt.  I've been really tired and hungry lately.

Update: So.... it took a little while longer than expected to get pictures to post.  We ended up doing them at 26.5 weeks.  There is probably a lot of change from the 25 week pictures and will not be much change between this and 27 weeks.  I've been REALLY tired lately.  Too tired to even stand for pictures in the evening.  I'm still not sure why people choose to do this pregnancy thing.

 

Cody didn't tell me my shirt was so scrunched up.  It looks like my belly is managing to keep the fabric nice and tight.

 

This is in fact a maternity shirt.  This shirt looks like it will be too short in no time.  I'm not completely sure what you are supposed to do when your belly starts hanging out of maternity shirts.

 

Enjoy this picture.  It will probably be the last naked belly picture I post to the blog.  It is already starting to look really awkward and scary from the front.  The internet doesn't need to remember my naked belly forever.  I'd just like to note the dark purplish mark on my underbelly is a bruise caused by me hitting something when I misjudged the size of my belly.  Cody also tends to elbow me in the belly when he isn't paying attention and misjudges my size.  The poor boys get hit on a lot of things.  Good thing they have strong, fighter names.

How far along? 26 weeks !!!

Baby's size? 2 English hothouse cucumbers (the long and skinny ones)!!  ( about  14” and 2 lbs each)

Total weight gain:  10 pounds (2 this week)

Belly circumference:   At the belly button:  44”   At the maximum:  45”

Belly Button Status:  Cody has given up on my belly button ever popping out.  He now looks at it with rage and contempt.  I keep telling him that I will be getting significantly bigger the next few weeks, so he should get to see it pop out before this is all said and done.  He doesn’t seem to believe me.

What I’m Wearing:  I made Cody take me shopping for something to wear at my shower.  He saw how horrible shopping for maternity clothes can be.  Why oh why does someone make skinny leg maternity jeans in my size?  Skinny jeans before I got the giant belly were horribly unflattering on me.  I accidentally tried on a pair and looked like a giant bulgy lollipop.  Somehow I overcame the shock to my self esteem caused by those jeans, and found a pair of slacks.  Those things are great.  They stay up way better than the maternity jeans do.  It feels like I’m wearing pajama pants.  The only down side is I guess I’ll have to wear actual shoes with them instead of my flip flops.  It just seems like such a waste to put too much money into clothes I only need for 9 weeks max.

Also, I’m having trouble wearing wife beaters now.  Wife beaters are the white tank top undershirts that you see a lot of guys wear as shirts.  Usually the guys you see wearing them as shirts are featured on Cops… but anyway… They are often associated with the trashier folk, hence the name “Wife Beater.”    I like to wear them outside while we work on the house or in the yard because they are a longer tank top so I can bend over without worrying about flashing the neighbors my goods.  Unfortunately, the growth of my belly has created a situation.  The wife beater no longer covers my full belly.  There are a few inches of baby belly that hang out of the bottom making the already trashy shirt look SUPER trashy.  Hopefully the crew of Cops won’t get called out here in the next few months, because I’m nearly positive this look would get us some air time.

Symptoms:  I have some killer heart burn every now and then.  I get exhausted after minimal movement or even sitting down too long.  I’ve been having insanely painful lower leg cramps that wake me up in the middle of the night.  Other than that, things are going well.

Baby Movement:  Their movement is significantly stronger and more frequent.  They still don’t move enough for other people to reliably be able to feel them.  They really start rocking and rolling after I eat a cupcake.  I still feel significantly more of everything on my right side where Zeus is.  If Leonidas was my only baby, I’d really wonder why he was so calm.  Unless my hypothesis is correct and Leonidas is really just trying to take over my right side leaving my left side quiet. 

How I'm Sleeping:  If I stay asleep, I sleep just fine.  There are more things waking me up in the middle of the night though.  The leg cramps have been truly horrible.  We’re pretty sure it happens when I’m dehydrated. 

 

Things I Miss:  I miss having any amount of endurance.  I get so exhausted just walking to the fridge or the bathroom. 

Best moment this week:  My shower was this weekend.  Other than the weather not cooperating, we had a really good time.  It was so nice to see all of the family.  We got some great gifts and had a lot of fun.  A get together like that really is the only way that you can see everyone you want to see in such a short period of time. 

Mood this week:  I don’t really like having this prompt in these updates.  It’s not like my mood really changes week to week.  If it did I probably wouldn’t post it anyway.  All things considered, I’m doing just fine.

Upcoming Appointments:  I have a growth scan and the gestational diabetes test later this week.  Cody is trying to rearrange his schedule so he can make it.  I’d really like for him to get to see his babies.  He missed the last 2 growth scans and they did a 3d/4d scan both times.  That is exactly what he would love.

What I'm Looking Forward To:  We’re going to buy a dresser this week with the money from Grandma Uland.  I’m excited to get that put together and start working on the nursery.  It feels SO weird to say “working on the nursery”!  I guess I’m looking forward to getting the nursery put together before I can no longer move. 

25 Weeks: Stats

It has been another week already!  I don't feel much bigger than last week, but I'm starting to look pretty big in a mirror.

Here is the belly:

You can see my crazy belly button in this one.  It is not the most flattering, but nothing about pregnancy seems to be flattering.

 The Second Edition of Courtney Cam. This is what my belly looks like from my perspective, kinda.  From my true perspective, you would see a lot more chest. I choose to spare you all that.  You're welcome.  You can see a little bit how my right side is shaped a little different than the left side.

 

 

How far along? 25 weeks !!!

Baby's size? 2 Rutabagas by weight (or 2 heads of cauliflower)!! ( about 13.5” and 1.5 lbs each)

Total weight gain: 8 lbs (0 this week)

Belly circumference:   At the belly button:  43”  At the maximum:  43”

It seems to be measuring smaller today than last week, but I think it has a lot to do with the position of the babies at the time we measure.  Also, there is a lot more of my belly that measures at 43”, so I think it is rounding out more.  It is starting to feel really hard all over now. 

Belly Button Status:  The belly button is getting wider and more stretched.  It looks like it could make it out any day now.  The skin where my belly button piercing used to be is hilariously scary looking.  It is bright red and holding on by a thread.  It creates an odd ripple over my belly button.  Just a warning to all the ladies out there thinking about piercing their belly button, pregnancy does horrible things to that piece of skin left there.

What I’m Wearing:   My pre-pregnancy clothes are starting to get absurdly short on me.  I put on a tank top today that used to be a little short but long enough to go outside in.  Well, it now covers my boobs and the top of my belly.  It doesn’t even make it close to the belly button.  It is like a weird belly hat.  I don’t feel nearly as big as I am!

Symptoms:  Other than size related complaints, things have been very smooth.  

Baby Movement:  I’m pretty sure I tune out more of their small movements.  They move a lot right after I eat.  I still feel Zeus way more than Leonidas.  I halfway wonder if Leonidas isn’t just trying to take over my right side so that’s why all the movement is over there.  Sometimes the right side of my belly feels really tight and the left side feels really slack and empty.  I’m thinking Leonidas is a little conqueror.  They need to work out their differences and settle into their spots, because it is not comfortable when the right side gets so full.  Otherwise, their schedule overnight of moving at 2, 6, and 10am is still pretty accurate.  Of course I created nocturnal humans.

How I'm Sleeping:  I’m sleeping much better as long as I don’t roll over.  The babies have been laying in a way that is mostly off my bladder while I sleep.  That changes if I move though.  If I stay really still, I can almost sleep in a little bit.  I’ve developed a nice little snuggle system with pillows for my added comfort.   I’m pretty sure Cody is going to need to find somewhere else to sleep because my pillows need bed space!

Things I Miss:  I miss being able to get on a ladder and help Cody hang siding panels.  I miss being able to bend over to pick something up.  I kind of miss seeing my belly button.  It is long gone by now.  I miss having jeans that I can button and zip. 

Best moment this week:  My Mom and Dad came up this weekend to help with the house.  We had a lot of fun while they were here.  Well, it probably wasn’t that much fun for Dad, but he keeps coming back!  They made quite a bit of progress on the house.  We should hopefully be done by the time the babies are here… Hopefully…. 

We also got the first baby gift mailed to our house.  It showed up unexpectedly Monday or so.  Cody’s family sent a bouncer and some blankets.  It was very exciting.  I guess we have gotten a few things previously:  Cassie left us with a box of goodies, my mom has brought up a few things when they come up, and Grandma Beard sent me a hat that says, “Mom-to-be” on it.  I think the UPS truck just added to the excitement.  We do appreciate everything we’ve been given.

Mood this week:   I’ve been a little more prone to cry from frustration this week.  There have been a few iffy moments caused by me realizing I can’t do things I once did.  Granted,  most all of those things happened while I was on a ladder helping finish the house… but it still sucks.  The neighbors definitely get a kick out of the 25 week pregnant with twins me up on a ladder. 

Upcoming Appointments:  I have to do my Gestational Diabetes screening test sometime in the next week or so.  That should be fun.  I’m hoping I pass because the 3 hour test that I would have to take if I fail sounds really horrible.  I don’t think I have any of the symptoms of GD, so I’m not super worried.  I have another growth scan next week I believe.  Hopefully Zeus is in there catching up to Leonidas this week.  It should be fun to see how much more crammed in there they are.

What I'm Looking Forward To:  My family’s shower for us is this weekend.  I’m really looking forward to seeing everyone.  I’m bummed because we will only be there late Friday night and Saturday until the shower is over.  I wish we could stay longer, but we really need Sunday to work on the house.  We’re really running out of days that aren’t too cold to work!  I’ll just have to appreciate the few hours we’ll get to see everyone Saturday.

24 Week Growth Scan

Today we had another growth scan.  The boys are still doing very well.  There is an 11% difference between the two, but that is probably due to the timing of their growth spurts.  We had an 11% difference the appointment before last, then the last appointment was 1% difference.  I think Leonidas grows first, then Zeus catches up.  Leonidas weighs 1 lb 7 oz and Zeus weigh 1 lb 4 oz.  They are both on track for their due date.  Cody sadly had to run a conference call during my appointment, so he missed seeing the boys again.

The tech that did the scan this time kindly decided to do more of the 3d/4d scans for me.  Apparently she really enjoys them also, so we watched them in 3d for like 5 minutes.  She printed off 6 pictures for me.  She warned me that they are going to be getting really squished in there soon, so this might be my last chance for good 3d/4d images.  They are both head down now.  I think that makes for better pictures. This time nobody photo bombed the other baby with a butt in the other's face. 

The images that are printed are significantly less easy to see than the images on the monitors, so I decided to help everyone decipher the random blobs.  I think I did an AMAZING job tracing the important parts in Paint.  Cody laughed a lot when he saw what I did.  Leonidas is traced in Blue.  Zeus is traced in Red.  Non baby things are Yellow.  I tried to get the pictures side by side, but it didn't quite work.  I'm new to this blogging thing so bear with me.  Also, I'm not a professional at reading these scans, so some things may be mislabelled, not labelled, or something else.  This is for entertainment only.

Here is the only non 3d/4d image I got.  It is the top of their heads like you are looking down on them.

Leonidas is traced in blue.  The Yellow blob is the membrane that separates the two babies.  We thought maybe it was Zeus's head, but I'm pretty sure it is the membrane.  Inside the yellow blob is Zeus's home.  I outlined the general area of his eyes, nose, mouth, ears, arm, and chest.  The bright white thing in his arm is the bone.  Bone shows up really well in these scans.  Note: I gave him eyebrows that aren't really there.  I think it makes it look more like a face if you know where to find the eyebrows.

The blob looks more like a head than a membrane in this one, so I decided to call it Zeus's head.  It might just be another image of the membrane, but it is more fun to think of it as a head.  Leonidas is again in blue.  There is a hand next to and above his head and a hand by his face.  His eyes, nose, and mouth are outlined.

Here is Zeus.  I couldn't tell what a lot of these blobs were.  Leonidas is on the right somewhere, but it is unmarked because it looks like random body bulges to me.  I believe this is a picture of Zeus kind of taken over his shoulder like those cheesey Glamour Shots from the 90s in the mall.  His chin is tucked behind his shoulder a bit.  You can see a hand above his head.  I'm pretty sure that is his.  I gave him another awesome eyebrow, and outlined his eyes, nose, mouth, and ear.

Here is a picture of Zeus with an arm and hand covering his face.  His finger is extended like he is pointing at something.  He is probably scolding his brother for kicking him or something.  I outlined his head, arm, and chest mostly.  On his face, I marked his ear, mouth, and nose.  There may be another hand and arm unmarked at the bottom right facing the camera, but I wasn't sure.  It would make sense that his arms face each other though.

This image the tech and doctor got a big kick out of.  It looks like Leonidas is kissing the top of Zeus's head.  Zeus's face looks weird, but that is just the nature of the technology. He has a normal face as you can see in the other images.  On Leonidas, you can see his arm up over his head and his chest.  I did a very good/horrible job outlining things on his face.  On Zeus, you can mostly just see the shape of his head and his ear mostly clearly.  He has a little hand down by his mouth.

Warning:  This pic contains boy bits.  Poor Zeus won't be able to run for office because his mommy posted pictures of his junk in utero.  It is a great shot of his feet crossed.  The foot on the bottom you see the bottom of his foot.  The foot crossed on top you can see the top of his foot.  You can also see his legs and his torso clearly.  I think the blue thing at the top is Leonidas's arm.  I'm not positive though.  The yellow thing is, I think, is an umbilical cord for one of them.

This was a pretty exciting and interesting appointment.  I hope you enjoyed the images and I hope my drawings helped you figure out what pieces are what.

24 Weeks: Stats

We had a fun week with Cassie and Colt.  Time really went by fast.  I can't believe she is already leaving tomorrow morning!  It has been interesting having a baby around.  He is currently about 3 months, so its a funny glimpse into half our future.  Cody has enjoyed playing with him more than I expected he would.  It was also nice chatting with Cassie about the end of pregnancy and early babyhood.  Times are definitely changing!

We are also now at the point where hospitals would try to keep the boys alive if anything happened.  They even have a small chance of making it.  In a few weeks, their odds of survival go way up.  There are no warning signs of problems, but it is just crazy to think that the humans in me are starting to be done enough to live on their own.

Here is the belly:

 

Here is a new view.  I call it Courtney-cam.  You can see how the right side of my belly sticks out more than the left.  I'm pretty sure both babies are fighting to be on my right side.

How far along? 24 weeks !!

Baby's size? 2 cantaloupes! (a foot long and over a pound each)

Total weight gain: 8 lbs (3 this week)

Belly circumference:   At the belly button: 44.5"  At the maximum:  44.75" 

Belly Button Status:  It is getting much shallower.  It definitely feels weird, but it hasn’t popped.  It seems like the shape of my belly is moving up.  The maximum width used to be below my belly button, but now it is pretty much right at my belly button. 

What I’m Wearing:   My maternity jeans are still frustratingly loose.  My belly just can not hold my pants up.  I should probably just buy another pair.  I’ve been waiting to see if I gain a bunch of weight before I buy more pants.  I seem to have lost my belly band, so my old pants are definitely not an option currently.  I need to find something to wear to my shower the weekend after this one.  It may be the only time a lot of my family sees big pregnant me.

Symptoms:  Other than occasionally feeling like a turtle that has been flipped on the back of its shell trying to roll over, I feel pretty good.  I'd feel a lot better if my allergies weren't acting up so much!  I miss loading myself up on allergy meds.

Nausea:  I'm having more issues when I take pills, but I am not having any more problems day to day with nausea. 

Baby Movement:  It is still hit or miss if they will move at any one time.  Sometimes one or both will be having a dance party or wrestling match, and sometimes it will be really quiet in there all day.  The movements that I do feel are getting significantly stronger.  They are very easy to feel on the outside.  It is not to the point where you can see the movement on the outside.  I also can't offer to let others feel them move reliably.  They always stop when someone tries to feel them.

How I'm Sleeping:  I don’t have a lot of great things to say about sleeping.  I miss it terribly…..

 Things I Miss:  I miss being able to sleep in.  I wake up early, have to get up, then can’t fall back asleep.  I realize that most weeks the things I miss are sleep related.  That is how much I love sleep.  I only have 12 weeks max left before the babies are here!  I NEED to sleep now.  After seeing Colt around here, I’m confident I will never sleep again with two.

Best moment this week:  It has been fun having Cassie and Colt around.  I think the best part of the week is watching Cody play with Colt.  Here is one of the first pictures after Cody met Colt last Wednesday.

 

 

Mood this week:  I’ve had a pretty good week.  My allergies have been going crazy and I can’t properly medicate myself.  I think I’ve been pretty good considering that fact. 

Upcoming Appointments:  I have another growth scan this Friday.  I swear I practically live at the doctor’s office.  I still haven’t gotten a bill from them though.  I imagine the first one I get will be very frightening.  Cody may or may not make it depending on how work goes.  He has come home early a lot of days the last week to see Cassie more, so he may need to build up some more good will before he takes off for more appointments. 

What I'm Looking Forward To:  I’m looking forward to my shower in a couple of weeks.  Really I am looking forward to seeing my family more than I’m looking forward to the shower itself.  It sounds like they are doing a nice job planning the shower, so I’m sure that will be great as well.  I want everyone to have a chance to make fun of me for how big I’m getting, even though I will only be like 26 weeks or so at the time.