Just really quick

I have nothing really to talk about today. I haven't made a decision yet on what to do though I'm leaning toward going to a massage therapist. I'm waiting on responses from a couple different places I've called.

I wanted to comment on the anon. comment from my last post (which I will be deleting), but at the advice of several people, I'm ignoring it no matter how much it hurt me to read such mean-spirited words and no matter how much I feel the need to respond. But I do want to say if they have better things to do than comment, then go do it. I'm not stopping you. Plus, I would NEVER say such hurtful things to someone.

I almost started to respond, so I better just end this post now.

All I Want is a Massage! (Updated)

I found out that my insurance will only provide a discount for getting a massage if I got the massage from a massage therapist, but will cover it, if I go to a chiropractor, MD, or a physical therapist - that doesn’t make sense to me, but o.k. So I called a PT place nearby my house – they don’t offer massages just exercises that will help alleviate back pain during pregnancy. Well, I really want a massage. So I e-mailed a few chiropractors in the area that my insurance company lists as providers as I know from my prior time with a chiropractor, there is a massage therapist there and the whole thing can be billed under the chiropractor and be covered by insurance. There is one nearby my house that has extra education in prenatal care and treats pregnant women. I’m still nervous about going though. A lot of sites say that chiropractic care during pregnancy is safe and may even help during labor. I called my OB and left a message to see what her opinion is. Has anyone seen a chiropractor during pregnancy?

Maybe I should just go to a massage therapist and get the discount and pay whatever cost will be mine. I’ve contacted a couple and there is one nearby my house. UGH, I just want a massage! Why does it have to be so difficult?!?

Update: The OB (or rather, the OB's nurse) said that they don't recommend chiropractic care for the low back, but neck is o.k. and well, I need something for my back. When I told her about what my insurance said, she gave me two places to go for physical therapy. She said if there is problem with my prescription (as it is for massage therapy, not physical therapy), then they can get me a new one. I'm wondering if I should just go ahead and go to a massage therapist and get whatever discount I would get, and pay the rest ouf of pocket since what I want is a massage not a PT showing me exercises to help with my back. Any opinions out there? I can't seem to make a decision on what to do.

20 weeks!

Another busy weekend has past and now the workweek has begun, unfortunately. I got a couple things off my list, so that felt good. Of course, many more things remain on my list!

Some highlights of this weekend included feeling what felt like a kick at the time that my husband was touching my belly, so he felt it too! In fact, he said something first. He was just acting all sorts of giddy when he felt that. Later on that night, I felt some more movement (at least, I don’t think it was just a dream). That was nice.

Before that though, I felt what can be described as contractions – contractions that seriously hurt. We were told to call the doctor when there were more than 6 in an hour, and I had maybe 4. I had quite a busy weekend, so I’m sure that contributed to it. I really didn’t like that feeling.

Nor do I like another side effect of pregnancy – constipation. It doesn’t matter what I eat, it will always be a problem apparently. I’ll just leave it at that as I’m sure this is a TMI issue.

Oh, and I bought one of those belly bands over the weekend and so far, it has helped my belly feel like it has more support, but my back is seriously killing me. I’m trying to find a massage therapist that will do pregnancy massages and will take my insurance as I want to get started on that as soon as possible. I’m waiting on a few responses from those I’ve found on a massage therapy website that are in the Seattle area to see where to go. I seem to remember my acupuncturist has a massage therapist in the same building as her, so I contacted that person as well.

Well, that’s all for today. Back to work.

In Other Topics...

I went to the multiples class last night on breastfeeding and OMG - I am completely freaked out now about having twins. We had a guest family in the class last night that have 5 month old boy/girl twins and they talked about their experience. Although they said it hasn't been as bad as they thought, it still seemed like a whole lot of work. And they were saying it is great to have help after the babies come - and I don't know where I'm going to be getting this help from. I can see myself just freaking out when Jon goes back to work and I'm on my own.

Breastfeeding looks hard to begin with, then you a 2nd baby - yikes! And apparently, the nursing pillow I put on my registry isn't going to do it when it comes to twins, they suggest this pillow to help breastfeed twins at the same time (and this is something I would like to do as I would like them both on the same schedule - easier said than done, right?).

I hope we'll make it through. Oh, and they said to look at day cares now and get on a waiting list, which I already knew, but I hadn't started yet. I guess we better!

OB appointment - 02/23/07

TGIF. I am so tired. My back is still killing me, but my OB did give me a presciption for a massage a week for 12 weeks, so I just need to find a place that does pregnancy massages. I did ask her a bunch of questions (rather Jon did as he had the list) - one was about traveling (stay put after 30 weeks) and another was about the pelvic/vaginal pain I've been having of which she said is normal and perhaps the prenatal yoga DVD that I'm borrowing might help with that.

We asked about how often I would see her and will be once a month until 28 weeks, then it will be every 2 weeks, then at 32, it will be every week. Ultrasounds are every week. She wants me to make the ultrasound appointment for the same day I have my appointment with her (in 1 month exactly) so we can go over the results that day, but I need to see if they have a later appointments that day as my appointment with her right is at 8:30. I doubt they'll have anything, but I'll call once they open up again after lunch to check.

We heard the heartbeats and she said that both sound great and at one point, she could hear all three of our heartbeats which was interesting. I'm just so relieved to know that they are still growing away and perhaps one of them has moved a little bit but we won't know until the next ultrasound.

Oh, and I asked her about charlie horses in my leg and the hip pain I've been having. She said if the hip pain gets worse, I may end up going to physical therapy but I guess she doesn't think it is that bed yet though this morning not only did I have the hip pain on my left side that made it hard to walk, I had a charlie horse in my left calf. I hobbled to the bathroom with Jon's help. Man, I have never had this much cramping in my legs as I have had since I became pregnant!

I asked about that baby hugger and she said to try the bands first to see if that helps with the back, pelvic, and hip pain, so I need to go a maternity store this weekend to get one of those.

I think that's about it for today's appointment.

Well, that might be all about the appointment today.

It's almost Friday!

I didn’t end up going to that psychology class last night. My back was killing me and Jon reminded me that it will probably be on UWTV at some point (which past classes of this series are), so I’ll just wait and this way, as Jon said, we could watch it together. If it wasn’t free, I would have went though.

I will be going to tonight’s multiples class on breastfeeding though as I did pay to go to this one, and well, it will definitely be something I would like to learn more about.

Something I forgot to mention (at least, I think I did) was that I felt a little fluttering early Wednesday morning. It was so cool to feel that! I want to feel that more, but I haven’t. :-(

Tomorrow morning is my next OB appointment – I’m looking forward to it as I know she’ll probably let us hear their heartbeats again – and believe me, I’m anxious to hear that sound again. For some reason, I just can’t let myself believe that everything is going to be o.k. while at the same time making plans like we will be having two babies this summer. It’s odd to feel and act that way.

Today I had lunch with a friend of mine – she made the trek from Seattle to Issaquah to have lunch with me – that was very nice. We had a nice lunch and I’m sorry it had to end. She and another friend are planning a baby shower for me (so, so very nice of them) so I need to figure out the guest list. It seems like the last Saturday in April may be the date…maybe. I haven’t heard definitely.

18 weeks 6 days

18 weeks 6 days
Originally uploaded by heathercim.

I'm actually going to share a picture with my face in it! See how happy I am! :-D

Random Stuff

Well, today, my back is just killing me. I get up to walk around and walking from my office to the nearby Barnes & Noble and wandering around there for a bit made my feet hurt. I cannot win, but I should not complain since I've wanted to be pregnant for so long. I cannot wait to go to the OB's office on Friday - perhaps she can give me a referral to see a massage therapist. :-D

Other than that, one thing that I've noticed is that my innie belly button seems to be all squished that I'm wondering if my innie will become an outie.

This morning, vanpool girl gave me copies of her Pregnancy magazine to have and a copy of her Prenatal Yoga DVD to borrow - perhaps that will help with my back issues so I may try it tonight. Then when I got in this morning, a coworker gave me this book and this one - they seem cute and funny. That was sweet of her.

That reminds me - people are so friendly with you when you are pregnant. I haven't had any strangers want to touch my belly but people I know have (which is o.k. I guess). The shirt I'm wearing today really shows off a pregnant belly so people are extra chatty and friendly today. And I've gotten some gifts already and I haven't had a baby shower yet - I got those books today and some outfits from another person in my vanpool.

Anyway, tomorrow night I'm going to this Psychology lecture at UW about infants - that should be interesting. Then on Thursday is the next multiples class - this one on Breastfeeding. Last week, Jon went with me to the Preventing Preterm Labor & Birth class and it freaked both of us out a bit. Now I touch my belly even more to see if I can tell if it is contracting. There was one night I'm pretty sure I felt contractions as it woke me up and I could feel the tightening, but I haven't really felt them since. This reminds me of an article I read this morning of a baby born around 22 weeks that survived and is heading home soon - unbelievable!

19 weeks!!!

Wow – can you believe that I’m 19 week pregnant? I can’t. Since doctors don’t like twin pregnancies going beyond 38 weeks, I guess you could say I’m halfway through this pregnancy. That’s just unbelievable to me!

Well, this weekend was another busy one. On Saturday, my husband and I started our baby registry. I’m sure I’m missing something and some things we put on there are things that we plan to get ourselves – we just wanted to keep track of the things that we thought we needed or wanted and this seemed like a good way to do it. We probably added things we didn’t need either (if my friends want to look at my registry – just go to Babies*”R*Us and type in my last name – maybe you can tell me what I’m missing and what I should take off).

Anyway, we were at the store for about 2 hours – I am so glad that they have those glider chairs in the store so I could have a break from all the walking! My feet are already starting to look swollen, so I don’t need them getting too much worse this soon in the pregnancy. And it didn’t help that I woke up that morning with a huge cramp in my leg after I stretched – OUCH!!! It was fun though – something I’ve been wanting to do for so long and I finally get to do it.

Before the registry fun, we went to go look at a crib that one of the professor’s at Jon work has. Perhaps those of you might like to provide your opinion – how old is too old of a crib to get? This one is 8 years old. I would really prefer a more recent one than that – say within the last 2-3 years. Is this a ridiculous way to think? My sister has a crib too – that, I believe, is a little older than this one and I like hers better than this one, but like I said, I’d like a newer one (and preferably one that converts to a toddler bed and I do like white). There is a multiples group sale here in March and another one in April, so I think we may go to those and see what we can find there.

After the registry fun, we went to visit Jon’s family in Tacoma and they took us out to dinner and we got our late Christmas presents from Jon’s brother who lives in San Diego with his family. My in-laws brought the gifts back from them when they were visiting their son and his family in San Diego. We got a couple more outfits for the babies and a book for them. Then I got a maternity sweater (which came in handy that day as the temperature and the weather changed for the worse later in the day) and a necklace, while Jon got a B&N gift card.

Then on Sunday, I went to a baby shower for a support group member. We went to this restaurant on a golf course in Renton for brunch. It was quite nice. There were women there completely shocked that of the 4 of us present that were pregnant, 3 of us were pregnant with twins. They probably wouldn’t be so shocked if they knew all of us did IVF to get pregnant. It was a bit awkward when someone asked me and another friend how we knew the woman we were showering as we didn’t know who she has told and who she hasn’t. We told them we knew each other from a women’s support group. It was fun to finally be able to enjoy a baby shower rather than dreading it.

This weekend seemed so very short since I didn’t have that much time at home (and I’m at work now – no holiday for me today). :-(

Update

I spoke to the doctor yesterday afternoon and she said that marginal insertion of the umbilical cord is common. They will just monitor the babies closely (as they would with twins) to make sure both are getting the nutrition they need. She said that sometimes they do not even know of this type of insertion until after the placenta is delivered. She told me to try not to worry.

I do feel better after talking to her and after e-mailing a doctor friend. I'm not so much freaking out now.

I wanted to ask my OB about the pain I feel down in my crotch (sorry for using that word), but she called when I was in the vanpool so that question will just have to wait until I see her next Friday.

In other news, I'm not certain, but I may have felt them (or one of them) move. It didn't feel like tickling like I've heard it described as. It just felt like some type of rolling - but the thing is, I also felt it in my back. Hmm, I just wish I knew for sure.

Freaking out again...

First, some good news. My friend from my support group who is adopting shared the news that their baby boy was born on Monday, February 12. I am so incredibly happy for them!

Now - this is not necessarily bad news, but it is freaking me out. I got a voice mail from my OB yesterday - unfortunately, I was meeting with HR at the time, so I missed the call - she said that everything looks fine with both babies except Twin A (our baby girl), her umbilical cord is inserted to the marginal area of the placenta rather than the central area. She said there is nothing to be concerned about, but they will keep an eye on her weight gain as the pregnancy progresses. I left a message for my OB to call me back as I have additional questions about this. I know she said to not be concerned, but how could I not? I want both of my babies to be healthy!

In other news, I talked to HR yesterday about maternity leave. The nice thing about my place of employement is that I get a full 13 weeks paid time off (1 of those weeks is from vacation or sick time). I will get full paid during that time. If I was put on bedrest for any reason, maternity leave would start at that time. If 13 weeks passes and I want more time off before my doctor releases me and I don't have vacation or sick time to use, then I will get paid 60% until the doctor releases me to come back to work. That seems really nice - if only I could get more because I'm having twins! ;-D

Also, Nickie and I were talking about this the other day of whether my employer offers private room to use the breast pump, and they do, so that's also a good thing (though one of the rooms listed doesn't seem very private to me).

Well, that's all for today. Perhaps I'll post again once I hear from the doctor.

BabyBoy

BabyBoy
Originally uploaded by heathercim.

Can you tell it is a boy?

BabyBoyProfile

BabyBoyProfile
Originally uploaded by heathercim.

A profile shot of our son!

BabyGirl

BabyGirl
Originally uploaded by heathercim.

THE shot.

BabyGirlProfile

BabyGirlProfile
Originally uploaded by heathercim.

A profile shot of our daughter!

Drum Roll Please....

It's a girl...and a boy!!! I'll post the ultrasound pics as soon as I can.

We got there a little before 8 and met with a woman who is handling a study run through the hospital. I went ahead and chose to be a part of this study on hypertension since it didn't really involve anything additional from me (well, not much anyway). Just as soon as that meeting was over, we were called back for our ultrasound. I was so excited!!!

After visiting the bathroom (as is my favorite hobby these days), we were on our way with the ultrasound. The gel was nice and warm (that is very much appreciated). She showed us both babies quickly just to show they were still there I guess, then she started the measurements of the baby off to my right side. Everything is looking good with this baby. She eventually got to the private parts area and she seemed pretty sure it was a girl. While she was measuring our baby girl (sounds so awesome to say that), our baby boy (we would eventually find out) was moving around so much that he was getting in the way a little bit of the measurements of the girl. Perhaps they were kicking each other or playing footsies in the womb. :-)

After measuring the girl, she moved to the baby nearby my belly button. He was laying transverse with his feet nearby our girl's feet. He is also measuring at what he should be by 18 weeks. The ultrasound person moved the wand around and I could have sworn I saw little boy parts, and then the ultrasound person said that this one is a boy.

We will have a son and a daughter! :-D I am so happy!!! This weekend, my husband and I plan to put together our registry (and after Nickie's help yesterday, it doesn't seem so overwhelming - thanks Nickie!, and buy another crib, car seats, and other items that we won't be putting on our registry. I'm looking forward to it!

Oh, one more thing about the ultrasound appointment. Their beds are so freaking hard. When I got out of the bed, it felt like my hips were going to break. It hurt to walk. I could barely walk without one of my legs (usually the left) giving out on me. Not fun. I had to sit down on the way to the car. Things seem better now.

In other news, for lack of a better way to describe it - I feel like I've been riding a bike with a very hard seat for many, many miles. It might appear that I have this. I plan to talk to my doctor about it when I see her next Friday.

This past Saturday, I also had the mom-to-be massage. The back massage part of the massage was very nice. He had me lay on my left side, then my right. I don't know if I liked the leg part of the massage though only because it kinda hurt the way he was doing it. I did get past that it was a guy doing the massage - there are plusses and minuses to having a man doing the massage. I do want another one and I don't care if it is a man or woman doing the massage. I do, however, wish that I could be on my belly because I think massages are much better that way. Oh well! It was still good.

Well, that's all for today. I think that's plenty. :-D We are going to have a son and a daughter!!! Can you tell how excited I am???

Weekend & Dad Update

Well, today I’ve been feeling a little down. I have no idea why. I just know that I have plenty to do – this weekend is going to be a busy one. I’m picking up the crib (and maybe changing table) that are both be given to me for free on Saturday (thankfully, a friend with a bigger car than mine is willing to help out) – I wasn’t sure how I felt about a changing table, but it’s free! I can’t pass up free barely used baby furniture!

After that, I need to drop off my tax information at a friend’s place who graciously offered to look it over to make sure I didn’t make any mistakes (which is entirely possible) – I’m a little anxious about the medical expenses part (and for some reason, I forgot about the cost of the two IUIs that we did last year that could be included with the IVF expenses). I need to put a few things together for that, but there is a draft that’s done. Then after that, it’s time for my mom-to-be massage – yay!!! Finally, after my massage,, Jon and I may go out to celebrate our 11 years of being a couple (11 years on Sunday – 9 years ago he proposed to me) and to celebrate Valentine’s Day a bit early as we always do. We’ll see how I feel after that massage!

Then on Sunday, I believe I’m getting together with a couple fellow bloggers – plans have yet to be finalized. I had thought about going to IKEA this weekend, but that looks like it will need to wait until next Saturday – this weekend just got too full. After the Sunday afternoon time with the fellow bloggers, I’m going to a friend’s birthday party.

Somehow this weekend I need to remember to buy a baby shower gift for the baby shower I’m going to next weekend for a friend from my support group, and get that 6 inch piece of fabric for the quilt for another friend from my support group who’s adopting (I am so anxious to hear from the latter friend as any day now her baby will be born – I’m also anxious about the first friend as she chose to keep the sex of her baby a surprise so I can’t wait to see what she’ll have – she’s due in March).

Last night’s class was interesting. We watched another video. This time, thankfully, there was no delivery of the placenta shown and this time it was a twin birth. It was an o.k. video. The teacher also talked about some things that she already went over last week, so I’m not sure why the two classes were split like they were other than to get more money from people. I can’t really remember anything interesting about the class last night except for there will be many, many people in the delivery room with a twin birth. So many people – which really shouldn’t surprise me, but it did a little. Next week is all about preventing pre term labor and birth.

Yay – I just got news that my dad gets to come home today!!! Hopefully, for good this time and there will be no more hospital stays!!!

Well, that’s all for today! I probably won’t write again on this blog this weekend, but we’ll see how the weekend goes. This coming Monday at 8 a.m. is my ultrasound – have I mentioned that before? ;-D
I can’t wait!!!

Oh, I forgot to mention that when I was talking to my dad earlier, he mentioned he had a dream that I gave birth to my twins and there was one boy and one girl, but then he went on to say that in a 1 ½ years, I will give birth to yet another baby. Yikes! That’s great that I could get pregnant on my own without any medical intervention, but that would too many kids under 2!

Nice Surprise & Other Tidbits of Info

Today brought a little surprise. I got an e-mail from vanpool girl who knew of someone who was looking to give their barely used crib away for free because they had to move quickly. Not only that, but she said she might have a changing table too. And the crib is white and that is what I was looking for. So we are going to pick it up on Saturday (maybe – if we can find someone with a bigger car than ours to help us get it home). I haven’t actually seen a picture of the crib, but it’s free and if we don’t like it, then we can take it to Goodwill or something. I would like it if we only had to buy one crib. I had thought I wanted to get brand new cribs, but I can’t pass up a barely used free crib. I just hope we can find a way to get it home – she said it won’t fit in my Honda Civic and that’s the only car we have.

This Saturday is my mom-to-be massage. I’m very much looking forward to it, though I almost did forget about it because I’m so anxious about Monday’s ultrasound.

Tonight’s multiples class is about “birth of multiples”. Hopefully, it is more about multiples birth than last week’s class.

I was over at Costco and Old Navy the other day, and they both have the cutest outfits. I wanted to get a couple of the outfits at Costco, but since we don’t know what we’re having yet, I’m waiting.

My dad is still in the hospital. When I talked to him yesterday, he said he might be able to come home tomorrow, but it depended on how he reacted to the drugs. Hopefully, he can come home tomorrow.

Well, that’s all for today.

17!?!?!?

Remember that couple that has 16 kids...well, they're pregnant again.

Another Day Closer...

to seeing my wigglers again! Yay! :-D

Just a couple comments on comments I've received:

Regarding day care and who will watch the twins when Jon and I go back to work. I would love it if I could find someone to come my home - that would be the ideal situation if I wasn't able to be with them. Unfortunately, I don't think an au pair would work for us since we don't have that big of a house - the au pair wouldn't really have her own private space. My brother will be in the downstairs room, but he will have to share that space with us as our washing machine and dryer are down there and with our kitties as that is where their litter boxes are. I think my brother is o.k. with this situation, but I don't know if an au pair would be. Otherwise, I would be definitely looking into that further.

I'm not sure when I have time to meet people - which is one reason I'm nervous about the day care thing because when are we going to be able to do this while getting other things prepared and my husband in classes? I plan to join the couple multiples groups in the area, so maybe they will be able to give some suggestions. A friend has offered to watch them, but who knows what will happen in between now and then. It won't be until possibly end of September or October before we will need someone to watch them. It would be great if we lived closer to my mother-in-law as she said she would watch them for free. I'm hoping that maybe she would be willing to come up to us for a little while to watch them if we need her to.

If I can't find someone to come to my home, I would like an in-home day care close by my home or near my work or my husband's work. My employer has a program through one of the community colleges nearby my work, so we may check that out to see if that might be an option.

Well, anyway, we really do need to get started on looking at places just so we can weed out the bad ones and see what the prices are out there. It's just not going to be a fun time.

Taken February 4, 2007

Taken February 3, 2007
Originally uploaded by heathercim.

16 weeks 6 days

Taken January 28, 2007

Taken January 28, 2007
Originally uploaded by heathercim.

15 weeks 3 days

So Many Things...

warning: rambling post ahead

I have so many things on my mind and so many things I need to do - I really would like a couple days off work to get some things done but I also want to save my vacation for any extra time off with the babies. UGH!

So one thing I know we need to do is start looking into day cares. I don't want to do this. I just want to have someone I already know and trust take care of them. I wish I could stay home until they were 1 or so or at least, work part-time, but that just isn't a possibility. So many people have told me to start looking now especially since we are looking a place that could take twins.

Another thing, of which we have more time, is getting the baby room ready, but that means finishing clearing out stuff in that room to make way for the baby furniture. I also need to get some other stuff ready for when my brother comes to live with us for a bit. Once we know the gender of the babies, we plan to go buy some furniture and also, start a baby registry at a couple different places.

Speaking of baby registries, I need to go buy a shower gift - the shower isn't until the 18th so a bit more time. One of my friends is adopting and is asking for 6 inches pieces of fabric that will be combined with others to make a quilt. I need to find some fabric sometime very soon.

I need to complete our taxes (of which I hope we are getting money back - all that money spent on IVF and the drugs for IVF will certainly help with that).

And I'm incredibly anxious about Monday's u/s. With all the stuff I need to do, I still want to skip to Monday so we know (hopefully). Most of all, I hope that they are both doing really well. One of the ladies I chat with at work had her baby yesterday via C-section(the baby was breech) - 8 pounds 4 ounces. I can't wait to see pictures!

Then my dad still being in the hospital. I might be going to Spokane the last weekend in February right after my OB appointment on the 23rd (if the weather cooperates). I hope he's not still in the hospital then. I'm just going for a visit since it seems like forever since I've been over there. I think the last time was June 2006. That reminds me of a couple things - one, my youngest brother (not the one coming to live with me) is graduating from high school this year and I doubt I'll be going to his graduation since I could be having babies around that time. I'm kinda sad to miss it. The other thing is that I might be having a baby shower over Easter weekend in Spokane - I'm sure it's o.k., but still I wonder how far along can one be and still be o.k. to travel. I'll be nearly 26 weeks by then.

I must sound frantic - I do feel a little frantic, but I'm really not that stressed about most of these things quite yet as there still is some time - quite some time. I just need to make sure I do something each night or I will be really frantic if I wait until the last minute. These are just all the things I've been thinking about.

Tonight, I hope to post some belly pictures...

One more week...

until we hopefully find out the gender of our two little babies!!! I can't wait!

Over the weekend, I went to go see a movie (Pan's Labrynth - it was good (but also very violent)), did some shopping (clothing & groceries), and watched the Super Bowl (which was alright - I didn't really care who won this year. There were much better refs this year as opposed to last year, that's for sure. There were a few good commercials, but not many).

Also this weekend, early Saturday morning, I went to stretch my whole body - that was a bad idea. I got the worst leg cramp I have ever had. I woke up screaming it hurt so bad. My poor husband wondered what was wrong and I told him and he got out of bed to massage it. Such a sweetie! Before that, I had trouble sleeping because I thought I was going to throw up. I think it was because I ate too many greasy things the prior day, and I really should avoid eating such things. And today was the first day in a long time I've woken up without a headache - I think it might be all the water I drank yesterday while sitting on the couch watching the game and being lazy.

Well, that's all for today. I keep meaning to put my belly pictures onto my computer so I can show everyone, but I've been lazy or I haven't had the time. Maybe tonight though I have some errands to run that I didn't get around to doing this past weekend.

Class # 2 - Labor Prep.

So last night, I went to the 2nd class in the 5 class series (though it is really 6 since there is a preventing preterm birth class too). This class was about labor preparation. She didn't focus too much on having twins - she said she would talk more about that next time - but she did talk about it a little such as when the doctors would do a C-Section rather than a vaginal birth (of which my OB already informed me of).

She then showed us a video of women giving birth. The birth part was interesting though amazing that babies come out that way and these women did it without an epidural (of which apparently OBs would really recommend with a twin birth because of the possible complications involved - though I can't imagine doing this without an epidural even if it was just one baby in there). After the birth of the singleton baby, the mother then had to deliver the afterbirth and all I have to say is I didn't need to see that. I really didn't. And I get to do push out the afterbirth twice (assuming vaginal birth)! Yay!

Hmm, what else? After the video, she was showing us labor positions and breathing exercises of which we got to try out with our partner except I didn't have a partner - wow, did I feel awkward at that point. I did manage to find positions I could do without a partner, so it wasn't all too bad. Sitting on the ball was a fun position. A person in my van (vanpool girl) said that if I wanted her to, she would be my partner for the next class but I don't know if I need someone for the next one though I didn't think I would need anyone last night either. I was the only one there without a partner too.

Then after that, she talked a bit more about labor and delivery then had the men and women split up to write down what would things the male partner (or female) could say or do to the pregnant woman while she is in labor and things that they shouldn't say or do. The guys seemed to be having a good time with their list. After we compiled our lists, we shared with one another. Some things the guys came up with were don't ask when this will all be over because you're missing the game or what's for dinner. Tell her that she is doing well and beautiful and don't eat in front of her. We came with the last one as well as just be supportive physically and emotionally. Don't take things personally. Some other things I can't remember.

Then the last item of the night was one of the women showing us her "baby hugger" and how it worked. She said that it has made so much difference for her (she's at 28 weeks). Has anyone else used this or heard of someone who had? Did they like it? It looks silly, but it does look like it might help.

Update on my dad

My dad as an official diagnoses of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. What I understand now is that they are continuing the treatment that they are on right now. When he leaves the hospital, maybe in 4-5 days or so, he will be given oral medications to help with this. Hopefully, the medications do their job and he will be able to avoid dialysis.

(I have a post I want to write about the class last night, but that will be a little later - maybe at lunchtime).

Is it Friday yet?

Tonight's multiples class that I'm going to is all about labor preparation with multiples. It's too bad that Jon can't go, but I did switch it knowing that he couldn't (and he also said I could as long as I took good notes).

Regarding the massage, I'm sure it will be alright. I was comfortable with the chiropractor being a guy (I was more nervous about the back popping part than the chiropractor being a guy) and although that's not quite the same thing, I'm sure I'll be o.k. with the massage person being a guy. It's just that I've never gone to a guy before, so it will be different.

Regarding the pain in the abdomen, the pain was maybe a little below the belly button - somewhere around there. And it happens (at least the two times it has happened) when I'm sitting down at my desk. The doctor did tell me about round ligament pain, so maybe that's what this is?

And speaking of abdomens, last night, I was either dreaming or actually feeling like my tummy was getting hard then loosening. I might have been dreaming as I was just talking about Braxton Hicks earlier in the day.

Last night, I put the body pillow in a different place and my lower back was feeling better this morning and I didn't have any hip spasms like I've been having (which the doctor mentioned could be sciatica(sp?)), so maybe that's the place for the pillow to be. Although, I still ended up on my back a few times but not as much as before. My upper back did still hurt this morning though.

And with my dad - I haven't heard anything today and I'm not sure if should call him or not as he probably doesn't want to talk on the phone and I'm not sure if my mom is there or not. I might try to call later before my class tonight.