The Thirty-First Week

Thirty weeks, two days today, and miraculously, there are not a lot of changes to report. It's been a pretty good, if busy, few days. My nurses have really been a lot of fun, and I'm feeling more secure than in my last post.

poppies from Laurie

a little pretty goes a long way

the 30-week growth scan

On Thursday, we had our latest ultrasound. It had been 3 weeks since the last one, and I was anxious to see the boys and how they were faring. Sadly, there won't be any pics to share... it's just too crowded in there. I didn't even get a clear glimpse at their profiles.

Zeus (whose membranes are ruptured) has gone from 2 pounds to 2 pounds, 12 ounces. He's just a little peanut, in the 24th percentile. I'm hoping for a little bump for him between now and the birth, since I've started taking some supplements that have been shown to enhance the function of the placenta.

Oden went from 2 pounds, 6 ounces all the way up to 3 pounds 5. A pound in 3 weeks! He's in the 50-something percentile for his size and age.

The doctors also looked at fluid levels. We clearly anticipated low fluid for Baby A, since the sack hasn't (yet) repaired itself, but there was almost nothing to measure. It shook me a little, thinking of my sweet boy tucked away in the womb, surrounded by his collapsed sack.

fancy soap, books and other distractions help!

how can Zeus continue to gestate without fluid??

There have been some questions about this, so let me address the situation to the best of my ability without turning to Dr. Google. When the bag of waters ruptures preterm (before 34 weeks), and there is no sign of infection or labor, the pregnancy is allowed to continue. If the baby/ies are past 24 weeks, their lung development is finished, although the lungs are not yet mature, and apparently the presence of amniotic fluid is most important when the lungs are still developing.

The baby/ies receive all of their nutrition, blood, and oxygen through the umbilical cord, so this is why they are monitored on a daily basis by both non-stress tests and doppler; if the umbilical cord is compressed, they will detect a deceleration of the heartbeat. If this were to happen (a prolonged decel) while I was being monitored, they would just keep us on the monitors longer to determine if the baby was in distress. Fetal distress would be one of the reasons for an immediate delivery.

So, the amniotic fluid at this gestational age is not critical to the baby's development. Because it is replenished every time the baby pees (did you know that amniotic fluid is mostly baby pee at this age??), Zeus does have increases in his fluid levels, allowing him to flex and stretch his limbs and build his muscle.

I was also told this week that babies who have been "stressed" like Zeus and even Oden have before they are born early are for the most part stronger and more resilient than preterm babies born my surprise.

things necessary for a long stay in the hospital:

good lip balm, hydration for the body and the sinuses

things to anticipate

Yesterday I had my maternity portraits done here in my hospital room. I'm really excited to see the resulting photos. That should happen sometime this week.

Tonight, my sis is coming to spend the night, which is always welcome. She went to the Portland Farmer's Market today to get the lambskin I've been wanting for the babies, so I can't wait to see that, and as an extra bonus, she'll be able to take me on a 30-minute wheelchair ride. As long as it's not too hot, we'll go out to one of the terraces that overlooks the whole city and faces Mounts Hood and St. Helen's.

Our friend Miriam just sent out a box, containing in part a belly cast kit, which we'll probably do either this week or next. I'd like to wait for for the first week in August, but if there's any indication that I could deliver next week, we'll try to get it done. She suggested that a photo be taken of the boys in the belly of the cast after they're born, and then again at a year. Sounds really cool to me, thanks Mir!

My mom is coming out a week from tomorrow for several days, so that's a major excitement. She's never been to Oregon, so although she'll be here at the hospital for much of her visit, I hope she gets to see something of this amazing and beautiful place. The same week, my friend Julie is going to be coming through, so it's going to be a ton of fun.

As for me, I have a work deadline this week, plus I'm striving to finish writing a bunch of thank you cards and get some knitting started and completed! Oh, yeah, and the small thing of keeping myself pregnant, which no doubt will involve spending most of my time lying on one side or another in bed. But we're not really thinking about that part.

In terms of hospital life, I don't think we have any special testing this week. Just keeping on keeping on is the plan.

baby-related task for tomorrow:
choose baby announcement design from Oblation and figure out wording.

Work it, Zeus!

In lieu of belly pics, here are some of the ultrasound pictures from last Thursday. Unfortunately, they're only of Zeus, as Oden is positioned in such a way that it's impossible to get his face anymore. I've done some generous cropping, because some of these 3-D images are just plain creepy!

nose and mouth

hand

all about the boys

I realize I'm getting behind in my posts... Tracy posted about her baby shower she had over the weekend (congrats, T - looks like you had a fabulous time!) and I still haven't posted about mine, which was what - a month ago?? So, in an attempt to stay current, I'm going to do this post just about the boys!

Over the past week, Zeus and Oden have been getting a lot more active - or at least I'm feeling it more. A couple of nights ago, as I was trying to go to sleep, it was like a game of Simon in my belly! Bleep, bloop, bloop, bleep - there were kicks in all four corners! It was pretty funny, actually, until it started to resemble something more akin to Riverdance. I was actually worried for a while that something was wrong, in there, the action was so rapid.

The boys start getting active late in the afternoon, though now I feel them throughout the day. Yesterday evening, I was sitting on the couch and actually saw my belly move with a kick! I think it was Zeus, but they change positions so much, it's fairly impossible to tell.

They're growing really quickly now. Between weeks 24 and 26, they're each going to be gaining a whole pound! It's pretty hard to believe, and even harder to imagine what it's going to be like for the next four months or so... our close friend Amanda is 36 weeks with her twin girls now, and looking at the photos of her belly over the course of 8 months is... wow... astonishing! She looks absolutely fabulous, but those growing babies really do take up a lot of room.

The doctor didn't measure me when I was in on Friday, but when I was in 2 weeks prior, I was measuring about 5 weeks ahead. I'm curious how many cm I am now, for sure.

Here are some of the scans from Friday - at 23w1d. The tech did try to get us some 3D shots, but they boys are so cramped in there, we didn't get any that were really clear. Kind of a shame, since that was probably our only shot of having those (slightly creepy) 3D scans of the boys. It's alright... not too much longer and we can look at them in full color!

two heads are better than one...
look at Zeus' fingers up near his head! Cute!
Pay no attention to their positions...
by the time we got to the doctor's office, they had completely switched.

Poor little Oden - we never get clear scans of his profile.
This one's pretty good, though!

I'm a real boy!
This is Zeus - it's so amazing to see him like this -
really looking like a baby in there, now!

23 weeks!

With only one more week to go until the boundary of viability outside the womb (forgive the cheesy reference - all the others that came up quickly were about abortion!), things are going well! The boys are became more active in the past week... or at least I became more able to perceive their activity! Now I can feel them both moving and kicking and poking at the same time, making it so that sometimes I can have my hands on both sides of the bump and feel them. It's such a reassuring, wonderful sensation. I still feel confident that they'll stay put well into the upper 30-weeks.

Tomorrow I'm meeting again with MFM at OHSU. They're repeating the high level ultrasound first, which should take about 90 minutes. They claim they have a 4D ultrasound, which while I was on the Cape, I was told didn't even exist... so I'm curious to see what we're going to see on the screen. I have a feeling Zeus (A) is still head-down - I think I feel his hands right at the base of my uterus and his feet up top, while Oden (B) is perhaps head-down along my right side. I feel his feet more on the side... or maybe it's his hands. At any rate, I'm curious to see how they're positioned now.

As for me, the past week was more comfortable than the previous. I think I got used to the expanded size - it's now easier to turn over in bed. I am not, however, able to stay on my back for very long anymore. The boys seem to put more pressure on my diaphragm, making me feel pretty breathless. When I lay on my sides, the boy on the bottom frequently pushes out against the pressure beneath him... it's pretty cool. Heartburn continues to be an issue, and I'm getting a new round of nausea. Fortunately, being treated by a very able chiropractor is helping a lot - especially my hips... Thanks Korin!

And now, without further ado: my 23w belly -

popular demand

Look - PHOTOS!

Here you have it - 21w, 3d! Not the "traditional"side-view style photo we've been getting, but we were out and about today with our hosts, and Laurie and Phil, when Laurie captured me, Maria and Swatchy waiting for breakfast.


Finally, here are Zeus and Oden (new gestational names, compliments of Maria!), from their 20 week ultrasound. Alpha put on the better show that day, and we were lucky to capture a really cool still of him with his two wee hands up near his face:


And here's Beta... in a not-so-glamorous profile pic. You probably have to be an ultrasound tech to discern his little face...


Here's the shackteau - the little cabin we're staying in at our friends' house:

I stole this last one from Laurie's camera, so if you see it repeated on her blog, you'll know why!

That's a wrap for tonight - these babies are kicking, now that mama's sitting down, and it's making me have to pee!