Expecting the Unexpected: 33 week update

Oh me, oh my as Eloise would say! This mama is feeling gigantic....that is pretty much the only word to describe the massive growth I have experienced in the past few weeks.  I am 33 weeks & 4 days today just trucking along as well as I can! This picture was taken on Sunday when we were headed to lunch. My mom was outside with the girls on the other side of the driveway. She said that it seemed like it was such a long time between when she saw my belly & then my face. She was laughing hard. It's unreal & I am definitely thankful we are nearing the end of this pregnancy!

We have had a couple visits a week the past two weeks but no major findings to report so I have been laying low & not blogging. I figured I would save it all up for today. Last week, I maxed out at the most I have ever weighed in my life making my total gain = 46 pounds. My fundal height was 49cm at 32 weeks. When Dr Peppy went to measure I heard Robby say "It's like Everest!" Haha! I agree. More about the belly size later. 

Today we were at the hospital for a sonogram with BPP, Dopplers & growth assessment followed by an NST.  The end of this story is that I am home writing, not having babies today but..... the real end is near! 

Here are the findings from today: 

• Both passed BPPs with perfect scores
• Owen went from 2lb 15oz to 3lb 6oz
• Anson went from 3lb 15oz to 5lb 1oz
• Perfect Doppler studies 
• Monitoring revealed two happy boys with plenty of oxygen & wiggles
• I'm contracting a LOT but what's new? ; ) 

We LOVE the doctor that reviewed everything & visited with us today.  He was honest & funny...both of those are high on the list of necessary characteristics in my book for a doctor.  He said that the weights went from 25% difference back to 34%.  He would have expected each baby to gain about 20-25 grams per day over the past 20 days. At this rate they would have been 4lbs & 5lbs even.  As you can see from the weights that were found today, Anson did just that and more. Owen on the other hand only gained about 9 grams a day, less than half of what Anson grew.  He figured out the growth percentiles & Anson is at 66th while Owen has fallen off the bottom of the chart at less than 0 percentile. The percentile number with these guys basically means that at 33 weeks & 4 days, 66% of babies are smaller than Anson which means that Owen is at the WAY bottom. The good news is that even though he is small, he still gained a little bit & according to the rest of the testing/assessment he is showing no signs of distress.  This doctor said that his probable recommendation for delivery is 35 weeks on the dot which is next Friday March 8th. He will visit with his fetal medicine team about my case & contact Dr. Peppy for a final decision.  I went ahead and got another dose of the steroid to speed up lung maturity & get the 2nd (final) dose tomorrow. 

In the meantime, I am scheduled for another NST this Friday, the 1st, & a BPP & NST on Tuesday, the 5th.  At either of these visits if Owen starts to show signs of not tolerating being inside mommy, I would likely be admitted & delivered earlier.  

So, I wanted to include a few things that have made me laugh recently or things I just don't want to forget from this stage in pregnancy:

• The belly really IS gigantic. Here are some moments that I have been reminded of how I really look.... No matter where we go people stare & whisper about me. I have been oblivious of this for a bit but Rob & my mom always notice. Lately, I have caught people & it cracks me up! One guy at a restaurant was standing about 5 feet away facing the same direction at me. He kept trying to look to the side with his head straight...like 8 times. He looked horrified. At Panera the other day the guy at the checkout asked with a completely straight face if I would make it through lunch. I should have told him with a straight face that I probably wouldn't.  Last week at the MFM office was my favorite. The sonographer had completed her assessment but had me stay in a reclined position. There was a towel over my gel covered belly waiting to be removed by the doctor if he wanted to repeat any measurement.  He came in, said hello & then removed the towel. Keep in mind that this man sees pregnant bellies ALL DAY LONG.  He could not hide his shock when "Everest" was exposed. He said "wow" but not to me, to himself under his breath as he looked away. We laughed hard when he left the room. Robby tells me he feels sorry for me every day as I do a 5 point "turn" to get off the couch or out of bed groaning the whole way.  He sees me hobble around the house like a little old lady. When I change into PJs at night, he can't help but stare at my bare stretch marked belly saying "how on earth are can you grow any more?" He also says that he is going to wait until I am asleep & then going to write a message to Dr. Peppy on the underside of my belly where I can't see it. Thankfully, I have not had much of an issue with poor self image but if I had to be pregnant for 6 more weeks, I think I would head that way ; ) 
• We frequently try to imagine what life will be like after the boys are here & we have all these little people to care for. The lack of sleep is the first thing that comes to mind. We visited a friend who had a baby last week at the hospital & once were on the elevator going down we stopped at the 6th floor. A super tired looking Dad with a sweet pink baby band on his wrist got on & said "6th floor please." Then he realized he was on the 6th floor & said he would rather go to the 1st floor. I said "Not much sleep last night?" He replied "No" then glanced at my belly & said "If this is your first baby, get ready, it is SO HARD!" We just laughed & nodded.  Once we were all off the elevator & away from the zombie dad we burst into laughter.  Robby said "Get ready?? You are one night in...we are going on four years of no sleep man & there are 2 babies in there!!" I could not stop laughing! Yes, we have had great nights of sleep throughout our parenting but the bottom line is, it is NEVER guaranteed! 
• One of the most challenging & sometimes frustrating parts of this pregnancy is struggling to help care for the girls. I had no idea how physical taking care of them is at the ages of 1 & 3 until I had to do it with a 45 pound weight on my belly. There is much lifting, leaning down to help pick something (or some child)  & hauling off of children to discipline appropriately in their rooms.  My mom does an incredible job of handling most of the shenanigans around here involving the girls but there are some things that only Rob & I should have to handle so I jump into action when necessary & regret it later that day. I did lean down to give Eloise a hug recently & completely lost my balance & fell over backward onto Robby's feet. We all laughed & they lifted me off the ground : ) Eloise alone causes crazy amounts of contractions with her unexpected body slams or attempts to 

I think that is about it!  We are feeling GREAT to know that I should make it to 34 weeks & hopefully 35 weeks with decent sized babies who will not have to spend much time in the NICU if any. 

We still desire your prayers that Owen would pack on a little more weight before entering the world, that God would provide rest for our family leading up to the big day & that they would be healthy boys that can breathe well on their own once they are born & are naturally good little eaters.