35 weeks! I love that we are getting closer and closer to the 38 week mark (how far my dr. will let me go). Each day that passes is a good day for the babies and will hopefully ensure they don’t see too much NICU time, or maybe any at all. At 35 weeks, babies normally have good lung function which is one of the final things to develop in babies in utero, so I feel really good that I am at the tail end of week 35 right now.
As far as how I’ve been feeling – heartburn is still pretty bad and I am definitely becoming more uncomfortable. If I’m not sitting upright and indian style I feel like the babies don’t have enough room and they push against my lungs. They’re also still moving a lot and kick and move around pretty much all day. It’ll be weird not to experience it anymore! Sleep is becoming more difficult, mainly from heartburn, but I feel really lucky I can sleep in longer on days where I don’t sleep well at night. I really think having a flexible schedule has helped with this pregnancy so much because I’ve been able to rest when I need to, or nap when I feel super tired, and I’m super thankful.
If all goes well, we will be meeting these babies at the beginning of week 38, which is Nov 16th-ish. But, things can go wrong with pregnancy, so it may be earlier than that, but we’re crossing our fingers we make it till then. 38 weeks seemed like it would never, ever happen when we first found out we were having twins, and even if it doesn’t, I’m really happy to have made it this far!
35 weeks
The twins: According to my baby app, they’re about the size of small spaghetti squash’s, are about 18.2″ long and weigh about 5.3lbs each. But, according to my Maternal Fetal Medicine scan we had on Tuesday, baby B is 4.7lbs and baby A is 5.1lbs. This puts baby B in the 5th percentile, and baby A in the 20th, which means we will have to start going back weekly to make sure baby A is growing okay/getting enough nourishment from the placenta. The MFM told us that it’s really common for twins, or at least one of them, to fall off the growth curve (they use a single baby growth curve) at some point during pregnancy, so we aren’t too surprised by this, but we still wish he was bigger! The scans I’ll be getting each week now (probably only 2 before they’re born) are called Biophysical Profiles (BPP). During a BPP five components are evaluated including muscle tone, body movements, breathing motion, amniotic fluid volume, and the NST (non-stress test that measures the babies heart beats and contractions). Two points are awarded for each of the components for a possibility of 10/10 points.
Baby positions: On Tuesday we also found out both babies are breech. This is not what we wanted to see since I really want a natural birth with these twins, and we need the baby closest to the cervix to be head down for that to happen. If they remain breech, we’re looking at a c-section. So, in the meantime, I’ve been doing some inversions from spinningbabies.com and going to my chiropractor weekly to see if we can make more room for these stubborn babies to flip! If not, It’s just not meant to be. I also finally gave in and tried the inversion board Mitch bought, and it wasn’t too bad. The first day I tried it, it wasn’t that bad, but last night it was awful because I had heartburn and that’s just not an ideal position for that haha
What I’m eating: My appetite has definitely gone downhill even more this week. Just like in the first few months of this pregnancy, certain meats sound awful, especially chicken. I am just not that hungry throughout the day, and few things sound good to me. I still love honey crisp apples and almond butter and this week I started craving coconut whipped cream, so made a batch and eat it with berries. So yummy!
Swelling: My fingers started swelling a little and I took off my engagement ring. I can’t get my two wedding bands off though! My feet and calves are still a little swollen at times, but nothing too bad. My blood pressure was a little high at both my appointments this week (134/92, 134/82) so I’m not too surprised I am starting to notice more swelling.
Wearing: Same things, and just like last week, I’m pretty sick of everything I am wearing. Target tanks, maternity jean shorts, workout clothes (lularoe black leggings are pretty comfy since they’re really thin and stretchy) and two of my dresses still fit 😉
Looking forward to: Meeting the two babies! At our ultrasound on Tuesday we saw that baby B has hair, so I can’t wait to see! I’ve never talked about it on the blog, but it’ll be so fun to see if either or both of the babies has my red hair. I don’t know how excited Mitch is about ginger babies, but there’s a 50/50 chance:)
Sleep: Sleep has gotten progressively worse over the past couple of weeks. I feel SO lucky that it’s taken this long to go downhill, and it could be worse, but it’s annoying. I am usually up 4ish times a night to go to the bathroom or to eat more of my heartburn tablets, and it’s getting more uncomfortable to move from side to side. My heartburn was so bad the other night that I had to get up and get some milk, which actually helped so much. It’s my new go-to if the tablets don’t work.
Names: The same. I filled out their birth certificate info this week, so it’s pretty official now!
Bump: I am sure it’s getting bigger, and definitely takes different shapes throughout the day when the babies move. They still move SO much, and you can really tell where they are by looking at my belly now.
Exercise: The same – just walking June bug each day once or twice. We are suspending our gym membership starting 11/15, so my goal is to go a couple of times before then just to get some good stretching in and do some arm weights and squats. I definitely get braxton hicks contractions when I walk June, but nothing too painful, and they go away as soon as I’m done walking.
Baby purchases: I don’t think I’ve gotten them anything this week – but my friend got us the cutest little animal blankets and onesies. Thanks miss Alex! I also realllly want these Hannah Anderson swaddle blankets.
Nursery: Done – check out the nursery post here! I got their car seats out this week so they’re ready to go, and the mamaroo, so the nursery is pretty cluttered right now.
Hospital bags: Packed and ready to go – just need to add toiletries when the time comes. My dr. told me to bring my hospital bag to each appointment now in case I would need to head to the hospital immediately following one of my appointments in the coming weeks. Crazy!
What’s next: We have the BPP scan on Tuesday and I go back to the OB on Wednesday. I also go see the chiropractor today.
Weight gain: I gained 3 lbs this past week, bringing me to 35 lbs gained. I’m happy with this since last week I didn’t gain any!
Stretch marks: None so far 🙂
Worries? Not really – I have faith that the babies, or baby, will turn if they are supposed to. I really don’t want a c-section, for lots of reasons, but if that’s what ends up happening we will roll with it.
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