IT’S GETTING CLOSER!!!

I hit 32 weeks on Sunday. We are SO excited, shocked, and terrified. Where did the time go?? Ah!

An update on me: Morning sickness FINALLY went away about 3 weeks ago! Tears of gratitude over here. That was so hard on me, both physically and emotionally. Even with all my chronic health issues, that tops the list. It has been wonderful to feel more like myself again and to really enjoy being pregnant. Although pregnancy brain has definitely kicked in…I’m kind of scatter brained, so forgive me if this is a disjointed post.

I love feeling my little girls move. They are strong kickers and they like to make their presence known to me. They’re still against being performing monkies though so not very many other people have been able to feel them move. The second I put someone’s hand on my belly, they stop. Jason has been able to trick them and has gotten to feel them a few times but most of the time they stop wiggling once someone else wants a turn. Silly girls.

They sure kept us on our toes during the month of December! As we were about to head home one night, I stood up, felt a rush, and thought “Dang it, I’m a real pregnant lady, I just wet my pants.” No…turns out it was blood. A lot of scary, bright red blood. We went straight to labor and delivery to get things checked out. As luck would have it, that morning we had had a routine ultrasound so we knew for sure that both babies had been perfectly healthy and moving like crazy only a few hours before hand, so that was comforting. We knew it was less likely to have a huge turn of events in such a short time. But that didn’t keep us from being nervous! Especially when the nurse found Ella’s heartbeat right away but couldn’t find Livi’s for a while.  They did find hers too and were able to put monitors on for both of them. We could see right away that they were just fine. But what was the deal with the blood?

The on call doctor happened to be Dr. Drewes, who we adore! We haven’t seen him during my pregnancy and not since my laproscopic surgery stuff a few years ago but we trust him and respect him. Having him on call was exactly what we needed to calm down. He came and talked to us and based off of everything, he was fairly certain I had a mild placental abruption. The name alone is frightening! In my case, it just meant that one of the placenta’s had separated a little from the uterus, causing the bleeding. Since the bleeding stopped almost immediately and the girls were doing so well Dr. Drewes was confident that it was a very mild separation. We stayed at the hospital for a few more hours but then I was discharged. Bed rest for the following day but unless the bleeding came back I was in the clear. We did make another emergency visit to the hospital about a week later to check on that but things have been fine since.

After that worrisome week, we had another echocardiogram to check on Ella. We are very pleased with the developments we’ve seen so far with her heart! This time we saw Dr. Su. He’s been with Primary’s Pediatric Cardiology for a long time and really knows his stuff. He will be directly involved for any surgeries Ella may have. It’s been nice to work with him as he’s making the surgical plans. He had really great news for us! Basically, Ella’s pulmonary artery had grown a lot since the first echo and if it would continue to grow at the same rate it was very likely that Ella would not have to have that first surgery during her first week of life! YAY!

If that’s the case, Ella will still have a big surgery when she’s 3-6 months old. But Dr. Su’s hope is that they’ll be able to fix everything during that one surgery. Since she won’t (hopefully) be having the first week surgery she won’t have shunts or equipment put in that will need further surgeries for upkeep. So that would be amazing if she only had to have that one surgery! We have a follow-up appointment with him next week, so hopefully we’ll know more then.

For those who have asked, Jason is still seeking employment. We’ve been back and forth with at what point do you apply to just any job for the sake of having a job vs applying to jobs that have the essentials you need (right pay, insurance, etc.). We’ve been praying and moving forward despite having a clear picture. He’s been applying to different things that fall in both categories, basically anything that he gets a good vibe from. We’re both extremely surprised that it’s January and Jason hasn’t found a new job, since he’s a great catch and any employer would be lucky to have him. It’s frustrating and at this point it’s unlikely I’ll be able to quit my job when the babies come and I’ll need to do a maternity leave and come back to work instead, but we’re still expecting that whatever he finds will be perfect for us, whenever it decides to come along. In the mean time Jason’s been able to get a lot of projects done around the house which is always a plus. We’re not a fan of being in limbo and not knowing what our lives will be like a month from now, but it is what it is. It’ll make sense one day, right? We’re hoping my delivery will be smooth sailing but who knows, maybe it’s very important that Jason will be able to stay at home with me and the girls during those first few weeks, which wouldn’t be an option if he was working full time. He got some great leads this week so hopefully something will pan out from those.

And for our little cuties, we’re happy to report that both babies are doing great! At each appointment we’ve had the babies are measuring exactly on schedule. For instance, this week I’m at 32 weeks. Ella’s measuring 32 weeks 2 days and Livi is at 32 weeks 3 days. They are wiggly wiggly! At my first non-stress test this week Livi was being a show off and making tidal waves go across my stomach! Ella was stubborn again, hiding in the corner…she doesn’t perform for others, just me. We love how the two of them have their own personalities and traits. Livi’s heart rate is always in the 140s and loves attention and hogs up room in my tummy. Ella’s is always in the 120s and she’s just chill in her tiny space. I picture her rolling her eyes at Livi’s performances.

At the moment, Ella’s feet are at the top right of my belly. Livi’s decided that’s a good place for her head. So as you can see in this ultrasound, Ella is in a spectacular position to kick her sister in the head 

Seeing ultrasounds of my babies melts my heart! I can’t wait to meet them! And yet, so very nervous about the whole birthing part, so they can cook a few more weeks. We’re about a month and a half away from their debut though. We have been warned that they could come any day now though so our hospital bag is packed and car seats are installed, which is so baffling! Wish us luck!