What Else Is New?

Well, for starters I'll give you my latest belly pic. I feel like some weeks I don't change at all and then others I'm growing like mad. This pregnancy is so different from my other two, it's pretty uncanny. For starters, I began the pregnancy 10 lbs lighter than with the other two. I've also be insanely conscious about not gaining an extraordinary amount of weight. I was very careless with both of my other pregnancies and wound up gaining 50 lbs with each. For someone who started off already overweight, that's just way too much. And then afterward I'm not the kind of person who breastfeeds and loses it all. When I breastfeed, my body holds onto every pound as if it were gold. It's an incredible struggle to lose anything when I'm breastfeeding. *shakes my fist at those women whose weight drops off when they breastfeed* Anyway, I did eventually lose the weight, but it was a lot of starvation to do it. My body can only take about 1000 calories per day if I'm trying to lose weight, otherwise I gain. It's so hard being short...

Luckily I started off this pregnancy with 3 months of nausea. That definitely helped! Not only didn't I gain in 1st trimester, but I lost about 3 or 4 lbs. Baby grew, mommy didn't. Score! Now that I'm hungry all the time, I'm very aware of how much food I'm putting in. I still have to be really strict about my calorie intake, or I'll gain a lb in one day...no joke. Now that I've reached 20 weeks (almost 21) and have only gained about what I lost in 1st trimester, I'm planning on 1/2 lb a week in gain. That way I will have only gained about 10 or 15 lbs by the end, which is appropriate for someone who has started off overweight. Plus the fact that I know how much weight I lose when I give birth - just about 10 lbs per baby, including the baby. So after I had Tzipora, I lost 10 lbs in that first week or so and then plateaued. With the twins I lost about 20 lbs and then plateaued. So if I can gain only about 10 or 15, then I will have lost the necessary baby weight and not have to starve myself down to a normal weight postpartum. YAY!



In other news, we spent last Friday on lockdown so that the Watertown (and Boston) PD could catch the marathon bomber suspect. It was an incredibly tense day, and honestly I was terrified enough to not even want to go outside! So forget about being told to stay in, I didn't want to go anywhere anyway. Of course we had to prepare for the Sabbath anyway, so we were kept busy. We are all so grateful for the tremendous effort that all of the first responders put in. I drove by the Watertown PD today and saw that people had hung up balloons and signs outside the gates. It was such a nice feeling to see that. I know a bunch of people on Facebook wanted to send the police pizzas after the suspect was taken away - and I believe at least one person did. I live in such a great community, can't you tell? You can't keep Boston down!

Passover Keeping Me Busy

Sorry I have been so terrible about posting, but Passover, among other things, has made life a bit crazy. I'm just about to start my last clinical rotation of nursing school. I get to spend the next 5 weeks on the maternity ward where I'll be delivering this baby! YAY!

Speaking of this baby, we've had some concerns over the last week and hope to get some answers at our fetal survey ultrasound this Friday. I'll keep you guys informed on whatever happens.

And now, for the newest belly pic. I do actually look bigger than I did 2 weeks ago, so that makes me happy. Enjoy!

Newest Belly Pics

I posted my newest belly pics on my Tripod site. I am decidedly smaller than I was at 12 weeks, so I must assume that I was bloated that week. Haha But we know baby is growing fine, and I just started to feel her kick this week - literally exactly on the stroke of 16 weeks I started feeling real taps. This morning I woke up and could feel her bouncing around, so I put my hand on my belly and actually could feel it from the outside! Very neat. But anyway, I think being so much skinnier this time around has made a difference. My belly is SO much smaller than it was with Tzipora, and looks more in line with how I was with the twins. Enjoy!

Belly Pics #4

It is that time, again. Time to begin the belly pics! I've got such a cute little bump already. In looking at my comparison pics from last time, I think I'm looking pretty comparable to how I did at 12 weeks with Tzipora.  I can't tell if I'm a smidge bigger or a smidge smaller, considering I weigh more than 10 lbs less than I did when the 12 week pic was taken last time. What do you think? Click on my belly pic in the sidebar to look at the side-by-side pics.

New Belly Comparison

I thought you guys might like to see a comparison of pictures between 35 weeks with the twins and my latest belly pic that was taken at 35 weeks just a few days ago. I forgot that my friend had taken this picture of me, and it really shows the huge difference. I had to flip the image left to right, so if you're paying attention you'll notice my dimple is on the "wrong" side. Also, just because WiseGuy is curious, I do not only wear that gray sweater. I wear it for the comparison pics so it's easier to see how I've been growing. I did it with the twins, so I figured I would continue the tradition with this pregnancy. But my friend took a picture of me in a different top, so you get to see that here. :-) Enjoy!

Finally, a New Belly Pic

So sorry I haven't posted a new belly pic in over a month, but I've been really lazy. :-) But, without further ado, here is the newest pic (compared with the last one I took at 30 weeks). Today's pic is on the right.



I feel like the belly isn't growing outward as much as it's growing vertically. So I don't look that much bigger outwardly than I did at 30 weeks, but you can see how low my belly goes. The belly also seems to be changing shape and becoming more round. And, if nothing else, my butt is getting bigger (as is my face). Check out the sequential pictures on my tripod page and you'll see what I mean. *sigh* Now, let's compare this latest picture with the last pictures taken during the twins' pregnancy. The comparisons are the twin pregnancy weeks 28 and 30.





I look much bigger than at 26 weeks with the twins (both vertically and outwardly), I'm vertically larger than my 28 week picture with the twins, and I'm about the same vertically as with the twins at 30 weeks. But at 28 and 30 weeks with the twins I am much larger outwardly than I am with this pregnancy.

My fundal height yesterday (Thursday) was 35.5cm, which is perfect for where I am. The midwife also ordered a BPP ultrasound for next Tuesday, just to check up on the baby's placenta since something went funky with Dovid's placenta just at 35 weeks. She doesn't suspect anything is wrong since the baby's heart rate is perfect, and her movements are strong and frequent. But it's more for peace of mind...and who doesn't like more ultrasounds, right? :-D

And speaking of such...have you noticed? I MADE IT!!! I am now 35 weeks and 1 day pregnant. Yes, I do need to make it through the day without exploding, but based on last night's midwife appointment I'm not really worried about it. Whee!

Belly Picture Time!

I think I grew! Here's a comparison between my 28 week picture and my 30 week picture (30 weeks is on the right).



Now let's compare my 30 week picture from this pregnancy to several pictures from the twins' pregnancy. I can only fit two pictures per line, so each one will have the one from the twins on the left and my most recent, 30 week pic on the right. The first line is 26 weeks with the twins, then 28 weeks, then 30 weeks.





I think I look like somewhere between 26 and 28 weeks with the twins, but my fundal height was only about 31cm at my last midwife appointment (not even close to where it was when I was 28 weeks with the twins). Either way, the belly and baby are growing well. :-)

Finally, a Belly Pic!

This won't be a long belly update post, since I have waaaaay too much to do today.

We have 22 weeks on the left and 28 weeks on the right.



As you can see, my belly hasn't changed all that much--if at all. My 28 week belly pic with the twins is gigantic, and much bigger than I look now... Hopefully I'll remember to take another one for you guys when I hit 30 weeks. :-)

Newest Belly Pic

This won't be a long belly update post, since I don't think it's really changed much in the last two weeks.

We have 20 weeks on the left and 22 weeks on the right.



If anything, I think I shrunk a teensy bit! lol What can you do...at least maybe now I'll take some time to catch up with my twin pregnant self.

In other news, Dovid is sick again...fever, vomiting, the works. Poor little dude! And I had a great appointment with the midwife. She agrees with the MFM doctor that my cervix length is normal and that every baby grows differently, but she agrees with me that we need to keep watching it just to make sure everything really is 100% ok. Honestly, I hope this midwife (Lila) delivers me, because I love her!!!! She's even supportive of me doing placenta encapsulation. In fact, she was excited that I'm doing it. Honestly, my old OB would have probably vomited on the floor and here's my midwife doing jumping jacks because I'm doing this. Awesomeness!!!! My next appt will be with the OB again because the last appt with the OB got cut short, and I'll also have my GD test as well. Fun times!

Belly Pics

It is time for another installment of "Elana's Belly"! I didn't take an 18 week picture because I don't think my belly changed size between 16 and 18 weeks...in fact I think it got smaller. lol But now it's grown again!! Take a look:

We have 20 weeks this pregnancy on the left and 20 weeks last pregnancy on the right. It looks like I'm bigger than I was last time! Dunno how that's possible because I don't have nearly as much baby in there nor am I that uncomfortable.



Now here's the comparison for this pregnancy. I'm absolutely and unequivocally bigger. (14 weeks on the left, 16 weeks in the middle, 20 weeks on the right)



I think I now look like somewhere in betweetn my 24 and 26 week pics of the twins, and possibly even a little bigger than the 26 week picture. (24 weeks w/ twins on left, 20 weeks now in middle, 26 week w/ twins on right)



I grew a ton between 26 and 28 weeks with the twins, so I don't think I'll catch up to that one quite yet. We'll see!!! Good grief I thought this was supposed to slow down. hehe

Belly!!!

New belly pic is up, and I want to do another comparison for you guys. (14 weeks on the left, 16 weeks on the right)


I think I only got a smidgen bigger, if at all. Well, I know I got a tiny bit bigger because I measured...but only a little bit. Yay, it's slowing down!

Here's a comparison with the last pregnancy. (18 weeks last preg on the left, 16 weeks this preg in the middle, 20 weeks last preg on the right)

I think I definitely look like my 18 week picture from last time, and I think the 20 week picture is even smaller than 18 weeks if that's possible. lol But anyway, it does seem to be slowing down since at 14 weeks I looked just about the same (as we can see.) Baby is growing perfectly, so no worries there!

Good Golly, It's Actually Bigger!

I thought for sure my belly wouldn't have changed as much from 12 weeks to now, but for goodness sake it has!! Look at this (12 weeks on left, 14 weeks on right):



I mean really, people...if I continue like this then I'm going to look BIGGER than I did with the twins when I hit 40 weeks, and that's just not possible. lol I'm sure this has to slow down sometime, right? At 12 and 14 weeks with the twins, I was so much smaller. Look! (12 weeks on left, 14 weeks on right)



I started off looking like between my 14 or 16 week picture from last time. Check it out (14 weeks with twins on left, 12 weeks this pregnancy in middle, 16 weeks with twins on right):



I think I currently more resemble my 18 week picture from the twins. (18 weeks with twins on left, 14 weeks this pregnancy on right)


Geepers, I'm gonna be huge, and I'm still in awe that my belly is actually growing. It's so hard to see from day to day that it's getting bigger, but the pictures totally prove it. I'm growing something!! lol

New Addition

Hey, did you guys see the new addition to my blog? I'm posting belly pics again!! (Check the right sidebar for the latest) :-) As always, you can click on the picture to view the comparison between this pregnancy and last pregnancy, and you'll eventually be able to see how I'm growing. At this point, I look about the same as I did when I was 14-16 weeks pregnant last time. Hehe oops! Hopefully I will not continue along that path... Most likely eventually my twin preggo belly will far outstrip this pregnancy in terms of growth, and we'll get to see that happen! Enjoy!

By the way...did you know that yesterday was my hubby's 41st birthday? Yep, for real! In honor of the occasion, I'm going to post two pictures of him as a little boy. You'll notice that he looks remarkably like my son, Dovid... They make the same facial expressions and gestures. Well, there's no doubt about who Dovid's daddy is!

This is SO a Dovid thing...

In this one, he even looks like Dovid (including the belly button)!

Doctor's Appointment & Ultrasound

I saw my OB today. She checked my cervix and says that it's completely thinned out. :-) But somehow the cerclage is still holding and not strained...I have no idea how that is possible. She doesn't want to take the cerclage out until I'm either in labor or the cerclage starts pulling at the cervix. Because the cervix is so thin and Baby A's head is so close to the other side, if she were to go in there with scissors, she might nick the amniotic sac or the amniotic sac might rupture on its own much quicker. She's very proud of me for making it to 33 weeks and hopes I can go a few more. I, on the other hand, am so ready to be done. :-)

Then I had an ultrasound. The babies are sooo big, measuring in at a hefty 4 1/2 lbs each. Baby A is actually a teensy bit bigger than Baby B now, which I think is really funny. :-) Baby B also decided he's going to be a good boy and is now head down!! WOOOO!!! Baby A's head is so far down into my pelvis they nearly couldn't measure it. heh They also confirmed that my cervix is pretty much non-existant (ie fully effaced), but not really dilated. The doctor noticed that Baby B's umbilical cord blood flow was a bit sluggish, so she sent me down for a non-stress test. Both babies passed that with flying colors, so they sent me home after about an hour. Unfortunately, they want me to repeat the non-stress test on Friday morning. urgh!!

I posted a new belly pic last night, so go take a look!

Eventful Week

Sorry I've been such a bad blogger, but I've been SOOOO busy. Firstly, I've been helping the Jewish day school in my community with a project, and it's taken up SO much time this week. Secondly, my mom came to visit. So any time I wasn't working for Torah Academy, I was spending time with her. Thirdly, I've spent nearly the last 24 hours in the hospital. Urgh!

So here's what happened. Yesterday morning I had an OB appointment that went perfectly well. My belly measures 46cm (eeps), my blood pressure is great, I'm on antibiotics for another UTI and the babies have super heartbeats. She did another fetal fibronectin test as well as my group B strep test (no speculum). Later on in the day, I noticed that I was spotting! Not a lot and it was brown, but I called the doc to see if she thought it was from my appointment earlier or if it might be something else. She basically told me to get my tush down to labor and delivery. :-) So my mom and I came on over to the hospital. They did a speculum check and low and behold I'm dilated to 1cm! Whoops that's a change from being "tight as a drum" last week. As of last night my cerclage is still holding well and isn't pulling, but they wanted to keep me over night to make sure that 1cm doesn't turn into 2. I'm STILL waiting to be checked, and if it's fine I need to make it home before Shabbos. We also decided to go ahead and get the steroid shots, because now that my cervix is *really* not behaving, we want to be safer than sorry. So far so good! No weird side effects from the first shot.

Now, the reason I haven't been checked yet is because my doctor (actually a med student) came to see me this morning and he just so happened to be someone I went to Brandeis with. lol He's doing med school at Tufts and is doing his OB rotation here. In order to prevent the incredible awkwardness of having him check me, he transferred my care to another doc...but I still haven't seen her yet. She is supposedly going to come in about 10 mins to *finally* check me. I'll give an update then!

UPDATE: Still 1cm and will be going home in time for Shabbos! I just have to wait to get my second steroid shot and then I'm all set.

Getting Bigger

I posted my 30 week belly pic! At my sister's request, I'll start posting new pics every week. :-)

Speaking of 30 weeks, here are the updated survival rates & complications statistics:

Survival: 93%
Respiratory Distress Syndrome: 55%
Intraventricular Hemorrhage: 2%
Sepsis: 11%
Necrotizing Enterocolitis: 15%
Intact, long-term survival: 90%

This was my OB's short term goal, so I'm pretty ecstatic to have made it this far. Now if we can just get to 37 weeks!

Octuplets Update

Well, at least not all media is stupid. Check out this update from the LA Times. I give the article a rousing two thumbs up!

In other news, my fetal fibronectin test came back negative. For those who don't know what this is, they take a swab and check to see if there's any fetal fibronectin present. Before 22 weeks it is normal to have some present, which is why they don't do the test before then. After 22 weeks, if the test comes back positive it means you're at a VERY high risk for delivery in the 2 weeks following the test. If there isn't any present, then you're safe for another 2 weeks (barring extenuating circumstances that could cause someone to go into labor). So, it looks like I should make it to at least 29 weeks (and beyond) IY"H. :-)

Oh, and I posted a new belly pic!

26 Weeks & Doctor's Appointment

I had a great appointment with my OB today. First, I did my 1 hour glucose test (ewww). Then, the doctor checked my cervix & cerclage--which both look perfect. She measured my belly, which is currently 36cm (36 weeks), so I'm measuring 10 weeks ahead. No wonder I feel like a whale! She also checked the babies heartbeats and my blood pressure. So far so good! She also answered the gazillion questions that I asked. We discussed when the cerclage would come out & when I might go off of bed rest, and she said that most likely I could start increasing activity at 32 weeks and then maybe go off of bed rest at 33 or 34 weeks. As for the cerclage, if I make it to 35-36 weeks, we'd take it out then. If I go into labor before then, the cerclage obviously comes out when I go into labor. She also tried to convince me that a C-Section is a good option, but I want to avoid that at all costs, so it was no deal. :-) Obviously I want my babies born as safely as possible, so if there's a true medical reason for a C-Section I have no problem with that. But I am NOT going to plan a C-Section for any other reasons, and if I do have to plan one, it's going to be for like 38 weeks (so I can go into labor myself anyway). I'd also like to go epidural-free if possible, but because of the circumstances they would probably place an epidural w/ no medication or a very, very low dose (just to keep the line clear) in case something happens during delivery that requires an emergency C-Section. As much as I don't want an epidural, I don't want general anesthesia much more, and if they need to get either one or both of the babies out very quickly and there's no epidural already placed, they would have to put me under.

On another note, the doctor said I can drink as much herbal tea or decaf coffee as I want. So, I don't have to suffer through gallons of plain water to keep hydrated. Woo! She checked the results of the swabs that were taken after my ultrasound last week and I don't have any infections either. She also wants me to lower my dose of progesterone and then possibly stop it altogether if my cervix looks ok in a few weeks.

That's all! I took a new belly picture last night and posted it just now. It doesn't look so different from 24 weeks even though I'm a good 5cm bigger. Oh well, as long as it's growing!

Double Digits

For anyone who's glanced at my ticker today, I'm officially in double digits! Only 99 days to go until my due date! Mind you I'll probably give birth in March, but that doesn't change my due date. I also can't believe that 3rd trimester is right around the corner. It feels almost like a dream!

Back at Friday's ultrasound they estimated the babies' weights to be 1lb 11oz and 1lb 12oz, which is actually more than the average for 25 1/2 weeks. Obviously these weights are really estimations, but it still makes me feel good--especially since they're twins and generally twins are smaller than average. The doctor said that they're in the 45th percentile (or something like that), which is great. Although I, who only thinks of percentiles in reference to school grades, wonder why they're not in the 95th percentile. :-) Actually, I can't expect that. According to my mother I was always off the charts in terms of height--below zero. lol (She never told me where I was on the charts for weight, though.)

My belly button is going flat. In certain positions it even is pooking outward, but in others it goes in a teensy weensy bit. Let me tell you, belly button skin is SOOOOO soft. It is really weird to have it go flat, even though I can still tell where it is because of how it's shaped. I showed it to my best friend Melanie when she was here yesterday and she thought it was funny. She almost had trouble distinguishing it from the little mole I have next to my belly button. Actually, speaking of Melanie, I have a really funny story to relate.

Melanie and I ordered kosher Chinese food last night (and pork is not kosher and would never be found in a kosher restaurant). Melanie is not Jewish, but she also doesn't eat pork--except in peking ravioli. So we were looking at the menu online and she said she was going to get an order of the peking ravioli. We were then discussing what I should get and she said, "why don't you get something with beef in it". I replied, "Why not chicken? You're getting the peking ravioli..." She said, "well peking ravioli is made with pork, but I eat it and pretend it's not." And I said, "uhhh Melanie, it's not going to be pork..." She was like, "Oh right! That's great! Now I don't have to pretend it's beef!" lol Silly Melanie.

Belly Pic etc.

Yep...I lied and put the pic up on Friday. I had some extra time before Shabbos (the Sabbath) started, so I figured I'd get it out of the way. Enjoy!

My hubby went shopping tonight and got me a breakfast-in-bed tray that I'm using for my laptop and can also use to eat on. It's AWESOME and cost less than $15. Go Bed, Bath & Beyond for being reasonable. And we had one of their 20% off coupons too, so it made it even sweeter.

Some friends of mine in the community came to visit me during Shabbos. It was actually at their house that my hubby and I first met. Our 3rd anniversary of meeting was Thanksgiving weekend, and we have a tradition now to go to this family's house for Shabbos dinner as close to Thanksgiving as we can make it. We had planned to go this week, but since I can't make the walk, we had to cancel. They made food for us and my hubby picked it up so we could have it that night. Then the mom and one of the daughters came to see me during the day today to see how I was and just hang out for a little while. It was great!

My friend Melanie will probably come over on Tuesday to cut up the pumpkin that my mom brought for Thanksgiving. (Mom actually dressed it to look like a turkey for a centerpiece...) Melanie and I plan to gut the pumpkin and roast the seeds. It should be an awesome time. If we have extra time afterwards we may even get to play some Heroes...now that would rock!