33 weeks and wow!

Are these babies growing!  I had a super quick check up with the nurse practitioner today and when she measured my fundal height she said she was surprised and that these girls had grown quite a bit.  The fundal height measurement is when they measure from the top of your pubic bone to the top of your uterus (as felt by pushing slightly on your belly).  With a singleton pregnancy, the measurement is usually close to the number of weeks you are in gestation.  With a twin pregnancy, however, there is no "right" number- they only use fundal height to track a steady growth pattern- no matter what the number.  So, back to my visit, this number had apparently gotten quite a bit higher since my last visit.  We heard the babies' heart beats (130s and 140s) and did another FFN test due to the contractions I'm still having (it came back negative again).  Our visit was cut a bit short because the ultrasound technician was ready for me, so I moved along to her room to have a look at these girls.
It appears that the fluid levels have evened out a bit and neither baby has a lot more than the other.  They are also pretty similar in size now, instead of the 20% gap in size we recorded about 5 weeks ago.  We couldn't get a view of either baby's face, as they were both being incredibly camera shy, but the ultrasound tech was able to tell me she could see lots of hair on both babies!  I've never heard of seeing the hair in a ultrasound, so that was a surprise to me.  Once the tech had everything she needed, she told me the size and gestation estimates, based on all of her measurements.  Both babies are measuring 35+ weeks and about 6lbs each!  I think it's safe to say that these girls can slow down a bit in the growth department if they plan on staying in there until 38 weeks.  I don't know about carrying 2, 8lb babies!  I know it's only an estimate, but still... they are looking very good in size.
I, on the other hand, am looking pretty big in size.  I no longer walk, I officially waddle, and it's hard to put on my shoes.  Luckily, I live in southern California and can wear flip flops every day, even in December.  ; )  I'm still being told to take it easy, stay off of my feet, and lay down as much as possible, although with the holiday season here that is increasingly difficult.  I did finish all of my Christmas shopping early, though, so there will be no more big shopping trips for me.  Now to figure out how to wrap it all when I can't sit on the floor or reach very far in front of my belly.  lol

31 weeks and counting...

Here we are, 31 weeks and moving right along.  I will be having OB appointments once a week and my next ultrasound will be in 2 weeks.  My appointment this week went well, the babies' heart rates were great, as always, in the 130s and 150s.  I have been having more and more braxton hicks contractions (kind of like "practice" contractions) and they tend to come a little more often than they should when I am up and around.  So, I've been told to take it easy, stay off my feet as much as possible, and lay down a few times during the day for an hour or so.  I am still allowed to work for now, since I sit most of the time at work, as long as I also try to lay down a bit in the middle of my work day.  This didn't happen with my last twin pregnancy, so it does make me a bit nervous, but my cervix has still been measuring great at the ultrasounds, and as long as that keeps up- we're doing good!  My OB did do a fetal fibronectin test during my appointment to check for an increased risk of pre-term labor,  but the test came back negative, so no extra worry there.  The fetal fibronectin test is a swab of the cervical canal.  If it comes back positive for the presence of fetal fibronectin, you are at risk of going into labor within 1-3 weeks.  We didn't go into the actual odds of this happening, since my test was negative and we are not at this increased risk.  At my next ultrasound, in two weeks, they'll measure my cervical length (like always) and we'll know more then as well.  Every little bit of information helps to tell us how my body is holding up to this second twin pregnancy.  So far everything is looking pretty good!  I'll get a new picture up soon so you can all see the huge belly!  If I'm not back here before then, I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!  I doubt I'll be blogging much with the kiddos off of school for the whole week.  ; )  Enjoy!