Just waiting now.

So, good news - now that we are at 37 weeks, the babies are considered full term! As always, we are so happy to have made it another week, and to have come this far. Surprisingly, the doctors report that I am not showing much of any signs of labor yet - though that, of course, can change quickly. Instead, the issue I have been dealing with is blood pressure, of all things, which has been going on for the last 4 weeks. It has been up and down - mostly not too far up, fortunately - but I have not been showing any other warning signs, either in lab tests or in symptoms. So far, they have continued to rule out preeclampsia - but regardless, having elevated blood pressure is still not a good thing. The irony of it all is that all along, I was so sure that pre-term labor would be the issue I'd have to worry about... and I never expected something like blood pressure would get me! So we'll see how it all goes, and how much longer they let me stay pregnant. It has meant more doctors' visits and more monitoring... and unfortunately, more serious bed rest now to keep my blood pressure down. Which is too bad in a way, because now that pre-term labor is no longer such a concern, I had big plans to start violating my house arrest doctors' orders, and doing crazy things - you know, like shopping, going out for dinner, and taking the dog for a walk every now and then. :-) Alas, it looks like those activities will still have to be kept to a minimum!

The kiddos still seem happy as clams in their cozy home, as you can see in their latest ultrasound image below, taken at 37 weeks, 2 days. Now that they are so much bigger, all we can see during ultrasounds at this stage is a jumble of body parts - so the circles you see here are their two little heads. They are now side-by-side, and head down - so no more breech babies for us, yay!

In other news, I had my last day of work-from-home on Friday... and am now officially on maternity leave! I'm hoping to be able to stay pregnant one more week, just so I can get ahead on sleep and enjoy a little break from work before we begin the real work of raising children!

36 weeks, and I'm still pregnant! Woo-hoo!

I know what you're thinking... most women who are as huge as me are not usually happy to still be pregnant at this point. But, for someone who has spent most of her pregnancy freaking out about the possibility of pre-term labor, I see every week closer to the safe zone as a tremendous victory. Truth be told, I freaked myself out so much, that I was convinced I would have delivered 1- or 2-pound babies long before this point! So, to know that we have made it this far, and that our babies weigh over 5 1/2 pounds EACH, is quite gratifying.

Now, this is not to say that I've spent my entire pregnancy as a big ol' ball of stress and paranoia. However, I like to think that it was a little healthy dose of paranoia that has kept me pregnant for this long, because without it, I probably would not have taken all the precautions I have. So, without further ado... I would like to reveal the secrets to a successful pregnancy with multiples:

1. Slowing it down. When my doctors told me at 20 weeks to start slowing it down, I did. It was hard at first, because everything was going smoothly, and I felt really good - but I tried to start recognizing the things I shouldn't continue doing. Unfortunately, this was a great disappointment to our dog, who saw her regular walks become not-so-regular... but she'll get them back again, though accompanied by a double stroller. :-)

2. House arrest. Now, when my doctors had me go on modified bed rest, or "house arrest," at 28 weeks, I'll admit that I didn't take it all that seriously at first. I still was feeling pretty good, so it was hard to see the need to REALLY slow things down. But looking back, this was the best thing for me. Despite my desire to get-up-and-go, I forced myself to schedule "horizontal time" - morning, afternoon, and evening. I set up a great system working from home (which I've been really lucky to be able to do), and alternated between the desktop and the laptop, using the laptop during my scheduled horizontal times. I am convinced that if I had continued slogging to work on the metro all this time, I probably would have delivered 2-pound babies weeks ago.

3. The best book ever: When You're Expecting Twins, Triplets, or Quads: Proven Guidelines for a Healthy Multiple Pregnancy, by Dr. Barbara Luke and Tamara Eberlein. When we first found out we were having twins, I read every drop of information I could find in my What to Expect... and Pregnancy Week-by-Week books... which came to all of about 5 pages. Desperate to learn more, I bought this off Amazon, sold on the title. Later, I discovered that this is the multiples pregnancy bible, so I guess I made a lucky choice! Now, I will admit - this book made me paranoid as hell, and I cannot tell you how many times I read and re-read about the warnings of pre-term labor. But, I'm glad it did - because it also taught me that while some things are beyond your control, there is also a LOT you can do to minimize the risks of pre-term labor. Some of the advice was even more extreme than what my doctors were telling me, but I chose to take almost all of it very seriously.

4. Joining a multiples group. It sounds lame, but I am so happy we joined the Northern Virginia Parents of Multiples group. During pregnancy, hearing real-life stories from mothers of multiples who delivered at 28 or 30 weeks motivated me to not let that happen to me... and hearing about mothers who went all the way to 38+ weeks has given me a goal to strive for. And after pregnancy, we have no doubt that these other parents of multiples will continue to be a great support for us.

5. Prenatal yoga. I cannot recommend this enough. As a fan of real yoga, I will admit that I found this just a little disappointing at first, as it is definitely way less challenging. But eventually, I got myself into the mindset that it is just different - and its purpose and benefits are different. It is the perfect, non-strenuous pregnancy exercise, even if you're on modified bed rest. I truly believe prenatal yoga is what kept my backaches at bay for a long time, and is the best way to create more space for your baby - or in my case, babies, who needed all the space they could get! Shiva Rea's Prenatal Yoga video has never left our DVD player, and I kept up with it about 5 times a week for most of my pregnancy.

6. Temporary handicapped parking pass. Laugh all you want, but this is the best thing EVER! Granted, I don't really leave the house except for doctor's appointments - but since my doctors are at the hospital, parking was becoming exceedingly difficult. So now, I thank my doctor for helping me get my temporary pass every time I go in. :-) I think every pregnant woman, and definitely high-risk pregnant women, should ask their doctor about it, too.

7. Make those calories count. Sure, I've indulged in my share of sweets, but I have really worked hard to maintain good nutrition all throughout pregnancy. The key is really to eat tons of protein and small but frequent meals - which is good for everyone, not just pregnant women. I have kept myself to a regular plan of breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch, mid-afternoon snack, dinner, and then bedtime snack. Keeping myself on this schedule has been especially helpful later in pregnancy, when it is common to not get as hungry (due to all the abdominal crowding) - and has helped ensure that those babies are still getting the nutrition they need.

8. Drink a lot, pee a lot. All I can say is, thank god I've always drunk water like a camel, or pregnancy would have been really tough. I had heard that pregnant women should drink 16 8-oz. glasses of water per day - and that mothers of multiples should drink twice that. Needless to say, a watering schedule like this makes a peeing-prone pregnant woman really run to the bathroom often! But again, going back to my pre-term labor paranoia - once I learned that not peeing frequently enough can bring on contractions and labor, that was all I needed to hear to make myself want to pee every 15 minutes. Annoying, yes, but I've just let myself go with the flow on this one (really, no pun intended).

9. A wonderfully helpful and supportive husband. I've saved the best for last here, because it is really the most important. Without Joe, I seriously do not know how I could have maintained my pregnant lifestyle - particularly with having extremely limited activity for about half of it. With all of our baby preparations, Joe has had to take on countless trips to Target, Costco, Babies 'R Us, and the grocery when I couldn't - and has been in charge of many household tasks that we used to share. Again, I am convinced I would have delivered teeny-tiny babies weeks ago if I did not have a husband who was willing and able to do as much as Joe has done, just so that I could rest and gestate.

One more thing I should also mention... while this is isn't something you can control - I do think genetics have played a big part of keeping these two babies in for this long. For the first time in my life, my wide hips that were always the bain of my existence have finally proven themselves useful for something! Without them, I probably would have run out of space a long time ago. :-)

Stay tuned to see how much longer I stay pregnant - it could be a matter of days at this point!

A breath of fresh air.

I swear, no one warned me that one of the greatest nuisances of pregnancy would be the inability to breathe. Instead, all I heard about was the other afflictions that seemed to pass me by: morning sickness/nausea (I had none), food aversions (none), strange cravings (again, none!), swollen ankles and wrists (still none!)... and the list goes on and on. But since the first trimester, I have been plagued with a stuffy nose like it's allergy season 24/7. And since about week 20, I have also been struck by breathlessness when I'm talking, walking, or eating. Granted, I knew this was something to expect later in pregnancy, as the uterus compresses the lungs - but with two babies, it just meant that this happened to me much earlier. But now, I'm missing the days of my 20-week breathlessness, because as the babies get bigger, it now feels like pregnancy-induced asthma - if there is such a thing. Now, I wake up in the night not just because I have to pee constantly, but also because I feel like I'm suffocating. And poor Joe - I'm sure this isn't doing much for his sleep either.

So now, I'm dreaming of days when I won't blow my nose all the time, and I can take long, deep breaths again. Of course, allergy season will really be upon us soon after the babies are born - but I'm sure it will be better than this. :-)

The last supper

Last night, Joe and I went out on what is likely our last true date before we become parents. Not to mention, an excuse to belatedly celebrate my birthday, as well as my last venture out of the house aside from doctors' appointments. (Yep, I'm officially grounded.) Given all these reasons, we thought it was worth the splurge to go somewhere nice, one last time - the kind of place we probably wouldn't bring kids anytime soon. We decided on BLT Steak, which is, in our opinion, the best steakhouse in DC - http://www.bltsteak.com/.

So, I found something to fit into other than sweats and p.j.'s, and off we went into the maternity-free zone... where an 8-1/2-month pregnant woman is something of an exotic urban species. And after thoroughly enjoying our meatfest, the best part of all came at the end of our meal. We waited and waited for our bill, made several attempts to flag down our waiter, and began feeling generally confused as to why he didn't seem to want our money. Then finally, he came over to our table and informed us that our entire bill had been covered by the couple sitting at the table next to us. We were completely taken aback - after all, when do you ever find charity in an expensive restaurant, after you've just had a $200 meal? It was funny because we had barely talked to them - and they left long before we did, so we never even had the chance to thank them. Lesson learned: going out in public while ridiculously pregnant can have its benefits sometimes!

And speaking of ridiculously pregnant... we are posting what may be the last side view anyone will see of me for a long time (online, that is). So, here it is, folks - this is what a twin pregnancy does to you at 34 weeks:

Now, admit it - don't I look like I should have already had a baby weeks ago?! Sigh. At any rate, despite having limited clothing options and a growing backache from carrying around about 10 pounds of baby, we're grateful to have reached some important milestones. After all, I've now made it to age 33 (Jan. 26th), the month of February (today), and 34 weeks of pregnancy (yesterday) - and have still managed to keep those babies cooking! So if our babies were to be born now, they would be small, and might spend some extra time in the hospital - but we feel reassured knowing that they would be just fine. Hopefully we can hang on a little bit longer!