Festivus Bed-Restivus

Festivus was yesterday, December 23rd. I was expecting a relatively quiet Festivus holiday, but instead got the following.

This is what my feet look like normally.

This is a dramatic reenactment of what my feet looked like on Wednesday night.
(Sadly I didn't have the wherewithal to take a photo - thanks Google Image "pregnancy cankle" search!)

So, I have had some mild swelling in my feet through the last few months of my pregnancy, but nothing serious at all. That is, until a few nights ago. I noticed that my feet were looking mighty fluffy popping out of the top of my cute flats. I lifted my pant leg and saw the true horror of the situation: my ankle had entirely disappeared and had been replaced by a fleshy tree trunk instead. Also, my shin had developed what appeared to be fat rolls. Really? Although this is a regular thing in most pregnancies, mine came on so suddenly that I decided to give my doctor a quick call, just to be on the safe side. I was told to stay off my feet for the rest of the night and then head in for a blood pressure check in the morning (as the sudden swelling can be a symptom of pre-eclampsia).

When I got to the doctor my blood pressure was slightly elevated (but nothing out of this world). I had gained 4 cm in the last week, and 6 pounds! I am now measuring as large as a 40 week singleton pregnancy (40 weeks is full term, btw) even though I was a day shy of 32 weeks. I also had a little protein in my urine, which is what got me sent to labor & delivery for some labs and a non-stress test. Note, I was by myself and I had no idea that I was being admitted into the hospital. I thought I was just getting a blood test. Silly me.

After waiting in the hall for a while and exchanging confusing calls and texts with Nick, my mom and Malia, I was given a hospital bracelet and one of those sweet hospital gowns that flap open in the back (a first for me). I decided that Nick should probably get down there just in case (and that incredible journey is a whole different story because of our car breaking down the prior day.) Anyway, after being stabbed in the arm 3 times my labs came back and showed no pre-eclampsia. Great news! However, my non-stress test (which monitors the babies heart beats and uterine contractions) showed that I was having a bunch of contractions. I wouldn't have known because they weren't painful at all, but they were regular enough to be of concern to my doctor. Then I got to have my cervix swabbed to check for preterm labor (fetal fibronectin test for those keeping tabs). That one also came back negatory, which means that it's highly unlikely that I'll give birth in the next two weeks. My doc also measured my cervix with ultrasound, and it was still in a normal range, but getting shorter than she would like to see at this point. I'm also not dilated at all, which is good.

After all this fun I got a shot of something to stop my contractions. Also around this point Nick showed up (about 3 hours after I had been admitted). My contractions actually responded to the meds, so my doc decided that I could go home (yay) but on bed rest (boo). I'm popping pills every 6 hours to keep the contractions away, and chilling in my bed. Nick is doing a great job of getting me food, beverages with straws, books, dvds, and everything else my heart desires. He also cleaned up the house so my family can come visit us for Christmas later today (since I am now house-bound except for doctors appointments).

If you need me in the next 2-6 weeks, you'll know where to find me! Happy Festivus!

Let's talk about sex, baby!

A big congrats to Tyler, Dean, Alex, Kristine, Rachel, Todd and my subconscious for guessing the correct gender combo for the Nitsy Twins. That's right kids, we found out at our detailed ultrasound today that Twin A is a boy, and Twin B is... another boy! Sorry LC, we're all snips and snails and puppy dog tails over here. It did not come as a huge shock to me as I had a dream very early on in my pregnancy when I first knew about the twins that they were both boys. I was hoping for one girl, but I guess I'll have to try again for my girl.

Both babies are developing well, and still have healthy heartbeats and growth. Twin A weighs 13 oz, and Twin B weighs 14oz. For those keeping tabs, my cervix is still long and strong.

I also took the dreaded gestational diabetes test this last week... and failed. So I have to go in for a more extensive 3 hour test. Yuck!

In other fun news, I joined a podcast called Pregtastic. It's an online radio show where pregnant moms from the area get together to discuss different pregnancy topics. I have recorded 3 episodes so far, and the first came out today! If you're interested, check it out here: http://www.pregtastic.com/category/podcasts/ or just search for "pregtastic" on itunes.

Vital Stats:

How Far Along? 20.5 weeks - over half way there!

Maternity Clothes? I still fit in a few of my larger regular shirts and stretchy pants, but I'm wearing mainly maternity clothes now.

Weight Gain? 12-ish pounds, but I haven't been weighed at the doctor in a few weeks.

Stretch Marks? Oh yes. Though I think they might have been there pre-pregnancy... but I'll just go ahead and blame the twins from here on out.

Feeling Movement? Only a few times each day, but we saw that both twins were quite active during their ultrasound.

Sleep? I am sleeping 9-10 hours per night. I discovered the wonders of the body pillow, and now I'm loving my sleep again.

Belly Button In or Out? Still in. I have a belly button aversion, so we'll see how I feel if/when it pops out.

Cravings? Hotdogs and rootbeer. Weird, right?

Best Moment of the Week? Finally learning the genders of my little guys!

Genders? Boys

What I Miss? Sushi! Also, walking and taking stairs comfortably. I feel mildly disabled.

What I Love? Looking at baby clothes. Deciding on nursery decor. Feeling the babies move.

What I'm Looking Forward To? Reaching 24 weeks (viability).

Milestones? Over half way there!!!

Other Thoughts? Nick and I both feel so blessed to have such a mild and healthy pregnancy so far. Keep growing babies!

Lots of love to you all!

Nitsy

Fun Game!

We will be finding out the genders of the Nitsy Twins in the next few weeks (so long as they're not modestly hiding the goods). We've started a game to get your Nitsy Twins gender guesses. To enter, simply leave a comment below. Boy/Boy, Girl/Girl or Boy/Girl. The prize for guessing correctly is bragging rights, pride, and big props for being so intuitive.

Happy guessing!

Betsy is Great

...with child. Well, children really. That's right folks, I'm in the family way, and baking a double batch of awesome. The Nitsy Twins are scheduled to make their appearance some time in January (though my due date is about halfway through February). We are super excited to become parents of two now that the shock has worn off. And for those of you that are wondering (which seems to be most) this little miracle was achieved without any fertility intervention (100% natural). Also there are no twins in my or Nick's immediate families (maybe some distant third cousins or something?) so this was the SHOCK OF MY LIFE!

During my first prenatal appointment my doctor did an ultrasound to measure the baby and see how far along I was so the due date could be set (like a lot of things about me, my cycle is irregular). As soon as the ultrasound began she said "I need to tell you something, and I need you to brace yourself." I thought for sure she was going to tell me that I had lost the baby. Oh no, not at all. She informed me that we had been doubly blessed!! My reaction was to sob uncontrollably for the next 5 minutes. I was really really relieved, and clearly surprised. And here's the kicker - Nick wasn't even with me, so he got to hear the incredible news over the phone. I had to assure him that I was "not even close to kidding."

I'm a little over 11 weeks along now, but I feel pretty confident in sharing the news since I've had 3 solid ultrasounds all showing healthy growth from both babies as well as super boss heartbeats. And I don't mean to brag, but I pretty much rock at being pregnant. No morning sickness, no vomiting, and no real complaints so far. Amazing. We don't know the genders of the Nitsy Twins yet, but we'll likely find out at my next appointment in about a month. Also, there is a 99% chance that they are fraternal (from 2 eggs) because they are in separate sacs with their own placentas.

So, now you can see why our heads exploded back in June. We've almost pieced them back together, and hope to have intact skulls for the next few weeks of craziness: our move to Oceanside, the start of grad school for Nick at SDSU and more gestating for me.

So

My head just exploded. That is all.

I Feel You, Sally.

All this time I've been saying that he didn't want to [be married]. But the truth is that he didn't want to [be married to] me. He didn't love me.

If you could take him back right now, would you?

No! But why didn't he want to [be married to] me?

Thankfully I have Nick who doesn't mind too much that I am in fact clinically insane.

Unexpected

I've observed it in others over the past few years, but in no way did I expect to have complicated, almost panicked and somewhat sucky feelings about turning over another decade. I always shook my head at people dreading the big 3-0 knowing that I would never behave in such an undignified manner. Well kids, I'll be the first to admit that as the blessed event drew near I began to freak the heck out. I've always wanted to have a super boss party for my 30th - mostly something involving lots of breakfast cereal. But then it all started to sound like the dumbest idea in the history of the world. And I discovered to my surprise that I was not into having a party this year (like Goldie, the idea exhausted me). Instead Nick and I took a long weekend in San Diego. We stared out the hotel window at a view of Coronado, relaxed by the pool, played some shuffle board, took in some movies, and walked all over the downtown area searching out the most delicious foods. It was completely relaxing, and just what I needed to cure my case of the crazy-face.

While I'm not exactly doing a joyful dance about being 30, I'm not having a mental break about it either. Well, not anymore. I'm fine, the train of life chugs right along, and nothing is really different than it was a few weeks ago. The thing is, much like JD of Scrubs, I too had a list of things I wanted to accomplish by the time I was 30. It's true that I made that list about 4 years and about a billion life-changing events ago making it mostly null and void. But some things stand out from the rest as big fat failures, regardless of my ability to control them. You see, I really expected to be expecting by now. The fact that I'm not is really unexpected.

Open Letter

Dearest Fatty,

Check yourself before you wreck yourself.

xo,
B

Abe Lincoln: The Original Hipster

Happy birthday to our country's first bearded president, Abraham Lincoln!

He has always been and will always be my hero of facial hair.

January 2010

This year I decided to tackle 12 monthly resolutions instead of the usual one or two annual new years resolutions, which are statistically abandoned by January 15th (Truly. Statistics don't lie.) Another bonus of doing resolutions in this manner is that if I lost my resolve after just one month on the wagon I would still be a success. Anyway, January's resolution was NO SODA. Period. At all. This would be the most difficult resolution for me to stick to, so I decided to take on this one first as I would have the new years momentum behind me. I am proud to announce that as of the writing of this blog I have not had ANY soda ALL YEAR. Yay me. I'm not making any promises that I'll stay off the sauce for the whole of 2010, but I'm enjoying the side effects of abandoning my vice of choice as I've lost about 5 pounds and have saved probably about $100. Score!

We're already a few days into February, and I'm still sticking to my crazyily lofty resolution for this month. Hint - you won't be seeing any photos of me like the following from Feb 2010.

Happy Groundhog Day!

You want a prediction about the weather, you're asking the wrong Phil. I'll give you a winter prediction: It's gonna be cold, it's gonna be grey, and it's gonna last you for the rest of your life.

I want to go to there

Dear Everyone I Know,

Please go to here (www.rachelthurston.com - website to an amazing photographer) so I can go to here (Pacific Northwestern awesomeness). Seriously, do yourselves a favor. I love gawking at Rachel Thurston's photos on a several-times-a-week basis. A bonus was when I saw that she had photographed my friend Haylie's wedding! Without my knowledge! It's fun when two things you think are unrelated come together like that. Anyway, long story short, be aware that you should go to www.rachelthurston.com. If you do, spread the word, and you too could be in the running to win a super sweet vacation to beautiful Seattle!

xo,
The Coolest Girl In the Room (the whole wide room)