On my Surprise Work Baby Shower!

Yesterday, I was extremely hormonal, cranky, hot, and just generally not in a good mood...

... and then they surprised me at work with a baby shower. LOL. I felt like such an ass for being so cranky and hormonal all day, and they totally caught me off guard.

It was so sweet of them and really unexpected. Alot of people showed up, we had yummy cake, and they gave me lots of really cute gifts for the babies. :)

Me & My Dad (we work in the same building)

Me & 2 of my work BFFs

Me & 2 other twin mommies at the lab (yes, mine will be the 3rd set of  twins at our lab)

On 27w3d & my 31st Birthday!

Yesterday was my 31st birthday. We celebrated by going to a Phillies game! We tailgated and then went to our seats in the Hall of Fame Club. I think I am permanently ruined for regular seats after doing Hall of Fame Club. It's a private, air conditioned section, with private concessions and bathrooms. It was awesome!

I've had an amazing past few years. I was 27 when I got Mojo, and when DH & I started dating. 28 when we got engaged. 29 when we got married. 30 when we moved into our home. And now, I'll be 31 when I deliver our babies. I was pretty sentimental and emotional this weekend, just thinking about how lucky I've been and how life is working out for me.

Here's Mojo loving on my belly. <3

I did my 24 hour urine collection Friday into Saturday, dropped it off at Labcorp Saturday, and also did my 1 hour glucose test. I'm really hoping that I pass the 1 hour test because I am so NOT feeling doing the 3 hour. I'm also really curious as to what my protein levels are in my urine. I'm about 90% sure this is my last full week at work. My next appointment is on Monday, and if my protein is over 300, that's it. I'm honestly ready to be done work, though. I get unreal swelling in my feet and ankles from sitting at my desk, and it's just getting uncomfortable.

I'm still feeling pretty good - tired by the end of the day, but overall, pretty good. I'm up about 35lbs as of this morning, and the babies are still wanting lots and lots of fruit. My sisters sent me an Edible Arrangements for my birthday, and it was like the best thing ever, lol. DH got me more massage gift certificates for a local pre-natal place. I went to Coach outlet and got a couple new purses. I got money from my mama, and I figure this may be one of my last opportunities to buy a new Coach bag, what with the babies coming, lol.

I had my first instance of feeling one of the babies have hiccups this past weekend - DH got to feel it. And I've noticed that the babies respond when they hear his voice... they just go nuts, which I think is so sweet. He talks to them in the mornings, lol.

We have our 3D/4D ultrasounf this weekend and I can't wait to see what they look like!

On 25w6d growth scan

I had a growth scan this morning for the babies. Both babies look great, big, and healthy!

Ryder was laying sideways across the lower part of my belly. He is weighing in at 2lbs.

Brynley is breech and trying to snuggle up under my ribs. She is weighing 2lbs 1ounce.

They are both around the 65th - 75th percentile for all of their measurements. But, the measurements are based upon singleton babies. So, the fact they are so big and measuring so well is even better since they are twins.

The perinatologist said I'm doing a great job growing them. I felt like a very proud mama :)

I also had a consult with the perinatologist about my blood pressure and possible pre-eclampsia. Overall, she is much less concerned than my OB. She said my protein was at 228 (with 300 being the marker for pre-eclampsia), and that even with my "high" just-get-into-the-doctor's-office blood pressures, I wouldn't be diagnosed with pre-eclampsia. She said that they would get concerned once I start hitting stroke ranges, or 160/100. She also said because the babies are growing so well, it's another sign that I'm not having pre-eclampsia issues yet. And, she said I could have mild pre-eclampsia for a long time in the pregnancy and still be treated as an outpatient, basically, just have a close eye kept on me.

She said that my OB is doing the right thing being cautious and concerned, but that he is doing everything right - just making sure I'm closely monitored. I go back in 3 weeks for another ultrasound to see how they are growing!

On 25w4d, pre-eclampsia, & getting the nursery ready

I'm 25w4d today. According to the scale this morning, I'm up 30lbs, but I'm not sure that's completely accurate because I am definitely swollen today. It's ungodly humid everywhere I go, and my poor fingers were so swollen this morning that I couldn't even wear my wedding set. :( I'm wearing my titanium "EMS" wedding ring instead, which is a little more forgiving when I'm swollen. I haven't been able to wear my watch or bracelet for a couple of weeks now, I guess the weight gain is going to my wrists? LOL. As I'm typing this, I'm thinking "I need to get a fan for my desk and I need compression socks".

At my past few OB appointments, the OB has made some comments about my blood pressure. I'm not getting crazy high readings, and have been tracking at home as well, and I'm always right around the 130/80 mark... sometimes higher when I'm at the doctor because I have definite white coat syndrome. I stress myself out about the blood pressure reading, knowing I'll be in trouble because it's high, and then what happens? It's high. If I can wait until the end of the appointment to have it taken, it's always much lower and within normal ranges.

Anyways, 2 appointments ago, my OB mentioned that I need to start thinking about when I will come out of work. At my last appointment last Wednesday, he told me he wants me out of work ASAP. In fact, he wanted to put me out of work that day. His concern is that my blood pressure is slowly creeping up, I'm having pedal edema from sitting at my desk all day, and because I'm already high risk, it puts me at higher risk for pre-eclampsia. He had me do another 24 urine collection 2 appointments ago, and my protein came in right under 300 - with 300 being pre-eclampsia (along with elevated blood pressure). He told me that he's "trying to be nice" with me right now because he doesn't want to stress me out more and send my blood pressure up, but that I need to slow down, treat this as the twin/high-risk pregnancy this is, and stop working. He said that if I keep at the pace I'm at, I will deliver the babies closer to 34 weeks or earlier, which really freaked me out.

I think the thing that freaks me out the most about it is that I feel great! Honestly, I love being pregnant, and there have been some minor discomforts at times, but overall, I just feel so good that it's hard for me to believe that something bad could be happening. If I felt like shit, I could understand things more, but I really just don't. He said that makes it even more concerning, because I'm mostly asymptomatic, and things could turn ugly quickly, and put the babies and I at risk. He said that I need to be at home, laying on my sides, eating/drinking/napping whenever I want in the AC and continuing to bake these babies.

Anyways, I'm trying to play Let's Make a Deal with my OB. I go back tomorrow for a blood pressure check. Thursday is my ultrasound with Maternal Fetal Medicine to see how big these babies are. My next "real" appointment with him is Monday the 17th. He asked me to bring DH since I'm "not being cooperative". I have lab appointments set up to do my 1 hour glucose and another 24 hour urine collection on the 22nd. He told me that if my protein is over 300, that's it - no more work. So, my hope is that if my blood pressure stays in check and I'm still feeling well, I can stay at work until July 1st... thinking that he will set up another appointment with me for after the 24 hour urine and glucose results come back for the last week in June.

Speaking of the size of these babies... I'm really excited to see them again on Thursday. My OB, when palpating my belly, asked when my next growth scan is... because he thinks they are big. Well, I'm SURE they are big - DH is big, my dad & sisters are all tall, and his entire family is tall. I've said from the beginning that I'm growing "Ryan-sized" babies in here - they have always measured ahead. Even as twins, they measure ahead for as if they are singletons.

Today the nursery is being painted. I'm beyond excited! All of the twins' bedding came in, and I did a color consult with an interior decorator to help pick paint colors for our entire house.

The nursery theme is My First ABC by Kidsline.

Originally, I wanted to do a safari/jungle theme, but everything was either very feminine or very masculine - and I wanted something that wouldn't look too "off" for either baby. My biggest "want" was something that had elephants in it because I love them! I figured this set worked out nicely. I plan on having the changing pad be a sagey green, Ryder's extra crib sheets being red, and Brynley's extra sheets being lilac. We are painting the nursery a sagey green above the chair rail, then a white chair rail, then a light tan color. Our furniture color is similar to that in the picture.

Everyone has been so insanely generous to our babies already, and I swear I already have enough clothes for them for the first 6 months or so. Once the nursery is set up, DH & I need to re-do their closet structure (the structure the builder puts in is crap and doesn't use the space well), and then I can really go through all the clothing and see what we really have.

Other than that, not much else going on... here are some belly pictures :)

Here I am at 24 weeks and 25 weeks.