On 19w & No More Ambulance

I'm 19 weeks today, which puts me at officially half way through my pregnancy (since it's twins and they won't let me go past 38 weeks). When I did the scale hop this morning, I was officially up 16lbs. I'm still looking like it's mostly all belly gain, but my shape has definitely changed a bit (no waistline) and I'm feeling a bit flabby in my normally toned areas. I feel like my belly button is just weeks away from being popped out, lol. It amazes me how much my belly skin has stretched and how much further it still has to go. I still always find myself staring at my belly as I get in the shower and I just giggle. This is really happening. It blows my mind every single day.

I had an emergency appointment with my OB about a week and a half ago because I was having abdominal pain and bladder spasms that I thought were related to another kidney stone. After running some tests and a follow-up appointment, he doesn't think it was a kidney stone, but rather thinks it was round ligament pain. He told me it would be more severe for me considering I'm stretching to accomodate 2 little ones, but that it's pretty normal.

The biggest takeaway from it? He wanted me off the ambulance. He told me I need to take it easy and remember it's a twin pregnancy - which is totally different than a singleton pregnancy. I'll be the first to admit that I've felt so great the past few weeks that I thought I would be able to continue just leading life normally... but I need to realize I have an even greater job and responsibility to these 2 babies... so I need to slow my ass down. So, I relented and am officially done working EMS until after the babies arrive. It was definitely emotional for me packing away all my uniforms, but it's for a good reason.

With that, I have enjoyed the time off and definitely feel a huge difference in my body. There's no more daily aches, pains, and difficulty finding a good position to sleep in. I've been trying to get more stuff done around the house that has been neglected because I was working so much and I've also been in bed every night by 8pm. Honestly, by the end of the day, I'm usually fast asleep by 8pm, too.
Since I have been feeling better and the weather has been nicer, I've been trying to do some walks with Mojo around our development. I've also been trying to do some stretching. It's the first real exercise I've gotten since I found out I was pregnant, so it's welcome.

Not sure if I've mentioned it, but I have a huge diaper/wipes/paper towels/toilet paper/other household essentials stash going. I have close to 5000 diapers (in varying sizes) and over 6000 wipes, lol. DH thinks I'm nuts, but I think I'm being smart! LOL. My basement looks like a cross between Extreme Couponers and Hoarders. I've been really good with couponing to buy everything, too.

Two more weeks until our anatomy scan, and then 2 days later (Mother's Day), we have our Gender Reveal Party. I'm growing more and more anxious to know what these 2 babies are. I still swear Baby A is a boy, and I'm convinced they are either 2 boys or boy/girl... although at this point, if they were 2 girls, I wouldn't be surprised, lol.

Also, over the past few days, I've felt some, what I think are, distinct kicks from Baby A. It was very often a few days ago, but when I would put my hand to my belly, the baby would stop (of course!) I cannot wait until DH can feel them kicking and moving. <3

On 14w6d, changing my OB, baby movement, & baby furniture

I'm 14w6d today - hard to believe. I weighed in this morning and am up about 10lbs.

This past week I've been drinking orange juice like it's my job. It's my first 'real' craving of the pregnancy. I love it with ice cubes, lol. The babies either really love or really hate it though, because I've been feeling them move like crazy. The first time I felt movement was 03/20. I was sitting in a meeting, and felt this weird "flip" sensation in my lower left abdomen. My new midwife had warned me I'd start feeling them soon but it totally took me by surprise. At first, I wasn't even sure what it was. But now that I know, I'm able to recognize it more. I was only really feeling Baby A up until yesterday when I started feeling Baby B, too.

A few weeks back, DH mentioned that he didn't like my OB. To be honest, I'd been with the practice since I was about 17 (when I went on birth control), and had originally seen the OB but soon switched to one of the midwives I really liked. The practice has 2 OBs and about 5 midwives. Since I got pregnant, they had me rotating through everyone... but then once we confirmed it was twins, they stuck me with just the OB. So, when DH accompanied me to one of the appointments, he decided he just did not like her and did not trust her as a surgeon (in case I need a c-section). Of course, he didn't immediately tell me this but rather waited a week or so, which sent me into panic mode when he brought it up. I figured if we are going to switch, now is the time. At first, I kind of discounted his opinion but then realized (a) he NEVER stated adament opinions about things unless they are important and (b) with his medical background, I really needed to trust him.

So, I started my research. I asked a bunch of mom-friends that I trust and got the names of a few doctors and practices. I then started asking some OB nurses that I know and narrowed the list down. Eventually, I made an appointment with a new practice. My first appointment was with the midwife, and from the minute she walked in, I loved her. I was also experiencing a little mini-crisis, so by the time she walked in the exam room, I was an hysterical crying mess. Long story short, while I was in the waiting room, Maternal Fetal Medicine called saying my old OB (who wasn't aware I was switching yet) called them to set up a physician's consult for me. I had no idea what this was about, and I'm in the middle of sequential screening, so I thought that there must be something wrong with the babies. I made DH called MFM, but they said they didn't know why the OB had set it up. The midwive walks into the exam room, I tell her what's going on, and she calls MFM, gets all the info and straighens everything out. Moral of the story is - my idiot old OB didn't realize, even though they have all of my records from MFM and are the ones who sent me there in the first place, that I've already been established with MFM and have been seeing them for weeks. To me, it was even more of a sign to leave that practice and switch to the new practice.

So far, the new practice has been amazing. The midwife referred me to a cardiologist (due to my past history of hypertension, even though I've been asymptomatic and off medication for over a year) and a special eye doctor to get my eyes checked because of the hypertension past. She also has me getting a home blood pressure cuff, and had me add more iron and calcium supplements because of the twins. Then, this morning, she called me to make sure I got the sequential screen results from MFM (all good on the Down's syndrome front!) and to see how I've been feeling, etc. We spent like 10 minutes on the phone just gabbing about things... you couldn't ask for more personal service. I'm excited because I have my first appointment with the OB on Monday, too. :)

Also, when I went to the cardiologist on Tuesday, my 12-lead EKG was perfect, but the doctor discovered I now have an audible heart murmur. About 10 years ago, I had an echo done and it showed a small murmur, but it was never audible until now. He said not to worry yet, and ordered another echo for me.

DH and one of our friends put the baby furniture together this weekend. I'm a psycho Type-A planner, so I knew before we announced what furniture we would be getting, and I had also already ordered it. We ordered 2 sets of furniture, even though we only plan on having 2 cribs and 1 set furniture in the nursery. The plan is that we will probably split the twins into 2 rooms once they make the move to toddler beds, so I like the idea of having 2 sets of furniture already ready.

We ordered all of the furniture in Espresso - Stork Craft Tuscany crib, Stork Craft Beatrice Dresser, and Stork Craft Beatrice Combo Tower Chest. I also plan on ordering the matching hutch for the combo towers to use for storage once we are done using it as a changing table. My BFF used this furniture for her 3 kids, so I feel pretty confident in how well it'll work out for us.