"If we get two weeks, I will feel lucky."

What a quote! But hey after last weekend we are happy we have made it one more and can have the goal of two more weeks. We had our 33 week appointment today and everything went good. We got a little worried because on Sunday night she was having 7-10 contractions an hour for a few hours, but the doctor told us to wait till our appointment as long as she was not in pain.

So we had an ultrasound, we have not had one since our 26 week appointment. It is always fun to see the girls, just getting a little tougher since they are getting so big. They both measured in at 4lbs. 11oz. There is a plus or minus of about 10%, so the smallest they would be would be like 4.5lbs. So that was GREAT to hear, they are actually big for twins (poor Allyson), they are actually measuring like a single baby.



We also got to see them breathing, which is really good they are developing their lungs, since that is such a worry of premature births. The really cool part was on Leah, you could tell that she has hair and quite a bit.

After the ultrasound we met with the doctor. He was a little concerned with her having contractions, but really happy with the babies size. He checked her cervix and she has dilated 1cm since last Tuesday, which while not bad, is not a good thing either. Either way, it basically solidified that bed rest and medication will be the recipe till the girls come for Allyson. After that is where the lovely comment came out, "If we get two weeks, I will feel lucky." Well Allyson is doing great and I am sure she will keep them in their as long as she possibly can, but when your body is measuring 40 weeks, it thinks it is time to go.

We welcome and thank everyone for their prayers, we really want the girls to be as healthy as possible. I will try to post the two profile pictures we got tomorrow.

Stuck at home

Well everyone tried to tell me it would happen eventually, but I was not convinced. Overall this pregnancy has been text book, and after my appointment at 30 weeks I felt like there was not much that could change that since everything still looked great.

But Saturday I woke up with a different feeling. I still felt just fine, but I thought that my time was now limited in what I was able to do. So I got ready and went to the grocery store, came home and did a few things I have been meaning to do for the nursery. I told Matt that I just felt like I was not going to be able to do these things shortly.

I felt pretty rough Saturday night, and the Auburn game did not help much, but it was just a general discomfort. Sunday morning I got up and had some breakfast and decided to take a shower. Thats when it started. I had this awful cramp on my left side. So after calling matt to come in there, we decided we should call the doctor and he told me to come on in (thinking it could be kidney stones).

The pain kind of moved on my way to the hospital, so I was like "great, they are going to think i am an idiot, I am just uncomfortable which is normal". But when they hooked me up I realized I was so uncomfortable because I was having a contraction every 2 minutes. That would do it! So first they gave me a drug (Brethine) which basically is like speed - if i ever took speed. It makes you jittery and speeds up the heart. That didnt work so they had to start me on Magnesium Sulfate. After that went it, it was an interesting hour. It completely messed me up. But it worked. They weaned me off that on monday morning and i had to take the Brethine tablets every 4 hours, which seemed to be doing the trick. I just wanted to go home! That night, after a full day of minimal contractions, they started up again. The doctor upped my dose on the Brethine and luckily I did not have to go back on Mag. So i got to come home yesterday!

I am on bedrest but I am allowed to get up to pee and shower and get something to eat/ drink. Just nothing else. I had to start my maternity leave a bit earlier than planned but hopefully it will all work out. So I am sitting here with the computer in my lap writing in my blog after doing a little online shopping. Since I am still on that medication that makes my heart race so much, I feel weird getting up anyway, so this is not too bad yet. Ill just settle down with my Harry Potter books and hope that these girls stay in me for 4 more weeks - that would be nice.

This weekend was a rude awakening though. They could be here seriously soon! Just not too soon I hope...

And then came bed rest...

Well we made it to 32 weeks, not bad. Yesterday, Allyson went into pre-term labor having anywhere from 24-30 contractions an hour. They hoped to slow it down with a simple shot and IV fluids, but the girls would not have that weak stuff. So they basically did an all out attack with pain killer for Allyson, mag wash to slow the contractions and steroids for the girls lungs. The girls are doing great, heart beats are strong, hopefully they will measure them today, so we will know a little more.

The doctor came in this morning to inform Allyson "You are done." And will be on bed rest till her next appointment where they will reevaluate.

Keep us and the girls in your prayers. We would definitely like a couple more weeks.

I will keep you posted if anything changes, and who knows Allyson might even write an entry since she will be stuck in bed.

By Two They Came

Ok maybe not everything, but Allyson has had most of her baby showers, and by twos clothes, pumpkin seats, highchairs and whatever else started to come into the house. We really were blessed with all the gifts we got, and we appreciated every gift we got, but I have to admit that with babies, i think especially baby girls (and in our case twins), people cannot help but buy clothes.

You should see our closet, it is packed with more clothes than Allyson and I have combined...but wait there is more, check out the dresser and its hanging bar is full and its drawers are full. The other thing people I think like with girls over boys in monogram everything. We have monogrammed bibs, blankets, burp clothes, and I think clothes. Allyson and I joked that we should have told everyone we decided not to go with Hannah and Leah...but thought better than to taunt the people getting us such nice gifts.

The other crazy part is finding space for all of this. When we bought our new home, I never thought those words would come out of my mouth, but alas. It is just a lot at one time, and when you slowly consume stuff you find better ways to stuff things into nooks and crannies.

So after all the stuff was put away we still had to put some it together. Well, that was fun...me and Allyson had a "Rachel Green" moment (And if you don't watch Friends you will not get this). We were putting together the bouncy seats and the Pack N Play and it just was not happening in the easy manner the instructions laid out, so we started to wonder : if we cannot put together their stuff...how screwed up are our kids going to be...ok maybe a little extreme and we were more laughing about it, but it was just funny.

All and all, we were really blessed by all our friends and family.

28 week appointment

Nothing too exciting to report after this appointment, which is good. So far everything looks great and he has no huge concerns. I did not gain very much since my 26 week appointment, but he is just going to look at that in another 2 weeks. Dr. Ross also said I could keep working (just keep an eye on my pressure and contractions) and then referred to me as the "energizer bunny". Truthfully I feel normal most days before my cases; its after the case when I feel a little more tired than I should.

The funny part was when he measured my fundal height. At 26 weeks I was measuring the same as someone pregnant with one at 32 weeks. I guess they hit a growth spurt (even if I didnt) because I am now measuring 36 weeks! Thats 8 weeks ahead! You Grow Girls! But, that does explain a lot!

Unfortunately I think I have a little sinus infection right now, so he gave me a zpak and hopefully that will clear things up quickly. One of my best friends is staying with me this weekend and I have my moms baby shower this saturday so I had best snap out of this!

Speaking of baby showers, I have had two thus far. One from work last thursday and my mother-in-laws shower on Sunday. I tell you what, putting everything away makes it that much more real! We are in the home stretch which is hard to believe. And I definitely have enough burp cloths to last a while!

Thats all for now. I go back 2 weeks from today. He said anything could change between now and then, but he is still hoping for me to deliver at 36 weeks. 8 weeks to go. wow. Does that mean, i will be measuring... 56 weeks at this rate? I can't possibly get much bigger!

Literally Nesting

Well there is a new form of nesting going on at the McCay house. It is not cleaning or organizing (even though some of that is going on), but literally nesting. Let me paint you a picture. Allyson and I sleep on a king size bed. There was a day where snuggling was ok, then there was Kody the big dog that thinks he sleeps between us...ok remedy that, train him to sleep on the floor. Then we (I say we lightly because I do not want to get tons of comments from the ladies) got pregnant, so she is hot all the time, so no snuggling again. So here we are in a nice king size bed, with plenty of room to not snuggle.

Then week 23 or 24 roles on in, and sleepless nights start to become the norm. I really do feel sorry for her, but you have to picture a 6 foot 6 inch wide bed, on one side is a 245 pound man on his side hugging the edge of the bed (freezing I might add because the house now has to be at 65 degrees), on the other side of him is a wall of pillows (all the new/good ones), my loving wife and then on the other side of her another wall of pillows. So, it occurred to me, this is her natural instict to create a nest :).

The funny part is she takes this nesting strategy to the big couch downstairs as well where she has cosumed all but a couple of the throw pillows and purchased a new body pillow (that matches the couch of course) just for her couch sitting.

I give her a hard time, but I got to laugh about some of these things. I love her to death and I am sure I would be crying like a baby if I had to do what she is having to do, but I had to share the new nesting phase.

Money Well Spent

Allyson has already posted that we had our 4D ultrasound (my friend Ben hates that it is called this, he says by this thinking then the regular ultrasound should be called 3D since it is in real time as well...oh well), so I will not say much about it, but it was totally awesome and well worth the money. The only downside I think is it makes you want them to be here, so you can see and hold them.

I am posting two videos, one is Hannah and one is Leah. Since you pay for the ultrasound you actually get a lot of video...we got right at an hour, so I did my best to shave it down, but hey we are first time parents and it is hard to take out video. So, please fast-forward if you want, else the Leah video is 11 minutes and the Hannah video is 20. Of note, no we are not showing favoritism already, Hannah was not cooperating so we had to try the most with her to get a good image, which produced some pretty good video, but we never really got her 100% focused. I am also posting a few extra images, you can check them all out at our flickr account.

VIDEO



Hannah Marie 4D Ultrasound from matthewmccay and Vimeo.



Leah Nicole 4D Ultrasound from matthewmccay and Vimeo.

PHOTOS



(Hannah on left -- Leah on right)