Pregnancy Update: 35 Weeks

How far along: 35 weeks!  Oh my!!  And this past 34th week was quite eventful.

How big are babies: According to the pregnancy app, the babies are approximately 5 and a quarter pounds (the size of a honeydew melon).  Based on the last ultrasound I would guess that Baby B is about this much.  Baby A may be closer to 6 pounds at this point.  Wow, that's probably over 11 pounds of baby I'm carrying around!  They are also probably about 18 inches or so in length.

Survival chances: These are all the same as last week.  Here's a reminder: between 34 weeks and 36 weeks, 6 days survival chances are greater than 99%.  Chances of severe or moderate disabilities among survivors is now down to 4%; minor disability is still the same as last week at 15%.  (Gunter, The Preemie Primer, 2010)  As for percent chance of delivering for women who have had a rescue cerclage, based on singleton pregnancies, about 34% of them delivered between 34 weeks and 36 weeks, 6 days.**

Weight gain: I think I've only gained two pounds since last week, which is great!!  So I've now gained a total of 46 pounds in this pregnancy.

Cravings: Still nothing strong.  Doing better on my diet which is making an obvious difference in the restlessness in my legs.  We had a possibly pre-eclampsia scare this week (more on that below) so Hubby was looking at the newest edition of Fertility, Cycles & Nutrition by Marilyn Shannon last night and she has a diet listed for preventing pre-eclampsia.  Interestingly, many of the good foods she lists are also some of the same things we had found that were high in magnesium when we were investigating that for my leg restlessness.  It's always so interesting to me how interconnected all these things are.  Despite all this, I do wish we had some cookies or something around the house that was easy to snack on when I need something sweet.  Oh well, I'm making a pretty decent snack out of graham crackers and nutella.

Aversions: Still nothing!!

Belly Button: I'm going to say that it is definitely flat.  During an NST last week I was in a room with another twin mom and she had an outie.  Any thought I had about mine being an outie is now gone. 

Movement: Still lots of movement!  And it's getting pretty strong.  I think they were having a party in there on Sunday.

Pregnancy Symptoms: Why does this list seem to continue to get longer?  Ha!  Isn't pregnancy amazing.

--So the leg restlessness is getting better.  The banana a day and protein shake a day have been a good combination, plus I have the magnesium supplement.  On days when I do nothing, my legs are fine; on days when I move around a bit more (appointments, running errands with Hubby, small things around the house) the restlessness comes back.  Doesn't make sense to me, but whatever.

--The numbness in my hand is still there.  Seemed to get better over the weekend and early this week, but it really bothered me this morning.  Not so much numb as hurt from stiffness.  It eventually went away once I was up and moving around, but it's a strange sensation.

--I mentioned swelling last week in my hands.  It wasn't bad, but Friday I started having swelling in my feet.  It went away when I had my feet up, so I didn't think much of it.  I am carrying two babies, and at 35 weeks I'm probably the size of a 43 week pregnancy.  Some swelling is to be expected, I would think.

--The little bit of heartburn I had had earlier seems to be making a comeback.  It's mostly just at night, but just so annoying!  I now keep the Tums in the bedroom.

Sleeping: Still about the same ... not much.  We did get a glider chair for the nursery and right after Hubby assembled it, I fell asleep in it.  I may give it a try one night when I'm having difficulties sleeping.  It's a lot easier to get in and out of than the bed.  I can hear my joints creaking when I get up from bed.  I'm getting old!

Ultrasound: None since last Monday.  The next one is scheduled for Thursday, May 26.

Appointment: Okay, here's where things get complicated.  Had an appointment on Monday, was pretty routine until they told me they wanted me to go to Triage over at the hospital, due to the swelling in my feet and a slightly elevated blood pressure.  They felt that everything was probably fine, but I should get checked out just in case.  Since I also had an NST scheduled, they told me not to worry about it and they would let Triage know that I needed the NST as well.  Thus started my unexpected hospital stay this week.  Next appointment is Monday May 23, I'm not sure, but maybe the cerclage will come out then.  Yay!!

Hospital: In Triage they drew blood, took a urine sample, monitored my blood pressure, hooked me up to monitors for the NST, and then we waited.  After a couple hours I saw Dr. O who felt that I would be allowed to go home soon.  He wasn't at all concerned about me.  A little after he left I was told I was being admitted.  That was a let down.  They had talked about sending me home with instructions for doing a 24 hour urine sample that I would just bring back to the office.  Instead they decided they would do it at the hospital.  After two attempts to put a hep-lock in (just in case I needed an IV at anytime) they gave up (IVs and I do not get along) and moved me to a room.  During my stay they occasionally checked my blood pressure, which was always either really good or at least fair, they collected all my urine over 24 hours, and they did a few more NSTs on the babies.  Tuesday afternoon everything checked out and I was discharged.  I do not have pre-eclampisa at this time, although I was just below the levels.  So Dr. O says I have gestational hypertension.  I'm supposed to take it easy (um ... I'm already on bed rest) and keep my feet up.  The swelling goes down with my feet up, a good sign.  I'll have some more labs run next week at my appointment, but hopefully they won't be sending me back to Triage, especially since we are getting so close to the end!!

Non-Stress Tests: Had one Thursday, it was good; as mentioned above, was supposed to have one Monday, instead I had about 3-4 while in the hospital between Monday and Tuesday; and I'll have another again this coming Thursday, plus two scheduled for next week.  Babies keep looking good!

Notable this week: Honestly, this past week was pretty eventful already, not much I can add to it.  Hopefully there will be big news next week!  We're getting close!

**Ventolini, G., et al, "Pregnancy outcome after placement of 'rescue' Shirodkar cerclage."  Journal of Perinatology. 9(4):276-279, April 2009.