23 weeks - 90 days to go!

Well I've made it to 23 weeks. It seems like just the other day I was finally seeing that positive pregnancy test and then getting the shock that we were having twins.

As a general estimate (from thebump.com) each baby is 10.5 to 11.8 inches long from head to toe. They both should be bigger than they were last Monday, which was 14oz and 18oz. (1lb. 2oz). Next time I think I will ask what "percentile" their growth is in, if they can give me that information. Our next growth scan is the week of April 22nd-26th and I have an regular OB appointment on April 24th. We will have another TTTS check next week (and every week from now on until I deliver these little babies). Also... Saturday I got my first rib karate chop from one of them. It hurt! I turned and said to Thayer, "Well since you can't beat me up, you're sending your minions to do your dirty work from the inside, aren't you?" He grinned and said, "Yep." lol

Today hasn't been such a great day. Just a lot of things have stacked up to make it less than stellar. Friday and today I had an "episode." It was pretty scary for me because I had no idea what was going on and it kind of freaked my co-workers out. I got insanely dizzy, had ringing in my ears, and blurred vision. Then a minute later I started to get really sweaty and pale. Within 5-10 minutes I was perfectly okay and have been the rest of the day. I thought I was going to pass out even though all I was doing was sitting there helping the kids with their math assignments. Anyways, after work I called my OB and talked to the nurse. I said I thought it might be that my blood pressure was dropping low and she agreed. She said it sounded like the babies had shifted and cut off some of my circulation through my vena cava (major blood vessel on the right side that returns blood from your lower extremities). This is causing a sudden drop in my blood pressure. There's not much I can do about it other than wait for it to pass while sitting, or it would be even better if I could lay down on my left side to take the pressure of the babies off of it. Well... that's not entirely possible to do when working in a classroom of special education kids. I just have to do my best. All this time I've been worried about developing pre-eclampsia, but it would seem, at least for now, I'm having the opposite problem. It was pretty scary. I'm just glad the kids didn't catch on.

Tomorrow I have my weekly ultrasound to check for twin to twin transfusion (TTTS). They will guesstimate the amount of amniotic fluid around each baby as well as make sure they both have fluid in their bladders and kidneys. As long as their fluid levels are similar and there is fluid evident in the organs that means to TTTS as of right now! So, I'm hoping for the best in that regard. I'm also supposed to talk to the MFM about the "episodes" tomorrow to get her input. We will also arrange to have a tour of the NICU in the near future just in case the babies have to spend some time there. I'm hopeful that I can keep these babies in there until 36 weeks! I really, really want that.

I do have to admit, I'm really glad I lost weight because now I have a nice, cute baby bump and look pregnant instead of looking like I just put on some more weight. Oh and sorry for the self-portrait. The pictures that Thayer took were awful.