Terry and I took a day off of work to enjoy the Minnesota State Fair. I look forward to the State Fair every year as I am very much a "foodie" and have to have my cheese curds and mini doughnuts. I was SO looking forward to going this year, come hell or high water, it was going to happen. I was disappointed I'd be missing out on my beloved beergarita, but I had plans for what I was going to eat (and I brought baggies to take leftovers:) It was over 90 degrees that day and I dressed as light as I possibly could, without going naked. After about 2 hours of walking around, we sat in the shade and I had a fainting episode and had a lot of trouble getting out of it. I am a fainter, as it is, and so is my mom, but we always try to be as "quiet" about it as possible, so as not to freak people out. Well when I tried, non-nonchalantly to get my head between my knees and couldn't fit because of my belly, it just wasn't happening. People noticed. I remember beginning to panic, myself, when I realized I was most likely going to be exiting the State Fair via stretcher. Enter the magical marvelous baggie filled with ice. Problem solved! Medics came over to make sure we were ok and I reassured them that the ice baggie was doing the trick. After about 15 minutes of cooling down, we were off to enjoy another 4-5 hours of the fair and it was the longest we've stayed and very well worth it. I tried the new "mini doughnut batter flavored ice-cream" that I had been looking forward to and, while it was good, I don't have to get it again. I had my cheese curds, mini doughnuts, and a bite of Terry's chicken taco.
Last weekend was Labor Day weekend and my parents spoiled us kids with a nice long weekend at Breezy Point Resort up north. It was heaven. I had been looking forward to that time with my family, away from home, kid-less, for quite some time. Saturday we spent the afternoon out in the sun on the pontoon, swimming, exploring the sandbars and "Goat Island". Apparently there are lots of goats on Goat Island to help keep the vegetation manageable. My sisters and my youngest sister's boyfriend were VERY adamant that we go visit Goat Island to find these awesome goats. They were obsessed. We pulled up to the island where there were lots of other people swimming around, dropped anchor and while Terry, my sisters and my sister's boyfriend went to find goats, my parents and I stood in the water, relaxing and sipping on our drinks (green tea for me) and hoped to hear all about their goat-finding adventure when they returned. After a while we began to wonder if maybe they were eaten by goats (but we still stood, sipping on our drinks, relaxing), until we saw the 4 of them return with somber looks on their faces. Turns out...some bachelor party got a hold of the 4 goat-hunters for some beer-bonging good times and told them that the goats were no longer on the island. Long story short, there were supposed to be 2 goats, according to the resort workers, but apparently the bachelor boys didn't want to lose their new found friends to their goat-hunting adventures, rather, they wanted to have some fun with them and made up a story that the goats weren't there this year. Bummer. Imagine how pissed my sister was to find this out when we returned. Those goats were all they had looked forward to all damn day. I also had my own little adventure when I assured my mom that pregnant women are very buoyant, so "no", I didn't really need a dorky life-jacket when we jumped into 30 ft. deep water. Turns out...I am actually carrying an anchor :) I got quite the work-out treading water and "looking calm" until it was time to climb back up. I'm still the only one who knows that I just about drowned. After we returned to our lodge, we got ready for dinner at a nice restaurant nearby (best steak I've ever had and it was a perfect 5 oz. just for my little stomach!) and then returned to listen to Elvis sing his heart out terribly, from our dock. We sat around the fire until it was time for bed and spent Sunday at the Casino and lunch with my aunt and uncle and playing cards indoors due to the crappy weather. I could repeat that weekend every weekend of my life, it was amazing. My parents spoiled us way too much, as always, but time with my family is my favorite time in the world, whether it be here or there.
After we returned home from the weekend up north, I noticed that my Braxton Hicks contractions had really picked up that night. I was well hydrated and resting, so there didn't seem to be any real reason why this should happen, but I paid close attention to it over the course of the next day and a half. On Wednesday I was absolutely miserable at work (this seems to be the trend while I'm sedentary at work, I feel like total crap, and that's putting it nicely). I kept having the Braxton Hicks more frequently and just felt "off". My next OB appointment wasn't until this next Friday, but I feel so much more responsibility to be cautious with these babies during this pregnancy that I decided I had better go in and get checked out, just to be safe. I refused to go straight to the hospital, knowing full well that I was not in labor, I just really wanted my doctor to check my cervix. I kind of gave the triage nurse some lip when she asked me the 50 questions about how I was feeling "off". I felt like crap and didn't have the energy to talk, much less describe to a non-pregnant woman why I was feeling "off". I finally said "ok then, I'll just spend the next hour counting my contractions and I'll give you a call with that important magical number for you to decide whether I can see my doctor for a quick cervical check, or not, how does that sound?" ....and BOOM, I was able to squeeze in with my OB within that hour. He checked my cervix and reported that I am 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced. Based on my progression, he also performed the fetal fibronectin to see what the chances of me going into labor within the next 2 weeks would be. Honestly, going into the appointment I fully expected to hear that I was slightly dilated and also that the fetal fibronectin result was negative. So there weren't any surprises. He told me that I should just be more careful and take it easy. So, I'll basically go back to sitting on my ass at my desk for 40+ hours per week, which is what is killing me fatigue/exhaustion-wise, and continue to be busy, but not so busy, on the weekends. No real changes. If it wasn't for my manager taking these next two weeks off for her honeymoon, I have actually really been on the verge of burning all of my vacation time so I can be home and active, rather than at work, to keep a grip on my sanity, however, I've taken on a few of her tasks (not willingly, let me tell you) and know that I would catch hell if I didn't take care of them while she is away. I'm stuck. I know that when I go back to work tomorrow, after a weekend of keeping active and feeling a "normal tired", I will be plagued with exhaustion, fatigue, the inability to catch my breath, so tired I could vomit, feeling........I don't know how much longer I can do it (be sedentary). I NEED to move to feel "normal".
On a brighter note (and please, all of you who read my blog, understand that I whine here to vent and I really do feel that I've been lucky with only having complications for those first few weeks and the amazing ability to still be carrying twins, without many restrictions, at 32 weeks)...............T&Y have announced that they will be traveling to Canada starting September 19th (I think to explore?) and then HERE to MN on September 28th, unless anything changes. Woo hoo!! We have an arrival date! Knowing that they will be here in just a few short weeks, takes a lot of pressure off. I keep wondering "what if the babies come earlier?", and want everything to go as planned, but doesn't everyone? Truthfully, I wish they would just come straight here on the 19th because I have this weird feeling that my water is just 2 weeks away from breaking and then they will have to urgently change their plans. I feel overwhelmed with everything that I feel I need to do before they arrive. I want to deep clean my house (it's clean, but you know what I mean, they're guests!), get baby gifts (haven't done that yet!), clean hedgehog cages so I won't have to for a while, get dinners scheduled with my family to include T&Y (my family offered to have them for dinner, which is very thoughtful and I can't wait!), I had intended to throw them a little mini-baby-shower for little things to take home with them and include whoever wanted to be a part of it, etc. I DID get one thing done that was no small feat. I Kaleb's pack-n-play out of storage, hosed it down, soaped it up, and dried it out so it's all ready for T&Y to use when they get here. I can sleep now :)
At my last ultrasound appointment almost 2 weeks ago, I was instructed to start scheduling my "weekly ultrasounds", which means that, beginning this week, I will have weekly ultrasounds to keep tabs on the babies' growth, as well as non-stress tests (NST). These appointments are roughly 2-2.5 hours long and they don't include my now bi-weekly to weekly OB appointments. From now until the birth, I'll be living at the doctor's office. I don't mind and am actually looking forward to it. It gives T&Y even more chances to see and hear about the babies. They are SO excited and I am so excited for them! We are really in the home stretch now. Things could happen at any time. We want the babies to bake a little longer, of course, but if they were to come now, they would have a very good chance of being born without complications and much time spent in the NICU. I have to make it to 34 weeks in order to deliver at the hospital of my choosing, which is something I will worry about until we reach 34 weeks. If I go into labor between now and 34 weeks, I will have to deliver at a hospital in the cities that is equipped with a NICU. Fingers crossed we still have another 2+ weeks in us!!! Bake, babies, bake!
29 weeks.............................
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