Twin Pregnancy Update – 39 Weeks Pregnant With Twins

Surprise! A bonus pregnancy update. I really wasn’t expecting to actually make it to 39 weeks, as originally my doctor had mentioned starting induction Monday or Tuesday, but at my appointment last Friday he said we could start induction Wednesday evening.

This last week has been incredibly emotional for me. While I’m soooo thankful to have made it this far in my twin pregnancy, it’s a week of highs and lows as I approached induction. While I know that many inductions go smoothly, after having a intervention free labor and delivery with my daughter, I wanted to have the option to do the same with the twins. The cesarian rate for inductions (especially in my case where they start with little dilation) is much higher than it is when the body goes into labor on it’s own. As I weighed the pros and cons of waiting any longer than my doctor’s 39 week suggested eviction date (which was already a week longer than many doctors allow), I was torn between trusting my body(placentas showed no signs of deterioration at my last ultrasound) and going with the doctor’s advice based on perceived risks.

I’m confident in my choice now and induction is literally underway. We checked into the hospital tonight and I had cervidil inserted – hopefully it’ll start active labor on it’s own, otherwise we’ll move on to other drugs in the morning. In the meantime, we have some downtime and blogging and doing other things keeps my mind off everything! While I have mourned the loss of my preferred labor, I’ve moved on now and am excited and ready for this to happen. I’ve been way less nervous than I thought I’d be and am at peace with however things go, no matter if that means these babies are surgically removed or not. As long as they are healthy, I’m happy!

Anyway, moving on to the final update!

How Many Weeks: I’m 38 weeks 6 days pregnant today but this basically covers 39 weeks pregnant with twins.

Babies Update: These babies apparently love the womb! They are super comfy inside me and have shown absolutely no interest in making a break for it. As of my ultrasound one week ago they were estimated at 7 pounds and 6 pounds 12 oz – soon we’ll find out how accurate that was! They are both head down still.

Frequency of Doctor Appointments: This week I’ve only had 2 doctor appointments – a NST on Monday and my OB appointment today. But I’ll likely be spending the rest of the week in the hospital so I guess we can count that too.

Labor Signs: I had about 6 hours of contractions on Sunday. At one point there were 3 minutes apart but only 30-45 seconds long and not super intense (there was pain/cramping so they didn’t feel like Braxton Hicks). I was timing them and we almost called Mike’s parents to pick up Siena but I told him we should eat dinner and then see. I had them through dinner but they seemed to be slowing down and were less intense. By bedtime they were nearly gone and I was only woken by a couple in the night. I had a few more on Wednesday but nothing else. Bummer.

Weight Gain: 50 pounds! I think I’ve had more swelling this week because oddly enough last week at my doctor appointment I’d actually lost weight from the previous week. I weighed myself again Friday after doing so Thursday and I’d lost 3 pounds (which is a sign of labor so I got excited!). But now I’ve gained them all back plus 2 more in just 5 days so clearly something is up.

Movement: Actually a little less movement this week. I even had Mike listen for their heartbeats a couple times just to make sure! (He can hear Baby A’s easily but Baby B’s is harder because her placenta is in the front).

Symptoms: My emotions have been all over the place this week! I even cried one night when Siena didn’t want me to be in the room when Mike was putting her to bed. I think I’m trying to process a lot right now as we make this big life transition ! Besides that, I haven’t been sleeping as well (Siena has been waking up early, like 5:30-5:45), have some lower back pain, and just overall feel out of breath, large and winded.

Cravings/Food Aversions: Does craving beer count?

Purchasing/Borrowing: Nothing! We’ve been ready to go!

Maternity Clothes: It’s been warm so I’ve been able to wear dresses lately which has felt great!

Exercise: I scaled it way back this week and just walked 1-2 miles a day as part of my walk a mile a day challenge and did 3 prenatal yoga workouts.

Interesting Moments: I went to a prenatal chiropractor on Monday and Tuesday to aligned. After the 6 hours of contractions on Sunday I was doing some research and found an article that talked about how prodromal or long first stage labor can be caused by misalignment in the pelvis which isn’t allowing baby to get into the birth canal well enough and stalls labor. Given I had a 45 hour labor with Siena, I’m more and more suspicious that it was related to this. Going to the chiropractor and getting adjusted twice made me feel more confident that the pathway for these babies to exit will be more clear!

Best Moments: Despite some emotional turbulence this week, overall it was a fantastic week and I’m thankful I got to spend even more quality time with Siena, Mike and several friends before the babies arrived. I stopped working for my part time digital marketing job on April 1st so I had more free time (between the crazy amount of doctor appointments). Mike and I had a great date night at a nice restaurant last Thursday and we did a few family beach afternoons.

I had dinner with my friend Shahara, got to catch up with Asia (she’s in town for a week) via coffee, went for a walk AND lunch, had lunch with my friend Sarah, went to a birthday party and got to see Siena ride her first pony, and we got to have dinner with Mike’s college friends who were in town. Given I’m going to be pretty homebound for the next several months, those moments and experiences and the fact that my babies are going to be a whole week older, are amazing blessings. I also got tie up all the loose ends with work, including getting several women set up for my challenge group start Monday, run all the errands I had on my to-do list and spend even more moments with Siena as an only child.

Missing: Quality sleep. Too bad that won’t be coming back anytime soon! But that’s ok, those little girls will be worth it.

Looking Forward To: Meeting these babies SOON!!!!!

See my Twin Pregnancy page for previous updates!

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