Twin Tuesday: 36 Weeks
How far along: 36 weeks (click here to see 36 weeks with Madi!)
Total Weight Gain: ~25 lbs (and hoping most of it is baby!)
Gender: Baby girls! Here is our gender reveal video.
Twins' Development: Your babies are shedding most of their downy body hair as well as some of the vernix caseosa, the creamy substance that protects the skin. The Braxton Hicks contractions may be a little more frequent now as well. Source: Baby Center Twins)
Sleep: I've had a couple nights where I've woken up early in the morning and struggled some to get back to sleep, which is unusual for me. I think some of it is the sunlight here in Norway right now (sunrise and sunset are around 4:30 am and 11:00 pm, respectively). I'm still averaging 3 times per night to get up and pee as well. 
Movement: Yes - and dear goodness it's a lot sometimes. Movement below my left breast is hard to tell if it's Baby A or Baby B, but I think it's mostly Baby B. Her body is laying across the top of my gigantic stomach and I feel as though she's trying to bust out of jail!
Unglamorous body changes: A lot. Sigh. More stretch marks and my belly button had popped out. That and I am huge!
Maternity Clothes? Yes... and having to wear an undershirt because some of the maternity clothes are starting to get a bit tight... yikes!
Showing: Yes, which is logical since I'm carrying two babies. But it's definitely showing these days!!
Food cravings: Everything - haha. I feel like the past couple of weeks I have been starving and am eating everything in sight. But mostly a lot of fruit and cereal. Oh and I still really want a margarita or glass of wine. :-)
What I miss: Same as last update - freely moving. It's getting hard to get comfortable and I feel like I am waddling although everyone promises I'm not (that or they don't want to cross a pregnant gal!).
It's also getting really hard to do things like change Madi and carry her and play with her... that's really hard for me. I keep having to tell her "Mommy's too big" so naturally she's walking around saying "Mommy too big". Guess I asked for that, hehe!
Strange experiences: I had someone comment about being close to the end based on my size. She was a little surprised to find out I wasn't that close, but rather carrying two babies (this was a couple weeks ago). I also had someone ask me if I was ready to have the babies because my nose and lips were making her think I would have the babies soon. That was last Monday so fortunately no babies yet!
Best moment this month: Finishing up the nursery decorations we've made with our cutter and getting them hung in the girls' room. I'm itching to share the names and pictures of the nursery after they arrive!! :-)
Looking forward to: Seeing our baby girls weekly from now on (although we really don't get to see their faces much anymore). Baby A is very low and engaged so we won't get to see her face anymore until she arrives. We got lucky at the last appointment and finally got to see some of Baby B's face. She's always been hiding, but last week her head was close to my right hip (also very low) and her face was looking outwards so we got the shot below. I go back tomorrow for my next appointment and it's amazing to me to see their movements and heart beats - something I don't think will ever get old.
35 Week Appt:
As I mentioned above, we are seeing the girls weekly from now on. We saw my regular doctor at 33 weeks, then the hospital at 34 weeks. The hospital appointment did an ultrasound with a full check on their sizes, etc. Baby A was measuring around 4.4 lbs and Baby B around 4.7 lbs. Both within 10% of the average single baby for 34 weeks. I also had to do a non-stress test. Man, that thing is super boring!! But overall, everything looking great!
We also got a chance to talk to the midwife about delivery, etc. They scheduled an induction for me July 8th, but said that if the babies are doing fine and we really don't want to induce, that they will not force us. They will want us to come back every other day for check ups though. Currently, we are not comfortable with the idea of induction so if we make it to that appointment, then we will opt to wait, assuming everything is fine with both babies and me.
My appointment last week with my regular doctor went well. She didn't do size check or internal check since they were done the week before. She checked on the amount of amniotic fluid and their heart beats and both were very good. At my appointment tomorrow she will do measurements on the babies again and an internal check.
We're very grateful to make it to 36 weeks (the average for when twins are born). My mom arrives this Saturday so we are still praying that the girls continue growing so there is less chance of NICU. I would personally love for them to be as close to six pounds as possible, but we are definitely not taking it for granted that they are healthy and doing well.
Thank you everyone for your support and encouragement and love for us and our family and these two precious baby girls that we are excited to meet in the next couple of weeks!!! :-) Read more...
