Week 32/33 Update

I am 33 weeks along today and am still not seeing any end in sight although I know delivery day is just around the corner.  But whether that corner is just down the block or a mile away I'm still not sure.  I have been having some Braxton-Hicks contractions.  They are not painful but the tightening is uncomfortable.  Luckily they don't usually last any longer than 30 seconds or so.

I am sort of nesting.  I'm not in the "I HAVE to get this cleaned/done/disinfected/organized" phase but I am feeling the need to at least get started on completing everything that needs to be completed.  Yesterday I worked from home and during breaks I vacuumed and washed floors and baseboards (yes, Mom, baseboards - aren't you proud?).  I was only able to do the bathrooms, babies' room and kitchen though which really bothered me because normally I'd be able to do the whole house.  It really hit me that I really can't do as much as I used to and I DID NOT like it.  It is hard for me to turn over some of the control of things like cleaning (unless my mom is doing it for me - she's so good!).  John has told me he'd help me and I know he will but most of you will agree that things don't always get done the way you want them to unless you do it yourself.  But I am going to let him help me and do it his way.  I will do the dusting but I'll probably let him vacuum since standing for a long time is not something I'm able to do.  I think we'll split the floor washing.  Once I'm on the ground it is easier for me to stay down so floor washing is not something that is tough.  It's the getting up after the floor washing that will pose a problem.

The babies' room is ready for the most part after a very successful trip to Babies R Us (successful for BRU considering they took all our money).  We are waiting on one more mattress and then I'll have both cribs ready to go.  It is as organized as I'm going to get it and there are a couple of more things that need to be purchased or hung on the wall but we are set on diapers/wipes (thanks to our diaper dinner held by Me Too and her husband - thank you!), clothes (again, thank you to everyone who has sent us stuff, we really haven't had to buy anything), sheets, etc.

The boys are big.  At my ultrasound last Thursday (32 weeks, 1 day) Baby A was measuring 5 lbs and Baby B was 4 lbs 6 oz.  That's almost 9 1/2 pounds!  It's also about a pound and a half more than Olivia was when she was born.  I knew I was big at 32 weeks but I was honestly surprised to find out that I had that much more baby weight inside me.  This week I started my weekly NST's (non-stress tests - at the hospital) and BPP's (bio-physical profiles - at the perinatologist's office).  These are on different days and I'll soon start my weekly OB appointments so I am in and out of the office a lot more these days.  NST's are to check for fetal heart rate and movement.  They just hook up the heart rate monitors around the stomach and find the heartbeats that way.  It checks to make sure that neurologically the heart is working correctly and responding to the brain's signals.  For example, when we move around and get more active our heart rates go up.  At this point in pregnancy a baby's heart should do the same.  NST's check to make sure that they do.  Both boys, once we were able to get them to cooperate, were fine.  They were not at all interested in staying where they should have once we got their heart on the monitor.  BPP's, on the other hand, are ultrasounds that measure four different things:

1. Fetal movement

2. Fetal tone
3. Fetal breathing
4. Amniotic fluid volume

Babies can score up to 2 points on each for a total of 8 points in any given BPP.  The boys both scored 8 out of 8 on Monday (I got an extra BPP this week - the next one is tomorrow).  They have to live up to the perfect score every time now.  My little overachievers!

My next OB appointment is on January 14 and I am going to talk to him about stopping work.  I'm thinking that either the 21st or 28th will be my last day but we'll see.  I don't want to go out way before the boys are born but I would like to have a week or so to relax before they arrive.

Below are my most recent belly shots.  The clothes are starting to become repetitive because I really don't fit into a whole lot anymore so I end up wearing the same stuff every week and John's shirts on weekends.

Week 29

Week 30

Week 31 (I am smiling big in this one because John was laughing at how big I was and I was laughing at him.  Thanks, honey.)

Week 32

Also week 32, from Olivia's angle.  Nice and flattering, right?