28 weeks 4 days ...flunking out

Kidney stone took eight very long days to pass. The pain finally stopped on Saturday night and hasn't returned so I'm hoping that means it has indeed passed and I'm not jinxing myself by saying that. For the most part I continue to have daily non stress tests and monitoring at the hospital. I flunk pretty much each and every one and therefore have to come back the next day. This week the NST(s) have had poorer results that ever. Both babies have variable decelerations in the heart rates which could be totally fine (most likely) or indicate something more serious. As long as the dips are irregular and don't last more than a few seconds than they'll just keep an eye on them. If they start lasting longer or become even more frequent than I'll be admitted to the hospital. I'm also having more and more contractions. I had eight contractions in an hour on Monday. I came really close to be admitted that day b/c of it. They pumped me full of fluids via IV and that seemed to help. I'm on medication every 4 hours to relax my uterus. What's really frustrating is that I can't tell when I'm having a contraction. The nurse will ask me what I'm feeling and I won't be feeling anything even though I'm having a contraction and then at other times I feel major tightening in my uterus and it doesn't even register on the machine. I also have constant "uterine irritability". I was told this can be very common for women pregnant w/ twins at my stage in pregnancy b/c my body doesn't recognize the fact that I'm carrying two fetuses in my uterus. It just knows I have a lot of weight in there and thinks I'm nearing my due date for a singleton. This is also just something they keep an eye on and in most cases it'll be just fine but in others it'll trigger full blown labor. So as you can see I'm being watched like a hawk. I'm basically a daytime patient at the hospital and on bed rest while at home. I think it's only a matter of time until I'm fully admitted and then I'll most likely be there until the babies arrive.

I also had my growth ultrasound on Monday. I initially got a lecture b/c I've only gained 21 pounds to date. I've only gained 5 in the last 9 weeks. Obviously it's hard to eat when you're in mind blowing pain from kidney stones and also throwing up from the pain...so that hasn't helped. But, I've also have basically lost the appetite that I had. I think this is another example of how twin pregnancies differ a lot from singleton pregnancies. With twin pregnancies you slow down your weight gain a lot when you reach the 3rd trimester. You're uncomfortable and your stomach is compressed. I also have nonstop heartburn and indigestion. This seems to be the case of most of the twin pregnancies I follow and I'm no exception. So for those of you just starting out your twin pregnancies eat up...and when you freak out b/c you feel like you could eat an entire store and you're gaining weight really quickly...go for it...b/c it won't last and you need that initial weight gain to sustain you. I'm now trying my hardest to force myself to eat whenever I can so that I can gain the 45 pounds that my doctor keeps saying I need to reach. I seriously doubt I'll gain an additional 24 pounds in the short amount of time I have left. I'd have to gain at least 3-4 pounds a week. The good news is that my low weight gain hasn't affected the babies weights. Andrew (baby A) is estimated to weigh 3 pounds and Matthew (baby B) is estimated to weigh 2 pounds 14 ounces. I was told that these are excellent weights and there is no concern for their growth. Just for the fun of it I'm been measuring my stomach since early in the pregnancy and that keeps growing. My waist has increased 13 inches so it now measures 39 inches around.

Andrew still has a lot of fluid in his kidneys and I was told he will more than likely need surgery after he is born. Supposedly this is usually not a big deal and they just inset a tube to drain the fluid. Matthew also has some fluid but the amount isn't substantial so his will more than likely clear up on its own. My next growth ultrasound will give us a better idea as to what we can expect. Interesting that they both have kidney issues along w/ their mother. I'm told it's not related but I find it an odd coincidence.

My doctor has all of his IVF patients go to Valley Children's Hospital for screening of the babies hearts so I'll be doing that sometime in the near future. Not sure why...not sure I want to know. Just let the results be normal.

Thank you so much for all of your positive and caring comments. It's been a rough journey and I appreciate all of the support. Keep the prayers coming....