Week 32 - 7 more to go :)

Well, this has been a pretty crazy week!  Monday and Tuesday went pretty well, I'll be honest!  Wednesday was a completely different story!

As you know, my back has been having some major problems with this pregnancy...I've been trying to deal with it and just suck it up; however, Wednesday got the best of me!  Josh left for Softball batting practice for his men's league, so it was Callie and I!  No big deal...except that night...

The pain in my back had wrapped around to the front of my rib cage.  I was having some cramping (period cramps) and was a little nervous is was contractions, but I kept telling myself that it was braxton hicks.  Josh wanted nothing more than for me to call Women's Special Care Unit...so I did...

They told me to just relax, lay on my side and count kicks (10 in an hour).  Well, I have a toddler at home with me, so I have to do dinner FIRST!  Spagettio's for her it is :)  I heat that up, sit down with her and a bowl of Chili (broke into my frozen stock) and attempted to eat.  She was a rock star-as always!  For me, it hurt to eat.  It actually hurt to breathe, sit, stand, move, just about everything...

So I put on an Elmo movie, and we cuddled up on the couch!  THANK YOU ELMO!  Mom snuck in a 15 minute nap, while Callie enjoyed her favorite Elmo movie :)

It was also bath night for little miss - not a big deal, only my stomach is getting so big, and with an aching back, bath night is getting pretty difficult to master.  Daddy has been taking over most bath nights while I just sit on the toilet watching.  Not this night though - I had to do it!

It wasn't until about 8:00 pm that I could finally sit down and relax like the women at WSCU asked me to do...time to count some kicks...


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Okay, time for bed!

Thursday was also pretty bad as far as back pain, but somehow, I got through it.  And onto Friday...

Oh yeah, and I'm still waiting for the 10 kicks in 1 hour...

Finally, I called my doctor on Friday morning.  I was nervous and scared because I hadn't been feeling consistent movement like I typically do.  My stomach was getting hard, but no kicks...

He recommended I go into WSCU - which is the same place you go to deliver - so Josh and I left at 2:00 on Friday afternoon to head over there.

Callie was at home, because her Grandpa Don & Sharon asked if they could come down and keep her home from daycare to spend time with her!  No problem at all!  I have to give them a special thank you as well!  They both helped around the house - which probably seemed like NOTHING to them, but was a HUGE help to me!  Some laundry got folded that had been avoided the past couple of days and the dishes got cleaned and put away - THANK YOU SO MUCH!  You have no idea how much that little act of kindness helped!

Anyway - they strapped the heart monitors onto my belly and the contraction monitor.  I emailed this picture to my sister, Heather, as a joke!  I titled it "looks like someone is really good at playing hide & seek!"  Haha  She did say "Oh my gosh is there 3", but VERY quickly said, "NOPE - that's the contraction one too"...dang you for being smart :)

She did find heart beats right away, and we just stayed there for about 45 minutes while they checked everything.  Their heart rates were within the same range they have been this whole pregnancy; HOWEVER, it was crazy to see that when they would be moving around and kicking, their heart rates would SERIOUSLY shoot up to 160's - 170's...and when they weren't moving, they would drop to the 120's...

This alone made me realize that with their movement, that determines their heart rates...no more gender guessing for me :)

And - the cramping that I have been experiencing was confirmed...BRAXTON HICKS...
She said that they were indeed happening-luckily they aren't full blown contractions...YET!

I also had a chiropractor appointment that day.  God Bless this place for being so flexible.  I called that 30 minutes before my appointment, from the WSCU, telling them I might be late...

When I went in, my chiropractor could tell right away how badly my back was.  I told her the pain has been about a 13 (1-10 scale: 10 being very painful)...  After doing some adjustments, and feeling bad for me, she asked me very seriously, "When can they take you?!"

I'm going to look into having massages paid for by my insurance!  That would be heavenly if they would cover them...

In case you were wondering, it's about a 7 right now...which is HUGE compared to what it has been!  I go back in to the chiro on Thursday - Doc. appointment Friday!

Some very BIG & EXCITING news!  Callie, myself, and the babies became members at Our Saviors Lutheran Church this past Sunday!  I am so excited and having this overwhelming sense of peace being welcomed into the congregation!  My dear Jessica was our sponsor and I couldn't be more appreciative of her!  She is simply amazing!

Josh snapped a picture of us while we were being welcomed into the congregation :)  I'm pretty sure this picture was taken RIGHT before she announced "pee pee"...

As far as our babies, I am so very thankful that everything is okay!  I am FINALLY taking it easy - which is hard, because I didn't have to do this with Callie.  Twins is a lot harder, I'll tell you that...

I've been doing a lot more "resting" - which means laying on the couch, typically with an ice pack on my back, feet up and doing NOTHING...if you know me, this is VERY difficult.  Josh has done a lot of the cooking and taking care of Callie.  It's very hard for me to give these up....especially Callie.  It kills me when she wants me to play with her and I physically can't.  She's wanting her daddy more and more - which is great - she's always been a daddy's girl...but it is killing me :(  At least we have dance class together!

And Josh, I love you so much!  Thank you for taking care of Callie and myself.  Thank you for taking care of the household tasks and allowing me to rest.  You've taken on a lot more responsibilities this past week, and I'm sure it's exhausting and sucks, but I really do appreciate it!

So if anyone wants to cut him some slack and come clean our house - let me know...I'll lay on the couch and watch you while Josh takes Callie on a bike ride or out playing in the back yard :)

3-4 more weeks and we are in the "safe zone"...I can do this!  I can do this!  I can do this!