35 weeks

Week 35 was a big one, it was the week that our sweet little beetle #2 graced us with her presence. What about beetle # 3? Well, he decided to wait until week 36, but that story will have to wait for now.

On August 31st, 2012 I had my final prenatal appointment. Mama's weight was up an even 50 pounds from pre-pregnancy. Here I am just two days before delivery:

While I felt every one of those pounds those final weeks, I was proud of myself for putting on that weight despite feeling sicker than a dog the first three months of the twins' pregnancy. I wanted big, healthy babies and I did everything I could to put on the recommended weight. Speaking of weight, I had been documenting the babies weights compared to fruit the entire pregnancy, so why stop here, right? 

At 35 weeks, the Bradley babies were estimated to be the size of coconuts:


The appointment started with a growth scan where both baby A and baby B measured approximately 5.5 lbs. Living quarters were pretty cramped for the babies at this point, so the tech emphasized this was a best guess estimation. We would find out later that night that the measurements were fairly off for our baby B. From the growth scan I headed over to a non-stress test, where the babies heart rates were monitored for twenty minutes or so. It was the first NST where they both cooperated and stayed on the monitor the entire time! Both passed with flying colors and we were off to see Dr. C.

If I haven't mentioned in prior posts, my OB is a very popular doctor and he typically runs behind (very behind). This particular Friday was no different. I pulled up a magazine and settled in for the long haul, although this time I left the door open because it was hot in the office. He passed my room several times in between patients and made the comment that perhaps if he left me there long enough I would go into labor!

Once he saw me, it was clear that he might not have been that far off in his statement. We started off the appointment by going over any changes or concerns. We talked about the increase in contractions and how I had slept very little the night before because they were getting stronger and more regular, but nothing that was taking my breath away yet. He did an exam at that point and discovered I was 5 cm dilated. I wasn't in active labor from a contraction pattern yet and was comfortable enough (as comfortable as I could be at 35 weeks pregnant with twins!), but he felt labor was very close by my exam and asked that I call him in the early evening to see if my contractions were more regular or painful. So I left the clinic thinking perhaps the babies would be arriving soon but also was somewhat in a state of denial since I had slowly dilated over the last several weeks and the babies had thankfully stayed put. I honestly didn't really think this appointment was any different! In fact, I was in such a state of denial that we even made plans to have a couple friends over that weekend to celebrate my 30th birthday!

Little did I know things would change very quickly over the course of the afternoon!