So about 2 weeks ago, 23 weeks pregnant, I went into Labor and Delivery with contractions that were very bothersome to me. Mainly when I was active but then they started happening no matter what. I drank a ridiculous amount of water, 92 ounces, and spent the day laying on the couch on my left side. Josey was pretty good about playing by herself and got to see more than her fair share of TV that day too. By the time the afternoon rolled around and nothing had really changed the doc said to go to L and D. So off we went. After about 2-3 hours hooked up to monitors that were checking baby heart rates and measuring the intensity of contractions we were sent home....oh yeah and two manual cervix checks. Yeah those were fun. For those of you who have those parts I will tell you the good news is that my cervix is still high...and they did not need to tell me that....I could tell during the check!!! anyway...my cervix was not opening so that was good.
They sent me home with a diagnosis of irritable uterus. To which I ask...what is not irritable in pregnancy? :) Brad seconded that question. Ha ha! anyway...basically with two babies growing in there, four hands and feet kicking like crazy along with the stretching my uterus is doing to accommodate all the other pregnancy stuff it causes irritability. Which means that I often have contractions when moving around. Going to the bathroom, getting up from a chair or the couch, whatever. Movement in general. But since there were no changes to the cervix there was no bed rest prescribed. Just resting in general. Ok....so I scale it back some...for a few days. It is tough to do you know? I have a 2.5 yo to take care of and run around with. Every morning she wakes up and asks where are we going today Mommy?
So that was a few weeks ago. In between there we had a 3d/4d u/s done. What fun! We got such a preview as to their personalities. Okey(A) is the farthest down, closest to the cervix, and head down. Dokey(B) is higher up and in this u/s was basically sitting his/her siblings head. Yes that is right....sitting on the head. Poor Okey was mushed between my uterus and their sibling! Check this out!
It is not terribly easy to see but in the middle of the pic you can make out Okey's face and on the right is Dokeys back. Look closely...so the coolest thing about 3d u/s is that you get a chance to really see the babies faces and features...most who have seen them agree that we have one baby, Okey, who looks like Josey, which means me, and one, Dokey, who looks like Brad. For those of you who know us...check these out!
Okey
Dokey
It was also fun to watch them hit and push each other. That may sound bad but it really is amusing to watch Okey push at Dokey's back to try to get some space. Judging by the action in my belly I would guess that this happens a lot. They are separated by a thin membrane that is really elastic so they are able to touch each other often even though they are in their own sacs. Pretty cool to see!
We still declined to find out the sexes although the tech said she knew and would tell us if we changed our minds...tempting but we will wait. I still think it is a boy and a girl. We are narrowing names down...but don't even ask. We won't tell!
So this week...Wednesday I started the day with a lot of cramping low down in my tummy. I thought that maybe I has gas or something so I did not worry too much. I took Josey to the doc, she had some booster shots to get, and came home and laid down. By this time I was getting pretty regular contractions and cramping. Which kind of freaked me out. I called the doc's office in the afternoon since I had tried everything I knew to improve the situation. They suggested L and D again.
Off we went. Hooked up to monitors, checking cervix the whole bit again. This time I am having contractions more frequently, the cramping is not getting better. They were concerned that maybe my uterus was gearing up for pre-term labor. They gave me the option to stay or go home. Cervix still high and closed. I decided to go home. They made me promise to come back if things got any worse.
Over night I was able to sleep some. Still cramping and contracting. Got up in the am and thing were definitely stronger. So we decided to go back. Called my friend to come get Josey for the day for us. We went down and were monitored and checked again. The only difference this time is that my cervix is now shortening. Not opening yet but getting shorter. Now this can probably be expected by this time anyway so...not that big of a deal but still somewhat of a concern.
They sent me home. The doc that released me said she was not going to put me on bed rest at this point in time but cautioned that I need to be taking it REALLY EASY. So I have been trying to do that. Yesterday was a rough day. I felt awful, tired, crampy and scared. They also did an u/s to check the positions of the babies and they are both head down ready to come out the chute.(and still beating each other up!) I keep telling them that I love them but don't want to meet them yet! Stay babies stay!
SO right now I have put myself on a type of modified bed rest. I will not be going out much and not really doing too much at home. If I get up and start to move around and get contractions I will sit down and rest a bit. Josey is bored sometimes but still handles it ok. Her and Daddy went to the races last night but I will blog about that on her blog.
Here are my 24 week belly pictures. I am now 51 inches around. yeah....51 inches. I am huge as my husband and daughter like to say...I would take offense but I kind of agree!
24 weeks
24 weeks belly button 
and here is a 22 weeker to compare to...
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