Our Sweet Little Olive Makes an Appearance

Click here to see more pictures of Olive!

34 Weeks

There was a little excitement in the Agro house this week!  We received a good report from my OB on Thursday and a good biophysical result at the maternal fetal specialist on Friday.  With all the good news, I didn't think twice about going out for tea with my mom, Cousin Linda and Colleen on Saturday for my mom's birthday.  Tea was fantastic, but I guess the babies weren't as thrilled with my afternoon plans.  After feeling uncomfortable most of the day on Saturday, Joe and I started timing my contractions Saturday evening, and we ended up in the hospital a little after midnight.

The doctor did a thorough exam and determined that my body was just practicing for labor (I guess my body hasn't been listening to me tell everyone that I've scheduled a c-section for the sole purpose of avoiding labor).  And seriously, 6-8 contractions an hour seems a little extreme for "practice" -- don't you agree?!  The doctor sent us home from the hospital at about 4:30 in the morning and told me not to come back until the contractions were 5 minutes apart (for those of you who don't do math -- that's 12 contractions per hour).  No, thank you!

I wish I had an update on the babies' growth developments, but they won't be measured for another two weeks.  My growth development is a little easier to track:

33 Weeks

This week has been rather uneventful.  The only thing worth mentioning is that I am now being referred to as HUGE -- mostly by my mother.  I can't place all the blame on her, though.  Any time I venture away from my house, people say things like "Trying to walk the baby out?" or "You look like you're ready to pop!"  Ahhhh -- the horror on their faces when I tell them that I have six weeks to go.  The fact is, my belly is really growing.  My laptop no longer fits on my lap.  Leaning over the sink to brush my teeth is nearly impossible.  And getting in and out of bed is like an Olympic sport.  My dismount this morning would have gotten me disqualified!

The babies seem to get bigger every day.  What used to feel like a little tickle in my belly now feels like a knee to the groin.  It's not all bad, though.  Joe and I can watch the babies roll around in my belly -- they actually interact with each other.  It's pretty cool.

Our house is finally back in order.  All of the rooms are just about finished -- with the exception of some finishing touches here and there.  The nursery looks adorable!  As soon as the curtains arrive, we'll take some pictures and post them.  You've already seen the fantastic branch/birds decal, and this week you'll get a little preview of the shelves (since my belly shots were taken in the nursery last night).  Speaking of which...

 

  

(Note:  Stretch marks have been edited out for those with a weak gag reflex)

Sneak Preview

I don't know that we've officially announced the names of the babies, so here it goes.  The baby who resides on my right side is Poppy Jane.  The baby who moves around constantly is Olive Rose.  Until last Friday, both girls had refused to let us get a clear glimpse of their faces -- but Poppy gave in (finally) and provided us with our first look at her beautiful face.

I'm posting one photo here, but also providing links (below) to all three 3D images on Flickr! because Flickr! allows me to point out the features of her little face.  Maybe we'll get a peek at Olive next week -- fingers crossed!

Introducing Ms. Poppy Jane Agro:

Link to above photo

Link to other images with descriptions 

32 Weeks!

Typically, week 32 means that there are 8 more weeks of pregnancy to go.  In my case, the most I have left is 6 weeks (since I'm having a scheduled c-section).  My goal is to make it at least 3 more weeks before I physically remove these babies myself!  They are getting pretty big and they're causing me a lot of discomfort.  Last Friday, the doctor measured the girls -- Poppy weighed in at 3 pounds and 13 ounces and Olive 3 pounds 5 ounces.  From this point on, we go to the doctor to be measured every Friday. 

It doesn't look as though the girls are going to cooperate with our plans to get another 3D ultrasound.  They are both head down (apparently they think I'm going to let them out the "natural" way) and facing my back.  That means that we can't get any good pictures of their little faces.  We couldn't even get a profile shot last week!  Who knows?!  They've been rolling around so much this week, maybe they'll surprise us and let us take a little peek this Friday. 

Well, here's the belly shot!  I'll try to update the blog again this weekend.

Long overdue update

Sorry for the long delay, but it has been a rough month!  Jill was in the hospital from April 2-13.  She was misdiagnosed as having kidney stones, and aside from being in immense, undiagnosed pain, she was told she is anemic--iron and vitamin B12 deficient.  It was sad not sleeping in the same bed with my wife for one and half weeks  :-(

Jill is almost 31 weeks pregnant now, and the girls are moving more than ever!  They are really running low on room.  We are hoping that they have moved into a position to get some clear 3D images.  We'll find out Friday what positions they are in.  Then we'll decide whether to get another 3D ultrasound.

  

As you can see, the nursery is coming together nicely.  The wall decal just went up about an hour ago, and it is as beautiful as we imagined!  There are a few more to go up in the nursery and a few to go up in one of the guest rooms.  We'll try to post more regular updates, but it's getting tougher and tougher.