(16) Wedding Bells and Hot Saints!

I’ll be 18 weeks Saturday July 12^th so the babies are estimated to be the size of Bell Peppers. I’m not sure who comes up with these lists because the fruit and vegetables they pair them with are ridiculous!  Most fruits and veggies are capable of coming in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Anyway, I take my usual 18 week belly bump picture in the morning. We have special place to be tonight….

One of Tom’s co-workers is getting married today. I don’t dress up often so I take advantage of my hair and makeup being done. I take a picture with the bell peppers before we leave for the wedding.  It was a long drive to McMinnville, Oregon for the wedding, mostly due to traffic. It is also unseasonably hot this weekend! Now, I’m from Arizona so I can handle hot, but being pregnant with twins just adds to the discomfort. I don’t want to overheat but these little buns in my oven are making it very uncomfortable for me, sheesh! The whole drive I’ve got the sun beating down on my stomach through the windshield.  The A/C is blowing but it is still too hot, I even take a sweater to block the beat down happening from the unruly sun! I should have sat in the back and let Kaela ride shotgun!

The three of us finally arrive. As we walk to the table with our seating assignments, we have a special surprise waiting for us. Our table marker says “Saint Becky, Tom, and Kaela Meixner table 10.” Now, I’m extra hormonal so it brings tears to my eyes that someone would think of me as a saint!  I still in my heart feel that this is just a small sacrifice for a lifetime of joy.  Since I’m completely overwhelmed with emotion I try to laugh it off. The wedding is held outside on a beautiful bluff overlooking the valley below. There is a huge awning where the tables are set up for the reception, but the ceremony takes place just outside of it. We chose to sit in the third row towards the middle, big mistake! I wish I would have sat at the end of the row because I would have got up and went under the awning. That hot sun was beating down on me and the poor twins. I tried to stay hydrated while at the wedding, as usual water was my friend. People were very curious as to my condition and situation, so by the end of the night I was tired of talking. We stayed for about 2-3 hours enjoying the festivities and good company. When we got home I was feeling a little off.  It was a long hot day so I took a cool shower and went to bed early.

The next day (Sunday July 13^th) I am feeling sluggish, super thirsty and overheated. By the afternoon I’m starting to feel light contractions. I don’t want to freak out so I drink extra water and lie down for the day.  I could feel the boys moving around so I didn’t panic. We turned Sunday into a movie fun-day, or at least I did!  Monday morning rolls around and I am still feeling contractions so I call the MFM office.  I go in and see the triage nurse, again. I am here so often now that everyone knows me. I just walk in and they’re like “Okay, Becky you’re all checked in.” When they call me back they start with measuring my cervix.  Here we go again with my modesty being thrown out the window.  I never thought before doing this I would be undressing so much. I’ve decided skirts are my best friend while I’m pregnant. When you are potentially in labor your cervix starts to shorten and then open for the baby to be born. They start off with an internal ultrasound for this measurement. That is the best way to get a measurement of the cervix length.  Once again, modesty has left the building! My cervix measures around 2.1mm which is on the short side. After measuring the cervix and looking at the twins they hook me up to a machine to monitor me for contractions for about a half an hour. It isn’t too concerning so they let me go and tell me to rest. My next appointment is in 3 days so they will reevaluate the situation then.

I inform Holly that I went in for an evaluation, I really do hate giving her this kind of news.  She is so guarded and worries about all of the things that can go wrong. I try to assure her everything will be okay “B positive” I say over and over! 

Holly and Darren also recently bought me a gym membership. The gym I belong to is just machines and free weights. I was told by Dr. Winkler that swimming is great while pregnant, so Holly paid for a gym that had a swimming pool. I just got the membership and now I might not even be able to use it!  Fingers crossed! Being weightless in a swimming pool sounds heavenly. 

July 12th - 18 weeks

18 weeks - Twins are the size of Bell Peppers

Baby A looking lovingly at his placenta above him!