FRIENDS! It’s so hard to believe we have made it to 34+ weeks! Time has just flown by and it feels like I have been pregnant for a day. I don’t know HOW it’s 239 days. They have been the best days of my life, truly, even through some roller coasters. I can’t even express how grateful I am to be HERE. These babies inside my belly have brought so much healing to my heart. It’s amazing how God works and how much more abundantly He answers prayers than we could have asked for. In our wildest dreams, Josh and I never imagined being here with this story laid behind us and before us. God truly walked with us in the hardest seasons of our lives but not without a purpose. In the midst, we wanted out of the pain so bad, but looking back, without the pain we would have lost so many opportunities to grow. Had our journey been cut short, this blog may never have existed and I may not have met SO MANY wonderful women. Had our journey been cut short, In the Wait wouldn’t have been written. Had our journey been cut short, this son and daughter of ours would not have come into existence. Had our journey been cut short, we would have lost precious growth as a married couple and as children of Christ. Had our journey been cut short, He would not have been glorified in the same manner He is now. The pain, sorrow, and devastation have been worth it, if not solely because it’s helped drive others to Him.

So here we are, at 34w1d, pausing to reflect on how good God has been throughout it all. It’s so easy to want to rush out of the seasons of pain, (with good reason!), yet it’s never in vain. Even when it seems pointless and cruel, He uses it. He doesn’t necessarily cause it as much as He allows it, yet He takes it all and molds it into something grand. We are so grateful.

Today I just wanted to check in and share some fun pregnancy updates with you! I wish I had been better at keeping track of this throughout, but I think I was often in such a joyous daze, focusing on intentionally being present each day of pregnancy and as a result, not as faithful at recording it all. And that’s okay because my heart is full.

How far along? 34 weeks, 1 day! The picture above is from this morning. I feel like I have definitely started to “drop” a bit and round out.

Gender: Boy / Girl

Maternity Clothes?  Yessss …. Okay, so my favorite pants that I basically wear every day are these leggings from Walmart. Jeans aren’t as comfy anymore and my Target ones give me baggy butt, but these leggings … life savers. They have built in support for my back and no weird seam down the middle of my stomach. They go up high, right under my bra, and are well made so you can’t see through them. WINNING! I own 3 pairs and may never ever give them up, even after the babies come, haha!

Stretch Marks? Yep! Mainly around my belly button and every time I see them I think – YAY! BABIES!

Belly button in or out?  Stretching out, still in, but barely. My belly button makes my husband hysterical every time. We constantly touch it (is that weird?) because it feels so funny, like a stretched and worn out balloon.

Sleep: Honestly, I have been so lucky with sleeping so well throughout this pregnancy. It really has just been since week 33 that I have had to start getting up more frequently to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Prior to that it was twice a night, now it’s about 4 times, but that seriously feels like nothing. Getting out of bed is a funny-to-watch endeavor and more often than not, I feel like a beetle on its back, but I am getting my rock-sway-grunt down.

Best moment this week: Besides making it to 34 weeks, which was a huge goal for us, it’s been feeling them continue their activity and getting to know their schedules more and more. They are typically awake together and they always make me smile when they get the hiccups or try to do a roll. At about 18” long now, each of them are running out of room to move, so it always looks like an alien is inside me when they try to get fancy with their movements.

Symptoms:  Seriously, I think I have been blessed with the best pregnancy ever. Yes, I was on bedrest for the 1^st trimester but that doesn’t even phase me! The only things that really are different when I am pregnant are some issues with my hands. My left hand needs to be in a brace pretty consistently now as my thumb constantly clicks out of place and any wrist pressure is painful (like opening a door isn’t possible without a brace or holding a handled cup is too much pressure). My right hand has carpel tunnel and my fingers are numb 100% of the day and I sleep with long metal-rod brace to keep the numbness from creeping too far up my arm. Both are temporary and non-issues. A little bit of heartburn every now and then. There’s NO WAY I am complaining about these things! I may need to rest a little more often and keep my feet elevated to avoid swelling, but Mama is loving it all!

I do have to laugh though – having 2x the amount of blood in my body has caused some facial swelling – my lips are more plump and my nose has seriously doubled in size! It’s gotta be one of the weirdest things I have experienced but I have been told it will go back down to a normal sized nose after the babies are here. If you see me in person, don’t judge, HA!

Miss Anything?  Steak tartar. But not necessarily missing it, as much as just looking forward to having some when the babes are out.

Cravings?  No real cravings. I do enjoy buffalo wild wings and will never pass up a change for some boneless wings, but Josh hasn’t had to make any weird store dashes for me.

Food aversions? Eggs and pizza sauce still – just pizza sauce with spices though! I recently found a pizza place near by doctors office that makes Neapolitan pizzas with just crushed tomatoes as the sauce and a margherita pizza with anchovies has been my jammmmm. I may have had that and a salad for lunch today. Maybe.

Queasy or sick?  Nope! Never had one ounce of morning sickness and I feel SO incredibly blessed about that!

Any trips to Labor and Delivery? Yep! We made our first trip last Thursday evening to the hospital after Baby Boy was unusually quiet all day. Once hooked up and scanned, it was obvious he was moving away, but had changed positions into one where I couldn’t feel him much. The hospital was amazing and so supportive of our coming in. We hope it’s our last visit there though before it’s actually go-time!

Looking forward to?  Getting through a day! Honestly, babies will be here in 28 days … each night we celebrate getting through one more day. It feels like such a victory!!!

Prayer Requests? Tomorrow is another growth scan appointment for the babies and it’s been a long 4 weeks not knowing if they are growing appropriately. Twice weekly, we have non stress-tests (NST’s) to monitor their heart rates for a period of time to ensure proper ranges are reached and those have all been awesome, and then once a week we have BPP’s where we watch them via ultrasound to make sure they are practicing their breathing, making appropriate movements and such. They have been thriving and passing all those tests with flying colors! So we know they are doing well in there … now we just have to make sure one isn’t staying stagnant in growth, or pulling too far ahead or falling too far behind. These growth measurements will give us a realistic idea on how likely it will be for us to make it to full term and when/if we will need steroids. Our appointment is at 9 am CST tomorrow (Friday 5/5) and we are PRAYING these babies are right where they need to be so they can continue baking away.

Next Goal: We would love to make it to 36 weeks, which is less than 2 weeks away! At our hospital, anything under 36 weeks is automatic NICU time from delivery and while even after 36 weeks, they may need a little help growing or feeding, we would love to get to a point where NICU may not even need to be considered! We’d love your prayers too for this!

So is everything perfect!? If you are reading this today and feel like I have it too good, I promise, there are still issues, it’s just all a matter of perspective! :) Ever since starting to prepare for our frozen embryo transfer, the estrogen injections made my blood pressure high, which is super unlike me. So I have had to be on blood pressure medicine this whole pregnancy to monitor that. I haven’t had issues since being on it, but it still puts me in a high risk category for pre-eclamsia. Also, I have had gestational diabetes since week 16, which just means I have had to monitor my meals carefully, test my sugars 4 times a day, and routinely use nighttime insulin to keep my sugars from going crazy after a sleep-fast. (I’ve been told with two placentas, this is pretty typical, and also, having PCOS and insulin resistance anyways, pretty likely, which is why we tested at 16 weeks opposed to 28.) In certain situations when I know a meal would cause a spike, I can use day time insulin, but that has really only happened a handful of times. Also, my factor V blood clotting disorder causes some bleeding risks and I give myself injections each night to prevent clots. (Actually tonight I move to twice daily heparin injections as we prepare for delivery!). I also tested positive for Group B Strep so need extra antibiotics during delivery … So I promise, things aren’t perfect, but to me, all non-issues … a blessing really to only be dealing with these things because I am pregnant! If you are dealing with any issues like these, know you aren’t alone. ;) Don’t be hard on yourself, they are all out of our control! If anything, I feel like the fact that I have made it to 34 WITH all these high risk factors is just a testament to the power of prayer!

That’s it friends! Thanks for taking the time to pray for us – we truly believe, especially with so many high risk factors of the items above + a multiples pregnancy, that it’s thanks to YOUR prayers that have kept these babies thriving for so long. Thank you Jesus!