19 weeks - Mangos, Glucose & AFP results!

This week the twins are as big as mangos and are now covered in a white, greasy substance called vernix caseosa. The babies produce it and it stays on by sticking to the lanugo (downy hair covering baby's body). It protects their skin while in the womb. Otherwise, they would come out completely wrinkled because of the amniotic fluid. Vernix also lubricates the birth canal at delivery. Some people call it baby cheese, yucky. I'll stick with vernix, ha ha. Love our little mango twins so much! They also are experiencing a growth spurt this week, their little legs are getting longer and are now in proportion to their arms. I should start feeling more intense movements soon because they're getting stronger. Already felt a few this last week!

Photocredit: clipart.me

My early glucose test on Thursday went great, as far as I can tell from my lab results online! They said no phone call is a good thing, never got one. There was a good chance that my blood sugar would be elevated because we're expecting twins (double the hormones because there are two placentas), but it actually came back great. So happy! Anything between 11.6 and 16 is considered normal, and mine was 11.3. Hopefully it stays that way! I've been eating very healthy so I know that helps. Dr. O did laugh at me on Thursday though because I said that I actually liked the glucose drink, ha ha. It tasted kind of like flat orange fanta soda to me, with a different twist. Or, maybe the Lord knew how nervous I was because I had heard so many yucky stories about this drink, so he made it taste somewhat like one of my favorite pops, ha ha ;) The trick is keeping it in a very cold fridge also. I didn't have to do my test at a lab. Drank it at home and then headed to get my blood drawn at my OB's office. Easy peasy!

 The AFP (Alpha Feto-Protein) test came back great also. Level needed to be below 3.99 for twins, and mine came back at a good 2.83. That means our babies don't have a high chance of having any neural tube defects (brain, spine, or spinal cord), such as Spina Bifida. That is when the fetal spinal column doesn’t fully close. These blood tests aren't a 100% guarantee, but everything so far suggests that they're just fine. We will know and see more at the anatomy scan later this month. Hooray for healthy babies!!

Sadly, I ended up having to take a Unisom on night two of not having any, but hopefully I will be off of them soon. Something new over the last week...I have been experiencing major abdominal muscle spasms, ha ha. So weird feeling, and kind of annoying at times. Twitch, twitch, twitch, SPASM! Like all day long. My belly button area is really getting a work out, ha ha. At first, I was like geeze are these babies little ninjas?! But my uterus isn't as high up as some of the spasms just yet. Then, I became somewhat terrified thinking it was contractions, because I'm a freak. But I wasn't cramping or bleeding, and nothing hurt. Dr. O said that its completely normal with twins, so to not worry. It's just my abs freaking out because of the rapid expansion going on. Pfew. I hate being a worry wort! Also, I still haven't gained any weight but my appetite has definitely increased. I can eat more than a mouse now, so that's nice. I used to only be able to eat half a banana in one sitting, now I can have a whole one with a small glass of juice. I've become an orange juice, green salad, tomato, and jazz apple monster lately. These babies just may turn into apples before delivery day, ha ha. I usually have two to three apples a day, hooray for Costco. And, I ate 3 tomatoes the other day, just cause. So good!

I got a quick ultrasound at my appointment on Thursday. It was just the crappy portable room monitor/doppler...don't worry, the genders weren't visible at all, ha ha :( The babies' heart rates still sound great. Baby B was laying horizontally across the top facing us, and A was head down facing away from us. So his/her spine and back of the noggin were pretty visible. Is it possible to have a cute spine?!...because my babies totally do!! They are both in a different position at every ultrasound, he said they will stop being so wiggly around 32 weeks. Both were still quite wiggly on Thursday, so we're hoping they decide to cooperate at the anatomy scan! Here's a print out of their heartbeats. Usually you can hear one better than the other, they take turns. There's a lot going on in there.

We are getting more and more excited for these babies, I still can't believe that we are having twins! One sweet baby would have been just wonderful, but two is just flat out amazing. Some people look at me with a happy/semi terrified look on their faces when they hear its twins. Believe me when I say that we are in NO WAY unhappy that there are two on the way!! Sometimes I just sit and cry happy tears (can't help it!) because we are so thrilled! Most days it still seems too good to be true, almost as if this is all just a really good dream and I'm gonna wake up soon. But then I feel them move again and my heart about explodes. I am just in awe of my growing belly and what their movements feel like. Definitely nothing like it! I can't wait to meet our precious little miracles and have our family grow by two all at once! We are so grateful to our Heavenly Father for all that we have received, especially over the last year and a half. I have no idea where we would be without our amazing little snowflakes...I really, really don't.