33 weeks...and things may be starting to happen.

Hello Everyone!

Here we are again and another week has gone by. I had my 33 week ultrasound this morning. Everything and everyone on the scan looked great! All three girls are moving around in there and looking as perfect as ever. Their fluid levels are excellent and all three were practice breathing the whole time. Still no sign of twin-twin transfusion syndrome, as their cord pressures looked great. Heart rates still right in line. Sadly, no weights today, as it's only been 8 days since our last growth scan and they are strict about the 14 day break between weight checks.

As for me, we did see

a little change this week. My blood pressure, which has been great all along, took a little jump up this week. It's not crazy high, but enough that they want to monitor me a bit more closely. For most of the pregnancy I was around 120/60, then for the last few weeks it's been more like 130/70. Well, today it was 148/80. The good news is that I am having no serious symptoms of hypertension... no protein in my urine, no headaches, no blurry vision, etc. I have, however, been accumulating more fluid in my hands and feet. They are pretty much swollen all the time and don't take much standing to make them look totally ridiculous! :) I put on 8 pounds this week, which is likely mostly fluid.

So, what does all this mean? I have been sent home with a 24 hour urine collection kit, which I have started. Tomorrow I will drop off the urine and have some blood taken, then Thursday I will go back in to go over the results and have a recheck of the ultrasound and blood pressure. If things look ok, they will send me home and probably just have me come in 2-3 times a week just to be sure all is ok. If for some reason things have gotten worse with my blood pressure or there are any changes on my blood work, they will likely admit me to the hospital for close monitoring. The good thing about this situation is that because I am 33 weeks along, they won't take any chances with my situation and if anything looks scary, they will just deliver the babies.

So, stay tuned! My bet is that things look just fine on Thursday and I get to come home, but you just never know. Things can change pretty quickly with these situations.

New pics and updates below...

How your baby's growing:

This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. He's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and his skeleton is hardening. The bones in his skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for him to fit through the birth canal. (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that many babies are born with aconehead-like appearance.) These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as his brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.