Yesterday afternoon Gray swung by the house and picked me up for our 20 week appointment. I told Gray that I had a weird feeling about the appointment on the way there. I have been reading so many quadruplet blogs, and 20 weeks seems to be the breaking point when quad pregnancies begin to get a little hairy. He assured me that everything would be fine, reminding me that nothing had happened in the past two weeks that should lead me to believe otherwise. He has such a knack for putting me at ease.
Once the nurse called me back, she took my weight and blood pressure like always. I cannot tell you how strange it is to see the number on the scale each time I go to the doctor. I have now gained 20 pounds and was told originally that I should put on 55 during my pregnancy. I'm working toward that goal, but can't imagine actually weighing that much! It is important to gain more rapidly now because the babies will be premature and there is no time to gain it in the last trimester. Plus, the larger we can get the babies, the better. It seems like an easy task, but you can't just eat donuts and cake every day to put on the pounds. I am trying my best to have a healthy diet, but just eat more of it. Right now I am gaining about a pound and 1/2 to 2 pounds per week, which the nurse said was good. I also got good news about my blood pressure. She said that it has been low each time and hasn't really fluctuated at all. They watch that closely each visit. If it does shoot up, it can be a sign of Preeclampsia (you might have heard it referred to as toxemia or pregnancy induced hypertension).
Next, they put us in a room to wait for our doctor. A nurse came in and gave me the progesterone shot. The doctor asked me several questions about what I had been experiencing over the last two weeks. She must have felt good about my answers, because she told me that I would be on another week of homerest and to keep doing what I was doing.
Lastly, we were sent down to the ultrasound room to see our babies. They did a quick checkup and all of their heartbeats were perfect. I tried to pay special attention to where they are now so that when they move I will know which one it is. I would say that the little girls are moving the most right now. Probably, because they have the least room. Although Baby D tends to jut out of my left side quite a bit in the mornings.
I hope that Gray and I will be able to settle on the names soon, instead of calling the A,B,C, and D. I think we are almost there, but we're having a hard time compromising on the last two.
For now, I am back in Birmingham on homerest. Gray has been doing everything from washing clothes to cooking me dinner at night. I am so lucky to have him!
