TMI

I'm warning you now, this post if full of TMI (too much information)...so proceed at your own risk.

Wednesday night while taking a bath I noticed some very strange "floaters" in the tub. Remember the warning about TMI...this is where it kicks in. The more I got to looking around the more I realized the "floaters" were actually pieces of my mucus plug that had broken apart. I immediately got out of the tub and did what any normal person would do...I went straight to Google Images to see pictures of complete strangers' mucus plugs before making my official diagnosis. I then called Casey at work to let him know of the "breaking news". I decided not to call Dr. W since there wasn't anything abnormal about the appearance (the passing of the plug can still mean a couple of weeks before labor actually begins), and we had our weekly appointment early the next morning.
Thursday morning Casey came home from work and we loaded up to go see Dr. W. We were excited to share our news and find out the day she selected for our scheduled C-section. My blood pressure was good and my weight gain for the pregnancy was still at 21 pounds. Next we went for the non stress test. The babies were very active and would only allow the monitors to be on them for a few minutes at a time. They were constantly hiding and trying to kick the monitors off my belly if they were "caught". Once we were in the exam room I told Dr. W about my mucus plug. She said she wasn't surprised based on how low my belly had become, the size of my uterus and that we'd be at 34 weeks on Friday. She went ahead and checked my cervix. She said I was slightly dilated and no more than 3 cm open. She said she could dig around and get more of an exact measurement, but would prefer not to since Hailey's head was "right there". I knew Hailey had dropped but hearing Dr. W say her head was palpable was very exciting and scary at the same time. Dr. W also did my strep test and said that our C-section was scheduled for May 4, however based on my mucus plug, my dilation and Hailey's head placement she thought 2 weeks would be a more accurate arrival date for the Turner Twins.
All of the news was overwhelming. Casey and I were both in shock that she could feel Hailey's head and that Dr. W felt in 2 weeks our babies could very well be here.
Dr. W told us of all the signs to watch for and that if we saw any of them to call her and head for the hospital. I asked her what type of NICU stay we'd be looking at if the babies came now. She said no more than 3 or 4 days, possibly a week at the very most. She said the main care for them would be oxygen and possibly having to be under an oxygen hood, but nothing scary like them having to be intubated. She said the NICU stay would also give me a chance to recover for a few days from the C-section but still be with my babies and have them cared for.
We scheduled another appointment for next Thursday and we have our next ultrasound appointment on Monday. Casey and I were very excited by all the developments. We were both surprised to realize we may very well be parents this month!
Once we came home Casey went to work putting together our play yard. The nursery is complete other than a few items for the walls. Our glider and dresser arrived last week and Casey has done such a good job with decorating the nursery.
We still have lots of photos to post, so those will be coming soon. Hopefully over the weekend I'll feel well enough to post pictures of our last baby shower, Casey's diaper shoot and the nursery. I'm still working on thank you notes, too so keep an eye out for them in the mail. I would like for all of the loose ends to be tied up before our little ones make their appearance!