There is an end in sight!

Well, I will be 39 weeks on Sunday.  Never imagined I would make it this far! I am really thankful, but, by golly, it is time to get these babies out!  I think my doctor agrees.  Baby A is weighing around 6 lb 11 oz. and B is right at 6 lb.  The sonographer said that these weights could easily be too low though, since they are so squished in there and it is hard to get a really accurate measurement. At my appointment this week, they planned to "strip my membranes," but my cervix was too tight to do it.  He said my cervix is very thin at this point, so if I were to start contracting, he thinks it would dilate pretty easily. This also happened at the end of my pregnancy with Sally, and I suspect that having had the cerclage in for so long, my cervix is just not going to loosen up like it normally would unless it has a lot more time.  I am about 3 cm dilated right now and maybe 90% effaced.  I am super super uncomfortable, but getting the babies to come on out is not only a matter of my personal comfort.  He explained to me that as large and distended as my uterus is (carrying 2 full term babies), the likelihood of my labor being long and inefficient or, at its worst, ineffective, only increases as I get bigger.  He said if he were going to induce, it would be better to do it at 39 weeks than at 40.  If I waited until 40 weeks (or later, ugh!), then they might have to help sustain my natural labor with pitocin anyway.   So, we are set for an induction this coming Tuesday if the babies don't show up by then.  Actually, we might even get to go on Monday if a spot opens up. He actually said that, rather than starting right off with pitocin, they might start by just breaking my water to see if contractions will start then.  I am still so hoping that they come on their own this week, but at this point, I don't care how they come out.  I just want them out! I did have a horrible experience with induction with Sally, but I think, in large part, it was because I was trying to go without an epidural.  This time I KNOW I need to get one.  I had actually already planned to regardless of how I went into labor because if I do end up needing a c-section, I want to be awake when they are born rather than have to go under general anesthesia. 

My mom is still here, and has graciously changed her flight until a week after they are scheduled to arrive so she can be around to meet them and to help us adjust at home for a bit.  We are all done with our nesting projects.  She has made me want to hire a personal housecleaner/cook/nanny when she leaves because she has been spoiling me so much!

Pregnancy lately for me has been:
-leaving me sleep deprived, but perhaps better ready to cope with the lack of sleep I will get when the twins arrive?

-causing me to not want to go in public because of HOW MUCH PEOPLE STARE.  I mean, on an individual basis, I understand, and it doesn't bother me so much.  But I just get tired of it.  I feel like I have had a taste of what it might feel like to have a physical deformity or something else that calls attention to itself in public.  I guess people just get used to it?

-slightly sad in that just this past week i started seeing signs of stretch marks (boo hoo, I know--it really isn't a big deal, but I can whine, right?)  If they had just come a little sooner. . .

-making me look like an elephant from the calf down.  See picture below:

Sorry if you don't like feet!  But they feel even worse than they look.  And this picture was only taken mid-day, so they will be much worse by the evening.  I would really like to walk around a lot to try to get things going, but my feet won't let me.
-giving me some extra time with my family before the babies get here.  I am thankful to get to focus on them more right now.
-making me marvel at the contortions my abdomen is capable of as the babies stretch around in there.  Really, there is no room for kicking anymore, so movement is more of a visible thing than something you can feel with your hand (of course, I can feel it though-especially in my ribs).
-teaching my to be patient and thankful.   I am not a very patient person by nature, so it has been a challenge!

I can't wait to meet these two sweet girls!  I love getting to see what they look like after wondering for so long.  Neither of my first two looked like I had imagined, so I am not even trying to guess what these two will look like.  It is so cool that there are TWO of them and that they will look just alike!  Keep us in your prayers over the next week!