I've arrived!

So what makes you arrive more as a mom... actually having the kids or getting the minivan... after trying to get all loaded into the Subaru in a terrential downpour (which we have frequently in the midwest) we decided it was time to take plunge and get a minivan. Okay, so Tom has ALWAYS wanted a van!

We got a Toyota Sienna.. picked it up today. It's AWESOME (shh don't tell anyone I said that!) I feel a new sense of freedom.. I know we could get our whole family and acutraments (including the willis) loaded in one vehicle and go somewhere.. Along w/ being able to get the Grents in the car w/ the famdamily!

Here we are at the dealership..


And it looks like Jason and Lily like it too... they show their appreciation by sleeping!



So stop laughing.. my driving a minivan is not THAT funny!

Thankfully dad was in need (well next summer) of a vehicle.. so in reality he purchased the minivan for Tom and I in exchange for the subaru... we are still a one car family! :)

5 weeks old

Oops.. I missed the 4 week shot.. so 5 weeks will have to do..

Do they look bigger? I got the memo and added the bear so we could all watch them grow bigger and bigger w/ some perspective.



I'm not sure if you can tell in the photo, but they are definitely growing!

Here's their 2 week photo for reference:


Things seem to be getting a bit easier - just in time for the next growth spurt - though I'm not sure if it's really getting easier or if I've just lowered (I mean changed) my expectations.

Both babies are more alert during the day and we are practicing our tummy time! :) We've gotten out two nights in a row (evenings are usually particularly hard) to look at mini vans and it's gone pretty well... well, last night they both screamed at the top of their lungs on the way home.. I guess that's not so great! :)

I added some pics and am working on uploading some videos.. not sure if I'll get that done before the wee ones need to eat. One is of Lily all out screaming (am I a bad parent for videoing it instead of picking her up)... I wanted to share w/ everyone and save it for the day she says, "you don't love me" I can then pull out the video and tell her that if I didn't love her I would have given her away the first time she did this! ha ha

Here's the link to the PHOTOS and VIDEOS!

We had a great visit

We had so much fun with Lynda and Larry.. it was just such a short trip.

I have a rare moment where I am not nursing two babies and wanted to get a few pictures up from their trip out...

We went out to eat!

Sorry I've been MIA for so long.. they've been giving us a go of it.. meaning we're getting very little sleep b/c the kids are just not cooperating at night! For the most part they are great during the day (w/ the exception of one hellish day last week).. even though they are nursing about every hour the second half of the day... when we TRY to go to bed all hell breaks loose and they (particularly Lily) act like they haven't eaten in a week. We're up all hours of the night feeding and consoling.

I'm worried about Lily's nursing future. She's gotten really lazy when she nurses, falls asleep and as soon as I put her down she screams and wants back on... nurses weakly for about 5 mins and repeats it... especially at night.. it's about killing me! I gave her a bottle the other night.. she pounded 2 oz.. I got more... she killed 2 more oz... Tom fed her more and she ate between 1 and 2 ozs of breast milk mixed w/ formula... this is all consecutively not throughout the night! Damn am I starving the kid or what!? This is all after she had been at the breast - off and on - for an hour or so. I'm worried that my supply will dwindle and won't be able to keep up with two babies.

We all - mom, dad, lynda, larry, jason, lily, tom and i - went out to lunch/dinner yesterday! First time in a restaurant w/ the wee ones. It went pretty well. There was a bit of screaming from Jason as I got him settled. He wouldn't take the breast so I had to bust out my prosthetic nipple (what I call the breast shield) and he nursed as I ate. Lily woke up shortly after that and Tom gave her a bottle of formula. It breaks my heart that Lily is getting so much formula lately, but the kid's gotta eat right? UGH!

I'm hoping we pull through this and she ends up nursing more soon! Jason is slowly weaning off the shield.. I can't wait. He even took the bare nipple in the side lying position last night. I'm so jealous of you ladies w/ one baby that can side lie feed at night.. I can obviously do one at a time.. but then the other would be screaming bloody murder. Last night Tom was up w/ a fussy Lily so I just nursed Jason.. it was heavenly. I just went to sleep and let him eat as much as he wanted!

It's been great to have Lynda and Larry here.. I can't believe that they are heading home today... they just got here. We got out for a walk every day and Larry got to see the neighborhood. We've taken to calling him the baby whisperer b/c he can put them to sleep when they are cranky!

Well I just wanted to let you know we are still here and alive - barely. Yesterday I looked at my watch and to my surprise it was already 5pm. I was about to say to Tom, "well at least we get to go to bed soon." ... then I realized I don't really like the night time as much as I like the day time.. b/c all I want to do is sleep and two little people won't let me! If I could just stay awake for 3 months I think I would.

I ran a little.. a VERY little!

I've been getting out for walks pretty consistantly now w/ my mom and went by myself today - well w/ the babies - and decided to try running a bit just to see what it felt like.

There have been many changes in my body for sure and it was slow going, but felt great! The biggest thing (no pun intended) I noticed was the change in my boobs.. damn! Kudos to all you large breasted runners out there! I'll definitely need to invest in some more supportive bras.. I don't think I could even get my old sports bras on! It didn't hurt for the short bit I ran, but I could see how it would after a while!

I only ran for short spurts, but I hope to be back to running 3 miles before the big chill hits.. then we'll see what happens.. I will have to get more creative about getting out.. depending on how well I can bundle them! :)

Okay.. Jason is fussy... gotta go!

Happy Due date to me

Okay.. I started to post this yesterday, but was unable to get back to the computer the rest of the day.. let's see how today goes!

I can't believe that today (well yesterday) was my due date and my babies are already 3 weeks old! I can't believe that only 3 short weeks ago I was PREGNANT! Feels like forever ago!

I've been getting out for walks every day the last 4 days or so.. Mom comes w/ me so we can take Phoebe... she needs her exercise too. It feels GREAT to get out and it's the only time the babies get dressed... it's just silly for them to have clothes on here around the house.. 1) they are too big for them and 2) they just barf on them.

Here is a pic of them dressed and ready to go for a walk yesterday! And what a treat ... both of their eyes are open.



Okay.. they are squaking.. gotta go nurse them... :) I think we are STILL in a growth spurt! ha ha I'll post some more pics to our photo album later today.

Happy LATE 4th of July!

How tired am I? Let me count the ways!

Oh goodness we had a long one last night! The babies stirred quite a bit and wanted to eat every 2 hours.. that's 2 hours from start to start... equals not a lot of sleep for mommy and daddy!!! Fingers crossed that this is the three week growth spurt!!! :)

We headed out for a walk to the local custard stand last night.. the babies did great and so did Phoebe..

It's July and my babies are already 2 weeks old

Everything is going well and we seem to have settled into a semblence of a routine.. of course I say that knowing I'm quickly approaching a 3 week growth spurt where all hell will break loose, but I'm enjoying it for now.. we've gotten out for a walk three days in a row now and that helps me to feel a bit more human! :)

Both babies are still packing on the OZ. and eating well. Jason actually latched on w/o the shield all by himself.. I was getting situated w/ Lily and the next thing I knew Jason was helping himself! YEAH! He's only done it once since then, but I'm still very excited that we will get off these things eventually. Today we are going to try at each feeding.. w/ him anyway.. one step at a time. :) Then we'll work on Lily!

Lily and Jason are both a bit more alert with each day... it makes me feel sad some days that I can't hold them both all the time when they are both awake, but we are doing our best to get some good quality time in with both.. but damn a girl's gotta eat ya know!? ha ha And sleep.. and go to the bathroom.. showering occasionally is a good thing too! :)

Here's their 2 week pic..



I added a few more pics to the June folder: HERE... :)

Two week well baby appointment.. HOLY SMOKES

We had our two week well baby appointment on Monday and HOLY SMOKES did these kids pack on the oz... :) Comes w/ nursing every two hours I guess.. though they seem to have slowed down today.

Jason went from 6lb1.5oz on Wed to 6lb12oz on Monday... and Lily from 4lb9.5oz to 5lb2oz.. they are gaining great and all looks great w/ them! Today is our first day home without daddy... we had a rough morning.. after a LONG night.. I had a baby on the boob from 8 am to 10:30am.. back and forth... and they've been peaceful ever since. i can't wait until they get the memo about night vs. day.. I'll go wake them when I'm done here and spend some time keeping them up.. then do it again in the evening and HOPE TO GOD it works. I wonder how Tom is coping at work today.. he didn't get too much sleep!

Yesterday we had two appointments - first my 10 day post op appt.. all is well and I've lost THIRTY lbs since delivery... so in about 12 days! Not a bad weight loss plan.. pop out two babies.. nurse non-stop.. drink tons of water.. and never have time to get to that pint of ice cream you've been trying to eat for the last week and a half! :) My incision looks good and I can now pick the babies up in their car seats and continue about life as a normal person.. though he said I should wait to resume and exercise routine (routine?? RIGHT!!) until my 6 week post partum check!

Then we had the babies 2 week appointment.. so the first appointment was at 11am and the second was at 2:45pm. We had some errands to run in between so Tom would stay in the car while I ran in. By the time the errands were done we decided to go to a coffee shop and relax while I nursed (yes, WITH the shields - in public) instead of rushing home to nurse then rushing back out again. Jason nursed at the coffee shop, but Lily was too sleepy. Amazingly it went well and no one screamed while we were there... much less screaming at the same time! ha ha We were out for a whole SIX hours and the babies did great.. of course life is a bit slower now.. we nursed for 40 mins at the OB appt after my appt.. then nursed for only 20 at the coffee shop b/c Lily wasn't intersted and then nursed again while we were having our Well Baby appointment.. so I am getting a good lesson in patience and won't be over scheduling my life anymore! :) ha

Okay.. off to enjoy my little bundles... they are growing so fast! I'll work on getting some new pics up soon!

not too bad

here i am 10 days Post-partum.... got a ways to go, but so far nursing twins is helping!!!



and here's miss Lily in a preemie outfit... i only have two pink ones, no boy ones.though brother was also sporting the same outfit I thought I would spare him the embarrasment of being documented as wearing pink - though he did wear that pink hat in the hospital.

finally getting our groove on!

Last night was much better than the other night! :) I'm exhausted starting w/ thier first feeding, but was actually able to get some sleep last night.. YEAH! The babies fed well... still w/ the shields.. but that will take quite some time to drop I think. We have been able to do mostly nursing w/ the occasional bottle.

Tom goes back to work this upcoming Tuesday and I'm nervous about how this will affect our night time routine.. Tom won't be able to be up all hours of the night when he's got to get up and go to work. We are working on a plan for each of us to get a solid amount of shut eye each night. It will most likely involve me going to bed super early and Tom feeding them one feeding by bottle.. at this point we don't really know how much (oz. wise) that will be, but I guess we'll figure it out! :) I suppose all we need to know is that our babies are getting fed. I just don't want to screw with my milk supply and am dedicated to nursing them - MOSTLY.

We're still using disposable diapers because they are too tiny for their cloth diapers so I can't comment on how that whole thing is going.. I can say DAMN they go through a lot of diapers.. seems like every time we change them they poop again.. we haven't really been counting diapers (they recommend this to make sure they are getting enough milk) because they have SO many we know they are fine.

Okay ... someone's crying must go!

I can't believe they are only one week old!

So after talking to Lynda I felt I needed to clear some things up... this is HARD! haha I guess my last post made it sound like we've really got our poop in a group over here.. oh geez.. I mislead you.. these babies are seriously kicking our asses. :) We're still loving it though.

The transition to motherhood certainly hasn't been w/o tears.. most of them happy "oh my god I'm the luckiest woman ever" tears, but some frustrated most tired person on the planet tears! We're still working through the nursing thing.. which is my biggest source of stress. Things are getting better by the moment and we are staying close to our lactation consultant for help! And man do we need it. It's also nice to go visit her for the reassurance that we get that we are doing a good job.. the babies are gainig - albeit slowly - they are gaining. We were told they want to see about .5 to 1 oz. a day.. they are not there.. so we feed more.. WOW MORE.. REALLY??? You said feed MORE! Geez.. how much can these wee ones eat.. the answer is A TON! For those of you familiar w/ the 3 and 6 week growth spurts.. I think I have the 1 - 6 week growth spurt on my hands. They are trying to catch up apparently. We were able to get them to tandem nurse - PRAISE THE LORD - at the ped / lc on Wed. She had "my brest friend" pillow there and w/ help from the lc and Tom we got it done.. we stopped at baby depot on the way home and bought one of those suckers! Changed my 1.5 - 2 hour feeding frenzies at night to closer to an hour... so now I can sleep instead of the 1st baby wanting to eat again as soon as the 2nd baby stops! ha! So we are learning.. and as soon as we get things figured out a bit better I'm sure it will change! :) ha!

And guess what.. it's 10:15am and Tom and Jason are still in bed.. YIPPEE!!! Though Jason will need to be roused to eat soon! Turns out having them sleep for 3 hours straight - though it sounds good - is not so good.. they wake up DYING to eat and it's hard to calm them! We learn as we go around here!

Here are two cute pics of the scene in our bedroom these days.. sometimes they sleep in the co-sleeper.. usually after their second night feeding... but they get fussy a lot so they sleep w/ us! And hey, Tom initiated it. I think he 1) has trouble sleeping when they make noise and 2) worries about them.. so cute! :)

Daddy and Lily


Mommy and Jason

First Pediatric Appt and outing

We actually got our act together and got to our first appointment on time!!! AMAZING what teamwork can do.

The appt went really well. Lily is already .5 oz. over her birth weight and Jason has gained an oz. since being home. Thier little bit of jaundice is going away on it's own.. HOORAY.

Nursing is going well.. though I do feel kind of like a moo cow! It's hard to get two babies w/ different personalities on the same schedule, but we are trying. I'm just glad my milk has come in w/a vengence and we are certainly having no trouble feeding two babies. Nurse, pump, nap. haha We are still supplementing a bit, but are mostly able to use breast milk instead of formula.

Still so thankful that Grandma and Grandpa are here.. they have been so helpful.. keeping us fed and keeping our house from being a COMPLETE and TOTAL disaster.. they help w/ the babies too .. of course!

Grandpa and Jason


Grandma and Jason


Today we even got out of the house for a walk...



We are still loving every minute of it! :)

6/18/06 The Happiest Day of our lives!

The birth of our son and daughter:

Jason Everett Mount
6/14/06 10:43am
6lbs 4oz 19.5inches

Lillian Payton Mount
6/14/06 10:44am
4lbs 9oz 17.5 inches

Things change so quickly!!! I sit here now, not w/ a big belly, but w/ my son strapped to me and sleeping soundly after enjoying his breakfast.. AND sleeping for SIX hours last night.. in two 3 hour spurts! (THANK YOU Jason) My FABULOUS MOST REMARKABLE husband Tom is in the kitchen preparing the nursing mother some more food while wearing his beautiful daughter proudly... who is also sleeping after her breakfast and six hours of sleep (also in 3 hour spurts).

I can't believe that less than a week ago I was carrying these little peanuts in my tummy.. I can't believe they fit in there! A true miracle has occured.

On Wednesday morning we headed to the hospital. I was nervous and excited. I was worried about surgery and concerned that my babies would be okay. We both were trusting in our doctors and that God would bring us all through safe and sound.. WOW.. did he ever deliver!

We checked in at 7:45am and got up to our room by around 8am. We spent the next two hours talking to the docs and working on a name for baby boy. Tom put a list up on the extra white board.. I think he was just trying to distract me as I sat in my lovely gown/robe ensemble waiting to get this party started.

The worst part of the whole thing was getting the IV. I've only had one other IV and it was in another part of my arm. I got really woozy and thought I might puke, but we got through it. We all walked down to the OR together and I had to go in by myself for the spinal tap.. which I was terrified of.. Tom went to change while I went in by myself. It was a bit surreal being in an operating room and hearing/watching all the commotion going on as they got ready. I tried to just focus on the nurse in front of my and keep my nerves steady. To my amazement the Spinal was easier for me than the IV! They laid me back and as the doc had said could happen my blood pressure dropped and I got really nauseous.. nothing like puking to the side into a bed pan while laying on your back. Tom still wasn't there and all I wanted was to see his face at this point. They gave me some meds and I was feeling a bit better.. Tom came in and sat by my head and they got started right away! I had another wave of nausea right as they were starting (this time my WONDERFUL husband got to hold the bed pan)... then as they pulled baby boy from my womb I IMMEDIATELY quick feeling nauseous and felt like my face must have gotten some color back at that moment.. to say it was a relief is an understatement. I heard him cry shortly after that as they took him over to check him out. Then baby girl was removed to my delight I felt "normal" - I felt like if they left me on that table hanging open that would be okay! She cried as they checked her out and shortly after that they placed baby boy on my chest and baby girl came walking over with her very proud daddy... the report was read... he was 6lbs 4 oz... I COULD NOT believe it!! What a relief... then they both checked out well and could stay w/ us!!! I was beside myself w/ joy. Both babies stayed right there with us as they finished up the surgery... like I noticed that they were doing anything.

There was a lot of pressure throughout the procedure, but certainly no pain.

Afterward we went to the post-op room where they set me up with some IV pain medication and checked my vitals and waited for me to feel my legs again.. all very weird! We had our babies with us the entire time. What angles they are!

Back up in our room we were able to cuddle and feed our babies and I can't even describe the immediate love you have for them. As much as I love my nephews and niece.. I couldn't have understood how it felt to hold your very own baby in your arms if my sister's in law had tried to describe it to me. It's so overwhelming.

I was off the IV meds and had my catheter out by that night and had been out of bed. I was feeling pretty good and surprised to find that most of the pain I felt was from my uterus contracting... not where I had been cut.

Baby boy had been pulled out by his legs and had inhaled some blood and fluid so he was a bit sluggish to eat, but his sister went to town. Since then they have both been eating really well - especially for their size (particularly Lily). They both lost about 2 oz., but both started gaining BEFORE we left the hospital. They are both wetting and dirtying diapers and passed every test they through at them with flying colors! We couldn't be more proud! :)

We've actually managed to get a bit of a system going to do the feedings and what not and have both managed to get a considerable amount of sleep considering!

I am working on uploading some photos, but it could take a while for me to get them all up... in the mean time here are some for your viewing pleasure...

First a before and after:

36 weeks 6 days - day of delivery


2 days old:


And me 2 days post op... what??? Looks about 20 weeks maybe more than that??


And the MOST precious babies to ever enter this world:


Until next time...

6/14/06 Happy Birthday babies!

Okay... I'm up and ready to go.. and DAMN I'm parched. I dreamt about guzzling water. I slept okay. I normally get a 3 - 4 hour "long" nap during the night, but last night I think the longest jag was 1.5 hours.. oh well.. here we go. I can't believe it's time!

Happy Birthday, Happy Flag Day (as many have pointed out) and Happy Anniversary to the US Army (thank you dad for that info).... looks like the babies get to share their birthday.. ha ha

I'm nervous about the surgery, but I'm sure it will all be fine and I'm hoping and praying that the babies don't even step foot in the NICU! I'm excited and nervous about being a mom of twins, but I know we will survive... albeit on little sleep for quite a while. I just hope I don't rip Tom's head off too much... I apologize in advance to anyone I'm a bit bitchy too... sleep deprivation is NOT my thing! ha

Thank God mom and dad are here and I love ear plugs ... hopefully this will help me get some cat naps here and there.

Tom's excited and swears he's not nervous (LIAR) ... well he admitted last night that he was a bit nervous for me regarding the surgery... he says w/ the kids we'll just "go w/ the flow" ... wonder what he thinks this "flow" is going to be like! ha! I'll report back on how he's doing.

Off to the hospital.. don't worry .. we'll get my last HUGE shot before we leave!

6/13/06 36 weeks 5 days

To all MY fans... b/c I know today is my last day of being the admired one... starting tomorrow your fan club will transition to the two most beautiful babies in the world! :)

This time tomorrow I will be on the operating table and most likely my precious babies will be out breathing on their own (God willing). I just can't believe it! After all of this.. they will be here TOMORROW! AH!

Just wanted to say thank you to all of you for all of your support through this ENTIRE journey and for sharing the pregnancy w/ me as much as you can from a distance. Your support has meant so much to me and has helped me to remain calm through the whole ordeal - okay through the pregnancy.. I know I was inconsolable through the getting to the pregnancy part! ha!

My OB appt yesterday went just fine.... FINAL weight (only b/c I don't think I'll be weighed again) reached 198lbs.. just 2lbs shy of the BIG 200lbs.. I don't think even I could gain 2 lbs in 2 days.. but hey.. you never know! Tomorrow I should loose between 15 and 20 lbs.. Woo Hoo.. now the slippery (i hope) slope down to my prepregnancy weight.. though I'm sure I'll be too busy to notice! ha! Both babies are doing well, moving and practicing their breathing. Baby boy was moving just fine, but baby girl was either being lazy (like her mama) or was asleep so the tech had to jiggle the u/s wand on her to get her going -- I even drank some OJ before my appt to try to get them going. Oh well. They are moving just fine.. I can feel it! Baby boy is, of course, still breech / transverse! We'll have another quick u/s tomorrow a.m. before the surgery to confirm he is still that way before they start to prep me!

The hospital called to get a jump start on the paperwork to go over what to expect... AHH! they said b/c they are going to be younger than 37 weeks gestation (by one FREAKIN' day) they will have to do more tests on them.. great.. what did I do? They'll check their blood sugar every 4 hours and if it's ever below 40 (whatevers) they will recommend formula supplementation.. that lady said they will probably recommend it anyway b/c they are younger than 37 weeks gestation (HELLO.. it's ONE FREAKIN' day!) They also take them down to the nursery in their car seats to put them on an apnea monitor to make sure they breathe okay in them... b/c they are younger than 37 weeks gestation (by ONE FREAKIN' day) can you tell I'm bummed about this.. I guess I could flip it to the positive that I will know for sure they are AOkay when we walk out of there w/ them. So much for my natural birth.. nothing like going in the COMPLETE opposite direction.. oh well.. it's for the babies. It's just not about me anymore!

Oh, in our birthing class they told us that there is someone on staff there that can go down and check the installation of the bases in your car so we haven't even put them in the car yet... well the lady said they check the babies in the car seat, but not the bases so we should get that done today.. OOPS! Tom took the car to work today.,.. guess he'll be installing them tonight and maybe we'll get my mom and dad to cruise by the fire station w/ them while we're in the hospital.. or just do it on the way home on Saturday... oops. :)

Okay.. going to do some laundry .. make a moby wrap .. shop for nipples for my bottles (don't have as many as I thought I did) and probably pick up some snacks. Hopefully that will help kill the day.. I'll make mom go w/ me (since I have no car) and maybe I'll be able to talk her into going to Smoothie King for a Peanutbutter banana chocolate smoothy.. those suckers have about 700 calories, but shit I don't care! ha :) Besides I can't eat after midnight tonight and won't get food until dinner tomorrow.. better load up! ;)

I'll post as soon as I can on Saturday. I would say I'll be an over achiever and get down to the business center at the hospital to post pics for you guys, but COME ON.. 1) MAJOR SURGERY, 2) TWO NEW BABIES... sorry... the fans will have to wait patiently for a first glimpse at the newest additions to the Mount family! Anyone want to wager money to be the VERY first person to see them?? We can start the bidding at $1mil... We'll give some to a charity of our choosing! :)

6/9/06 36 weeks 1 day

I think it's safe to say that the babies are growing well. I measured my GIRTH last week and it was 44 inches.. I measured it again today and it is around 47.5 inches... and growing. This is good news. I haven't had an u/s to measure their size since 34 weeks... at which point they were both about 4.5 lbs and I was told they were gaining about 1 lb each every two weeks... so that would put them at about 5.5 lbs each now... and close to 6 lbs each next week. I guess we'll see soon enough. I'm not sure if they will measure them on Monday or not... I'm supposed to have another ultrasound like the one I had last Monday so I'm guessing there won't be time. We'll know soon enough!

6/8/06 36 weeks

It's amazing the perspective that putting over 50 lbs on your frame can give you.... I present my 9 week photo:



And for comparison my 36 week photo:


DAMN! I wish you could see my hands better in the 36 week shot... I just can't believe how swollen they are. My wedding ring BARELY fits on my huge fat bloated pinkie finger! And I wish that early on we had been taking pics w/ my head in them so I could see what my face used to look like. I'm excited to get rid of this moon pie face that is staring back at me in the mirror.

I can't believe that in the 9 week shot I was in the "I could stand to lose a few pounds" mind set... I would kill to look like that again after these kids are evicted! I hope I get some semblance of my former self back. I've already been warned to keep my expectations in check in that department.. that though I may achieve my pre-pregnancy weight all things will be redistributed. :) Maybe I'll at least get to keep the boobs for a little while. I'm just hoping to get some flatness back to my stomach! I can handle some extra giggle to the skin, but I don't want a big ol' pooch! ha! ;) Ah the vanity sets in! Good thing I'll have two babies to keep my mind off what I look like! I guess right now I'll settle for losing the bloat in my face.

We'll see if I'm brave enough to take any post partum pics of my "twin" belly. Maybe w/ a shirt and my girdle on! ha ha! Oh wait.. the girdle was going to be my secret so you would all think I was amazing.. oh well.. you guys already know the truth anyway! :)

Getting excited to meet the babies and truthfully I can't imagine keeping them in there any longer than another week. They are getting bigger - I can tell b/c I'm bumping them into EVERYTHING all of a sudden. I hit BB (baby boy) in the head w/ the gate yesterday.. poor thing! And rolling over has become an Olympic event for me. After each roll I have a contraction at which time BB tries to nestle into my ribs... and oh does that just feel GREAT!

Anyway.. only SIX days to go... I'll be in surgery this time six days from now.. AHH!!!

All is ready and waiting for them!

6/6/06 35 weeks 5 days

My OB appt yesterday was good. I had to have an ultrasound to check movement - which SUCKED! While they were looking for practice breathing patterns from the babies I had to lay on my back / side and couldn't move. UGH! The babies looked good and both are practicing breathing - you could actually see their diaphrams moving! Their heart rates are good. They are certainly running out of room in there - like I needed an ultrasound to tell me that! Ha!

I'm also doing just fine.. my weight is somewhere around 196lbs these days - they don't wait for the little needle to stop bouncing anymore so I'm never totally sure. I'm not sure if they are doing that to ease my mind or if it doesn't really matter at this point. So far they haven't moved the big weight to the 200 mark... so I'm happy. Though I think it would have been a bit amusing to have had that happen just once. ha

The big news is that we went ahead and scheduled a C section. The doc said that at this point there is no room for baby boy to change positions and because of the way he is if I went into labor and my water broke there is a high risk that other things could make their way out first w/ the gush of waters.. things like the cord or a foot. Cord prolapse can be a big problem b/c is cuts off the supply of nutrients and oxygen to the baby. If this was to happen it would put us in an emergency state and there's a good chance I would have to be put under general and I really don't want that b/c I want to be awake right after to be able to tend to the babies. Tom and I discussed it and decided that at this point it's not about me and my idea of what birth should be or my fear of having major abdominal surgery... it's about the health of the babies (and of me) so we decided to take the doctor's advice and just schedule it.

Drum roll please... mark your calendars the babies will arrive on June 14th at 10am - unless they are in there listening to all of this talk and saying to themselves, "Wait just ONE minute here.. we aren't even out and they are already bossing us around.. let's throw 'em a curve ball." Well, babies you officially have ONE WEEK to make the decision on your own.. you can either come when you are ready (in the next 7 days) or come when I say! (Jennie is that how love and logic works? haha)

We'll call you after the babies are here and we are out of the recovery room and in a regular room.. I'm not sure how long all of that takes, but should be early afternoon!

6/4/06 35 weeks 3 days

OH THE PAIN! I woke up again the other night w/ EXCRUCIATING pain. I thought maybe it was a contraction, but I think it was baby boy's reaction (hey maybe we could just call him BB Mount) to the contraction. He had his foot or something on some ligament or muscle or some thing I really wished he would move away from. I COULD NOT move. I think it was possibly the most pain I've ever been in in my life! After a while he managed to simultaneously stretch upward and plant his head firmly under my ribs! All I wanted to do was get up and pee, but I couldn't move. Finally if eased up a bit and Tom had to help me get out of bed. The good/bad news is I wasn't in labor. As I lay there trying to figure out what was going on I had a few thoughts... "Oh Shit, I'm not ready for labor" (that one surprised me), "Oh shit, I'm NEVER going to be able to handle labor" and "Damn it all I want to do is pee and go back to sleep" and of course "This SUCKS!"

The good news is I got up and peed then went back to bed... though I was afraid to sleep on that side again!

My next appointment is tomorrow and I'm hoping that they measure the babies for size during the ultrasound - I'm hoping/thinking they've got to be close to 5 1/2 lbs by now just based on the fact that they are bursting out all over the place!

I'm also hoping that there is some more progress in the dialation department.. some indication that SOMETHING is going on in there. I've been having a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions, but I don't think I've had any "functional" contractions.... Tom has requested that I at least keep these kids in until next Thursday so he can attend his sales meeting (here in Madison)... after that GAME ON! Greg is coming out to visit and I'm hoping we've got two screaming babies to torture him w/! ha! My friend's Jen and Kelly are going to come up for the day on the 16th and I just hope to not be in the hospital at that point - that being said - since we have plans for that part of June there's a higher likelihood that the babies will come then... RIGHT? ha

I went over and floated at the pool at Mom and Dad's apartment complex and it was FABULOUS!!!! Closest I've felt to "normal" in a long time. :) Getting out was disappointing though!

I'll check in again after my appointment tomorrow to let you know if these babies are as huge as I think they are!