5/31/06 34 weeks 6 days

Nothing real exciting to report.. well it's supposed to drop down to 55 degrees tonight - I find that to be pretty darned exciting!! YIPPEE I might get some sleep! :)

My OB appt was relatively uneventful. The babies heartbeats sound good, I'm dialated 1 cm (which basically means nothing), I start weekly ultrasounds on Monday to check heart rates, growth and position. We're still planning on letting me go into labor on my own, but the concensus seems to be that it's pretty unlikely that baby boy is going to move his ass out of my pelvis .... which would mean a c section. I'm just hoping to go into labor in the next 2 weeks ... I don't really want to schedule a C section - admit defeat.. me? NO! haha So we wait.

Mom and dad get here tomorrow night!!! I'd like a day to show them how to get to their apartment and the hospital.. after that the babies can come any day - as far as I'm concerned! :)

5/27/06 34 weeks 2 days

Well, I just packed up all my maternity clothes that don't fit anymore.. which is MOST of them. I've washed and initialed them for the next recipient.... Jennie?? Colleen??? Julie??? :) No pressure.. they'll wait for you! :) It was kind of bitter sweet - though I'm SO ready to be done w/ this whole pregnant thing it was fun to remember the excitement over needing to purchase the maternity clothes in the first place - not really knowing where my body would go and how fast.

They've served me well and whoever gets them next will see that the cotton stretchy stuff was my favorite.. and I might have to replace a pair of Julie's pants because I have basically lived in them for months! :) When you get this big you wear what fits and doesn't bind. Thank God I'm not working I would have had to purchase a whole new wardrobe... I can walk around the house and even grocery shop with the bottom half of my belly hanging out, but I'm pretty sure that if I was still in an office they would expect me to cover myself! ha!

I haven't posted any "emotional" stuff in a while because I've had some bad days.. just swollen and tired of my immobility ... I don't want this to become a platform for my bitchfests so I'm keeping it to myself. I'm doing okay today... actually trying to get some stuff done, but it's SLOW going with lots of breaks! Tom is out completing his favorite task - lawn maintanence - we're already talking landscaping to minimize grass cutting - that stuff grows SO fast.

The temps are now hovering around the 80s and the humidity has cranked up - we actually turned our A/C on last night.. I was so HOT! It was 78 degrees in the house.. UGH! So far it had stayed pretty cool in here despite the humidity and heat outside, but we got over the hump. I woke up burning up this a.m.... please let these babies come before we hit the 90s! ;)

Spring has been amazing around here.. I just love watching things spring to life!

Okay time to go manage the dog hair piled up in the corners of our hardwood floor house... hey at least I don't have to push a vacuum over the whole place.. that's REALLY hard to do all of a sudden! ;)

Mom and dad will be here in 5 days.. YEAH!

5/22/06 - 33 weeks 4 days

My OB appointment went well today. The babies have both gained about 1 lb in the last two weeks which is right on schedule. Baby boy is now 4lb8oz and Lily is 4lb9oz - she now outweighs him. All that ice cream I've been eating must be going straight to her hips - or if she's built like me - straight to her ass and thighs! All while her brother continues to gain weight at a steady rate! HA HA Oh, and the ultrasound tech said that she could see hair on baby boy's head! :) She didn't go back and look at Lily's after that and I didn't think to ask her.. at this point I'm not too comfy laying down for those things so all I can think about is getting them over with!

No internals this time. I asked the doc what he would recommend if I was still just sailing along at 37 weeks and he said, "wait and see you again in a week." I'm happy with that answer. He said that he was talking with the head of neonatology at Meriter and that the doc said they are seeing that babies that are born as a result of mom going into labor on her own - vs scheduling a C section for 37 weeks - do better. He said that if you aren't going into labor on your own there is a reason - typically if a mom goes into labor on her own and still ends up needing a C section the babies are better developed (even if it's early) b/c your body knows what it's doing and will go into labor when the babies are ready! :) So he said it would be great for the babies if we got to 38 or 39 weeks... though I think he still thinks I'll go between 36 or 37 weeks and he believes that if I go into labor all will be fine. He also said that the neonatologist said that if someone wants to schedule a C section they should have an amnio before having the C section to be sure the lungs are developed - uh, no thanks! ha! Oh God.. it could be SIX more weeks.. I'm not sure if I can do that!

So we are still waiting.. I'm hoping for at least another 2.5 weeks... God, that sounds like FOREVER right now! ha

5/18/06 33 weeks

Wow, I had a rough night. It's normal for me to toss and turn b/c my hip hurts or my shoulder aches or b/c I have to use the bathroom AGAIN, but last night was a bit different. It was either contractions or just ligament pain. Baby boy pushes on one side w/ his foot and the other w/ - maybe - his head and it hurts! It usually doesn't disturb my sleep. This a.m. when I woke up b/c of the pain for the last time I reached down to feel a big contraction - normally they don't hurt. I haven't had another one since I got up - only 30 mins ago mind you! I'll be laying low and seeing what happens today! IT'S TOO EARLY TO HAVE THESE BABIES - I'm sure they would be fine, but I want to wait a bit longer.... so today I think I'll prescribe myself some bedrest! HA HA And I think I'll throw a nap in there too!

5/17/06 - 32 weeks 6 days

Is it JUNE YET!?

My last appointment was pretty rushed - the doc was in a hurry - which was fine I guess. He checked me and my cervix is 50% effaced. I didn't get to ask him for more details about what that means, but I know that you have to be 100% effaced and 10cm dialated for the baby to come out... and I'm still closed so I think we're good. He didn't seem worried about it so I'm not either. Next appointment they'll do the Group B Strep test - just in case I get a vaginal birth - and will do another quick ultrasound to check the position of the babies. He's pretty sure he felt a butt when he was checking me so he's probably still breech... he's got some time to change, but I think he likes this position!

I'm at 191 lbs now... Dad and I may just end up being the same weight when he shows up in 2 weeks... either way we'll be darn close. If I gain another 3 lbs/wk between now and then and he doesn't lose even an ounce we'll only be 3 lbs difference in weight so close enough.. we'll have to get a picture of this! :)

I had another strange dream last night! I dreamt that I had had the babies, but couldn't remember it (the running theme in my birth dreams) - the only way I knew that I had had them was that I had my body back to myself.... and it was FABULOUS! ha Side note: I weighed myself in my dream and I was back to 140lbs already... just like that! Oh if it was that easy! I tried to go to the hospital to see and feed the babies, but I got lost and never could get there. I figured out that I had had a C section because I had a scar - a very small one! :) Then I remembered just a bit of the delivery... Dr. Melius was the one that performed the surgery and both little babies were perfect and had full heads of dark brown hair. That was all I could remember. It had been 2 days since they had been born and I still hadn't seen them again and Tom and I hadn't told anyone yet!

I promise it won't go down like that.. we will call you! :) ha ha

5/14/06 - 32 weeks 3 days

OH MY GOD I'M GOING TO BE A MOTHER!!!!! I'm going to be a parent.. I'm going to be responsible for these two little lives!!! What kind of mother will I be? Will I make the right decisions?? I mean I know my kids will blame me for all that's wrong in their lives regardless of what I do, but AHHH will I do right by my kids!? Why did I want to do this again? haha Just kidding... :)

Tom says he's not worried about being a parent! He says he is going to keep a clear head and use his best judgement! What the hell does he think he's talking about? Doesn't he remember being a teen ager!? AH! For the most part I take baby steps in my thoughts about parenthood - think of getting through the baby stage before jumping ahead to the "BIG CONVERSATIONS", but sometimes at night - like tonight at 12:30am - when I'm trying to sleep I think about all the big milestones that will come and go in my children's lives. Will I back down from the hard stuff to avoid conflict and uncomfortable moments or will I be able to be the adult and talk to my kids about the stuff that I feel I need to talk to them about?

Please God let me be strong and brave as a parent. Let me go out on limbs and not shy away from the hard conversations just because I'm afraid of "doing it wrong".

This truely IS going to be the hardest job of my life. While I'm thinking about this first year of my babies lives and the diaper changes, sleepless nights, crying, stress and pure chaos of it all the real work comes later... not too much later, but later! The mental work, the fear and worry ... okay the fear and worry started the day I found out I was pregnant, but still.

I guess you just can't worry about HOW you are going to screw your kids up because no matter how great a parent you think you are... or you really are... you are going to screw them up in one way or another. I just hope they get to the point where they get over blaming us for everything wrong in their lives and take responsibility for themselves...... some people never get there.

Geez, don't I have great aspirations for both my kids and myself as a parent!?

Okay... time to go see if I can get some sleep! Tomorrow I'll be one more day closer to holding them - yeah yeah yeah.. technically it is "tomorrow", but it doesn't count until I've slept first! :)

5/8/06 - 31 weeks 4 days

My OB appt and ultrasound went well.. the ultrasound was hard because I really feel like I'm going to pass out/puke when I lay on my back. Thankfully I was able to spend most of my time on my side. Baby Boy is breech (butt first) and baby Girl is transverse (laying across my tummy).. not good positions for a vaginal birth, but I'm still holding out! We are going to wait it out and see if they turn as we get closer to delivery. As of today (I reserve the right to change my mind) we are still going to wait to go into labor and get checked when we get to the hospital to see what position baby boy is in. If he's still breech or transverse we'll go w/ a c section.. if he has flipped we're going to go for it! :)

Both babies are about 3.5 lbs - which is a great weight for them. :) The doc said that if I delivered today the babies would most likely be in good health both short and long term, but would still spend about a month in the NICU.. they don't discharge them until they are 35 to 36 weeks gestational age. So in 4 weeks I'm still planning to start walking as much as I can! :) ha ha

Only three-ish more weeks until Mom and Dad get here.. then these babies have a free hall pass to come when they are ready! :)

5/3/06 30 weeks 6 days

I just realized something.. um a bit... "different" (okay that's really read ANNOYING, but I'm trying not to complain! ha ha) about twin pregnancy compared to a singleton pregnancy - yes, I realize I have NEVER had a singleton pregnancy, but I'm quite certain that the following observation is very true! Though in MOST cases w/ a multiples pregnancy you are in fact pregnant for a shorter period of time (term for twins is 37 weeks instead of 40) you FEEL pregnant for quite a bit longer!!! Okay.. this isn't talking morning sickness and what not.. this is talking the feeling of your body being inhabited by foreign beings and just not being able to move like you used to. For most of the singleton moms I've know and know now it seems that unless you knew the woman prior to pregnancy many of them appear that they MAY (Read: you would never ask "are you pregnant?") be pregnant well toward being halfway through the pregnancy. Now, seeing these women and remembering what my life was like at say, oh TWELVE weeks, you still feel rather normal and are asking yourself... "do I look pregnant to others? I mean I can tell the difference" Well.. I got to the "She is DEFINITELY pregnant" stage between 13 and 14 weeks... so I've been BIG BELLY pregnant for hmm... TWENTY SEVEN weeks now! People keep saying things like, "oh, must be any day now huh?" And they started saying that around 20 or 22 weeks.

So now I find myself day dreaming about what it will be like to not be pregnant anymore, though honestly it's hard to remember what it was like to not be pregnant. To be able to eat, or not, and not feel like I was going to barf, to get up off the couch or out of bed QUICKLY, to run across the street b/c a car is coming or to run into a store b/c it's raining really hard, to have a gin and tonic, to walk w/o waddling, to run in general, to ride a bike,... the list goes on.. how about to roll over in bed w/o doing a 25 point turn and waking Tom up. To actually FIT in my tub! Anyway.... so I'm all excited about this right. Naturally I'm reading some books about this multiples thing and in one I come across this:

Excerpt from "Mothering Multiples" by Karen Gromada:
"A sentiment often expressed by women during the last months of a multiple pregnancy is the desire to "get back to normal". Expectant mothers tend to idealize babies during pregnant daydreams. DAydream babies seldom fuss, spit up or have leaky diapers. Pregnant parents acknowledge that caring for multiple babies will keep them constantly busy, but imagining "constantly busy" and living "constantly busy" are seldom the same.
It can be a shock to discover that the postpartum year (DID SHE SAY YEAR?) is even less "normal" than 30 to 40 weeks of multiple pregnancy. Who could anticipaqte the suddenness of all the physical and emotional change that givng birth brings about? Change is always disruptive for routine-loving humans, but change, and the accompanying disruption in household routine, lasts longer when a new addition turns out to be new additions."

OH NO SHE DIDN'T!!!!! She did not just say that the following YEAR is going to be WORSE than being this pregnant w/ two squirmy little ones kicking the crap out of me and causing me to be nearly immobile! Making it so I can't enjoy my second love (eating) and my third love (moving) .... hmm. I'm not sure I want to subscribe to this thought process. I mean.. sure it's going to be hard.. they are going to scream bloody murder at the same time and BOTH expect ME - thier mother - to do something about it, their diapers will leak poop AT THE SAME TIME, they will wake us up at all hours of the night and want to be nurtured, they will turn my life upside down, but surely SURELY it will be a relief to have them outside my person... sure their will be days when MAYBE I'll wish I could put them back just to shut them up, but come on!!!! WORSE! No way! I'm not going to go there right now... I just want to meet them.. I will be happy to meet them... I won't believe what this woman is telling me! Not until I've lived it then I'm sure I will believe it, but now I have to believe that having them outside of me will be better! ha ha (this is the beginnings of my plunge into insanity I'm sure!) Thank GOD grandma and grandpa will be here in the beginning to be my extra set of arms! :) Dad, still counting on you for some diaper changes! ;)

Okay.. that's all for now.. just had to share that excerpt w/ you! Tom and I head to our "bringing baby home" class today.. and for the next three weeks.. then surely we will be all sorts of READY! HA!

5/2/06 30 weeks 5 days

My OB appointment went well yesterday. The doc said I was "PERFECT".. his words. I just told him that I already knew that! ;) The babies heart rates were great and doc said he thinks they are both head down.. we'll know next Monday at our next ultrasound. He said that after we get to 32 weeks they don't worry anymore.. and I'm close so that's good news! I haven't been gaining much weight from appointment to appointment and asked if that was a problem and he told me that the babies will get what they need to grow. It's hard for me to eat a whole meal so he said to just do my best to eat well and get calories in. I said, "so I shouldn't have half that cake you guys have out there?" He said, "Eat the cake!" ha ha Sweet ... free license to eat what I want! :) (NOTE: I learned a lesson this a.m... no matter how good chocolate chip cookies are ... they are BAD for breakfast.. I feel like crap after having two chocolate chip cookies after my breakfast... )

The cervix check was awful. I couldn't believe how uncomfortable it was... blah.. every week now. Oh well.. the things we do for our kids! Ha!

I also had a chiropractic appointment yesterday - which helps my back SO much - and the chiro asked what we were doing about vaccinations... or did I bring it up? I can't remember, but damn I have a lot of research to do. I've just been putting my head in the sand about it really... another thing to figure out.. I've been concentrating on just getting them here healthy and trying to get my mind around what we want done if they come early... and the whole c section vs. vaginal birth thing. I do need to think about this vaccination thing though b/c they start them right at birth. We need to be ready to tell the docs what we want done.

The days are slowing down even more.. is that possible? This waiting thing blows! I'm so excited to meet these little buggers - though a name for baby boy would be good BEFORE he shows up. Right now we are trying Austin out.. Tom's favorite so far.. it inspires thoughts of cow boy boots and ten gallon hats in me, but I'm trying to get past that. It doesn't help that Austin Powers Gold Member was on TV the other day... talk about ruining a name!

I'm not waking up to feet up in my ribs and baby lumps all over my belly - it feels like that scene in Alien where the alien bursts out of the guys chest.. or how I would imagine that to feel.

They will be here soon enough.. and while I wait I think I'll take a nap!

4/30/06 - 30 weeks 3 days

Ooops.. it’s been a while since my last post.. sorry to all my adoring fans! Ha ha did anyone even notice?

I have to tell everyone what a wonderful husband I have! J So going to the grocery store is quite the challenge for me. I’m back in the nauseous phase and thinking about food is no fun. The last time I went I came home w/ $77 worth of food and realized as soon as I unloaded it at home that I hadn’t gotten anything but snack foods that sounded appealing to me. We got by for a few days and then finally needed to go back. I asked Tom if we could go after he got home from work. He said, “sure, just make up a meal plan.” I said I would… I didn’t. I started, but 1) I got bored and 2) as I mentioned before thinking about food is no fun these days.

So my darling husband comes home to me in my sweats still w/ no meal plan feeling like crap. So he finished the half ass meal plan I had started then asked me if I would rather stay home… which of course I did! .. he went to the grocery store… prepared dinner and all I could do was bitch that he hadn’t gotten any ice cream! (I mean do I – the pregnant wife – REALLY have to remind him to get ice cream?) I realized my lunacy and apologized for complaining! Ha! I’m so lucky to have such an accommodating husband! Would you believe that he didn’t even complain.. not once! J Wow, I’m a lucky girl.

I did tell him that I will try my hardest to remember all of the great things he did for me while I was in late pregnancy after the babies are here.. to not ride him too much about not helping in ways that I may want him to, but that I wasn’t promising anything! J He just rolled his eyes and laughed.

I’ve managed to not have to sleep on the couch again since my last post.. again, Tom gets up to let Phoebe out now.. damn I’m lucky! J I generally get back to sleep pretty easily after my many trips to the bathroom AND Phoebe’s bathroom break.

I’m on weekly appointments now w/ a cervical check.. starting on Monday – I guess this is when you know you are getting close. The doc said that 50% of twin moms go into preterm labor during this phase of pregnancy so they want to monitor me closely. I have to signs of it thusfar.

All is well – we still just wait! Mom and dad are getting here in about 4 weeks.. so these babies have my permission to come any time after that, so long as they are healthy and ready!

I’m working on our birth plan.. is the ultimate control move on the nurses/docs or is it just me that feels that way!? I’m hoping that it’s mostly helpful for Tom … so that he doesn’t remember the things that I wanted when I’m in labor and in pain and he just wants to focus on getting our babies here safely. I trust his judgment 100%! (Am I indicating that I don’t by working on the birth plan? Well he’s helping w/ it!)

That’s all for now!

4/19/06 - 29 weeks

The babies heartrates are a bit closer together again.. I'm not sure why they change, but baby boy's heart rate was 157 and baby girl's was 161. :) Mom has officially gained 40lbs. GEEZ! It's sure going to be fun to watch it all melt away! At the chiro yesterday she told me my face was looking fuller - Isn't that just GREAT news! I should have said, "Oh yeah, you think that looks fuller you should get a load of my legs!" ha ha

My dad is currently doing some "Life changes" to his diet and exercise program and is dropping LBs about as fast as I'm picking them up. At last count he was at 205 and loosing so we are narrowing the gap - I'm 184 (gained 3 lbs last WEEK!). We'll have to be sure to get a photo of us at the end of the pregnancy.. the one and ONLY time I will weigh more than you dad! :) ha ha

And on that note... I'm officially feeling HUGE! For real this time.. though I'm sure I'll look back on today and say, "Geez, I wasn't that big.. NOW I'm big!" ha ha I said I had entered the uncomfortable zone before, but I think I was lying and didn't know it.. I'm now uncomfortable.. I've taken to spending a couple of hours a night on the couch... after Phoebe gets up at some ungodly hour to go to the bathroom I can't fall back to sleep.. I usually lay there for about 2 hours before I give up and go lay on the couch.. I sleep there until Tom is about to get up and I go back to bed for about 3 more hours.. At least I'm sleeping I guess.

I just took a bath and much to my disappointment I BARELY fit in there now. There's no use in even bothering now.. When I try to roll over onto my stomach to take pressure off my back my belly hits the bottom of the tub... not comfortable! HA!

We've gotten through two of our 6 birthing/child bringing home.. or whatever classes. I can't remember what they actually call it, but the first three days focuses on birth and the second three days focuses on what to do w/ the baby(ies) when you get it(them) home. :) So far we both feel like some of it has been helpful and other parts are kind of "duh" moments! :) The first day we saw a birth video and it was an "oh these babies have to come out" moment, but the lady's labor was pretty standard.. no drugs and she was fine. :) Yesterday we saw more video of the three stages of labor... we saw the placenta come out.. damn that thing is HUGE and I have TWO.. no wonder I got so big so fast! ha ha I've heard that sometimes twin placentas fuse together.. that should be interesting! :) We also learned and practiced some coping techniques. For those of you that watch a Baby Story or any of those and you see where the couple is kind of slow dancing w/ the woman putting her weight on hubby, well I'm here to tell ya that when you are the same height and super pregnant.. that DOES NOT work! ha We got a good laugh out of that one! Our instructor was teaching us how to breathe through contractions.. I'm now calling her Meg Ryan.. I was almost embarrassed to be in the same room w/ her! She wanted us to practice and I looked at Tom and said, "I AM NOT doing that right now!" ha ha If I was passing in the hallway and didn't know what the class was I would have thought it was a masterbation class not a birth class. I think I'll just wing it when I get there and concentrate on breathing and let it come out sounding however it sounds. HA We also talked about meds in the class and I think I'm more afraid of someone putting a catheter - or whatever - in my spine than I am going through labor - TWICE! I'm pretty sure we are going to opt to use a Spinal if we have to do a C-section after I've labored for a while... I'm hoping to stick to my guns and remember that the pain is temporary (IF baby boy turns and I'm able to labor) and get through it naturally if I can... my main concern w/ not using and epidural was if I had to have an emergency C section I didn't want to have to be knocked out for it. Well, w/ a spinal it's an injection - YES, into your spine - and it's almost immediate. As soon as they give it to you they lay you on the table and get those babies out.. so there is also less chance of the drugs getting to the babies before they are pulled from my body!

Still being flexible about the birth and just going to do whatever is best for the little ones, but it was interesting hearing all the med options.. and watching Tom's face as they described how the epidural works.. he wasn't excited about the whole spinal tap thing either!

Oh, another neat little tid bit of info - the hospital that I'm delivering in uses cloth diapers! I thought that was pretty cool! So the first 3 to 4 days is on them! They wash them.. yippee! :)

Today is 29 weeks.. the weeks are still slipping by though each day seems a bit longer. It's hard to believe that they say 32 weeks is GOOD and anything after that is icing... well geez.. I'm hoping for a good bit of icing then! I'd only be 3 weeks away if I had them at 32 weeks.. that's just NUTS! So I guess technically it could be any day now... though I'm still aiming for June 15th!

We haven't decided how this whole thing is going to go down in respect to contacting everyone.. I suppose it will just depend on how quickly things progress. YOU WILL get a call don't worry... and pictures will be forthcoming.. remember that IF I have a C section I will be in the hospital for 4 days at least.

Keep your fingers crossed that these babies come out healthy and ready to go home. Just say NO to the NICU!

4/14/06 - 28 weeks 1 day

Happy THIRD TRIMESTER to me! :) YEAH! This is a great milestone. Now the babies have a 90% chance of long term health if born at any minute... though I'm sure I have a ways to go! :)

I passed my 1 hour glucose test.. YEAH!! No 3 hour test and I can still eat ice cream.. PHEW! I don't know what I would have done if I had to give up the ice cream! ha ha They said my iron is low so I'm taking an extra supplement now. That must be why I've been craving ice so much and I've been feeling a bit run down during the day! :)

I added photos of my 28 week belly! HERE

It's supposed to be 80 degrees here today.. YEAH!!!! :)

4/12/06 - 27 weeks 6 days

I had an OB appointment today. Drank the sweet sunkist tasting Glucose drink and gave them my blood... I think it will be about a week before I hear whether or not I passed.. I think I did. I also got my Rhogam injection b/c I'm A- (if you are negative they give you a rhogam injection at 28 weeks in case your blood and babies blood mixes during delivery - or something like that).

The doc measured me and I'm measuring at 36 weeks, I've now hit 181lbs for a total weight gain of 37 lbs! Wowza.. and I've still got a ways to go. I told the lady that when she parks the big weight at 200lbs I'll be upset, but until then it's kind of fun to watch the scale go up! ha ha

The doc told me that baby boy is in the 43 percentile - I asked him what this meant and he said that IF I go to term he would weigh around 7lbs or more and that Lily would be around 6lbs 10oz. or so. He said he's predicting that I will go into labor all on my own between 36 and 37 weeks. I'm not convinced... they seem pretty content in there, but we'll just have to wait and see. He said if I got too uncomfortable after that point and wasn't going into labor on my own he would induce me if I WANTED it, but that as long as we are all healthy he's happy to let me go as far as I wish. :) We'll see what happens when/if June 15th comes and goes! He also said that there is no reason to schedule a C-section even if baby boy stays in the position he is in. He said he could turn during labor and that they would do an ultrasound when I showed up at the hospital to see how things were going. I'm happy to hear that. I plan to just play it by ear and won't make any decisions about C-section until I get that ultrasound at the hospital after labor has already started. Of course I reserve the right to change my mind should I hit 38 weeks and am miserable. I'm flexible man! ha ha

So all is well and we are still cooking some healthy, strong, growing babies! :) Now we just need to name that boy and we're good to go!

We start our birth classes tonight (so I guess that's really the last piece) - they are every Wednesday from 6:30 - 9pm (which cuts right into my ice cream time.. :( ) and go for 6 or 8 weeks! AFTER that we'll be READY or as ready as we're going to be! :)

4/11/06 - 27 weeks 5 days

We had our 28 week ultrasound today. It was great to have Tom there with me this time... even though it wasn't as much fun. Last time I got to see the 3D/4D of the babies w/ their heads together. This time we didn't get a 3D/4D and I was feeling too nauseous to even ask! They were moving quite a bit - as usual - so maybe that's why he didn't do it... or maybe it was b/c he seemed nervous that I wasn't feeling well and might pass out on him! ha! :) I did lay on my side most of the time to prevent the nausea, but laying on my back is NO GOOD!

Baby Boy (to be named later) has moved. He is no longer head down! BUMMER! He's got some time to move back so let's hope he does. Right now he has his head over on my left side and his feet over on my right.. known as TRANSVERSE. UGH! If he stays this way I am guaranteed a C-section. I guess the good news is we could just go ahead and schedule it. (though I REALLY want to go into labor naturally and have a vaginal birth) Baby Girl (we're currently practicing calling her Lily to see how that sits.. so far so good) has stayed head down and her feet swing around so she can kick her brother in the face... which she seems to enjoy! :)

Baby Boy is measuring 2lb8oz. and Lily is measuring 2lb6oz. The doc - who has 5 year old twins - said that they are measuring and growing on schedule as if they were singletons. As she said this she had a pained look on her face. I said, "good for them, not so good for me." This just means I could have normally sized babies and thus be huge and miserably uncomfortable as we near the end - provided they stay in there! She also said that I have a "beautiful cervix"... um thanks, and I'm sure you are all glad I shared that info. That means that my body - so far - is perfectly happy to keep those babies inside... this is good news. (ask me again if this is good news when I hit 37 weeks and have NORMAL sized babIES in there!)

The scans didn't come out as clear and nice as they have in the past.. not sure if it was the tech or the different machine. I'll try to get some decent shots of them and post them in the ultrasound folder in "My Photos", but no guarantees.

As I mentioned earlier in the post we are trying "Lily" on for size. We're pretty sure the little girl's name will be Lillian Payton Mount, but the boy's name is eluding us! The latest name we are trying out is Isaac and I don't think either one of us is really attached to it yet.. we'll see. We want his middle name to be Everett after my great Uncle so we're looking for something that works with that. Tom likes the name Everett and I think he would name him Everett, but I'm not excited about calling my child Everett... it works for my 80-something Uncle, but I have a hard time calling a child that.. I don't know.. we'll see where this takes us. Thomas is always an option! Ha Ha Just kidding! Tom has vetoed any Jr's and I think it's time for me to put the name Tom to rest for my family! ha!

4/8/06 - HAPPY SPRING!

Ah.. the plants are budding if not bluming.. the grass is green again and sometimes the sun even shines! Here are some pics of Phoebe and us on the porch enjoying some Vitamin D from the sun along w/ a funny pic of my belly... hmm.. looks like my face might be a bit puffy huh? ha ha

4/6/06 - 27 weeks

THREE MONTHS UNTIL MY DUE DATE! AHHH!

I've officially entered the "uncomfortable zone"... I was feeling so big and uncomfortable last night. No matter how I sat/ layed I just couldn't get comfortable. It took me about 30 mins (that's pretty quick for me these days) to fall asleep. Then I woke up at 4am to let the dog out.. went back to bed.. got hungry/nauseous, got back up to eat something and go to the bathroom, couldn't get comfy and was still kinda nauseous .. got up AGAIN for some water thinking maybe that was the problem. Went back to bed still unable to get comfortable and the babies were moving around like crazy. I think I finally got back to sleep around 6am. Then woke up at 8:30am when Tom left for work and felt naseous/hungry again and had to get up to eat again. This is all after having had a bowl of cereal at 10pm to try to avoid the hunger in the middle of the night. Guess I need to eat more during the day.. these kids are obviously going through a growth spurt. UGH! I can always feel baby lumps now and their kicks/punches/rolls reverberate through my abdomen. I swear the boy kicked yesterday and rocked the bed! ha This could go on for another 10 to 13 weeks.. EEE GADS!

This might explain why I feel so ENORMOUS!


I added some photos of the house... to show mom's work! I still have a bit of work to do upstairs before I'll be ready to post pics of the bedrooms and office, but I'll get there! :) You can view the photos by clicking HERE.

4/5/06 - 26 weeks 6 days

Okay.. I dropped mom off at the airport yesterday and she made it home safely. All I can say is THANK GOD she came. We... I mean to say SHE.. got so much done while she was here. The nursery is complete - you can view photos by clicking HERE. It looks fabulous. I had no idea what we were going to do when she first got here then we were at Home Depot on one of the first days and were looking at paint. I picked a green and a blue that I liked... held them together and said, "how about stripes w/ a white stipe in between?" and a day later it was done! WOW! Now that's efficient! We shopped till we dropped - both at the Moms of Multiples sale and various other locations like Target, WalMart, Baby Depot and SAMs. I think we have all that we need to be prepared for the babies arrival!

Mom also finished painting our living room and dining room and took all the old door knobs off upstairs and polished them - I can't believe how much they sparkle now. I'll post pictures of that AFTER I clean up all of MY crap - not to be confused w/ any of Tom's crap because most, if not all, of it is mine! UGH! I'm a very messy marvin!

I'm still feeling pretty good and was able to take breaks as I needed them. We have another ultrasound next Tuesday and I've been changed to OB appts every two weeks - I feel like this post is moderately redundant.. if it is.. my apologies! I'll update again after my ultrasound next week! :)

3/29/06 - 25 weeks 5 days

Had another OB appointment the other day and still all is well. I only gained 2 lbs in the last 2 weeks... I was surprised.. I'm used to my 8lb gain in a month. The doc said I was doing just fine. My running total now is 32 lbs! She said they wanted at a minimum 35 lbs (guess I'll hit that just fine), but more in the range of 45 to 55lbs. I'm on my way! :) HA HA

The babies heart rates sounded good.. though it took a bit longer the find them. I think they may have flipped to a breech position b/c of the kicks I'm getting - or their location rather. Baby girl's heartrate was 167 and baby boy's was 143. Now they are in line w/ the old wives tale.

My mom has been out for almost a week now and we have been working away to get ready for these little ones. She's in there slaving away in the nursery right now as I take a break - translation stop standing, bending and sitting on the floor. She painted the blue and green we picked out and we bought a crib and bedding set. It's looking VERY cute (and kind of easter eggish) in there! HA HA It's quite different from the dark colors in the rest of our house, but it's fun and I think it will last through toddlerhood! Once we get everything mostly situated in there I'll post some pictures. We picked up some wood at Home Depot today to make some more shelves and changing platform for the closet... I won't be partaking in any shelf building! :)

I worked the Moms of Multiples sales on Saturday - more work than I've done since quitting my job - damn was I tired at the end of that day! Mom came and shopped for a while, but ended up spending most of her time at Burger King and McDonalds - the sale took place in a VERY small town just north of here called Waunakee ... she looked for a Starbucks, but they don't have one! ha ha I got some GREAT stuff including a Pack N Play, Snap N Go (stroller), a swing, a bouncy seat (along w/ a bonus free bouncy seat that a lady gave me), a twin nursing pillow, crib sheets and mattress pad, many odds and ends and tons of clothes for 0-3 months and 3-6 months. It was all quite the score and totally worth a day of work. I got all of that for what it would have cost me to buy just the Pack N Play and the Snap N Go new!

Mom also finished painting the living room and helped put together the Pack N Play where the babies will spend most of their time during the day. We've (mostly she) have accomplished more in the 5 days she has been here than I've managed to accomplish since I moved here in November! :) Next she is going to paint the dining room and install dimmer switches in both the dining room and the nursery... damn Grandma's are handy huh? :)

We're getting close and I'm very excited and thankful that Mom came out to do most of it!

And one last thing... I have to brag on Tom. He got a raise!!! :) It's great to have him working for people that appreciate his hard work and know how to show their appreciation!

3/18/06 - Seattle Shower

Lynda and Larry put on a fabulous shower for Tom and I while we were visiting Seattle. We are both so blessed and loved to have had almost FORTY people attend! It was great fun to see everyone and share my big belly - everyone was so sweet to say.. "you don't look at BIG as I thought you would!" ha ha

We got a ton of beautiful baby stuff - you can check out the loot under the "My Photos" link at the bottom left of the front page!

It was wonderful to be back in Seattle for a while and to feel the love and excitement of our friends and family over our coming attractions! It was funny - as people left the shower Tom generally got a hand shake while I got a "good luck w/ that" along w/ a gesture toward my belly! :)

Thank you to everyone that came to the shower - we are so lucky to have you all in our lives!

3/14/05 23weeks 5 days

My ultrasound went really well today! The babies are both measuring right on schedule and are both 1lb 7oz. So I guess they are sharing and getting along so far. I added pictures to the photo album. We got 3D pics of both babies today! Their heads are both down low and really close together so when we were looking at them with 3D it looked like baby boy was kissing his sister's head, though I'm pretty sure her head is just resting on his face. This explains why he pushes her a lot. When the tech was trying to get a 3D shot of the girl she was holding her hands in front of her face - it looked like she had already learned to block punches from her brother! :) It was so amazing to see them in there in 3D. I always thought the 3D was really over rated, but it is pretty exciting and special to see them as they may look. I'm still not convinced that they are all that accurate as to how the babies actually look when they come out... I guess time will tell.

All looked good with me too. They checked my cervix.. tight as a vice. And checked on a low laying placenta - it looks like the edge of the placenta is right up against my cervix, but the doc is pretty convinced it will move up over time. It's the anterior (on the front) placenta so as my belly expands - and it IS expanding - it will pull the placenta up higher. Worst case if it doesn't move I will have to have a C Section - which I already have a 50/50 % chance of having. I'm still hoping for a vaginal delivery, but when it comes down to it.. it's not really about me anymore!

All of a sudden I am really enjoying this pregnancy. It's not that I didn't enjoy it before - it was just something that was happening to my body. Now I think the reality of it is settling in and I find myself tearing up just thinking about my two little miracles in there. To think of all that it takes to make one perfect little baby, much less two. I think feeling them so much helps too! And the hormones certainly contribute to my tearfulness! I can't wait for the day we get to meet them and hold them and kiss them.

I'm ready to start getting this house ready - surely I'm not nesting already. I'm just enjoying the prospect of them being here! I'll post pictures of the nursery - and the rest of the house - after mom comes and works her magic. :)