9 months isn't long enough...

In the past several weeks Hubs and I have been realizing our days of being a young couple are numbered. Sure we've known it for the last several months, but there is something about a house littered with baby supplies and a due date that is weeks (not months) away that makes it REALLY sink in.

We've been spending a lot of time just the two of us over the last several weeks and it has been awesome. We've made sure to do a few things that will be tricky once we have the boys with us and we've just been trying our best to really enjoy these days.

Over the weekend we celebrated our 6th anniversary. On Saturday night we grilled and sat on the deck until 10:30 just talking about everything that is about to happen. We talked about what scares us, what excites us and everything in between. I think the biggest thing we realized is, as excited as we are for the boys to be here in our arms, we aren't fully ready to give up the happy that we've finally found. We spent SO LONG trying to get pregnant- so long being disappointed- so long being sad and depressed that now that we've finally found our joy it is really hard to be ready for the next step. Don't get me wrong, there is going to be plenty of joy and happiness in the next chapter of our life, but the last nine months have been amazing. Life seemed so easy, so happy. We both just want a little longer to soak it in.

So, for the next 16 days we live as intentionally as possible. We soak in each day as if it is the last day of our 'couple-hood' and prepare for what will surely be one of the most memorable and happiest days of our life!

36 weeks

How Far Along: 36 weeks... 16 days or less!
How Big are the Babies? They are each about the size of a honeydew melon. I'd estimate they are right around 6 pounds each- and boy can I feel it!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I'm up 36-ish pounds since retrieval- between my last two appointments I gained 6 pounds. HOLY COW!

Maternity Clothes: I'm still wearing a little of both. Most pants are maternity, but I can still get away with a few non-maternity tops surprisingly enough. 

Movement: They are busy boys!
Belly button in or out? Still in most of the time

What I miss: Not being in pain when I change positions. Sitting to standing, laying to standing... all those transitions are getting more and more difficult. I also am really missing life before heartburn! 

Milestones: 36 weeks! It was my goal from the start to bake these babies for 36 weeks- SUCCESS!!!

Food Cravings: Shaved ice, donuts, cherries, berries... you know SUPER healthy foods :)

Aversions: Eggs..... I'm just totally avoiding them at this point. I don't even try anymore.

Symptoms:  Exhaustion, very tightly stretched sore belly skin, numb belly button, leg cramps, lots of pelvic pain, lots of general soreness, HEARTBURN, excessively dry skin and Braxton hicks/ contractions.
Best Moment this week: Finally really feeling ready for their arrival. There are still a few things that I'd love to check off the list, but in reality I am VERY VERY ready to meet my boys. 

Funny Moment: CONSTANTLY finding food sitting on my belly inside of my shirt when I take my clothes off at night- my husband finds it absolutely hilarious! 

Tip of the Week: Just take a nap. 
What I'm looking forward to: Checking in with the doctor again on Thursday, but most of all.... MEETING MY BOYS very, very soon! :)

35w 4d appointment...

Another week, another appointment.

I don't have much to report- weight gain is OK- no protein in my urine- and my blood pressure is back within totally normal range. My hands and feet and starting to see a little swelling and I'm not sure I'll make it to delivery still wearing my wedding ring, but I'm going to try my best!

I'm having a few braxton hicks here and there, but not many. I always question if they are really braxton hicks or if I am just trying to down play an actual contraction- either way, they never stick around long enough to be timed, and they are never painful enough to feel concerned.

We're down to 19 sleeps or less! I cannot even begin to tell you how sore and ready I am. Of course letting these boys grow and cook as long as possible is important to me, but when you are carrying twins EVERYTHING starts to hurt at this point! I am thrilled I've been able to carry them as long as I have. My goal from the start was 36 weeks- only two more days to go! 37 would be ideal since that is considered full term, and making it all the way to my c-section at 38w2d would be icing on the cake.

The doctor took a quick peek at the boys today with a bedside ultrasound and after moving a ton and a large dose of ultrasound gel she was able to find two heartbeats among the pile of moving baby parts. She also said she could see them in there practicing their breathing which is great news.

We're getting all of the final things in place over the weekend just in case they decide to come sooner rather than later. My mom drove a couple hours to come help me clean 1/2 of my house this week and will be back early next week to help me finish the other half- such a HUGE blessing. I know it would have taken me about 4 days to accomplish what we did in the first day! It will be so nice to come home to a fully cleaned house after being in the hospital!

I'm still surprised that I've made it this far and continue to remain healthy. As I left today, the doctor said 'get outta here! Keep doing what you're doing and have another boring week until we see you again!'

I'll do my best :)

Three

I spent yesterday afternoon washing six garbage bags of hand me down baby clothing from a friend. As I was folding it and sorting it all out by size my phone rang. It was my OB's office and I made the assumption they were calling to confirm my appointment for Friday morning. 

Uh, I was wrong. 

It isn't that I wasn't expecting it, it just totally caught me off guard when the person on the other end of the phone introduced herself as the surgery scheduler for my OB. My first thought? Uh, I'm not having surgery. Ha! Then I took a deep breath and realized yes, indeed I am having surgery.... and babies.... SOON! She then rattled off H &A's birthday like it was the most normal thing in the world. Meanwhile I'm on the verge of shedding a tear that I just learned when I would become a mama of babies on the outside of my body- provided these boys don't have a plan on their own! 

So, we have a birthday, or at the very least, we have a last possible birthday.

Three weeks from today. 

In 21 days (or less) I'll be holding my boys!

35 weeks

How Far Along: 35 weeks... most likely 3 weeks or less!

How Big are the Babies? They are each about the size of a coconut. I'd estimate they are somewhere between 5 1/2 and 6 pounds each. 

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I'm up 31-ish pounds since retrieval. 

Maternity Clothes: I'm still wearing a little of both. Most pants are maternity, but I can still get away with a few non-maternity tops surprisingly enough. 

Movement: Baby B is one busy boy! His brother is a mover too, but I think he is probably feeling a little more 'stuck'.
Belly button in or out? it continues to get more and more weird with each passing week- still in-ish

What I miss: I can't complain too much, I've carried twins to 35 weeks and have not yet had a single scary complication. I am sore and tired, but mostly I'm just happy. I know soon I'm going to miss being pregnant and feeling their every squirm.

Milestones: 35 weeks/35 days... though this does not apply to me at all. We made the decision to have a c-section unless I go into labor on my own and arrive at the hospital ready to push. Finding out that I'm starting to dilate and am about 80% effaced- things are slowly starting to happen! My first actual contractions on Sunday- not remotely time-able or even very painful. 

Food Cravings: Bagels and cream cheese, s'mores, shaved ice and fresh fruit.

Aversions: Eggs..... I'm just totally avoiding them at this point. I don't even try anymore.

Symptoms:  Exhaustion, very tightly stretched sore belly skin, numb belly button, leg cramps, lots of pelvic pain, lots of general soreness, excessively dry skin and Braxton hicks/ contractions.
Best Moment this week: Hearing that Hubs' poison oak really shouldn't be an issue in terms of holding the boys and being in the delivery room. He got a steroid injection anyway in hopes of clearing it up quickly.

Funny Moment: Realizing how much chocolate milk I've drank during my pregnancy. We are wishing we had been keeping track of how many bottles of chocolate syrup we've gone through... I'm guessing at least 10- possibly the source of every single one of those 31 pounds! 

Tip of the Week: Rest. Put your feet up and drink something. Most of all just know your limits and listen to your body!
What I'm looking forward to: My next Dr. appointment this Friday and seeing if there has been any change. But most of all.... MEETING MY BOYS very, very soon! :)

I have a new picture today for your viewing pleasure. I decided to add a picture from 5 weeks ago when I wore the same tank top for my weekly photo. 

30 weeks
Notice the seams on both tank tops on the top picture seem to match up.... not so much on the one below.
Also, on the top photo I'm covering part of the light switch with my chest and still have a decent amount of space between my belly and the white door jam at the very edge of the picture compared to the lower picture. 

35 weeks

34w 3d appointment...

It has been an eventful day at our house.....

Hubs is working from home in order to let his poison oak wounds breathe. He made a second appointment with the doctor this morning and was on the receiving end of a needle to the rear- he now has steroids on board  so hopefully he will be healing soon.

I had an OB appointment. She did a quick bedside ultrasound and it looks like Baby B has found himself in an even more undesirable position than before. Not only is he transverse, he also has his back facing down -meaning all of his 'handles' for an extraction (if necessary) are hidden. I'm ok with it, we had already decided that a c-section was the best choice for us and our boys, so this was really just confirmation. 

I had my group B strep swab- no big deal, just a simple swab. It likely will not really matter either way because we are planning on a c-section.  

Since I was already undressed from the waist down (back to these appointments?) she went ahead and checked my cervix. 1cm dilated and about 80% effaced.

I had my t-dap injection today- again, no biggy. 

Today the doctor said to keep in mind it is considered average for a twin pregnancy to result in birth around 35 weeks. I'll be 35 weeks on Monday- I don't think it will happen that quickly, but she assured me every day/week I make it past Monday is frosting on the cake. 

I made my appointments from here through the end of pregnancy... that is three more appointments. Did you catch that? I will have no more than 3 more weekly appointment- perhaps less. 

We will have one more ultrasound at 37w 3d if I make it that far. This will be to check on the size of the boys and to see how they are doing in there. 

As a whole our OB practice likes to deliver twins at or around 38 weeks. I'll be 38 weeks in just a little more than three weeks! These boys are almost here! 

And now, I better buckle down and finish packing those hospital bags and I think we better find time this weekend to get the car seats installed in the car- H & A could be here any day now!

34 weeks

How Far Along: 34 weeks... most likely 4 weeks or less!

How Big are the Babies? They are each about the size of a butternut squash. As of last Thursday, Baby A was weighing in at 5lbs 3oz and Baby B was 4lbs 14oz- both right around the 50th percentile. 

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I'm up 28 pounds since retrieval. That is 3 lbs in that last week, so all of you who were impressed last week.... I'm pretty sure this isn't going to be too pretty by the end :)

Maternity Clothes: I'm still trying to remember that I NEED to wear maternity pants in order to hold/support this big belly. When I don't wear maternity pants I feel it later, and it is NOT worth it. 

Movement: There is a lot of movement going on, but it isn't in the form of flips and turns, just stretches and jabs.

Belly button in or out? In-ish and numb! 

What I miss: Living without pelvic pain. The pain is pretty intense at night when I try to roll from one side to another at night. Saturday night I was in so much pain Hubs found me crying in the bathroom. Finally at 4am I bit the bullet and took one Tylenol- that took the edge off just enough to get a couple hours of sleep. OUCH!

Milestones: Finally making some decisions about the birth of these boys, and preparing for the big day!

Food Cravings: Taco pizza, Chinese food and ice cream cake- I ate them all- that may help explain that 3 lbs!

Aversions: Eggs..... I'm just totally avoiding them at this point. I don't even try anymore.

Symptoms:  Exhaustion, very tightly stretched sore belly skin, numb belly button, leg cramps, lots of pelvic pain, lots of general soreness and a very small amount of hand and foot swelling after weeding for a couple hours on Saturday.
Best Moment this week: Getting to see the boys again this week. Even if it was one big bag of jumbled mess in there, it is always nice to peek in at the boys just to see they are growing and have two little beating hearts. 

Funny Moment: Nothing too funny this week- just life as usual!

Tip of the Week: Support your belly as you reach the end of pregnancy. Also, weeding for 2 hours isn't a task for someone who is 34 weeks pregnant... let alone carrying twins.
What I'm looking forward to: Meeting our boys! Its crazy that we are getting really, really close. I am hoping I'm able to hold out for a couple more weeks, for both baby growing and husband healing. Hubs managed to get poison oak/ivy/something last weekend and it has spread to several places on his body including his face. He is now TERRIFIED he isn't going to heal before I have the boys and he wont be able to love on them. 

33w 3d Ultrasound...

I'm not sure how to describe our babies on the ultrasound screen today.... perhaps the best description would be a ten pound bag of baby parts. Yeah, ten pounds.

Both babies are looking great to anyone with a trained enough eye to pick out which parts belong to which baby, Hubs and I just stared at the screen wondering what the heck was going on! It appears that the boys are stacked in there which makes it nearly impossible to get a decent look at baby B. The tech managed to get enough measurements to estimate the size of the boys and they are both measuring very close to the 50th percentile with only a 6% variance between them. This is all great news and exactly where we'd like them to be. 

Otherwise, everything looks great. My blood pressure and urine were both fine today and I continue to escape the swelling extremities that seem to plague pregnant women at this point, especially during the summer. 

So, until next week I just keep doing what I'm doing.... growing two baby boys!!!

From 19 to 33...

Because life is getting pretty boring around here, its time for a photo comparison over that last several weeks- this is what 25 lbs looks like is slow motion!

19 weeks & 5lbs

20 weeks & 7lbs

22 weeks & 13 lbs
uh, two weeks and 6lbs... impressive!

24 weeks & 18 lbs
followed by two weeks and another 5lbs... that's 11 lbs in 4 weeks!

25 weeks & 19 lbs

27 weeks & 19 lbs

29 weeks & 18.5 lbs

30 weeks & 20.5 lbs

31 weeks & 21 lbs

32 weeks & 25 lbs
4lbs in ONE WEEK!

33 weeks & 25 lbs.
... dark colors really are more slimming :)

So, clearly the three of us did some serious growing between weeks 20 and 24 and then again between week 31 and 32. I saw some family last week and they both agreed that I don't look nearly as huge as they had expected at this point-- I feel plenty big, but then again I guess I don't have a singleton pregnancy to compare it to.

In other news this week is a busy one on the baby front.. Today we go tour the pediatric clinic that we've chosen, tomorrow I have a thyroid appointment to make sure my levels continue to be normal at the end of this pregnancy and Thursday we have a much anticipated ultrasound (after 6.5 LOOOONG weeks!) and OB appointment. Then comes the weekend and a few more baby tasks to be completed. Hubs and I both get a little anxious when we start thinking about the very real possibility of each weekend being our last- its time to squeeze as much as we possibly can into every free moment of just the two of us. We are both beyond excited to meet our boys, but as we keep saying- life will never ever be the same!!!

33 weeks

How Far Along: 33 weeks... most likely 5 weeks or less!

How Big are the Babies? They are each about the size of a pineapple- likely somewhere around 4 lbs.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Same as last week- I'm up 25 lbs since retrieval.

Maternity Clothes: Most of the time, though I've actually worn a lot of non-maternity in the last week. I'm quickly realizing that not wearing maternity clothing is making me VERY sore. This heavy twin belly needs some support- so this week I'll need to wear something more supportive than yoga pants I guess, BOO! 

Movement: They are moving all the time, and are waking each other up with their movements more and more  lately. 

Belly button in or out? In-ish and numb! 

What I miss: I think the only thing I'm really missing is good comfortable sleep. That, and not needing to get up at night to use the bathroom-- but I can't complain about that one too much because it is just starting now. 

Milestones: Over the weekend we started getting all of our bags packed for the hospital!

Food Cravings: Chocolate milk. All.The.Time. 

Aversions: Eggs..... I'm just totally avoiding them at this point. I don't even try anymore.

Symptoms:  Exhaustion, very tightly stretched sore belly skin, numb belly button, leg cramps, lots of pelvic pain and lots of general soreness.
Best Moment this week: After an EXTREMELY painful and wakeful night of 'sleep' on Friday night I woke up to an empty bed. When I went looking for Hubs I found him sleeping on the floor in the nursery. When asked why he didn't come to bed, he said he didn't want to make my sleep any worse because he knew I was in a lot of pain. When asked why he didn't sleep on our very comfy couch or the bed in the office/guest room, he said he missed the boys and if he couldn't sleep in bed with us, their nursery was the next best thing. So stinking sweet! 

Funny Moment: Being half asleep during a surprisingly long nighttime bathroom trip and momentarily questioning if my water was breaking, but then realizing I had just drank A LOT of water the day before. I also caught a glimpse of my shadow this last weekend as Hubs and I were wandering through a park.... I'm not sure why it surprised me so much, but that big round belly made me incredibly happy. 

Tip of the Week: Drink a lot of water, get a good amount of rest and put some sunscreen on when your outside for long periods of time- you are MUCH more sun sensitive while pregnant. 
What I'm looking forward to: Our ultrasound on THURSDAY!! I cannot wait to see these boys, 6 weeks and 2 days is WAAAAAY too long!!!

I don't have a new picture this morning... perhaps a photo comparison will come later this week :)

32 weeks

How Far Along: 32 weeks... most likely 6 weeks or less!

How Big are the Babies? They are each the size of a squash and probably getting close to 3.5- 4lbs each.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I'm up 25 lbs since retrieval... I guess I'm making up for lost time.

Maternity Clothes: Most of the time.

Movement: Lots of rolling, stretching and head butting/kicking the 'exit'. 

Belly button in or out? Super shallow and it pops out on occasion. 

What I miss: SLEEP! It is so painful to roll from one side to the other!

Milestones: I made it- 32 weeks was my doctor's big goal. We are here, and while we all want these little stinkers to stay in for a few more weeks, I am feeling a lot less anxious about them arriving early.  

Food Cravings: Chocolate milk. All.The.Time. 

Aversions: Eggs..... still grossing me out, but not as badly as before!

Symptoms:  Exhaustion, inability to sleep at night, very tightly stretched sore belly skin, numb belly button, leg cramps and lots of general soreness.
Best Moment this week: Hearing their heartbeats at the doctor and hearing him say that everything looks great! Shopping for all the things we still needed for our hospital bags. 

Funny Moment: Nothing too hilarious this week. I think the funniest moments have been when the boys start moving and I'm sitting still with a tight top on- I seriously look like my belly has been taken over by aliens!

Tip of the Week: Sleep whenever you can!!
What I'm looking forward to: Our next ultrasound in a little more than a week. I cannot wait to see how big our boys are!


... and a 5 week comparison....

27 Weeks

32 Weeks

I wish the picture from this morning could have captured the madness that was happening in my belly while I was trying to take a decent picture!