Bump Progress: 35 Weeks

I've made it to 35 weeks! Yay!

Congratulatory kiss from Greg :)

Me with my ridiculously skinny little brother

A nekkid shot for your viewing pleasure...


...with my I-can-eat-anything-I-want-and-still-stay-slim-and-sexy husband. No fair!

(I'm starting to question the brilliance of displaying myself next to these skinny guys... Why did I do that?)


Ok, so what's new?

The doctor's appointment last week showed a bit more progress - 50% effaced (instead of 25%) but still only 1 cm dilated. Still okay but more reason for me to stay on bedrest.

The exciting bit - we've scheduled a c-section date! If the boys don't come on their own, they're being forcibly evicted on the morning of June 15th. My doc doesn't think I'll last that long though. Honestly, if they stick around for another week, I'm perfectly fine with them coming earlier than 38 weeks.

Our ultrasound last Tuesday measured the boys at 5.5 lbs each! That is whole lotta kiddo! I'm a little scared to see how much higher they'll go before I pop. I'm absolutely sure that my tummy can't stretch any more than it already has. It's just not humanly possible. My skin is tight. My lungs are squished. My belly button still hasn't popped (by some strange miracle) but it's creating this volcano-like structure, especially after I've eaten, that is threatening to blow.

One week, babies! Or June 5th at the latest, okay. Have pity on your poor, bloated mommy.

Love you guys, but mommy cannot wait to be human-sized again...

Strange Stuff Happens When You're On Bedrest

For instance, your husband may get a wild hare to bake a cake. Carrot cake, to be exact.


This is him mixing what I thought was the batter. Turned out to be the cream cheese icing.

With his hands.

I asked him if he'd ever heard of a mixer. His response: Well, your recipe didn't say to use a mixer! Ha ha! I had to use a fork to help him get all the ooey-gooeyiness off his fingers.



But it turned out to be a pretty tasty cake in the end.


Thanks, babe!

Wild Game Hunt

Watering day is a big adventure around here.


That pot might as well be made of pure gold.


Lani knows that if she's really patient...


...and watches carefully...


...then maybe, just maybe...


...she'll hit the motherload of fat, juicy, wiggly...

...EARTHWORMS!

Like Christmas every week!

Bedrest?!?

Yep, bedrest....

I suppose I was due for some drama because this "high risk" pregnancy has been such a breeze up until this point. But I'm now officially bed-ridden until these boys arrive, hopefully not too soon.

A few weeks ago, my doc surprised me by saying I was already 25% effaced, meaning my cervix had slightly shortened & softened.


Not a huge deal. People go weeks and weeks being 25% effaced with no problems.

Well, my meeting on Thursday showed a little more progress. Now I'm not only 25% effaced, but I'm also 1 cm dilated. And my blood pressure was a bit on the high side - 128/86. They don't really worry until bp gets to be 140/90 so I was still under that, but my doctor thinks that I might be preeclamptic by next week so onto bedrest I went.

I saw a colleague of hers yesterday. Still only 1 cm dilated & my bp was a bit more sensible - 114/74. He was also going to give me the fetal fibronectin test, which could tell us whether or not I would be safe from going into preterm labor for at least a week. However, since I'll be 34 weeks in a few days (and at 34 weeks they don't stress about giving moms steroids to help mature baby's lungs in case they arrive early) and since I have twins (which tend to develop a little faster than singleton babies), we decided to not bother with the test. Plus, there was a chance that I'd get a false positive so what's the point, right. So it's just playing the waiting game now. I go in again on Monday to make sure there was no more dilation or effacement over the week-end.

Now I'm hoping to at least last for a few more weeks. Greg, on the other hand, is pushing for 2 weeks and 6 days exactly. Then he'll share a birthday with his boys. :) That'd be cool. But boys, at least 2 more weeks, okay. For your mama.

Bedrest Doesn't Totally Suck

Greg from the kitchen: "You're so lucky you married someone who likes to cook."

Me from the couch: "Baby, luck had nothing to do with it. That was allll strategy."

;)


Yes, I'm spoiled.

#30

30. HAVE BABIES!!

Greg just reminded me. :)

Practice for Sleepless Nights

You know when you're so exhausted that you can't even sleep? That's me right now.

Woke up at 3:30 this morning & have been wide awake ever since. Finally gave in, came out to the living room so I wouldn't disturb Greg, and now it's just me and these naughty kitties up to no good.

What to do? What to do?...

I know! Here's a list of all the baby-related details we have yet to work out/accomplish:

1. Find a pediatrician! Includes scheduling meetings & asking tons of what I'm sure are perceived as irritating questions.
2. Buy video monitor. (MC, if you happen to read this, thanks for letting us test drive yours. Jack is super-adorable, by the way. But, of course, you know that already.)
3. Buy 2 miracle blankets. I'm told these are worth their weight in gold.
4. Find a camcorder. No idea. Lots of reading to do on this one.
5. Scotchguard car interior. Anyone know how to do this?
6. Tint car windows. Recommendations?
7. Install car seats. Have them checked by the Austin fire department.
8. Figure out how to add boys to Greg's insurance.
9. Buy a double stroller. Thank you, Shelley, Tim & Greg's co-workers for the gift certificates that will buy this.
10. Craigslist our current double stroller. (It won't accommodate our car seats.)
11. Sort out cloth diaper situation. We're doing a rental package from Diaperlicious until the boys get a little bigger. (That cute, little blonde munchkin in the red-checked diaper is Ms. Hadley, heart-breaker & avid Ani fan.)
12. Pack my hospital bag.
13. Find a rocking chair/glider. Thank you, Mom!
14. Figure out how the heck to use a Moby wrap. This is the longest stretch of fabric you can imagine - Greg almost died when he saw it - but you can use it in so many different ways as a baby carrier. And look! There's a twin carry!
15. Join Austin Moms of Multiples. I should have done this ages ago but haven't had any time.
16. Investigate college savings funds. Just in case Greg's plan of the boys earning soccer scholarships doesn't pan out...
    
17. Figure out middle names! No one believes us but we still haven't pinned this down.
18. Get prenatal massage. My friend Shawn gave me a gift certificate for my birthday, but I've been too busy to schedule it...
19. Get pedicure. Katie gave me a gift certificate for this, but again, I've been too busy to schedule it. Sad, isn't it...
20. Give Greg a haircut. Not baby-related but I felt bad mentioning the massage & pedicure without throwing in a little somethin'-somethin' for him too. He loves it when I cut his hair. (Good thing he's not fussy.)
21. Buy baby books! The kind where you document the early days.
    
22. Check out gyms with daycare. Lifetime Fitness has been recommended.
23. Why do I feel nauseaous suddenly? Lack of sleep?
24. Hang nursery decor.
25. Just heard Greg wake up (6:45 - have I really been awake for 3+ hours?).
26. Find mondo diaper bag - one that Greg won't be embarrassed to carry.
27. Find some mommy groups (so I won't go crazy at home).
28. Set up a will/trust fund for the boys. Designate them as life insurance beneficiaries. (Don't really want to think about this...)
29. Think about birth announcements instead - wish we could hire a pro photographer for newborn shots, but I'm afraid it's not in the budget. :(

Is that it? That may be it. Or maybe my brain just stopped functioning. Anyway, that is a healthy list and will keep me very, very busy until these babies arrive.


If you've read this whole blog post, wow. A+ for patience.

As for me, maybe I can catch a few hours of sleep before I start my day. Or maybe not. I'm going to give it a shot though. Wonderful day to you. Sweet dreams to me.

Motherload

On tax day, our friends Mike & Amy welcomed to the world their baby girl Madison Nichole.

Isn't she a cutie!

In order to prepare for her arrival, they cleared out space by sending us three huge boxes of little boy clothes from their son. The boxes arrived just a while ago, and of course, I had to tear through everything asap. Check out the tons of stuff! Clothes to last them through the winter, socks, hats, blankies, hooded towels, bibs, and shoes.



These are just a few of my favorites so far.


Ah! I could die of the cuteness!



These little outfits have their own personal ads printed on the front. The blue says, "Little quarterback learning to crawl and walk. Looking for cute baby girl to cheer on progress." And the black says, "Fun-loving baby seeks lasting best friend for stories, applesauce, and strollers in the park." Adorable, especially because our boys are going to be surrounded by all our friends' baby girls. :)

I can't wait!

Banished

Gomez cannot be trusted.

He sees all carpet and rugs as his own personal gigantic scratching pads. The first few times we allowed him in the boys' room, he proved himself incapable of resisting temptation. Even with us standing right there to regulate on his stinky butt!

Three strikes. And now he's banished.

I think he's handling it well.

Na Zdrowie!

That's 'Cheers!' in Polish!

Ewa, my mother-in-law, just had a meeting with her oncologist to discuss the results of the follow-up CT scan for her lung cancer. Her doc was very happy to tell her that all of the tumors have shrunk! And no signs of any new ones! The chemo has done a fantastic job. If only everyone were so lucky to get this kind of good news.

Yay!

This also means that she's free to fly over & stay with us for a while to meet her new grandbabies in June.

Congrats, Ewa. I hope you're enjoying your champagne as I type this! Greg and I could not be happier!