31w3d

Got the carseats installed today-which was an interesting time, but different story for a different day-basically Maya's about to get a new carseat because she's outgrown hers, thankfully the ones for the babies are completely installed, registered, and ready for them! Our van looks sooo crazy now... here's a phone picture that I snapped.


I didn't sleep well last night (surprising after our long, busy weekend) and had to get up early this morning to go to Hilton Head do do the carseat install-after that I ran to Michael's and Target and had a delicious lunch with a friend-that much completely wore me out. I could barely stumble in the house (I am so stinking pathetic!!) ...thankfully Maya was cooperative about taking a quiet time, and even though she didn't sleep and she talked to me here and there the whole time (so I didn't sleep) I at least was able to curl up in bed and rest.

I've been having contractions pretty often-some that wake me up-but I'm not sure if they are BH or real contractions. They've started to become uncomfortable when they happen-and usually make my chest tight, too, like the contraction is going all the way up, different than the ones I've had in the past few months. My scan on Thursday will tell us if I've been having real contractions that have made some progress (pray it hasn't!) and if I need non stress tests twice a week for monitoring.

Please pray for sleep tonight-I need one good night to rejuvenate!

31w1d

32 out of 46 items on the to-do list crossed off. Tomorrow is just going to be little things... hopefully.

Thank you thank you thank you, body, for cooperating! I swear tomorrow I'll give you a nice awesome nap. I don't know how I've made it three days in a row like this. And thank you to whoever invented the heating pad!

31w

Holy cow! The countdown to the babies' arrival is now in the "insane" category. Four weeks from today Naval will consider me full term (TWENTY EIGHT days! That is NOT a lot) and, pre-fight, six weeks from now is the latest it'll be (forty two days. Again-not a lot). Oh. My. Goodness.

We've been spending our lovely holiday weekend crossing things off our massive before-the-babies-come to-do list. The list started at somewhere around 45 things (I spelled it all out Barney style, so it's really not as horrible as it sounds) and right now we've crossed out 12. Today we hit the backyard hard-redoing our patch of pavers so it was done right and we won't have pesky weeds poking up like what happened when the spring came-don't worry, Patrick did all the work and I just sat there swatting at bugs. We had to go to Lowe's to pick out the things we needed and that half hour or so in the heat just walking around did me in. That's one of the big pre-pregnancy things I miss... my energy, my ability to do anything at all! It'll be nice to be able to help again, Patrick has been a trooper for hitting this to-do list hard. We're hoping to get it all finished so that the only thing that's left to do is keep up on the housework and wait for babies!

30w5d

Last night started an interesting thing that happened with Maya too-going numb while sleeping. My shoulder, arm (and later on with Maya my wrist, old carpal tunnel issues flared up) and hip on the side I happen to be snoozing on at the time just goes completely numb and wakes me up-I'd say every half hour to hour-and I have to flip over to the other side. Fortunately I fall back asleep from that very quickly, it's not like bathroom breaks-but I feel like a little rotisserie in my bed! Must be how my circulatory system works when I get bigger or something...

30w4d

Doc appointment today, and good news... she's back to being head down! Woohoo! Of course she could flip again tomorrow (or could have already!) but lets all pray she stays how she is, shall we? :) He's transverse again, I swear that's his favorite way to be... he can do whatever he wants though!

Everything else went good though. She wasn't too concerned about how I've been feeling, as my BP was just fine today and hasn't been high when I've checked it, so I guess this is just typical "end of a multiples pregnancy" stuff. Keeping up on the hydration, staying out of the heat, and resting a lot-including my now almost daily naps-are what is going to get us safely and successfully through the last of it!

We talked a little about delivery, and after she talked about the whole "delivering at 37 weeks" thing I asked if there was any way I'd be able to get to 38... and she just responded with "typically lately they've been delivering at 37". So, I'll save that fight for when they actually schedule the eviction date for the kiddos-I think after the next appointment I'll start requesting my favorite doc, who I think is the most likely to let me go the longest. Regardless I'm going to start walking Walmart around 35-36 weeks (too hot to just walk around my neighborhood here-especially if we get to July) because I'd rather walk them out myself than be induced. That's what I did with Maya and it made for quite the great L&D experience!

...And speaking of delivery... I had two random people ask me today in conversation if I was going to have a c-section, and when I politely responded with hopefully not, they were surprised. Why is that surprising? Once again, I'm in the "whatever's best for the babies" camp, especially if she's breech when it comes time or there are issues that arise, but it's not exactly an "easy out".

As far as little details from the appointment go-his heartbeat was sitting at 137 and hers 142 (again, further disputing the old wives' tale about heartbeats-their heartbeats have been sitting about 5bpm different since the beginning-at every single appointment but one in the very beginning, actually). I've gained 32lbs so far, and I'm measuring at 36w which actually worries me a little bit, because my gain isn't consistent-but we'll know more about how they are actually measuring at my Savannah scan next week, it could have been just how they are sitting. I'm just worried they aren't gaining enough because they are on the small side as it is and I'm having a horrible time eating, thus not getting them what they need. Big babies are healthy babies... that's all I want!

30w2d

Still feeling like ick-so Maya and I made it a nice, lazy day today. Called Naval to see if I needed to come in or if I could wait till my appointment on Wednesday, and Wednesday is the answer (and pretty much everything the nurse said yesterday I was told again today). So today and tomorrow are full of food, rest, and hydration yet again. We had to run to our favorite store in the world tonight so I checked my BP again-106/65, which is a lot lower than usual for me. That combined with how I am feeling I'm really thinking it's going to end up pointing to a hydration issue (which would make sense because the heat and humidity have all of a sudden shot up-mid/high 90's for temp, humidity making it feel worse). So we'll see. They are still moving around like crazy in there!

I've started the letters for their wall, since it's a good one to do parked at the kitchen table. I have hers completely finished and his started, and hopefully will get them all done tomorrow. Want a peek and a hint at what their names are? (Don't mind the cell picture... I'm lazy. His colors are green, white, and yellow and hers are purple, white, and yellow though the lighting makes it look off.)
That's right... both of their names have a's in them! Bahaha!

30w1d

Well this morning started out better than I felt last night. By the time I was done showering I was tired and by the time church was done I was antsy and tired and ready for food and a nap. Food happened but nap didn't, and by afternoon I just progressively felt ickier-not nearly as bad as yesterday-but still off. I had a massive headache start when I tried to take a snooze, which is still here, and the only way I can describe how I'm feeling is how I feel when one of my bad migraines are starting (which thankfully, as migraines do and as they did with Maya, they've been long gone since the beginning of the second trimester or so). I'm going to try and switch this week's appointment from Wednesday to tomorrow if I can, but in the meantime it's more hydration, more Tylenol and more sleep for this girl! :)

30w

Overdid it today but it's totally my fault. Kind of.

Last night I really didn't sleep. Between the dog next door barking incessantly and Patrick grinding his teeth (he has a night guard but he ground through it, so he needs to go get a new one made... every time I'd punch him and snap to stop grinding his teeth he insisted that he wasn't grinding, he was just making a noise. Of course when he got up he had no recollection of this whatsoever)... it was an awful night. I think I dozed here and there between 2-4, but by the time my alarm clock went off at 4 I was completely wide awake, and I contemplated just not getting up and going to Patrick's Triathlon with him (he was running it in a relay today-it was really neat!) but I was awake and crabby and didn't figure I'd fall back asleep anyway so I just got up and went.

I felt fine-just tired-until toward the end. It started to get hot, there wasn't anywhere to sit down (I forgot to grab a chair, and you've got to be kidding me if you think I could sit on the ground) ...I was hungry (despite the three packets of oatmeal I scarfed down at 4:30) and I needed water but had to go to the bathroom so badly in the first place-there were oddly no bathrooms-that I didn't want to add anymore to my already about to burst bladder. By the time we left my hands and feet were super swollen and I was calling to the AC in the van (we need a remote starter for that sucker so it can cool down before we get in there! Although it cools down quick-I'm just a baby).

That's when I started getting a bit freaked out. The whole "blurry eyesight" thing started to happen-it looked like oil floating in front of my eyes-I didn't want to scare Patrick because he would have taken us to the closest ER, so I just told him in my most stern voice to lets just go straight home (I was planning on making a pit-stop to Michael's really quickly for the wooden circles the babies' names will be painted on). I decided that if I got myself re-hydrated, food in me, and had rested and still felt the same we'd promptly go in. Thankfully things got a lot better after I downed a bit of water, so I went ahead and ran into Michael's, we waited till we got home to eat and then I fell asleep for a good three or so hours.

Now I'm feeling slow and sluggish, and still kind of "off". Patrick got us Moe's for dinner and bless his heart is currently at the store getting milk, ice cream and queso now (thanks Moe's for giving us chips but no salsa) and I fully plan on stuffing my face in Dinner Round 2, having yet another Gatorade for hydration, taking a Tylenol and Benadryl and cozying up on the couch till I knock out. Don't worry, those of you who I know worry-if I know I'm fed, hydrated, rested, etc. and am still feeling cruddy I won't hesitate to go in but I'm not going to waste my time and theirs (and have to get Maya to a sitter's) if it's something we can remedy at home. My idea of a good time isn't to be hooked up to an IV for fluids-I'll snack on a few G2's and be lazy watching a movie. With Maya cuddled up next to me. But if I have to, yes, don't worry, I'll go in.

Here's to today being our only "speed bump" for the week, though, and for tomorrow to be completely different!

**edit: thankfully, my BP is sitting pretty at 117/77. I'm thinking it may be a hydration issue. Here's to lots of Gatorade and waking up every half hour for the bathroom!! :) Good thing these babies are worth every bit!

29w5d

I feel like I got SO much accomplished today! To the Average Joe it may seem just like a couple hours of tasking... but I'll tell you what, it definitely took a good chunk of the day.

I made lists of what Maya will need and what we'll need, and which bags everything goes in (when I had Maya we brought EVERYTHING in the car. That proved to be quite obnoxious. This time we'll have a small bag for L&D and then everything else will come in after they've arrived!) ...I started Packing Maya's bag and will start ours tomorrow. The babies' bag is completely packed, Boppy pillows ready to go, and I organized their closet so that all of the random stuff is put away. Bouncer #1 is put together and needs batteries (which I'll grab tomorrow), Monitors are out and put in their places.

And wow, now that I type it all out it sounds pathetic. But I swear it was a lot, and so much was organized, and I feel a lot better actually having lists together.

Exciting day, huh? :)

29w4d

...and then the heavens parted and both of them have names!

(But we're this close-so we're still not squealing. The only way to find out would be to visit my house and see the letters hanging above their cribs once I get them painted this weekend!)

29w3d

Last night I went into mini-freakout mode.

Patrick has been going to bed super earlier than normal this week-he's on the rifle range (and though it stinks I'm SO thankful it's now and not next month-or later this summer after the babies arrive!) and so I just cozy up in bed too, but I'm awake for awhile. And then I think. And then I get paranoid, especially since I've been continuing to have a LOT of BH and lately I've had quite the cramps in the evening-period like cramps-which I need to watch since they can be a sign of preterm labor.

So of course I'm starting to freak out about preterm labor (or heck bedrest even). Not necessarily that I'll go into it, I'm trying to be the conductor of the positivity train over here, but the fact that IF it happened we're completely unprepared. I'll be 30 weeks on Saturday. I'm pretty much where I was full term with Maya. I have no bags packed (and this time I have to have bags for us, for the twins, and for Maya), no plans written down, no new in loco parentis appointed... so if something happened I'd have to try and dictate to Patrick what to do/try to find and bless his heart I think he'd be more frustrated and stressed than if I just got it done now.

Also, I've been having a strange variation of round ligament pain-it's kind of opposite of RLP, in that I get it when I'm sleeping and it wakes me up and I have to get out of bed and walk around in order for it to go away-kind of like a charlie horse in my belly. Most often when I'm lying on my left side. It's odd, and it hurts!

On a good note-we have a few of the last "little things" bought and ready-pacifiers, bottle nipples (we have the bottles from Maya) and liners, boppy covers. I found all of Maya's little hats and mitts and bows and they are in the washer now! The car seats are stripped and the fabric part of the seat will go in the wash in the morning so they can air dry by the time we (hopefully) get the car seats installed in the van on Saturday.

Still enjoying all the kicks and movement-I know how much I'm going to miss this soon!

29w2d

Cramps cramps cramps!

28w6d

I'm. So. Tired.

I woke up at 9:30 this morning, nice and late... took an hour or so nap this afternoon and it's not even 8 and I'm completely ready for bed. Patrick's gone for an evening 9 mile race, and I'm hoping I'm still awake when he gets back!

Our sheets came in today! I had to order them online since they were out of stock at the store in Savannah, but they are all washed and on the cribs and really things are pretty much finished in there now (and no we didn't order the whole set, just the sheets, though the set is super cute-I never ever used Maya's comforter so it was kind of a waste, and we're going to go with the breathable bumpers-and we wanted to make the room kind of our own creation!). We need to pick names and make the letters for the wall... but I think that's it as far as big stuff goes. I could do nothing until I delivered and their nursery, at least, would be ready for them! Soooo glad, because the whole doing nothing might be a reality :) :)

I talked the other day about the Amy K books-I spent the greater part of yesterday afternoon and evening filling out the things I could now (took so long since I had to do the baby books and the sibling books each x2!) ...and Maya added the part she could right now-drawing a picture for the babies. Each of theirs looks different but she told me that both of them are pictures of the babies. (Apparently she's into zig-zags now... a few weeks ago it was circles!)


Also-last night I had a dream that I had the babies and Patrick missed the birth (he was just late, he didn't deploy or anything) and our little man was still nameless (we're pretty set on our girl's name). And for some reason they looked like hot dogs. Oh pregnancy dreams. Moral of the story: we really need to find a name for him... or at least some options that we really really like.

28w4d

Today was a pretty blah day. Got up early for a weekly playdate and could just never fully wake up and get functioning... by 11:30, after I gave Maya a bath and Patrick came home for lunch, I was just done. I had errands to run-just a couple-but I knew I wouldn't get through them. So by noon I was parked on the couch with the heating pad, dozing in and out... I felt horrible, but today I totally let Maya veg in front of the TV. I learned my lesson back when I was battling migraines horribly and Patrick was deployed that I have to be ok in order to be a good parent to Maya. So-we watched a little PBS kids and then I turned on Cars-all blessed 2 hours of it-and she just hung out on the couch with me while I dozed, bless her heart. I just couldn't do anything. It was a long day.

On a good note, the baby books came today! I ordered them Monday night with the free 2-day shipping on the Amazon Mom program-and boy, am I going to be spoiled by that-they got here so fast! We love Amy K-we have the Belly Book for both pregnancies, the Birthday Book for Maya (and will get them for the babies before their first birthday), the Sibling Book (one for each) and now the Baby Book (I wish she had published this when we were looking for baby books for Maya!) ...I love them all, and I wish we were able to buy them for all of our pregnant friends/friends with kiddos. Excessive to have them all, maybe, but they are just such neat books that I hope they will love to have in the future. It took me QUITE awhile to fill out the things I could now, the pre-baby stuff (and then I had to do it x2) but I'm glad to have it done. Once I get the pictures in, they'll be ready for the babies to arrive!

28w3d

Finished putting the decals on the walls today! I was so excited to get the fish in yesterday-we finished them when Patrick came home from work this evening. Now all we need for the walls is to figure out names and make the letters to hang-who knows when that's going to happen! At this rate it'll be after they arrive.

(Fish purchased on Etsy from Grey Wolf Graphics-visit her shop if you need decals, they're awesome!)

This is my favorite side of the room! Helps that I love the new shades and curtains in there too.

Funny thing about this little guy-we bought this when we were in Michigan last fall, about a month before I even got pregnant. We were at Hobby Lobby and picked a couple of animals/bugs for Maya's door, and saw this and thought "well maybe if we get pregnant again we can do a fishy room". It's funny that we actually did decide on the fish! (I just found it tucked away somewhere-I'm glad I noticed it now!)

This wall I like a lot but don't love. I love the seaweed and love the fish, but not sure if I love all of the bubbles. It looks a lot different in person, and I'm hoping that once we're in that room more (gate arrives tomorrow so we can keep the door open and little paws and little feet out!) I'll get used to it. Otherwise I'll pick a few off :)

I just can't believe how fast the weeks are flying. I had to order their sheets online (they were out of them at BRU & I wasn't going to wait four more weeks till we go down to Savannah for the next scan to see if they are MAYBE in stock again) and they'll be here soon and we're pretty much ready. We need to organize their closet a little more, and get Patrick's weights in the garage, and attach the new hardware to the changing table-but thankfully the nursery is just about there. Good thing because I'm at the point where I can be awake for 4-5 hours and then I need a nap or a closed-eyes rest at the very least-the days are hard when that can't happen. So I'm losing functional ability and it's going to be nice to enjoy these last 9 weeks at the most just relaxing, for the most part!

27w5d

Scan in Savannah went good today-babies are growing!

She is still head up, the little stinker. When the scan started she was completely breech, but by the end of it-an hour-ish later-she had scooted her little bottom over and was kind of oblique. But still head up. And she pushed her brother, who was completely head down, oblique with her. Oh these kiddos...

Her belly has caught up with the rest of her body, for the most part-she just has a smaller abdomen (which is what they figured, but wanted to be safe anyway. That's what these scans are all about!) ...but apparently has a huge head. Following in Maya's footsteps there!

She's estimated at 2lbs4oz right now, 31st percentile. Her heartbeat was at 140bpm.

Here's her profile-with a random limb of his. Leg perhaps?

He continues to do well too-measuring at 2lbs5oz, so closer together now, 38th percentile, heartbeat at 136bpm. He was being quite the mover during the scan and we even got to see him smacking his lips "eating" some tasty amniotic fluid!

There weren't many more pictures than that-shots of the private parts (which I'm never comfortable posting!), more profile shots and some creepy face shots from the front (those are eerie. Yes they are my babies and I love them but... creepy!) ...so these are it. They are getting more squished in there so it's getting harder and harder to get good shots of them anyway.

Sitting tight now till my next appointment at the end of the month!

27w4d

Doc appointment was today-went well, for the most part. My glucose test results came back-they were great, I think this pregnancy is actually evening out my hypoglycemia so all the numbers looked perfectly normal. Blood pressure is still good, Babies heartbeats were good (his was 158, hers was 154-proof that "higher" or "lower" numbers signifying gender isn't necessarily true!) Weight gain is at 28lbs.

...Unfortunately, she flipped and is now head up. Her being head down is the key to attempting a delivery-it doesn't matter what position he's in-so I'm REALLY hoping and praying she flips back around in the next few weeks before she runs out of room. And apparently that's the reason I've been feeling so many pokes at my bladder-she is standing on it now! But-pray pray pray. Please.

A few people have asked what we still need for the babies... thankfully, not much! All of our big purchases aside from the stroller have been made and even that I'm waiting on a Craigslist gem or for the trade-in event at Babies R Us. What I still have on my list (and it's an odd list) is a pack & play (Maya wore hers out completely so it's not usable for the duo), two white breathable crib bumpers, two white crib skirts, a crib mattress pad, drop-ins liners (goes with their bottles), diapers, cloth diapers especially... diaper genie II refills, and a sling or two... I've heard the Ergo or Mei Tai would be great for them, as well as the Moby. There are a couple of other things that we are either waiting to see if they both like (like the jumperoo, before we swing for a second) or are pretty particular with what brand/kind we want to keep it the same as we already have (baby gate and high chair) so we're just grabbing those ourselves for sure because otherwise I'd feel so picky! We are super pro-gently used (aside from the diaper genie refills... hahaha!) so even if you just know where a good deal is going on, please point me in the right direction! Like I've said before we've been so fortunate and so blessed by friends and family already that our stress level for the "we need to get this!" stuff is far lower than it even was when we had Maya-and the amount of things we saved from her (everything) prepares us very well too. We're pretty good on clothes for now-especially 3 months and under-and we're waiting, beyond that, to see how big they are coming out and the curve at which they grow. I'm hoping she will kind of sync up with what sizes Maya needed at what age-if anything, the pajamas will work just fine! We'll see :) And I must add... I say all of this squirmingly, if that's a word. Where I'm from you only make a registry/have a shower/etc for your first-so it's kind of awkward for me! I know we're in a completely different situation since we're having twins and all of a sudden need all of this additional gear... that and I guess we're just used to kind of keeping our needs to ourselves. We have overly awesome friends and family though so... there ya have it.

Scan in Savannah tomorrow... so stay tuned for lots of pictures!

27w2d

A couple more pictures from the shower that I took yesterday, after we kind of sorted through everything!
How incredibly blessed are we? I'm SUPER excited about all of the diapers... those will be a great beginning to a stash for the first couple of months when we don't cloth diaper yet and then when we do cloth diaper but we're out, traveling, etc.

We also got a gift card which we used today to buy a mattress for the second crib... Patrick and I will pick up their sheets from BRU when we are down in Savannah on Thursday for my scan, and then their cribs will be all ready (even though we'll only use one for the first little bit).

Feeling allright. My back spasms continue to be less than awesome-when I can I use the heating pad but when I can't and I'm completely desperate I stick on one of those heat patch things... thankfully sleeping is kind of like a huge reset button so in the morning I feel ok, but mid-afternoon, especially if I've been doing something in the morning, I start to feel it. Sometimes horribly. It's insane though that the end of next month is when I'm full term... the end REALLY is in sight, and with the May we have planned-between doctor appointments every other week and sometimes twice a week, and special events-I have a feeling the rest of this is going to fly by!