Week 21 - August 30, 2012

[caption id="attachment_293" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Hand on belly is really no longer necessary to show the bump, but I can't help myself.[/caption]

How Far Along: 21 weeks and change

Size of Babies:  Spaghetti Squash

What I'm Doing: Recovering from shopping for maternity jeans; it's a traumatic experience.

Cravings: Yay!  I have one to report!  Popsicles.  I've reverted to my seven year old self.  Were you to walk around my house, you would likely find popsicle sticks strewn about.

Sleep:  I have been hemming and hawing about buying one these pregnancy pillows (because frankly, it seems ridiculous to spend $50 on a pillow you will only use for a few months), but my will is lessening.  I am currently using 5-6 pillows at night and still tossing and turning constantly.  The cats consistently get kicked off the bed to make room for more pillows.  Last night was the final straw, both cats migrated to snuggle with Nick instead of ME!  THE PERSON THAT FEEDS THEM!  This will not stand.

Sex of Babies: Boy and girl - presumably, still.  Knowing me, you would think I would have gone out and bought a ton of adorable clothes or books or toys or something.  But, honestly - the only things I've bought have been some consignment stuff from friends - all girl stuff.   And I picked up a few things at Children's Place $3.99 sale.   I have to admit to you, our poor boy's wardrobe right now is sadly lacking.  He has one onesie, one polo and um....four pairs of swim trunks.  What?  Baby swim trunks are ADORABLE.  So, basically he'll be living in swim trunks.

Nursery Update:  Final color scheme has been selected - navy blue, hot pink, chartreuse and gray.  I purchased the fabric for some curtains and the crib bedding and can't wait for it to come in.  Nick and I are working on our first DIY project for the nursery this weekend...a window seat.  And, I think I'll be ordering the cribs soon. So, we're off to a good start.

Symptoms: Geez, I'm a broken record.  Yes, my back still hurts.  I did go to the chiropractor and while initially I thought the pain was worse, it does seem to be better this week.   It's considerably better when I stay consistent with working out and pilates...so I guess that's good motivation (although ask me that when my alarm goes off at 5am and I have to climb down from the Fortress of Fluff).  The constant back pain means that I am also constantly making 'woe is me' noises which Nick gleefully imitates at every opportunity.  It sounds remarkably similar to his impersonation of his younger brother, Danny, crying as a child.  :)  Other than that, I still feel mostly good.  The belly is getting to be a little difficult to navigate around (toes!  I can still see you!) and any time I drop something, I have to sigh deeply before trying to pick it up.

Fetal Movement:  I've had a couple of instances where they've both been moving around vigorously at the same time and that feels SUPER weird. But also awesome.  I told Nick that the ultrasound tech 'thumps' my stomach to get them moving, which I now deeply regret doing as I've been getting belly thumps religiously in his attempts to feel the babies move.

What I'm Looking Forward To Next Week: Long weekend!  And our FIVE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!  We will be celebrating it in style, folks...at home. :)  We talked about taking a trip but didn't have the energy to plan it and then we talked about going out to a nice dinner, but we already did that for Nick's birthday earlier this week and he's still trying to eat healthy, so a nice dinner at home it is.  I will be making a strawberry pie.  We've got plans to work on some nursery stuff, and it's also the celebration for my grandma's 105th's birthday! (yes, you read that right - 1 0 5 !!!!)

Best Moment of the Week:  If I were going to sum up this week, it would be 'accomplished'.  I got several things checked off my to-do list including sign up for childbirth classes (check!), sign up for breastfeeding classes (check!check!), and schedule maternity photos (check!check!check!).  And as I said I already ordered the nursery fabric and have someone lined up to make curtains and crib bedding, so I'm feeling very smug.  That means I'll probably do nothing for a few days now.  What?  I need my rest. :)

Special Thanks To: all of my friends that are or are getting pregnant.  It's pretty awesome to have a built-in play group.  EXTRA special thanks to my daily pregnancy email update friends who are so amazing.  It's nice to be able to obsess over all things pregnancy and baby with you.

What I Want The Babies To Know This Week: Most people hate election season, but I LOVE it.  I revel in it.   I want to take a bath in election season.  You get what I'm saying, right?  And while it will PAIN ME DEEPLY, if you don't grow up a Democrat like your mom (or at least a Libertarian like your dad), I will try not to take it personally or see it as a personal failing on my part as a mother.  Kidding, kidding.  Kinda.  You can be whatever you want to be...I guess.  (But, it would make me really, really happy if you were a Democrat).

Week 20 - August 22, 2012

How Far Along: 20 weeks AKA the week my belly exploded.  Although in my defense, I had just had Mexican food for dinner. :)

[caption id="attachment_275" align="aligncenter" width="225"] I'm silently saying to myself - 'just remember there's twins in there, just remember there's twins in there'.[/caption]

Doctor's Appointment Update:  This week we had our twenty week ultrasound and our first official visit to the high risk clinic.  The babies look great - everything is measuring where it is supposed to; they are between 6-7 inches long and weight 13 oz. each.  It took about an hour to complete the scan since they were doing a lot of anatomy measurements, so I pretty much got to stare at the babies for that entire time...not a bad way to spend an hour.   Baby A, as always, is a show-off and gave us many good photo opportunities.  I realize these photos are probably only interesting to Nick and I and the grandparents, but you'll just have to deal with it. :)

[caption id="attachment_276" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Profile shot of Baby A (boy)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_277" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Baby A's face (boy)[/caption]

And, more importantly, we finally got to see Baby B's face!  The ultrasound tech had to work some miracles, but she turned just long enough for us to capture a few images.

[caption id="attachment_278" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Baby B profile (girl)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_280" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Baby B's face! She has one! Yay! Also, note her brother photo-bombing the pic with his butt in her face.[/caption]

Everything looks great on my end as well.  Blood pressure is good; they are no longer concerned about the cervix shortening.  We also found out that Baby A's placenta has moved off my cervix so that is no longer a concern, as well.  They didn't have the results from my glucose screen back, so I'm not sure about that yet.  Regardless, though, I will get tested again at 26-28 weeks.   I was told I am a very uninteresting high-risk case and that's the way they want it.

The nurses kept telling us that this would be our first official visit to the high risk clinic and I sort of nodded my head and smiled as if I understood what they were talking about.   I didn't really understand what that meant as it's not as if I am physically going to a different location than I have been.  I've been seeing the doctors that work in the clinic throughout our pregnancy, so I didn't get the 'clinic' concept.  I finally understood what they meant yesterday, though.  The clinic is just a fancy way of saying this...first, the nurse comes and gets you and takes all your vitals, weighs you, etc.   Then, a resident comes and talks to you about how things are going, whether or not you have any concerns, answers questions, etc.  Then,  the resident goes and presents your case to the attending.  The attending then comes and checks in with you as well.   I've never really been in a teaching hospital environment, so I found all of this sort of charming and Grey's Anatomy-esque.  I'm weird - I know.

I absolutely adore the nursing staff at this practice...they are always so sweet to us and I'm pretty sure I am a favorite patient as multiple nurses always come in to see me and tell me how great I look, that I'm glowing, etc., etc.  However, I may have taken what I perceived as favoritism of me a bit far...I happened to notice that my charts had happy faces stamped all over them.  Of course, I - in my utter ridiculousness, assumed that this was some type of ranking system for patients and CLEARLY, the happy face meant I was an awesome patient.  I was preening over this and mentioned something about it to the front desk attendant.  She quickly assured me this had nothing to do with my awesome-ness and was just a signal that they would not be converting my records electronically as part of a new system.  :::Balloon Deflates:::

Because everything looks so good, I don't have to go back for another four weeks.  This will be the longest stretch we've had without a doctor visit and ultrasound, but I'm so grateful that it is because we are healthy all around!  I don't know what I'll do with all my free time...maybe get off of Pinterest and actually start working on the nursery. :)

Size of Babies:  Bananas...this makes no sense.  Last week we were small cantaloupes and this week...bananas?  I did learn that Baby A is head down and closest to the cervix while Baby B is transverse.

What I'm Doing: Honestly?!  I am still laughing at the picture of Baby A sticking his butt in Baby B's face.

Cravings: I really should just take this portion of the weekly updates out.   I don't have any cravings really.

Sleep: Let's not talk about it it...not great.

Sex of Babies: Still a boy and a girl!  I have to admit, I was very suspicious/nervous that the doctor was going to tell us something different at this week's appointment.  It's part of the reason I've been downplaying the genders a bit since we found out, because honestly, I was scared that it would somehow get changed.  Not that it would be the worst thing in the world because healthy babies are healthy babies, but one of each is just too gloriously perfect.  I'm glad to know fairly definitively...we still have a son and a daughter on the way.  Now that I feel more comfortable, I'm ready to start really tackling the nursery.  Just because we're having a boy and a girl does not mean we're going gender-neutral.  We are going full on PINK AND BLUE!

Symptoms: My back hurts right between my shoulder blades almost constantly; I have to put heat on it quite a bit to get to sleep.  I finally made an appointment with the chiropractor so hopefully they can help me out.  Other than that, I feel pretty great!  Maybe a little more tired since my sleep isn't great.

Fetal Movement: Lots of movement, which I got to see on the ultrasound screen.  They are moving near constantly.  I saw Baby A drinking and Baby B doing a lot of arm waving.

What I'm Looking Forward To Next Week: Lots of fun plans with friends this weekend and a baby shower for my dear friend Ali who will be having a baby boy by the end of September - so exciting!  Looking forward to play dates with her and my other soon to be mom friends.  Also, I am super excited that my parents are taking a two-week trip to Ireland...not so much because I want them to be gone, but because they definitely deserve a break and a great trip!  Drink some beer for me!

Best Moment of the Week:  I would say this is sort of the best and worst moment of the week - but, registering.  Best, because OMG, the cuteness plus Nick was having the time of his life scanning things.  Worst, because gah...so much STUFF.  I am convinced the plastics industry is in cahoots with the baby product manufacturers.  How can something so small need so much...stuff???  Overall, though, it was so much fun and another one of those milestone moments that you think about a lot when you are going through IVF.

Special Thanks To: All of the great friends and family who have offered to let us borrow baby 'stuff' but especially my friend Ashley who has really gone above and beyond and is letting us borrow several big-ticket items that collectively are saving us hundreds of dollars.  You are the bestest, my friend.  Also, special thanks to my friends who reviewed our registry and told me what we could live without (Nick's whirpool baby tub) and what we absolutely needed to add.

What I Want The Babies To Know This Week: Guys, your mom sometimes has a habit of trying to be the BEST at EVERYTHING.  She's not, obviously.  (I mean, MOST things she is the best at...but not all.  Like, she is not very good at mowing the lawn).   I realize that this is something I'm going to have to let go of with motherhood.  Luckily, your father is pretty good at calming me down and making me be more present.  However, I just want it noted for the record that I'm trying...and it is already starting.  So...cloth diapering.  I really, really, really want to do it.  A lot.  For a variety of reasons - the savings, the environment, the holy crap adorableness of cloth diapers.  But I know, deep down, this is something I have to let go of.  I'm sure other twin mommas out there do it just fine, but I am going to have to let go of this because I know I will drive myself crazy.  And I am bound to be really crazy when you all actually get here, so please mark this day down...the day your mom decided to forego cloth diapers for sanity.    You're welcome. :)

Week 19 - August 16, 2012

More than one person has commented to me this week that all of the sudden, I seem very pregnant.  I take this to mean a couple of things - 1) the belly is definitely getting bigger (duh!) and 2) my general tiredness/crankiness/backachiness is lending more of a pregnant feel to my demeanor.  I have to admit...I feel more pregnant.   It's harder to pick things up; I toss and turn all night: my back hurts constantly; there is no comfortable way to sit, stand or sleep; I have to kind of roll myself out of bed, etc, etc, etc.  Although all of these new developments are annoying, I still feel pretty darn happy about the whole thing.

How Far Along: 19.5 weeks

Size of Babies:  Small cantaloupes.  I freaked out a little when I saw cantaloupe because hello, cantaloupes are much bigger than last week's mangoes.  So, thank you, editors of What To Expect When You're Expecting, for specifying small cantaloupes.

What I'm Doing: Obsessive nursery Pinterest-ing... :) (Note to kids 20 years from now if you are reading this - Pinterest was a timesuck of a website where your mom wasted hours and hours learning how to make home-made soap and looking at pictures of crafts she probably shouldn't even attempt to make)

Cravings: It's not really a craving, but Nick is getting really tired of me eating all of his energy/protein bars.  In fact, I just finished a texting exchange with him about this very topic.  Luckily, 'but the babies were hungry' is an effective excuse.

Sleep: Not great, not terrible...it feels like I have to sleep longer in order to feel rested, which I attribute to the many times I'm waking up during the night.

Sex of Babies: Hooray!  We finally know!  We are so excited it's a boy and a girl...in fact, I'm going to have to dedicate an entire post to it.

Symptoms: Other than being more uncomfortable, one of the babies is on my bladder which is SUPER fun.

Fetal Movement: I am feeling them pretty consistently but Nick is still DYING to feel them move.  Hopefully in a few weeks!

What I'm Looking Forward To Next Week: We have our big 20 week ultrasound, so I'm hoping maybe we will finally see Bad Baby B?!  We also have our first official high risk clinic visit; between both appointments, the scheduler told me to expect to be there for 3-4 hours.  Yay.  What I Am NOT Looking Forward To - I have an early glucose screening on Saturday.  I guess having polycystic ovarian syndrome and multiples puts me at higher risk for gestational diabetes.  Cross your fingers all goes well.

Best Moment of the Week:  Obviously the gender reveal party. :)

Special Thanks To: My Nook...as it has been keeping me company when I wake up in the middle of the night and can't sleep.  I am going to be a very well-read pregnant lady.  (P.S. If you haven't read any of Gillian Flynn's books, you should.  They are super creepy and amazing.)

What I Want The Babies To Know This Week: Everyone says that parenthood teaches you so much.  What's amazing is that YOU AREN'T EVEN HERE YET and yet...you are already teaching us.  Case in point...as you know (because your father and I will remind you on a near daily basis), it took four rounds of IVF to get pregnant with you.  The first three rounds, I felt like we HAD to succeed or I didn't know how we would go on.  I mean, obviously we did each time, but I was always gripped with a sense of 'thishastoworkthishastoworkthishastowork'.  That last cycle - it did not go well.  At all.  By all reasonable expectations, it shouldn't have worked.   However, once we learned that the cycle might be a bust, I realized...we were going to be fine.  We were going to have a family, one way or another and I needed to stop worrying about it and just let it happen.  Maybe it was just coincidence (but that doesn't make for a very interesting story) but when I finally gave up trying to plan things, that's when we got you.  When I am freaking out and over-planning some day, please feel free to remind me of this story. :)  XOXO, Mom

It's a....

Boy AND a Girl!  We are so excited, over the moon, thrilled, (insert other synonyms for deliriously happy here), etc.  The party was SO much fun and we had a great time celebrating with friends and family.  More to come later, but here's a picture...

[caption id="attachment_257" align="aligncenter" width="490"] We would have been happy regardless, but this is pretty much the second most awesome news ever...next to finding out we were pregnant. :)[/caption]

Week 18 - August 9, 2012

Hello, my friends!  I am basically at the halfway point - crazy!  We'll deliver somewhere around 36-37 weeks (well, with any luck that is), so I am halfway into this pregnancy.

[caption id="attachment_248" align="aligncenter" width="225"] 18.5 weeks and still smiling. For now.[/caption]

Doctor's Appointment Update:  I can't remember if I've written about why we have had so many doctor appointments and ultrasounds during the second trimester.  We had an 18 week appointment this week.  The additional appointments are a result of a couple of factors - 1) women who get pregnant through IVF and women who carry multiples are at higher risk for a premature shortening of the cervix (technically called cervical incompetence but I refuse to define my cervix as incompetent!)...there is an easy fix if this develops - cervical cerclage.  However, it is something that has to be monitored fairly regularly.  So far, everything looks good on this front  2) I have experienced fairly significant bleeding off and on.  The doctors believe this is because Baby A's placenta is covering the cervix - otherwise known as placenta previa.  Most cases of placenta previa resolve themselves (as the babies grow and move around, the placenta is shifted), however it is something the doctors are keeping a close watch on.   Other than those two issues, the babies are looking great.  Baby B is still Bad Baby B that won't pose for pictures and Baby A is still a ham.

How Far Along: 18 1/2 weeks, I think?  I am starting to get a little confused.  Time is going by so quickly!

Size of Babies:  MANGOES!  This is a fruit comparison I can get behind.  I haven't really missed drinking alcohol at all, although for whatever reason, I have thought about mango margaritas more than once.  This needs to be my first post-baby drink, I've decided.

What I'm Doing: Procrastinating doing productive things around the house.  I am fairly organized for our big gender reveal party this weekend, but I always seem to invent more and more things to get done. (Ask Nick - it is one of his FAVORITE qualities about me!)

Cravings: Not a one!  Honestly, I'm not really even that hungry - I don't know if that's weird or not.  Don't worry - I'm getting my protein still...I'm just not overly interested in food.  I'm guessing this is more related to my intense excitement for finding out the gender on Saturday than actually having lost interest in food. :)  Five bucks says once we find out, I stuff myself silly.

Sleep: I am seriously considering one of those half-moon pregnancy pillow thingies - not necessarily because I think I need one but because it will provide a  barrier between me and my bed-mates (Starfish and his trusty feline sidekicks).   I feel like I must look a little bit like a rotisserie chicken because I am constantly trying to rotate into a more comfortable position.  My back has been bothering me, but in truth - I think this has more to do with my exercise routine than pregnant or sleep.  I've started incorporating prenatal pilates and I'm pretty sure I must be doing one of the moves wrong because there is a place on my back that hurts at night every time I do the workout.  Oh, well.

Sex of Babies: So close to finding out!  Many of you have commented on how impressed you are that we haven't cheated.  Don't be.  Let me admit something to you.  It is due mostly to the fact that I HID THE ENVELOPE SO WELL I CAN'T FIND IT.  Seriously, pregnancy brain is for realz.  When I realized I couldn't remember where it was, I tore the house apart.  I finally found it today in a completely unobtrusive, not at all hidden well, drawer.  Well done, self, well done.

Symptoms:  The headaches seem to be lessening.  The crying continues - but not at things that you would thing make me cry - like seeing the babies on the ultrasound.  No, it's mostly weird and/or inconsequential stuff.  I am also hyper-focused on roadkill.  That's right, roadkill makes me cry.  And I'm not talking about the occasional sad cat or dog you might see (because that would make me cry no matter what), I'm talking - possums, raccoons, squirrels, etc.  As you can imagine, the commute to work is an utter landmine.  I have to try and convince myself that everything I see on the side of the road is just trash.

Fetal Movement: Definitely and lots of it!  I like to imagine Baby A kicking Baby B so that Baby B would be facing forward and we could actually see him/her.

What I'm Looking Forward To Next Week:  Well, duh.  I've only been talking about it for weeks and weeks and weeks.  Sometimes I get irritated by my own excitement level, but I can't help it.  I am ridiculously excited for Saturday's gender reveal!  So is Nick. I don't really have any predictions; I've never really had any guesses.  We will be happy with whatever it is, but we do already have one girl name and one boy name, so on a practical level - that would make things easy on us. :)

Best Moment of the Week:  I have to say, I think it was a couple of co-workers making the SUPREME SACRIFICE of helping coordinate the gender reveal.   I am fairly certain they have offered their assistance simply because they want to find out the genders first. :)  But, I am super grateful for their help and so lucky to have them in my life.  Just don't screw it up, ladies.  NO PRESSURE!

Special Thanks To: Sarah Maxey Photo!


You'll be hearing more about Sarah in the coming months, but she has VERY generously offered to take photos at the gender reveal on Saturday.  I could not be more excited.  Sarah is an incredibly gifted photographer and a pretty cool gal, to boot.  Thank you so much, Sarah!

(and a new addition to the weekly updates...as the pregnancy progresses, it seems a little more 'real' and hence, I want to start keeping notes on the super gushy touchy feely stuff.  Please avert your eyes if emotionzzzz trouble you. :))

What I Want The Babies To Know This Week:

There's a lot of things I want you to know, but I think what has been on my mind most this week is how incredibly lucky you are to have your dad.  Basically, you are the luckiest babies in the history of the world.  No, really.  I cannot even describe how attentive he is and how much he worries about my health and your health and every time I have a doctor's appointment, if he can't be there, I am required to send him texts every five minutes updating him on what's going on.  He talks to you, tries to feel you move in my belly when I tell him you all are bouncing around.  He asks me when we should start reading to you and playing music for you.  He randomly leans over and rubs my belly and tells me how much he loves me and how much he loves you.  I always knew he would be a great dad, but I didn't realize he would become a dad before you all even arrived!  He worries about how various chemicals will affect you and is constantly chastising me for picking up 'heavy' things (like, one sack of groceries).  In sum...lucky, lucky little ones.  And lucky me.

And before things get too serious...a moderately funny out-take from this week's pregnancy photo shoot.  In this photo, I am either:

a) Rolling my eyes at Nick

b) Watching Ernie the cat make a death-defying leap off of our kitchen cabinets.

c) Trying to look angelic

d) All of the above

I will let you decide.

Week 17 - August 3, 2012

How Far Along: 17 weeks and change

[caption id="attachment_228" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Chevron must be slimming because I look less bumpy-here than the last few weeks. I assure you - the bump is bumpier than ever.[/caption]

Size of Babies:  Sweet Potatoes!  I love sweet potatoes.  If I was really clever, I would have created a recipe each week around whatever fruit/vegetable reference the babies were.  I am apparently not that clever.  Or ambitious.

What I’m Doing: Making a list of All That Needs To Be Accomplished.  I've given myself a deadline of having everything ready for the babies and everything ready at work for my leave by the end of October, which basically puts me at 30 weeks.  My assumption is that after that point - everything is sort of up in the air and regardless, I will probably be too uncomfortable and tired to do much.  Also, I am better at List Making than List Accomplishing, so it's good that I gave myself a deadline.

Cravings: Sweet Potatoes!  Not really, but that would be an excellent tie-in.  I think I am doing pretty well on the protein front, but I am also having a hard time remembering if I've eaten sometimes.  I think it's because I'm eating nearly all of the time so it's hard to know where snack ends and meal begins.  P.S.  Happy Hour is so much cheaper when you can't drink!

Sleep: I have developed a complex system of pillows to help, however even my fortress of fluffy pillows cannot defeat Nick the Starfish Sleeper and cats that are physically incapable of sleeping without being attached to my head or feet.

Sex of Babies: I think we all know the answer to this...no.  Sigh...Just a week or so to go.

Symptoms: I had another migraine, which was horrendous on a level I can't even describe, but the daily headaches seem to be waning so I'll take that.  Crying continues to be a problem.  And let me tell you, the Olympics aren't helping with all of their sob stories and triumph over adversity and sob, sob, sob.

Fetal Movement: Yes, lots.  They rarely move at the same time, though.  Baby A seems to be more active.  And photogenic.  So basically Baby B is a reclusive introvert who enjoys lying around and not interacting with others...a babe after my own heart.

What I’m Looking Forward To Next Week:  NOT OPENING THE GENDER REVEAL ENVELOPE BEFORE THE PARTY!  I figure if I say that to myself enough times maybe I can actually prevent myself from doing it.  We also have another ultrasound scheduled, so I'm looking forward to (hopefully) getting pictures of Bad Baby B.   Also, I saw in the forecast a day where the temperature started with an '8', not a '9' or '10'...glorious!

Best Moment of the Week: I am going to preemptively say that it will be my 'date' this afternoon with my dad to see Batman.  Although a co-worker played a pretty hilarious prank on me this week that ranks up there, as well.  It would take so long to explain it though that you'll just have to trust me - it was hilarious and much needed comic relief.

Special Thanks To:  One of the exciting things that has happened this week is that I've had several baby showers scheduled for late September/early October.  Nick and I are extraordinarily fortunate to have such an amazing group of family and friends that want to share this time with us; I am pretty sure there were never two babies so loved by such a large group of people before they even made their arrival into the world.  We are so grateful for their support...and party-hosting abilities. :)