Oh, What Fun!

I've been meaning to do this post for a while now, & I don't have long left, so here we go! There are many fun & interesting things about pregnancy, especially when you're carrying multiples, so I thought I would share some of them with everyone. But first, here's 34 weeks:


"Say What...?" (commentary to be remembered)

• You look like you're about to pop! (a frequent favorite)
• You just get bigger & bigger every time I see you! (Um, thanks?)
• Any day now! (from another guest at a hotel we were staying at when I was 26 weeks)
• Well, do you think you can get any bigger? (My answer: Well, I've got 6 weeks left, so I'll bet I can.")
  
• You must be getting pretty close, huh? (from a salesperson at J. Crew when I was 20 weeks)
• You're having a little girl, aren't you? ("Yes, but I'm also having a little boy." No one ever senses mutiples.
  
• Just don't have that baby while you're waiting. (from a checker at Bed Bath & Beyond who was wrapping the gift I'd just bought)
• Oh my gosh! Are you on your way to the hospital right now?! (from a lady soliciting donations for a charity at an intersection when I was 27 weeks)
• Twins? (from a deli counter worker at Target after he saw how large I was; I wonder if he ever asked someone this & was met by an indignant "No, just one!"
• Just promise me one thing: that you won't have that baby while you're here today. (from an usher at church)

The Brighter Side (a positive look at some of the challenges presented by pregnancy)

• Really big belly gets in the way......but it also serves as a nice table for your ice cream bowl (or for keeping score in mini golf - see earlier post).
  

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• Not being able to reach your toes is inconvenient......but you have a nice excuse to get frequent pedicures.
• My husband is now sleeping in the guest room because I toss & turn so much that he can't get any sleep........but I have lots of room to myself.
• Very few clothing items still cover my belly.......but no one judges me when I wear the same thing multiple times a week.
  
• I am easily winded by very simple physical activities......but I don't even feel bad for not working out.
• My feet & ankles get HUGE if I'm on my feet too much........so I enjoy lots of reading & TV watching with my feet propped up.

Amazing Stats

• At this point, I've gained a total of 43 pounds. Too bad only about 10 of that is the babies!
• My belly measures 46 centimeters from top to bottom, which is how my OB measures each visit, and 112 centimeters around.
  
• The average woman's chance of conceiving fraternal twins naturally is 1 in 100. Once I've had one set of fraternal twins, my chance of having another set increases to 1 in 25. Mallory (& any other girls we may have) will also have this increased chance since this trait passes through the mother's side to daughters.

Okay, if you're still with me, thanks for indulging my sense of humor. I'll finish up with a few details about the babies. We had a sonogram on Friday, but we only got one picture that isn't very good, so I don't have any to post. We also got a DVD, but the babies didn't really want to show off for the camera. Everyone is healthy, & they are growing like crazy! The sonographer estimated that Jake is 5 lb 2 oz & Mallory is 5 lb 8 oz. This is a huge leap for both of them from the last time they were measured, but the margin of error is 13 oz either way. They were also pretty wiggly, so it was hard for her to get good measurements. We will have another sonogram on Thursday, which is my birthday, so that will be a great birthday treat to get to see them!

We now have car seats installed in my car & our bags at least semi-packed. Only 2 1/2 more weeks!

One Week at a Time

Just a quick update on belly & sonogram pics. 32 weeks:

These are from our sonogram on Friday. I was so frustrated with myself for not requesting a DVD because they were both showing off, & the still pictures just don't do them justice. You have to ask for the DVD before they start the sonogram, & they didn't offer, so I forgot about it. Oh well! Here's a good profile shot of Jake. We could see his mouth moving, & he had his fist propped under his chin like he was contemplating something.

Similar picture, but you can see his arm & fist better in this one.

Mallory wanted to show us just how big she could yawn. Hers are a little more blurry, but she's basically in the same position that Jake was in his pictures, but her face is turned a little more toward the camera instead of a true profile.She kept sticking her tongue out at us, which is what this one shows. So sassy!
They only measure the babies every other week, so we didn't get to find out how much they've grown. I saw my OB today, & everything is still looking great. He said that in another 10 days or so, we'll be to the point where they wouldn't stop my labor if it started on its own because the babies would be ready enough. That's a good feeling! I am now having Braxton-Hicks contractions all the time, but not the real thing yet. Justin is great about ordering me to sit down & relax while he takes care of whatever needs to be done. I'm not always the best at slowing down on my own! Here's 33 weeks:

One Last Round of Golf

Last night we went to Adventure Landing with some couples from our class at church. It was a fun outing, despite being very hot for a pregnant girl! Here's the group shot:

I discovered the usefulness of having a large belly when there are no stands to use for recording scores.

I was also fortunate enough to have personal caddies for the evening. Mark & Hattie were sweet enough to pick up my ball for me after each hole. I didn't have to bend down a single time! This is my kind of golf!
Our first game, we split up guys & girls. Jonathan, J & Mark:
Jill, Hattie & me:
Vicki, Cody, RaeAnn & James:Lauren, Hattie & Jenn:
I chose to skip the go carts, but some of the group went to do that. J tried to take pictures, but most of them didn't really turn out. This one is definitely worth posting, though. Jacob with his driving face ready:I'm sure it will be a while before these two people play mini golf again!

I'm Unemployed!

As of yesterday, I am officially unemployed. Hopefully, these babies won't decide to arrive before their scheduled delivery date, & I'll have four weeks to rest & get ready for them. A couple of weeks ago, my great co-workers gave me a surprise baby shower. It was lots of fun, & they gave me the twins' exersaucer & diaper champ, along with a big box of diapers. The gifts were wonderful, but I will admit that my favorite part was probably the cake. What do you expect from a pregnant lady? Stein's bakery makes the best cakes, & Sheryl got a strawberry one with cream cheese icing - one of my favorites!
Me & Sheryl - I'm going to miss seeing her every day!
Yesterday, they sent me off in style with a cookie cake. Yum!
Clair, Sheryl & Eli took me to lunch at Luna de Noche. Thanks guys!
I am really looking forward to staying home to raise our children, but I am also very thankful for the great job I've had for the last four years. I started working there part time while I finished my degree & then switched to full time after graduating. Not really knowing where to start looking for a job after moving to a new city, I posted a resume online. Less than a week later, I got a call & went to interview for this position. It has been a great place to work & was truly a blessing to Justin & I for this opportunity to come along. Now on to my new career - being a mom!

Growing Babies

We had a sonogram on Thursday, & everything looks great! Dr. Rinehart said these were the best behaved twins he'd had all day because they cooperated enough for him to see what he needed to see, & all their stats were on track. Way to go, Jake & Mallory! Jake was being a little camera shy, so we didn't get any shots of his face. In these pictures, his face is turned down. Jake weighs 4 lb 2 oz & has flip-flopped again so that he's now head down on my left side. From this point on, twins usually gain about 1/4 lb each week, so they should be just under 6 lbs at birth.


Mallory cooperated much more than at our last visit, but it may be hard to really tell from the pictures. I can see what it is, but I know it's always hard for other people to figure out. These are actually profile shots with her face up toward the top of the picture. One of Jake's limbs was right in her face, so that blurs it a bit. Mallory weighs 4 lb 1 oz & must have done some major maneuvering to get from her last position to her current one. She is also head down but is a little higher than Jake & is on my right side. Needless to say, I get lots of kicks in my ribs with both of them being in that position.

Here are their little heads together. The sonographer said they were turned in facing each other - how sweet!
We now have less than 5 weeks to go & feel so blessed to have made it this far. Dr. Thurston actually described me as "the perfect woman" when I saw him because everything they keep track of with me is just as it should be right now. I told him I would take that compliment. We now see Dr. Rinehart every week, so we only have to wait until Friday for our next sonogram. Yesterday, we took a Preparing for Multiples class at the hospital that was very informative & fun. You always expect classes like that to be boring, even if they are helpful, but it wasn't, so that was nice. Have a great week everyone!

New Belly Pics

Just a quick belly update! I've had a request for the most recent pictures, so here they are. 30 weeks:

And 31 weeks:
We have appointments with both docs tomorrow, so I'll have pictures of Jake & Mallory soon!

The Handyman Returns

My husband is so sweet! He has apparently enjoyed all of his home projects lately, so he came up with this one on his own. We had extra wainscoting left over from the nursery project, so he decided to paint it red to match our dining room & a wall in our breakfast area & then glued it up as a backsplash under my kitchen cabinets. It really adds a lot to the room! Here is the kitchen before:

And here's the handyman, hard at work. He's gotten really good at cutting these boards perfectly after working with them in the nursery. Mark, thanks for sharing your tricks!
Power tools: a legitimate way for grown men to get to play with toys.
Because red is so hard to get right, he had to put on 6 coats of base, primer & paint. Yikes!

Notice here our very fancy weights to hold the board to the wall while the glue dried: paper reams.

Here's the finished product. Pretty cool, huh? Thanks J!