36 Weeks and 12 lbs of Baby!

The great news from our appointment today is that both babies are measuring right around 6 lbs a piece. 6 lbs!  We were praying for at least 5 lbs and are ecstatic about 6!  Mom has gained 33 lbs at this point, and blood pressure is starting to slightly rise, as well as protein levels, but nothing that is concerning to the doctor.  Nothing sounds good to eat, and I'm sleeping in one hour increments.  I am back to taking a nap whenever I can.  I'm just so excited to meet these two little girls!

We again discussed csection vs. vaginal birth, and either way if we haven't delivered next Thursday will schedule our induction/ csection for the week of the 10th.  The doctor on call on the 10th is our least favorite so we will schedule for whatever day our favorite is available :)  Hopefully we just don't make it that long!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Yes, still pregnant!  It's so hard for me to remember I'm still 4 weeks away from 40 weeks.  I'm measuring quite ahead of 40 weeks but don't want to rush these kiddos out.  Our next appointment is Thursday.  Above is our annual girls picture (with my nephew Mikey who couldn't miss it!) and below is Grandma Kay trying to feel the babies move around.  Everyone got a kick out of seeing my stomach move from the outside!  Hopefully the next post will be a picture of our beautiful two girls!

35 Weeks!

Wahoo!  This was our final goal to keep the babies inside to at least 35 weeks!  Happily we went to our appointment today expecting SOME sort of change, and ready for babies to debut at any moment.  Well, no progress.  I guess no news is good news since every day inside is just increasing the odds that the babies will be able to come home with us from the hospital.  But my stomach, back, etc would like to argue I think!

I went to my sisters today and my nephew kept saying how big my belly was!  Our OB has said both babies were still head down so I showed him where their butts were sticking out and he loved it!  I told him my belly was kinda smashed so he was listening to my stomach to hear if the babies were crying... too cute.  I let him know they were definitely ok!  He has two cousins and a nephew who will be arriving close to each other (myself and his sister Jaime are due the same day) and it will be very interesting to see how he likes all the new babies after being the youngest for so long!

Contractions are still happening every day, especially at night, and sleeping is very uncomfortable.  When I roll over I literally feel both babies shifting positions to make themselves comfortable.   Now if they could let me be comfortable!

Babies are both head down and I'm hanging in there.  I'm actually letting myself think I may be able to celebrate Christmas with my family this year and not at the hospital!  Only time will tell, but for now... no progress!

The final details have been added and the nursery is ready for babies!  We're waiting on our fabric for bed skirts and the valance but it's back order until January.

Changing table/ dresser is up, rocker is assembled, cherry blossom tree applied and love the star night light that C picked out for the room!  (Pink is growing on him!)

You can see the paint the best here, went with lavender and light grey.  Frame of the "Sisters" portrait that my sister gave me and also a frame for a picture of the girls and their foot prints! 

Daddy ordered these adorable elephant chains for the fan since our unofficial theme is elephants.  Love these!

And now I just wait.... :)



34 Week Update!

Today we had our 34 week update.  I've been feeling a lot of changes going on so I was hoping for some sort of news.  I still want the babies to "cook" longer (we're praying they are at least 5 lbs a piece) but I was thrilled to hear there are some things happening!
No ultrasound today.  She did a quick heart beat check with a handheld doppler and now both babies are head down!  Heart beats are nice both in the 140-155 range.  A few nights ago, I had severe pain for about 20 minutes and told C that I thought (Baby B) Grace had flipped.  Well I was right!)  Then she checked me and I am 1+ cm dilated (which really means nothing) but 90% effaced!  Baby A is trying to get out!  We changed our next appointment to one week from today, but the doctor said at this point, we are not stopping labor.  She said it's 50/50 that babies will be born before Christmas.  She is pretty sure they will be here by the holiday.  I've said all along they will be Christmas Babies!
This week I've washed baby clothes, started to pack my hospital bag, and made a list of every day things (tooth brush, etc) that need to go in the bag so C and I can finish packing and go when necessary.  Suddenly I don't feel ready at ALL.  I'm excited to meet our girls, but nervous nervous nervous!  Still very uncomfortable, but I know that my body is just preparing for the girls to arrive!

Merry Early Christmas!

 Last night C made a delicious meal for us and his parents to celebrate an early Christmas.  Here are a few photos from the night.

C and I in front of our "basic" Christmas tree.  With two babies on the way we knew there was no way we were busting out the ornaments this year!

George and I sitting down to dinner.

Our beautiful spread!

And Kitty was in love with George's new hat! She even passed up her catnip toys for it!!!

My Mom gifted us her cleaning service for a day!  Thank God since it's been, um, a long time since we've deep cleaned the house!  Here is a quick preview of the results:

Don't think we've seen the floor of our room clothes free in about 4 years.

No clutter, no dirt.  Love it!

We can actually see our beautiful countertops!

And C organized the pantry, which is now a storage place for diapers and child items!

Thanks Mom!!!

Vacation! Maternity Leave! Oh My!

 Here I am today at 33 weeks and 1 day.

Finally on vacation!  Then hopefully straight to maternity leave.

Nothing exciting to post, we have been doing lots around the house and I will post some pics this weekend!  Hope everyone is doing well!

32 Weeks!

We had our 32 week appointment today and saw one of our favorite doctors in the practice.  We love two of the 4, and the last few times couldn't get in with either of our favorites.  Well we could tell she wasn't thrilled we had waited 4 weeks in between and also they hadn't been doing cervix checks every 2 weeks.  Now we're back on track!  Love her!  So what did we learn today?
Mama has gained about 25 lbs.  She would like me to gain more but babies are growing well so she is ok with it.  She asked me if I was eating real food or rice cakes... trust me, I'm eating as many calories as I can shove in my face!
We spent a lot of time talking about birth options.  Lily (Baby A) is still head down.  She has been since about 12 weeks and doesn't really change.  Grace's rear is right to the left of my belly button.  She has completely flipped again, no surprise as she changes position every time.  Dr. M took the time to explain vaginal vs. csection options (which we will be able to choose unless it comes down to emergency c-section.)  Now we have a lot of research to start doing.  She said my body is starting to prepare for a vaginal birth which she is happy to see.  They should be in there still in two weeks but she wasn't so sure if I would be back in the office in 4 weeks, or snuggling with our babies :)
Lily weighs about 3lbs 14oz right now.  Grace is at 3lbs 6oz.  This is pretty true to their growth so far.  Lily will not only be the older sister, she will be the "bigger" sister at least for a while.

At 32 weeks I have about 7.5 lbs of baby in me!  I'm measuring full term for a singleton.  No wonder work is super hard and life in general is getting more difficult!  Sleep?  What's that?  I get about 2 hours at a time before I have to get up and walk around.  And my 6 am snack :)  Nothing sounds good to eat but I'm trying to eat as much as I can.  Heartburn, acid reflux, it's all kicked in and I got some new medicine to try today.  4 more shifts of work, including tonight!  Thank God for my banked vacation time.  I'm feeling ok now that she pointed out most people don't get any bigger than I am right now and that is why I probably feel like I do, basically I'm at 40 weeks, with 6 more to go at the most!

30 Weeks!

 Finally catching up on pictures from the shower!  My Mom and MIL brought me some prints of our wonderful guests today!  Going to scan them in this week!  Here are some of the wonderful gifts that were given to our girls:

In this picture are a few of the swaddlers we received, car seat covers all soft and warm, bows and accessories, bibs, onesies, baby spoons, boogie wipes and pacifier wipes.  All the way on the left was a picture frame we got with one of our gift certificates that we put in an ultrasound with one of my favorite pictures, picture of one baby's foot and one baby's head!  On the right is the elephant humidifier which I think is Cs favorite gift so far!

There are so many cute items out there for little girls!  Here were a few we received:  Baby bathing suites and beach hats, cow girl socks and mary jane socks, adorable hats, and tutus!  Also we received baby food containers for when we one day attempt to make homemade baby food!

An assortment of adorable clothes, including "Mommy's shopping buddy,"  "I like to dance with Daddy," baby jeans!!!, and zebra onesies!

Diapers and wipes!  We have a nice start, should last us a week :)

Their first books!  Their library contains classics such as Iowa books, Cubs, and Chicago books.

Our cousin Amy says all kids really need is a stick and a box :)  I love my wand she got me!  I use it to point to things I need from C!

We also received some of our larger items such as baby swing, stroller, car seat bases, and pirate ride and scoot scooter.  Unfortunately, until we get the nursery ready, we don't have room for all of these items at our house so my parents have opened up a storage space at their house for us!

Gift Cards!  Thank you also to everyone who gave us gift cards!  We used some to purchase our Angelcare monitor and lots of packs of bottles.  (Along with free Santa diapers!)

Tonight we went to Target to complete our registry.  We went in, added a bunch of items, and then shopped, shopped, shopped!  We bought a lot of items such as a thermometer, nail clippers, wash clothes, pack and play, swaddling blankets, bath toys, and stocked up on clean and free detergent!

C picked these bib sets out:

And while we received a lot of cute clothes, we couldn't pass up on these:

Cinderella outfit:

and C's favorite, Alice in Wonderland:

We also stocked up on basic clothing items like onesies and warm baby pants, and two tops for my every expanding belly!!!

Our grand total after our completion discounts and gift cards:  50 cents!!!  Thank you everyone SO much!

 30 Weeks:

I posted this on my Facebook page but it is just priceless:

Right now, I have to have McDonald's hot fudge sundaes, every day.  I missed one night after work and the cashier asked if I had come in earlier yesterday (whoops, time to find a new craving!)  I honestly don't crave anything else, and once I eat a few bites, I feel sick.  Needless to say I'm not doing much nesting right now.  I'm off a few days this week and plan to get some organizing done!

Here is my belly before going to our relaxation techniques for labor and delivery class on Thursday, we were 29w2days.  My belly is really moving out!  If you look at me straight on, I'm not getting much wider (for now!) in the stomach area, but I am glad my belly is growing because I know it's getting tight in there!

Our wall decal came this weekend and C was very busy yesterday putting it up!  It had come with hot pink flowers too which I immediately told C I didn't like the whole tree and was upset.  He surprised me by putting most of it up (minus the hot pink flowers) and now I love it!  My goal is to get the rest of our decorations up in the next two weeks.  I know time is flying by.  After tonight I will have 13 shifts of work left before taking my vacation I've saved up and then starting FMLA officially on December 22nd.  Work has been much better with my hours slightly cut back (less time on my feet.)  Everything is starting to feel so real!

29 Weeks and Counting...

FIRST off congrats to C for an awesome run in the NYC marathon on Sunday!  While it was tough for me to have him away for 3 nights, I think it was a nice getaway before the girls come for him.  He shaved almost 15 minutes off his Chicago time!  Congrats Babe!

In Baby news... I passed the one hour glucose test and my iron was 11.2, just above the 11.0 cut off.  No meds or monitoring for me right now wahoo!  The girls continue to increase their activity day by day and my activity continues to slowly decline day by day!  My work load is limited to 6 hours a day on my feet which I am pretty much sticking to except for Saturdays are a little longer but I'm feeling ok.  Only 17 more days of work till vacation then starting my FMLA leave, but who's counting anyways?  Even if I go to January 10th which is the longest my OB will let me go, I will still have over 9 weeks off with the twins, and realistically I'm still feeling these will be Christmas babies.

We did our tour of labor and delivery tonight.  It was a very awakening experience.  Two of the other couples were due in early December, a few in January, and one lady didn't even look pregnant.  I had a lot of questions answered that I didn't know I had.  Good Sam only offers private rooms which is a relief to me.  The one thing I did not want to do was share a room.  The birthing rooms are nice and equipped with many essentials.  I liked how in the beginning you can have guests but once the 'real' labor begins they only allow Mommy and Daddy to be there.  They also will allow the new babies to stay in the room for 2 hours (Mommy and Baby recovery time) and for immediate skin on skin contact.  I feared the babies being whisked away.  (This could all change if they decide to arrive early, but for now, we're planning on them cooking for a long time!)  After those two hours are when they will clean baby up, transport us all to our room, complete with a mini fridge.  Thank God because if I deliver on Christmas someone better be bringing me polish sausage!  They showed us the Nicu and how they delivered a 12 oz baby there that is now 9 years old.  She was the size of a bic pen!  Instantly my fears of early delivery were washed away when I heard all of their success with their level 3 Nicu.  Other than that, I tried to take it all in, and now feel much more prepared.  We pre-registered online tonight and while I hope babies keep cooking for a long time, I know that we will be in great hands either way!

28 Week Visit

Today we went in for our 28 week visit. First off, I got to drink that YUMMY (um... not so yummy) glucose drink. The taste wasn't actually that bad, but the girls started going crazy about 30 minutes after I drank it. Results should be in Friday.... hopefully my results are normal! They also tested for iron deficiency.

Right away she asked if Baby A's head has always been up. No, Baby A's head has NEVER been up :) It was actually Baby B who WAS head down 4 weeks ago is now laying across the very top of my uterus. Baby A is head down... and she is low. She is kinda squished down there, and that is why I have been feeling like I am being punched in the cervix... basically I am!

However both babies are about in the 50th percentile (1150 and 1250 grams) and the doctor is happy for now. Back in 4 weeks. Work I will be (hopefully) going down to part time. My OB was supportive of me going down to 6 hours a day on my feet (plus office time, lunch, etc.) Hopefully HR is as supportive :)

Happy Halloween, and our Beautiful Fall Baby Shower!

Happy Halloween!!!!

(Almost) 28 weeks picture from the side, and then showing off my costume :)

I'm still tired and overwhelmed from the beautiful shower yesterday but I wanted to share a few of the pictures.  My Mom has taken quite a few more "people" shots that I will share when she emails them over!

 On the left is our friend Erin, and her daugheter Lucy!  Lucy is 11 months old and just adorable!  On the right is one of my friends Stephanie who has two daughers and a son of her own.  She's shared a ton of practicle parenting tips with me already and will be my on-call Mama!

On the left is my cousin Amanda and on the right is my cousin Alison.  The lighting in this is not so great but what beautiful subjects :)  Amanda and I put Alison through some torture growing up and I'm sure she will be teaching my girls some tricks of her own!

C and I with my nieces Michelle (L) and Rebecca (R)

Adorable ducks and "How big is belly" game.  Most people were pretty kind with their guesses, but a few of my cousins must have been guessing my height not belly size :)

Adorable polka dot ribbon wrapped around the silverware.

Guest book with our shower invite and beautiful flowers.

Fall colored cake that was scrumptious!

My Mother-in-Law put some beautiful flower arrangements together and I loved the use of pumpkins!

Gotta have the baby carriage fruit bowl!

Personalized Lily and Grace M&Ms!

Mommy and the girls have enjoyed the remaining M&Ms in the past 24 hours :)

Thank you to everyone!!!

I will post more pictures, and of course some of the beautiful gifts we received when I get a little more organized!

Shower Pictures from 10/16!

Thanks to our friend Amanda for all of her hard work (and also Stephanie and Dana!) and for taking these pictures from the shower!  I wanted to share a few with you all to show just how lucky we are to have these wonderful people in our lives :)  Photo Bomb warning (get used to it!!!)

LOVED these pink hanging decorations!!!

Scrumptious spread.  Bagels have been my EVERY day craving plus lots of fresh pastries!  Mmmmm...

Twice the Sweetness!  Adorable favors with pink and skull ribbons, loved these!

Chip getting practice with Baby C!

With this blanket hiding my belly I don't look THAT pregnant!

LOVING the cute clothes for the girls!

I heart Mom and Dad!

Bumbos!  Excited to have some "hands free" time later in life!

An adorable cake with two pink buggies!

What a wonderful day!!!