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 :)