All is well at our OB visit today.  Both babies are measuring on track, one at 650 grams (1 lb 7 ounces) and one at 600 grams (1 lb 5 ounces).  Baby B is back on track, she just measures a little "shorter" than her leggy sister!  She has also flipped (again!) and now they are both head down.  It seems that 24 weeks has hit hard.  My OB said that I am now close to the size of a full term single pregnancy and she is in SHOCK that I was working some 10 to 11 hour shifts on my feet at this point!  She recommended 6 to 8 hours, but pushed it to 6 to 9 hours for me so I can still be full time (for now.)  She did say that she likes to keep her patients working through most of the pregnancy at least a few hours a day since it keeps Mamas-to-be in better shape then taking them off their feet completely.  My boss was happy with that today :)  I actually have felt worse on my two days off when we've just been running errands and sitting around.  It also seems that yes, I am having some Braxton Hicks, but not to be worried unless I get 6 in an hour and accompanied by pain.  I got my flu shot at the office today to keep me, and babies safe.  I asked C where my present is for my shot since I was such a big girl... but I got no response!  I'm going to order a memory foam mattress topper today to hopefully help with my sleep also.  I want to share some nursery pics but C wants to wait till our cribs arrive next week so will post pictures then :)

October!!!

PUMPKIN :)  It's fall (and 70!)

Wow belly is growing! 

And of course, I had to order this!  Every year I wear my "pirate" skull shirt and was sad that I wouldn't fit in it this year.  Instead, I found this one which is super cute and fits with the two girls!

New this week:

People keep asking me if I am due soon.  No, thank you for asking but I am not.

Then I say we're having twins and everyone says I look great... WHICH IS IT PEOPLE? :)

Holy cow these girls are moving up a storm!  It's awesome to feel every day/ all day and C can finally, consistently feel them move from the outside too which is awesome!
Work is getting harder to be on my feet for 9, 10, or 11 hours on the longer shifts.  Yesterday I told my supervisor that while I hope to make it till December, the longer days are starting to get really hard.  Tomorrow is our 24 week check up and I plan on asking my OB to limit me to 9 hour days at this point.

And finally, what we believe are Braxton Hicks contractions have started :(  I know they are usually nothing to worry about, but I was hoping to make it a few more weeks before I started feeling them.  Last night was the first night I felt them twice, it's been only one time a day so far.  Hope they stay away for a while longer.

While I'm excited to make it to the 24 week point, 27 weeks is my next goal.  Small, achievable goals :)  I am talking to the babies every day telling them they are not allowed to come out yet!  C is always reading to them every night which I feel is important to make sure they will recognize his voice!

Also C is hard at work on the nursery.  I will post some pictures of his progress with the Dr. visit update tomorrow!

We planned on a two night stay in Galena but cut our visit short after one night as I was not feeling great.  We had a wonderful day though!  We drove up to Galena, stopped at some scenic oversights, walked around the shops, and ate lunch at a cute little restaurant.  We took a trolley tour of Galena which was my favorite part.  We did a brewery tour of the Galena Brewery which has only been open for a year and already they need room to expand!  We stayed there for tapas and so C could try some of their local brews.  We also won trivia there!  Then we drove toward Dubuque to try to find a casino (which we could not.)  Here are a few pictures from our trip:

We stopped at an overlook to take a few picture of the scenery:

Self-portrait time :)

Galena had TONS of Iowa items for sale in their cute shops!  We had meant to go back and buy a few items, but it's probably better that we didn't as we're trying to declutter for babies!

We had lunch at a cute little place called Benjamin's.  It was family run and I was in awe of how awesome their hospitality was, and was just a perfect start to the day there!  LOVE small town America!

We took a trolley tour and then toured the Galena Brewing Company.  We stayed for tapas and trivia, and actually won :)

Today we went to the outlet mall (Wahoo!!!  There is a maternity store there!) where C, myself, and both the girls got lots of nice clothing items :)  Then we headed to the casino to try our luck (Grandma was NOT passing on her good luck today, but we had a blast and I got more stares as a pregnant woman there then I thought possible!) and then dinner at Frog Bar.  Overall a wonderful anniversary trip/ anniversary.  Can't believe it's been 4 years already!

Happy Anniversary Babe :)

Happy Birthday Chip!

My big baby is 26 today!  Wahoo!  Here is a picture of us from the Cubbies game:

With my "Future Cubbies Fan (s)" shirt on.  It was technically the girls' first Cubs game!

Here is a picture of me before dinner (22 Weeks)

And here is us after enjoying WAY too much food, and great company with my inlaws tonight.

What a wonderful day.  I am married to a wonderful man and just so thankful and excited for the next year to come!

Well I stated that Baby B was less "active" then Baby A earlier, and let me say she is proving me wrong tonight!  I had this super strange feeling in my belly and looked down to see the left side of my stomach (where Baby B is) MUCH higher than the right side!  Not sure if she was trying to do a somersault or just claim her space back from her sister, but it lasted about 5 minutes till it evened back out.  Seriously a crazy thing to see.  Maybe she won't be the quiet one after all :)
C painted the nursery today!  I will take a picture of the color combo and post later this week.  Tomorrow it's off to the Cubs game then out for a nice dinner with his parents to celebrate his 26th!

22 Weeks!

Wow, time is starting to fly by!  I can't believe we're at 22 weeks already.  Went in for a quick appointment today.  Last time the OB said we could skip our every 2 weeks and go to 4 weeks, but with C's birthday tomorrow and taking our little anniversary trip/ baby moon next week up to Galena, I decided to go in this week anyways.  Everything looks good, Baby A is all stretched out head down almost diagonal taking up most of the room right now.  Baby B is squished by her sister into the left side (but my OB reassured me she is still comfortable!).  Saw both hearts beating strong, kiddos are moving around, and feeling kicks/ stabs, punches almost all day now.  Here are a few fun stats:

Week: 22 weeks (still can't believe it!)

Size of Babies:  This week they will grow to hit the 1 lb mark!  She did not measure them this week (I've been getting the VIP treatment with all of my appointments... so spoiled but can hold out two more weeks!)

Weight gain:  Ok, 14 lbs.  Not terrible with twins!

Mommy's cravings:  Deli meat!  After much discussion with our OB, she said it is ok to purchase deli meat at the Jewel that is cold to the touch, and as long as I bring it right home, the risk for listeria is super low.  Nothing in the danger zone!  I just can't eat heated meat any more!

Sleep schedule:  Trying to get as much as possible.  Finally broke down and am using the full body pillow, which has given me some relief the last two nights.

Baby's Movement:  Baby A is crazy and I feel her all day/ night.  Baby B I mostly feel when I lay down on my side.  Now that I know she is kinda squished in there by her sister, I will be more careful about moving around at night!  C was able to feel Baby A's kicks from the outside now, it was a very special moment!

Yesterday was International Talk Like A Pirate Day (obviously my favorite holiday of the year!)  Here is a belly shot with the adorable onesies that Lindsay and Ryan gave us:

These are size newborn!!!  Wow looks like my belly has a ton of growing left to do!

Wow time is flying by!  Last week C and I were both under the weather.  I ended up with a respiratory infection and C ended up with a bronchial infection.  We were on matching Zpacks... how cute :)  After sleeping from last Sunday night about 9 till Thursday about 3, I started feeling better!  I'm finally back to myself.  As the Dr. said, the babies are taking up my energy first and foremost, then my immune system, then, if I'm lucky, I will be able to stay awake!

Now that I'm back to feeling myself, what have you all missed?  First off, thanks to Lindsay and Ryan for the awesome "Sleep and Play" skull outfits :)  C took a great picture of me holding up both outfits to my stomach.  What confused us both is they are newborn size... yet... how are those going to fit inside my belly in December/ January?  I will post the picture as soon as I find the connector for my camera.   Babies are styling already!

Thanks to Kelley for the awesome tip about Diapers.com.  She told me they often have specials on car seats... and low and behold I log on and... the car seats we fell in love with were 25% off!  So we've officially bought our first (two) big baby items...

Carseats!  And saved some $$$ that we can use for diapers lol!  My bonus this week was $2 short of covering the car seats... thanks Landrys for supporting our twins already!

Wednesday is our 20 week check up.  I'm nervous but excited for the detailed scan of our little ones, and hopefully everything continues on the upbeat path we have established the past few weeks.  Also hoping to confirm that Baby B is a boy... I just had my heart set on a little man!

The last piece of exciting news is now I am feeling Baby A move pretty frequently, and even think I'm feeling Baby B (with the placenta attached in front the OB said I would probably not feel Baby B too much but that is ok right now.)  I was having a coughing fit this week and Baby A poked me twice pretty hard to let me know to stop :)

That's all for now, will update on Wednesday with hopefully great news!