Another Doctor Visit

Today I had a visit with the Maternal-Fetal Medicine Specialist. He was wearing a bow-tie. That's not really relevant, just thought it was interesting. Anyway, the appointment went REALLY well. I got another super-long ultrasound and everything and everyone is nice and healthy. The ultrasound takes forever because there is a ton of stuff they have to take a picture of and sometimes measure and label. I would say they took 50-70 pictures of each baby.

Of concern at this visit was the girls' hearts. They looked fine at the last appointment 8 weeks ago but occasionally they will discover a problem at the second visit even after everything looked fine the first time. The only reason this was a concern was because Steve's family has a history of congenital heart defects. But, as I said, everything looked great.

Things we found out today: we are definitely still having two girls (thank god), Baby B has some hair (don't know about Baby A), Baby A had her butt in her sister's face- not sure what that says about her... Also we found out that Baby A weighs in at 2 pounds and 15 ounces and her little sister, Baby B is at 2 pounds 13 ounces. For those of you adding it up at home, that's almost 6 pounds of baby! No wonder I'm so tired and my tummy feels so heavy. Plus all the other stuff that comes with babies.

The last (and best!) thing that they told me is that my cervix is "a mile long." That means that I am not having any signs of preterm labor. Nothing is dilating or effacing- the doctor feels that I'm still going to be pregnant for a good while. I almost felt like I was wasting his time being so healthy. This is a doctor that sees high-risk pregnant women all day every day. He has to deliver a lot of bad news to a lot of upset parents. I'm sure he is glad to see someone that is so healthy but I kind of felt like I didn't have much reason to be there. Anyway, I was released from his care today and I have a regular OB visit next week! All said, a very good day.

Kickboxing Babies

I'm fairly certain that my girls have discovered the joy of kicking their sister. The sheer amount of activity in my belly the last two days is amazing. I just pull my shirt up and watch and wish I could see what they're doing in there. Sonogram tomorrow with the maternal-fetal doc, guess we'll find out what they're doing in there!

The cutest crib skirt you've ever seen. In your life.

I made this a few days ago and it felt like it took FOREVER! Mostly that involved cutting ribbon and tulle. Thankfully I bought the tulle on a roll (like for weddings) and so I only had to cut it to the appropriate length- not the width too.  If its hard to see- it looks like a tutu!

The light in there was kind of bright so its not actually as neon as it looks. I had been wanting to make a crib skirt for the cribs but nothing was really inspiring me. The one that came with the bedding set was really plain (plus it was $40 which I thought was a bit much) and I wanted to do something fun and cute so this is what I finally came up with. I did lots of searching on the 'net before I finally decided on the tutu skirt and I think this might be an original. Apparently tutus are really popular for little girls (for what? I don't know. Dress-up I guess) and I wanted it to have some color so I added the ribbons.

Tomorrow we are having a (birthday) party so poor Steve is at the store shopping for supplies.  I feel bad for him- he's on shopping duty on top of everything else for the next 10 or so weeks. Although, I hate going to the grocery store so I'm glad to get out of it. Mostly though it stinks not being able to do things for yourself. I feel so bad because I'm at home all of the time and Steve has to go to work every day and then still come home and do housework and take care of me. Its hard losing your independence even if its only for a few months. I can only imagine that it would be so much worse if I was on bedrest. At least I'm allowed to cook if I feel like I can. Or whatever.

My stomach is ridiculous!

If all goes according to plan, I have about 10 more weeks left of pregnancy. I can NOT imagine where 10 more weeks worth of growth is going to go! And my poor tummy is SO itchy! What is that about? I mean, I know its common to have an itchy belly when your pregnant but is mine more itchy because I'm getting so big so fast?

I'm wearing my new "Be nice to me, I'm having twins" shirt. I thought I was getting a black one but I guess I ordered white.

Nesting?

This weekend, Steve and I *suddenly* realized that the babies will be here in somewhere between 6 and 10 or 11 weeks. That's not very much time! To that end, I've been online-shopping and working on some projects to get ready. Saturday night we set up one of the cribs. This one is going in the babies' room- the other one will be in our room but we're not setting it up quite yet.

Steve wasn't real excited about me taking pictures of him working- apparently the screws and the other parts didn't want to stay together and it was frustrating. I just look at it as now he has experience for the next one. The crib is super-cute though as you can see. Just needs a crib-skirt and I have to make those yet. And the curtains. Busy busy. For my next project, I decided that the dresser and the desk/changing table needed more girly hardware. They were just plain metal handles which have been spray-painted pink now! I don't have a before picture.

I don't know how well you can really tell but the handles match the bedding perfectly. And for our last project, I had this plain black shelf that we've had forever and never really used. I'm not even sure where it came from.

Anyway, it is now a cute green shelf (its not as mint-green as it looks in the picture. More of a pistachio).

And now, because this post doesn't have enough pictures already, I will entertain you with my rapidly-expanding belly... Here I am 5 weeks ago at 21 weeks-

And last week at 26 weeks-

And yet somehow, I keep thinking I can't get any bigger. But I do. Steve says it looks like I'm pretending, like I've got a pillow or something underneath my shirt.

Designed For Babies

I recently found out about the website Designed For Babies. They have clothes and stuff for twins, triplets and quads. I recently ordered this shirt- I haven't got it yet but I'm excited. Maybe I'll wear that next time I go to the mall...

I hope that they don't mind- I snatched this picture from their website.  I hope it gets here soon!

Doctor visit

I had (another) doctor's appointment today. I'm at 26 weeks +2 days and everything is right on track. The babies and I are very healthy and the best news (!!!) both babies are head-down! Now if they will just PLEASE stay that way... The doctor said that my belly is measuring as though I was 34 weeks pregnant instead of 26. That's what twins will do to you... Both girls are growing and happily, they are growing at the same speed. All in all a very good checkup. Two weeks from now I have another appointment with the maternal-fetal specialist and the week after that, another checkup with the regular doctor. Add in childbirth classes and visits with the doula and the hospital tour and the breastfeeding class and I feel very busy! I can't wait for the girls to get here!

In other news, Steve is in New Orleans today and tomorrow. His whole class had to go because they're studying a battle that took place there or something.

After my doctor's appointment today I went shopping. I got 4 little board books at Target for $1 each- which is a bargain. Those are usually $5-6. I also got a dress to wear to the baby shower and came to the realization that I am no longer cute-pregnant. I look like a cow now. And dresses really don't help. They make you look so much worse. But I was able to find one for the shower without too much trouble. While I was in Motherhood, I ran into Jamie that lived across the street at the old house. It was good to see her and catch up and let her know where we moved to. She actually is 34 weeks pregnant and I think she might be smaller than me. Not that its a contest or anything. Jamie was a bad influence on me- she had just come from Gymboree and so I decided to go in there and see what they had. I ended up getting two little sleep-and-plays with pink giraffes on them in preemie size. They were on sale so I didn't feel too guilty and I love when I can find two outfits that are similar without being the exact same. They are so adorable and tiny but at the same time, I can't imagine that I have TWO of those in me! Oh boy...

Also while I was shopping today, I was accosted by the old lady who was running the Olan Mills booth in the middle of the mall. She kept telling me how big I was and how I must be due soon. So just to mess with her I told her I wasn't due until October but I didn't tell her it was twins. I thought it was pretty funny until it backfired on me! When I was leaving, she stopped me AGAIN (the gall on this lady...) and made her friend come over and look at me so that they could BOTH tell me that I was too huge to be delivering in October. Wow. Don't people know the only thing you are supposed to say to a pregnant woman is "You look great."