Ultrasound appointment, week 26

We had yet another ultrasound this week! I get so excited when ultrasound week starts. On Sundays, you will hear me say, "YAY! It's BABY WEEK!", then "YAY! IT'S BABY DAY!" on my appointment day. I get so excited. If I could get an ultrasound every day, that would be great. I don't know what I would do if I was just carrying a singleton and could only go every few months. I would go nuts!!

Anyway, babies are doing great!! Baby Girl Stribling is measuring just behind her brother, weighing just at 2 pounds. The u/s tech asked if any of us have long fingers (when she saw hers), and I sadly said that nothing on me is long, so I guess she is taking after Jake in that arena. I don't really remember the heart rate exactly, but hers was in the high 150's (I wish I could remember them both each time, but I just can't! Maybe I'll instruct Jake to write them down next time) Baby Boy was measuring a little heavier, at 2 pounds, 3 oz. He is a few days ahead of 26w3d, (26w6d) and she was a few days behind (26w). I am so excited to hit the 2 pound mark. It just sounds so much heavier, since we saw all those poor 1 pound babies at the Baptist NICU. His heart rate was in the 140's. Positionally, they are still weird. She is diagonal with her head up in my ribcage and her feet on my left side. Baby Boy is horizontally still with his head on my right, his legs on my left. He moves up and down, though, and they are sometimes head-to-head. They also measured the kidneys, arm and leg bones, and heads. They are both doing great and measuring really, really well.

I am doing good as well. Still an excellent appointment for me. Nothing bad going on. My cervix has shrunk a little, but it's still good and long, so that's good. Both placentas are nowhere near my cervix too, which is good. Ovaries are still out of control, but oh well. The tech always does a vaginal u/s to measure my cervix and check out my ovaries at each appointment. She saw the left one immediately, as it looks like Antarctica over my cervix, and she dug around until finally I was like "OW!". She said she was looking for my right ovary, and I said, "Oh, you won't find it down there, its up next to my ribs, you just should have asked." I also had to take another glucose test to check for Gestational Diabetes, so hopefully that will come back looking good again. We go back in two weeks! YAY!

Pictures are below in another slideshow, since they are so many(thank goodness we had a different u/s tech this time!)

Classes have begun!!

We attended our first birthing class this week. It will last for 6 weeks, going once a week for 2 hours. It wasn't too bad. It was actually pretty good. We did a "get to know you" game at the beginning, which of course, Jake LOVED. Then we learned all about the anatomy of a pregnant woman. You would think after TTC for 2.5 years and my scientific knowledge of EVERYTHING pregnancy related I would know it all, but it was actually pretty interesting. There were about 10 couples in there including us. We were the only twin pregnancy, and everyone thought it was so cool, and they were of course jealous. (I love feeling so special all the time with these twins!) They may not be as jealous come week 3 when we want to pull our hair out, though. They also gave out free samples of two different brands of formula. Jake and I took it upon ourselves to help ourselves to two of each. After all, we are having twins. Its our right.

The best part of the whole night (besides having cookies there) was when I made Jake try on the pregnant suit. he, of course, LOVED (yet more sarcasm) that I had my camera handy. He also, love his heart, agreed that it was very heavy and very hard to tie your shoes, among other things. The bad part of the pregnant fat suit? It's considered a to be at a full-term pregnancy, and its as heavy and big as I am now. Awesome.

26 Weeks - Update on Me!

We are now at the 26 week mark! Yahoo!! I cannot believe how fast this is all flying by. Its absolutely insane. This weekend will be a first and a last for me. Sunday is my very first shower - YAY!! Its going to be in Knoxville. A mixture of my girlfriends will be there, and my mom's friends as well. We are doing a brunch on Sunday. However, Daylight Savings Time is Saturday night, which worries me. Prater's Law will tell you that half of the ladies will not show up b/c they forgot to set their clock. I am SO EXCITED though. One of my sister's friends, Shelley, will be there taking pictures too. She is a photographer, so I wanted to have some really pretty pictures taken of a shower, and since she lives in Knoxville, all the better! Now...what to wear, what to wear???

As for my last, this Saturday will be my last UT football game :( I just don't think I can do it any more this season. I am getting bigger and bigger and don't think I can waddle around UT stadium. The good news is that we really don't play anyone else of huge importance, but I am still sad. I'll miss Ole Miss, Memphis, Vanderbilt and KY.

The date for my maternity photos has been set! We are doing them on Sunday, Nov. 8th. I have been kind of worried about how late they are (um, have you seen how big I am?) so hopefully they will still be pretty and I won't look like a barn. Again...what to wear, what to wear??? They will be inside and outside. I am going to have a few outfits to wear, so I need to really buckle down and decide on this. Jake's going to be in them too. He is really excited about being a model.

How far along? 26 weeks, 3 days
Total weight gain/loss: I am officially at the +24 pound mark. Yikes. I am two weeks behind the "gain 24 pounds by 24 weeks". But, I have also gained 6 pounds in two weeks. Don't you see now why I am worried about my maternity pictures? I seem to be expanding at a very fast rate! Here's hoping that my face is even visible in the pictures, and they are not just all belly.
Maternity clothes? I think I probably have enough. I REALLY hate buying maternity clothes. Its such a waste. And I also have some other things that are normal clothes that work as maternity. However, I have four showers coming up (one where professional pictures will be taken) and my maternity shoot coming up, and let me tell you- I am DYING to buy more maternity clothes!!
Best moment this week: We got the nursery painted!! Well, actually my sister Ginny and my mom came up this weekend and put up chair rail and painted the nursery. It looks so pretty. I appreciate their help so much. Now, all we are waiting on is the rug to come (is supposed to ship on 10/30), hang the chandelier, (will be hung next Wednesday!) and put up all the cute accessories I have bought.
Movement: They move around like crazy, but the girl is very dominant in this arena. Her head is up next to my rib cage, and is diagonally down my left side. The boy is now breech, and his feet are way down my right side. Needless to say, I feel the girl constantly. Its quite evident too, b/c when I lose my breath, thats when I know she is moving. She seems to love the rib cage area.
Waist Diameter: 42 inches. I inch in two weeks!
Food cravings: Still on the chicken biscuits. Thats about it these last two weeks. Still nothing strange. Since I don't eat pork products, I half expected to crave them constantly during my pregnancy, but nope! Really, though, all I am concerned about is my protein and water intake, and that is enough to drive you crazy. I am supposed to get 100 grams of protein and drink a gallon of water per day (almost 5 liters).
Gender: Baby Stribs are a boy and girl. No extra parts.
Labor Signs: Nope, but our Multiples Class teacher told us we can tell its a contraction if our belly is as hard as the bridge of our noses. Well, my belly is so hard and tight anyway, it just makes it all the harder to tell. So, here's just hoping pre-term labor stay very far away.
Belly Button in or out? Oh....still out.
What I miss: being able to do stuff myself. I am an independent person when it come to things. I hate having to ask people to do everything for me. Or I hate everyone being so careful around me. I appreciate and love these people all dearly, but its just hard to accept.
What I am looking forward to: our next doctor's appt in two weeks, my shower this weekend, and getting our nursery near completion!!
Milestones: I am so thankful to be past the 2 pound mark (the babies now weigh two pounds). This is alot less scary to me. I know as the weeks go by it will get less scary and less scary. I just need to have faith that everything will be ok.
Realization of the week: I know I say this all the time, but sometimes it just hits me that we will actually have two human beings to care for soon. We go on and on registering for things, buying things for the nursery, planning for their arrival, and talking about them all the time. But sometimes it just literally hits me that there will be BABIES in this world that belong to Jake and I! We will be responsible for two human beings at one time and forever after this! It is so crazy to think about. It is just amazing and so scary all at the same time.

26 Weeks - an English Hothouse Cucumber

Okay, this is getting ridiculous. I have no idea what an English Hothouse Cucumber is, and it just looks like something dirty.

Baby Stribs - 26 Weeks

How your baby's growing: The network of nerves in your baby's ears is better developed and more sensitive than before. He may now be able to hear both your voice and your partner's as you chat with each other. He's inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of his lungs. These so-called breathing movements are also good practice for when he's born and takes that first gulp of air. And he's continuing to put on baby fat. He now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches (an English hothouse cucumber) from head to heel. If you're having a boy, his testicles are beginning to descend into his scrotum — a trip that will take about two to three days. (HeHe!!)

How your life's changing: Are you rushing around trying to get to childbirth classes and prepare your baby's room while still taking care of all your other daily tasks? Make sure that you also continue to eat well and get plenty of rest. Around this time, your blood pressure may be increasing slightly, although it's probably still lower than it was before you got pregnant. (Typically, blood pressure falls toward the end of the first trimester, and it tends to reach a low at about 22 to 24 weeks.)

Preeclampsia — a serious disorder characterized by high blood pressure and protein in your urine — most often shows up after 37 weeks, but it can happen earlier so it's important to be aware of the warning signs of this condition.

your lower back seems a little achy lately, you can thank both your growing uterus — which shifts your center of gravity, stretches out and weakens your abdominal muscles, and may be pressing on a nerve — as well as hormonal changes that loosen your joints and ligaments. Plus, the extra weight you're carrying means more work for your muscles and increased stress on your joints, which is why you may feel worse at the end of the day. Walking, standing, or sitting for long periods, as well as bending and lifting can all put a strain on your back. A warm bath or hot compress might bring relief. (Some women, though, find cool compresses more comforting.) Try to maintain good posture during the day, avoid activities that require bending and twisting at the same time, take frequent breaks when sitting or standing, and sleep on your side with one or both knees bent with a pillow between your legs, using another pillow (or wedge) to support your abdomen.

A little humor

So, today I was just doing some googling on "Gender Neutral Nurseries" to get ideas on paint and such, and this picture came up in Google Images.

TeHe. This made me giggle ALOT.

Happy Anniversary!!!

Happy anniversary to me and Jake. We are celebrating our 7-year anniversary today. I can't believe it has been 7 years. It some ways, it seems like yesterday. And in others, it seems like forever ago. We were so young, and have both grown up so much and become such different people than we were 7 years ago. And now we are expecting our family!! We are happier now than we ever have been. I love you Jake - Happy Anniversary! How time flies when you're having fun!!!

And as a special surprise, he bought me the chandelier for our nursery!! Yippee!! I have been looking at it for some time, trying to find the right time to purchase it. Isn't it bee-u-tiful?? The kiddos are gonna love it. And, of course, it's from Ballard Designs as well. Love that store.

What do you think? Isn't it fabulous?

Misc. Updates

There are a few updates this week, but I didn't really want to break them all into separate posts. So here goes:

We did it. We went and visited our very first daycare. And it wasn't so bad. Pretty good actually. We are trying to stay in the Green Hills area, as that is where Jake works. A new house might be on the horizon. Not soon, but sometime. And we would like to stick on one spot because we have no idea where we might be. So, since Jake works in Green Hills, we thought that would be a good first step. We went to Calvary Methodist. It came highly recommended for a co-worker of Jake's. And I think I really like the church-aspect of it. It just sounds safer (although, what do I have to compare it to, LOL? I have only been to this one)

They accept kids at 6 weeks and go up to age 5. You would think this is pretty standard, but no! SO MANY of them are very specific about what ages they will allow, and its hard to find places that accept newborns. Another reason I liked this daycare is that the standard hours are from 9-2:30 and that is a set price. If you want, you can pay extra for beforecare from 7:30-9, or aftercare from 2:30-5:30. AND, this is flexible, so you can choose which days of the week you want to do that. Most church daycares also don't do the before and after, so you only have the 9-2 option, or you have to do to a daycare center, which is usually 6-6. It makes it MUCH cheaper to go this route. (which is a BIG factor when talking about twins!) We will definitely have to do the beforecare every day, but there will be many days where I can make it there by 2:30 with my job. Not every day, but some days. And they also have a part-time schedule as well, so we are hopefully going to get to do that in the summer. Oh, and the classrooms were great. They get a new class about every 3-6 months. They have three playgrounds too, and lots of activities. It's more like a "school" which we liked.

Now, the downside you ask?? Well, the wait list already has 53 kids on it. And that is a big bummer. But, we do have friends that attend this church, and they said they would help us. Plus, there are tons of families that want only full-time. And the director said that since we are hoping to get into the summer program as part-time, we have a really good chance of getting in, therefore making our chances really good in the fall, since we are already enrolled.

Secondly, we attended our first class! Used to be, on your typical Friday night, we were out at a bar, having some beers. Now, we are at Baptist hospital from 6:30-9:30 learning all the joys of having multiple babies. There were about 10-15 couples in the class. It was really very good for us to go. They had a mom of 6-year old twin girls speak to us for a while and we did a big Q&A section. We talked about birth, what to expect the first year, how to handle it, and how not to kill yourself. :) Also, just general stuff, like what she couldn't live without, what worked for her, etc.

To Jake's delight (notice the sarcasm) we also got to watch birthing videos! We watched twins being born vaginally, and via c-section. Wow, is all I can say. There is definitely a reason they put that big blue sheet up during a c-section. I really don't think you are supposed to see what happens down there.

We also toured the NICU at Baptist. This was by far the hardest. I guess most moms of singletons don't really have to worry about this. I mean, they do, but with twins its a very real possibility that my babies could end up here, as most twins do. Those poor babies. It was so hard to see. There were two in there that weighed exactly what mine do now. 1 lb, 6 oz. They were TINY. And there was another one that weighed 12 oz- 12 oz!!!! Its little legs were as big as my finger. It was so scary. It made me so determined to do whatever necessary to keep these babies in as long as I possibly can. Please pray that it happens!!