32 Week Update

How far along? 32 weeks 1 day
Maternity clothes? Yep. But things fit fine for now. :)
Best moment this week: Ok. I am tired. All the time. BUT, my tiredness has decided to manifest itself in the form of laughter, which is awesome. Last Sunday, Cameron poured me a cup of crystal light at dinner. He filled it right to the brim and I laughed, HARD, for an hour about it. Days later, I was just minding my own business when I thought of that cup of crystal light and a laugh attack happened again. It's happened 3 times so far. Hilarious. And in my head, I know I'm being totally ridiculous, which only makes me laugh harder. Also, Valentine's Day. :) Cameron totally spoiled me (AND WE STAYED IN THE BUDGET!) He made the next volume of our family videos which included IVF and the pregnancy. Made me sob. And it was my first "treat day" so I enjoyed a gorgeous bowl of yogurtland's best. YUM. We also went to a piano trio concert...which was a little too culturey for us. We spent the bulk of the first half of the concert making up movie scenes to go along with the "music" and left at intermission. (I caught another case of the giggles in the middle of it too...and everything is far more hilarious when you're not supposed to make noise...oh dear.)
Movement: More just stretching, although there are a few kicks and turns. You can see them moving like crazy from outside now. I actually got it on video on my phone, but the file is too large to text to my e-mail, so I can't show you. Maybe sometime I'll figure out how to get it onto the computer.
Food cravings: The other night we were watching tv and the mom on the show walked in with a tray of carrot sticks. I immediately gasped in delight. Cam asked me what was up and I said, with the hugest smile on my face, "I have cucumber slices in the fridge!" Very little can make me as happy as the right food can right now. I made some veggie sushi the other night and dipped it in my mom's wonton sauce. (glory, I should post that recipe). Also on the happy list, Emilee's shrimp dip and club crackers. And Sarah Salad. And just about anything else Em makes. The same giddy smile happened at her house during the super bowl party. I had just finished off my second plate and sat on the couch so dang contented with my life, all because of the food.

Also, Mango. I could eat a boatload. I've had a Mega Mango smoothie from Jamba Juice and a big bowl of Mango Mixer from Yogurtland in the past week. Oh joy. And it's shopping day, so I will be filling up on more fruits and veggies (and hopefully a mango...and grapefruit...or two.)
Labor Signs: Not sure. We'll find out tomorrow at our appointment if any of these "surges" are actually changing anything down there or if I just have an over-excited uterus that really wants to practice for the big day.
Belly Button in or out? Neither. And, as Cameron so lovingly pointed out yesterday, it's purple.
What I miss: Nada. I've been kind of in survival mode for the past little while and yesterday, watching the video Cameron made me totally woke me up. It feels good to be alive again. :)
What I am looking forward to: A nap. And a big glass of water. And my chiropractic appointment. And grocery shopping for fruit. (cue the giddy smile).
Milestones: 32 weeks. That's kind of a big deal, isn't it? Also, I'm increasingly panicked about getting my wedding ring to come off. I hope my fingers don't swell up too much in the next few weeks. My toes and ankles are taking on water, but if they are rubbed often, the swelling goes right down. Not sure how long that will last.
Realization of the week: There are two real babies in my belly. And they are coming to our family. My cousin had her sweet baby boy on Sunday and it hit me that that will be me, us, in just a few short weeks. He is gorgeous. Soft skin, dark eyes, tiny hands and feet. And eventually, I'll be able to see exactly what our boys look like, they won't be black and white ultrasound outlines anymore. I can't wait.

Baby Shower!

This post has been needing to happen for a while. Two weeks ago, 4 fantastic ladies pulled together to throw me the most adorable baby shower ever! (Major shout out to Whitney who actually drove all the way from Idaho to make things look gorgeous and to Jessica who stayed up til all hours of the night finishing this and making the cake!). I seriously couldn't have asked for more. What fun it was to see everyone who came out and showed their support. It means so much to me. I ran out of thank you cards, but should be able to pick some up tomorrow, so yeah. I'm happy that's something I can do from the couch as my ankles have swollen up in the past 2 days. :)

But seriously, check these pictures out!

How gorgeous is that spread? Whitney sure is good at what she does, and Jessica, that cake is TOO dang cute!

I am totally stunned at how many people stopped by to say hello and stayed to chat and give much needed advice about these babies. It was so fun to see everybody! Somehow I managed to not get a single picture of me with Whitney, but here are some of the party. :)

Whitney was the photographer, so I suppose it makes sense that she's not in any of these, but it still bums me out. She cracks me up. Halfway through the party she told me to stop eating because all the pictures she had of me, I had something in my mouth. The food was GOOD. Jessica made a tortellini soup and homemade bread that was to. die. for. YUM. I think the recipe's on her blog.

These boys are SPOILED.

I can't thank everyone enough for making such a fuss over me. It sure made the last little while fun and gave me something to look forward to toward the end of this pregnancy. I can't wait to see their little bodies in all the clothes we got.

Only 6 more weeks! (tops!)

31 Week Update

How far along? 31 weeks 4 days
Maternity clothes? Yep. Any long sleeve shirts that Cam owns have now been claimed as my own. I love them. They're snuggly. And sometimes they smell like him (not his cologne, heaven forbid, just him).
Best moment this week: We had one really good mail day this week where my snaps for the cloth diapers FINALLY got here and two unexpected baby packages came! We got the most  beautiful crocheted blankets from my friend Lacey (who just announced that she's expecting!), and a good blog friend of mine named Kourtney sent the cutest little guy ties and swaddle blankets EVER. It's so fun for me to see the support of others. Made my whole day. ALSO, one of my BEST infertile friends finally beat the odds and called me early in the morning last week to tell me the great news! And now I am on the secret train and can't say anything else, but dang it I sure love success stories. :)
Movement: Yes. And it hurts. Nash does this stretch thing where he rams his head into my cervix and pushes his feet into my bruised ribs. Gray, on the other hand, is a bit of a dancer. Music really makes him go wild. Both of them totally chill out whenever Cam touches them, though. We're at the point now where we can feel random appendages and push them back in. (that sounds a little creepy, lol.)
Food cravings: Fruits and veggies. It's actually quite nice. I just ate the last orange though...shopping trip needs to happen soon I suppose.
Labor Signs: Nothing out of the ordinary. I'm hoping to keep it that way.
Belly Button in or out? Neither. Weirdy.
What I miss: Energy. I am big and tired, ladies. It's like it happened overnight. All of a sudden doing anything at all sounds just terrible. And I'm uncomfortable. (We all knew it was inevitable!) The nice thing is, Cam is a saint. And he takes my freak outs in stride and gets me something to eat and is happy to rub out whatever rib is hurting at the moment.
What I am looking forward to: Jimmer v. Nash tonight. Oh boy. Seriously, could there be a better game? Also, I'm looking forward to blogging about my baby shower. It was supposed to be posted before this update, but I'm over halfway through the week and needed to get the update done. Honestly, the only thing keeping me from posting this update was that I hadn't done my hair all week. Seriously. Make-up was at a minimum too. Next time, I'm just going to give it to you straight. Tuesday, you get what you get. Not gonna lie, it's scarier than you'd think. (or maybe it's as scary as you think...). Cam's hilarious. I said the other night "I can't believe you don't find me completely repulsing at the moment." And he said "Of course not. Granted, you're not as smokin' as you always are..." The man is a genius with words. Made me laugh.
Milestones: There are batches of baby laundry surrounding me right now. Everything is sorted and headed through the wash. I can't believe my house looks like this. I remember a long time ago reading a baby blog where the girl was preparing for her little boy to get there and she had just started doing laundry for him. I remember wanting that so bad. And now it's here. And it's double. And everything smells wonderful. :) I'm sure eventually washing clothes for these boys won't be on my happy list, but today it is.
Realization of the week: I am bigger than I think I am. I run into everything lately. Cupboards, doorways, the bed, the couch, the ottoman. I'm a bit top heavy as well. My legs really haven't got a whole lot bigger, but my belly...ha, which means I am a bit precariously perched and often over shoot it when trying to get off the couch. Teetery is the best word I can think of to describe this. I run into Cameron all the time and the first time it happened, I blamed him. Who are we kidding?

30 Week Update

How far along? 30 weeks 3 days
Maternity clothes? Yep. Cam's shirts fit me really good right now, too. I'm currently measuring 39.5 weeks for a singleton pregnancy, so apparently this is what I would look like at full term if we were only having one baby. I'm pretty content with that. I could totally have one baby. Height helps, y'all.
Best moment this week: The Baby Shower on Saturday! I can't believe how many of you came out to support me and spoil these little boys! I had a fabulous time. The room was packed and two very talented ladies made it so dang cute. My sister finished the baby call quilt just in time. I will be blogging this in its own post. It deserves it.
Movement: All the time! They respond to sounds now too. It's interesting to me. Last night I figured out that they don't like rap much. The opening scene to an episode of Friday Night Lights was at a party. They didn't move at all. Then, the happy-go-lucky title sequence music started and they both kicked/rolled/danced through the entire thing. Gray is now head down (YAY!), which means they are curled up together and they both kick the same spots, but my ribs have never felt better. Bruises are getting the chance to heal for the time being. Sweet mercy, it's fantastic. I think Nash is getting a bit of revenge for being sat on for so long because he's now the one squishing Gray. We found out yesterday that Nash has caught up and is only 3 oz. smaller than his brother. He's taller though. :) And has a bigger noggin.
Food cravings: Fruits and veggies. And water. I've heard the never-ending thirst gets worse when you breastfeed. Not sure how it can get worse. I drink more than 100+ oz. of water every single day. Not including juice and milk consumption which is also at an all-time high. And I am still *parched*. (please say parched in a high squeaky voice, a la Squince from the Sandlot during the vacuum scene). I can't handle the heater being on in the car because it dries out my lips and throat even more and induces a panic attack. Cam drives with very cold hands now. He's a trooper. :) (I also turn the heater off at home all the time. It's enough to stress me out in less than a second. Feels like I can't breathe.)
Labor Signs: Went on a walk a couple days ago. Had to stop because I was blacking out. Cam sat me down on the couch for the rest of the night after we finally made it home. The walk was maybe 10 minutes. Considering I'm measuring "full term" and my uterus thinks it should be done stretching, the Dr. says that blacking out is perfectly normal, but that I should really be taking it easy for the next 6+ weeks. Both boys are weighing in at just under 4 pounds, so we've got almost 8 pounds of baby in there!
Belly Button in or out? Consider it at ground zero. Have you ever seen a belly button that is stretched flat? It is a bizarre looking situation.
What I miss: Not really sure how to answer this one. Yesterday it would've been sleep, but I slept so deep last night that there are no complaints here. We're in the home stretch! 30 weeks already and we won't make it to 40! Wahoo! That went so dang fast. [Edit: Thank you little "you might also like" widget at the bottom of the post. This is what I'm missing today.]
What I am looking forward to: Finishing these cloth diapers. I have 9.5 done, and then took a break because we started working on some artwork for the nursery and needed the sewing table for assembly. I need to bite the bullet and finish the rest. I've got it down to about 35 minutes to sew each one, so really I just need to do it. Also, we're getting bins of clothes from Cam's sister on Sunday. She has 2 year old twin boys and gobs of clothes. I can't wait to sort through everything and wash and put them away in the "dresser" we made last week. And, Cam is staining the gorgeous changing table he built last semester. It's stunning. I can't wait to see this nursery come together!
Milestones: 30 weeks. THREE ZERO. That's so crazy to me. Mentally, I'm still thinking 38 as my goal. The dr. said that's totally possible. Regardless, though, these boys are coming NEXT MONTH. A little surreal.
Realization of the week: Head down is where it's at. I get more uncomfortable as the day goes on, but nothing compared to a couple weeks ago. Also, I'm willing to bet that cocoa butter doesn't do much but relieve itchiness. I have stretch marks on my hips and under my belly button (where the marks from the IVF shots have split). I don't mind them, though. It's not like I'm all excited to have stretch marks, but in my mind they just come with the territory. I love these boys and everything that comes with them. Also, people have started to ask if I'm "afraid because sometime these guys are gonna have to come out of me." For the record, I would much rather have them out than in (once they're ready to meet the world.) I'm not afraid of their birth day. I honestly can't wait. I daydream about it on a regular basis. And if IVF taught me anything, it is that as long as Cam is next to me, I can do anything. It's incredible to me how his hand on my arm can calm me down immediately or listening to his voice is the most comforting thing I can think of. Also, hypnobirthing says a passionate kiss is a good way to get through a tough "surge." I'm down. :)