Three Weeks!!!!

These next three weeks are going to fly by (I hope)! My To-Do list is shortening, so I'm feeling READY! Well, as ready as one could possibly be when expecting a baby. (Or two). We took a class at our hospital on Saturday, Preparing for Multiples, and I learned a whole lot! 

I woke up yesterday morning, Monday, with the most horrible pain in the lower right side of my abdomen. It hurt to stand, sit, breath... and especially walk. When the pain started radiating into my lower back, we called the doc, and 20 minutes later were on our way to L&D to have everything checked out.

The babies are GREAT! The pain I was in was not related to them at all --- they were just moving and grooving all day without a care in the world. The doc really wasn't sure what was causing my pain, but needed to rule out appendix issues since that is what is in the lower right side of the abdomen. They ordered an MRI to have a better look - he was looking for appendicitis or to see if my ovary had twisted. Which apparently both are fairly common in pregnancy and can cause sharp pains.

We showed up at L&D at 9:00 AM, and did not get taken back for the MRI until about 4. I wasn't allowed any food or water the entire time I was there. No food or water = dehydration = lots of contractions. After finishing the MRI, they hooked me up and gave me 2 bags of IV fluids to re-hydrate me and calm down the contractions I was having. Then the doc came in and said..... he still wasn't sure what was causing the pain because the MRI was clear. Lovely. Because the pain had turned from sharp to a dull ache throughout the day, his best guess is that I had maybe passed a kidney stone. They released me at about 6:30 PM. Walking out to our car, the pain picked back up again, but I got right in bed when we got home. This morning I feel much, much better. So, who really knows. One of those random things I guess.


So here is a 34 week/3 day update:

Total weight gain: 33 pounds 

Maternity clothes: Most of my maternity tops are now too short. Been living in leggings, maternity tanks and long cardigans. Get out of here freezing temps, I'm ready for Spring!

Stretch marks: Still none. I know, really hard to believe.

Sleep: I sleep for about an hour at a time at night before having to get up to potty. Last night I had a three hour stretch, which is the longest I've gone in months.

Best moment of this week: Watching the hubs practice putting in the carseats.

Miss anything: Mostly clothing variety. I'm really tired of my maternity clothes, but refuse to buy any more at this point.

Food cravings: I've been drinking Ensures to get extra protein, and I love them.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope!

Have you started to show yet: Yes, and waddle hardcore.

Gender: A little boy and a little girl.

Labor signs: No labor signs! Thankfully my L&D trip was all "mommy" related, and the babies are doing just great.

Belly button in or out: Out

Wedding rings on or off: ehhh... on and off. Depends on what time of day it is and if my fingers are swollen.

Happy or moody most of the time: Happy, anxious, and READY for them to be here!

Looking forward to: Warm weather and a chance to sit in the backyard in shorts and a tank.

A lot of "4's"

Tomorrow marks 4 weeks until the babies arrive. Last Thursday, both Keegan and Noelle measured 4 lbs 4 oz. Today at my 33w appointment, I measured 40 weeks. I only wish I had 4 times as many hours in a day to get everything done!

Last week was awesome. I took two whole days off work - spent one with Sam & Kim, and the other with my mom, Aunt Linda and Tori. It was so nice to un-plug from work and enjoy good company!

This week I'm looking forward to girl's night at my friend Bonnie's, bible study (have I mentioned how amazing the book 'No More Perfect Moms' is? Seriously, exactly what I needed to read before these sweet babies are born), and our BABY CLASS at Dallas Presby Hospital. Our hospital offers tons of baby classes, and one specifically on preparing for multiples. Justin and I signed up months ago, since they only offer it every 6 months and it fills up fast. I'm really excited - but not so excited to sit in a chair for like 5 hours on Saturday. My feet have started to get really swollen, so I try to prop them up as much as possible. Oh well - if swollen feet is the biggest of my complaints I'd say I am doing pretty good.

The Hubs has been so amazing this whole pregnancy, but especially in the past few weeks where I have gone from feeling 'great' to 'good.' He's always calling to check in on me from work, filling up my water cup without me even asking, cooking me breakfasts before work, picking up groceries --- just little things that make me realize how lucky I am to have him and to share this experience with him. He is getting really anxious and excited for the babies to get here. He has helped me with every detail of "nesting," too --- he's been involved in the entire nursery planning and decorating process, setting up the baby station downstairs, washing and organzing their clothes... we've had fun. And he says the sweetest things. Like yesterday we were just hanging out and out of the blue he told me to remember to read them a story today. (I did first thing this morning). :)

I finally got my diaper bag. I wanted a backpack style one, since I thought having something balance off my shoulder could get frustrating. I went with the Ju Ju Be BFF bag, which converts a few different ways, and a few people had recommended it to me.

And, I've been playing with my camera and watching a lot of instructional videos on YouTube. I think out of the 100+ pics I've taken, I have about 5 that are pretty awesome. It's a start!

Camera

While I don't plan on becoming some crazy photographer (let's face it, I am usually the last person to whip out my camera at events...), I do want to capture memories as we grow our little family. And my digital camera just wasn't cutting it. A few years back, I purchased a Canon Powershot XS500  from Best Buy. I can't even really remember why. It's heavy, and while it does have the potential to get some good shots, I just never put the time into figuring out the settings. Essentially it is just a digital camera - no extra lenses or special features at all.

The Hubs and I were both blessed with unexpected bonuses and a great tax return for the year, so we decided to treat ourselves to one thing each! We make really smart (in my opinion) financial decisions, so its very out of the ordinary for us to splurge unless its for a special occasion. I decided a DSLR camera would be my splurge.

Here's another thing... the last time I made a big purchase, I didn't make the best choice. Last summer I reaaaalllly wanted road bikes. I thought I would become this super cyclist and love the sport, so we went out and bought two brand new Trek bikes. While we did enjoy riding them every once in awhile, it just wasn't a passion. And then I got pregnant. So, last month we sold them on Craigslist - and while we did get a big chunk of our money back, we definitely took a hit. It was a 'live and learn' moment in my books.

When I told Justin I wanted a camera, you should have seen the look I got. "Um, are you sure?" ... "Yes. I mean I think so, yes! Yes, I do!" haha. SO. After checking out all these entry-level DSLR cameras, I decided not to jump to one of the higher-priced options just because they looked cool. I set my budget at about $700, which I knew would get me a perfectly capable camera. After talking to Tess, she told me about camera package deals at Costco. We have a Sam's Club membership, so that's where we went!

I basically had three package options in my price range. The packages came with extra lenses, so I could have chosen from any camera below, if I wanted the camera, only:

• Nikon 3000 - $500 
• Nikon 3100 - $600
• Canon EOS Rebel T3 - $580
• Nikon 3200 - $770 *** Out of budget, but I thought twice!
• Canon EOS Rebel T3i - $798 ***Out of budget, but I thought twice!

My sister has the Canon EOS Rebel T3, and I have been super impressed with the quality of images she's snapped with the camera. That, plus the fact that I have her 'advice and expertise' at my finger tips, was the deciding factor. The Rebel T3 it was!

I am super thrilled to play around with the camera over the next few weeks before Noelle and Keegan make their debut. Any suggestions on where I should start? Youtube videos, books, websites to learn tricks??

Happy Weekend!

FRIDAY!!!!!

Justin told me that every Friday I say the exact same thing. 'Man, its been a long week.' He's right, I probably do. But I feel that way at the end of each and every work week lately. And the fact that I get about 2 hours of sleep at night because of the excruciating pains in my hips.... doesn't help. Oh my hips. I wake up every morning expecting to see those pregnancy badges of honor (stretch marks) spreading across my hips because I am just so SURE my hips grow each and every night. But so far, I've dodged that bullet. I don't think I won't get them, I just haven't gotten them yet.

I'm looking forward to a ton of stuff this weekend and next week.

Tonight our friends Bonnie & Tyler, and their sweet baby boy Carter, are coming over for dinner. Justin met Tyler through work, and when Bonnie and I met we just all really hit it off. We live on opposites sides of Dallas so its hard to get together too often, but we've been trying to more often lately. I'm making brisket tacos, some yummy sides, and this dip my friend Amanda introduced me too!

Then tomorrow all of the girls in my bible study, our husbands and their kiddos are getting together so our families can meet. I'm super excited about this because of how close the 5 of us ladies have gotten lately --- we hope the husbands hit it off haha!

AND THEN, on Sunday, Justin and I are going to dinner with another couple (who he met through work, but I haven't met yet). The guy's wife is pregnant with twins!! She is about 6 weeks behind me, and we've been meaning to get together to meet and talk babies. I'm super excited. I feel like all of these new people have been put in my life at the perfect time; I truly feel like I have a support system in Dallas now - which is just a really awesome feeling knowing that our lives are about to get crazy.

I joined the PAMOM (Mom's of Multiples) group up here, and am going to my first meeting on Tuesday night. The very first piece of advice I get from mom's with twins is to make sure to join the club - apparently it is so helpful. They have forums for advice, play groups, recommendations on nannies/doctors, and offer all sorts of help to new moms. The lady who signed me up for the group told me not to buy any more Preemie size clothing. She said if the babies don't fit into newborn clothes, they have a "closet" stocked with brand new clothing that someone will bring me a huge bagful when the babies are born. It's like their welcome gift - access to the 'Preemie Closet.' lol. And I've been assigned a mentor mom (someone who lives close to me who already has twins), who apparently will bring us frozen dinners and come by to check on us when we are home from the hospital. Kinda funny, but really cool.

On Wednesday, Sam and Kim are coming up to visit me for the night because they are on Spring Break. I'm so grateful for them. They are the kind of friends that we can go months without talking, but every time we do it's like we catch up instantly. Actually, I have quite a few friends like that - I think its important. Unfortunately not everyone is like that, and I recently lost a friend because of it. That was hard for me too... In the back of my mind I kept asking... what's wrong with me!? Which I realize now was way off. I think a simple conversation would have made a huge difference, but it is what it is.

So basically, this 32 week pregnant gal has quite a bit going on over the next few days. Gotta squeeze it all in while I still feel good. But honestly, one thing a day isn't too bad. I really try to take it super easy as much as I can during the day or I get really tired.

 

One last thing - I signed up for Amazon Mom this week too! They have an automatic diaper delivery service that is cheaper than ANY diapers I've seen in stores, plus free 2-day shipping on everything I order off Amazon. My first box of 240 pamper's swaddlers came in the mail in 2 days for $30. I've compared prices at Target, Walmart, Babies R Us... Amazon is a good $10 cheaper on every size diaper/brand. They send a certain amount of diapers per month, and you just update your profile as you need to go up a size. If you end up with an extra box of a size the babies no longer wear, they take it back - and shipping back is free too. Cheap diapers showing up on my doorstep? Win/win if you ask me.

Bump and mint green chucks.

Tuesdays are the official countdown days.

OK. If all goes as planned, 6 weeks from today I will be holding my sweet babies.  Holy toledo.

What's happening lately? Let's see. Last night I did another load of newborn clothes. I plan to have all of their preemie and newborn things washed before they get here, and maybe a load of onesies in 0-3 month size. I've been told they will practically live in onesies and sleepers at first, so I really don't want to wash their 'fancy' little tiny clothes just yet. Because if I realize they won't get worn, I'd like to swap them for the size up. Washing things for my littles is so much more fun than washing my maternity clothes. It's almost funny. Every time I do laundry, the saaaaaame shirts and leggings are circling through. I miss my skinny jeans.

My sister and BIL came to visit us this weekend. It's so nice when she's here. We had zero plans, but somehow the time they were here flew by so quickly. We did DIY a Moby wrap using this pattern. Essentially the Moby wrap is just a super long rectangular strip of stretchy knit fabric. We used the same exact dimensions as the ones they sell in the store (for $50++), but I was able to pick my own fabric. I chose cream, and am still trying to decide on the little 'embelishment' to mark the center of the wrap. For $30, I was able to make two moby wraps that turned out great! The hubs even tried it on. Side note: My husband is going to be such a hot dad. Like, seriously good-looking. End side note, not sure if he will wear the wrap out in public, but I bet he wears it around the house every now and then. 'Baby-wearing' is so hot right now, ya'll.

The hubs and I have been reading Babywise together and he has such a better memory than I do. I have a notebook I have to write everything down in, and he can splurt out baby info. like its no big deal. Like the fact that the first month or so, we will go through 20 diapers a day. That's 600 diapers the first month. The Pamper's swaddlers come in packs of 20, so basically one pack a day will just up and disappear. Gosh, cloth diapering is so intriguing to me right now. Maybe, maybe... 

Oh, and while she was here, sister snapped some maternity photos for me. She'll be blogging about the whole thing, but I couldn't help but share a few of her amazing shots.