It's teeth, der. And the standard conversation.

So, last night Aaron and I were playing with Hulk - Aaron was holding him up in the air and he was smiling really big. I looked up and what do I see? 2 more teeth! One is already through. I feel like such a bad mom that I didn't notice sooner - but relieved that the whiny buttness of my son has a reason. When he woke up this morning, I gave him Motrin and we had a large decrease in crying.

So - now that I look like I should be ready to give birth any day, I have been having this exact conversation at least once a day. Note that I have to have Hulk with me for it to go this way:

Random Person: "Is that your son?"
Me: "Yes'
RP: "How old is he?"
Me: "Almost ten months"
RP: Staring at my belly "Are you pregnant?"
Me: "Yes"
RP: "When are you due"
Me " December 2" (did I mention to you all - we scheduled the c-section for Dec 2nd. I'll be 38w2d)
RP: "Is it twins?"
Me: "Yes! Twin girls"

Then they usually just kind of shake their head, or comment that 'my hands will be full' or say "Oh my god'! One of the best things about going to that Mother's of Multiples tag sale was that I didn't feel like a freak of nature! I was with 'my people'. If Hulk isn't with me, it's more of 'normal' conversation - with people excited for me that I'm having twins.

Thanks for all the nice comments on the nursery. I'm really excited to have a plan - I'm very hopeful that we'll make progress this weekend.

I'm all about the progress

Well. This was a tiring weekend, but that isn't saying much because I'm pretty much always wiped out by the end of the day now. What is more frustrating is no matter how tired I am, I'm only really able to sleep in 1 - 2 hour increments because I have to pee or shift positions all the time. I'm trying a new tactic today which is to drink most of my fluids before 7, and see if that helps me make it through the night.

We went to that Mothers of Multiples Tag Sale, and I was mainly looking for a glider. I happen to think that gliders are an ugly necessity. I got Hulk's for free, and was hoping to get a decent one for cheap - as I totally do NOT plan on keeping either of them once they are old enough to not need to be rocked anymore. We got there just as the tag sale opened, and there was not a single glider. It certainly wasn't a waste of time - I got 2 outside swings (one like the ones at the playground that Hulk LOVES and another that is more like a plastic chair), a gate for a wider door (just like the one we currently have and love for only $5), another baby jail and a few toys (didn't go crazy though!). all for about $85. I was happy!

Not to be put off on the glider front (because I really don't want to pay upwards of $300 for one of these things) I emailed the group after the tag sale, and found someone willing to get rid of theirs in the right color for $75! Woot!

Today, I think I decided on the rug for the nursery. Which is a large level of excitement for me in my little world because the rug I have in my head does not appear to exist, and the more I think about it - I realize if it DID exist I would think it was WAY to bright. Anyway - here it is:

The other good news on the rug is that the twin's great grandmother wants to pay for it! Bonus!

I also started looking into what I want to put on the windows in the nursery. I'm planning on making a valence, but need blackout blinds. Those are pricey! With Hulk, we kept him in our room for the first three month, so I wasn't AS concerned with having the nursery done. I'm going to try to start the twins out in their room from the get-go, just because we really don't have the space for both Amby baby beds... and I noticed that moving Hulk out of our room really let ME get better sleep, when I was actaully sleeping. Anyway - it isn't like the walls have even been patched to be painted yet, nor the floor put in.... but that is Aaron's stuff! I can get the easier decorating stuff done and ready to go at least....

In Hulk news, I think he has entered that clingy stage. When he wakes up in the morning, he pretty much cries until I walk away at daycare. I used to be able to sit him happily on the floor and let him play while I walked around the room and got ready for work. Not so much anymore. I put him down, he cries. I walk into the closet to get my clothes, tears. Into the bathroom to brush my teeth? MAAMAMAMAMA. Sigh. Nice to know I'm loved, but also hard to see him so upset when he used to be so happy in the morning! I try to get as much set up in the evening as a can, so we spend most of the morning hanging out together, but it isn't like I can brush my teeth the night before! My daycare buds say this phase seems to last about a month... here is hoping I only have 3 weeks left of this!

Let them eat cake!

I passed with flying colors! I guess I am living proof that eating a full chocolate flourless torte the day before your GD test is a bad idea.

Dually noted.

I already have banana bread in the oven.

This week has been a lot of fun with Hulk. He is all of a sudden definitely calling Aaron DaDa and me Mama. He dances to music (too cute). And he stands unassisted... but only if he doesn't notice. If you make a big deal of the standing, he looks at you and plops his butt down.

This weekend we've got a huge amount planned - there is a Mother of Multiples tag sale Saturday morning, my mom is arriving in the late morning, we are all going to Aaron's company picnic Saturday afternoon... and Sunday we are visiting Hulk's godfather! Phew!

Brain is starting to fail

I'm dealing with an annoying production issue at work which has daily status meetings at 9:30 AM and 4:30 PM. Yesterday, I realized that Hulk had his repeat flu shot at 9:15, and my dog, Henry, had his second Lyme booster shot at 4:15. Like that timing? I figured I could move Henry's until tomorrow (since I'm just going to take the day off for that 3 hour GD test), and just miss the morning meeting.

Aaron chimed in that he could just take Hulk to the doc. And drop him off at daycare! Heaven! I usually do the drop offs in the morning because Aaron likes to get to work super early (like 6 AM). I spent last night making baby food (which I meant to do this weekend, duh) and packing Hulk's bags and getting everything ready to go for the morning so it was nice and easy for Aaron. Made me realize I should probably do that for myself - much easier in the evening than the morning but whatever. I did mention to Aaron that it was weird that I didn't get a confirmation call from the doc for the flu shot (we usually do) but thought that maybe because it was just a nurse visit, maybe they didn't do it.

I slept in a little this morning while Aaron got Hulk up and dressed. Aaron brought me breakfast in bed. I even took a shower in the morning! So nice! I got downstairs and still got to play with him and we even went for a nice walk around the block and talked about our day.

Aaron got to the doctors, I'm logged into work and was on the call - when Aaron calls. The appointment isn't until Oct 7th. WTF?! I was so sure it was today. Guess I'm starting to lose it.

Grrrrr.

Damn it. I failed the one hour GD test. I have to go back for the 3 hour on Thursday. The levels they want are 134 or under, and I was at 145. I wonder if the large amount of birthday cake eaten over the weekend has anything to do with it?

What pisses me off is that I passed the same test with Hulk with flying colors. Sigh. I guess each pregnancy if different. I also haven't been able to exercise with this pregnancy, and I'm sure that makes a difference.

Anyway - I forgot to tell you all about my birthday weekend. My MIL visited, and she decided to totally reorganize my kitchen and pantry. Which normally would piss me off - but our kitchen was the last thing we unpacked when we moved in 5 years ago, and even since, we've been meaning to reorganize it. Especially with all the baby 'stuff' (bottles, dishes, bibs, sippy cups) and anticipation of MORE baby stuff to come. Now, everything is off the counter, we've gotten rid of things we never use, the baby stuff has it's own cabinet and I can see everything in my pantry! Now I just need to manage to keep it that way.

28 weeks

I had my 28 week checkup this morning - everything is looking good - I'm measuring 34 weeks! And I had my gestational diabetes test - I should hear tomorrow if I didn't pass. Someone will be calling today to get me a date for my c-section! I go again for a check up at 31 weeks, and then I start going every 2 weeks, and getting non-stress tests on the twins 2 times a week.

Good thing I have an understanding boss.

Speaking of work, I decided on what I'm going to do for my maternity leave. With Hulk, I saved up all my vacation, and then used it to come back part time for the first month. Which, turns out, was awful. It was like I had to go back to work twice. Once part time and then full time. So this time, I was just trying to decide if I should take my vacation before the twins come or after. I was having trouble deciding if I should take the 2 weeks off before my scheduled c-section? To relax and also assuming it's going to be hard to move around by that point. Or after - so I can spend more time with the twins? It's a hard call - but my manager said we did it wrong last time - that before I can go out on disability (aka maternity leave), I'm technically supposed to use up all my vacation. So that pretty much answered it for me. I guess I could start the vacation the day of my c-section, but I just think taking the time before they arrive is a good idea.

My last day at work is Nov 16th (assuming my c-section is the 30th - I'll find out that today)! Of course, that is the best case scenario - who knows what is going to happen with the end of this pregnancy... but it's good to have a plan. So, I'm off work in less than 2 months! Seems like this pregnancy is flying by. Now we need to get working on the nursery....

Perfect Moment Friday

Today is my birthday. I love my birthday. It was such a big deal in my house growing up - cake, balloons, you name it. So last night, when Hulk woke up coughing, I didn't move. I decided it was my birthday, and Aaron could handle it (figuring he would just lay down and go back to sleep after a few back pats). Well, 30 minutes later, Hulk was still coughing and crying. Since I'm not working today, I went in and told Aaron to go back to bed- I can take a nap today, no big deal. He was already really close to falling asleep, so we rocked for a bit, and then went into the guest room and slept together on the bed.

Aaron came in before work and gave me my birthday cards (yep - we can never just pick one) but I didn't open them because it was dark and Hulk was sound asleep.

We woke up around 7:15 (that would be birthday present #1) and I rolled over and opened the cards. They were a mix of funny and cute ones, including one that had the song 'Move it' playing when you opened it. Hulk looked at me, looked at the card, and his jaw dropped. When the song finished, he patted the card - so I made the song play again. I started reading the last card - which was super sweet - in summary saying that we'd been through a lot but we have the best life ever (which I wholeheartedly agree with) and just as I was tearing up - Hulk starts dancing to the music.

Perfect.

Mini-Vacation

Since tomorrow is my birthday, I decided to take a couple days off. Today was a busy and fun day - I got up normal time, got Hulk to daycare, went and picked up some super cute shoes for the girls that someone was selling on my twins group, and then got a massage and a hair cut. I haven't gotten my haircut in over a year! What a difference!

Then, I went to Babies R Us and made a registry! And came home and spent the last hour organizing my outlook contacts because my girlfriends are throwing me a shower! I totally didn't expect to get a second one, you know - since I had a shower last year at the exact same time!?!? But I'm excited. I love just the idea of having a party to celebrate the impending arrivals, but it'll be nice to get a few presents too, I must admit. We really need to get a lot of stuff that I didn't think we'd have to buy again (you know, because Hulk would have outgrown it by the time we had our second baby?) - fortunately, I've managed to get a lot used from friends and the twin's group - but things like mattresses I'm not willing to get used.

I'm now going to go watch some TV and knit for a little bit before I get Hulk. Tomorrow, the plan is about the same - Aaron may even take the day off and do some baby room work. I'm planning on milking my birthday for all it's worth!

For your entertainment

Here I am at 27w1d: That's right folks.... 11 weeks to go and I'm freaking HUGE. Shall we compare to me at 38 weeks with Hulk?
What's that you say? I look BIGGER?!?!?

Why yes, yes I do. Thanks for noticing.

TGIM

Well - not a normal thing, but thank god it's Monday. My father arrived on Friday afternoon (2 hours earlier than expected) and left Sunday. I almost didn't work from home on Friday, but I figured I might as well because he is always at least an hour early. I commented when they arrived (2.5 hours early) that I was still working, and Dad says 'Well, me showing up early shows that you are important to me'. I think it shows that he doesn't respect my time/schedule/life and he thinks he is number one at all times, but take it as you will.

Like I said, he is getting older and less able to upset me - now I just take whatever he says and let it roll. Usually. The one that at least made me realize that he certainly hasn't changed, was when I was telling him we would be going to church on Sunday morning. I mentioned that he may not want to come, because my pastor is openly gay. My father is an Episcopalian, and totally against the fact that they are allowing gay bishops. His comment on that? "It's not that I mind the gays. It's that having gays as bishops leads a bad example for 'confused' youth, and leads them away from a 'normal' life.".

I just commented on the rain. He did come, and it seemed like he actually like it - and didn't offend anyone - which was totally surprising to me.

The next one was something that still bothers me - and I'm pretty impressed that Aaron handled it so well. Aaron cooked both dinners when they were here - rather involved ones. Friday night was a pork roast (mashed potatoes, broccoli and a blueberry pie) and Saturday night we did lobsters. Cooking lobsters at home is a huge mess, and you basically have to clean your entire kitchen after. So, dad gets his lobster, proceeds to eat it before Aaron even sits down, and them leaves the table to watch the news (FOX news - and OMG, I've never watched Fox news and now I know why!!). About 45 minutes later, Aaron is still cleaning up the kitchen, and my dad shuffles in and proclaims 'I'll take some of that pie off your hands'. And Aaron almost lost it. He says rather sharply - 'I'm still cleaning up from dinner, Jim. You'll have to wait'. And my dad says 'You sound angry - are you angry?!'. And Aaron just answers - "We'll have pie when I'm done cleaning up.".

What is most annoying, is that it's obvious that for my father, it's totally and completely all about him. And sad really, because my stepmother is very nice - and she is basically treated as a servant. I look forward to her visiting in December without him.

Thankfully, Hulk was his normal, adorable self - happily playing and showing off (he is definitely says Uh oh and ByeBye now) so Barb and Dad had fun watching him all weekend and that was a nice buffer to my dad being his normal, asshole self.

I had my 27 week u/s today, and both babies look great still (Baby A is 2 lbs 10 oz, and Baby B is 2 lbs 6oz) and my cervix is nice and long (4.25 cms). And Baby B was kicking Baby A in the head - little sister is already causing trouble!

I deserve this.

About 2 years ago, we moved offices. Just from one floor to another - but it was a move. In our old space, I had an office. I loved my office. It was a hole in the wall, small, no windows.... but IT HAD A DOOR. That I could CLOSE. When we moved there weren't enough offices for all VPs, and since I was the VP with the least seniority, I was going to get a cube. So I fought and fought and fought (and finally, won) for the cube on the furthest end of the floor, outside of the general foot traffic, and on a corner with windows. If I was going to end up in a cube, this was pretty much the perfect cube.


I did not expect to be pregnant for 2 years straight. Let me give you an illustration of my issue:

(You probably need to click to make it bigger).

It's a very very very long walk to the bathroom. Like, I'm not exaggerating, at least a 5 minute walk. I would say that I'm in the office for plus or minus 8 hours a day. And I'm walking to and from the bathroom for maybe an hour of that day, as my bladder is the size of a pea.

I was rather bitchy in my fight for this cube (I'm not ashamed of it - the woman that I was fighting with to get this is a pretty nasty woman, and just on that alone doesn't deserve a nice cube)... but this is my punishment. I'm guessing that at least one time in the 12 weeks I'm not going to make it to the bathroom in time.

9 months

Just got back from Hulk's 9 month check up. He is at 25.2 lbs, 29 1/2 inches and looking great! Poor guy also got 2 shots and blood drawn. The blood was a "do it now or in 3 months" deal, and I decided that in 3 months, I'd probably be there with THREE babies (omgomgomgomgomg) so doing it now made sense.

Hulk hated it.

But he survived.

In other news.... I no longer fit in the master bathroom shower. It's a small shower to begin with - the opening is in total 28 inches wide. We had to special order the shower door, and it's a 'pivot' door - meaning that it has like a 6 inch panel on one side - making the opening even SMALLER. Anyway - on Sunday night I tried to get in the shower, and I tried to suck in (um - hello? Where are you going to 'suck in' the babies too? Jesus). Anyway - I couldn't make it. I showered in the other bathroom - and it was actually kind of nice having all that space - but the shower head sucks. I waited a few days to admit to Aaron that I no longer fit in the shower... and could he look into the crappy shower head in the guest bathroom?

He went upstairs with me, and looked at it (can't figure out the issue - may just need a new shower head) and then turned to me, looked at my belly, chuckled and said 'So you really don't fit in our shower, huh?!'.

Sigh. 12 more weeks.

Yes, we labored

Ha. Labor Day weekend was great fun here. Friday I took off work and got a BUNCH of things done with Hulk in daycare. Drove around to do a bunch of errands, and even took the long neglected dog to the vet. Also peeled wallpaper!

Over the rest of the weekend, it was a good balance of fun and getting stuff done around the house. Aaron is pretty much done with his basement project, we filled a dumpster with crap, got rid of our old frig, organized the garage (which was a big mess from both Aaron's basement project and a few seasons of neglect) and my car is back in the garage. I had a lot of help this weekend from various friends and family, and all of the wallpaper is off the walls in the twins room. And we had fun dinners each night with nearby family. We even went and researched what sort of flooring we are going to put in both the twins room and the kitchen (I hate hate HATE the kitchen tile and cabinets. When we got the awesome new dishwasher, we had to tear out some tile. Aaron was going to replace those few that broke... but then we decided to look into other options. So the plan for this winter is to redo the floor, and paint the cabinets. We'll see if we really have the time for that.)

Hulk cut his two top teeth this weekend, and has an awesome cold, which he SO sweetly passed onto his mumma (why did I decide that this was the week to try to teach him how to 'kiss'. I think it's the 'open mouth with tongue kisses' that got me). I now have no voice, and my boss is in town from NJ all week. Goodie goodie.

Oh. And my All Nighter pillow arrived on Friday. And yes. It IS awesome. MUCH better than the snoogle. The snoogle I found to be too thin. This one is perfect, and you really don't even need another pillow with it! Much easier to sleep with and roll over with. I give it a thumbs up!

That is all the news. Not very exciting, but still a great weekend!

Today

Today I'm taking a personal day just for the hell of it. I started off the day with Hulk sleeping until 7:30 (glorious) and then picking up a free Boppy pillow from someone on my local twins group. My GPS said her street didn't exist, my iPhone GPS thingie couldn't find her either, and I ended up being sent north to go south. Whatever. But I did find a Taco Bell nearby (I know, I know, Taco Bell is gross but I love their bean burritos with a white hot passion). And then I got a coffee and they had apple fritter donuts. Hurrah.

I'm now going to work on the wallpaper for an hour or so, and then take the dog to the vet (he is totally overdue for his shots, poor, neglected dog).

I'm also planning on visiting a sewing buddy who is going to help me decide how to make my own swaddles. I know that you can use blankets as swaddles, but in the middle of the night, those velco/fleece swaddles that come in the set with the sleepsacks (Halo SleepSack) are so quick and easy! Thing is, I found I was using only the swaddle part, not the sleep sack part. And the whole set is like $20, and I can't seem to find a place to buy them separately. So, I'm going to try and figure out if I can sew some myself. I want to have 4 or 6, so if they get dirty and I haven't done laundry, I've got some. So, if it's possible to make them for less than $80 - I'm going to do it. And not make the tag blanket mistake. Sure, I made them cheaper than I could buy them. But I spent about $100 on supplies, and made about 20 blankets. So $5 a blanket, but do I really need 20 of them!!?!?!

Wordless Wednesday - Helping Dad

Aaron installed some Tot Loks this weekend. Hulk helps:


Wait, let me pan out to get the full picture. Hulk and Henry help!

Yah! Dad!

It is wrong that I just sat there laughing at all the 'help' Aaron was getting?

Ah.

We had a good night's sleep here for the first time in a bit - thanks to a few things. First, the weather is beautiful (I love the beginning of fall, when the night time weather is perfect for sleeping with the windows open). I finally restocked on Calms Forte (the non-drowsy sleep aid- seriously that is what it says on the box) - if you are stressed out or having trouble sleeping, I totally recommend this stuff. When I was starting to lose it right after Hulk was born and having all those breastfeeding issues, someone recommended I 'mainline' it - I didn't take too much, but I did try it, and whatever it is - it works. I also admitted that it was time to medicate the heartburn - and why I didn't start that sooner I won't know! It was heaven to roll over and not have to wake up to tummy/chest pain. And finally, Hulk slept well last night. He has been stirring a few times each night since the end of last week - I thought maybe teething? But none have made an appearance.

And in an effort to get even BETTER sleep, I ordered an All Nighter Pillow. I ripped the 'snoogle' pillow that I currently have trying to put the pillowcase back on. I went to get a new one, and it was $50 - I had forgotten how much I paid for it. I didn't even like it that much. Figuring I'm going MORE uncomfortable soon - I took some time to research - and this one, though even more expensive, seems like a good idea. Of course, because I'm cheap, I went for free shipping, so I won't be able to let you all know if it was a good buy or not for like a week.

This morning I had an awesome mothering moment. He was sleeping in his nice cuddly fleece sleep sack which zips from the top (by his neck) to the bottom (by his feet). So - to unzip - you go from feet to neck. Well, the top part of the zipper was pulled apart. So I was struggling to get him out (and trying to speed things up because any time spent on his back on the changing table is TORTURE don't you know...) and finally I got it, and, I'll have to say, the best was to describe it is that I punched him in the face. He was SO mad he pretty much cried for the rest of the time we were home until we got to daycare. And I barely touched him! I think it was more the surprise of the whole thing... but geez. Nice one, Cece. Pop your kid in the face.

Well, got to get to work. Happy first day of September, everyone!