August 30th

Thank goodness tomorrow is the last day of August. I couldn't be more excited to welcome fall-even if the temperature is much hotter than I'd like. I have to say I am really missing Utah and the gorgeous fall colors in the canyon. I feel like I have been pregnant for 2 years. Maybe it's because we found out so early...or maybe because I have been huge and uncomfortable or deathly ill the whole time...or maybe it's because I've seen all my pregnant friends have their babies in the last few months. Whatever the reason I'm about ready for these babies to get out of my body. Seriously...get out. I want them here already, even though I will be sleep deprived. I seriously can't wait! I am just praying that they will be healthy at 36 weeks and not need to stay in the hospital.
So we are finally in the last leg of the pregnancy and the countdown has officially started. My doctor called me early this week and said that after speaking with my specialist that he thought we should move my c-section date up to Oct. 2nd. So we are officially on the books for surgery and we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. This meant that I got to move everything up a week on my calendar-all my little preparatory tasks. We have a pretty busy month ahead so hopefully time will fly by! It doesn't look like I'll need to go on bed rest so far so that is great news.
Weslie has been extra snuggly this week. I think she knows something is coming. I have been loving the snuggles. She has also been more content playing at home with her toys than usual so I have been able to get lots of stuff checked off my list. She has added a step to her bedtime ritual and she now requests laying in our bed and having story time in there. She has caught on that if she wants to snuggle with us then we can't resist letting her stay up later. There's nothing cuter than her throwing her little arm around my neck and pulling me in close to her. She is such a tender girl. She is also getting a lot better at pronouncing more letters and she is FINALLY learning to self feed with a spoon (totally my fault...it took so long). Yay, Wes!
My baby shower has been rescheduled about 100 times, so that's a little frustrating. After having to move the day the first time my friends have tried to find the best day where the most people can come. We rescheduled for tomorrow but now there is a funeral for a BABY in our ward tomorrow so we are pushing it back another week. Of course I'm not bitter about moving it for the funeral...it's so sad!  I am just nervous no one will be able to come to the shower because it's been moved so many times and I feel bad that my friends put so much effort into it. Oh well, we will party with whoever comes. :)

I think tonight is a good night to eat out. We won't be able to go to a restaurant as a family for much longer. Tomorrow afternoon should be fun too. We are going shopping for a few baby clothes since it's the labor day sale and they finally have fall clothes out! I might also stop into bath and body works and get a few fall candles :)

Lots of Fuss...No Action

We made it to 30 weeks! It seems like every time I see the babies at my appointments they look more squished and it is harder to make out what I am looking at because they get in each others pictures. I go in each week but they are looking for different things each time. I won't find out how much they've grown and get their weights measured for another 2 weeks :( Today one of the things they were looking for was that the babies were practicing breathing. They have both done this for us the last 2 appointments. Today baby A refused to do it, at least that we could see definitively. It's an important sign that she is still getting enough from the placenta and that baby B isn't hogging everything. After 45 min of watching and waiting they said that they wanted to have me monitored since they couldn't get her to do it. Her heart rate was great and she was moving around lots so I knew everything was fine, but it's better to be safe and check I suppose. So I peed in my cup, spoke with my doc for a min and before I knew it he was escorting me up to labor and delivery.

When we got to the nurses counter he said, "This is Rachal, party of 3 checking in." It was pretty funny. Then he bragged about my pregnancy and said he just wanted to do a stress test to be sure everything was fine. He said I was a "Baby growing machine." I take it as a compliment. It's true, I have been lucky not to have any problems other than being so sick in the beginning. There are like 6 sets of twins in our ward so I have lots of twin mom friends that know exactly what I'm going through and they have been such a big help. Two of the moms were on bed rest at 28 weeks! My good friend Melonie delivered her twins at 32 weeks and they had to stay in NICU for 2 weeks. I am no where close to having any signs of preterm labor. I am so glad that the babies are in there growing...but at the same time I kinda wish there was some kind of movement happening! The last few weeks have gone by so slow for me. Getting checked into labor and delivery made me even more restless. So they had me put on a gown and get in bed and I got hooked up to lots of monitors for heart rates. It seemed like lots of work for nothing and I felt bad for the nurse that was stuck with me. They seemed very busy and I'm sure she was needed elsewhere, but she was very nice. Of course I wasn't planning to get admitted today so I was wearing my g's and the nurse probably thought I was some kind of freak. My hair was even braided and everything. I layed there for a long time with my eyes closed. It was nice to relax and listen to the heart beats. If only I could've napped! The nurse said things were looking great and she had to keep coming in to adjust the monitors because they were moving around so much. I had lots of contractions while I was there and she kept asking me if I could feel any of them but I couldn't so she wasn't worried. "You're uterus is just gearing up for the huge growth spurt these babies are about to start," she said. Yes-I am still going to get a lot bigger. She tried to call my doc but couldn't reach him. Finally at 4:00 she decided to just let me go so I could eat but I had to promise to keep my phone with me in case my doc wanted me to come back for some reason (As if). What an awesome nurse sneaking me out! Oddly enough, being there all day wore me out! I have to give a shout out to my mom for watching Snoops ALL DAY and being stuck without a car seat.

Our goal for delivery(well mostly my doctor's goal as he wouldn't really negotiate the date AT ALL) is October 8th. As long as things look great at the next 2 appointments then I'll be going on the books for surgery. Man that seems far away! I am getting more and more uncomfortable every day. Eek!

28 Weeks

Another Week...another check up. I see my doc every week now. It means a lot of wasted gas but it also means I get to see the babies every week! Today the doc told me that every week of growth we can get from here on out is awesome. I'm not showing any signs of preterm labor or anything so I'm sure there will be several more weeks to come (8 if my doctor can help it).
I have kind of been holding off on the excitement all this time because it is still so far away, but today I got a little giddy for some reason. The babies were moving all over the place as usual during the sono. They were sucking on hands, grabbing their piggies and lots of cute things. I had a different lady doing the sono today and she tried to sneak me a 3D picture but the babies wouldn't cooperate. Baby A hardly ever even gives us profile shots. She is always hiding and always very low in my tummy. She is also the quiet baby and doesn't kick as much as B. B is the bigger baby with tons of kicks. She is currently residing under my ribs....like laying across my stomach and under both sides of my ribs. I am excited to meet them. I am nervous about the lack of sleep that is coming but that's about the only thing! Those first few weeks are so special.

Here's WESLIE's sono pic at 20 weeks:

And here is BABY B's pic from today:

Can you tell they're sisters? They both have their feet over their heads!

My SweetHeart

Our Utah trip was fun, but it sure was hard being a single mom for a week. If I didn't have family there to help me it wouldn't have been a vacation at all. I sure am lucky to have such a helpful and thoughtful husband. He is overdue for a little shout out.
Kevin is such an involved dad. He has completely taken on teaching Weslie her colors and getting her ready for the new babies. They snuggle her dollies together and then put them to bed in the twins crib. It is very sweet.
Last week, on a very long day I put Kevin in charge of cooking dinner. While he was busy in the kitchen I kept looking at him and thinking, "How is it that we are parents to 3 kids?!." Maybe it was just because he was making us dinner like he did 80% of the time when we were first married, but it seemed very unreal that we aren't just the two people we were when we were just starting out. Some days go by so slow, and then there are days like that one when it seems like just yesterday when it was just the two of us. Who would've thought we'd both make such great parents? It was nice to admire my stud in the kitchen and see him as just a husband like I used to do everyday. He is still that handsome man that I married, but now we are a party of 5 and that is the best bonus ever.