35 weeks... I'm over this!

So, 35 weeks as of yesterday and I'm over this crap. Three more days and I can deliver here. The doctor bumped up my c-section to Feb. 7th which is just 2 days but hell, I'll take it I guess. I get to go off the medicine on Wednesday and we also have to go to the hospital that day for the fetal stress test to make sure they are still doing okay. Oh! Also, I am 3 pounds away from that number on the scale I was refusing to hit. Oink! Oink!

There are some women who shoot rays of sunshine out of their butt when they are pregnant. They talk about how energetic and vibrant they are feeling which just makes me feel like the biggest complaining loser ever. Seriously, what is making them feel so damn vibrant? Constipation? Regurgatation? Bones popping in and out of sockets? Getting jelly squeezed into orafaces where it doesn't belong? These women are like Stepford Wives and next time one of them approaches me to tell me how great they feel, I'm going to plug up their happy dirt star with so much freaking jelly that the sunshine will need to find some other hole to shoot out of! They have to be mentally imbalanced, right?

Our friends, Tiddy and Joanne had their baby on Sunday. He was 5 lbs. 5 ozs. and he is so cute! My kids will probably be about that size or a little bigger so I'm completely comfortable with their size right now. They said that it's so amazing how you can love someone so much in an instant. Good thing too, otherwise you would never change their stank diapers.

Stretch Marks and Cankles

The only reason I am willing to post this picture is because most of you know that I don't usually look like such a gelatinous blob or carry around this much facial blubber. Please peep the size of my beehonkus! Anyway, it blows my mind to see myself this way so I feel like you all will get a good laugh out of it also. Wow!



So, after taking myself off bedrest last Thursday, I re-instated the bedrest on Friday. I was in so much pain it was ridiculous after doing all that shopping around. It's like when you run a mile and you are feeling okay the rest of the day but by the next morning, you are too sore to move around without the aid of a walker. Plus, I started having very strong contractions which scared me and I would rather just tough it out for a couple more days to be able to deliver here rather than Charleston. Also, I'm sure the bedbugs were suicidal without me.

This past Sunday brought around the introduction of some stretch marks and some big ol' cankles! I have been throwing a mini pity-party because of the stretch marks ever since. I thought I wasn't going to have to deal with them, but low and behold, these kids have not only given me the gift of hemorroids but skanky red stretch marks too. The cankles I can handle, although they are challenging the width of my neck... but I am blaming those on water retention and they are probably not permanent either. Pew!

34 WEEKS!

We did it! Hell, I did it! The big goal for us was 34 weeks! I treated myself to a day out and about! Actually, we had ordered carseats online and because consumer reports just issued that new list of safe seats and there were only 2 that passed, they are on backorder for the next 10 years! So, Brent and I went to Baby Depot, Target, and Walmart trying to find anything so that we can take these kids home. We didn't have any success but my mom found some in Huntsville and is bringing them with her when she comes. (Wow - that was boring... I don't know why I'm rambling.)

So our friends Kim and Pratt had their baby last Friday and it was a little boy! We were so excited for them because they already had a girl and I'm sure they were hoping for one of each. No one expected a little boy and he is such a doll baby! I do have to admit that I snuck out of the house on Monday to visit them. I got to hold him and he was so little - 7 lbs. 1 oz. I can't believe that mine are going to be so much smaller in size! I'm so afraid I'm going to break them!

We went to the doctor this morning and again, there was no change. I tried to convince her to give me a c-section on Feb. 2nd but she won't. She is sure that as soon as I stop taking my medicine (Jan. 31st) that things will go quickly and I won't make it to Feb. 9th anyway. I was so disappointed. I asked her for a water breaking poker thing and she just laughed. I guess she thought I was joking! :) Anyway, at least I'm off bedrest now (unbeknownst to the doctor). We looked for a dresser for the nursery today, went to Longhorn for lunch, and got a couple more things set up in the nursery. I'm tired and aching now but I love feeling semi-human again!!!

Doctor's Appointment Dilemmas

Brent and I went to our weekly doctor's appointment yesterday. We were both hoping that things would have progressed a little from last week, but no such luck. In a way, it was kind of nice to hear that everything has stayed the same because one day last week, I cheated and snuck out to Motherhood Maternity to get some nursing clothes for the hospital. It was really a mad dash and I wasn't in the store for longer than 10-15 minutes, but it was the first time I had been out in public other than the doctor's office since I had been put on bedrest. Also, I have been getting up a couple times during the day other than the shower. It's just to walk into the kitchen once or twice or to answer the door for the UPS dude, but still... I did all of that and nothing changed from the previous week.

So, the doctor has tentatively scheduled our c-section for February 9th. She said we could do it a week earlier, but that it would require that I have an amnio done first to make sure that the babies have mature lungs. I hate needles with a passion, especially one that's a foot long that will be jammed directly into my stomach, but the more uncomfortable I get with each passing day, the more I am considering it. I think that we will wait another week to decide on that one for sure. Also, the doctor told me that I only need to hold off for another 2 weeks in order to be able to deliver in Hilton Head. It would be so much more convenient if we could deliver here, which puts a damper on the fact that I wanted to start getting out of bed once I had met our 34 week goal. It makes me think that I should continue to do the strict bedrest for another 2 weeks just so that we will be in town and close to home and all of our animals as opposed to being an hour up the road in Charleston. All the traveling back and forth was a lot on Brent the last time and I would just like for him not to have to deal with that stress on top of being a new daddy. I don't know...

So, one last thing... the doctor told us yesterday that if I go into labor before 35.5 weeks, that she will still try to stop the labor. That makes me want to cry. She said that even if I am right at 35 weeks when it happens, she will try and stop it just to get in a few more days for lung development. I completely understand that her main concern is the babies and not me, but I really am comfortable with them being born at anytime now especially because they had that big steriod shot for brain and lung development the last time I went into premature labor. She told me that there is nothing that they can do if my water breaks though, so does that mean I should ignore all contractions that happen before my water breaks just so I know that the next time I go to the hospital, these little suckers are coming out?

33 WEEKS!

We are at 33 weeks today! Brent and I can both feel it coming soon... we are both thinking that they are coming in about a week - just a gut feeling. Hopefully, I can make it to 34 before they get here. In the meantime, I am laying around here just feeling like a ticking time bomb! Our doctor's appointment last week went very well. Our little girl has claimed her spot as being the first one born for sure! On Monday, we had an ultrasound and the babies measured at 4 lbs. 9 oz. (her) and 4 lbs. 13 oz. (him). I can't believe I am carrying around close to 10 pounds of baby in my scrawny little body (although, "scrawny" doesn't really describe my body these days - I answer more quickly to "big girl" or "wide-load".) Brent keeps telling me that my clothes are shrinking!!! I'm not sure if he's trying to make excuses for the fact that I have a "muffin top" hanging over my pants and sticking out from under my shirt or if he really doesn't realize how huge I am.

Yesterday was so much fun! One of my friends from highschool, who also went to Furman with me, just moved to Charleston about 2 weeks ago and she came and spent the day with me. I'm sure it was terribly boring for her, but it was so nice to see her and to have some company for the day. We hadn't seen each other for about 2 years since she has been moving all around with her husband's job in the Air Force. I loved having her here and can't wait to visit her since she is so close by now. Today, I'm having lunch with Kim and Shelby at a very chic eatery I like to call "my bedroom". I feel so bad for everyone who comes to spend time with me and all they get is this massive blob who can't move and is festering in the same spot on her bed hour after hour after hour.

32 WEEKS!

Whew! We've made it to our first really good goal of 32 weeks and that's great news! However, it has hit me with a huge sledgehammer. Yesterday I started feeling a lot of mild contractions that just progressed and grew stronger throughout the night. I woke up this morning still experiencing the contractions, but by drinking tons of fluids and barely moving at all, I've managed to keep the contractions down to about 4 an hour. We have a doctor's appointment in the morning so as long as I can hold out until tomorrow, I will be fine. If I end up going in there sometime today, then I know I will just be ambulanced back up to Charleston and that's just one nasty fiasco I would like to avoid until absolutely necessary. Hopefully tomorrow at the doctor's office, she will tell me that everything is still looking good and there has been no change. I know it's this full moon! The last full moon I ended up at MUSC and the full moon before that was spent in the hospital in Hilton Head. Weird.

So, the holidays are officially over for us now. My aunt and uncle were here yesterday on their way back to Jacksonville to pick up their presents before heading home. It was nice seeing them and spending a little more time with them. Binky flies home tomorrow too. I don't want him to go back. I like having him in the United States so that I know I can see him when I want and I can call him when I want. It's so hard having him overseas but if he gets his request to be in Germany for his next tour, then I am going to have to deal with it even longer than I imagined. Whatever keeps him safe and whatever keeps him happy is really all that matters. I just have to remind myself that from time to time since I'm selfish and would prefer him close by.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2007!

Happy New Year my peeps! Wow! You all are lucky that you weren't around us crazy partying Harbin's last night! We were so wild that we are lucky we didn't end up in jail! Brent and I were both dead asleep by 11:00. Out of control, I know! I happened to wake up at 11:59 and quickly shook Brent awake so we could see the ball drop. My preggo ass had to pee and by the time I got back from the bathroom, Brent had already started snoring again. It was ridiculous. I feel like we could just move into an old people's home today and fit right in!

That brings me to my new year's resolutions... This year, I am going to cut out all cussing of the serious sort. No more f-bomb, sh*t, or any version of the word ass. I've got babies on the way and I need to shape up! It's tacky and very trailor trashish anyway. It will be hard especially because I have known since I got knocked up that my cussing was coming to a quick end and for whatever reason, I have become a cussing fiend like I am trying to get it all out before the twins enter the world.

So, today Brent and I are just hanging out and watching football together. We will probably play some board games later. He's in the kitchen right now cooking the usual new year's black eyed pea, collard green, and ham hock crap that has become tradition with us since we started living together. It's actually really good but spending the day with Brent while he's full of beans is going to leave me with a bunch of burnt nose hairs.

Happy New Years again everyone! I hope this years brings us all good fortune and tons of smiles!

Christmas Day!

Merry Christmas! The babies made out like bandits this year! I got a really nice jogger/everyday stroller for them from my brother. My parents bought us a video system so that we can wire up the nursery with cameras and be able to check in on them from the TV in our bedroom. It even has night vision! We also got a webcam (and so did Binky) so that I can show him the babies once he gets back to Germany. Brent got a super nice golf putter from my dad and Binky got an IPOD nano. My mom got a beautiful diamond watch from my pops and pops got a new car from my mom. Actually, everyone was pretty spoiled this year!

Brandon has already been cooking dinner since early this morning. My grandmother will be here this afternoon to eat with us. Other than that, we will probably just spend alot of time playing games together and digesting food. I love Christmas! I can't believe that there will be 2 additions to the bunch next year! I wonder if they will be walking or talking at all by then!

We love you all and I hope that everybody has a nice time spending Christmas with their families and eating tons of turkey! Merry Christmas!

Christmas With Unca & Yvette

My mom came in town yesterday afternoon so that she could be here today to have a mini-Christmas with Uncle Rob and Aunt Yvette. They came over today after they visited Oma at the home and had lunch. It was nice to see them even though we couldn't share Christmas day with them. They gave us this really fun game that I can't wait to play and alot of other cute knick knacks like a really pretty dolphin picture and baby stuff. They gave us a camcorder for the babies which was beyond awesome because now we will have one to take to the hospital with us! I was so excited! These are some pictures from today. We missed my bro and my pops today - but they will be here tomorrow!

30 WEEKS!

Hey peeps! Today is our 30 week milestone. I've been on bedrest now for exactly two weeks and one day. Our next goal? 32 weeks. Long term goal? 34 weeks. If I can make it to 34 I don't think I could be happier. 32? The doctor's are fairly happy with a delivery at 32 weeks although it isn't as optimal as 34 or later. We have a doctor's appointment tomorrow and will know so much more at that point if this bedrest is really helping things out or not.

So, this past weekend was pretty okay! My friend April came in town on Sunday from Charleston to watch movies and spend the day with me. It was nice because the day went by so much faster! Then, my friend Laura came in town later that evening and stayed with me until yesterday afternoon because Brent's little grandma died and he had to go out of town to the funeral. I wish I could have gone with him. Today, we are finishing up wrapping presents (I can only do the really small ones) and getting ready for my family to come into town tomorrow. I can't wait to see my brother because it's been about a year since I've seen him.

R.I.P. Little Yellow Guy

This was our little yellow fish. He was a good little guy and he died this last Wednesday or Thursday. He had been sick for awhile and Brent and I bought fish medicine and everything else to try and keep him going. He was pretty old. I've have this little guys since before I had even met Brent. He was like this little sunshine blob in the fish tank and definately made the fish tank fun to look at. Poor little doobie.

Baby Shower!

Our baby shower this weekend was so much fun! I miss all of my college friends more than I could ever explain. It seems like all of us only get together if someone is getting married or having a baby. The girls next in line to be married are enjoying being single for now so I have no idea when I am going to see all these girls again. I love them so much! The actual baby shower went really well. We all got up early and cooked brunch together and had either virgin or real mimosas. People started coming over around 11:30 and we all ate and then Brent and I opened presents and had cake. Most people ended up staying until Sunday morning. We had a full house and more fun than we have had in such a long time! We drank and laughed and played asshole and it seemed like old times when everyone was here. Brent and I both have great friends and the best present that we got was purely getting to spend time with everyone before the babies get here. It was horribly sad saying goodbye to everyone and not knowing when we will all get together again. It was such a great weekend and definately one that I will always remember!

Maggie's Mini-Shower

So, this weekend I had a bunch of old friends from college come give me a baby shower. But, because I'm so huge now and I'm not allowed to travel anymore, I wasn't going to be able to see Maggie before she has her baby. Lara and B drove in on Thursday night and Yolanda was supposed to fly in on Friday morning so that we could all be there to surprise Maggie with a mini-shower the night before my shower. Yolanda was snowed in and while she still made it to my shower, she unfortunately missed the mini one for Maggot.

We picked up Maggie from the airport on Friday night and took her straight to the restaurant where Brent had gone ahead with the cake and balloons and presents. It's a real cute, old Hilton Head restaurant called the Crazy Crab and it overlooks the marsh. The food was great and seeing Maggie get her first baby presents was so freaking cute! GO VOLS!

Our new HOLE!

We finally finished the bonus room! And when I say "we" I mean Brent, although I wish I could take credit for it because it is a very pimp room! We love it and I can't believe that Brent ended up doing the entire thing by himself (except for installing the carpet)!!! It was finished the day before Thanksgiving and my parents were the first ones to test it out! It's really comfortable which is a damn good thing since it will be my new spot once the babies get here. I'm sure I will be spending more time in this room than any other room in the house! Here are pictures before the furniture was put in and after the couches arrived!

We had a good time with my parents on Thanksgiving. Brent made a stuffed turkey breast and it was so ridiculously good! (At least one of us can cook!) The following day, Brent and I got up around 5:30 am to hit all the good shopping deals but by the time we got to the stores around 6:00, everything had already been sold! It was crazy and people were pulling out claws and elbows to get what they wanted! Pops bought a new car that day too. On Saturday, my mom made her fabulous fried stuffing and eggs breakfast and then she and I went shopping for Christmas presents while Brent and pops watched football and drank booze. It was overall, a very relaxing weekend.

Another doctor's appointment

I am really much more terrible at keeping this thing updated than I thought I would be! Anyway, of course alot has happened over the last couple of weeks. We had another appointment in Charleston around my 25 week mile marker. The babies are doing great and the even better news that we got that day was that it looks promising that I won't have to go on bedrest! I'm not sure how I lucked out on that one because I thought for sure that I would be unfortunate enough to get stuck with that! We are still crossing our fingers that I stay healthy enough to get to spend Christmas on my feet. Here are some pictures of the babies again.
The little boy is on the left and she is on the right. She, of course, was not cooperating again and we still don't have a clear picture of what she looks like. They are both putting on weight like they should be and each weighed about 2 lbs. at this visit.

Ross the Intern and the Crocodile Hunter!

Someone sent me this video clip and I about peed in my pants watching it! For one, I have never even heard of Ross the Intern, but I fell in love with him instantly! For two, it's a clip about him meeting Steve Irwin who I admired so much! It is definately worth your time to watch it. I've seen it about 10 times and it still makes me laugh out loud each time I see it!

No, I'm NOT 9 months...

I'm only 6 months and if one more person asks me if I'm almost due, I'm going to crap and die. It's funny what random strangers think they can say and do to you when you are pregnant. So many strangers feel open to rubbing my belly like it's a genie lamp, or showing me pictures of their kids, or telling me how HUGE I am! I even had a random 16 year old boy come up and rub my tummy! Last week, I went to lunch with a bunch of girls from work and our waitress came up to me and said, "Damn girl! You must not have had ANY titties befo' you was pregnant!" Thanks lady.

For those of you who don't know, we had a pretty bad scare a little more than a week ago. I caught the flu and ended up in the hospital. I became severly dehydrated which sent me into premature labor. The doctors were able to stop the contractions with a shot turbutaline and re-hydrated me intravenously with 4 bags of saline. They wanted me to spend the night in the hospital but I was so uncomfortable that I just wanted to go home so I checked myself out. That probably wasn't the smartest decision because I ended up back in the hospital a day later with contractions again. Luckily, they stopped on their own and everything has been calm since.

On a much happier note, I think that the babies have discovered each other over the last couple of days! I'll get alot of punches and kicks from her side and it's answered by punches and kicks from his side... kind of like an echo. They play alot in the middle too so I think they are finally starting to realize that someone else is in their hotel room! It's very cute although it makes me feel like a human washing machine with all that shaking going on in there! We have another doctor's appointment next Thursday in Charleston so hopefully I'll have more pictures to post of them. I hope those string beans have put on some weight!

So for all you peeps who have been dying to see what twiggy smalls looks like as a fat girl...

I have no idea how much further out there I can grow! I'm so scared! I'm only 24 weeks pregnant and still need to carry these kids for another 16 weeks for them to be considered "term" babies. The 40 week thing probably won't happen but as long as I can make it to 32 weeks, I'll be happy. I don't have any stretch marks yet so that's good but I'm sure those are only a couple weeks away. I'm scared about having premature babies, about the workload I'm going to face, about looking like a crusty old deflated balloon with flapjack boobs once I pop... PEW! Keep your fingers crossed for us that these kids will marinate in there a little while longer! Thanks so much to those of you who have been sending prayers to us! It means everything!

I need a DONUT!

...and I ain't talking about the kind from good ol' Dunkin'! I need a donut for my ass! These kids are killing my tailbone!

Okay, so alot has happened since my last post. It finally hit Brent and I that we don't have much time left to get done the things that are on our 'to-do' list before the twins are here. I've been painting the nursery like a mad woman while Brent has been working his ass off trying to finish the bonus room before the shower on Dec. 2nd. Here is a picture of Brent working on the bonus room last weekend. He is a tool (a very handy one too!).


This past Thursday we went to Charleston for our BIG ultrasound. The babies are doing well and we found out that we are having one boy and one girl!!! I can't believe it! How did we get so lucky!?!?!? I mean, I feel more blessed than I could ever convey to another human being. It's unreal. This whole process has been traumatic and stressful and something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. Having said that, the rewards of this experience has turned out way better that I could have ever expected. I can't imagine going through everything we have been through with a negative outcome. Now, one last prayer... that these babies are healthy and strong when they are born. These are pictures of our babies and their junk. :)




This weekend was another productive weekend. The nursery is painted and the cribs are put together. The bonus room is completely primed. It's still not done, but at least we are getting closer. We bought tons of pink stuff to balance out all the blue clothes we already have. These kids don't need anymore clothes! They have more stuff than me or their father! Spoiled rotten!

Preciousness

Brent is pretty good about getting me flowers for no reason. I'll come home to a bunch and smell them for a minute and then watch them die over the next week, but now I feel like I can extend their life by taking a picture of them the first day and posting them on our blog. Brent was out of town for the beginning of the week and it was harder for me now that I'm pregnant. I need him here with me because my days seem to be so much longer and harder. He was gone for three days too which is a long time for one of his trips. I guess he missed me as much as I missed him because I came home to this pretty bouquet. I can't imagine how it's going to be for me when he needs to go out of town and I'll have two babies to take care of all by myself. I guess we'll take it one step at a time.

J-Rod Turns Thirty!

Brent and I went to Atlanta this weekend for a surprise 30th Birthday for Jared. It was great! We got to see tons of people who we haven't seen in a really long time... some we hadn't seen since our wedding! We met everyone at the Taco Mac at Perimeter to celebrate his birthday and to watch the Florida vs. Alabama game. Brent was hammered and Joanne and I drank our non-alchoholic, skunk-tasting, fake beer together. Rachel and her Alabama friends were being "Roll-Tide obnoxious". Pitts was talking smack to Rachel after they lost and Jared had to talk her out of fighting him. There was this other rando chick there that kept bumming cigarettes off of the group who was just so freaking annoying. It was so fun watching Brent make fun of her to her face. I miss just being able to hang out with comfortably fun and crazy people. Especially those peeps! It was kind of like old times and I think Brent and I both needed it pretty bad. It made us feel normal again for a few hours. We were supposed to meet up with them later at another bar after we checked into a hotel but we tried a couple hotels that were booked and somehow just ended up driving towards home. We stayed in Macon last night. It was relaxing and nice to get out of town for the weekend.

This is our pal Pat. Pat is a very unusually unique character. He is super sweet and very odd and somehow always finds a way to make everyone laugh by doing something ridiculously stupid. Yesterday, Pat decided he was going to eat this HUGE blob of blue icing in one bite. It was about the size of a grapefruit - so nasty. He did it. We laughed and gave him money for his dumb trick. It was great and very Pat. He would be a fun person to have as a pet. We love him to death!

It's Official... We Are Complete Dorks!

Being preggo with twins has imposed some pretty huge changes in our lives. My car, my precious and beautiful car who I had dubbed "Fomp", needed a new owner because it was only 2 door. We posted it online thinking it might take a couple months to sell. However, I guess she was even prettier than we thought because it took less than a week. One prospect. No haggling. I watched her drive away with tears in rolling down my cheeks and shouted to her that she had been a good girl! I was completely at a loss because I didn't know what to replace her with.
Enter "BIG BERTHA"...



We quickly (though not hastily) decided on a Honda Odyssey. That's right... a freaking minivan! Brent talked me into looking at them and I swear that they have awesome features for someone lugging around twins. I was so hesitant because I still see myself as a young and fairly cool chick (whether that's true or not is a different story). Now, I look like I'm driving a FedEx truck down the road and feel like I'm quickly morphing into a 'soccer mom'. Pew! It's nice from the driver/passenger seat forward. Anything towards the rear just resembles a big old whale's butt!

My Very First Blog (Hopefully In a Chain of Many!)

Okay peeps! I was completely inspired by Heather Dorrance's blogspot that I thought that I should start one too! I just hope that I have the discipline that she does to keep up with it. It will be nice once the babies are here to help me keep everyone current with how they are growing and what we are all up to. For now, I will update you on the household milestones that happened this week!

The two little turdballs are growing like weeds! We had a doctor's appointment on Tuesday and they were both doing really great! They were doing flips and tumbles everywhere and wouldn't sit still or cooperate with the doctor long enough for her to determine the sexes of both babies. Again, we saw one little dingdong but the other baby was being modest and refused to cooperate with the doctor. Both of the babies are kicking me like crazy and it's absolutely amazing to think that I am growing 2 little humans in my belly -- like tomato plants or something! Our next appointment is up in Charleston in 2 weeks.

At 5 years and one week old, Tony mer licked and cleaned his butt for the first time ever! We were cheering and did a little jig for him and told him how proud we were! He is the smartest and the best buddy ever. He mer the most studious scholar of the century! My buddy is mer an honor roll student! If I have two boys, Brent better watch out because I'm naming one of them after my son!