33 Weeks

I am 33 weeks pregnant with Ainsley and Benson!

According to The Bump the babies weigh between 4.2lbs and 5.8lbs and are between 17.2in and 18.7in long. They are keeping their eyes open when they're awake. They are starting to coordinate breathing with sucking and swallowing. Their bones are hardening and they're going through more major brain development.

As far as pregnancy symptoms, I'm having it all. I am always hot! Especially at work, where even if it is 60 degrees outside it's, for some unknown reason, 75 degrees in the pharmacy. Thank goodness for fans. I actually had an older gentleman I was giving a flu shot to tell me I needed to wear sunscreen because I was all red from being so hot! Heartburn is still ridiculous but I'm sleeping on the couch in the recliner now so that is helping. Otherwise if I lay down in bed I wake up within about 20 minutes choking on stomach acid - gross, I know.

I had a non-stress test Tuesday then an OB appointment. The NST was "reactive" meaning the babies did what they were supposed to but it did take about an hour and twenty minutes. Ben wasn't wanting to cooperate but some apple juice did the trick and got him moving and doing what he should. The OB was uneventful as usual. Ainsley is still head down and Ben was breach this time. Another NST and OB appointment next week then an appointment with Dr. Drake at 35 weeks for a growth check.

People keep asking if we have everything ready. While my checklist is getting shorter I always think "Can you ever really be 'ready' for twins?" I think not. We will definitely be flying by the seats of our pants for awhile! All advice is welcome. If you have any "must haves" or advice you found especially helpful PLEASE let us know. We KNOW we don't know what we're doing. There are things you know you know...nevermind...

So, I think that's it for this week! I have another baby shower this weekend that my wonderful girlfriends are hosting and I can't wait to see everyone! I hope you all are having a great week!

Maternity Pictures

Have you seen all the scary maternity pictures that are out there? I don't want to offend anyone if your into this sort of thing but some of these pictures are downright ridiculous in my opinion. For example...

How do you even find a photographer to do this? Is there a special section for naked photographers in the yellow pages?

Adam and Eve much?

I don't even know what to say about this. Her poor children!

So, I was a little reluctant to have maternity pictures taken. However, we have the greatest photographers ever and I knew if anyone could give us some non-freakish pictures it would be John and Mackenzie at Stalzer Photography. I made sure to ask Mackenzie if they do non-naked maternity pictures and since they do, we went last night and had some taken!

Here are all our favorites:

And she edited out all my stretch marks - yay!

I think they all turned out great. Now for the hard part...deciding what to order!

My most sincere thanks to John and Mackenzie for taking these wonderful pictures - you guys rock!

32 Weeks

I am 32 weeks pregnant with Ainsley and Benson!

There's been a lot going on the last few days. First I had TWO baby showers this past weekend which were fantastic. It was so great to see so many family and friends. And of course the babies got spoiled like crazy! They got so many wonderful gifts - now we just have to find a place to put everything!

Then I got sick. I started to get a sore throat Friday night and felt tired and icky on Saturday. Sunday night I felt down right miserable and didn't go to work Monday. I'm calling it a cold and I'm totally blaming Jeremy. He hadn't felt well last week but we thought it was just allergies. Apparently not though and he decided to share with me - how nice. I was a whiny baby all weekend but Jeremy has been taking care of me. I will say the worst part about having a cold when your pregnant is that everytime I cough I seriously wonder if I'm going to pee my pants! So far, so good though, in case you were wondering.

Today we had two appointments. The first with Dr. Drake, the perinatologist. The second with Dr. Newland, one of the OBs at The Iowa Clinic. Everything is looking good! They checked the babies' growth at Dr. Drake's office. They are estimating Ben at 4lbs 4oz and Ainsley at 4lbs 8oz. As far as when they will be here, Dr. Drake said she usually sees twins delivered around 35 weeks on average. That would be just THREE MORE WEEKS! I am under the impression they won't let me go more than about 38 weeks. Now, that being said, today I am measuring the same as someone who is 39 weeks pregnant with one baby. If I go 6 more weeks I'll be measuring like 45 weeks pregnant - YIKES! We did start our non-stress tests today and I now start going to the doctor every week. We have a lot to be thankful for in that the babies are healthy and I am healthy (besides the cold and feeling 8 months pregnant with twins)! We have been very fortunate to avoid any problems with blood pressure, diabetes, and many other things that can complicate a pregnancy. Now we just have to wait patiently for them to get here!

The nursery is ALMOST ready to share - I can't wait!

I hope you all have a great week!

31 Weeks

I'm 31 weeks pregnant with Ainsley and Benson!

I keep having "Oh Crap!" moments where it suddenly dawns on me that we are having TWO babies! In a few weeks! It was such a long journey to get to this point that I really still have a hard time grasping it. I mean, we are getting everything ready, we are preparing, but I just can't picture it.

So a lot of people ask me my due date which is November 15th. It is VERY unlikely we will make it to that date. My personal goal is to get to 37 weeks. When we found out we were having twins the first thing I wanted to was to be able to bring them home from the hospital with us. This seems like a no-brainer with one baby (most of the time) but with twins it isn't always the case. I feel like if we can make it to 36 or 37 weeks we will have good size, healthy babies that will get to come home and never have to see the inside of a NICU. Fingers crossed!

The Bump says the babies are between 15.2 and 16.7 inches long and weigh 2.5 to 3.8 pounds. It says "He's getting so big, he's probably crowding your lungs." HA! You should see me try to counsel patients at work - I'm practically gasping for air. I'm sure people think I'm a total lunatic. Whatevs.

It also says this week, "Can you believe all five of baby’s senses are fully developed? He also keeps getting smarter. That’s probably good to know, since you might actually feel a little dumb. You’re not! It’s just that many moms-to-be find themselves acting absentmindedly during the third trimester." Yesterday I went to Target to look for two things - a storage container for diapers and wipes and a small table to put by the rocking chair. I left with a cardigan. Not because I couldn't find what I was looking for but because I couldn't remember what I went there for. Seriously.

Also yesterday I got my massage! Jeremy had given me a gift card for a massage several weeks ago and I just used it yesterday. It was quite nice! I was actually really nervous at first because I'd never had a massage before but it was SO relaxing. I would definitely recommend it. I went to Massage Heights here in Ankeny. I'd also like to say that they were hopping! It was crazy busy for 1pm on a Monday I thought. Am I the last person to know how great massages are?

I got these in the mail yesterday!

These are the twins' baby books! I ordered them off Etsy. Go figure.

The pages inside are really cute and modern.

I have two showers this weekend - one with Jeremy's family and one with mine. I'm very excited to see everyone!

I hope everyone is having a great week!

PUMPKINS!

I LOVE PUMPKINS! I love fall, and fall decor, and pumpkins, and the color orange, and pumpkin bars, and pumpkin pie...the list goes on...and on...

So I thought I'd share with you my fall decorations for no other reason than it makes me happy!

I shared most of these in a post last year but there are some new ones...okay, quite a few new ones. I am not totally at fault here for draining the bank account on pumpkins. Jeremy is a huge fan of fall decorations too!

Table Centerpiece. I put together these candles last year and the pumpkins were a "basement find." What's a basement find you ask? Well, it's when you buy something on clearance at the end of the season and put it in your basement only to be surprised when you "find" it the next year! I LOVE basement finds!

Here is the book case we got at Ikea this summer.

I filled up these jars with some 1/2 price glittery gourds from Hobby Lobby. In case you weren't aware, I also love glitter.

More pumpkins

And glitter

Still more glitter

Glitter-tastic!

The mantle. It could use something more but...you know...the bank account...

Oh! I almost forgot to mention these have glitter!

Seriously? I dusted this table LAST Thursday!

There are undoubtedly more pumpkins to be found in my house but you get the idea!

Show me your pumpkins! I'd love to see them!

30 Weeks

I'm 30 weeks pregnant with Ben and Ainsley!

Things are going pretty well. All the contractions I have cause me to have a lot of anxiety but apparently having 30 contractions in 8 hours at work is NBD. NBD is No Big Deal for those of you not up on the lingo. I guess I should clarify that it's not a problem to my OB's office since the babies don't seem to be coming out in the next week or two. It is a big deal to me and I about have a nervous breakdown when this happens, but no one else seems too concerned. I am interested to know anyones experience with preterm contractions. Am I totally overreacting about having this many contractions? It's okay to say 'yes.' I tend to overreact about a lot of things.

Moving on, that four day weekend I mentioned - FABULOUS! First of all I did NOT go to the Moms of Multiples Garage Sale - it wasn't last weekend. It is actually September 23rd and 24th. Thanks, Sabrina for saving me from driving there to find that out! Unfortunately, I have to work that weekend so I'll be sending Jeremy to check it out - bummer (probably for both me and him). Sunday my mom and grandma came up and we made LOTS of freezer meals. We now have Chicken & Noodles, Baked Ziti, Chicken Chili, Chicken Spaghetti, Ranch Burgers, and Chicken Enchiladas for when the babies arrive. We just have to try not to eat it before then - it all looks so good!

We also went to visit the newest member of my family - my cousin Joe and Jeannie's baby boy, Cooper! He is so stinking cute!

I also got some headbands with flower clips on Amazon for Ainsley. They were $25 for THIRTEEN of these headbands AND flowers. And the seller actually included a 14th one for free. I thought this was a great deal. I had Jeremy model for us.

So that's what is happening this week. Hoping for seven more weeks before they're born. Keep cooking babies!

Hope you all are having a great week!

29 Weeks

I'm 29 weeks pregnant with the twins!

This post is a little late - I try to do them on Tuesdays when I change weeks. However, this past Tuesday was a little bit of a disaster. I got my hair cut and I HATED it which resulted in me crying pretty much all afternoon and evening. Let me start my saying that the girl that cuts my hair is generally AMAZING. I have been going to her for probably close to 10 years now and I have NEVER had a been experience. We apparently were not on the same page this time. I actually love the length but for some reason she decided to cut 43,000 layers in my hair and then straightened it straight as a pin which resulted in a very "emo" look. Sort of like this:

So the next day I straightened it but flipped the ends under a little with my chi. The result was Nancy Grace. Literally, people probably thought I was her.

My face probably looked like that too.

Well today I wore it curly and I actually think it looks alright. And wearing my hair curly is the easiest way to go so that's a plus. No more crying over cut hair.

I would like to say that I am generally not this ridiculously emotional. I blame it all on the pregnancy hormones.

In other pregnancy related news, the stretch marks have arrived! I swear they popped up over night. One day I had none, the next day I had many. They are all on the underside of my belly and I'm HOPING they will shrink up and be less red eventually. Bio Oil is my friend right now. It also helps with the extreme itching. At this point my belly is getting rather large, especially on the bottom. It literally sits on my lap. I can't close my legs because it's in the way. I hope you don't mind the graphic details...no one said this would be pretty! But at least I'm not including pictures...

Anywho, about the babes! I am switching to The Bump for info on weights and such because they seem to be closer in line with the size of our babies. Now they weigh 2.5lbs to 3.8lbs. They are 15.2in to 16.7in long. They are continuing to "plump up" and put on more fat.

I'm definitely feeling their increased weight (and they have a long way to go)! I feel very sore everywhere. My knees, belly, back, and hips hurt. Obviously I would do it for nine extra months if I needed to - it'll be SO worth it in the end - but I'm glad I don't have to! Aren't elephants pregnant for like two years? Yep, I just wiki'd it. Elephant gestation is 22 months and their babies weight 230 pounds! I'll quit whining now.

My reduced work hours are really helpful. I have WAY more contractions when I'm at work so being there less is great. I am looking forward to a FOUR day weekend coming up. I am planning to go the the Des Moines Moms of Multiples Garage Sale on Friday evening. I'm hoping to find some good deals on a couple bigger items we still need. I have a bridal shower to attend Saturday and of course the Iowa game. My mom is going to help me make some freezer meals this weekend to put in my NEW deep freeze she and my dad got me for my birthday. Who would ever have thought I would be so excited to get a freezer for my birthday!?

What are you doing this weekend? I hope you all have a great Friday and a fabulous Labor Day weekend!