28 Weeks

I am 28 weeks pregnant with the twins!

I had an appointment with Dr. Drake today. We had a ultrasound first to check their growth and they are doing AWESOME! Ainsley is 2lbs 9oz and Ben is 2lbs 14oz! This is great news as we were initially worried about Ben's growth with his two vessel cord but he is bigger. Also we want to make sure they stay close to the same size to make sure one isn't taking too many nutrients and not leaving enough for the other. Never too early to learn to share.

Dr. Drake was not happy with the contractions I have been having, especially at work. That combined with the cervical changes I'm having (some external dilation and funneling) made her decide we needed to do something different. That something is reducing my work hours. She recommended 20 hours per week. I am going to try 26 and see how that goes. We can reassess if need be. This is very difficult and stressful for me. First, financially I will have to take sick days and vacation days to cover this time off as we cannot afford to take it unpaid. This of course reduces the time I have available to take off after the twins are born which is frustrating. It also feels a little like I'm not doing as good a job as I should at being pregnant (which I realize is ridiculous). I find myself thinking "Why can't I do this better?" I think it's my slightly neurotic personality to blame there. I am also a worrier about what other people think and I worry people will see it as lazy to not work until the babies are born. I hate laziness so that stresses me. Again, neurotic, I know.

So with all that oversharing done being said. I need to do what the doctor thinks is best and I need to rest as much as possible (whether people judge me or not for it) so that these babies stay in and grow as big as possible. That needs to be the goal and the number one priority. Something I have to remind myself of frequently. Dr. Drake did say that after this we are "done messing around." If I continue to have contractions and cervical changes I'm done working all together. She means business. I love her for it.

I also saw the regular OB yesterday and that went fine. It was a very quick visit. I now go every two weeks to see them and at 34 weeks I start going every week for a non-stress test.

Moving on! I got these in the mail this week.

Aren't they sweet? I took a picture with my phone and made it my background - it makes me smile :) I ordered them off of GroopDealz which is a daily email I get similar to Groupon but with daily "boutique" deals. They have crafty things, handmade items, and all sorts of ca-ute stuff. I highly recommend signing up even if you never buy anything, it's fun to see all the neat items.

I also got this in the mail

"You got what in the mail?" you may be asking. It is a baby carrier/sling. It just happens to be inside out, a poorly taken picture and I'm using Daisy as a model. Jeesh, I don't know why you couldn't understand. So, anywho, about the sling. My cousin's wife, Jeannie forwarded me an email that advertised getting a FREE baby sling using the promo code FAMILY 2011 on the Seven Slings website. I was quite skeptical to say the least. I decided to try it and I paid for the shipping and a size exchange fee (which I'm sure is where they make their money) through PayPal. I think it ended up being under $15. I honestly figured that if it didn't work I would only be out 15 bucks. So, I wasn't expecting much but literally three days later it arrived in my mailbox! So if you want a baby sling and for cheap, go here!

Lastly, a food shot.

Dinner was smothered chicken, zucchini on the grill and some frozen potatoes with ranch seasoning. De-lish!

Hope everyone has a great week!

24 Weeks

First of all I have to say thank you for all the sweet comments you leave about my blog - they really make a girl feel good!

Today I am 24 weeks pregnant with the twins!

We had an appointment with Dr. Drake this morning and it went great. The best news is that the babies are both growing right on track. Ainsley is 1 lb 7 oz and Benson is 1 lb 11 oz. We are so grateful Benson is growing so well since that is the main concern now with his two vessel cord. It was really a rather quick visit and Dr. Drake said everything looks great. We did talk about my eating habits briefly and she said I shouldn't be eating during the night which I do somewhat frequently. Last night I had Honey Smacks at about 2am though I just told her it was cereal, leaving out the fact that the cereal I chose probably had about a million grams of sugar. And thank goodness Jeremy didn't mention all the chocolate cake I had been eating in the middle of the night!

Here are a few ultrasound pictures from today:

This is Ainsley in some sort of acrobatic position that made Jeremy squirm (he can't touch his toes).

This is Ainsley kicking Benson in the head:

Here is Benson sitting on Ainsley's head:

And Benson returning the head shot to Ainsley:

Lastly, here they are putting their heads together (plotting against Mom and Dad I'm sure:

Tomorrow is our regular OB visit and my glucose screening. I'm so hoping that goes well!

After our appointment we went out to Jordan Creek and walked around awhile. I tried on some shoes at Aldo, or I should say I TRIED to try them on. My feet were so swollen I couldn't get a darn thing on! This was a major bummer since there were tons of good shoe sales today! Oh, well, probably better on my bank account anyway.

I have been feeling pretty good this past week and have really enjoyed having a little mini-vacation. I took Friday and Monday off giving me five days total off work. I'm starting to have a lot of hip pain especially at night/in the morning. I do sleep with a pillow between my legs but I still wake up feeling about 80 years old.

This past Sunday we went to a Chicago Cubs game - my first ever MLB game! It was a really good time and we were in the shade so it wasn't even too hot.

While it was great that the Cubs won 5-4 in the 10th, this was probably the best part of the game:

I hope you all have a great week!