Happy New Year!

It's hard to believe Christmas came and went so quickly. We've now made it to week 36! This is a big milestone as it's the average gestation for twins. We are now beating the odds and anything beyond this week is icing on the cake. I still worry about the babies each and every day - I suspect this never goes away and I'll spend the rest of my life worrying about our babies. We are on alert, just in case, and could now be meeting our cubs any day. I'm still pushing for January 8th or later (37-38 weeks) so our babies can have more time to grow, but it is really nice to know that we have made it to the point, in which when we do go into labour, we will not have to rush to the hospital, but instead can labour awhile in the comfort of our own home. Phil has everything under control and I feel good relying on him to take care of us all. He is going to be a wonderful labour coach and an even better daddy. He is so excited.

36 week + 3 day belly ~ T-shirt reads "my pod has two peas"

This week we took in a couple of boxing week sales and got the fireplace entertainment unit we've had our eye on for awhile which was on sale. We also went to check out the deals on stereo systems - a bad idea during boxing week! It was super busy. Tuesday, we got the basement somewhat set up and it is now livable. We moved our living room furniture and TV downstairs and set them up. Phil also built the entertainment unit. I handled the instructions and kept him company. Then to celebrate we ordered pizza and watched movies in our basement for the first time. It's nice to have our home mostly back in order.

The swelling in my hands has been getting worse and now my fingers are cramping and numb. I find relief in hot water, but it only lasts for a brief moment before the tingly feeling returns. I'd love a paraffin wax treatment right about now. I'd walk around with the bags on my hands all day long.. I'm okay with the swelling though, as I'm just looking forward to having healthy, pink, crying babies soon. Plus my fingers are still pink so something must be getting through. The OB told me it will subside a week or two after the babies are born. I'm laughing as I'm not certain how I'm ever going to close those tiny little snaps and buttons for the babies with no feeling in my fingers.

Thursday morning we had our weekly OB appointment. My blood pressure was 121/78 (the highest it'd been but still textbook normal.) I also apparently gained no weight over Christmas. I ate a ton of sugary snacks (Yum. Thanks for the baking Mom!) and am hoping there isn't a delay on that weight gain.. The OB had a listen to the babies heartbeats and said they were good and in the 140s. I love listening to their hearts! We have one more appointment with the OB scheduled for January 4th. At the next appointment she said we begin cervical checks and talking about induction. I'd prefer to let nature take it's course if everything is ticking along smooth and healthy.

Friday early afternoon, we had our 36 week ultrasound appointment and visit with the perinatologist. My blood pressure was (the highest it's ever been in my life) at 130/78. Still very close to normal so I'm not worried too much about it. I'll keep an eye out for any side effects just in case.

Baby girl's heartbeat was 150 and she gained a little bit more weight, but not as much as previous weeks at only 100g, so we go back for another ultrasound end of next week just to check on her growth and to make sure it wasn't an error in her belly measurement by the technician. Baby girl did grow, so we think she's doing okay. I just really don't like worrying about her and hope that she's still getting enough oxygen and food from her placenta. She's is now approximately 5lbs 7oz according to today's measurements. My only solace, is that I now feel her moving (or what I think is her) quite a bit. So it's reassuring to me.

Baby boy's heartbeat today was 147 and he is now approximately 5lbs 14oz. He gained about 300g (also a bit less than previous weeks, but just barely) and he is growing like a weed. I don't feel him moving around as much anymore due to his placenta placement and his position, so it's nice to know he's doing well.

My guess is that our babies may be less than 6lbs at birth if they're born next week and I may not hit my goals. I'm still hoping for January 8th and 6lbs each, but their health is number one, so if the OB or Perinatologist say they need to come out, then we'll be heading to the hospital. Wish us luck in the next couple of weeks and thank you all for the prayers. We greatly appreciate them.

His profile (36w3d)

His chubby little face!

Her chubby little squished face!

Her ear (I was amazed by this photo)

This New Years Eve we plan to stay home and have a quiet celebration, not only for the changing year, but also to celebrate our babies, and being pregnant into the new year. It has been the most wonderful, love filled year of my life and it's only going to be better in 2012!

♥ Best wishes to all of our family & friends for a beautiful year in 2012. ♥

Christmas at Week 35

Last weekend (Dec 17&18) Phil and my Dad got the sub floor installed in our basement on Saturday and the underlay plus laminate flooring installed on Sunday. They worked like crazy and it is looking wonderful. No more cold concrete (other than the laundry room and storage area). My mom and I went shopping and spent time organizing the house. Our new bedroom furniture was also delivered. Finally real adult furniture. I'm really enjoying it.

Basement Reno with subflooring installed

Newly decorated/painted bedroom!

The rocker/recliner is now in the babies' nursery. I could sleep in that chair it's so comfy. They're crib is set up, their teeny clothes, washed and organized by size, in their dresser drawers and their closet put together. The only remaining things to do in order to get the nursery complete, are to hang the curtain rods so we can put up the sheers & valance, hang a hook from the ceiling for their dreamcatcher and add fabric to their lamp shade. I hope to get this all accomplished sometime soon. Though I'm certain the babies will not care in the least if we don't get it all done before they make their arrival.

Phil spent all of his evenings this week working on getting the basement electrical finished up. Putting on switches and light fixtures. We now have working lighting. I've spent my time putting all of our clothing back into our newly painted bed room closet and new dresser. Also, doing loads of laundry. We had a bunch of things which needed moving around and Phil has been so wonderful at taking care of everything. It seems as though the organizing is never ending, but it will get finished!

Wednesday our new king sized mattress was delivered. It is wonderfully soft and going to be great for those naps we may be able to fit in here and there from January to April 2012. We got it all set up, went to put on the new linens and the fitted sheet wouldn't go on the bed.. I looked at the packaging, "king", and then at the tag on the actual sheet, which read "queen".. blah. Good thing we'd bought two sets. I guess I have some returns to do. Wednesday evening I also went for another prenatal massage, possibly my last one. They feel so very good now a days. In the past week my hands and feet have become swollen and tingly making it difficult to do small tasks and to walk around. Small tasks are difficult to do, and increasingly, Phil is helping so much. He made a comment about how he now realizes all of the things I do, and appreciates me even more. (Aw, what a nice guy I have!) I have a really hard time sitting still and doing nothing when there are so many chores I could be doing around the house. If there is one thing I've been taught by pregnancy it is to let other people help you. Until the swelling goes down, (which I hear is after the births) hot baths seem to be the only temporary answer for relief.

Thursday morning, we went back to the OB for a weekly check up. Phil now has to come to every appointment as I can no longer safely drive. Somewhat due to belly size and somewhat due to my achy hands. I'd been worried a little bit that perhaps my blood pressure might be increasing, since I'd started retaining water. My blood pressure was 114/78. Good news. The babies are doing well and their heartbeats were 150 & 160 approximately. They were wiggling all about from the Tim Hortons hot chocolate I'd just drank. We saw another OB named Dr. Graham, as our regular OB was on holidays. I really liked him and it's nice to meet another OB from the clinic as we could get almost anyone once we are at the hospital. Dr. Graham seemed quite happy to report that our babies were nice and big and that we have a good twin pregnancy. He also told me that I'd likely have double the swelling with twins, which is good to know. We go back again next week on December 29th for another check up. I keep on hoping that our cubs will stay put and healthy another few weeks. Lately, it's been in the back of my mind that any time could be go time. No signs as of yet.. I feel like we're not quite ready yet.. Though are you ever really ready for something this life changing? Perhaps not. The planner in me needs to settle a bit..

We put up our Christmas tree last week and hung our stalkings on the mantle. Then it began to feel a lot more like Christmas. We celebrated Christmas with family at our place for three days and had a nice big dinner. Now to spend this next week relaxing.

Christmas Day (35w5d)

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!

Everything is Coming Together

Week 34 began this week. We're getting so close to meeting our little cubs. I am now beginning to get scared. Not to meet them, but of our pregnancy ending... and mostly of the pain I'll have to endure twice over to birth them and/or the thought of being cut open. I'm preparing my mind for zen and trying to think happy thoughts to get myself through the whole hospital experience. Of course our prime objective is to bring home two healthy babies shortly thereafter. I'm still trying to will them to be born mid January and to grow over 6lbs each...

Last weekend was very busy. Saturday was our baby shower! It was perfect. I had such a wonderful time. Rebekah threw it for us at her house, which was very gracious of her. She decorated with pink and blue streamers and balloons, set up a food table and made a really yummy punch. I had the chance to visit with good friends for a few hours and our babies were completely spoiled. We now have so many things we'd never thought of for our babies. They received clothing, swaddlers, books, a wipes warmer, a diaper genie, blankets, socks and a bunch of other adorable things, including a handmade diaper cake. The food was great and I did get to eat real cake! In fact, I am still eating cake..yums.

All of the guys painted the first coat in our master bedroom while we were at the shower on Saturday. Then Sunday Phil and my Dad painted the second coat. Now, we're just awaiting furniture and mattress deliveries next Saturday on the 17th, and we'll have a real adult bedroom. Ahhh. I can't wait to sleep in a fluffy bed which doesn't hurt my hips. Phil also hung our Christmas lights in the front yard on Sunday. Our house looks festive now! We then spent the evening at Phil's aunt and uncle's house for family dinner. They were very happy to see us. As usual, they spoiled us with home cooking and deserts.

This week I went swimming on Monday morning at the gym for about an hour. I love being in the water. I feel so at home in the water and yet, I like to think about our babies floating in their own water. Kind of neat. I swim gentle laps and use the flutter boards sometimes, as well as the foam weights, kettle bells and pool noodles to get an arm and leg workout. I guess I still don't know the size of my belly as I whacked it against the side of the pool pretty hard trying to get a pool noodle which I thought I could reach. Hoping the babies are okay in there, and that I bruised my ego and my muscles more then them. I used the doppler at home to check on them later in the afternoon. Both of their heartbeats were music to my ears. I still worry about them.. but I'm told it never ends.. I guess that will help me to be a good mommy.

Monday afternoon the drywall sanding crew arrived and sanded down all of our basement walls. Phil began priming the walls the same evening. It only took him one evening to prime the entire basement by himself. He's taken on so much home renovation work and never complains. He just gets it done. I'm so proud that he's my husband. We can not wait to see it all finished, sit back and admire his handiwork.

Phil priming the basement walls

Tuesday morning we had another OB appointment. It's been snowing a lot here this year and I am loving the Christmasy feel! (I really hope the snow sticks around for Christmas and New Years.) What I'm not loving as much, are the slippery roads. We know how to drive them being that we are from Manitoba, but I'm afraid of the other drivers on the road. At the appointment my blood pressure measured 116/78 and the babies heartbeats were 145(her) & 155(him) approximately. Today's appointment included the routine strep B swab and I'm guessing we'll find out at next weeks appointment if I'm all clear or not. The OB said she wasn't worried about me having bumped my belly, Monday at the pool, as there were no signs of anything amiss. She also said that depending upon baby girl's position on this weeks' ultrasound, we may be booking a c-section for early January, around week 37 or 38. We will be discussing it with her at our next appointment. The med student measured my belly again and it's now between 52 & 53 weeks big. I love it! (Phil painted the first coat of colour in the basement Tuesday evening.)

Wednesday I took it easy at home and just tidied up as much as I could. In the evening, while Phil was painting the second coat of paint in the basement, I went for a prenatal massage. One of the last few I imagine I'll be getting. It was so nice to lay there and relax fully for an hour. My muscles thank me I am sure, and I also still believe that massage is good for the babies. I don't feel comfortable laying on my stomache any longer, even with the pregnancy support pad they usually use, so asked if I could lay on my side instead. It was lovely. I would go everyday if I could.

Thursday evening we had our house professionally cleaned. We hired a small company which uses natural cleaning products, so no chemicals. They did a wonderful job and our house is looking nice again. I think we may be having them return again in a month or two. I love having a clean house! Phil spent the evening with the intention of getting some electrical done and waiting for our flooring. He discovered that most of the electrical wires he'd run, and the data cables, were mangled by the cut out tool the drywall guy had used! We called the company asap and after a long evening, called it a night. Friday morning the company called back first thing and sent out two guys to fix the damage and replace the wiring.

We went to the Foothills Hospital for another ultrasound on Friday morning. I really find piece of mind in these frequent ultrasounds and love knowing how our babies are growing. Grow cubs, grow! We love you and will see you in another 3-4 weeks. While we were there, and just as we'd gotten into the back waiting area, the fire alarm went off and the building was evacuated. Once they let us back into the building we were finally able to get our ultrasound done. Baby girl was head down! Baby boy was also head down! (Now they just need to stay that way for us.) She now weighs 2353g or 5lbs 3oz and had a heart rate of 141bpm. He now weighs 2439g or 5lbs 6oz and had a heart rate of 150bpm. They're now only 4% apart in size, which is really good. We also are guessing that by week 37 they will both be over 6lbs. My blood pressure was checked once again and was 110/68. We asked them for photos if possible and got a few, but they're quite difficult to get at good angles now.

Twins' heads - Looks like he has hair

Baby Girl hugging Baby Boy <3

This weekend my parents are coming back for another visit and to help Phil with our basement renovation. We greatly appreciate the help! The plan is to lay the sub-flooring and start the laminate flooring installation. My Mom and I will likely clean the house some more and get the babies' room organized and wash their cute, little, tiny laundry that we got at the shower. We're planning to have our truck detailed next week sometime and have Daddy Phil install our baby car seats/buckets. Our hospital bags are mostly packed now and we think we're nearly ready to rest for Christmas.

34 Week Belly Bump

Photography, Belly Paint, Month Eight!

Welcome to month 8! Week 33. Only three more weeks to go until we reach the average gestational period for twins, 36 weeks. Pregnancy goes by so quickly. I'm somewhat saddened by the fact that I am beginning to realize our pregnancy is nearly complete. I love being pregnant. I love having a round baby belly. It's a real conversation starter and I've noticed that people seem to be so much nicer to you when you're pregnant. Many people have told me that I'll be wishing for these babies to come out. I haven't reached that point and am not sure that I will. I try to appreciate everything about being pregnant, to hold on just a little longer, to watch our babies move through my skin, to be conscious of their kicks, to talk to them, sing to them and read books to them, to absorb this time period in our lives and never forget.

Saying goodbye to my nice round pregnant belly will be bittersweet. I look forward to meeting our healthy babies in the next month or so (I'm still aiming for Jan 8-11th and 6lbs for each baby), and am sure that I will fall in love with our cubs the minute I lay eyes on them. I look forward to seeing who they look like, how big they are, how teeny they are. I look forward to holding them in my arms and just marveling at life that we've created.

Last Sundays photo shoot went really well. Melinda, from Melinda Gombert Photography, was a wonderful photographer. She gave us direction, was very detail oriented (which I loved!) and had so many ideas for belly photos. Some were of Phil & I together some of just me, and some of cub belly. We had so much fun with the props and we can not wait to see them all in a couple of weeks!

On Wednesday I spent some time swimming at the gym. It was great to feel like I am taking care of myself again, even if it's going to be awhile before I can get a consistent routine back underway. I'm hoping for late February or March. I've missed it. It was also very lovely to float in the water, swim some laps and get a workout. In the late afternoon, Phil and I went shopping for a new mattress to go with our soon to be delivered bedroom furniture. We decided to go with a plushy Serta from Sleep Country with some fancy spring coil system. All I know was that it was comfy in a fluffy happy kind of way and made my hips stop aching. Sold. Hoping it's everything we imagine. Having a nice place to sleep, even if it's only for a few hours at a time, is going to be wonderful.

In the evening, a girlfriend of mine came over to paint my belly! She runs a face painting business here in the city called Facial Expressions. She designed a few ideas and decided to paint a cute picture of two sweet peas in a pod. It was a lot of fun to watch her create artwork on my tummy. The babies were both quite active. They must have loved the tickley paintbrushes as much as I did. Baby boy kept kicking right where she was painting. I found it entertaining and was glad to see them moving around so much.

Thursday evening Phil and I went to a class called New Baby, Old Pet at the Humane Society. It was about how to integrate your new arrival into your household and how to help your pets feel that the babies are part of our "pack". I was worried more so about our cats jumping onto/peeing on the babies' things or trying to sleep with them, than the dog. I think River will do just fine with the babies. She's a very gentle dog and has been around quite a few babies of friends. She will likely be curious more than anything. I suspect Blossom will be scared and stay away mostly. Halo may try to claim their things as his own and sleep in random places. I hope to be able to somehow train him or keep the nursery door shut. Koda, I think will have his nose out of joint the most. He didn't seem to like babies when we had our neighbours son over to babysit him.

Friday, my girlfriend & I are going for a manicure, pedicure and mini facial. It is going to be great! Phil is going watch her 10 month old while we are at the spa, for some "baby practice". He's also going to organize the furnace cleaners, and possibly the guys who are stippling our basement ceiling. (He's still a really busy guy!) Then, once we're home, he's off to buy paint and paint supplies. We have three guys helping Phil paint our master bedroom on Saturday afternoon. It's going to look and feel so great to have the room ready for furniture the following weekend. Ahh, things are getting done.

While the guys are painting Saturday, the ladies will be next door. My girlfriend has graciously offered to throw us a baby shower! I thought we weren't going to get the chance to have a shower, so I'm very happy that she offered to be the hostess. I bought her a little thank you gift last weekend at the Christmas market. My mom is also coming into the city to help with our shower. I think she's just so excited that our cubs will be here in just over a month. I can't wait for her to meet the babies (though I'm not sure she will ever put them down.) At the shower we're expecting about 15 people. I'm thankful to have so many people who care about us and our babies. I look forward to seeing good friends.. and to cake...

Week 33 belly o' cubs ♥

Big 3-2 Milestone!

Milestone Week 32! A few weeks back, when first meeting our OB she had said that "if" we made it to week 32, we'd be "laughing all the way to the bank." Well here it is!

Last Sunday we celebrated our second wedding anniversary by going furniture shopping in the afternoon. We bought ourselves a joint gift of new master bedroom furniture from Kincaid and a Lazboy rocker recliner chair that matches our living room furniture. We plan to put the chair in the nursery (it may be a bit of a tight fit but we loved it so we'll make room - I believe Phil thinks it is his sports-watching-chair, but he is sadly mistaken, and it is all mine..) and then once we're done with it in the nursery, we can move it into our rumpus room. We ordered a king size bed (Woohoo! Space for family cuddling), two nightstands and a dresser with thirteen drawers (a huge upgrade from the three drawers we currently have). Phil also gave me a dozen gorgeous pink roses, and an IOU to paint our bedroom! I gave him a black cashmere scarf, which he seems to love, as he's worn it a lot already. We also went out for a romantic dinner together to an italian restaurant. It was a very wonderful anniversary.

Our Anniversary

Monday morning, I had our 32 week visit with the OB. I saw the med student again and she attempted to listen to the cubs' heartbeats. She's not very good at it, so later that afternoon Phil and I listened at home. I find it comforting. Also for some reason it gets the babies moving around quite a bit and kicking the doppler, which I find cute and entertaining. At the OB office they weighed me again. This time I looked. Which was a mistake. Never ever look. (I'm fairly certain that the cubs weigh somewhere in the vicinity of 20-25lbs each right?) The med student also measured my belly again and I've now got a 44 week pregnant belly! My blood pressure was the highest it's been so far at 120/70, but still very normal. I'd exerted myself just before the appointment (by walking.. what doesn't cause some level of exertion now a days?).

Tuesday evening was our final prenatal class and we talked about baby care. We learned swaddling techniques (Phil did a wonderful job), bathing and diapering. We are happy to be finished (and went out to the Keg to celebrate after the class), and yet somehow, we will miss the classes and the socializing with other couples expecting twins. The instructor gave us two little baby spoons wrapped in two baby wash cloths as a gift from our babies, for completing the prenatal classes. It was nice to know we had a place to ask questions, even if only once a week. Now, we're on our own to figure out this whole being a parent thing. I can only imagine what it is going to feel like to leave the hospital with two babies.. that will be an eye opener. (I bet Phil will drive home like an old man..) We look forward to applying what we've learned.

Thursday morning we had our 32 week ultrasound. No more cervical checks on ultrasound for this gal. I'm not sure yet how I feel about that. I kind of liked knowing, just as a small measure of how long we may have until labour. It somehow made me feel more comfortable that the cubs were planning to stay put awhile longer. Plus I'm certain it must be getting shorter, as baby girl seems to like to kick me in the crotch frequently from the inside. She's now breech.. not what we were hoping for, but as long as they are both healthy and growing we can't ask for anything else. We're hoping that she will flip around again, head down, in the next few weeks so we can try for natural births. The babies each gained almost another pound. Baby girl weighs 1826g (just over 4lbs) with a heartbeat of 139bpm and baby boy weighs 1973g (4lbs 6oz) with a heartbeat of 160bpm. My blood pressure was great at 110/60, and we're all doing well.

On a non-baby related note, we donated a bunch of housewares and electronics for charity pick up today and it feels great to get rid of things we no longer need! I'm in a major decluttering mood lately. As for basement reno news, a load of drywall was delivered to our house on Wednesday. Hurray! The drywall guys came on Thursday afternoon to begin working on our basement. They will be returning Friday to finish up, so that the mudding/taping can hopefully begin on Monday. I can not wait until it is beautiful, white and looks like a real space that we can paint and add flooring to..

Halo inspecting the drywall pile

Phil double checking the pot lights he installed

On the weekend we plan to put up the Christmas lights and go to yet another Christmas craft market. I love this time of year with all of the craft markets. They give me a chance to walk around a bit, so I feel like I'm getting some type of exercise even if it is small. We also hope to pick up our nursery furniture from way up in the northwest quadrant of the city. We called and it should be in the latest shipment.. finally! Saturday afternoon, I also have a prenatal massage booked. I'm enjoying being spoiled.

Milestone 32 week belly! (Measuring 44 weeks)

Sunday afternoon Phil and I are getting a professional maternity photo shoot. I plan to bring along a few props from the nursery, perhaps a stuffed animal, their native slippers, ultrasound photos and whatever else we can think of. I can not wait to see the photos of Phil & I, plus belly o' cubs.