Monday, July 30, 2012

Our Big Purchases...

I just thought that I would go through our big purchases for the twins upcoming arrival.

1.  Honda Odyssey Van - We found a great price on a used van in excellent condition with low miles at Carmax.  Within a week, we were the proud owners of a navy blue Odyssey.  It will be the manvan since CJ will be driving it.  I will take over his Mazda 3 and my borrowed Mustang convertible will go back to my parents.  (While I'm sad to be giving back my convertible, I will not missing getting in and out of it...it was definitely getting more difficult.)

2.  Baby Jogger City Select Double Stroller - In red.  It's awesome.  I like that it is not really that much bigger than a single stroller (in fact, it can convert to a single stroller) and it will last from infants until they are 45lbs each.  It was a wonderful gift from my in-laws and we are very grateful.  We will hold off on a jogging stroller for now because while I definitely want to get into running, I just don't see myself running with twins.  That's my me time!

3.  Maxi Cosi Mico Car Seats - these were another gift from my in-laws and we really liked them for the excellent safety rating and how light they are.  We got one in red and one in blue so that they will have red sox colors!!

4.  Baby's Dream Ocean V1 Cribs - these were a beautiful gift from my parents.  I love them and cannot wait until they arrive.  Plus, we plan on using them as twin beds when the twins are older too.

5.  Angelcare Monitors - these were a gift from relatives for my shower and I'm so happy we have them.  They did not come highly rated from baby bargains, but my sister has used them with her 3 kids and loves the piece of mind that comes with the motion sensor.  I could not imagine not have the motion sensor, so I'm very excited about these!!

6.  Chico LX Pack N Play - This was a gift from my sister in law.  We wanted to get one nicer pack n play with a  changing table that we will leave open in our family room downstairs.  This one is really cute and has music and vibration!!  We received a 2nd hand-me-down pack n play from my parents for travel.

We haven't really started with nursery decorations yet, but we did pick out sheets and my mother-in-law will be working on curtains for the room.  I know we still have 2 months, but it definitely seems like a lot of things still need to come together.

The other thing that I've been doing to prepare for the twins arrival is reading Bringing Up Bebe by Pamela Druckerman.  It is an awesome book.  CJ is going to read it next and we are going to do our best to implement many of the french parenting strategies she discusses in the book.  I highly recommend it and if anyone has any suggestions for how to use french parenting strategies over here in America, please share!!  Basically, I love the idea of The Pause, the Meal Schedule of 8am, noon, 4pm (snack), and 8pm dinner with no snacking between meals, and saying Hello and Goodbye.  I love the idea that the parents lives do not center around their children, but rather they bring the children into their world.  We also have the book On Becoming Babywise for more of a practical, how-to approach for helping our twins "do their nights" (to borrow a phrase from Bringing Up Bebe.)



Thursday, July 26, 2012

Welcome to the 3rd Trimester!!

Holy Cow!!  I'm in the 3rd trimester.  How did I get here?  I'm still not really sure and I don't think I'll even be able to process it until after my twins are here safe and sound...But, I'm so happy and thankful to be here!!

28 weeks with about 9 weeks to go!!

Just some quick updates...I passed my 1 hour glucose test.  I was shocked because I know carrying twins meant that I had a higher risk for gestational diabetes.  I promptly celebrated that night with leftover cookies and cupcakes from my shower!!

I got my rhogam shot because my blood type is B-.  Not very exciting, but I'm happy to have it on-board!!

We had our 28 week ultrasound yesterday.  Both babies were looking good and continued to look big.  Baby Girl is 3lbs 1oz and Baby Boy is 2lbs 12oz.  The MFM said that the size difference is normal and just something that we will continue to watch.  My fluid levels look good.  And with that, they sent me on my way. 

I'll update more with items that we purchased/received for the babies later. 

Monday, July 23, 2012

My Baby Shower

Did I seriously just write that title?  This is all a little surreal.  But I know that I had my baby shower this weekend with my best friends in from out of town, my close friends from work, and my family because of how exhausted I am today.  It was all worth it though.  Here's a run down of the weekend. 

Friday morning...finish my final night shift (until August that is) and head home for some much needed rest. 
Friday afternoon...finish cleaning our house, run some last minute errands (spa gift certificates for the shower hostesses, pedicure for me, key grocery items, shower, get dressed for dinner

Friday night...dinner in a nearby town with my twin sister and her newest baby, my parents, aunt and uncle, CJ, and CJ's parents.  Lots of delicious pizza and water for me with everyone else trying out some local brews.  Head back to our house and await the arrival of our out-of-town friends.

Friday late night...welcome our friends from Pittsburgh (my best friend from summer camp and her boyfriend) and New York (my best friend from college).  It was so wonderful catching up with them and figuring out a good plan for the next day.  I stayed up way too late and finally got to sleep around 2:30-3am.  Yes, I'm still on the night schedule. 

Saturday morning...CJ heads out for a vet appointment and to pick up bagels for breakfast.  We all partake in yummy bagels, fruit, coffee, and OJ before heading out for some shopping at the outdoor downtown mall.  It is so wonderful to be with my best friends and doing something so normal as shopping.  I don't buy anything, but I enjoy encouraging them to buy super cute dresses and shoes. 

Saturday afternoon...shower prep at my house with all the girls in the master bedroom for hair and makeup.  My new maternity dress looks really cute and my bump looks huge!!  Then, we head over to my friend's house who is hosting the shower.  My family is already there helping with last minute preparation.  More guests start to arrive and the boys leave for a lunch of burgers and beer.

The shower...theme was 2 peas in a pod and the food was delicious, the decorations were adorable, and the games were fun.  Most of the shower was me opening up gifts.  It was so weird to be the center of attention for so long, but it was also a lot of fun and I couldn't stop smiling.  We got some really wonderful gifts as well including super cute clothes, our pack-n-play, bath toys, swaddle cloths, bibs, books for the nursery, toys, our baby monitors (Angel Care with the motion sensor that my sister swears by), and even our babies first red-sox gear!!  It was so much fun!!

Saturday night...After a quick post-shower stop at our house where we unloaded the gifts and a quick change, we headed out to dinner with my sister, the out-of-town friends, and 3 friends from here.  It was a great dinner party.  Lots of laughs and good conversations.  CJ and I even picked up the check to thank our friends for coming in from out of town and to thank our other friends for all of their support.  We are all so full!!

Saturday late night...we head back to the house early-ish (9pm) and stay up chatting and watching youtube videos until way too late.  Good night!!

Sunday morning...sleep in until 8:30am, then lounge around with our friends and get breakfast (more bagels, coffee, fruit, and OJ.)  Did I mention that our friends were all staying with us for the weekend, plus my sister and her baby stayed over on Saturday night so it was quite a full house.  Then, we hung out and went through the shower gifts and even started organizing them.  Our Pittsburgh friends had to leave early to see some sights in Virginia before heading back home.  T

Sunday afternoon...It was off to lunch for the rest of us with my family and CJ's parents.  Another fun-filled meal and more pictures!!  Then, back home in time to see our New York friend off on her bus back to NYC.  After we got home, I started crying because it was such a full weekend and I had missed all my friends so much the house just felt really empty.

Sunday night...quick dinner at home with CJ's parents.  I am definitely going to fail my glucose test on Tuesday.  They don't stay long because I'm exhausted.  The next time we see them will be go time for the babies.  CJ and I then watch a little tv and crash early.  What a weekend!!

If you made it this long, thanks for reading!!  Now, I'm just going to try to catch up on rest this week and start studying for work again.  Next up is glucose test and rhogam tomorrow and growth ultrasound on Wednesday!!

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Still scared...

Yep, that basically describes my feelings daily.  I am so in love with my twins, my little eagles and I am so terrifed that I won't get to meet them.  Little things make me nervous...like registering (which we finally did since the shower is in 2 weeks), talking about the babies, planning for September...and big things like buying a new car.  If it were a reasonable thing to do, I would wait until after the babies were here to get a new car just so that we were sure...but that doesn't sound like the best idea and CE found a great deal on a used car which we might be buying tonight.  I'm just so worried that we will jinx it.  Everything is going well so far.  I continue to have braxton hicks contractions throughout the day, especially when I have to pee or stand up suddenly, but otherwise I'm feeling pretty good.  And the babies have been great at reassuring me when I need it...I just press my hand on my belly and I am usually rewarded with a little kick. 

I know that this fear won't really leave ever, so I'm going to just try to enjoy everyday that I am pregnant and continue to pray for my babies...that we get to meet them in September and that they are healthy and whole.  I know that this is another side effect of my previous miscarriage and then the resulting infertility, but that doesn't make it any easier. 

On a happier note, I'm almost 26 weeks, which mean only 2 more weeks until the 3rd trimester.  Oh yeah, and my belly is huge, which means 2 big babies in there!!

Monday, July 2, 2012

It's been way too long!!

I know I took quite a long hiatus.  I have to be honest.  It was pure superstition and fear that kept me away.  The week leading up to 24 weeks were filled with anxiety.  I just couldn't imagine making it past that magical number...and I didn't want to blog for fear that I would jinx anything.  I can't believe I made it past there and things are still going well.  I'm still scared.  I love my little eagles so much and I cannot wait to meet them in September...I love their little kicks and I love my growing belly...and even my swollen feet because it means I'm getting closer to bringing them home.  Here' s what's been going on it bullet points.

-Work has been getting harder.  I try to sit down as much as possible, but there are still times when I need to be more active and it's definitely tough.  I'm just going to keep taking it one week at a time.

-Speaking of work, I recently received a horrible peer review from my colleagues.  I basically scored the worst out of all the residents in my class.  I received comments like "always tries to get out of work" or "I don't appreciate all the times that I have had to cover for her at work" or "honesty is important for gaining the respect of your colleagues" or "needs to work harder" or "only works 50% while at work and tries to get out of as much work as possible."  It was horrible.  I basically cried for a day straight.  I didn't ask for any of this, the miscarriage, infertility, IVF, twin pregnancy and I'm doing my best to make it work, but apparently my peers don't see that.  Even people who knew how hard the past 2 years were still gave me bad marks.  It's just frustrating because I have been working as hard as I can.  Have any of you had trouble in the work place due to loss, infertility, or pregnancy?  Any tips?

-And also speaking of work, 2 of my friends announced they were pregnant.  While I am super excited for them, it still stings that they were able to get pregnant so easily. Mostly though I'm just so thankful for my twins!!

-Okay and now time for the twins and this pregnancy.  They are still a boy and girl.  At 24 weeks, they were both measuring 1lb 9oz.  I love feeling their kicks and listening to their heartbeats.  It is so wonderful.

-I'm getting really big!! I even had to move to medium scrub top to accomodate my growing belly.  It's impressive.

-I just started getting awful reflux and heartburn.  Nothing seems to help at this point, but I'm going to talk to my doctor about it at my check-up tomorrow.  I'm going every other week now, which is definitely helping me with my sanity!!

-We bought our baby stroller.  Or rather my in-laws got us our baby stroller, but we picked it out this weekend.  We got the Baby Jogger City Select in Red!!  It's awesome!!

I will try to catch up more tomorrow.  I'm trying to study as much as I can now before the babies come so I gotta hit the books!! I've been reading and following along!!  I may even try to post a belly pic soon.

Anyone have any good nursery ideas for boy girl twins?  Or recommendations for cribs and car seats??

Happy Monday!!