Thursday, May 3, 2012

Week 29



The best way to describe the third trimester is uncomfortable. Holden can decided if he wants to live across my ribs or in a ball on the right side of my tummy. Emma Cate is snuggled in cozily in her "A" spot. This week I've met a few more challenges dealing with getting around and getting comfortable. 

In a previous post, I mentioned that our den is now becoming our family room and Jay is freaking out a little more and more each day. I guess this is becoming a reality for him. 

On Thursday, we said goodbye to our beloved Sophie for the next 8 weeks. We are her foster family and once a year she has puppies and goes to live with the breeder to deliver and nurse her puppies until they are all sold. Its very sad for me and in the past I haven't been there when she's been picked up. Jay took a few pictures of the pregnant girls before she left but unfortunately they're on my big camera and I haven't uploaded it yet. We learned that Sophie had 8 puppies on Friday night and everyone is doing great! 

Sunday was spent at my last baby shower and ended with a successful but annoying Ikea trip. 

Jay would tell you that I am definitely in nesting mode. I still don't know if its nesting or freak out that I could be put on bed rest at any time and not everything is done. I am quite the control freak and I like things done a certain my way. I'm posting this because I will probably laugh at myself later when I am crazed and frazzled with two toddlers but for now I like to have towels folded a certain way. I got annoyed that when folding burp clothes, Jay didn't have the edges meet up perfectly. I know its crazy but I am so OCD about this! Everyone has said to have people help you with laundry and I'm hoping to let go of some of these OCD tendencies but we'll see...

Every night this week I've spent time in the nursery preparing everything. They recommend that you wash and dry cloth diapers 5 times before use so they've taken up the majority of our laundry. I've gotten all of the crib sheets done and I'm ready to make up the cribs with all the layers of waterproof-ness we've purchased! 

We attended our prepared parent childbirth class on Tuesday night. It was boring and we both new most of the information already. Jay was ready to walk out he was so bored. The material could have been discussed in 1 hour but the class lasted 3. I think we would have cared a little bit more if we were planning on a vaginal delivery but with our doctor's recommendation, a c-section seems to be the safest way to bring these babies into the world. 

I spend the morning today at my 3 hour glucose test. The test wasn't terrible. The drink was much worse than the first time around though and I had to get blood drawn four times! Good thing I've become used to needle sticks! Luckily my friend Heather had given birth at the same hospital 24 hours prior to my test and I got to hang out with her and adorable Baby Bo while I waited in between sticks. 

Yesterday afternoon I went crazy with the returns and purchasing of baby items. I hit up the Milky Way (which I HIGHLY recommend if you are pregnant or have a baby and live in Charlotte!), Babies R Us (that places grosses me out) and Buy Buy Baby. I picked up pretty much everything else we need for babies and will do a post soon on all the items I've bought and we've been given and then plan to do a follow up with what we actually used and what we needed more of.

I've also been doing the choking thing in my sleep again. Jay was awake while I fell asleep the other night and told me that I seem to close my mouth and just will not breath then I wake up gagging and coughing. I'm pretty sure it is not sleep apnea like I originally thought but more of acid reflux. In addition to my prescription acid reflux I've had to take a pepto bismol every night to help settle things. 

Pregnancy Highlights:
Today's Date: Wednesday, May 2, 2012
How Far Along: 29 weeks
Pregnancy Countdown: 63 days
Size of babies: A rutabaga. The babies are 15.2-16.7 inches long and weigh between 2.5- 3.8 pounds (babies have definitely done some growing this week!)
Total Weight Gain/Loss: 19 pounds. Up two pounds this last week. Probably making up for the loss last week
Maternity Clothes: Yes, with the exception of a few maxi dresses. With the 90 degree temps I'm most comfortable in my tank tops and running shorts. 
Gender: Girl- Emma Cate and Boy- Holden.
Movement: Holden is crazy. Actually when we moves back into position across my ribs, I feel a weird tingling sensation. I know that I've felt it before I was pregnant but I can't remember what caused it.
Sleep: Sleep is decent. Starting to have insomnia again. I think its because I've been up so late working on the nursery and have a hard time winding down. I've only woken up a few nights with my acid reflux but hopefully that will change soon when I talk with the doctor.
What I miss: summer drinks. Can't wait for a gin and tonic!
Cravings: Greek yogurt with almonds has been a favorite. Ice cream continues to rank high on the list  and ICEEs have made a reappearance thanks to my wonderful husband who brought one home for me by surprise the other night!
Symptoms: continuing braxton hicks, acid reflux, general "large" feeling 
Best Moment this week: getting to see all of my old cheerleaders at the baby shower! and getting our pictures back from our maternity session. Can't wait to get the CD with all of the images so that I can share!

My Week in iPhone Pictures

29 weeks 1 day


29 weeks 1 day

Full cart at Buy Buy Baby

Got this great Mama Roo on sale because it was a display model! 

Can you tell which side Holden is living on today?

Yum Yum Orange Glucose Drink

All gone!

Belly in a Booth- not much room at Mo's
 
old desk chair

new desk chair= happy back!





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Tuesday, May 1, 2012

To Do List

Jay and I returned a LOT of baby items yesterday, mainly clothing and few duplicate things we got off of our registry. I'm getting to the point where I want to be totally prepared for the twins to arrival. I wouldn't call it nesting as I'm not much into cleaning (although I am noticing places where it needs to happen!) but more organizing and making sure we have what we need.

I know this list is a little OCD but I am a planner and want to take care of as much as possible before the twins' arrival.

To Do:
Gear

Buy seat protectors for car seat install (Buy Buy Baby)
Install carseats in both cars 
Schedule carseat inspection (CMC Main)
Set up pack 'n play in basement
Buy storage compartment for stroller (Buy Buy Baby)
Buy moby wrap (Babies R Us)


Safety
Buy second camera for video monitor (Buy Buy Baby)

Diapering
Buy 6 newborn/infant diaper covers (Milky Way)
Buy 2-12 packs of infant prefold diapers (Buy Buy Baby)
Buy pack of Snappies (Milky Way) 
Buy pail liner for nursery (Milky Way or Amazon)
Buy Dekor diaper pail (Amazon or Target)
Buy small wet bag for travel (Milky Way or Amazon)
Buy 4-12 packs of flannel diaper wipes (Buy Buy Baby)
Wash all prefold diapers 4x

Layette

Buy Adan + Anais muslin swaddle blankets (Any Baby Store)
Buy 2 sleep sacks (Babies R Us- on sale)
Pack diaper bag (changing pad, disposable wipes, small wet bag, diapers, onesies)
Pack twins hospital bags (picture outfits, coming home outfits, and blankets)
Buy large thick blanket for tummy time in family room (Pottery Barn)
Wash newborn clothing and plain white onesies
Wash all blankets

Toys and Activity
Buy Exersaucer (Buy Buy Baby)
Buy storage bins for family room (Ikea)
Set up swing in family room
Set up activity gym
Organize baby toys- bring them out of nursery and into family room,
Organize board books in family room- leave big books in nursery

Mom and Dad
Set up feeding/changing charts for each baby
Pack hospital bags (I think the is going to be sub list!)
Buy ItzBeen Timers (Amazon)
Buy Padalliys for carseats (Baby Stores)
Clean out and sell or use garage freezer
Read Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Twins and pray.
Sign up for cloth diapering class at Milky Way
Attend childbirth class (5/1 & 5/8)

Nursery

Buy tan changing pad cover (Buy Buy Baby)
Buy 4 ultimate sheet savers (Buy Buy Baby)
Buy 2 fitted crib sheets (Buy Buy Baby)
Buy 2 Pack N' Play sheets (Buy Buy Baby)
Buy package of cloth diapers for burp cloths
Buy laundry hamper (Pottery Barn Kids)
Buy nightlights (Pottery Barn Kids)
Set up sound machine 
Wash crib sheets
Fix drawer pulls
Purchase drawer organizers (Ikea)
Buy baskets for closet organization (Buy Buy Baby)
Move white shelf from garage to Emma Cate's closet
Organize drawers

Bathing
Wash wash cloths and hooded towels
Clean kitchen sink really well. Come up with alternative place for drying rack.

Baby Care
Buy nail files (Target)
Buy Nose Frieda and filters (Target)
Come up with central place to keep extra binkis
Buy Infant Tylenol (Target)
Buy Infant saline drops (Target)
Buy more dreft or tide free and clear (Target)
Schedule interview/visit to pediatrician

Feeding
Clean out kitchen cabinet for baby supplies
Organize bottles and buy more if needed, need 12 per baby (Babies R Us- on sale)
Return 4oz baby bottles
Wash baby bottles
Set up bottle warmer (figure out how it works)
Buy level one nipples for Dr. Browns (Target)
Buy 1 dishwasher caddy (Babies R Us- on sale)
Buy breast pads and lanolin (Target)
Buy/Rent nursing pillow (Contact CMOMS or purchase at Buy Buy Baby)
Buy 2 Space Saver chairs (Babies R Us)
Buy 4 packages bibs (Buy Buy Baby)

Also- I just read two of my favorite blogs, Blue Eyed Bride and These Four No More and saw they were doing a giveaway for a $100 Target giftcard.Check out this post to enter!











Monday, April 30, 2012

Fun Little Weekend

Our plans to relax this weekend didn't go as well as we had hoped but we still had lots of fun!


Friday afternoon Jay and I both had clear schedules from 4:30 on so we decided to meet at Freedom Park for an impromptu dinner picnic. I'm trying to squeeze in as many of these spontaneous things as I can before the babies arrive. Several other families had the same idea and the park was busy! They were also setting up for the international tree climbing competition and it made for some nice evening entertainment. After our appetizers, we went home and enjoyed the delicious prosciutto, asparagus and mushroom pasta that I blogged about previously.



I was up at 5:45 Saturday am to volunteer for my school's 5k run. I was so tired and spent a lot of Saturday laying around being lazy once I returned from the run. I did get to enjoy breakfast out with some colleagues at a new place called skillets in Ballantyne. It was sooo good!

Jay and I attended his end of the season baseball party on Saturday night and it was fun meeting parents of my boy students who I never get to see. I know so many girl parents from coaching cheer and this was a good opportunity to be introduced to some new folks. I just have to say, boys are soooo different than girls! Especially at age 13! It was so sweet to see how much these guys enjoyed playing for Jay and how much they looked up to him. I'm also so glad that he enjoys coaching and working with kids this age. He told me that now understands why I enjoy it so much. Jay gave an awesome end of the season speech and all the moms commented on how adorable and sweet he was. Jay is usually quite the talker so I got a little nervous when he started his speech but he did an awesome job! We didn't get home until 11:30 and I was soo thankful that we didn't have any early Sunday plans!

Sunday morning was spent rearranging the den. We're making the switch from a "den" to a "family room". We moved a lot of furniture out of the den, changed the position of our couch, bought some new stuff from Ikea, changed out the drapes, and purchased a new rug. The room is a little bare right now but we know the space will be filled with swings, PB anywhere chairs, crawling gyms, exersaucers and other baby things soon.

BEFORE:











AFTER (midway)
(please excuse the trash and tools, we haven't cleaned up yet! Also- the large picture of our wedding will be hung above the white table and replaced with a picture of the babies. The mirror on the wall will be removed as well as the home sign)
And sorry for the lighting! I snapped these on my cell phone on my way out the door this morning. I'll do a better update once the whole room is more put together.






















Sunday afternoon, I was privileged to be spoiled by my cheerleaders at an "alumnae" baby shower. All the girls from my 5 years of coaching were there! It was so fun to catch up with moms I hadn't seen in years. I can't believe some of these girls are driving now. I sooo badly wanted to let them know that I'll be coaching at the high school next year but I haven't gotten the go ahead to tell anyone yet! The babies were absolutely spoiled and I think that I'm going to have to change them every hour to get them into all of the new clothes they got! (More shower pictures to come!)

Love these personalized boppies!


cute elephant pillows that match the chairs



spoiled!


Cute personalized bathrobes. I'll probably going to see if the monogram shop can add "Cate" to Emma Cate's. The perils of a double name :)


Sunday evening ended with the WORST trip to Ikea ever. We arrived at 6:30 and the store closed at 7. Luckily we knew what we wanted but still wanted to see it in person before purchasing. As soon as we arrived I was STARVING and went straight for the cafeteria. I seriously cried when we rounded the corner and I saw the man putting the ropes up to block off the lines. The cafeteria closed at 6:30. Jay did his best to try and convince the guy that I needed to eat NOW but he wasn't budging. We then made beeline for the sofa table we came to buy, picked out the perfect baskets to fit inside and made our way downstairs to collect the items. We found two great rugs (one for the family room and one for the nursery) and went to pick up baskets. We couldn't find them anywhere and the store was closing so Jay ran upstairs to grab some of the 20 they had on display while I went to wait in the 40 person checkout line. Jay was rudely told that he could not take those baskets, the ones to purchase were on backorder and would be in in 2 weeks and that no, they would not give us the sale price when the baskets did come in. Ikea is not close and it was so frustrating that they didn't have the things I wanted!

 We had a delicious dinner at Cracker Barrel and I practically cleaned my plate I was soooo hungry. Once fed, I was a much more pleasant person :) At home, Jay went straight to work on the Ikea piece and I went to the nursery to organize our items to take back. We wanted to wait until our last shower to do any returns. I was surprised at how many "doubles" of things we got! Around midnight, we finally called it a night and I slept like a baby until my alarm went off signalling the start of another work week. Weekends are really too short...
Now for your opinion- we can't decide how to center this rug. Its a 6.5x6.5 square. Our rockers and bookshelf are centered by the window but the cribs and armoire are centered on the back wall (we couldn't center them with the window because of the shape of the room). Right now they are centered with the cribs but I'm not sure I love it that way.










Welcome!

Hi! 
Welcome to those of you from the MOMs link up as well as those that have been following along with us since the beginning. I've decided to make my original blog private for personal reasons but I didn't want to miss the opportunity to connect with others through this fun blogging world. My husband Jay and I are preparing to welcome a son and a daughter to our family within the next two months! This blog will chronicle our adventures as we become parents to twins. 

About Us:
Jay and I met as freshman at the great NC State University in August of 2003 and began dating shortly after. He asked me to marry him on October 1st 2006. We graduated in May of 2007 and were married on September 8th, 2007. A few years later we decided to try to start a family. After a long tough road, we found out that we were pregnant on November 7, 2011. At our first ultrasound on November 30, 2011 we learned that I was carrying twins! Jay was ecstatic. I was overwhelmed. 29 weeks later we are both so excited to welcome Emma Cate and Holden into our lives. 

We learned at our last appointment that my doctor does not want me to go past 38 weeks; so if the babies decide to stay put and my body continues to cooperate, the twins will be born by July 4th. 


Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Week 28


It's been a fun week around our house! After a stressful and busy Saturday, our nursery is almost complete and we're in love with it! Also very thankful for everyone that helped make it beautiful! 

My ultrasound last week was everything I could have hoped for and so relieved to see that the babies are doing so well. 

Is is safe to say that things are calming down around here?

I'll wait to make that statement until I take my three hour glucose (gestational diabetes) test. Yes, unfortunately I failed my 1 hour test at the doctor's office this morning. Not by much but still a fail. I'm more upset than I thought I would be about it. After reading more about it, I don't want to do ANYTHING that puts my babies' health in jeopardy. Gestational diabetes is complicated to explain. I've gotten some information here. It also seems like I'll need to start working out more. I can't really imagine this as uncomfortable as I am. Maybe I should try swimming laps...


Pregnancy Highlights:
Today's Date: Wednesday, April 25th, 2012
How Far Along: 28 weeks
Size of babies: A rutabaga. The babies are 13.6-14.8 inches long and weigh between 1.5 to 2.5 pounds (still in the same ranges as last week). 
Total Weight Gain/Loss: 17 pounds. I am actually down three pounds from last week. My eating pretty much stayed the same so I'm thinking it is just me adjusting to pregnancy. At the doctor today Emma Cate's heart beat was 145 and Holden's was 133. He must have been sleeping :)
Maternity Clothes: Yes, and even some of the tops are getting short. They did my belly measurement at the doctor today and I'm measuring at 35 weeks. 
Gender: Girl- Emma Cate and Boy- Holden.
Movement: There has been some crazy belly dancing going on in there. They also respond pretty well to rap music. I think they like the bass like their mama.
Sleep: Sleep was much better this week! I can still make it through the night (we'll 5:30am) without a potty break!
What I miss: tying my shoes without help
Cravings: None really this week. I figured that I would fail my glucose test so I started stocking up on healthy protein filled items. I had greek yogurt for the first time in forever and realized how much I missed it! Almonds have also been a yummy snack.
Symptoms: Braxton hicks and lots of trucker burps. I also learned today that I failed my 1 hour glucose test by 2 points! They want you to be at 135 and I was at 137 and 135 the two times they ran it. I'll be heading into the doctor next Wednesday for the three hour test. Until then I'm sticking to a protein and veggie filled diet. Buhbye carbs, fruits, smoothies, and sweets :(    
Best Moment this week: Seeing the nursery complete!

The other day while finishing up the nursery, I noticed my reflection in the mirror. Figured I'd take a pic of my bump busting out of my shirt.


27 weeks 4 days



27 weeks 5 days
sneak peak of our pics from the maternity session on Saturday


Your baby's the size of a rutabaga!
Putting on layers of fat, your baby now weighs in around 1.5 to 2.5 pounds and measures about 13.6 to 14.8 inches.