29 and 30 Weeks

Woo! 30 Weeks! For some reason, 30 weeks seems so much further along than 29. At this point I know I have eight weeks left before the docs start talking induction. I don't want an induction so I'm sure I'll do my best to negotiate around it, but...if I'm being honest...I really hope I don't go past then anyway. September 28th seems like a good day to me! I'll be 37 weeks and some days. 

**Whine alert, skip for the good stuff**

Time is passing, as it has all summer, so slowly. My energy and ability to live life seems to come in spurts. Some days I can get things done. Some days I can't seem to even stand long enough to cook a decent meal, much less deal with a messy or unclean house. Yesterday afternoon I stood at the sink and cried a few self-pitying tears, as I tried to make a meal, some muffins for breakfast, and get the kitchen cleaned up, and it all seemed so utterly impossible as I stood there in the devastation of my mess of a house. I'm thinking a belly support belt would be a big help, as much of my problem seems to be the huge heaviness, the pain of the hernia, and the amount of contractions I have when I'm standing. Going for walks is also incredibly uncomfortable--the pool is only a short walk away and that takes me forever. I actually DROVE to a friend's house this morning, and it's a ten minute walk--because I only have to much energy for the day, and I didn't want to waste it on a walk. Last night I wrote a completely whiney and complaining email to my mom, wondering what I'm going to do in my last few weeks and how am I going to fail my kids at being a good mom and housekeeper and cooking anything other than cereal or a sandwich! Of course I completely regretted sending it this morning but sometimes you just feel the way you do! This morning I read a perfectly timed and encouraging verse: 2 Corinthians 12:9, "But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' " Part of my discouragement, I think, is knowing that I'll be doing my last month pregnant on my own and somehow that seems even more overwhelming and difficult than doing newborns and little on my own, because at least then I'll be physically able. On the other hand, I keep telling myself that inside babies are the easiest it will ever be, and I'm getting WAY more sleep now than I will for months to come! I hate complaining and I try really really hard not to complain in real life, but at the same time I know I've combed other twin mom blogs wondering what its really like and right now, today, this moment, this is what it's really like for me. But enough venting, lets talk about the good part of life!

Sorry but no veggie or pics with the kids again, same reason. If you need a fix of the kids, you can check out my last post. At 29 weeks the twins were about he size of butternut squashes, and at 30 weeks they are supposedly the size of large cabbages. I'm not going to lie, these size comparisons seem to jump around a lot! Symptom wise things are fine. The geographic tongue I mentioned in the last update went away, and I've suddenly developed heartburn. I KNOW, I can't believe I got away without having it until so late in the game! Don't worry, I paid my dues with Shane. I got heartburn with him before I even knew I was pregnant! 

I had two appointments last week: a follow up with my endocrinologist and a full morning at the OB office. I did the three hour glucose test (AGAIN) at the doctor's and I passed. Low fasting, pretty high one hour, low two hour, below normal low three hour. In between my sticks they worked me up and did the monthly growth ultrasound on the twins. I really really liked the tech who did the U/S this time and I think I'll try to get her each time from now on out. She was so personable and friendly, and the other two techs are not no matter how hard I try.

Per the doctor, Dean is now twin A since he's lower, and Dani is twin B. That puts an end to the confusion about A and B, and they just made a note of the changed designations. As the tech was scanning nose/mouths she asked me who had the big nose in the family, because according to her Dean has a perfect pug nose that looks nothing like mine. Then she compared shots and we thought it was cute that Dani's features look so much more delicate than Dean's. Probably my favorite part was watching Dani's teeny tiny little perfect mouth take big gulps of amniotic fluid as she practices "breathing".

Dean on top, Dani on bottom

Dean is a little more spread out than his sister, and Dani is kind of curled up into Dean's neck and torso. We were able to get a nice profile of Dean but not Dani because of how she was curled into him. Dani hangs out all the way over on my right side and she's the one I often feel bulging out or have to push out of my ribs. Dean hangs out more on my midline and also more inside, if that makes sense, so I feel him but he's not quite as obvious. It's CRAZY how they both manage to hang out on my right side, and you can really see it when I have a braxton hicks. Nathan is a little creeped out by them and calls them the aliens and tells them they should spread out and take advantage of the space while they have it!

Dean

Dani is estimated to weigh 2 lbs 10 oz, and Dean is estimated to weigh 2 lb 14 oz (At 29 weeks). The tech said they usually gain about a half pound a week from now on out, as the third tri is all about gaining weight for babies. That means the would both weigh a little over 7 lbs each by 38 weeks. However, twins to tend to slow down their weight gain a little earlier than singleton babies do so that 1/2 lb a week may actually be a little less. I guess we'll find out in eight weeks! It's fun to guess though. If it helps you be a little more forgiving of my earlier whining, I'll put this to you in numbers.

I am 30 weeks pregnant. 

As of last week's visit, I measured at 37 weeks pregnant, with eight weeks still to go.

I am carrying 5+ lbs of baby (probably more like six now).

Each baby includes about ten pounds of placenta and amniotic fluid, since they both have their own of each.

That's about 25 extra pounds, which is what I've gained (I can't believe I just admitted that).

That's a lot to carry out in front!

And finally, my favorite moment of the fortnight was a ladies night out for out Women of the Chapel group! We went to eat Mexican food, and then hung out at the home of one of our ladies and played games and had microwave smores. (We were supposed to have a campfire and smores at the beach, but we got rained out).

The owner of the restaurant brought out a bunch of sombreros at the end for us all to play with and take pictures. I had to laugh when I saw this picture--I'm pretty sure my belly and the sombrero are the same size! The evening was SO much fun and just what I needed. I'm so grateful for that group of sisters!

While Daddy's Away...

I don't know about life in any branch other than the Navy, but in the Navy before deployment sailors have to do something call underways, or workups. It's kind of like doing short practice deployments before actual deployment. Well, our family is going through our very first underway right now, and the kids don't really understand why Daddy isn't home yet. They are used to him being gone overnight sometimes when he has duty, but they are spoiled in that they are used to him being around most of the time. I guess Shane is too young to remember when we lived in Texas and Daddy was gone for weeks at a time, but he knows now and asks me often how many "sleeps" Daddy will be gone. Azaria doesn't seem to realize that he isn't here, or maybe she just doesn't have the words to express it. I was trying to think of ways to help them understand, and I remembered about a favorite from my childhood--paper chains! They're not just for Christmas, yo!

We started with a pile of markers and bingo dot painters and some big pieces of scrap paper. When they got tired of making art, we moved on to cutting. I drew lines on the paper for them, and figured it would be good cutting practice for Shane. 

This was Azaria's first time using scissors! She cut for a few minutes and then tried to cut her hair. Sigh, how predictable. Shane LOVES cutting--I think something about being destructive and not getting in trouble for it appeals to him. He did a pretty good job of cutting on the lines, and he cut them all even though he said his hand was tired.

While the kids colored and cut, I used my favorite homemade stain remover on a pile of stained clothes. I'm not sure how it happened, but some of my stored baby clothes seemed to develop stains while in storage. And then of course the already-born kids get stains on their clothes on a regular basis. This stuff is like magic--it even gets dryer set in stains out!

Once we had all the strips colored and cut, I counted up "sleeps" and then we stapled the chain together.

One paper chain, ready to go on the wall!

Azaria got to have the first turn ripping off a night. Also, this picture proves that my children actually DO own clothing!

And that's that! We can't wait to see you, Daddy!