33 weeks (this is taking forever...)

How far along? 33 weeks and I am beginning to think I will be pregnant forever.

How big are the twins? Well most apps are beginning to agree with one another and claiming that I hold two pineapples in my poor stretched belly. Pineapples are big and heavy if you ask me!  

Total weight gain? 25 pounds. Holy mama, 4 lbs in the last three weeks has been quite a transition. Let's address clothing shall we?

Maternity clothes? I feel ridiculous most of the time! Maternity clothes look like pre-pregnancy clothes on me if you really want to know. They totally tent on the bottom instead cutting in all cute. My belly is usually poking out of the bottom of shirts even and I need to get some good yoga pants to just wear everyday for the next 5 weeks. Even Matt's shirts are starting to barely fit me. 

Wedding ring on or off? Off and I worry that it'll never fit again! (I guess I feel quite dramatic today).

Sleep? Well lets just talk about this, shall we? My lovely husband decided to leave me for the past two weeks!! Both of them were for very legitimate reasons mind you but the babies wanted to make his exit as dramatic as possible I guess. So the night before the first week he would be gone I ended up going to the hospital because of severe heartburn. Pathetic right? Well what happened exactly is that I have been on Zantac for most of this last trimester and it's been great. But taking a pill twice a day has been an adjustment so on Sunday night I took my pill almost 5 hours later than I was supposed to. That night I had indulged in almost everything in the no-no heartburn list, including chocolate, and I was feeling quite remorseful. I couldn't lay down without putting myself in a lot of pain so I was propped up trying to wait for the drugs to kick in when I had to run to the toilet and vomit. Throwing up from heartburn is not completely new to me so I cleaned myself up and went back to lay down. I remember thinking in the dark that my vomit looked kind of weird but chose not to stress just yet. Then an hour later when I finally tried to lay down, I again had to bolt to the bathroom again. That's when I noticed that it looked like I was throwing up coffee grounds. I was so confused. I hadn't eaten anything of that consistency - and decided to Google it. I guess coffee grounds is the exact description of when you are throwing up blood. At this point I was still in a lot of pain, 31 weeks pregnant and thought it would be really stupid to just ignore it so I called my clinic. The nurse transferred me to the on-call doctor and it just so happened to be my own lovely doctor, Dr. Bair. He said he wanted me to check into labor and delivery to have the babies monitored but was sure, like I was, that I had just damaged my esophagus pretty bad. So my poor husband who had to leave for the airport at 5:30am went with me to the hospital at 1:30am. The babies were completely fine and I ended up being prescribed Prilosec for the rest of my pregnancy (strong stuff!) but never got to sleep. So then I played nomad for the next two weeks and slept either at my parents or my in-laws so that I wasn't alone. Didn't sleep super great but now that Matt is back home and I am sleeping in my own bed it is SO MUCH BETTER. 

Genders? Luke and Leia :D Here are shirts that I made with my mom for Matt and I to wear to the Star Wars premiere this weekend!

Best moment this week? So I'm going to change this to important moment this week because of what happened at my 32 week appointment. I got to talk to my doctor a lot about how long these babies are really going to be in me, what to expect if we have a c-section, and the few contractions I have been having. So I can't remember if I talked about Leia switching from breech position to transverse at my last ultrasound, but she did. What that means is that after Luke is born there is a lot higher risk that she would not be in a good position to come out vaginally and we would have to do an emergency c-section. So then I would recover from both a vaginal delivery and a c-section and I don't know about you, but that is not on my wish-list this Christmas. If Leia is still transverse at my 34 (next week!) ultrasound, we will go ahead and schedule a c-section for January 25th-ish. They of course will do another ultrasound the morning of the c-section again and if she has moved back breech, we will be induced for a vaginal delivery. I feel really good about this option and I honestly just want to do whatever is safest to get these precious babies here!

Symptoms? I had a couple days during the 30/31st weeks that I could tell I was pushing it a little bit. I am measuring 43 weeks pregnant so bending down is pretty annoying but I was still doing it and maybe walking a little too much. I was starting to get contractions that would stay for a little longer than both my doctor and I were comfortable with so I am officially on "modified bed rest." AKA be lazy and try to sit down as much as possible. It was so nice to be with my family these last two weeks and I got totally pampered at both my parents and my in-laws.

Food cravings? Pizza. Qdoba burritos. Taco Bell. Pretty much all fast food. OH my goodness and soda. All I want is soda. :(

Food aversions or anything making you sick? It's hard to actually eat more than one main meal a day. I just want to drink my calories in the form of soda and then have one big meal. But that is NOT HEALTHY at all and so I'm trying really hard to be good. 

Labor signs? Contractions and silly Luke is sitting SO LOW. My doctor didn't want to do a cervix check because if I am dilated at all, it could potentially put me into labor. So we will for sure be trying to catch a look at my cervix at my ultrasound next week but I have a feeling that with all this bed rest and not moving it has helped. Before taking it easy it almost felt like I had a tampon "up there" that was about to fall out all the time and there was so much pressure. Luckily that is gone now!

Belly button in or out? Flat. Flat as a freaking pancake. Nothing is making a mark in shirts necessarily but I think these next few weeks will definitely push it out. Darn it all.

Stretch marks? OH yes. And I still get itchy!  

Movement? These little turkeys are treating mom's uterus like a jungle gym. I was told there was going to be a point where the movement decreased because they ran out of room but I don't think I believe them. The best part of the movement though is that there is always something for someone to feel. All of my siblings and parents have felt the twins doing crazy stunts so that has been way fun actually.

What I miss? Being able to sit comfortably for any period of time. Church is the worst because I feel so improper. My belly is so low I can't sit with my legs closed and I'm sure that's exactly what everyone wants to be looking at is a huge pregnant lady with her legs open.  

What I'm looking forward to? Making it to my last baby shower! Haha it is scheduled for the 2nd of January so I will be 35 almost 36 weeks pregnant. That just seems so far away to me so once I get there and survive it, I will feel like I am officially ready.

Happy or moody most of the time? I'm a grouch. I'll admit it. Matt and I will have one miscommunication and then I am just so moody and can't shake it for a while. 

30 weeks

How far along? We are 30! At the most we have 9 more weeks to go! I will probably either be induced or have a c-section during my 38th week so I'm rounding up. 

How big are the twins? They are such good babies. They are a very healthy 3 lbs 5 oz EACH. I have close to 7 lbs of baby in there right now. What. Well when I'm measuring 42 weeks I better have a lot of baby in there to justify that.  

Total weight gain? We have hit 21 lbs gained. I know that a lot of women don't like to answer this question, but honestly I am EXTREMELY proud of that number. I was told at the beginning of my pregnancy to expect to gain about 50 lbs. I have tried to stay as active as possible while still being safe and I know that these last few weeks will warrant quite a bit more weight gain with each baby gaining 1/2 lb a week. 

Maternity clothes? Oh brother. We have moved from maternity clothes, to husbands clothes, and are now onto no clothes. I have about three outfit changes during the day depending on what I am actually doing. When I get up I readjust my garments (underwear) as best I can and then put a robe on. I might be in the robe until my dog Charlie needs to get walked in which case I go put on my sweats and a sweatshirt, though I will be wearing my husbands sweatshirts soon. Then if I have anywhere special to go I'll dip into my rotation of pregnancy tops with either my maternity jeans or maternity leggings. Shoes consist of Sperry's or Uggs. Church clothes are getting harder to get creative with. 

Wedding ring on or off? Off for good. My wedding band got tight when I had swelling after thanksgiving dinner (soooo yummy) and I decided I didn't want to risk it getting stuck anymore. I have a fake ring that I was wearing for a while, but it was turning green, so nah. I feel naked on that finger now. 

Sleep? I have good nights and bad nights. Luckily more good than bad though! On bad nights it usually means I didn't take my Unisom/B6 combo (aka anti-nausea concoction) which the Unisom part is a sleep aid. I end up waking up to my babies' dance parties at 5am and can never get back to sleep. Naps during the day don't happen anymore either because of the constant movement. And a goodnight of sleep includes only getting up for the bathroom a maximum of 3 times. 

Genders? Baby A is our boy and Baby B is our girl! We had another ultrasound yesterday and had close to a 3D quality glimpse of baby girl's face! It was awesome. Of course the picture just turned out creepy because of the eyes but my MIL Debbie was there with me and we got to watch both babies drinking lots of amniotic fluid and move around like crazy. Baby boy has the cutest profile and baby girl already has very squishy cheeks. It's getting more and more real!

Best moment this week? OK so this is supposed to be a week by week thing that I haven't updated in 6 weeks. So definitely the highlights that I have had since I last posted have been my first two showers! I am getting very spoiled and had a shower with most of the women from the ward I grew up in where we played ridiculous games to guess what the twins would look like and learned about crazy rituals that happen around the world during childbirth. Hooray for western medicine. And then over thanksgiving we had a huge STAR WARS THEMED PARTY for the twins where all the cousins on my mom's side got to participate and I had family travel just to see and celebrate my growing family. It honestly was so amazing to feel so loved. Matt and I are so blessed with the best people around us that make this next step seem feasible. 

Symptoms? Well Zantac is my best friend and I only get heartburn when I forget to take it. I had to quit my job a couple weeks earlier than we had planned though. I was not able to stand during my whole 8 hour shift because my heart would randomly start to race and I was struggling to get it back down. My doctor warned that I could end up at the cardiologist talking about PAT and a diet change if I didn't find a way to sit at work. Unfortunately Jamba Juice is not a sit down job so I have been home nesting and resting. I just feel out of breath quite often. Sitting at church is super uncomfortable and there is no more room in my body for my stomach or my bladder! Getting my calories is a chore. 

Food cravings? Bread. I ate a lot of rolls over thanksgiving. And hot dogs are a new craving. Luckily since Matt and I meal plan I am able to have healthy leftovers for lunch instead a hot dog, but I think that I'll let myself indulge in one today. 

Food aversions or anything making you sick? No, I just can't eat as much as I used to. And if my dog Charlie is ever chewing on a bone and starts to gag it definitely makes me nauseous. 

Labor signs? Well kind of? I don't really know if this qualifies but I had my first contractions yesterday. We were driving to Target down a super bumpy road and it became uncomfortable really quickly. I then had the dumb idea to continue to walk around Target which I think just made it worse but as soon as I went out and sat in the car they went away. 

Belly button in or out? Would you believe me if I said it's still in? Haha, success! 

Stretch marks? Oh heck yes. It started out as kind of a bulls-eye shape around my belly button and has turned into this hurricane swirl ever expanding from that point. Luckily it hasn't covered my whole belly but I have a feeling that it will just continue to get worse. Oh well. 

Movement? Ha. I would pay my twins to stop moving for a moment if I could. I swear they take turns. The weirdest part is when one of them sticks some part of the body so that it stretches my belly, and then they draggggg it across so I can literally watch them move. Unfortunately with all this moving baby B is no longer breech and is now transverse. My babies are making a giant T in my belly and my doctor says if she doesn't move before delivery that I am more likely to need a c-section. Cross your fingers and pray that she is cooperative!!

What I miss? Sushi. 

What I'm looking forward to? Continuing to set up the nursery and get all our gadgets and clothes all put away so that it's functional when they decide to arrive!

Happy or moody most of the time? Oh the pregnancy hormones are starting to rear their angry head. I was so good until this third trimester and with the flip of a switch I have gotten so moody about the most pointless things. The worst part is that in the moment I KNOW I AM BEING CRAZY. Like I have said, my husband is a trooper. He might not be completely understanding but he is really good as just laughing at me when I am like this and making sure we find a solution. 

Speaking of crazy and husbands... guess who's husband is ditching her for TWO WEEKS?! Haha I can't get too mad. Work is sending him to Orlando for training next week and then the week after that he will be working on site for a client about 2 1/2 hours away in Washington. Matt is such a hard worker and we never anticipated twins who would throw off our whole plan for expecting in February and instead make the holidays crazier than they already are. They always say to be on stand-by from 30 weeks forward but luckily these babies seem like they will be staying put for a while longer so I am not too worried about his trips. I will be heading to my parents home to crash for the majority of the time anyways so my mom and I plan to prep lots of freezer meals!