Happy Halloween!

And Happy Two Weeks to our little pumpkins!

Thursday was their official two week birthday, but what's two more days? We needed to dress them appropriately for their first big holiday, so it was definitely worth the wait. They were not too keen on these little pumpkin suits, and I think it's the first time their legs have been exposed like this since they were born. Little exhibitionists!! I feel like they're asleep in every picture we take, but since I did manage a few with their eyes open, I want to flaunt them:

We also had their two week well-baby checkup on Thursday and I'm happy to report that they're both gaining weight like champs. And glory hallelujah, we were given clearance to be on an every-four-hour eating schedule instead of every three. This is money when you're talking about middle of the night feedings, trust me. Since they're still early babies we can't just trust that they'll wake up to eat, but it's nice to hear that our pediatrician was impressed by the fact they've surpassed their birth weights (Tyler is 6 lbs 6 oz, Caroline is 5 lbs 13 oz).

So what else is new? Not too much... all we seem to do is eat, sleep, eat, sleep, REPEAT!

Tyler is growing like a weed, though, and he's already pushing the bottoms out of his newborn-sized sleepers. Our "little bit" (Caroline) remains the petite one, and it's pretty funny to see them beside each other. Tyler has about 4 inches on her, and his feet are twice the size. Looks like he's going to take after his daddy! (We're just glad that it's him, not her ;)

Oh, and both of their umbilical stumps have fallen off so they've had their first real baths now. Talk about hilarious... that would be me dumping Johnson & Johnson baby wash all over two squirming bodies (separately, of course) and barely being able to hold on to them in the tub. Lucky for us, Nathan was hovering with the video camera and captured it all on film. I'm going to try a different style next time, but hey, you live & you learn!

Speaking of which, Nathan is not to be left out of the learning experiences either. He's been "dumped on" (pun intended :) more than once during diaper changes, and Caroline got him again about an hour ago. Just as he was spreading Boudreaux's Butt Paste (yep, that's the real name) on her little tiny behind, she shot poo across the bed with a vengeance. We've had to wash our Boppy liners several times because of this type of action, but this was the first time I got to witness as it spread out across our pretty duvet. All in all, it was hysterical and Nathan was as horrified as he was the very first time. I guess things like that never get old.

And since that's about all I have to update on, I'll leave you with one last picture. Someone mentioned that I'm never in any of them, but that's because I'm the shutterbug behind the camera all the time. Here's one of the only ones Nathan has taken over the past two weeks, and it captures in full essence the oh-so-helpful advice of "sleep while you can!" We stayed like this for two full hours, and it was wooooooonderful...

PS, I'm still working on renaming this site - thanks for all your suggestions!!

New Name

Well, the time has come to change the name of our blog. Seeing that we're no longer "unexpectedly expecting," I feel like we should overhaul our page and name it something more appropriate. While I'm tirelessly working on taking more pictures of our two little pumpkins (you'll see these in the next post!), does anyone have a good suggestion for me on a name? Anyone? (I'm resisting a Farris Bueller throwback here... :)
Thanks!!

Joining the ranks

Of every other blogger mom & dad who campaign for themselves shamelessly. I just received an email from "Top Baby Blogs" that their stats have been reset, so now I'm at #22 rather than the steady #3 or #4 position I've had on lock-down. Show us some love and vote please! You can click as many times as you like :)

(The button is beside this post to the right ----> )

View from the top

So I'm proud of myself, what can I say?

I was hoping that I'd be lucky enough to learn how to do this eventually, but surprisingly enough the babies are latching on quite well and they seem to love their EZ 2 Nurse Twin pillow. Since I feed each one of them for at least 20 minutes every three hours, then pump after each feeding, cutting down on individual nursing time is just lovely. I already feel like I'm sitting around topless for about 80% of the day, so every little bit helps.

About pumping, I'm really trying to figure out if I'm producing enough each time. I've been meaning to get on the phone with the lactation nurses from the hospital to ask, but I haven't yet (story of my life lately). Anyway, I've purchased this totally awesome contraption that holds the cups for you from "Breakout Bras," and if it wasn't so personal, I'd be throwing a picture of me in that sucker (no pun intended) for your enjoyment. Nathan ran out to get it for me yesterday, so when he came home with it I hurried to put it on and try it out. Oh. My. God. HILARIOUS!! I looked like I was going to fire my machine-gun boobs all over the room (because that's what it appears to be when the cups are in place... a device to hold massive weapons of destruction).

Speaking of, it's time yet again to pump so I've gotta hurry up. I do want to tell you all that I'm having a fabulous Saturday because I can finally see all the bones in my feet & ankles again, and as an added bonus, my belly has shrunk to somewhat of an acceptable size. I look fairly normal (gasp) and can hardly believe it. I'm not going to fit in my cute jeans just yet, but just seeing my body change on a daily basis is enough to make me happy. I step on the scale every morning and it seems to go down several pounds, so *hopefully* by my six-week post pardum check I'll be close to my pre-pregnancy weight. Trust me folks, this would be HUGE. If you'd seen the scale the day we left for the hospital, you'd laugh at the assumption that it would take less than a decade to get back to where I was. Nathan is now comfortable telling me how big I "really" was, if that tells you anything.

And why not... a few more pics before I go :)

Can you tell that all we do is eat & sleep these days?

1 Week Old

Time FLIES. Seriously.

I just sit here and look at my babies and cannot believe they've already been here for seven days. You would think that it would seem like forever since we don't rest nearly as much as we used to, but somehow sleep deprivation is so worth it. Gah, I never thought I'd be so "motherly," but look at me!! :)

On another note, I absolutely CANNOT wait to be in the clear of all this c-section-healing-business and high blood pressure. We snuck a walk around the block a few days ago and it was about the nicest thing that I've done (other than giving birth) in a while. When you've been couped up on your butt for ten weeks, the little things in life can make you very happy. Although I thoroughly enjoyed myself, we got back home and I felt like death warmed over for a few hours. My bleeding ramped up and Dr. Sims declared "no more walks!" until further notice. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted and just looooooook at how cute my little people are in their stroller!! .......

They absolutely love being in their car seats, so we've taken a few rides in the car as well. Yesterday was their first visit to the pediatrician, and as we were leaving, everyone just ooohed and aaaahed over how "tiny and cute" they were in those seats. I would normally appreciate that, but unfortunately, I was so overly emotional about Tyler getting his man-parts violated that I could barely manage a smile. No joke, I am an emotional CRYING MESS. Nathan can look at me and I start crying, or one of the babies can make a face and I start crying. I cried for two straight days just thinking about my little fella getting circumcised. Ugh. Nathan swears that "he'll thank us later," and that I'd be doing him a disservice to leave it as God made it. So there I was, sucking it up and barely making it through the appointment. But enough about that! On to the cuteness that I love!!

Tyler & Caroline, 1 week old:

PS, they adore being swaddled. Nathan calls their swaddling blankets their "mummy bags." Hehehe.

And because this blog used to be about me, I think it should be more about them & him... how sweet is this?


And finally, I want to extend sincere thanks to all of you who wrote such sweet comments on my last post. I couldn't believe how many there were, and it made me feel so much better about putting my life out there for the world wide web! So glad you all enjoy it, and I'll keep this an open blog as long as it's positive comments I'm getting :)

They're here!

Our lives were forever changed on October 15th, 2009...

Caroline: 5 lbs 9 oz, 19" long, born at 10:38am
Tyler: 6 lbs 2 oz, 18 1/2" long, born at 10:39am

We got to St. Francis at 7:30am that morning and had a relatively smooth and uncomplicated waiting period. I just knew that my scheduled c-section time was going to go by the wayside once the nurses started telling us how full they were on the floor, but thankfully, we were off to the O.R. by 10am! I would love to describe in detail how I felt when I went into surgery, but it was so surreal (STILL) that I can hardly say more than that. How is one supposed to feel when they're getting ready to meet their babies? I just prayed to God over and over that they would come out healthy, and thanks to Him, they did. I, on the other hand, had a pretty rough time once I was on the table, so to hear both of them crying as they entered into the world was just what I needed. Apparently I lost a lot of blood and my blood pressure dropped incredibly (which all of you who read regularly know, that means I went from REAL high to REAL low, so I was pumped full of all kinds of medications throughout the procedure. The main thing I remember about that part is begging the sweet CRNA to "point the fan to my face" over and over so I wouldn't pass out. I didn't want to miss anything!!

But back to the births, Nathan was at my head with our video recorder and he actually got to peep over the curtain to see everything. I could only watch him, but I couldn't help but remember why I married him as I saw his reaction to his children being born. It was the cutest, sweetest thing ever :) When Caroline's head came out, she became Daddy's little girl quite instantly.... he got all teary-eyed and said "she's so beautiful!" She was wailing from the start and looked very pink and healthy, so Dr. Lantz brought her over to let me get a look at her as well. She was whisked away pretty quickly though, and next came our little man. He was crying and flailing about, and got a "he's so cute!" from his Dad. (I guess "beautiful" doesn't sound masculine enough for our future Tarheel basketball star, eh?) I got to see him for a quick instant, and initially I thought that Tyler looked a lot like his sister. Hard to tell when they are first born, but either way, both of them looked like perfect little people and I could hardly believe they were mine and they were finally here. Such a cool feeling and such a cool moment!

After they were born, Nathan got to have a little time with them as the doctors worked on me. My body was not too cooperative, so they had a difficult time getting things back into place. Many, many meds later, I finally held my little bundles of joy while being wheeled to our post-partum suite. Everything from that point on has been crazy but insanely wonderful, and I've realized how little sleep is needed for me to still function. :) As I'm writing this five days later, it's still hard to believe we are parents. I've barely been around an infant before, much less owned one (or two). I figured I'd be terrible at everything, but it's truly amazing how much comes naturally. I love watching Nathan with them, and we are a pretty great team if I say so myself. We have our schedule in place, and we have learned a lot about each baby and their little personalities. Tyler will not latch on to eat if he's got anything in his diaper, whereas Caroline could care less. Both babies detest having their diaper changed, and swaddling after they are fed works wonders. Tyler prefers his "soothie" pacifier when he's going down to sleep, and Caroline just needs to be close to her brother. (This must stem from the fact that she was so close to him in the womb, but seriously, she can hardly go down without him snuggling her. So stinkin' cute).

I'm trying desperately hard not to take pictures of every single thing they do, but I just know that they're going to grow up so fast and change so quickly. It makes me sad already! Here are just a few of the ones we've gotten so far...

*One last thing, and I'll probably delete this portion of the post in a week or so. As most of you know, I was a finalist in a contest on thebump.com for best pregnancy blog. Some way, some how, things got a little out of control and people came out of the woodwork to start major drama. My name (or my blog's name) was mentioned on the comment section of another finalist's blog, and after that one comment I almost decided to make my blog private moving forward. Some idiot named Bryan wrote an ugly comment here (which I deleted, naturally), and it was really ridiculous that other people, totally unrelated to me or the other blogger, decided to fight some battle that neither of us knew we were in. The point of this is to tell you that I truly appreciate all of my sweet readers who have been so awesome throughout this pregnancy and left such supportive and encouraging comments. I'm not going to go private just yet, simply because it would be too hard to make sure everyone whose prayed for us and followed us during this journey was on our "allowed" list. I sincerely hope that from now on, if someone stumbles across my blog and doesn't care for it, they just GO AWAY. No need to be ugly, folks, since this blog was created purely as a journal for me and my family. I hope Tyler and Caroline enjoy reading the things I've written when they're older, and hopefully they'll get a good laugh out of it, too.

Tomorrow it is!

The time has finally arrived, and it's hard to put into words what we're both feeling right now. Part of me hasn't necessarily come to terms with it, but as I'm watching Nathan walk around in an anxious and restless manner it makes it much more real. He made the babies a video this afternoon (he was making sure he knew how to work our new camcorder), and after watching it, we both just realized that in a matter of hours we are going to be two little people's parents. How weird does that sound?? We've packed our bags, everything is sitting in the hallway and ready to go. Now we just WAIT. I probably won't sleep a wink all night.

The surgery is scheduled for 9:30am tomorrow morning (October 15th), so if you don't mind, say one last prayer for us that we'll have a safe delivery and healthy babies! I'm not sure when I'll be able to update here, but I'll do my best!

Thanks to you all for keeping up with our pregnancy journey... stay tuned for the next segment to begin :)

36 Weeks, aka, 9 MONTHS pregnant :)

That just sounds like serious business, doesn't it?

"How far along are you?"

"Oh, NINE MONTHS!"

Whoop! I never thought I'd be able to say that with these two, but then again, neither did my doctors. Today was my last OB appointment, and I can't say I'm all too upset about it. I even kept a smile on my face during the dreaded weigh-in, since obviously it all goes down from here, THANK GOD. My blood pressure was pretty nasty, though... 140/100... and my urine was 2+. Guess what that means? They think I've officially crossed over into pre-eclampsia territory (and if you saw the fluid retention in my ankles and the massive weight amount of weight I've put on over the past two weeks, it makes sense). With such circumstances, having the babies this week is a no-brainer. Dr. Dach checked my cervix to see where we stood, and her actual words were "you're ready to go! 4cm dilated and 90% effaced... I'll be surprised if you make it through tonight!"

We shall see, won't we? I personally think I'll make it, even though I look like THIS:

I'm not gonna lie, I'm massive and uncomfortable y'all. My ankles (or as we affectionately call them, my "thankles") are so huge that they are the same size as my knees and they actually hurt to bend. I've been lying on the couch to try and alleviate the swelling for the last few hours, but my hard work was just negated as I dangled my feet from one of our pub-style chairs at the dinner table. They actually went NUMB, and when I stood up to waddle back to the couch, they TURNED WHITE. I'm not sure this is good... :)

But anyway, I don't have much else to write about since all I can think about is the fact that I'm going to have babies in a number of hours (and no, I'm not telling how many hours yet :). It's just tough to concentrate, and it's hard to verbalize how it feels to be in this situation. Nathan and I are both anxious, nervous, excited... all kinds of things that are hard to describe. Speaking for myself only, I'm also kind of sad. Sad because I'm not going to have these little people all to myself anymore, because I won't feel them kick and punch from the inside out, and because I'm going to have to share them with the world from now on. It's those few things that I'll never get back, and I'll probably never feel again (and no, I do not plan on having twins again, so spare me :). It's just very surreal to know that you're about to meet your babies, and that your life will NEVER be the same.

Real Quick-

Just left the MFM office and it's official... we have a light at the end of the tunnel. A scheduled delivery date is on the books, and I am TOO EXCITED! The babies looked great on their BPP's once again, so I feel confident that they're going to do well on the outside, too.

I'm going to keep mum on what the actual date is so we don't jinx anything. Obviously, if Tyler and Caroline prefer another birthday and decide to come a little sooner, that is their prerogative. Either way, I'll be updating the blog as we head to the hospital (gotta love modern technology & blackberries) so that all you prayer warriors can say one last one for us! I totally believe that's why we've gotten to this point, so please ask for a safe and healthy delivery for all three of us.

Check back tomorrow for the FINAL belly pic. It should be a good one... I'm am one heck of a beast, folks.

Almost. There.

This is what I have to keep telling myself, since the pain below the belt is practically unbearable today. I slept awful last night - half on the couch, half on the bed - with random trips to the bathroom in between. Around 5am I decided that the pressure and pain had to be worse than before, because I swear on my life, I almost cried when I tried to roll over and off the bed. Hopefully we didn't do any "damage" by checking my progress last night... but we really wanted to know where I stood. I'm not kidding when I say I'm worried Caroline is going to be born in the toilet or on the floor. She is soooooooo low that I am afraid I won't know when it's "time" and it'll be too late!! Either way, I've definitely made some progress so I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be feeling at this point. The stats are as follows: 3-4cm dilated / 80% effaced / Baby A (Caroline) dropped even lower. "Active labor" begins when you're above 4cm, so... ???? Who the heck knows. I need to get through two more days to be at 36 weeks. I. Can. Do. This.

On another note (no pun intended :), we have printed out our letter for the front door:

Dear Friends,
Thank you so much for the concern and support you've shown us over the past months. As I'm sure you can understand, right now we are getting settled in with the little ones and are so excited for you to meet the new additions to our family! Unfortunately at this time we are not accepting visitors due to strong recommendations from our pediatrician. As this flu season comes into full swing it was highly advised, due to our children being born prematurely and having weak immune systems, to only allow close family members who have been vaccinated. Again we appreciate all your support and concern and will be excited to have visitors when the time is appropriate. Until then we do keep an updated blog and will be posting pictures. If you'd like to let us know you've stopped by, please feel free to leave a comment on our blog or send us an email. Blog address: www.mandyandnathan.blogspot.com. Email: TheSimsTwins@gmail.com.
Sincerely,
The Sims

I let Nathan do that part (since I'm the only one who writes here) and I thought he did an excellent job. He's very diplomatic like that :) Hopefully that will not offend anyone, but let them know that we aren't taking any chances with the babies' health. As for our families, the grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts & uncles that are coming to see us in the hospital and at home have been given the same guidelines (we really aren't playin' around people). No flu shot and no TDaP shot = NO ENTRY. We hate to be so over-protective, but that's just the way it's gotta be (and our peds say so, so there). I don't feel like it's a lot to ask, especially since it will only benefit their health as well.

::Stepping off soapbox::

Oh, one last thing. Nathan and I went to the movies last night to see "Couples Retreat" and it was HILARIOUS. Maybe it's because I think Vince Vaughn is the funniest person on the planet, but I loved it! We went at 5:40 and decided that it was imperative to have a bite to eat before we got there, but sadly enough we ran out of time. Solution: run by the Hardees drive-thru and get "Thickburgers," then pull everything out of my cute Coach bag so that the big ol' boxes would fit in there. That's right folks, we snuck LARGE CHEESEBURGERS into the movie with us. Is that horrible? We did buy a large drink once we got there, so it's not really like we took away from their 500% concession profit, right? But forget about that... the best part was when I was all good & settled in my seat with my feet propped up, enjoying my Thickburger to my hearts content, when a couple DARED to prance down our aisle and say "excuse me." Are you serious?? I mean, the theater was packed but not that packed. To say that the dude felt bad when I huffed, puffed, and blew the movie down to move my tree-trunk legs off the seat in front of me is an understatement. I also lost my flip-flop somewhere in the midst of this escapade. He was like, "oh, I'm SO sorry..." You could tell he was embarrassed that they picked this aisle, and those two seats right in the middle of the row, only to make a severely pregnant chick go through such hassle. His lovely female companion, on the other hand, could've cared less. Go figure :)

All in all, a fun date night and probably the last movie I'll see in an actual theater for years. It was a good one to go out on, especially since we declared that our next BIG vacation for the two of us will have to be in Bora Bora.

::Swoon::

Could it be?

That I might actually carry these babies to FULL-TERM? (Meaning 37 weeks, of course). I just left Dr. Greig's office and I told him I must be a medical miracle, since he figured a long time ago that I would never make it this far with all the pre-eclampsia scares and contractions off the charts. Apparently, the little ones are content in the belly and he's content with a diagnosis of "gestational hypertension" instead. Go me... Go babies... :)

I know everyone around me is excited and just can't wait to meet Tyler & Caroline (and trust me, I am in PAIN), but there seems to be a misconception that if they're born now we're in the clear for any problems. Not so much. Although they may come out tonight or tomorrow and be completely fine, it's almost a total guarantee that they'll be coming home with us if we all can hold out until 36-37 weeks. I prefer the latter, so I've rendered myself and my grotesquely swollen extremities to cookin' babies as long as possible. Dr. Greig was proud of my good attitude, and said that by this time a lot of moms-to-be are absolutely begging him to rid them of the evil spawn inside. (Well, that's sort of what he said but I knew what he meant :) After all, I haven't been on bed rest for almost 10 weeks for nothing. It will be unbelievably fulfilling to know that I made it past the expected, the average, the norm. Say a little prayer for me (if you're the praying type of guy or gal) that I can withstand the 18-wheeler-just-plowed-between-my-legs-feeling until then!

So with little else to say about the appointment, I have to tell you a little story about my outings this morning. Nathan is working in anesthesia until next Friday, so my babysitter (hehe) today was Mom. We decided that we'd get out of the house for a while and run over to Babies R Us and Walmart to pick up a few things, so I pulled on the stretchy jersey dress and off we went. I convinced her to let me drive the Pilot, so that was a real treat. I almost felt NORMAL again.

Anyway, back on track...

We get to Babies R Us and instead of the fun little electric wheelchairs, they have the old-school version where someone has to actually push you around. You'd think that they'd be a little more advanced than that, right? Well, we rolled all over the store looking and playing with stuff, and as we were getting ready to leave I happened to run my hands across my outer thighs. OMG, I would've fallen out of that blessed wheelchair if there wasn't a big basket keeping me enclosed. You see, I can't exactly keep my legs together anymore because my belly hangs too far down (don't worry, my big dress goes to my ankles), therefore my thighs must lean against the frame of the chair. Not digging into the chair, mind you, just leaning. With said "leaning," I had indentations on both legs that were honestly two inches deep. Mom was horrified and I was actually shocked... I knew my ankles were bigger than my calves, but the fluid retention that seems to exist made me howl with happiness and laughter. I'm not THAT fat, people, just check out the edema!!! Whoop!! (It's the little things in life, ya know?)

An hour later, I was scootin' around Walmart in the cool chair and periodically checking the thighs. It took forever for them to go down, and I kept laughing with every check. I should probably buy Depends for myself to wear after the delivery... or maybe I can hold off on the exercise program with all the squatting I'll be doing to get rid of this water weight. (Wow, I just keep sharing more and more valuable information with you people, don't I? I'm sure you just love that). Gotta find the humor in all situations these days :)

35 Weeks!

Obviously that full moon business is a crock, but I'll admit that it was the night the ball started rolling. Today is 35 weeks, and although it feels like a mighty big accomplishment to have made it this far (given preterm labor at 27 weeks), I feel like the days are going to creep by until next Tuesday. 36 Weeks is like goal day for me, simply because the babies are in a pretty safe territory then. Due to all my "gestational hypertension" and swelling, the doctors say we may not have a choice after that point. I think I already wrote about this so I'll leave it at that, but Tuesday is also goal because secretly, I don't see how my belly can get any bigger or lower. I am not kidding you, it is hard to find my waistband (a stretchable one, obviously) because it gets lost in the fold.

(And yes, I couldn't deal with fixing up for this shot or washing my hair today, so headless it is):

And just for kicks, I thought I'd exhibit the XL men's Hanes t-shirt that I talk about so often. Nathan calls them my "muscle shirts," and you can see the belly hanging out below. Sexy!!!!
I bet if I went to Walmart in this guy, someone would submit my photo to peopleofwalmart.com.
(Please click on that link if you've never been there before. You'll pee yourself with laughter, I promise).

The thing about pictures is that they just don't do justice to seeing me in real life. I am a total beast, and I'm not making it up. Getting up off the couch is like a five minute affair, but whatever. I could deal with it taking time (cause let's be honest, what am I in a hurry for? The bathroom?), but I can hardly take the pain and pressure that ensues. There are no more comfortable positions, and something as simple as moving my leg an inch can send me over the edge in agony. But again, THE BABIES ARE ALMOST HERE. OMG! I'm not complaining... just documenting... :)

If any of you are my facebook friends, you probably already know that I made a trip to St. Francis yesterday after seeing Dr. Greig. With the excitement of Sunday's "big loss" (hehehe), a lot of folks thought we should have gone in earlier. Anyway, I went with my gut and decided that Nathan knew enough about OB to realize if I was in bad shape, so at 3pm on Monday we got our second opinion. As usual, we had a BPP done and both babies were rockin' and rollin.' It literally took less than ten minutes for both to score 8/8, and we were super proud that Caroline was breathing like a champ. With such a good report, Dr. Greig wanted to go ahead and do an internal to see how I was progressing and announced that I was 2 cm dilated and 80% effaced. (Nathan was right, but he's still going to be an ER doctor, thankfully). Afterwards I got hooked up to the contraction monitor and found out that yep, I was contracting, EVERY TWO MINUTES. As usual, I didn't feel a thing... I'm so used to my belly feeling like a rock that I don't even pick up on them. With all things considered, I earned myself a trip to the hospital.

The strange part of going was that we both knew that this could be IT. I told Nathan on the way that I almost felt robbed of the "Oh my! It's TIME!!!! Get the bags!!!" moment. We've done this hospital exercise four times now, but at least now we know that it really has to be "time" one day REAL soon. Scary, but exciting!! So anyway, we roll up to the 4th floor where about 20 nurses are hanging out and one asks if we're there to be induced... haha! (See, told you I was huge!) We gave them the paperwork and got checked in our room, but after bloodwork, a shot of terbutaline and continuous fetal/contraction monitoring, we were cleared to head home. You could say I'm heading into active labor, but it's slow and it's ok to do things from home still. Since the average twin births occur at 35-36 weeks gestation, the babies would be fine if they'd been born yesterday but everyone wants to keep them cooking as long as humanly possible. The docs are guessing that their birthday will fall over the weekend, but we shall see! I do not want NICU babies if I can help it, and I really want to bring them home in their super-cute outfits when I get discharged. Right now it's totally realistic to think that they may not have any issues at all, but again, the longer the better!

It's a full moon...

& I won't even tell you what appeared in my toilet bowl this morning. YUCK.

Needless to say, Nathan and I have been a tad bit on edge all day and I'm terribly concerned that I'll have Caroline in the living room floor before I realize that I'm in labor. Not sure if it's just in my blood to have a high tolerance for pain, or that I'm just so dang used to being sooooooo uncomfortable at this point.

Either way, I got an internal by Dr. Sims this evening and it appears that I'm not fully effaced (his best guess was around 60-70% maybe) but I am dilated about 2cm or so. Interesting, huh? I told him that I hope and pray that my water breaks before I get to 10cm, because I swear to you, I don't think I'll know the difference. He actually felt Caroline's head (well, not her head exactly since amniotic fluid still exists), but with half a finger-length in, his eyes got HUGE and he said "THERE SHE IS!"

So, just relax, right? :)

I'm trying to stay horizontal so that the pressure is off and we don't speed things up more than necessary, but I do have a hair appointment at 11:15 tomorrow and one with Dr. Greig at 3pm. I've got my bag packed for the hospital just in case, so we'll keep you posted. I know it can be hours, days or weeks before "real" labor happens, but if you knew the women in my family you'd understand the reason for my concern. Everyone says that they've had menstrual cramps that hurt worse than birthing a baby; not to mention most of those deliveries happened within an hour of making it to the hospital. Dr. Greig said he didn't believe this, but I'm telling the truth. If I can withstand a HEAD less than a FINGERTIP from the outside of my you-know-what, I'm pretty sure I can do this without dying in pain.

Please say a little prayer for healthy babies if they do make an appearance soon!

Funny or Sad?

I decided I'd wear my black leggings and one of Nathan's button-down shirts today. We're going to Target later (yes, this is how exciting my weekend gets) and I thought it would be a comfortable outfit. Well, somehow my size S maternity leggings will still go on without ripping (under the belly of course), but NONE of the shirts I plucked from Nathan's side of the closet would button. Yes, my husband is a thin person, I know this. But he is 6'2 or so and he has to wear XL shirts, so it's kind of hilarious that I'm swimming in them everywhere else but can't even make the material meet in the middle.

No worries, though, for he found "the biggest one he owned" that would indeed button. It's stretched so tightly across my butt that I laugh at my reflection, but hey, whatever it takes to make those buttons meet up! I'd post a picture of this, but my ankles look like tree trunks from my shower so I'm "relaxing" for a bit and watching the UNC/UVA game. GO HEELS!!!!!!!! :)

PS, if I'm really good this afternoon (meaning my "rest"), I'm allowing myself a pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks. I've been craving one of these for weeks, so it's about time. You might know that it would be like 80 degrees on the day I get out to get one, but whatever. If you haven't had one of these yet, you haven't lived.