Full Weekend

We have another ultrasound scheduled for tomorrow. We aren't going to our normal doctor, though. He referred us to the University where we will talk more in depth about twin pregnancies and be able to see the babies on a high tech ultrasound.

I've been feeling pretty good the last couple of weeks. My morning sickness still comes sometimes and I gag/dry heave a lot, but I haven't thrown up for a while now. Aaaah, so nice.

So it sounds like my dad and both my sisters are coming over Saturday for a BBQ. My sister-in-law Gina - the one who made me the uber cute peas in a pod necklace - will also be staying with us this weekend. My nieces birthday is on Friday, my birthday is on Saturday, and my step daughters birthday is on Tuesday. So we'll be celebratin' birthdays all over the place this weekend! Kevin also has family coming into town, so we're going to visit with them, too.

As you can see from my progressive photo clip, my belly is groooowing. However, when I compared it to other moms-of-twins-to-be, I still look tiny! I can even suck in my gut and look like I'm not really pregnant at all. Of course, I can only do so for about 3 seconds before I'm ready to explode. I'm just over 4 months. I'm still expecting the big growth spurt this month and expect to be in the full swing of this second trimester business straight away.

I can drink water again! Not just drink it, but I can guzzle it. It's so nice.

Happy Birthday!

Normally I would reserve my blog posts to the exclusivity of what’s happening with baby A and baby B, but since my birthday is coming up, I’m going to go off course a bit and tell you about my weekend. Because it was AWESOME!

Technically, my birthday isn’t until this Saturday, but with my brother and sister-in-law coming to stay with us, the family BBQ (at which we will finally announce the genders!) and celebrating my youngest step daughter’s birthday, it didn’t leave much room for anything else. So my darling husband said we would celebrate the weekend before.

Saturday started out usual enough. Kevin did his morning “computing” (this is a weekend ritual during which he checks his Facebook, e-mail, watches videos and generally just checks up on what’s going on in the world) while I ate breakfast, then he headed outside to mow and trim the lawn. I did my usual, too, and cleaned up the house and started some laundry. I know, I know. Maybe we’re filling the stereotypical gender roles, but I’m perfectly ok doing the inside chores while he works on the outside stuff. Besides…I think I’m better at it anyway. Just kidding, Kevin. Mostly.

After the chores were all done, we took a well-deserved nap. After finally waking up, we headed off to the local Arts Festival. Ah, the Arts Festival. We walked around and looked at all the artisan’s booths – everything from paintings made from human blood to functional airplanes made from old soda cans. There was so much to see! We watched a musical performance by some local kids playing on some improvised percussion instruments: Items like old paint buckets, glass casserole dish lids, metal pots and plastic bins. It was really cool and definitely took some talent! We watched a demonstration where an audience volunteer got to make a glass egg, then we got ourselves something to eat. After stuffing ourselves silly, we headed up to the stage and sat on the grass while the Cuban musicians played. There were some people dancing the salsa in front of us. One of the guys took his shoes off and left them off to the side. We REALLY wanted to steal his shoes and watch him look for them. But in the end, we just didn’t have the guts. We had a good laugh thinking about it, though.

The next day, we started the morning the lazy way. We slept in, hung around in our pajamas and cuddled on the couch. I went to the store and did some grocery shopping because we’ve been out of decent food for weeks. I loaded up on my fruits and even snuck in a few vegetables. After I got home, we put everything away and then got ready for the day (yep, I went grocery shopping without showering and I even sported a lazy ponytail…I’m already on my way to mom-hood!). Here is the part related to the pregnancy: It took me FOREVER to find something that fit! I was on the verge of tears because I was too fat for all my old, cute clothes but I was too little to wear all the cute maternity stuff I got from my sister in law. I finally found an outfit (after help from my husband) and we were able to leave the house.

This day was my “birthday surprise” date, so I didn’t know what we were doing until we got there. I’ve been wanting to go to our local aquarium for a long time, and was pleasantly surprised when that was where we ended up! We spent a couple of hours looking at all the creatures and had so much fun! I think my favorite part was the coral reef stuff. We even got to see the octopus out and about. It was awesome!

After the aquarium adventure, we stopped by the gas station to get ourselves something to drink, then headed to the park to hang out at the drum circle. If you don’t know what a drum circle is, imagine yourself travelling back in time to the early 70’s and hanging out with some hippies. That’s basically the drum circle. People from all walks of life gather together, some of them bring instruments like drums, bongos, guitars, shakers or whatever and just play. There are also people who bring these big hula hoop things and “dance” with them. A recent addition we noticed yesterday were baton throwers. They looked like the flame kind, but were not lit at the time. We did notice there were some fire trucks there, though, so maybe the flames came after dark…

The “people watching” at events like this is priceless. Your eyes are really opened to all kinds of people and events. If nothing else, it stirs interesting conversation.

We left the drum circle and headed to this restaurant I’ve been wanting to try for years: The Melting Pot. This place is a high-end fondue restaurant and is also snooty enough to require reservations in advance. Although this part of the date wasn’t exactly a surprise, I was still thrilled to be going. When we got there, I (of course) had to use the restroom. When I came out and they showed us to our table, there were 4 happy balloons on the table waiting for us! If you have known me for longer than 6 minutes, you know how much I love balloons. They are the ultimate happy maker. I believe world peace could be attained simply by giving bunches of balloons to all the world leaders. Instant peace and joy.

We started off with a most delicious cheddar fondue served with apples, bread and vegetables. Then, we had our house salad followed by the main course. We weren’t exactly sure how the “cooking style” worked, but soon figured it out. They provide a brothy-type sauce and a few fondue skewers. You stab the meats and veggies you want to eat (salmon, filet mignon, etc) and let them cook in the pot for a few minutes until they’re done. This seemed wildly unsafe to us, as they were putting the responsibility of cooking in our laps, but we got the hang of it pretty quickly.

After the main course, we were given a chocolate fondue menu to choose from for the dessert. OMG. So many awesome options. After much deliberation, we finally decided on the Yin & Yang: a combination of dark chocolate and white chocolate, brought in the shape of a Yin & Yang. We dipped Rice Krispie treats, cheesecake, brownies, marshmallows, strawberries and bananas and it was SOOO GOOOOOD. I wanted to keep eating and eating and eating, but alas, I was one bite away from exploding all over the room. A woman came by to take our picture and after a few minutes came back with the picture in a cute silver frame for us to take. Kevin had made “special arrangements” for the balloons and picture so he got lots and lots of points for this date.

While we were on our way back to the car, a group of people passed us and one of the gentlemen said, “Happy Birthday! …or something…” (I would imagine because I was carrying the balloons). I replied with a very loud and genuine, “Thank you!”.

I had so much fun with Kevin this weekend. He did a great job of making me feel special and it was so nice to spend some time with him. These babies sure do have a great dad!   

Ker POW!

Totally had a baby kick yesterday! I just got home from work and was starting to feel a little nauseous (yes, even though I’m feeling so much better, sometimes I still feel sick) so I threw myself on the bed. Within a couple of seconds, I felt this hard little POW in my left side. At first I thought it was gas, but then I realized, wtf, that was totally the baby kicking!

About half an hour later, when we were getting ready to leave for dinner, I felt it again! So cool. I haven’t felt much since then, but I haven’t been paying close attention, either. They will probably be getting more and more regular and stronger over the next few weeks. So excited!

AND Brownies?

Although I haven’t had any “cravings” yet, I’ve definitely been wanting ice cream. A lot. One time, I went to Arctic Circle with my step son and while there were many enticing flavors on the menu, I couldn’t find the one. I liked the idea of the fudge swirl with almond slivers, but that wasn’t enough. I wanted some brownies in there, too. I mean, come on. If you’re going to have ice cream, have some ice cream, right? Anyway, I placed my order at the drive up window:

“Hi there, can I please get a large peanut butter cup shake and a small [see? At least I ordered the small] fudge almond shake…but can I add some brownies to the fudge almond shake?”

Pause.

“Um, ok so you want a large peanut butter cup shake, and the second shake was what again?”

“A fudge almond, but I’d like to add brownies. It’s ok if you charge me extra.”

Another pause.

“Ok, so you want a fudge almond shake, and brownies?”

At this point I was completely embarrassed, because they were probably expecting to see Big Bertha from the freak show circus roll up to the window when I paid. I simply replied, “Yep, you got it. And brownies.” to which they said, “ooookaay…” and gave me my total. It’s ok. I know it’s a lot to ask, but they were nice to indulge my wishes. By the way, it was one of the best shakes I’ve ever had and I didn’t even feel guilty about finishing THE WHOLE THING.

Brown and Bumpy

Keeping this secret is much easier than I thought it would be. I was sure I would be bursting at the seams waiting to tell anyone that would listen about our super cool news. But as it turns out, I’m perfectly content waiting until next Friday. I’m pretty bummed that my mom and step dad won’t be able to be there for the party, but I already have a plan to tell them on their own. Hopefully my plan works out.

I’ve been feeling more “fluttering” in the last week. It’s not consistent yet, but I’ve definitely noticed it here and there. Until recently, the feeling would make me feel even more nauseous but since I’ve been on my magic pills, I get to just enjoy the feeling.

I haven’t had any more crazy people try to “rub me” yet. Maybe some people think that growing a baby is similar to the magic held inside a genie’s lamp, so they rub the belly in hopes of their wishes coming true. I can see myself doing this to pregnant women when I get old and wrinkly. I can’t wait to just do things for fun to amuse myself and blame it on being old and senile, “not knowing any better”.  Ha ha ha, I’m laughing just thinking about it.

My birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks. Do you want to know what I asked for from Kevin? I asked for a gift certificate for a cleaning service to come clean our house, spic and span before the babies come so I don’t have to. That’s reasonable, right?

I can feel my belly growing! There are a few times during the day where my sides will feel kind of crampy, almost as if they are creaking and groaning from being pulled. No stretch marks yet, though! I don’t expect to see any of those for at least another month, but that’s just wishful thinking.

I applied some fake tanner mousse this weekend. I am an extremely fair skinned person, but I believe in the importance of proper skin care including lots of sun screen. But, I also like a little color. So I found some advice from someone who suggested this brand, Fake Bake. I decided to try the mousse instead of the lotion because it is more subtle and isn’t quite as dark. I didn’t want to look like the newest member of Jersey Shore, so it was my best choice. I got all sloughed yesterday morning and applied where I could reach…which was almost everywhere, except my back. It has a tint to it immediately so you can see where you’ve applied, but most of the dark color goes away when you shower. They recommend wearing it overnight and showering in the morning, but I decided to just keep it on all day and shower later. I didn’t get to the showering later part until this morning, but it looks like it did a fine job. I have a little bit of color, but nothing outrageous that makes me look like I went swimming in a vat of wood stain. If you’re looking for a fake tanner with decent results, I would recommend trying it. I liked it.

Who the Beep Are You?

I knew it was inevitable. I have read all about the awkwardness, the shock and the creepiness. But I wasn’t expecting it so early in my own pregnancy. I experienced my first unsolicited belly rub today.

I’ve heard some women say this doesn’t bother them at all. I suppose with most of my family members and even with my close friends, I wouldn’t be bothered, either. But when it is a co-worker, client or some lady standing in line waiting to place her order at Arby’s – that’s weirdsville for me.

I’m not even REALLY showing yet. I mean, I have a bump, but unless I do the infamous “hand/arm resting on top” move, you would probably just think I’ve been putting away a couple sacks of potato chips every night. But, as aforementioned Arby’s woman pointed out, sometimes women can just sense these things – even about others.

I was combing through the menu trying to find something to distract me from the delicious-looking jomocha shakes when out of NOWHERE this woman comes flying at me with an open palm, grin from ear to ear and eyes that looked like they’d just seen Disneyland for the first time. She immediately put her hand on my belly and started “the rub”. My instincts told me to move away but I was literally frozen from disbelief. She started questioning me: “How far along are you?” “Is this your first?” “Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl?” Suddenly I felt my eyes matching the size of hers. Who is this person? Who dares to touch a complete stranger and immediately assume they are packing another person around just because of a little pudge? The sheer audacity alone was enough to shock someone as unrefined as Charlie Sheen.

I managed to stammer that I was about 15 weeks but didn’t know anything else yet. Untrue, but I didn’t feel like making conversation. I was hungry, annoyed and now violated. I managed to throw her a “thanks for caring about my pregnancy” kind of smile before I turned around and walked to the counter to place my order.

I got my order to go and ate my lunch in my car in the parking lot. I didn’t want to risk having her sit herself down at my table and ask me about my last bowel movement or favorite sexual position.

Today’s lesson: People are weird. It’s nice to be polite and even nicer to care about someone else’s exciting news, but to a) assume and b) invade someone’s personal space is just not nice.

Oh, and P.S. We did find out the genders last night. But I’m not telling until our family BBQ on the 1^st. SECRETS ARE MY FAVORITE!

Pray for a Penis

It’s doctor day! We get to go see our babies again tonight. Lots and lots of good things are happening the last few days. I’m still feeling so much better. I’ve started to feel babies moving. We will hopefully get to find out genders tonight. Woohoo! Lots of exciting stuff.

I took a pic of my ever-growing belly yesterday. Here’s what it looks like.

Bye bye, boobs: Hello, belly.

I was late to work this morning because I could not find anything to wear. I literally tried on 10 different bottoms. All of them were either too small or too big. I finally found a skirt that I could hike up past my hips and over my belly that would work. Downside? I look like a trashy pregnant lady wearing a tight brown mini skirt. Ah, well. The weekend is just around the corner. I’m sure I’ll be growing in to the “too big” stuff soon, anyway.

As much as I love my baby belly, I can’t help but feel so fat. I officially weigh more right now than I have in my whole life. I know I have a good excuse carrying twins and all, but it doesn’t make it any less scary to see the numbers. I can’t even walk up a flight of stairs without losing my breath.

Speaking of stairs, my boss has ordered me to take the elevator from now on. I fell down the stairs back in December and hurt my back pretty badly, so she wants me to be extra cautious now. Too bad our elevator smells like cabbage all the time.

Kevin is very nervous about the appointment tonight. He is really hoping for at least one boy (understandable, since he’s constantly surrounded by girls other than his one son) but is convinced it’s two girls. So, I said a little penis prayer this morning. Whatever is meant to be will be, but I hope it’s in the cards to have some more testosterone running around the house.

See Ya Later, Malnutrition!

Last week, I was still having some of the worst morning sickness I’ve had. I felt like being sick was all I ever talked about. I was starting to forget what “normal” felt like. On Thursday, I was already an hour late to work because I couldn’t stay out of the bathroom. I decided it was time to call the doctor.

Apparently, my doctor delivers babies on Thursdays. I started to panic when the nurse told me this, but as soon as I told her my situation, she said she’d send a message to the doctor and get me a new prescription. I’ve been taking Zofran for over a month with hit and miss results. I stopped taking it altogether a couple of weeks ago because the migraine headaches it caused wasn’t worth the chance it might subdue my nausea for a couple of hours. Anyway, a few hours later the nurse called and told me she had called in a prescription for Phenegran. Oddly enough, this medication is an antihistamine. But one of the side effects is curbing nausea. Who knew?

I’ve been taking these little white wonders since Friday. WOW! I can actually eat real food! I ate French toast on Sunday morning (with homemade syrup, BTW!) and fancy mac and cheese Sunday night. Yum yum yum. If I take a whole pill, they make me VERY tired. But if I split them in half: Magic. Fluids are still difficult, but I haven’t been able to get enough lemonade lately. I hate lemonade! But I can chug it as much as I want with no gagging or vomiting. Ta da! Oh, that reminds me…sucking on Lemon Head candies has helped, too. I don’t like eating too many, though, because they leave big sores on my tongue from all the citric acid.

So there you have it! I’m not saying it’s over yet, but I am confident enough to say that I’m feeling better. My bump is like a hard bloated melon just sitting on my belly. I love it! None of my pants fit anymore. I’ve even outgrown some of the maternity pants I have. I haven’t gained anymore weight yet. I think I lost in other places and gained in the belly. I fully expect to start gaining steadily now, though. Thank heavens I can eat again!

No More Nachos

I was brave last night. Too brave. I had been feeling “OK” all day and decided to test the waters. I ate queso dip for dinner. As in hot, spicy nacho cheese and peppers dip. With tortilla chips. Nachos + sensitive stomach = toilet hugging pregnant lady.

I have been eating a lot of fruit lately. Most of my meals these days consist of strawberries, cantaloupe, yogurt, jello, cherries and apple juice. Occasionally I’ll throw in some cereal, but I don’t like to rock the boat. The fruit seems to have really helped with my digestion and it doesn’t make me sick. They also seem to be keeping me hydrated as I’m still having trouble keeping liquids down (STILL). Another fave treat is steamed milk with almond flavoring. It’s been tough to get all that calcium going so I’m chowing down some tootsie-roll-like supplements called Viactiv. Yum!

I took another picture this morning. Here are the twins at 14 weeks. They are growing like weeds!

One day I'll figure out how to get these carn sarnid pictures
to show up verticle.

We’ll be going to our appointment a week from tomorrow to hopefully – fingers crossed – find out the genders. Since we’re having a family BBQ on July 1^st, I thought that would be a good time to make the announcement to everyone. Originally I wanted to be surprised as well, but my darling beau just couldn’t stand the thought of having to wait to find out with everyone else. So, we’ll find out at the appointment, then I’m going to bake two round cakes. One will be the color of one gender, and likewise for the second. I’ll stack and frost them with white frosting so the inside stays a secret, then when we’re ready for dessert at the BBQ, I’ll have the girls cut into it to find out what’s inside. I know, I know. Not the most unique idea out there, but I like it and I think it will be fun. Unfortunately, my parents have to work that weekend and since they live in Idaho, it won’t be feasible for them to be there. But we’ll try getting them on Skype and if THAT’S not an option, I’ll send them a video right after. Then they can still be surprised, just on a short time delay.