No Pain, No Gain.... Right?

Like I Said, I'm A Good Incubator
Well, today we had our appointment with Dr. Mann today to determine whether we deliver this week or next........................
Next week it is. Baby A had a nice little pocket of fluid and she saw no need to push the c-section date up. This was very, very disappointing to hear. Not the part where they are healthy and having a great time in there, but David and I had mentally prepared ourselves for an earlier date for delivery ever since last Monday ~ and not to mention my body fluffing up and crying out in discomfort! I can't do anything anymore without the swelling becoming so overwhelming that I have to sit down and prop up every limb. Sometimes I can't even see my kneecaps... I think my butt even has fluid in there!!! Needless to say the news was hard to swallow, but all we can do now is wait. Who knows, maybe I'll go into labor before then. We'll see!

Mmm Mmm Mmmmmmm........
On a lighter note I made a yummy-delicious pecan peach cobbler last night! It was my first cobbler ever and I think it turned out pretty awesome if I do say so myself! Of course, I did have some help from my trusty sous chef. I found the recipe in Southern Living ~ here's the link. And I actually remembered to take photos! Woohoo! We are going to freeze the leftovers for later when we the boys get here! I also made homemade creamed corn and froze that as well ~ better to be over prepared I guess.

David and I found the juiciest, most fragrant and brightest peaches at Fresh Market! OH MY GOSH... I couldn't stop eating a slice for every peach... Ugh, so good!

Getting ready to bake and become a delicious dessert for us to devour!

Pièce de Résistance

Instead of whipped cream we used a wonderful vanilla bean ice cream to top it off! Enjoy if you decide to make... you will be so happy you did!
Tomorrow I'm making a banana nut bread to freeze as well! I guess I am becoming a little 'Suzy Homemaker'...

Comfy are we???

These past couple of weeks have been getting harder and harder to deal with. My feet and legs will swell up like I'm a 300 pound woman and my hands will not allow me to finish thank you cards! It was hard enough writing David's birthday cards. We are settling in a bit more these days into our new home and anxiously waiting for Baylor and Hunter to grace us with their presence and take our breath away!
So here's the latest....

Sooner or Later They're Gonna Show Themselves
On Monday we had our appointment with Dr. Mann (high risk doc) and everything is still looking great except for Baby A's fluid. It was lower than what it should be, but then again she was not sure if she could actually see the fluid because the boys are a wee bit crowded in there! They are 5 1/2 pounds each these days!!! So, instead of returning in two weeks she asked us to come back in a week. If Baby A's fluid is still low we are going to push the c-section date up! I CAN'T WAIT! I feel like I'm being selfish, but oh my gosh I am soooooooo uncomfortable. If I do go into labor, the doctor said she would not stop things at this point so we'll see on Wednesday what Dr. Mann says... I swear though, if it were up to these two, I'd still be pregnant for another 4 weeks! They are a little too comfortable in there.
On Thursday I met with the last doctor in my OB's practice and she was very nice. She told us to take our hospital bags with us on Wednesday because we could be delivering that day! I am now a total of 156ish pounds! I hate that freaking scale! But I can say that most of it is fluid ~ I don't wake up without something swollen these days.

Here's a photo of me at 36 weeks... I don't think I look any bigger. I do look exhausted though!



Happy Birthday!!!!
Friday was David's 33rd birthday! We celebrated with some of his friends and cooked up some yummy-delicious food! (Unfortunately I was so busy I did not have the time to take photos.) David grilled venison burgers, corn on the cobb and pineapple while I made a watermelon, arugala salad with feta, punch and zeppoles instead of a birthday cake. Next time I make these dishes I will have to post some photos because not only are they super delicious, they are so pretty! And when you have the best and freshest ingredients.... oh it makes all the difference in the world. Ever since our move I've had to find new places to shop and have fallen in love with Fresh Market! They have the juiciest watermelon and sweetest peaches! Ugh, I'm dying for some right now...
Sorry for the diversion! David's birthday was really nice. Hanging out with friends, great food and fishing for the guys ~ I don't think David could have come up with a better day!

Speaking of moving and fishing here are the photos that I promised!

Nursery

(Please ignore the ugly green chair. Our glider hasn't arrived yet!)

Our plan is to add their names above their individual cribs. I better get on that one, huh?!

I love this sweet painting! There are two others of an elephant and owl. I thought the elephant was a bit too girly because of the eyelashes and haven't seen the owl in stores yet... I'd like to get the owl for the other side maybe one day.

Say "Cheese"!

Home

From the backyard patio

Koi pond

My avid fisherman out there somewhere!

The backyard from the dock

So those are the photos of our nursery and new pad. We really love the view from the kitchen and the boys have a great view as well! It's ours for the next two years anway...

I will try and post on Wednesday the good/indifferent news that we receive. Hopefully I'll be too busy to post anything Wednesday because we're in the delivery room!! Keep your fingers crossed....

Pushing Through

Well, that title could be looked at in a few different ways! 1)We are pushing through this move and trying to get our new house back to normal and in living condition; 2) I am pushing through this pregnancy day by day; and 3) these boys are trying to literally push their way out! These past few weeks have been creeping by ever so slowly and yet we've been through so much!

Already Defying Mom's Orders
These two are already turning a deaf ear to what I have to say... I last left you with great news that Baby A was still head down and that we would talk with my delivering doctor about how we would deliver. Dr. Bennett was very promising and said that so long as A is head down she would have no problem with a vaginal delivery. I was SO happy with this news. I really thought that this pregnancy was going to be the ending that I've been wanting. Boy was I wrong! The following week I have a follow up with my high risk doctor (different doc this time actually) and Baby A is now BREECH! How in the Hell did this child move?! Where's the room? Needless to say I cried and was very upset to hear this. The last thing I want is a c-section. I didn't want any drugs, but have to have an epidural. I didn't want a c-section, but that's not the case anymore. What else is there? I know everyone is different, but I just don't want to go through that long recovery time and pain of a c-section. And I want to have that special, intimate moment when giving birth. I feel like that feeling of the actual "giving birth" and bonding moments with your baby/ies are taken away because there is literally a wall between you and them... *sigh* I guess this is why birthing plans really serve no purpose what so ever, in most cases.
So this past week I scheduled a c-section for July 7th at noon (my Grandma Georgia's birthday as well). There is always the chance that they could decide to show themselves earlier though. The doctor said that with twins they want to always wait until 38 weeks or longer, if possible. But at this point, 35 weeks, they will not try to stop labor. I am just so proud that I have made it this far! Also, my doctor's will no longer check my cervix measurements... I guess if I've made it this far it doesn't really matter anymore. But it was a nice way to ease our minds and give us a good estimate on when the time would come!

Here I am at 34 weeks

Weighing In On The Issues At Hand
Oh! The good news of our appointments... the boys weighed in at a whopping 4 pounds 10 oz and 4 lbs 14 oz last week! They are each the same size of a singleton. I am so happy about this. All of that protein that I have been forcing down my throat has been well worth it!
I on the other hand I am now weighing 150!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Really 152, but who needs to count those extra two pounds, right?) I told the nurse that I was going to come and take all of their scales and throw them out the window. I think I just need to stop looking at the scale... Watching them push the scale's bar from the 100 marker to the 150 made my heart fall down to my feet and I could feel myself screaming on the inside "NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!"! I looked at Candace (my nurse) and she just smiled and said "Oh Mrs. Preston... You're having TWINS!! You should be putting on this kind of weight!" This did not help me feel better.



The New Pad
We moved in to our new home a little over a week ago. It is taking me some getting used to, but David is loving it! Of course this move would not have been possible without the much needed help of my family and family friends. My mom helped wash all of the baby clothes and Jackie helped me paint the nursery. Here's a picture of the future dad putting together one of the cribs




Bit by bit this house is coming together. I am still trying to finish the nursery and the boys bathroom. With my feet and hands swollen like they are everyday, it makes getting myself ready a daunting task. The weekend of our move my feet were so bad! I literally look like I'm 300 pounds just from my feet at times. My right hand is always numb now. It's very frustrating...
I will post some photos of our place, the backyard and the boy's nursery/bathroom as soon as I can.
I have another doctor's appointment tomorrow and they're going to actually check my cervix this time so I'll have a better idea of where I stand these days when it comes to going into labor! David will be in Chicago for work all day tomorrow so let's just hope that I don't go into labor until he gets back! ;)

Time Flies When You're Having Fun

We are officially "homeless". We closed on our house this past Wednesday and have temporarily moved in with some family members here in Atlanta for the time being until this upcoming Friday. It's not our favorite plan (which would involve actually moving in to our new home NOW), but it works. This is definitely better than living in a hotel for almost two weeks! But my poor, sweet Bruizer is in a cage all day everyday being boarded and the dogs are with David's mom. At least they are all being taken care of! We are so ready for life to settle back down ~ for the time being anyway!

One Year, Really??
This past weekend we celebrated our ONE YEAR Anniversary! Can you believe it? Time has just flown by so quickly. It seems like it was just yesterday that we said our "I dos" and flew off to Maui. Ah, Maui, how I miss thee.........

Photo on the 'Road to Hana'

Now we are 8 months pregnant, expecting twins none the less, living in someone else's home, waiting on ours to be move-in ready and already needing another vacation in Maui. But needless to say our one year anniversary rocked! We had an amazing maternity photo shoot and had so much fun! (David loves the camera!) I cannot wait to get the photos online and choose which ones we want to have as our "framers"! But the best part is that we actually get to keep all of the photos taken. Also, the photographer loved us so much he wants to do another photo shoot with us, free of charge! How sweet of a deal is that?! I talked to him a few weeks ago about doing an outdoor shoot in a field somewhere because I love the natural look you can get with the right sunlight/exposure. It can almost have a vintage look to the photos... well he wants to try that! So once this weather clears up, we're heading outdoors. I think this will be even better than the studio photos... When I have the photos I'll post a couple up!!
After our photo shoot David took me out for a fabulous dinner at Pricci! This is where we had our "first" date and David proposed! So it was very fitting that we end up back at Pricci. Here are some pics...

A dessert that they brought us to help celebrate our night

Preggers Update
As for me and the babes, we're doing great! I am now 33 weeks and still kicking and am so lucky to be up and about so late in the game with twins. But, I am definitely at my breaking point. My feet and hands started to swell right as my 3rd trimester hit and I cannot wear my wedding rings anymore. My shoes are a bit tight as well, so I'm just wearing flops at all times when possible. My back and hips are really starting to hurt more and more as well. Other than these few aches and pains, I'm feeling great ~ if you can really say that... I'm just thankful to not be on bedrest and/or in the hospital. So I'll take these pains with pride, for now!
We have a doctor's appointment on Thursday so we may get some more insight on how I'm progressing. We do not have another ultrasound until next Monday so we never really know exactly how I'm doing until those appointments roll around.

Hope everyone had a wonderful and long Memorial Day weekend!

Will Life Ever Be Normal Again?

So it's been a while since my last post and boy have things have been crazy around here! Between this pregnancy, work (that I just quit, again), moving, classes (pregnancy and photography), doctor appointments... I just want another vacation!

Appointments
Let's start with our appointment with Dr. Mann two weeks ago. So the check up was going well with the boys are weighing 3lb3oz and 3lb1oz each, "beautiful and healthy", but mom... not so much. My cervix measured almost half the size as it was two weeks prior! So of course Dr. Mann had us totally freaked out! She hooked me up to a monitor to see if I was having contractions and going into early labor... everything obviously checked out alright. But she told me to rest, rest, rest. So, I quit my job and am trying to do so. But it's been so hard with this move!

Our next appointment the next week was with Dr. Bennett. I have gained yet another 3.5 pounds! I guess that's not as bad as 4.5. So I think I'm now at 143ish? I can't remember. I believe I mentally blocked out the numbers. To my surprise I received quite the opposite reaction from Dr. Bennett about measurements from the prior week. She was happy with my appointment and thought that my cervix measurement was great to be 31 weeks pregnant with twins. She said most women with twins/more are around 1cm at 31 weeks or earlier. This news definitely made me feel better about things.

Yesterday, Monday, we had our latest appointment with Dr. Mann. I was definitely worried about this check up because of the pains I have been having and how my last check up ended. But low and behold, my measurement was longer!! What?! Really? Dr. Mann was definitely all smiles this time! She said my weight gain is great, the boys look "fabulous" and that my measurements are perfect. The boys are now at a whopping 3lb12oz and 3lb14oz! That's almost 8 pounds! And boy am I feeling their weight gain. Every jolt, stretch, karate chop to the other... I'm getting the short end of the stick here!

Some other good news is that I could possibly have a vaginal delivery instead of the dreaded C-section! I am extremely happy about this news! Baby A (I'm thinking that's Baylor) is still head down (YAY!) and has moved over to the left, creating some room for his brother to come on down! Baby B is still transverse BUT he's at an angle pointing head down.... so there is a HUGE possibility that he could move head down. And if Dr. Bennett would allow me to have a vag birth, Baby B could move in the right direction once he has the extra room. Dr. Mann thinks Bennett will be absolutely comfortable with this so we'll see next Thursday what she says!

Here's what the boys are looking like this week! Let's hope they both end up in this direction soon!!!


But not everything is turning out so "swell" for me these days... (key word being swell in that sentence). As soon as my third trimester hit, my hands and feet started to swell! My hands more so than my feet. My fingers hurt all day long, especially first thing in the morning, and there's nothing that I can do! I've tried wearing braces but they just don't seem to work and are very uncomfortable. I can't even get my wedding rings over my knuckles anymore. I told David that I feel like I'm his pregnant mistress when we go out because he has on his ring... I feel so naked without it!

I thought I'd share these photos of David putting our new stroller together. I can't wait until he can actually put our cribs together!

Dad striking a pose...

The stroller is a Baby Jogger ~ City Select... it's pretty awesome! The seats come out so we can put our car seats in, in any direction... I can't wait to take our little ones for a stroll in the park next to our new house!

I don't have a photo of my belly from two weeks ago to post. Like I said earlier, things have been so crazy around here and I think part of us was just too lazy and we forgot! But here's one for today at 32 weeks (8 months)...



Moving sucks...
We are out on our tails tomorrow ~ we close on our home and can't move into our new place until next Friday, June 4! So for the time being we are going to stay with Jane and Woody (my stepdad's sister and brother-in-law). Thank goodness they have a place here in Atlanta or we'd be moving into an Extended Stay and that costs $.

This move has been trying. Poor David ~ he has been working his tail off packing, loading and moving things between our house, the PODS and a second storage unit that we had to get!!! Needless to say we have lots of stuff. It may be time to go thru it all, again, and see what we really need... But, in our defense, the first storage unit is full of baby stuff! So we shouldn't feel too bad, right?

I am definitely ready for next Friday to get here though. This nesting bug in me has been dying to get out for two months now! Our cribs are still in boxes, clothes have to be washed, I don't have any decorations for the nursery because I don't know how the layout will be... ugh. I'm ready for this move to be over with!

Here are a couple of "before" photos of our move...






On a different note, I don't think I shared these photos with you! I was surprised one day with beautiful flowers from my darling sweetpea! It definitely made my day because I was in need of a good pick me up...




I will try to keep up with these posts a little better. Hopefully next week will be a bit calmer and I can wrap my mind around what's going on!

Busy Little Bees...

I do not remember the last time I was this busy! Aren't you supposed to rest during your pregnancy?! Well, not this preggers!

Doctors and Tests and Babies, Oh My!
We are now in the stage of the pregnancy where there's a doctor's appointment every other week. And since there are two doctors, this means one appointment every week. Last week was week 28 and our check up with Dr. Mann. At this appointment I found out just where those extra pounds came from... the boys! They are each 2.8 and 2.3 pounds! They have doubled their weight in just a month. I am so happy that they are growing at a healthy pace and are not under weight! Things are still looking up for us!
I also had my second, and dreaded, glucose test Thursday (April 29) to see if I test positive for gestational diabetes. Well, I PASSED!!! I am extremely happy about this! But I was not too fond of that damn test. I would never wish this on anyone... So I arrive at the doctor's office at 8:30 AM and they take my blood before I drink this outrageously horrible, sugar loaded, syrup water of a drink! Then she takes my blood again one hour later. Another hour later, (I'm lying down at this point because I've crashed from the sugar meanwhile the boys are on a sugar high!), my blood is drawn, again. And after another hour of waiting I have my blood drawn yet again. All in all, I have my arm poked FOUR times, each time hurting worse than before. This was awful! I eventually made it out of there around 11:45ish. I was starving and could not wait to get food in my belly...
By this point I am 28 weeks... Let's see, can you tell there's an extra 10 pounds since the last time I posted a photo?

Here's a photo from Baby Center of what twins look like at 28 weeks. Looking a bit cramped. I can relate!

This past Thursday I had my latest doctor's appointment with Dr. Bennett. I have gained yet another 4 pounds!! What in the hell are these babies eating?! 4 pounds in 2 weeks? Really? I almost fell over. I understand that I'm carrying twins, but geez! So that photo above... add some extra belly to it! And after my loving post last time about how my wonderful husband goes with me to all of these appointments, he has decided to forgo the Dr. Bennett appointments. I don't blame him. Not much going on with these appointments and they are every other week now... a bit much to take on every week. But he'll definitely go to Dr. Mann's visits because we get to see our little ones every time!

Baby Showers!!!
We feel so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends in our lives! April 24 we had our very first baby shower! It was a couple's shower given to us by our moms and we had a great time! It was nice to just chat with everyone and hang out with friends. The food was great and the gifts from our moms were so amazing! We loved everything from everyone, but theirs were very special to us! Here are some photos from the shower...

My mom gave us my old bassinet as part of our gift! My little sister and brother used it as well and it's very special to me. Hopefully the boys will fit in there together for a little while...

And the next weekend (May 1) I had a great baby shower with just the girls. It was a great time! We did play a game, the "fertilization game". Pretty hilarious!! (See if you can guess why it's called this from the photos). Aubree and Luci were so wonderful and really did a great job hosting my shower! I loved everything! And the food was delicious! Here are some photos...

Playing the "Fertilization Game"

Ahhhh.... the Babymoon
This weekend David and I took a little trip down to Destin, FL to get away. With all of the baby and house planning that has been going on this was a much needed vacation . Not to mention the stress that David has been going through with work. So Destin was a life saver! Here's what our agenda looked like for the weekend..............



Nothing, absolutely nothing. And it was so wonderful! We sat on the beach all day Friday and Saturday. David read an entire book and I went through trash tabloids and baby magazines. I did bring back a scorching tan though! It was really nice to just talk and sit with David for hours on end. I feel like we really connected on a different level with one another, almost like a mini honeymoon. I guess that's why they call it a "babymoon"! Below are a few photos from our perfect, relaxing, and sunny babymoon.

The guys fishing caught a little Sting Ray. And of course my avid outdoorsman had to lend a helping hand!

Our amazing B&B! The staff was so wonderful, the room was great and the food really good!

Here's a photo that I took for my photography class. What do you think? I had to use the Aperture function for this assignment (focusing in on one particular object while the rest of the photo is "blurry").

Like I've said... I/we have been busy, busy, busy! May is a non-stop month for us so hopefully June will be the calm after the storm! Monday we have another appointment with Dr. Mann so there's more to come!

27 weeks... and still going!

So far so good I suppose. I'm still able to stand on my own, my feet haven't swollen to the size of blimps and no contractions... What has changed though is my weight! We had our monthly doc appointment today and I'm up to 136 pounds! Say what?! As I stood on the scale and watched the nurse put the bar on the 100 marker and then slowly move the smaller one towards the right, I couldn't help but think "No, no, no, noooooo!!". I've gained almost 10 pounds in one month! Can you believe that? But I had to remind myself that I'm carrying two little guys in there and they're going to gain weight. So long as it's them and not me!
No real updates though. Just listened to their heartbeats at this appointment, again. 140 and 145 which is really good. The "normal" range is anywhere between 120 and 170. And so long as they're close to one another, I'm not stressing as much! Next week is our favorite appointment, with Dr. Mann, because we get to see them! And we'll get to see them more often now. We are now into the part of my pregnancy where we visit the doctor every two weeks. This means a doctor appointment every week for us and we get to see our little ones twice a week! Can you say spoiled?? I also had my second gestational diabetes test today. Fingers crossed that I passed again because if I fail, I have to sit there for THREE hours, drink more of that nasty, sugary paste of a drink and give them blood every hour on the hour... Sounds like fun, huh?
As you may have noticed, throughout my pregnancy blogging I use words like 'us', 'our', 'we', etc. when I talk about "my" pregnancy and appointments. That is because David has been to every single appointment with me thus far! Even Dr. Bennett today gave him kudos because no other husband/fiance/boyfriend would consider it. It was brought up because he was joking around about not hanging out for a 3 hour adventure at the doctor's office with me if I had to for our next appointment. I don't blame him! It would be torture (and I don't just mean them poking me with that damn needle!). But it has been so nice to share these appointments with him, even if it is just listening to their heartbeats and measuring my belly... he still gets to feel as though he's really a part of this whole process. :) *Love ya babe!*

On a different note, I start taking photography classes next Tuesday. They will be every Tuesday for six weeks. I'm pretty excited! I have always wanted to take classes like this. And now that we have babies on the way I really want to learn how to use my nice camera. I know that I will be taking 100's of photos of our boys and I want some of them to be frame/gift worthy!!! (Side note ~ old faithful broke on me this past weekend! My amazing camera that I've had for 3 years, carry everywhere with me and have used to take 1000's of photos has just died. I will take her to Best Buy to be fixed, but I think it's time for a replacement.) With these classes come assignments and require you to actually use your camera. So, hopefully with my new training in the photography world there will be post worthy pics here soon! :) I'll keep ya posted on my progress.

We have our first baby shower this weekend and then our next doc appointment Monday so there will be plenty to talk about next week!