Belly - July 20, 2009 Edition

We took a belly picture today and it even shocked me! I really didn't think it had grown that much in the past three weeks but boy has it! Grow babies grow! You'll probably be seeing a new outfit soon. I don't know that this shirt will fit much longer. Which is fine because it's not even a maternity top!

From Belly

Shoes! Can I find some shoes please?

So the hunger may be kicking in. I’m not sure because most of the time I can’t eat very much before getting full. Sunday I woke up at 3:30 a.m. with hunger that couldn’t be ignored. It took 2 bowls of cheerios to squash it. Hopefully that doesn’t become a regular occurrence because it’s really annoying.

A couple a weeks ago it became apparent that mama needed some comfortable shoes that would accommodate swollen feet. Joan came to town and we went all over Dayton looking for comfortable shoes. It was awful because it was the weekend that it was in the 90’s and my feet were really swollen. She kept saying, “You need some crocks like the nurses wear.” I knew Crocs had come out with some new styles so when it was getting late and we still hadn’t found anything, we headed to the only place I knew we’d be able to find Crocs for sure – Dick’s. I got the last pair of 9’s in the Malindi (in black) and a pair of Cleos (in black and lavender). I wanted the Patricia because it has a bit of a heel but even the 10 wouldn’t fit over my fat foot. I LOVE MY CROCS and have even ordered another pair since. I ordered a pair of Olivia in brown. They have free shipping in July so hurry up and get you some!

We’ve spent the past couple weeks boxing up stuff and lugging stuff to Sean’s parents’ basement and out to the garage to make room for babies. This past weekend Sean painted the nursery. We also ordered the furniture and the bedding. I about had a heart attack when I logged onto Babies R Us and they didn’t have the furniture we wanted in the finish we wanted. But it turned out in our favor because I ended up finding it somewhere else and we didn’t pay shipping for a single thing! That would NOT have been the case if we’d ordered from Babies R Us.

We’ve decided to do pink and green for the bedding. I even found some cool wall decals that match!

Belly

A week ago I felt the first movement. It was the first time I could say without a doubt that what I felt was a definitely a baby moving in there and not something else. It is progressively getting more frequent. Up until yesterday, I felt our little boy more. And from the way he’s acted up at the past couple ultrasounds, I wasn’t surprised. He must take after his father  I know the babies are 4 or 5 days apart so this may be why. I’ll have to ask which one is ahead at the next visit.

So far, Sean has only been able to feel the little munchkins once and I’m not sure which one he felt because he felt it when I was sleeping. I haven’t noticed any patterns or things that make them more active yet. But I figure that will change any day now. I have close to a full pound of baby in there by now!

We’ve taken two belly pictures so far. It’s amazing the difference four weeks makes. And I’m sure it will just keep getting more amazing.

An apple with a stem and one without!

We had our anatomy ultrasound on June 19. They did baby A first… and we found out it was a BOY. They measured a million things and he’s doing great. He was very active and squirmed all over the place. But fortunately, we got a nice clear view of the money shot.

Then they moved on to baby B. After they got done measuring a million things, we found out it was GIRL! We were thrilled to find out we were getting one of each. The tech had a hard time getting a good view of baby B’s face because baby A’s foot kept coming into the picture. To which I said, “Quit kicking your sister!” And it probably won’t be the last time I say that!

Both babies weighed 7 oz and both had a heart rate of 148. That’s the first time that both their heart rates were the same.

Calling everyone to tell them what we were having was almost as fun as telling everyone we were having twins. It’s still kind of hard to believe that the McWilliams family is going to have a boy! I wonder if Dad will know what to do?

From Twins

From Twins

Green Cleaning

I went to my first Moms of Twins Club meeting last Thursday. The meeting was interesting but what I enjoyed most was the special topic. They had a rep from The Happy Soul (www.thehappysoul.com) in to talk about Green Cleaning. I kind of chuckled to myself when I saw the topic on the agenda because the whole “Green” movement is a little overdone. But I was fascinated by her presentation and the simplicity of it all. She used baking soda, white vinegar, biodegradable cleanser, Borax, and Arm and Hammer Washing Soda plus certain essential oils to make soft scrubbing cleanser, laundry detergent and all sorts of things.

Not only are these homemade versions safer, they’re cheaper. She got me hook, line, and sinker. I bought the cleaning set of oils and have since ordered a few other things. As soon as we finish up our various cleaning products, we’re going to try making our own. Sean wasn’t too thrilled about this but I think it may help my allergies.

She also suggested a few books on the topic: Go Green, Live Rich; The Naturally Clean Home; and The Green Clean. She did say some stuff about all the VOCs in our homes but I don’t remember the details so I’m not going to try to include it here. She herself uses Planet dish soap from Kroger (there’s no S people!) with a few drops of rosemary.

There was also a mom there who said she used Tea Tree oil in her diaper pail and puts some on really stinky cloth diapers. There’s just so much to know!
After we finally get around to using some of our homemade cleaners, I’ll post another blog about what we think about it.

17 weeks

My Friday appt was actually rescheduled for yesterday. Both babies’ heartbeats are still really strong. As of week 12, their growth is right on target so that is great! She said one of the big concerns of a twin pregnancy is the cervix shortening and mine is great so far. I asked her about being high risk today (since everyone and their brother asks me about that) and she said, “Well, yes you’re high risk b/c there are 2 babies but not “freak out” high risk. Things are going really well.” She said if they see anything abnormal on any of my many ultrasounds they may send me to a high-risk dr. but that things continue like they have been, I won’t need to go. She said they’ll send me there for ultrasounds later in pregnancy only b/c the ability to monitor 2 babies at a time and they don’t have that equipment in their office.

Our twins are diamniotic and dichorionic (or di-di) which means they are in completely separate sacs and placentas. This is REALLY good b/c it lowers the odds of twin-to-twin transfusion (where one gets more nutrients than the other). This is really great news.

The doctor is not alarmed by my pubic bone/hip pain – just chalked it up to how my uterus has to grow quicker b/c there’s TWO babies. She said that massage and the chiropractor are great and to continue that as long as is comfortable for me. And actually, the pubic bone pain is gone! Yay! Now, I just get pinching in my lower back on the sides. When I first get up and put pressure on each leg, it pinches and hurts. Fortunately, it doesn’t last long.

I asked her how soon my travel could be possibly restricted – she said 27 weeks (which is August 16)!!! But that is only if there are issues. So far so good!!! The tech asked me today if I wanted to find out what they were but I told her no. Sean would’ve been bummed. We find out on June 19 – can’t wait!


 
 

The Nursery

As most of you know, we have a very small house. Our bedroom and either potential "nursery" are literally right next door. The office is only big enough for 2 cribs, a dresser and a changing table. The other room is big enough for everything plus somewhere for me to sit and nurse as well.

We have a lot of stuff that I'd like to be able to fit into the bigger room. I'm just trying to decide if I'm going to want to nurse in as close a proximity to their cribs as possible or if it won't matter?

I posted this on a BabyCenter forum over the weekend and got some helpful responses (as well as a few where I wasn’t sure they’d read my full post). I had briefly considered a co-sleeper but then decided it wouldn't fit in our room. And why have both of us not getting any sleep? One mom suggested planning on nursing in a separate room that way if one is fussing, it won’t wake the other. We’ll see, this decision has not been made. You never know, we could win the lottery before the babies are born!

I have also decided that I need to find a chiropractor who can work miracles. Anyone know a good chiropractor in Dayton? I was going to one near our house a while back but didn’t like him.