27 Weeks and A Baby Shower

This last Saturday was a busy day!  It also marked 27 weeks for me and these babies.  At first it seemed like time was going by very quickly and I was feeling like we may not get things done in time, but now it feels like time has slowed down and I can't count these weeks off fast enough.  I know it will speed up again soon, but I just want these babies to be here safe and sound already.  Not literally here right now.  I actually want them to stay cooking a lot longer, but I want those weeks to tick on by so we are in the safe zone!  Is there such a thing?

Saturday was my first baby shower with Hubby's side of the family.  It turned out very nice and I really enjoyed it.  There were quite a few people that weren't able to make it because they were sick, so it was kind of a small shower, but I did enjoy visiting with those that came.

I was very excited to get some much needed items for the babies.  I've been stressing about everything that we may have to go buy if people only got us clothes and blankets (the fun stuff), but I'm feeling a little more relaxed about that now.  We got both of our Rock n' Play Sleepers, a high chair, and a Play Mat, which are all higher ticket items that add up!  We also got a lot of bath wash and lotions, a few bottles, diapers, and other items as well.

One person that lives out of town sent two cards, one for each baby, and a $50 gift card - for each baby!  Having that $100 in gift cards, and knowing that people at work are going in on a large gift card for us as well, provides a lot of stress relief, knowing that we will have that to use to get any other necessary items that we don't receive at the showers.

It feels pretty selfish wanting to get all this stuff at our showers.  I always thought it would just be a fun party to celebrate the babies and get cute baby stuff, but when it comes down to NEEDING all this stuff for the babies, I find myself thinking more about what I hope people gift us with!  That makes me feel pretty awful actually, but we are SO tight on money right now.  I don't know how we are going to make it without my income for those months that I will be off.  And I don't want to have to go back to work, but I'm pretty sure that is not an option.

I wanted to share pictures from the shower, but I didn't really get any good ones.  I have one picture of me with my MIL and Hubby's Aunt who threw us the shower, but it turned out super dark with my camera phone.

My sister took one picture of my super cute little niece and sent it to me.

But that's all I got for pictures.

While us girls were at the shower, Hubby and his brother tore out our moldy bathroom ceiling and replaced it, along with a new high powered bathroom fan.  The venting system was so bad that it wasn't pulling the moisture to outside and it was just pooling on the attic side of the ceiling which was causing us major problems.  They put in new venting and rerouted it so hopefully we won't have this problem ever again!  We still have some more work to do in there, but we have to wait for my BIL to make the trip down next weekend to finish it up.  They live a few hours away from us.  He builds houses for a living and I am so grateful for his help.

I don't have any before pics of our bathroom.  I am so bad at taking before pictures!  I always get the after....

On Sunday, we painted the nursery.  Okay, let me rephrase that.  Hubby painted the nursery.  I helped tape up the walls, but then I was outta there.  The walls are grey, and this week we are going to paint a big navy stripe on the wall above where the cribs will be.  Then we are going to put a thin red line on the top and bottom of the navy stripe.  On the opposite wall, I am going to put baseball stitching on the right hand upper corner and lower left corner.  It's hard to explain, but once we get it done, I WILL take pictures!

This Friday we are getting our carpets cleaned and then this weekend Hubby will start putting the cribs together!  I'm so excited to see how the nursery will look once we start getting it put together.  I also have another baby shower this weekend with my side of the family/friends.  Next Wednesday is my work shower.  I'm sure we will have more baby stuff than we'll know what to do with!

This afternoon we have a MFM appointment and ultrasound.  I am super excited to see the babies again.  I am also super nervous.  Until I see that each baby is okay, it is very nerve racking going into these appointments.  I'm also really curious to hear what the MFM doctor has to say about my liver issue.  I will try to update tomorrow about how the appointment goes.

"Do Twins Run In Your Family?"

As interfiles, we learn to deal with a lot of awkward conversations.  In the beginning, we were asked the common questions of "when are you going to have kids?" by people you know, or "do you have kids?" from people you don't know.

Those questions never really bothered me too much, although I know that others find those types of questions rather painful.  Even though I never got upset by those questions, it was still an awkward conversation to have at times.  You get lots of unsolicited advice, and I cannot even begin to tell you how many times I was asked if I'd ever considered adoption, or asked "why don't you just adopt?"

In fact, my MIL and another good friend of mine always felt the need to call me when they knew of a child in need of adoption.  They'd give me the whole story, tell me I should call so and so, and think that we could magically just adopt this child in need.  Little did they know that there is a whole entire process that has to take place.  Also, the child's extended family isn't able to just pick who they want to adopt their little one. The system unfortunately doesn't work that way.  I'd always get my hopes up and think well, maybe, what if, every time this would happen.  Another factor that people don't realize is that adoption is expensive!

Now, fast forward to our present situation.  We are finally pregnant after 16 years of being married and 14 years of trying for a family.  The questions have changed, especially now that I am obviously pregnant with my growing belly.

Remember I work in a fitness club with the public, so I see a lot of people on a daily basis at work.  When people find out I am having twins, it never fails that they ask "do twins run in your family?"  Actually, now that I think about it, I've been asked that by a few nurses as well!  Everyone just seems to jump to that question.

This is how the conversation typically goes down:

"Do twins run in your family?"

Me: "No."

"Oh, so it was a surprise then?  Were you and your husband shocked?"

Me:  "Nope.  We knew it was a possibility."

Then comes the befuddled look on the person's face.  Sometimes I will tell them that we had a lot of help from science, or we had to undergo fertility treatments to get pregnant.  I have not had ANYONE respond to that and the conversation usually ends there.  It's always awkward, but I really don't mind that either.

The one question that does get me a little bit though:  "is this your first baby(ies)?"

Yes.  And our last.

Even if we were only pregnant with one baby, this would still be our last.  I am 39 years old and Hubby will be 41 in January.  He's already a little freaked out that we are going to be (almost) 60 when these kids graduate from high school.

Besides that, it's not like we could just decide to have another baby even if we wanted to.  We are in debt up to our ears getting pregnant now, and it took us 14 years to get here.  It also required an egg donor. Yes, these will be our first babies, but they will also be our last.

We've decided there is one really great thing about all this infertility stuff.  Hubby doesn't ever have to worry about getting snipped!

Results and Other Stuff

After my u/s and blood work yesterday, I was told that it would be a few days for the results to come in. Shockingly, I got a call from Dr. P yesterday afternoon with the results!

The u/s that they did on the gallbladder, liver, kidneys, and aorta showed no abnormalities.  The blood work showed my liver enzymes to still be elevated, although slightly improved.  Overall, it was great news. However, Dr. P said they wanted to keep a close eye on it, so they want me to go in once/week.  I thought she meant to repeat the blood work panel each week, but when the person called to schedule all the appointments, I was told I would actually be meeting with one of the doctors each time.  Dr. P is not available for the next two weeks, so I will be meeting with another OB at the clinic instead.  I don't mind this actually, since it's not guaranteed Dr. P will be the one on call when I deliver.  This gives me a chance to meet a few of the other doctors.

I was pleased to hear that everything appears normal for the most part, but after thinking about it for awhile, I started to question that.  If it's not anything to be concerned about, then why do I need to go in every single week?  I mean, I already have an appointment with either the MFM or Dr. P every two weeks as it is.  Dr. P has forwarded all this info to the MFM doctor so she is aware of the situation as well.

I actually have THREE appointments next week:  Tuesday I go in for a glucose test, Wednesday is my MFM appointment and u/s (I can't wait to see my babies again!), and now Thursday I will be meeting with an OB. It seems a little overkill, but I am not going to complain because I am just so glad that I have doctors that are taking a strong interest and wanting to monitor everything.  It's just time consuming and interferes with my afternoon nap!  lol

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In other news, we have most of our kitchen put back together, with the exception of a few pictures still not hung and our food cupboard still not brought back in the house.  Hubby and his dad tried bringing it in the other night, but....the new flooring sits about a 1/2 inch taller than before and the cupboard doesn't fit! So back out to the garage the cupboard went.  Fortunately, there is a little space on the top and bottom of the cupboard that can be sawed off.  Until then, our dry food continues to sit in totes on the floor...

Friday, Hubby will begin painting the nursery.  Yay!  And Saturday, his brother is going to come over and replace our bathroom ceiling fan and reroute the vent so water can actually escape to outside rather than collecting on our ceiling and causing everything to mold.

Also this Saturday is my first shower!  I should clarify, this is my MIL's baby shower, not really mine.  I say that in jest, but really, it's true.  It's her party.  I had nothing to do with the guest list even.  Of course all the Aunts and Cousins are invited, but then it is all of my MIL's close friends.  She keeps telling me so and so is coming, and I'm like, great!  I haven't seen that person in about 15 years, but okay.  It really is okay, but I do find it humorous.  I am super excited for the shower.

Then the following weekend is a shower with my family/friends, and on that Wednesday, they are throwing me a shower at work.  I am soooo excited to start really getting stuff for the babies and figure out what necessities we will still need to buy.  I am very nervous about that part.  We don't have a lot of extra money to spend since we will shortly be losing my income.  And my income is necessary to help pay our bills!  I'm not sure how it's all going to work out, but we will find a way.  Hopefully...

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Last night, I registered online for us to take an Infant CPR class at the hospital.  We aren't taking any other classes, but that is one we both agreed would be important.  The thought of having those babies home and one of them stops breathing scares me to death.  I want to be as prepared as possible.

We probably should take some sort of birthing preparation class for Hubby's sake, but I've been through Lamaze class with my sister for her first baby, and have been there for three of her four kids being born. Besides that, the class cost $70 each AND takes more time, so we decided to pass.  

We did sign up for a tour of the birthing center though.  The tour is free, and we'll just be that much more prepared for when the time comes.  Even though I've been through it with my sister, it is different when it's myself!  Plus, I've never seen the NICU or the operation room.  I don't know if either of those are included in the tour, but I do know that both are real possibilities since we have twins.  I've heard that they always have twins deliver in the operating room because the chance of having an emergency c-section, or needing a blood transfusion is so high.

Liver Update

I realize I've kept you all hanging since my last post, but until yesterday, I really didn't have any update to give you.  Plus... I've been lazy about getting on the computer.  We've been so busy with all of our house projects, and between that and me not sleeping at night, I just don't have the extra energy to muster when I get off work.

I finally heard back from Dr. P yesterday with the rest of the results regarding my liver function.  Most everything came back normal, except for one thing (which I can't even begin to remember what it was).  The number came back at 66, and normal is considered 60.  Dr. P said that because it is just barely above normal, they aren't really too concerned, and if I were to repeat the blood work it very well could come back normal because it is so close.

Just to stay on top of things though, she wanted me to get an u/s on my gallbladder to rule things out.  She did also want me to repeat the blood work.  She's also forwarded all this info to the MFM doctor so everybody will be aware and keeping a close eye on any complications that may come about.

So today I went in for the u/s on the gallbladder.  I got the same tech that always does my baby u/s.  She does a fantastic job and I was so happy to see that she would be doing the test.  In addition to the gallbladder, she also looked at the liver, kidneys, and aorta.  Off in the distance on the screen, she pointed out one of the babies, but you couldn't really see it that clearly.  I was hoping she would do a quick scan of the babies for me, but she didn't and I didn't ask her too because I know that's not what I was there for.  DARN!  We get to see the babies again next week anyway, so oh well.

After the u/s, I had to go to the lab to repeat the blood work.  I was a little nervous about them being able to draw the blood since I was pretty dehydrated.  I had to fast for 8 hours prior to the u/s, and I wasn't sure if that included drinking water so I had only taken a couple sips of water all morning.  My experience has been that the more hydrated you are, the easier it is for them to do the blood draw.  And then, what do you know?  She also wanted a urine sample.  Uhhh?  I told the gal I was going to need some water in order for that to happen.  It's a good thing my bladder fills pretty quickly!  I was able to get a little trickle out for her, but it was pretty ugly (very yellow/brown) since I basically hadn't drank anything all morning.  I don't know if or how that may or may not effect the results of the urine sample compared to usual when I am typically fully hydrated.

It's going to take a few days for all these results to come back and then I will be hearing from Dr. P again.  Hopefully, it won't be anything to worry about.

In the meantime, I am still struggling with my rash.  It is so uncomfortable and itchy all over my belly and spine.  Unfortunately it is worse at night!  They say that pregnancy rashes generally go away once you give birth.  It's too bad that's still (hopefully) two plus months away!!!  I can't imagine itching like this for another two months!  My skin is going to be shredded.  Not too mention being stretched beyond belief with two babies.

I did go get some Grandpa's Pine Tar soap and have been using that when I shower.  It has a weird smell, but it lathers great.  I really can't tell you if it's making a difference or not, but I've been told it's the best thing to use.  Dr. P gave me a prescription for a topical steroid, but I haven't filled it yet.  I am just so leery of using or taking anything.  That's nothing new really, I've always avoided taking medicines whenever I could help it.  I think I'm going to have to break down and go get the prescription filled though.

Other than the rash and the right side rib pain, which is most likely from the liver, I am feeling pretty good.  Oh, and the whole lack of sleep thing, but I think I'm getting used to that so long as I can get that nap in during the day.

OB Appointment

I've been seeing my OB once/month ever since my first appointment with her.  I really like my doctor.  Dr. P never seems in a hurry, even though I know she has a very busy schedule, and always takes the time to answer my questions.

The first thing that happened is the weight in.  I've gained about 34 lbs so far.  I hope it doesn't end up being much more.  Although, everyone does tell me it doesn't look like I've gained much weight, which is nice to hear.  I haven't had any swelling and most of the gain has been in my belly.  Actually, in my hips and thighs too, but nobody else can tell that.

The nurse tested my urine sample, and everything was normal there.  No urinary tract infection and no protein in the urine.  My blood pressure is still pretty good, thank goodness, at 120/78.  It's been pretty stable with the exception of the first few appointments when I was SO anxious about the first trimester and meeting a new OB.

I had to wait about 15 minutes for Dr. P to arrive because she had a few surgeries at the hospital and was running late.  No big deal.  I had my list of questions ready for her.

1. My biggest concern was the rash I have on my stomach.  It's been there now for a few weeks and seems to be getting worse and starting to get extremely itchy.  I also have a lot of itching along my spine in back.  Dr. P thought the rash was pregnancy related and fairly normal.  We both agreed that it is probably PUPPP (Pruritic urticarial papules and plaques of pregnancy), an annoying hives-like rash that presents no long term effect for either mother or babies and goes away within a short time after delivery.  
2. Right side rib pain.  I actually don't think it's my ribs at all, but in that area.  It's been bothering me for over a month and I have mostly attributed it to being because that is where Baby B is hanging out.  However, sometimes it's more than just an uncomfortable sort of pain, but more like a burning pain, and it is sore to the touch.  I had asked the MFM doctor about it previously, and she said it could be my liver and an indicator for pre-eclampsia, but didn't think so because I had no other issues at all.  I brought it up to Dr. P because the pain has continued and of course, because the MFM doc mentioned pre-eclampsia, it's been a worry for me.  Dr. P agreed that it sounded like normal pregnancy pain due to the expansion of the ribs and the muscles stretching.
3. I asked about the moles growing on my nipples.  I've had a LOT of moles growing and needed to know if this is normal and would it effect breast feeding when the babies get here.  She took a look at my nipples and assured me that it was normal.  She also said to expect them to maybe get a little darker and the nipples to increase more in size as well.
4. Breast pump.  I had called my insurance company quite awhile back to find out if they would cover a breast pump.  They said that they do (YAY!), but it would need to be from a preferred provider.  Soooo, I asked Dr. P about that.  She gave me a written prescription for a breast pump.  The problem is I am not sure how or where to claim it.  I will be calling the insurance company again to find out (hopefully) what to do.
5. My hands have been falling asleep when I lay down.  I told Dr. P I thought I was getting pregnancy induced carpal tunnel.  She didn't really say much about that, but did recommend sleeping on my side with my top arm over a pillow.  She also told me to get hard/firm wrist braces if it becomes a major problem.

After addressing each of my questions, Dr. P found both babies heartbeats and said they are rockstars. She told me that I was doing really, really good with this pregnancy.  I haven't had any major issues and the babies have looked great at every u/s so far.  I left the appointment feeling pretty good about things and feeling much relief that my blood pressure was good.  She did send me to the lab for some blood work, just to rule out any other possibilities for the rash and to check the liver, just in case.

The guy doing the blood draw looked about 15 years old.  I was a little nervous to have such a kid poke a needle in me.  (I know I've mentioned before how much I hate needles)  He wasn't very gentle, but he was a nice enough guy.  I survived.

I called Hubby on the way home to let him know how the appointment went.  He can't come to the regular OB appointments, because we need him to work!  He takes the time off for the u/s's with the MFM, but we can't afford both.

Later that night, around 6:00, I got a phone call from Dr. P.  Uh-oh.  Can't be good news if she's calling so late after I just saw her a few hours ago.  She was calling to let me know that the blood work does show an elevation in my liver enzymes.  She asked if I've ever had any problems with my liver.  No.  Have you taken any Tylenol lately?  No, I haven't taken anything this entire pregnancy so far.

She's still waiting to get a few more results from the blood work, and is going to have them check it for Hepatitis, which she says she's sure won't be an issue, and I'm sure it won't be either.  I will also be getting a phone call to schedule an u/s for my gallbladder.

I didn't think to ask any questions when she called, but I spent the rest of the night and today worrying about what this means.  I don't know how serious this is, or what complications we may be looking forward to, other than what Dr. Google says.  I'm trying not to freak out because, well, we just don't know anything yet.  However, that doesn't stop me from worrying.  A lot.  There IS a problem with my liver.  It's just a matter of the severity of it.  Dr. P thinks it's just pregnancy induced, but what does that mean exactly.  I didn't ask.

I tried to call the clinic to get more information today, but Dr. P has Thursday's off so I just left a message.  Either she will get back to me, or a nurse will follow up.  I haven't heard yet.  I also haven't received the call to schedule the gallbladder u/s yet either.  Ugh.

So, while the appointment went good yesterday, my day didn't end so well.  I was up most of the night because of the intense itching on my belly.  I laid with a cold washcloth over it for relief.  I also said a few prayers that the problem with my liver will resolve itself and won't be a big deal.  Now I'm just waiting....

25 Weeks

Today I am 25 weeks plus 2 days.  You'd think that would help me to not worry so much, but....  I just can't help it.  I am so incredibly happy to have made it to viability, but now I am more and more aware of the fact that we really don't have control over when these babies will come.  Of course, nobody in our family wants to hear that, and everyone has a story about knowing this set of twins or that set of twins that went full term.  That's great.  But the fact is that twins WILL typically come early.  It's just a matter of how early.

It's kind of like all those people that tell you to "just relax" and you will get pregnant.  Or, "as soon as you stop trying" you will get pregnant.  Yeah, well, that never really worked out for us so great.  If we kept going about our softball lives and "stopped trying" any longer, the FACT is, I wouldn't be pregnant right now and we wouldn't have an opportunity to have kids of our own.

This pregnancy IS going pretty dang good so far.  We haven't had any problems or markers to be concerned about, other than my age and twins being considered a high risk pregnancy to begin with.  I am so extremely grateful for that.  I also know that things can change in a heartbeat.  I know that pre-eclampsia is a very real concern.  It's something that can come about very quickly and there's not much you can do about it.

(as I sit here and type this, I have sneezed twice and dammit if I haven't peed a little bit both times!  Another uncontrollable thing that has come with pregnancy!  haha!)

Anyways, as I've mentioned before, I am not out of my mind crazy with worry over all this.  I just can't help but for it to be on the back of my mind on a constant basis.  I have an OB appointment this Wednesday and here are a few things I am going to ask about:

• The rash on my belly.  It's not major blotches or anything, but it's definitely a rash that causes constant itching!  It's very uncomfortable.  I stopped putting lotion on my belly because it made the rash burn.  I'd rather have stretch marks and itching, than stretch marks, itching, AND the burning sensation!
• My nipples have grown a tremendous amount of moles.  I realize that your boobs change during pregnancy, but I'm not so sure all these moles (maybe a few warts?) is normal.  Will that impede in breast feeding?  Maybe this isn't even a big deal at all, but I thought I would ask just in case.
• It seems that I am developing pregnancy induced carpal tunnel.  My hands get all tingly and fall asleep every time I lay down.  It's not painful, but it is uncomfortable and annoying.
• I have a pain in my right rib area that's been going on for over a month.  It sometimes is just uncomfortable, but sometimes it is also a burning sensation.  I assumed this was because that is where Baby B is hanging out, and I did ask the MFM doctor about it.  She said it's probably just normal, but she did ask about my blood pressure and expressed some concern because that is also where my liver is.  The burning sensation could be an indicator of pre-eclampsia.  She wasn't too concerned about it since I haven't had (much) swelling and my blood pressure has been pretty good lately.  However, she did plant the seed for me to worry about pre-eclampsia (obviously), so I am going to ask the OB about it just to be sure.

25 Weeks

In other news....

Our kitchen is almost put back together.  We once again have a dishwasher, stove, and refrigerator.  The walls have been painted and we have new linoleum flooring.  It looks pretty good.  I will post pictures when we get everything else done, like hanging the pictures back on the wall and moving the food cupboard back in.

I had some friends come and refinish/stain our two antique dressers.  They did an AMAZING job!!!!!  I cannot even begin to describe the difference.  It's like we have two brand new dressers.  Again, I should have taken before pictures so you could really see the difference.  My friend is going to come put one more coat of stain on them this Friday, and then I will share pics of the finished product.

While they were working on the dressers, I spent that time cleaning out our spare bedroom (aka, the hoarding room).  We can now see the floor!  It is not finished, but I got enough done so that this weekend we can completely empty the nursery, now that we have a place to put the stuff that is currently in there.  Since the nursery is our main priority, we will get that done and then I will go back to finishing cleaning up the spare bedroom.

There is a clean floor space!

And then...the other half of the room, which is what the ENTIRE room looked like to begin with.  I told you - hoarders.  How embarrassing.

Things kids say:

Saturday night, two of our nieces spent the night with us.  The very first thing the 6 year old said when she saw me was "you suuurrrreeee do have a fat belly with those babies in there!"  She went on to tell me a few more times that night how fat my belly is.  I just laughed because, well, it's true and she's a 6 year old without a filter.  lol.

Both her and her sister were concerned about where they would be sleeping.  We got sleeping bags out for them and set them up on the living room floor.  They were going to have a slumber party in the living room with Uncle Tony.  The 4 year old asked "where are the babies going to sleep?"  I let her know that they would be all snuggled up in my belly for the night, in the bedroom with me.

On Sunday, we went to another one of my other nieces go-kart races.  She is SO excited about these babies!  She asked me "are the twins going to be born next month?"  I told her I really, really hope not.  She was very disappointed, especially when I told her they aren't supposed to be here until January.  I had to explain to her that if they were to come next month, they would be very sick babies.  It's fun how excited the kids are about the babies :)

I will end this with once last picture.  While we were at the race track, Uncle Tony got some practice in for when the babies do arrive.  He's going to have to build up his endurance because he didn't last very long holding both of them at the same time.

Uncle Tony with our nephews

Things I Can and Can't Do

Pregnancy is a weird thing.  It does strange things to your body.  I thought I'd share with you some of the things I find myself no longer being able to do, and some things I can do.  This post will have some tmi moments, so be forewarned.  I'm going to lay it all out there.

Things I Can't do:

•  Sleep.  It's like I'm just taking long naps every night.  I wake up anywhere between 1:00 - 3:00am and then am wide awake for 2-3 hours.  I cannot go back to sleep.  I usually use this time to catch up on all my blog reading, take my turns playing Words with Friends, and watch a little t.v.  When I try to shut it all down and go back to sleep, I just can't seem to shut down my brain.  This isn't a problem on the weekends, when I can sleep in a little later.  But during the week, finally falling back to sleep around 5:00am only to have my alarm clock go off 30 minutes later for work, really sucks.

• Put on my tennis shoes and socks like a normal person.  It's not a problem with my left foot, but it is like gymnastics trying to put my sock on my right foot.  I can't reach it!  I have two babies in the way.  I have resorted to asking Hubby to put my sock on a few times.  But if he's not around to help, I have to kneel down with my heel on the floor, slip the sock over my toes, and then swing my foot around behind me so I can then pull it up over my heel.  Good times.  Actually, it really is quite entertaining.

• I can't clip the toenails on my right foot anymore.  Same problem as putting on my socks.  I can't reach.  Darn.  I'm gonna have to get a pedicure.  That's really too bad.  Not!

• Sit/Stand up from a reclined position.  I have to turn to my side and push myself up.  I have no abs anymore.  If I'm sitting on the couch and need to stand up, it is not done without a lot of grunting and groaning.  I sound like the beef heads in our weight room at the gym, only I'm getting a different sort of workout.  It's called standing up.

• Okay, I warned you earlier about the tmi.  I cannot see my crotch below my belly.  I'm pretty sure I'm becoming a hairy beast down there.  I attempted to shave this weekend, but who knows what it actually looks like.  It's not like I've just got belly fat that is a little more pliable and can be moved to the side.  No, these babies make my belly hard.  There is no pushing it to the side to see what is going on below it.

• Again tmi.  Don't say I didn't warn you.  I can't have a bowel movement without fear of clogging the toilet.  I have never seen such big poop before!  Seriously.  It's a little a lot ridiculous and actually quite painful, even though I have to admit I've been impressed a few times as well.  I just pray I don't ever have to take a grumpy at someone else's house because it would be rather embarrassing to clog someone else's toilet.

• I can't stop itching.  My belly and my boobs itch constantly.  I have a slight rash on my belly.  Nothing major, but definitely annoying.  I hesitate to put lotion on my belly because sometimes it really burns. 

• I can't help with most of the projects around our house.  Hubby worked his butt off over the weekend painting the kitchen and ripping up the floor.  Me, well I offered great advice when it was needed and otherwise stayed out of his way when he got overly grumpy because he'd smashed his fingers one too many times.

Things I CAN do:

• I can feel these babies moving around.  No swift kicks or elbow jabs yet, but I can definitely feel activity.  I've been feeling it for at least a month, but didn't start acknowledging it as movement until a few weeks ago.  When you don't know what it really feels like, it's difficult to 100% identify it as movement.  I'm pretty sure now though.

•  I can still reach the lever in my car to pop my gas tank.  Barely.  I discovered last week that this will soon be transitioning to the other list though.  There is just not enough room for me to bend over and actually reach down for anything anymore.  I envision that I will have to get out of my car and actually reach back in to pull the lever.  (It is actually against the law in Oregon for us to pump our own gas, which I am forever grateful for)

• Take naps.  The sleeping at night issue definitely contributes to my ability to take much needed naps in the afternoon when I can barely keep my eyes open. 

• I can plan on a simple trip to the grocery store taking at least an extra 30 minutes to an hour.  The joys of living in a small town.  I can't go to the store without running into half a dozen people that want to congratulate me and ask how I'm feeling.  Even people I don't know.  For example, yesterday I ran to the store real quick and had a lady ask me if I am C's daughter in law, followed by the normal congratulations, and hearing how excited C is to have twins.  Apparently this gal goes to church with my mil.  I didn't even know her and I was stopped for a 5 minute conversation.  (I actually DO like living in a small community.  Sometimes I'd just like to be able to run my errands as quickly as I need to.)

• I can celebrate that I have now reached viability.  Crazy that I've actually passed the 24 week mark and have not one, but two babies growing inside me.  It still doesn't seem real, even thought we are working hard in our preparation for them.  The reality will come when we are holding these babies in our arms, which is getting closer and closer to actually happening every day. 

• I can be excited for finally having my very own baby showers to look forward to!  There are four of them in the works.  There will be a shower for Hubby's side of the family, one for my side and friends, a softball baby shower, and a work shower.  I definitely feel spoiled.

 I'm sure there are more things I could add to both of these lists, but this is all I can think of at the moment.  In other news....

Remember last week I posted this picture?  This was the view in our living room from our couch as of last weekend.

This is what it looks like now, sitting in the exact same spot on the couch.

Yep.  The stove really is that close to the couch and yes that really is the refrigerator in our living room.  There is barely enough space between the fridge and the entertainment center for me to squeeze through to the kitchen (which is empty) and around to the hallway on the other side of the china hutch, which is also taking up residency in our living room.  I have to get to the hallway to get to the bathroom and bedrooms.  Our dishwasher is currently in our backyard.  We feel a little like we are camping.

The new flooring is going in the kitchen today.  Then we have to wait until Wednesday when we can start moving stuff back into the kitchen.  I can't wait to see what it all looks like with the finished project!  Then it will be time to start on the spare bedrooms and getting the nursery ready!