Strollerzzzzz

We're starting to fill up the babies' room with strollers and carseats.  We're not quite ready for them to come, but we're getting closer to feeling like we could handle it (stuff-wise) if they did. Katy just finished her week of school and now begins spring break - we're hoping she's going to spend a whole lot more time resting and relaxing.  There certainly hasn't been enough sleeping done (by humans) in this house this week!

Babies of all sorts

We got 6 new chicks on Friday.  All different varieties - though at this point, 3 look like chipmunks and the other 3 look like yellow easter egg chicks.     

The other day we were watching "Throw Down Your Heart" a documentary about Bela Fleck traveling and playing music in a few African countries.  During one of the songs, with big drums and high pitched women singing, the girls and Katy's belly started dancing.   We also read somewhere that babies sometimes follow the sound of music if you put headphones against the mama's belly.  We thought that was funny but since at Katy's last ultrasound, we learned that Lefty is head up again, we thought we'd try it.  So we played a little of Paul Simon's Graceland for them this weekend.

Mushrooms Mature Faster than Babies

Twenty-four days after starting our box o' mushroom spores (a bday present from Mike's parents), we harvested our first one.  All of the ones we have harvested have been pretty big.  They even taste good!   In the photo on the bottom right, our mushrooms are the lighter colored ones; the other one is store bought.    In other news, the girls are at 196 days and they still have a ways to go before they're ready.

Cute Baby Clothes

Sweaters and hats knitted by Gina

We've been acquiring baby things here and there from very generous friends and friends of friends and family members who have recently had babies.  So this past weekend, just to get a better sense of what and how much we have and what and how much we need, Katy started inventorying.  Man - how small and cute these baby clothes are.  On the day that we went for our first ultrasound (to find out the sex and, it turned out, that Katy had two in there), Gina gave me a purple sweater that she had knitted for our child.  Today she gave us the second - green sweater with the hats that you see in the photo to the right.  Incredibly cute, very generous. 

The girls trying on their sweaters and hats

And - it's amazing to think about how many little outfits we will be stuffing little baby arms and legs into.

Entering Phase 3: The Belly's in Charge

We're now entering the third trimester and the girls are each about the size of a head of cauliflower (so they say). My belly's starting to spread wider, even as it continues to poke out more and more. I've been gaining a little under 2 lbs. a week for the last month and I know exactly where it's all going. I'm actually a little intimidated when I catch a glimpse of the belly in the mirror and have to remind myself that it's my belly and that if I move slowly and speak in calm tones it won't jump out and attack me. I used to feel like I had some control over the situation, but now it's seeming more and more like the belly controls me. I do what it wants, when it wants it, whether that's propping it up on a pillow, holding it up as I walk (very slowly) to the car, feeding it meaty things, or leaving work early to go lie down if it's in a bad mood, etc.

Last Thursday it was very cranky. It started contracting in the morning and just wouldn't stop. They weren't painful or rhythmic contractions, but I couldn't seem to get them to go away all day, even with lying down and drinking tons of water. It got to the point where I couldn't tell any more what was going on down there because the sensations (babies kicking, ab muscles stretching, contractions, full stomach) all ran together. Not to mention that all the twins books emphasize the risk of pre-term labor so I was super sensitive to anything out of the ordinary. Unfortunately, I couldn't think of anyone nearby who could give me a quick pelvic exam, so it was off to the hospital for some late-night evaluation.

To make a long story short, everything was fine. The girls were active and responsive during the non-stress test (NST), the contractions hadn't affected my cervix in any way, and the fetal fibronectin (FFN) test came back negative. The nurse practitioner who examined me said it's possible that I'll just have an active uterus for the rest of my pregnancy with more Braxton-Hicks contractions than others, which isn't out of the ordinary for moms of multiples. Our OB wasn't concerned about it when we saw her yesterday for our regular appointment, which was also reassuring. She also gave me my first shot of RhoGAM (I'm Rh negative, Mike's Rh positive), which was less reassuring and more, how they say, "painful."

Surprise Evening Visit to the Hospital

It's a little after 1am on Friday Feb 3rd and we just got back from the hospital.  For the last week, Katy has been having a few contractions each day, which apparently is normal and, we recently learned, has a name "Braxton Hicks" contractions- her body starting to work those muscles.   Today, all day, she had more irregular and sustained contractions - that sounded different than what we had read about Braxton Hicks contractions being.  Finally, this evening, we called the on-call doctor and she told us that the only way that they could know for sure is if we went in to see if her cervix was dilated at all.  So at 10pm tonight, we headed up there and after a number of tests - everything is alright.  The girls are doing great - moving around a lot, which is great.  The nurse practitioner told Katy that that may just be the baseline for her pregnancy. Our first little scare.  But we're glad we went up there to get it checked out and now know.  I'm sure Katy will write a little more about it later.