32 weeks (or 31w3d to be exact)

Just realized I haven't shared a belly pic in a while, so here you go!

If you haven't noticed before, I "cleverly" hide my face with my cell phone in every shot.  I hate that my face is swollen (along with everything else), so anything I can do to disguise it will be done.  But do you know what doesn't hide it?  Chopping all my hair off!  I've spent the past several months growing out my bangs.  Its been a tedious process that I am still not 100% sure I of (I reallllly do like and miss my bangs), but admittedly, they made me look young and it was time for a change.  They had finally grown out to about my chin, and all of a sudden it seemed like a good idea to make all my hair the same length.  I broke the rule... the "you shouldn't make drastic changes to your appearance when pregnant" rule.  I see now that there is a reason for said rule.  My hair doesn't behave like it did before.  It is genuinely different now that I am pregnant, and it lacks the body needed to pull this off.

Funny enough, this isn't the first time I have made a major hair mistake.  In college, I had a run in with a box of hair dye that made my hair black as night, and I ended up having to color correct it.  Then there was the perm of 2006, where I was convinced to get a wave put into my hair... only my hair reacted poorly (probably because it hadn't fully recovered from the color correction a year or so beforehand), turn into a frizzy, poodle mess, and a lot of the color just drained out.  It was a sad, sad day.  Of course, I took everything I learned from Legally Blonde, jumped in the shower, and tried to wash the perm away, but that just made it worse.  Eric came home from work to find me laying in the bath tub, crying, with a bottle of tine.  My hair has never really recovered (I have to straighten it now because the curls stayed, and I have the worst frizz, especially in this wonderful Virginia humidity).

So in comparison, this really isn't so bad.  It will grow out soon enough, and for the time being I can enjoy only needing about 5 minutes to dry my hair (which is one of my least favorite things to do, along with cleaning the shower).

Disability Claims... to SUCK

Let me tell you, I think the single most annoying thing I have had to do so far is set up my disability claims, which, coincidentally, I did today.  I thought it would be a simple "Hey, I'm knocked up, keep me in mind in the future when I need continued payment", but not so much. 

In an effort to stay "ahead of the game", I decided to forgo the whole "call 30 days before your due date" rule and just call now.  I mean, even though my official due date is 11/21, my scheduled delivery is 11/8, and all my doctors keep telling me the chances of my making it to 11/8 is slim (which really just makes me more anxious... if you can't tell, I really like to have things planned out as much as possible).  But try explaining that to a benefits center.  It went way over their head. 

Then of course, as soon as I get it through to the benefits center what my plan is, I get transferred to the company who covers my short term disability to explain everything I just did to an even more dense person, if that is even possible.  The whole process is two hours of my life that I will never get back.  But at least its mostly over and done (considering I still have to call both of them once the babies are here).


All these rules just drive me nuts.  After more than 5 years of working here, I am covered at 100% pay for 5 months STD, but then that pesky FMLA comes into play, which says regardless of how long I am covered or how much PTO I may have, I can only be out for 12 weeks and expect to have my job waiting for me.  I really want to come back in January (for mostly selfish reasons as I want to be out for the holidays), which means I cannot be out of work any earlier than 10/11, which is slightly less than 3 weeks away.  I have my fingers tightly crossed that nothing happens to put me out any earlier than that, but it would be my luck if it did.  I'm holding on tight to all the stories I have heard about twin mommas lasting until 38-39 weeks.  I hope I am that lucky (if that is the right word... because 6 more weeks seems like hell right now), but at the very least, I need to last until 35-36 weeks without delivery or bedrest to keep my original plan.

32 Weeks (or 31w1d for those who want to be exact)

And the boys just keep on growing!

First off, we had a check up on Friday, which was quick and easy.  Both heartbeats sounded great, my blood pressure is awesome (so the mass swelling at least is not preeclampsia related), and we basically just hashed out the results of my glucose test and iron deficiency, which I was already aware of anyway.  They also started filling out the forms to schedule my delivery at 38 weeks, so if they do not come early on their own, the boys will be here either on November 8th or 9th (official date and time should be given to me at my next appointment).  I'm all registered at the hospital, so that is set, and this weekend, we have our tour.

This morning, we had our monthly ultrasound to check on the boys growth, and they are doing very well indeed.  Both of them are weighing in at around 4 lbs 4 oz (which is just a bit larger than the suggested 3.75-3.9 lbs that most babies average at this point, according to BabyCenter.com and WTE.com)... that means I have about 9 lbs of baby in me right now!  No wonder I can barely breathe!


As you can imagine based on their weights, they are measuring a little ahead (as they have the whole time)... They have big ol' melons, measuring at around 33w, and their bodies are measuring at a little over 32w.  My doctors and the radiologists don't think I am going to make it to 38w, but we will see!  I haven't had any complications, so I am hoping to last a bit longer.  Then again, I don't know how much more baby my body can handle!!

Lastly, I want to thank my friend Courtney (at When I Least Expected It) for helping me out and passing along her double Snap N Go to me!  She has 1 year old twin girls (who are absolutely adorable BTW).  It exchanged several hands in its journey to Northern VA, but my hubby picked it up this weekend, and I am so excited to use it!  All the twin mommies I have talked to (mostly on the WTE blogs) say the Snap N Go is the way to go, and Courtney was no exception!  She raved about how helpful and wonderful this piece of equipment is.  I cannot wait to get home and test it out!  Thanks again Courtney!!

Pity and Pampering

I'm starting to think I look like a house.  I didn't think it was that bad, but when I run into people at work or friends I haven't seen in a few weeks (or even random strangers for that matter), they just get this look on their face and exclaim, "Wow, when are you due?!!", like I couldn't possibly make it another second without my water breaking.  Bless Eric, he tries to make me feel better about it, telling me over and over again that I look great and its just because they haven't seen me in a while, but I can't help but think I have trick mirrors at home that have let me believe I look normal.

In other growing news, my feet are still out of control.  The swelling just started a couple weeks ago, but it has gotten out of hand.  When people see me, they first zero in on my stomach, then move down to the feet and go "Aww, you poor thing!".  Yes, my feel look like hams and my ankles may as well be broken, and they are so sore I want to cry, but lets not point it out to the few surrounding people who maybe haven't noticed yet. 

This week, my hands decided to join in on the fun too.  I already couldn't wear my rings, but now I feel like I have arthritis mixed with carpal tunnel... because they are either painful or tingly and asleep.  I don't know what wakes me up more at night now: the lack of blood flow to my hands or my bladder.

Really, I don't mean to whine, because when it comes down to it, I feel pretty good all things considered, but I definitely feel uncomfortable and exhausted.  I want to nest, but I have literally zero energy to do so.  At this rate, the nursery will never be ready!

Lucky for me, I've decided to have a pampering weekend this Saturday.  For my birthday (in March), Eric and my sister gave me a gift certificate to a spa in our area.  I tried to get a massage pretty much immediately, but found out I couldn't  because, at the time, I was only 5 weeks pregnant, and they do not give massages to anyone in the first trimester (which at the time was news to me).  So this weekend will be my prenatal massage, followed by a haircut, and possibly a pedicure.  I cannot wait.  I love me some pampering!! 

A week behind

I didn't even realize that I hadn't posted about my most recent doctor's appointment, and its been a week!  I think its because of the holiday and my inability to focus on ANYTHING.  But I digress...

Last Friday, I had my glucose tolerance test (yay, good times... that drink was SICK, and the fact that you have less than 5 minutes to drink it is even less fun...).  With the weekend and holiday, I didn't get my results until Wednesday, but I am happy to say I PASSED!  Words cannot express how happy I am about this.  I really didn't want to have to go back for the 3 hour test.  I was worried because, to be honest, I eat a lot of sweets... definitely a lot more than I probably should (especially now that the candy corn is out for sale; I seriously ate a whole bag in one day, I was so disgusted with myself).  According to my doctor, you want to be under 130 mg/dl, and my results were 102 mg/dl. 

BUT, along with finding out that I did good on the GTT, I found out I have an iron deficiency.  I knew it was a possibility, as she mentioned it during the appointment on Friday, but it was made official on Wednesday.  Now in addition to my daily prenatal vitamins and extra 2000 IU of Vitamin D, I have to take an iron supplement (called Slow FE).  Plus, my doctor said to be prepared and just start taking a stool softener daily, because lets me honest, additional iron can only hurt a pregnant woman's digestive system at this point.  So many pills!  To make it even better, I swear these pills smell like raw bloody meat.  It may just be me and my overactive pregnant nose, but every time I open the bottle, I want to die.  It just smells like uncooked ground beef... ick. 

On the plus side, the additional iron might help snap me out of the dreary tired funk I have been in for weeks.  Apparently, lack of iron can really affect you, and it might explain why I am exhausted literally from the second I wake up in the morning until 8 or 9 o'clock at night (basically all but 2 of my waking hours).  I've only been taking it for two days, but I hope to see some improvements soon!

In other news, this weekend will be my last out of town visit for the rest of the pregnancy.  I got the OK from my doctor to go to Blacksburg this weekend (with some restrictions and rules to follow, of course), so I can attend at least one of the home VT football games, as well as the shower my mother-in-law is throwing on Sunday.  I honestly couldn't tell you which I am more excited for... probably the football game, but that may just be because it happens first :-D.

Annnd to wrap up, here is this week's belly pic!  Enjoy!