24 weeks

Six months!! Woot woot.

I haven't had as much time to write as of late - Microsoft's fiscal year end is quickly approaching on June 30, and it's always such a sprint to get there! AND we've been busy getting ready for a week of family coming into Seattle. I can hardly keep on my baby hugger, I'm so excited. Sidenote: I just ordered a new BH. Yea - I grew out of it. Surprise, surprise. The velcro doesn't even humor me anymore. It just pops open now. My back is killing me, so I'm counting down the days until Wednesday when the new one comes in the mail. My brother and his wife, Shannon (I know - sometimes I still marvel at saying that... "Dave's wife...") are coming out all the way from New Hampshire, my Ma and Pa from NoDak, Aunt Marty and Uncle Bob from Hawaii, Aunt Julie from Montana, Gramma Gilbertson from Seattle, and all of Aaron's family from Portland. It will be quite the busy house here - though I will probably be sitting and/or laying down through most of it.

My belly is just getting so heavy! Hell, my whole body is heavy - I'm pretty much just a beached whale now. I'm shapes. Too bad I couldn't be one of those elegant, dainty (because typically I'm so dainty) pregnant women who looks better preggies than not; who looovves the experience of building babies in her womb; thinks it's the most beautiful thing; and most importantly, her arms do not resemble a bologna loaf, BEFORE it's cut. I give my Lil' Smokies sausage finger to you all. People sometimes try to humor me by telling me I have "The Glow", to which I respond, "It's because I'm sweating. SWEATING! Everywhere. Because I'm HOT. Really, really HOT. You may think it's only 55 degrees in this room, but the thermostat must be broken, and really it's 104." Oh, and did I mention that I'm waddling now? Yes. Waddling. Secretly I kind of thought pregnant women who waddled were just being slightly over-dramatic. They were not. I will de-mystify this for you. For me, it's because my belly is too big for my legs to face forward, and to come straight out for each step like normal. If they did, I would just be taking all of these little baby steps. Instead, in order to move forward with some speed, my knees have to bend to the side, around the belly. That, and because my thighs rub together. Hence, the waddle.

Before I go into some baby stats, I want to have you all bring out the positive vibes for my very good friend Renee, who is 31 weeks pregnant with triplet girls (I know - who would have thought when we met that we would be two families bringing five kids into the world within months of each other. Whenever I feel like complaining, I just think - I only have two babies in there. I still complain, but at least I feel bad about it.). She went into pre-term labor, and she's in the hospital, so we're mentally trying to make her contractions stop, so the babies can bake for just a few more weeks. Send positivity her way.

Alrighty, time for stats. They are over a pound each this week! And just over a foot! Their brains are also growing quickly now, and taste buds are continuing to develop. Their lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help their air sacs inflate once they hit the outside world. Their skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

Btw - I can't believe the picture below is what is actually happening in my belly. Isn't that crazy??

23 Weeks

This week, Aaron and I became uncool.  And we paid a lot of money to cement our place on the uncool list.  A list that I dreamt that I might someday be on, sure, but before I turned 30?  It's as though I'm trying as hard as possible to bring the suburbs to me. When I was partying studying in college, there was always an inkling that even when I had kids, I would be able to sustain a level of coolness that other parents just weren't able to pull off.   "Oh, they just didn't try hard enough," I would judge.  Well, I'm here to eat my words.  And those words taste like a mini-van. 

You got it.  Aaron and I made the difficult decision to bring sliding doors into our lives.   And you know what?  I like it.  Shamelessly even.  Does this mean that we'll start talking about the weather?  Perhaps. Not going out past nine?  For sure.  Swear when the 'hooligans' drive by with the bass too loud?  You betcha. Talk about the way things were when we grew up? Just give us time.  Now, check out our sweet new ride. 

22 Weeks

Sorry for the delay in posting, it has been a busy and exhausting week. We had a whole flutter of activity.

I shall start with what I call “the day that humor died”. So, you see, I feel like I’ve had a fairly good sense of humor through this whole process, and quite honestly, I thought I got away without being the stereotypical over-emotional pregnant woman (hopefully Aaron wouldn’t disagree). To back up a step, I’ll give you some background on the emotional states during my pregnancy:

First trimester – no emotions. I threw up all my emotions.

Second trimester – love. Ohhhh did I love. I finally learned to get ahold of this one, thankfully, but not before I sent an embarrassing email to my office-mate going on and on about how lucky I was to share an office with him, blah, blah, blah. Yea, and by the time he read it, my love spell had subsided, and he looked over and awkwardly said, ‘Soooooo…’.

Last Friday – emotional break-down. And what set me off, you may ask? Why, not being able to flush the damn toilet with my foot… obviously a reason to have a break down. More specifically, I couldn’t pull my leg up high enough to be able to flush it. That was it. As I was standing there with my pants pulled down, squeezed into the bathroom stall, not unlike a hot dog, right before it’s about to burst in the microwave, I started to break down and cry right there. Straight into sobbing. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. Instead of retelling all the gory details, I just pasted the IM conversation below that I had with Aaron immediately upon coming back to my desk, as it’s representative of my fragile emotional state. You will also see how supportive my loving husband is in my desperate time of need.

lisa: yea - i started crying in the bathroom

aaron: puddum! AWWWW!

lisa: i couldn't get my leg high enough to flush the damn toilet

aaron:(

lisa: and it made me start to cry

aaron: LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL! sorry.

lisa: it was so HARD

aaron: LOLOLOL!

lisa:and i don't have any clean underwear

aaron: LOLOLOLOL!

lisa: and the kitchen's a mess

aaron: I'm dying

lisa: and there wasn't any tupperware for my fruit…

lisa: so i put it in a container

lisa: and then it leaked all over my bag,

lisa: and when i was in the bathroom, the underwear that i'm wearing came up under my baby hugger

lisa: and so it was impossible to get out

lisa: and

lisa: and

lisa: and

lisa: hiccup, sniffle

So, I’m left wondering if this will become a normal occurrence. Will I be stranded..emotionally naked, if you will, when suddenly, the only option is to start sobbing while re-enacting a scene from a movie, where I dramatically fall to my knees in the rain, throw my hands up in the air, yelling, “Whyyy”, the camera pans upwards, as my tears are mixed with the rain. When will the real Lisa return, I ask you? When?

Thankfully, my tears did dry, just in time for my 22 week check-up. All is normal, and thankfully it was quite uneventful; other than the fact that they are going to be soccer players with how much they are kicking my gut! Secretly, I think it's really cute, though, and I like it. Not sure if I’ll be saying that four weeks from now when they’re up in my ribs, but for now, I just sit there rubbing my belly, half expecting a genie to show up.

Schlichting out.

Baby Hugger Diaries – Entry #1

Location: Microsoft Campus, Conference Room

Time: June 8th, 2009

What: Advertising Campaign Concept Presentation

Attendees:

• From Ad Agency:
• Creative Director
• Director of New Biz
• Microsoft Account Mgr
• Project Mgr
• Art Director
• Copywriter
• From Microsoft:
• Windows Business Group Mgr
• Corporate Marketing Brand Group Mgr
• Me (and my Baby Hugger)

Dear Diary:

Alright, here’s what went down. I had people from the agency, people from Microsoft, me, all in a meeting. Now this is a pretty big meeting that we’ve been working toward for the last few weeks. I set-up the meeting, and just as I was about to hand it over to the agency to show their creative, there was a sudden RIIIPPPPP, quickly followed by a SNAAAAP. And then thundering silence. Um, yes. My Baby Hugger came undone. It was like in slowwww motionnnn... The riiipping of the velcro, and me slowly looking down in horror in front of everyone and then looking back up and slowly panning the room, when the snaaap followed suit as the elastic bands sprung every which way hitting me and the table. Neat. So what do I do? How did I recover? I did what every North Dakotan does best in times of turmoil: I ignored it. Just full on pretended like it didn’t even happen… Furrowed my eyebrows in concentration, nodded my head, gesticulating with my arms, “MmmYes, Jonathan, you were saying…?”.

And if the meeting were over then, that would be great. But alas, this was a lunch meeting, and with lunch comes food. And with food comes gas (not from THAT end). So after I recovered from “the incident”, and I was in the middle of critiquing the creative… I believe I was in the middle of the sentence, “What I like about this concept is that when people watch TV on their computer, BELCH”. Right in the middle of the middle of the sentence. Scoozie? What? Where did that come from? No warning, no time for suppression, nothing? Just come on out for the world to hear? Well, I had already ignored one party foul, I was not to ignore another. So red-faced, I looked up, pointed to my belly and said, ‘Um. Excuse me, boy, what a cheese sandwich that was.” “WHAT A CHEESE SANDWICH THAT WAS????” Are you serious Lisa?? That’s what you come up with?Greeaaat come back. Suh-moooth. Jebus.

Needless to say, it was a good day for creative concepts, but not a great day for career advancement.

21 Weeks

Officially past the five month mark! Hooray!

Babies' First Clothes

This is a bit overdue, however, I wanted to celebrate the babies' first clothes! It was a couple of weeks ago; low and behold, there is package waiting for us on the front step after coming home from work. Wouldn't ya know it - Tucker had sent us a big care package full of clothes (obviously from the Gap). Aren't they adorable?? Those shorts! They are a mix of preemie clothes and 6-12 month clothes.

I wanted to try to give you a size comparison, because the preemie clothes are just so small. Below on the left is a preemie onesie (for infants up to 7 lbs), and on the left is a onesie for a 6-12 month baby, and if you recall, 6-12 month babies aren't that big! Thank you Tucker!!

It's been a couple of weeks since I've updated you on the pertinent growth signs:

Your baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long. You may soon feel like he's practicing martial arts as his initial fluttering movements turn into full-fledged kicks and nudges. You may also discover a pattern to his activity as you get to know him better. In other developments, your baby's eyebrows and lids are present now.

More Pictures (Baby Hugger Included)!

Alrighty, so it's been a few weeks since I've posted pics of the growing belly!  Feast your eyes.  Here are my five month pictures!

Also to note are the much anticipated Belly Hugger pics. 

There are two boys in there!! Can you believe it?

 

Drum Roll Please:  Ladies and Gentlemen... I give you...the Baby Hugger.  To note, I'm wearing this outside of my clothes for demonstration purposes only (I took my cue from the purdy lady in the leotard).  You see, the elastic starts at my belly, comes up and around my shoulders, down my back, and then around the bottom of my belly, at which point it's velcroed (does "velcro" even have a past tense?) together in front.  And why they didn't include a segment in my parenting class on how to put it on and take it off is beyond me.  Would have been a very practical addition.  Now, I know that you are too afraid to ask, so I will tell you not to worry, the underwear has velcro underneath so you can easily undo it when you have to go to the bathroom.  Putting it back together after you're done, however, is a slightly different story.  The sight of me in the tiny bathroom stall trying to grab the velcro from the back and bring to the front through my legs, when clearly I can't see anything, or can even bend over for that matter, is a sight to be seen.  This whole contraption helps a whole host of side effects:  Backache and hip pain, Pre-term contractions, Pelvic pressure and pain, Swelling
Bladder issues, Belly weakness, Poor posture, Fatigue, Hernias and Diastasis (that last one sounds bad, doesn't it - no idea what it is).  Now, if I could just find something for my mild incontinence, I'd be all set.

 

What you don't see is how it looks under clothes, which, unfortunately isn't much better.  There's no hiding it.  And now that I'm starting to experience back pain, I have to wear it to work!!  Neat.  Oh, and did I mention that I work with all men? Yes, yes I do.  I caught a co-worker staring at my cleavage a few days ago, and I can't even blame him for it. I have cleavage even if I wear a turtle neck.

Week 20

Well, today I found out something that I was anticipating would come much later on: My belly button is disappearing.  Let me back up... we spent today doing many baby errands, one of which included going to Target.  While we were there, I decided to try on a few maternity clothing items.   So there I was trying to maneuver around in the small box of a dressing room, innocently taking off my many layers of clothing, including the eighteen straps that are included in the Baby Hugger (don't worry - pictures to follow).  I nonchalantly happened to peer in the mirror.  Double-take: Holy shit - where is my belly button.  Move closer, bending over and squinting slightly: whaaa??It's turning inside out!  Isn't this supposed to happen at eight months and not five?   Does this mean that soon I will be able to see it pop out through my shirt? Groty.  So, I'm a bit shell shocked as I make my way out of the dressing room.  "What's wrong?" Aaron asks. As I regale my tale from beyond, he looks at me totally unsurprised and said, "yes, this has been happening for awhile".  Why didn't he tell me???  How have I been in denial??  Will it come back??  We didn't even get to have a proper good-bye!

As I was stunned, wandering aimlessly through the baby aisles of Target, thinking about how large I was getting, I was reminded of some interesting  pregnancy literature I came across this week that I hadn't been able to properly digest yet. It was about the average growth journey of the breast of a pregnant woman.  Let's just say that it was once again a reminder that I'm definitely not average (does that make me above average?).  Let me paraphrase below:

US literature (measured in ounces): "The average breast before pregnancy weighs about 7 ounces and during pregnancy each breast can weigh up to an average of 14 ounces." For those people counting, this is less than a pound each at the end of the pregnancy.

Culturally sensitive literature (measured in grams): "Before pregnancy, the average breast weighs about 200 grams.  Near the end..., each breast may weigh up to 800 grams!"

Lisa (I'll take pounds or kilograms, Alex):  Before pregnancy, your breast will be heavier than the average post pregnancy breast.  And, by week 20, each breast will weigh-in at over 4 pounds (measured accurately by a kitchen scale - wouldn't you have liked to be a fly on the wall for these weigh-ins?).

For those who need visual representation, I've included a diagram below. In anticipation of this potential discrepancy, I've been charting my breast growth (something meaningful for the baby book, I thought...).

Switching subjects, Aaron maintained the productivity after we got home from errands today!  We think we found the cribs and dresser/change table that we want!  So Aaron spent part of the afternoon taping off the nursery to make sure we have room.  Silly Turtle is falling off the crib.

And I'm embarrassed to say that there was one thing that played a way larger role in picking out the furniture than it should have.  Not so secretly, all I want is a diaper depot.  In fact, we were going back to the drawing board on the crib/dresser until my friend Katie alerted me to the fact that there was a version that hung over the side of the crib.  Phew - we can now proceed with our selections and not have any organizational concerns.

Week 19

Well, we are still getting used to the fact that we are going to have two boys!!

This week we started providing music for their listening enjoyment. Clearly we needed to start with the basics. As you see below, they will be much more musically advanced now that they've spent some quality time with Journey.


I'm also excited to report that at the doctor's visit last week, she wanted to set my expectations appropriately and let me know that I should expect to really "pooch out" over the next few weeks. Phew! I was getting so worried that I wasn't growing...

Some additional Week 19 information regarding A and B (or as my mom refers to them as Amos and Barnaby):

Your baby's sensory development is exploding! His brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Research suggests that he may be able to hear your voice now.

Your baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces and measures 6 inches, head to bottom - about the size of a large heirloom tomato. His arms and legs are in the right proportions to eath other and the rest of his body now. His kidneys continue to make urine and the hair on his scalp is sprouting. A waxy protective coating called the vernix caseosa is forming on his skin to prevent it from picking from the amniotic fluid (ew)

I have two penises!

They're boys!!

Well, we had the big ultra-sound on Tuesday! Apologies for not updating sooner, I've been so busy with work, that damn parenting class (last week - thank god) and well, growing two babies. I was so tired after the ultra-sound that I fell asleep at 6:30pm. I woke up around 11 as Aaron was coming into the room. I groggily asked him if he'd been downstairs this whole time, and he laughed and proceeded to tell me, no, he actually went to Chris Koza's concert at the Sunset Tavern and was back already!! And I then found out that I slept through four phone calls and a thunderstorm. Ahem.

Back to the juicy stuff! We were lucky enough to have Aaron's mom, Elanna join us for the ultra-sound, so she was there when the technician said, 'and here's the scrotum'. Who would have thought those would ever be words of beauty that would make me cry. Just between the world wide web and myself, I did definitely shed a number of tears after we found out the gender of Baby A. It was just so overwhelming and made it seem so real. And then we got to go through the same thing all over again with Baby B! Such an emotionally draining, crazy, exciting experience.

So this is how the babes are situated in my belly. They are vertically parallel with one another. A is head down with his feet up by my ribs and B is breech with his head up by my ribs.

Time for the ultra-sound photos! They aren't really clear, because they were flopping around so much! And boys being boys, they were rassling. A would kick B, and not to be outdone, B would kick right him back. It was hilarious! However, as a result, we couldn't get great photos! Feast your eyes!

Both babies!

Baby A's Little Feet! Awwwwww.

Baby A Profile - you can see the membrane that separates the sacs in this one. You can also see that he's about to launch a kick into Baby B.

Baby A - here's a close-up of his little face.

Baby B Profile

Baby B Profile

Week 18

Happy 18 weeks! We survived another week! This week has gone well. I'm very excited that we only have one more week of multiples classes. They poo me out! They are on Wednesday evenings from 6-9 - I don't quite understand how they expect a bunch of women carrying babies to sit there for three hours, but alas. So, as a result, my Thursdays are soooooo exhausting. This week, I even needed to go out to the car during work to take a small rest.

My win for the week: Discovering the golden key to putting the final little bit of morning sickness to rest!! I started waking up at 3am and eating a bowl of cereal. Voila. No pukies. Poor Aaron, I do so well in the beginning of the week, but as the week progresses, he has to get up and get it for me. Just preparation for what's to come, I guess!!

My loss for the week: Well, this one is a bit more difficult to tell to the world, however, it's quite emotional. But let's be honest, I've always been fairly, how shall we say, transparent about most things. So you see... well, I'm growing out of my maternity bras. Already!! Yea... I bought brand new ones about two months ago (after I was already well out of my regular bras, mind you. And let's face it, I've never been a dainty A cup). Well... you've seen the pictures! They make my belly look small. I'm trying to be in denial and just stuffing and adjusting accordingly each morning, however, if things get any bigger, I will be well into special order territory.

In other news, I'm onto my next craving: Pomegranate Berry smoothies from Jack n the Box (I know!). My good friend Katie has been telling me for weeks now about these new smoothies from there. I hadn't gone, because, well, it's Jack n the Box. Despite their humorous ad campaigns, to be truthful, all I thought of was E. Coli. HOWEVER, I have officially eaten my words, because I've had at least one every day since I had my first one last Sunday (yesterday was a double day). Officially, my cravings have gone in this order (I've also included a status)

• Watermelon: Done
• Green Olives: Done
• Easy Cheese (um, yes, the cheese that comes in a can): Done
• Otter Pops: Still going strong
• Pomegranate Berry Smoothies: Still going strong

I will leave you with a photo that I found online that made me laugh out loud so hard -- so hard that I had to call Aaron into the room. The lady below is also 18 weeks pregnant. We could totally be twins.

Week 17

How your baby's growing:

Your baby's skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone, and the umbilical cord — her lifeline to the placenta — is growing stronger and thicker. Your baby weighs 5 ounces now (about as much as a turnip), and she's around 5 inches long from head to bottom. She can move her joints, and her sweat glands are starting to develop.

Here's a picture of what they look like - just take the picture below -- times two.

Here are some photos of how my belly is developing (and Aarons)!

Welcome!

Hi all! Well, it's about time that I start posting regularly to this blog! We're through the first trimester awfulness, and we're through with the second trimester flu. On to bigger and better things! I'll be using this blog to provide updates to how the twinnies are comin' along. I may still send out an email or two, but this will be what I update most frequently. Enjoy!

Lisa and Aaron