No More High Risk Visits?

The high risk doctor was surprised to see me on his schedule yesterday....everyone seems amazed that the babies are staying put as long as they are. But as far as I can tell, I'm not having any contractions, though I do find this a difficult question to answer. I am very familiar with the "holy cow get me the flippin epidural!" kind of contraction, but not so sure I would recognize the "hmmm what was that?" sort of contraction. Since the girls are doing good and I am nearing the finish line, I won't be seeing the high risk doctor anymore. I must say, I will miss the frequent growth checks and his quirky sense of humor. Yesterday Twin A was 5lbs 8oz and Twin B was 5lbs 11oz (+/- 15oz) and he made me promise to go to the hospital if I feel a hand reaching out to shake mine. :)

Arrrr Matey

On football days we've found something that will amuse Joseph indoors - costumes! He spent several hours dressed up as a pirate last sunday, even rode around the neighborhood on his tricycle and took a walk with Jay in his festive attire. I don't remember how we convinced him to take the outfit off, but I do remember that it took some convincing. He watched some football before going down for his nap today, so we may bust out superman later this afternoon.

34 Weeks, 4 days, 48 inches, and 4cm

I'm officially scheduled at the hospital now for a c-section the morning of Friday, Oct 16th....but if I were a betting person I would bet that the girls end up with a birthdate sometime before then. I've progressed a centimeter since last week, which again, means almost nothing other than confirming that I am in fact going to have babies sometime in the next three weeks. (I was at 1cm when my water broke with Joseph, one week before his due date). And my belly is 48 inches around, which is clearly exceeding the limit that my body is meant to support. But other than being uncomfortable, things are going good and I'm just waiting to wake up in the middle of the night due to something other than a full bladder.

Say What?

I'm 3cm dilated and 70% effaced?
We're trading our sporty Lexus in for a Honda minivan?
The Bears beat the Steelers?

What the heck is going on this weekend? ;)

Happy Birthday Dad!

We celebrated Jay's birthday last night at home with pizza, dairy queen ice cream cake, beer and a fire outside. All his favorites. ;) Joseph has been into the camera lately, and the picture of Jay opening his gifts is a Joseph Conway original.

Getting Ready for the Girls

For anyone who doubted the magnitude of the belly that has become, evidence has now been provided. Twin A weighs 4lbs 3oz and Twin B weighs 4lbs 1 oz.....imagine what the belly will become in a few weeks! Both are now head down, but I guess that really doesn't mean anything in identical twin world since both babies are attached to the same placenta and one can move or get turned around after the first comes out (hence the c-section, which I think I'm still leaning towards). In addition to adding the second crib to the baby room, we also spruced up the walls with some flowers to add a bit of a girl twist to what was once Joseph's room. Basically the main color is still green, but now has pink, brown, white, and blue accents. I think I've only got one load of baby stuff left to wash, and then I just need to pack our bag for the hospital and we're set. Jay will be getting out the swing soon, and will hopefully be finding the minivan of our dreams soon (what a ridiculous statement to make) so that we have a vehicle that fits three car seats and all our stuff. Other than that we're just relaxing this weekend, watching football and Handy Manny. Tomorrow night we'll be going out to dinner to celebrate our 6yr anniversary. It may be our last evening out together without kids for quite some time! We're planning to spend the majority of the winter in the man room watching sports and playing Wii while the younger Conways sleep soundly upstairs (yes, I'm still under the dissolution that the girls will be great sleepers just like Joseph was). We shall see!

Learning New Things & Making Pizza

Joseph made pizza with Jay tonight, and had lots of fun spreading out the flour, pressing the dough, and smoothing out the sauce. While waiting for the pizza to cook, he of course requested to watch "Woody, Buzz, Zurg" (very specifically, Toy Story 2, not Toy Story). Jay got him to quickly look away from the riveting animation and say cheese for the camera after he finished eating. He's been learning about painting at daycare....he knows that Surratt paints with dots, and Jackson Pollock used splashing, and that Van Gogh did Starry Night. The kid knows more about art than we do! (That knowledge was cleared out of my brain long ago...I had to google the names to make sure I was spelling them correctly). The little man has also been counting to 12 and trying to do 13 through 20, and has started recognizing more letters. We figure we'll tackle the quadratic formula next. He seems ready.

The Biggest Baby Belly I've Ever Had

The combined weight of the twins has officially passed Joseph's birth weight of 6lbs 14oz. The girls are fast approaching 4lbs and as of Friday they were estimated around 3lbs 10oz each. I measure at full term but of course am not at full term yet. Twin A gets the hiccups quite a bit, and I can now tell the difference between one moving around versus the other (it helps that at present they are on perfectly separate sides of my belly. Jay is amazed at all the body parts you can feel moving around. Crowded quarters makes for a lot more action I guess!) Things are going pretty good for me other than my back hurting off and on and whatever it is that's going on with my hands (related to swelling...could be carpel tunnel), it's hard to make a fist at times, but hopefully that will all go away afterwards. Weekly biophysicals start next week, where they check each baby for breathing, blood flow and things like that (done using an ultrasound) and if all continues the way it has then we have about 7 weeks left until we become a party of five. We are still targeting Oct 16th for a c-section, but who knows what the little ladies have planned. I'd like to say that I'm in control, but I don't think that will happen until a few months after they arrive. ;)