Thursday, April 30, 2015

Maternity Photo Shoot by Fresh Picd...

My darling friend Kesha, of Fresh Picd Photography, took these pictures about 2 weeks ago. I owe her big time because not only do I love them, but she and a handful of other girlfriends convinced me that I would regret it if I did not take maternity photos, despite how swollen and uncomfortable I have been feeling. They were right and for that I thank you. All of you. I will cherish these forever.



I am 35 weeks today! I hope to make it just a few more weeks for optimal size and development, but if they came tomorrow, they'd be just fine. I'm so grateful I've been able to make it this far without any major complications. God is good! I can't wait to meet them :)

I have my last scheduled ultrasound tomorrow morning, and then we wait! I will finish the nursery this weekend too and post pics of that next week. Car seats are in the car, and the only thing left to really do is pack my hospital bag! The last few months have really flown by. EEK! I'm so ready! I'm so NOT ready! Haha, no but seriously...tick tock, tick tock...

Saturday, April 11, 2015

Are We There Yet?

I was 32 weeks pregnant on Thursday. If I may be quite honest with you, I am done. I am not ready, nor are the babies - but I am done being pregnant. All of the 3rd trimester aches and pains and sleepless nights have set in, and I am hugely uncomfortable. I've received a few extremely rude comments lately in regards to the pregnancy and those surely haven't helped pave a smooth path for the home stretch. I no longer feel pretty and pregnant. For all of the pregnant ladies that have gone before me, I apologize for judging your exaggerated waddle. I get it now. Your hips hurt, your lady parts hurt, your back hurts, and you have this GIANT bowling ball in your gut throwing your whole equilibrium off balance. I am paying for the like now, and I am deeply sorry for my pre-pregnancy snickering.

I don't want my honesty to be misconstrued complaining...for that is not what I am doing here. I'm just keeping it real. These baby boys are a miracle, a gift from above, and I would go through it all over again just to know I get to hold them in a matter of weeks.

I had my 8th ultrasound a week ago, Friday. My blood pressure has been jumping around a bit, so they have been monitoring it more closely. They ran a panel of blood work at the appointment and everything came back completely normal. A friend loaned me an electronic blood pressure cuff, so I've been monitoring it myself at home, morning and night as well, and it's been very consistent - well within the "normal" range. My feet and ankles have been swelling quite a bit too, so my OB recommended compression stockings. I stopped by Walgreens about 3 weeks ago after my last appointment with her and picked up a pair. I opted for the super sexy "open-toed" style. Luckily, as I'm sure you can imagine, these are super stylish and will accessorize any spring outfit! YES. Case in point...


The great news is, as of Friday's ultrasound, both babies are head down! This will allow me to try a natural delivery, which I have been hoping and praying for. If anything changes or complications arise, I will have a c-section, but not if I can avoid it! Baby A on my right, has always been lower - until Friday. Baby B is now a whole head lower on my left. They will not be changing their A/B status, but now baby B will be born first. They call this the "presenting" twin. I guess we will be presenting him to the world first! I don't think I've mentioned their names yet, have I? Baby A is Hudson Tyler. Baby B is Crew Everett. Crew has been my wild child. He is more active on a regular basis and his movements are much more dramatic and exaggerated in utero. I even saw him kick his brother in the ultrasound! He also flaunts his little man parts every.single.ultrasound. Hudson is more reserved - he gives me little nudges each day, but overall is much more relaxed and chill. He is more modest too and has only showed us that he was a boy once - at the anatomy scan. It was very clear, so we don't question it, but Danny has already had the boys names tattooed on his arms, so I joke that he better hope and pray "Hudson" is really not a "Cora" like we had originally been told and planned for ;)

Here is Hudson's sweet little face...


At the ultrasound, Hudson was estimated to weigh 3lbs 13oz already and Crew was estimated at 4lbs 3oz. That means I have about 8 pounds of baby going on in there already. Actually, since it's been a week since the ultrasound, they are probably about a 1/2 pound heavier each now, so it's probably closer to 9 pounds of baby total! I'd be done if this were a singleton! 8-9 pounds of baby = a very full term belly. Here is my latest side by side.



As of last Thursday, I have a maximum of 6 weeks left. That seems like a long ways, people. How much more room can I possibly give them?! My goal is to make it 4 more weeks - to 36 weeks, landing us on May 7th. May 9th is our anniversary, May 10th is Mother's Day - so May is going to be an exciting month for us!

We really don't know when they will be here, so back to that slogan "Hurry up and wait" that I love so much...I have been forced to put my type-A personality on the shelf and just wait it out. Not an easy task for this girl :)

Cankles and backaches aside, I have been truly blessed at how smoothly this has gone overall, and I am very grateful for that. I know the next 4-6 weeks will fly by and I can't wait to meet them!