Weeks 33-35

Week 33

These sweet angel girlies are the size of pineapples. 

It was also the week of my 35th birthday!

A friend was going to take me to lunch and another was going to watch my kids all day. Turns out none of that happened since Kellyn was puking, Everly had diarrhea and that afternoon I started vomitting as well. So I spent my bday cleaning up other people's puke, (it eventually hit everyone except Brooks, Aleeya and Royce) running healthy kids to games, stopping along the way to let children puke on the side of the road, go home and puke myself and then try to stay hydrated so my Braxton Hicks didn't turn into anything from all the vomitting.

Kinda the worst birthday ever.

BUT you DO have to have crappy birthdays to appreciate the good ones.

Two days later when I could keep things down I was gone w/ all the kids to their soccer games (Brooks was out of town) and 10 ladies from my church secretly came over to my house and cleaned it and left me a diaper/wipes stash. So SO incredibly sweet.

This week's random annoying issue: My hips. Still. I get about 1.5 hours or 2 hours MAX on one hip before it starts aching and I have to switch sides or wake up to use the lu. I know the 2 hour sleep stretch is probably good practice for when the twins come but my hips really hurt. It DOES help on the days I wake up at 4:30 to go swimming at the gym. Why not? I'm already awake! And then I stand in THEIR hot water shower forever..... like I do in hotels. haha. Then I make it back in time for 6a.m. family scriptures. The hip issue is a normal one w/ loosening joints and extra weight on them. Just annoying. 

(I DID try sleeping in our recliner one night to not be on my hips. But it was more of a torture chair. I now know how a beattle feels like when he's stuck on his back and literally can't get up.)

WEEK 34

Getting pretty darn big!

When you are pregnant, you can wear gaunchos. It doesn't matter if they are completely out of style now (if they ever WERE in style I guess is the question). All that matters is I have a brown AND a black pair. And they are my favorite things ever. #dontjudge

Brooks will be the FIRST to admit I'm EXTREMELY emotional this pregnancy and there RARELY goes a day that I'm not in tears. I think three days is my record? (LEGIT pat-on-the-back for me). He is very good at swooping in and relieving whatever big or small thing has me going that day. This week it dawned on me how NOT prepared I am for these babies. The whole "If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear" thing has always given me peace of mind and in past pregnancies I've always been gradually building up my freezer meals by now. I haven't been able to this one. Reason 1)- I can't even THINK of food or ideas to cook. I actually HATE eating and I force feed myself to get my 80-100grams of protein they are making me eat. There is just not a ton of room for food!

(Unless it's fried rice with some white sauce from a Japanese restaurant. I could probably eat this whole pan)

 Reason 2- I can't go to the grocery store to get all the stuff. Even the THOUGHT of it made me cry. (surprise, surprise). I even tried going by myself many times and I still come home completely worn out and winded....and useless. A freezer cooking store run would be my death sentence. 

So my hero took a GIGANTIC list of ingredients to the store for me and got me everything for me to make some freezer meals!!!! Here are a few. 

I still have 6 more to make but it will make my total 24. And THAT brings me peace of mind!!!!! And actually a feeling of accomplishment which isn't a feeling I get much at the end of my days now. :)

This week's annoying issue: probably would be the food. I really REALLY feel like I have to force myself to eat.
Not to mention taking 11 pills/supplements a day that taste like grass. (one of the pills is a Dyclegis/nausea pill since nausea has returned third trimester. Thankfully the pill takes care of it, unlike during my 1st trimester when it wouldn't do a thing!) I don't mind though because I think of the little girlies gobbling up the nutrients and growing bigger. Seeing and feeling them get bigger is rewarding enough.

Week 35

(my belly measures 43 weeks)

ANOTHER ULTRASOUND!!!!!

First and most importantly, the two girls look amazing. Measuring equally and right on the 35 week schedule. One "is said" (if you trust ultrasounds' weights) to weigh 5 lbs. 4 oz. and the other 5 lbs. 12 oz. Nice and healthy.....maybe it's the grass-tasting-pills. ;)
A few weeks ago when they were in the 4 pound range I had a thought, "WHY does this feel so much different then me carrying my full-term 9 lb. 4 oz. Everly?" I will TELL you why. 9+ lbs of one baby is different then a collective 9 lbs with two because there is MORE fluid, a larger/heavier placenta, and double the hormones that loosens all your joints and ligaments so it feels like you're being invaded from all sides with everything relaxing under it's weight. Honestly, it's the craziest thing feeling them move around and feeling my body trying to compensate.

I heard the words, "They are no longer BREECH", which is what I was hoping for. I was NOT hoping to hear it followed up with, "because they are transverse now!" Which basically means they are both sideways. People can actually BIRTH breech babies, but you can't birth a baby who uses the opening as a hammock and relaxes on top plugging the exit sign. What's weird is their heads are on opposites sides. So they really did quite the maneuvering to get over a twin to find this position. I'm hoping this is just them "on their WAY" to getting in a head-down position. Or at least the first one that comes out. As I type this now the little girl on top seems to be stretching all the way and I see both sides of my belly point in opposite directions. Total sci-fi moment.

I was a little bummed hearing they were transverse and then I thought, "Well, that's less direct weight on the cervix/opening, which also means they might stay in there longer." Most twins are born early just because of all the weight on the cervix that it starts opening and sends the body into labor. An anxious head right on it, would definitely do it. So maybe the back of baby A relaxing on it will allow them more gestation time inside so they have better chances when they come out of eating by themselves, breathing by themselves, immune systems in check and chub to spare. As uncomfortable as I am I would take healthy babies over feeling relief from the body-wreckage any day! And yes, I am planning on letting them "cook" as long as they want. No early-induction unless one of the twins takes a turn for the worse.....obviously. I'm telling myself maybe this transverse-thing is a hidden blessing right now. Their positions aren't as uncomfortable for me compared to them being in my ribs or super down low....and like I said, it might let them stay in longer. I actually don't feel worried or stressed about this and feel an odd sense of peace.

This week's most annoying "issue"- I CAN'T hold a drink between my legs while I'm driving. My belly comes out far enough to the end of the seat that there's no room for a drink. And I almost ALWAYS have a drink on me wherever I'm going! (I'm supposed to drink a gallon of water a day to keep amniotic fluid up). Even when I'm NOT drinking I have my cup full of Spinx (a gas station) ice because it's the yummy chewy kind!!! If anyone thinks this is a trivial matter, they CLEARLY don't understand my need for the Spinx drink in a van with no cup holder.