I Love Being a Mom!

Its really hard to imagine my life any different now that I have kids.  Being a mom is like no other feeling in the world.  I just love the look on the girls' faces when they wake up in the morning... They don't really cry but rather just wake up and start making noise.  I pick each of them up and they give me a huge morning stretch as I am picking them up.  I always say, "Good Morning!" and give them lots of kisses while they just look at me and smile.  Its amazing that they are both such happy babies.  They just seem so content all the time!  Don't get me wrong, they do cry occasionally but its only when they really need something (or miss their mommy during the day!)

Couples Baby Shower and Nursery Pictures!

A friend of ours threw us a Couples Baby Shower at our house today!  Here are a few highlights! =)

One of my friends made us a super special gift! Quilts! They are so beautiful

Quilt with the green back

Quilt with the pink back! They are very similar, but not exactly the same.

Cute and super yummy cake!

Today was also our 6th anniversary and Brian bought me some beautiful flowers!

The whole nursery- Yes, its a pretty small room!

The Crib- Brian's dad raised it up so that he could get all the way underneath it.  It also has a cool door on the front so that Brian can get the babies out!  (The swings and bouncy seats are just under there for now- we had no where else to put them!)

Instead of getting a dresser, we decided to get a cabinet so that we could put things other than clothes in there!  I washed all of the clothes and put them in size order in the bins so that maybe I will be able to find what I'm looking for!

Instead of a traditional changing table, we bought a counter top and mounted it to the wall with some heavy duty brackets.  This allows Brian to pull all the way under the table.

There are still a few things that we need to do with the nursery (like hang the pictures that are sitting on the changing table) but for the most part, we are ready to go! 

Bathroom Remodel

Brian and I have been going back and forth on this crazy idea about remodeling our bathroom before the babies come and I think we have decided to do it! 

Here's the problem:
1. Our washer and dryer are downstairs and with Brian being the one to take care of the babies when I go back to work it is virtually impossible for him to wash laundry.  (We have a chair lift that goes downstairs, but it would be a huge pain for him to do that.)

2. The bathtub that's in our bathroom is a claw foot tub that sits super low and has huge tall sides.  This would not be the safest place for him to try and bathe the kiddos either because he couldn't really reach them.  Our other tub is in the main bathroom which only has a 24 inch door and his wheelchair needs at least 29 inches to get through a doorway.  When we opened up other doorways we didn't do this one because there was a vent in the way and nowhere to really open the door up to since the bathroom is pretty small anyways.

The Solution! (as crazy as it may be)

1. We have a cabinet in our master bathroom that sits in a cut out (sort of like an alcove) that we hardly ever use.  It just collects junk really.  Well, we will remove the cabinet and put it somewhere else and put in a stacked washer and dryer.  It would have to be a small one since the opening is only about 25 inches, but it would sit flush with the other sink and not really be in the way at all.  We would still keep our washer & dryer that we have in the basement down there so that we can do big loads of towels, blankets, etc. but Brian could do some small loads of baby clothes and anything else that needed to be done.

2. Our claw foot tub is pretty, but it would have to go.  The legs always fall off, so we have never even used it actually.  After the tub is gone, we would put in a long vanity (we have a 7 foot wall so maybe a nice big 5ft counter top) with a deep kitchen sink like basin in it.  We would have to custom build the vanity so that Brian could get his whole wheelchair underneath the sink and then still have a few drawers.  Our thoughts are that with a big enough basin on this sink, Brian could not only bathe babies, but toddlers as well.  The kiddos would be at his level so it would be easy for him to get them in and out without having to do any awkward reaching.  The rest of the counter top could also serve as a changing table if need be or a place for him to get them dressed. 

I am feeling anxious about spending all this money to re-do a bathroom that seems perfectly fine, but I think it would really be convenient once I go back to work. 

Growing Babies, Growing Belly! 22w4d

I have gained about 20 pounds so far in the pregnancy and some days it really feels like 50!!

I am proud to say, however, that I can still wear some of my pre-pregnancy jeans!  Sometimes a girl just doesn't want a huge stretchy hot thing over her whole belly when its warm outside!

Baby bump! 17w5d

Every time I think about taking a picture of my baby belly I am either in my pajamas, too tired, nobody is home to take the picture or I just don't feel like it.

Well, today I didn't feel like getting ready for work (and I actually liked what I was wearing) so I asked Brian to take a pic of my belly. 

I actually didn't realize how big I looked until I saw this picture! Wowsers! If I look like this now, what will I look like at 30 weeks?  Its going to be scary! 

On a side note, when I went to the doc last (2 weeks ago) he yelled at me for not gaining any weight.  Well, in the last 2 weeks I have gone from 161 to 166! I never thought I would be happy about gaining weight, but whatever the doctor says, goes!

Kids are funny

I teach Spanish at the elementary school level so I see all of the kids each week.  Since my belly keeps getting bigger, I realized that I would have to tell them something or they would just think that I eat too much.  I had made up my mind that if last week's OBGYN appointment went alright then I would spill the beans to the kiddos.  I must say, they really do say the funniest things in response. 

The best one that I got today was... Student: "What are you going to name the twins?"  Me: I don't know yet."  Student: "I think I will call them kiwi and strawberry for now then." LOL

Also, some of the 5th graders were so happy for me that they created a congratulatory block of wood.  Yes, you heard me. A block of wood.  Its really cute actually.  The wood is about 3 inches by 3 inches and maybe an inch wide.  They colored it blue with markers... One side said "Congrates" Mrs. Grewe (with the spelling error! gotta love kids) and they all signed the blue block of wood on the other side. 

These 5th graders are some of my favorite students.  They are bright and very compassionate.  They also notice everything!!  When I had the bleeding incident at about 8 weeks they were my first class of the day. While they were coming into my room, they obviously noticed that I was crying and that something was wrong.  Of course I didn't really want to tell them then what was going on since I myself didn't really know what was going to happen and if everything was going to be okay. 

Well today they brought up that incident.  They asked, "Oh, so does this have something to do with why you were crying in the hall way talking to Mrs. H that one day?"  I thought for a second if I should make something up or if I should just tell them the truth and I decided that I didn't want to lie to them.  I told them that I thought I was going to lose the babies.  I didn't really expect them to understand wha that meant, but many of them went on to tell me about how their mom had a miscarriage or thought she was going to have one.  I was pretty shocked to hear that 10 year old kids could kind of understand all of that. 

Two other students went on to tell me that they were adopted because their mom's couldn't have children and/ or previously had a miscarriage and had decided that enough was enough. 

I guess sometimes kids just really amaze me in unexpected ways.  These are the times when it is really cool to be a teacher even though the kids didn't complete the intended lesson. I even think some days that I learn more from them than they do from me!

First Baby Purchase!

I have been hesitant to buy anything for the twins yet, but yesterday I just couldn't resist!  I went to the outlets with my friend and we just so happened to stumble into the Coach store.  I have to admit that I have a weakness for designer handbags.  They are just so pretty!

I told Brian a while ago that I really wanted to buy a Coach diaper bag and we both agreed that if we were ever going to buy anything for ourselves then we should do it now because later we for sure won't have money to splurge on silly things such as a designer diaper bag. 

So anyways, I gave in and bought the bag.  It even comes with a pad to put down to change the baby!  This now makes me really excited to keep buying things!! =D

Brian says that it won't be big enough to carry two babies worth of stuff, but I love it!!!  Its got lots of pockets inside and a long strap to carry it with. 

16 weeks and counting!

Wednesday I will be 16 weeks... so close enough!

Brian and I went to the OB today for the regular check up.  I asked the doc my silly questions such as, "Can I go to the dentist while pregnant?" and of course he didn't act like I was nuts for asking.  He also checked my cervical length... I was told it was 4.7cm and that it was fine.  Since I haven't really been pregnant before I will get my cervix checked every time just to make sure its holding its ground.

Along with the trans vaginal ultrasound, I got a regular abdominal one too!  I was seriously hoping we would get a look at the "goods" but both of the babies had their legs crossed! How dare they! 

The last and most fun part of the appointment was getting my blood drawn.  Ugh.  I have had it drawn about 50000000000000000 times but it still doesn't hurt any less.  They did some test (I forget the name) to check for open spinal cord defects or something such as spina bifida and also tested my thyroid levels. 

On my way out I had to make my next appointment for a 2 hour ultrasound!! This one will look at all of the anatomy and will give us a better idea if the babies will most likely be "normal."  At this ultrasound we will definitely find out if the babies have girl parts or boy parts so that maybe we can really start buying things! 

The only bad part about all of this is the appointment isn't until JUNE 8th!! It seems sooooo far away.  But, the doc did say that if I ever want to come in for an extra ultrasound then I am always welcome to do so.  Or, we may find a place that does the 3D/4D ultrasounds and go get one of those.  I guess the wait is really on this time and my patience will really be tested!

First Scare- 8w1d

Today started out like any normal day.  I woke up, ate breakfast and went to work.  Today is one of the days in my schedule that I have no plan time, so I really need to plan my potty breaks well.  It was 8:40 in the morning and the kids come to my class at 8:45 so I decided it would be a good idea to pee before starting a long day.

I went to the bathroom and was very shocked to see blood on the TP.  It wasn't much, but enough to scare the living daylights out of me.  I went back to my classroom and called the clinic immediately to see what I should do.  The nurse was very nice and asked if I would like to come in for an ultrasound.  I said, "Of course!"  I am having trouble waiting inbetween appointments anyways, and with the sight of blood I was even more freaked out!!  I made the appointment for 3:00pm because that was the latest appointment they had for the day. 

All I could think about was geez, do I really have to wait until then? But I was also thinking... how the heck am I going to be able to leave work so early??  Luckily after I told some staff memebers what was going on, they were totally flexible and agreed to keep thier class in the afternoon and not send them to Spanish. I am lucky that I work with people who are supportive and caring enough to give up their planning period so that I could leave early!

Anyways, I got to the clinic and the receptionist is like, "Are you okay?" And I'm like, "Of course i'm not okay! I'm in a total panic!" and she's like, "Yeah, thats normal."  I'm pretty sure every single person in this office knows whats going on with everyone.... Not sure if thats a good or a bad thing. 

I went back to the ultrasound room and was scared to pieces!!  I will just cut to the chase: everything is fine.  It was crazy to see how much they have grown in just a week's time.  Instead of just tiny blobs on the screen, they look like big blobs!  Each baby was measuring at 8w2d, so 1 day ahead.  They had heart rates of 170 and 178bpm which are in the normal range I'm told.  I even got to see the tiny hearts beating away.  It was just the strangest thing I've ever seen! 

I guess I'm still finding it hard to believe that I am carrying twins.  I don't really "feel" any different except for that I am soooo tired and could probably go to bed at 6pm every night.  Also, I can't see whats going on in there unless I go to the doctor.  I'm sure the reality will set in when my pants don't fit and I feel something moving around in there.  But until then, I guess I will continue to worry. 

Is this for real?

When I woke up today, I had this feeling of, "Did that all just happen yesterday or was it all a dream?"  I feel like I have been waiting so long that I just kept thinking that disappointment was around the corner.

NOT THIS TIME! 

Now, my plan is to keep this "news" from my co-workers until mid-April.  I am up for tenure this year and I don't want anything to get in the way of their decision to rehire me for the long haul.  My official due date is October 19th, but from what I've read, twins tend to come earlier than the normal 40 weeks.  We do start school on August 15th, so that will give me a good month and a half to two months to work, but I just don't want to give my employer a reason to not want me back at all. 

It may sound easy to keep your mouth shut, but for those of you who have met me, are you kidding??? I am a very open person and tend to tell people whats on my mind.  I have grown close to a lot of people that I work with and they have helped keep me sane during this crazy infertility roller coaster.  I feel bad not sharing my joy with them, but hopefully when they find out and can actually see my twin baby belly they will still be very happy!!  I will be about 13 weeks or so when I plan on telling people, so I just hope I am not showing too much by then! (Although i secretly want a huge belly NOW!)  But, as my mom told me yesterday, "You will be as big as a house!!" Maybe I should hold off on wanting that... I do like seeing my feet every now and again.