Here we are at 35 weeks and we’re (Jen) is still hanging in there. I don’t know if it’s just in my head or what but she definitely seems to be much bigger this week. It’s funny because I think this is the one time in a woman’s life that it’s okay to tell her that she looks bigger. Heck, I think they actually like to hear it

Anyway, she’s doing well and the kids are hanging in there. Memorial Day weekend is upon us and I can’t wait for the long weekend. It’s been busy and stressful at work lately and I can’t wait to relax at home with Jen for a few days. I’m wondering if we’ll see some action from the kids this weekend. We’ve both been thinking that this weekend could be it for a while. I guess we’ll see what happens.

Here is this week’s picture. Not sure if you can really tell in the photo but in person, there’s a BIG difference from last week. I think that last week wasn’t as good because I took the picture so close. This week it’s bigger and the picture was taken from a greater distance away!

I had my 34 week doctor appointment yesterday. There’s nothing new to really report, other than the babies are still heads up and doing well. Their heartbeats were in the 120 to 140 range. They’ve been super active the last few days, tap dancing or head banging or fist fighting or Indian leg wrestling, or quite possibly all of those things! I definitely feel like aliens have taken over my body at times.

Two nights ago (Tuesday the 16th), I started having a ton of contractions. Some of them were bad enough to wake me up, and I was thinking maybe the babies were deciding to make an early appearance. It made for a terrible night’s sleep since I knew they weren’t close enough together to mean anything – just enough to wake me up about once an hour and have to pee, but uncomfortable enough to make the climb out of bed and the short walk to the bathroom difficult. They kept up most of yesterday too, though it was more frequent and less painful than they were the night before. I mentioned all that to the doctor yesterday, and she decided to do my Group B Strep cultures “in case I don’t make it to the next appointment” which is two weeks away. She also said I am about a centimeter dilated, which is not really a big deal – plenty of pregnant women walk around for weeks dilated a little – but it makes me feel like we’re moving in the right direction. I’ve been so lucky to have a very easy pregnancy, but I’m getting to that point of being anxious to meet the babies, and my body feels ready to be done most of the time. Hopefully they’ll stay in for another two weeks or so, but I am not interested in being some hero who keeps them in til that scheduled c-section date in June. The dr. said 2 more weeks and I should get “take-home babies,” which is what I am most interested in.

Here are the 33 and 34 week belly pictures. I’m starting to get the, “Wow, you must be due any day now!” comments from strangers. (Translation – “You’re HUGE!”) Technically, I am still 6 weeks from my true due date. I get some strange looks if I say that without mentioning the whole twins thing…

33 weeks:

34 weeks:

That’s when the eviction noticed will be served, if the twins have not vacated the premises before then on their own. The end is in sight!

At the sonogram this week, we were hoping to hear both babies had turned. Well, they had. But in the wrong direction. They’re pretty much standing up inside me now – heads up, faces forward, feet down. Pretty much the 100% opposite of what we were hoping. What this means is that I will have to have a c-section, unless they somehow manage to squeeze themselves into a last minute spin and get head down. The dr. said that medically, that would be a miracle. So while I am disappointed, and a little scared of a c-section, at least I have time to get used to the idea. I was sad about missing out on labor, believe it or not. But then I had my first contraction that actually hurt at about 4 am Thursday morning, and decided I’m not so sad about that anymore! We are scheduled for June 15 at the latest, but both the doctor and I think labor will start on its own before then, at which time I’d just go in and have the surgery. On the bright side, they won’t have coneheads, and we get a few extra days in the hospital.

The really good news is that they both are still growing well and appear healthy. The sonogram says they are both over 4 pounds now, which is right where they would be if they were single babies. He is still a little larger than her, and they still have big round heads and short little legs. Their heads are right next to eachother, so at least she’s not kicking him in the skull anymore.

The doctor says I gained 8 pounds in two weeks – I think that’s a crock. They weighed me on a different scale two weeks ago, which said I hadn’t gained anything in that two weeks, so I’m just averaging it out to 8 in the last month, which I feel okay about. My belly measures about 39 weeks now, and with a potential for 6 more weeks to grow, I can’t even imagine how big I’m going to be.

Here’s the picture for 32 weeks:

You’d think being home and out of work would mean more time to do things like update the blog. Yeah, not so much, though… I feel like things are just as busy as ever, with the notable exception of getting to sleep later. That alone has made a huge difference in how I feel. I definitely am still uncomfortable, but my back isn’t screaming at the end of every day like it was a few weeks ago. It seems to depend more on how the babies are laying and if she is pushed up under my rib cage or not.

Don and I have been going to many classes – childbirth on Mondays, breastfeeding last Thursday, and a tour of the hospital this past Tuesday. We’re hoping to get to use the info about labor and breathing in a few weeks, but little boy Kitchen needs to turn upside down for that to be a possibility. As of two weeks ago, he was fully breech. I have another sonogram Wednesday to see if he’s flipped. They were super active Tuesday, so I am hopeful that all the commotion was both babies getting into position before it gets too crowded to make any changes in there. It seriously felt like one of them was going to come out through my belly button that day! My next sonogram is next Wednesday, so we’ll see then if they are in a cooperative position or not.

Here are the belly pics from weeks 30 and 31:

Don also worked really hard last weekend and then nights this week to redo the trim and paint and put up chair rail in the feeding/playroom/eventually baby boy room (formerly known as Luna’s room.) The cat seems only a little peeved to have been moved to the laundry room, and so far the remodeling looks awesome.

Here is the link to the new nursery photo album.