Two painted nurseries!

So we finally painted both rooms and, get this, we actually have outlet covers!! I know I know it's the little things in life. The carpet will be installed this week hopefully and we'll be all done up there just waiting for our stuff to arrive. I think it will finally be real once there are cribs up there!

In other news, we had a growth scan yesterday and everything looks amazing. The boys are doing so well!!! Jack actually had the hiccups and I could feel them! It was so amazing. Jack was 2 lbs and Brayden was 2 lbs 2 oz. So they are getting quite large :) Now I go to the dr every wednesday it seems. I don't mind though; it's for pre-term labor screening. More peace of mind is never a bad thing. The tech turned on the 4d monitor and I have to admit I could not, for the life of me, figure out what the heck I was looking at. She pointed things out to me, but I still couldn't see it.

25 week updates

Things are going really well and while I can say that I am so happy that we're at this point, I am in such shock over how uncomfortable I am. I can't sit for too long because then my back hurts, but then when I lay down, my hips hurt. I'm starving all of the time and yet I feel worried about gaining too much weight (even though the dr's haven't said one word about it). The babies kick every day now and it is so cool to actually see their kicks through my skin. It's the best feeling in the world. I can't believe I only have about 10-12 weeks left.

In other news, my shower is all set and ready to go. It was a bit of a rollercoaster dealing with mom and MIL, but it seems like all is good now. I didn't want to be surprised and that didn't seem to sit well with mom, but I mean c'mon, it's not like I wouldn't have figured it out. With the shower set for 2/21 that leaves one month to get the rooms ready to move stuff into it. It's so crazy that I'm talking about finishing nurseries... I am so thankful to be doing all of this stuff. It's just amazing.

On the other hand, I feel totally unprepared. I know we'll figure things out along the way, but I read about people stocking up on diapers now and I think "Oh God I hadn't even thought of that". In all honesty, I hadn't thought about us buying anything until after the shower so we could see what we got and what we really need. I know I want to breastfeed, but have no clue how the heck that's going to work. Again, I know we'll figure it out along the way, but I guess just all of the things that could go wrong with breastfeeding are starting to overwhelm me already.

I started pre-term labor screening the other day and, while it wasn't pleasant at all, everything came back great. The fetal fibronectin test came back negative which means that my risk of delivering in the next two weeks is very minimal. I was also hooked up to the uterine activity monitor for a half hour and did not have one contraction (which I figure would be the case, but I have no clue what a contraction feels like so I could have been wrong). At this point it seems like the doctor appointments are just getting piled on. I know it's in my and the babies best interest, but it's alot. I have 3 appointments in the next two weeks. I guess on the upside, it's more screen time with the babies :)

23 wks

I'm not sure why I didn't start taking belly pictures earlier (I now wish I had) but I guess it was the superstitious part of me chiming in. But I finally broke down yesterday and took one. I plan on taking one every week now, but there will never be a bare belly shot. I love the belly and all, but it just so looks much cuter covered!!! Just take my word for it! Sorry for the ridiculous flash... I'll have to work on that.

Happy New Year!!!

Though we didn't do anything... I mean we were in our PJs at like 10 pm.... it was still by far the happiest new year in a long time. I cried when the ball dropped just thinking about how our babies will be here this year. It's crazy!!! Last year was just so sad and I could barely even begin to think about celebrating the new year (especially since I was supposed to be almost 9 mos pregnant) and this year I think I was just so overwhelmed by reflecting on everything that we've been through that I was defintely in some kind of funk. I was ecstatic but I was also sad thinking about everything - the two losses, the year of stress and IF treatments and the heartache that naturally comes along with that whole process, the stress of being pregnant - yes the stress of being pregnant - after all that we've been through getting pregnant was not this innocently blissful experience that is romanticized in the movies.

But I'm happy to say that I feel like a totally different person this year. I am so much less stressed and I handle the stress I do have in my life in a completely different way than I used to. The little things defintely don't get to me anymore and I could not be more thankful for the things that I do have - I used to curse my life for being the hell that it was and wonder who the hell I pissed off in a previous life to be punished like this.

It's so crazy to think that my last day of work will be April 8th. That means that I only have to make it through January, February and March - that's nothing!!! It's sooo crazy and I am so excited to get this new year started because I just know how good it's going to be.