27 weeks or something like it

Ok so it's Wednesday, I technically turn 28 weeks tomorrow but I promised to blog every week of my pregnancy 25 weeks on and I'm not gonna give up.  The pic is from this morning, lovely no?  I am about to bust out of my biggest maternity clothes.  This week has been the first week that I've been tired of being pregnant.  I know I still have a long ways to go and I pray that I still at least 10 weeks to go but with the pain from my fall two weeks ago and justifiably feeling huge it's been a rougher week.  I decided to break it into the bad and the good.

THE BAD:

Having to sit all the time on a bottom that doesn't want you there. 
Running out of clothes that will provide full coverage of the tummy.
Having your doctor look at your stomach and say "Awww poor belly."
Trying to nest when you get winded and tired so so easily.
Having a blood pressure of 90/58, seriously that low.  I get dizzy and tired ALL the time.

THE GOOD:
Feeling these babies squirming and knowing that they are growing as they should.
Having a husband who puts up with your most bat crap crazy moments.
Your baby shower where some of the most special women in my life showered these twins with presents and diapers.
Having a blood pressure of 90/58 because there's a slim to none chance I'm developing pre-eclampsia.
People watching when they see me.  I get so much special treatment and I swear people are expecting me to drop a calf at any moment. 

Ok, enough with lists.  Things are about 50-50 this morning.  I'm not sleeping well and it's getting to me but luckily I'm not having any pre term labor symptoms or really any out of the ordinary full term pregnancy symptoms.  All that has really changed is that the mechanical wheelchairs at the stores are looking really good when I'm out and about. 

Ry, my sweet husband, has set up our room in preparation for the twins.  We now have a really tall bed and a sidecar crib.  I think it's going to work out really well when I'm recovering from my c-section and breastfeeding.  It's a pretty big change getting in and out of bed but its actually easier not to have to try to lift myself out of the bed in the morning.

Even though I was up half the night in one of my bouts with insomnia planning this blog post, the mind grapes (30 Rock, gotta love it) have run dry so I'm gonna sign off for this week and I promise to come back next week much more chipper and happy to be apart of this wonderful process that is twin pregnancy.  Take care all!

P.S. My doc said yesterday at my appointment that he's shooting for December 15th with these babies so that means like 64 days.  Eeeekkk!  But I'm holding out for the day after Christmas cause I'm stubborn that way.

Twenty-six weeks

Here is me yesterday evening for my 26 week photo.  I have a little confession last week's picture freaked me out a little because I looked smaller than at 23 weeks.  I called my doc, I'm sure that they are going to get so tired of hearing from me but the had me come in for an ultrasound.  I love ultrasounds to see them floating around and just being pretty chill.  I did get dizzy on this ultrasound tho.  Evidently four pounds of baby is the exact amount of pressure to restrict the blood flow to my brain and I got dizzy.  The girls are doing beautifully and are about two pounds a piece. They are growing right together. The reason my stomach looked less girth-ful was due to their shift in position where one is a bit more tucked in and they are both trying to occupy the upper quadrant of my stomach.

The past week has been easy peasey until I slipped and feel down a few stairs on Saturday morning.  I really need your prayers because I bruised the area around my coccyx pretty severely.  As if I needed to be reminded that I could be MORE uncomfortable, it now hurts to sit and my legs regularly go numb from sitting on my hips.  It is feeling better day-by-day but working right now is torture and I think the worse pain comes upon rising.  I have yet another call put in to my doctor to see if there is any pain management tips or medication that they can give me until this resolves itself a little less painfully.  However, the girls are great.  This hasn't affected them in the slightest and they are still squirming and wiggling.

On the horizon I am looking forward to my baby shower.  I'm so grateful for my good friends Abby Olsen and Karalee Done for putting this together.  They have put in a lot of effort and planning and I'm so excited to celebrate the life of the girls. 

Please keep me in your prayers that I will heal quickly.  Hope each of you has a great week.

Under 100 Days!

Just wanted to drop in and say WHAT!!?? I have under one hundred days less on this pregnancy. Technically since the latest my doctor will let me go right now is December 26th I have like 87-88 days left.

What!?!

Tightening of the chest, vision slowly narrowing into a pinpoint. Breathe, breathe. Ok I'm back. We are still doing good and this week's major accomplishments is that we have bought car seats! One more thing off the list. Woohoo!

K Peace out!

Twenty-five weeks

I am keeping my promise.  Here is me at 25 weeks.  I am feeling really great with no braxton hicks or contractions.  Of course my back and abs get pretty tired by the end of the day but I'm really blessed and I'm feeling really good despite my girth.  My weekly complaints would have to be that sleeping is a struggle.  Ry swears he hears me sleeping all the time but I just get so uncomfortable I don't feel like I get much sleep at all.  That's about it.  I can't complain too much this has been such a ride and I'm surprised I feel as good as I do.

Loralei is becoming used to the idea of the babies.  She asks to see the babies first thing in the morning, when the belly is all lopsided, and she will just kiss and talk to them.  I hope they recognize her voice when they get here.  It's so cute to hear here whisper to them.

There is progress being made in the twins room. I have went through all our clothes and sorted keepers and donations.  Also, I'm starting to wash all the newborn and 3-6 month clothes.  I need to pick up two dressers so we have a place to put all these clothes.  I also want to change the border in the room and we'll be pretty much set room wise. It will feel good to have that checked off our list of the never-ending prep for the twins.

This week I have my glucose test.  I'm not really looking forward to it so wish me luck! The orange soda like stuff is not that appetizing and my twinners definitely are not going to be happy about the moratorium on eating.  It's usually my growling tummy that convinces me I have to get up.  They don't like the gap between dinner and breakfast very much so a bit extra wait may be my undoing.

Please pray for us that we may stay healthy and strong.  Until next week, or unless something strikes my fancy.

24 Weeks and So Many Changes

I am 24 weeks. The time has really flown by these past two months because the McGraw household has been so busy. First up, here is the aquarium view of the twins.

Now this is a picture of the "normal" 24 week twins. I'm not saying my girls are abnormal but like me I think they are a bit more difficult than ideal. So here's a diagram of what the babes are doing.

Oh the joy, I shouldn't complain about the movements because I depend on them literally, if I ever stop and realize I haven't felt them for ohhh about 10 minutes I freak a little.  Two babes are just uber stressful. I had a doctor's appointment last week and an ultrasound (gotta LOVE those) and I am officially carrying about 2.5 lbs of baby.  :)  I sure hope that grows, no matter the discomfort, to about ummm 14 lbs of baby. Oh to explain the Hi-Ya kick its a kick where I know they are punching my ribs and kicking either my cervix or bladder at the same time.  I mean there's no way that they have coordinated split second kicks yet right?  They can't be conspiring against me so early so I'm choosing to blame one baby. 

On our ultrasound Baby A really got to shine this time.  We have some adorable pics of her yawning and stretching and pushing her sister's legs away.  It is just mind blowing how much they are interacting, now whether they realize it is a different matter.  Baby B had her legs in Baby A's face almost the entire time and you could see Baby B trying to swat them away.  There is a membrane separating them but the tech said its about as thick as a sheet of cellophane so there's practically nothing separating them.  At the end, we got the most heart warming pic of them face to face like they were whispering secrets.  (Probably coordinating those hi-ya kicks, but it's cute no matter what)

As for our other changes, we moved.  Ry and I bought a home in Lehi.  It's half of a twin home with three bedrooms, no HOA, and a yard.  I am so happy that we made this step.  It was a really big one for us.  It has three bedrooms which is a must now that we are expecting twins and two bathrooms.  I love our new ward, they are really friendly and have gone out of there way to welcome us.  It's a big change (haha) moving from American Fork and I miss our ward there terribly, but I have just felt this is the place for us from the beginning. 

I will sign off, next time I will have a pic of week 25 and then I will start weekly pics.  I hope...

16 weeks!

This is what my belly look in aquarium view.  The twins are still kicking away and other than some minor cramping and back pain everything is going well.  I think my body has been having the "what the frak is going on!?" with my rapid belly poppage.  I'm really enjoying this process and can't wait until the first part of August to find out what these beauties are.  We recently had a name change in the line-up which leads me to my prediction that I have one boy and one girl cooking away in there.  That's my ideal tho so maybe it's just wishful thinking.


Life is moving forward.  We're in the final approval stage for a house in Lehi.  I pray we get it.  We've been melting in the July heat and a house with air conditioning is just what the doctor ordered, actually pretty literally.  It's a gorgeous house and I hope we get to make it our home. 

Well I'm off to drown myself in more water!

Twins!

Yes it is true I am having twins due approximately around Christmas.  We are so excited to expand our family in this enormous way and a little overwhelmed for sure.  This pregnancy has been pretty uneventful.  I'm sicker than usual and already sporting a pooch so it's been fun.  The never ending pregnancy heat has returned and I'm hot all the time.  I think that and the nausea are my least favorite parts since they seem to feed into each other.  My favorite part is feeling the little baby lumps in the morning and all the dreaming and planning that comes with a new baby...times 2!


I feel so truly blessed to have this happening right now.  I was concerned that Loralei would "too old" to really bond with the new baby, but now that they're two we are glad she's going to be a little older than planned.  She loves kissing my tummy and telling the babes night-night.  I am so so blessed in every way.  I am taking some belly shots and I will upload them once I get them from my sister-in-law.

Your kind thoughts and prayers are appreciated as we navigate the world of being the parents of twinners. 

Return from the Promised Land

Hello All!

We have returned from the promised land on Utah. That may not be historically correct but I know that for me St. George is my promised land. I adore the salty almost sea-like wind that blows through the red rock hills. I adore the warm sun that seems to bring us to life after a lond snowy Wasatch winter. We slept with the windows open and we swan outside for the first time this year.

Let me tell you Loralei is a water bug. Every time that we would even mention swimming she would start stripping down and running for her swimsuit. Seeing her so excited and lighting up at those words makes me so excited for this summer! I am so glad that we enrolled her in swim classes last year. She has no fear of the water and I love that. I wanted us to share that.

I don't have any pictures right now but I will post soon. I'll leave describing our hike until then.

Dieting and this First Signs of Spring

It might not be such a good idea for me to write a post so late (HA HA it's 9:55 and that's late to me) but here goes.

New to me this week is a diet.  I found a new web resource on shape.com.  BTW I love the Shape Magazine.  I don't get any magazine subscriptions besides the Ensign but if I did Shape would be the first one.  I may sound all Liz Lemon-ish (30 Rock) but I love how the magazine promotes healthy body image and also just seems pretty down to Earth.  Well, shape.com has a virtual trainer that is almost exactly like the Weight Watcher's online tool at the old one that I used and the best part is that it is free.  I really wanted to see if I could become healthier without spending a lot of money on a program that I may not follow.  So, I started on Wednesday and I can say that while I hate having to restrict calories cause I love to eat, that this is the most straight forward diet I have ever been on.  I can't fail at this one unless I choose to.  (Which is why I like Weight Watchers too but I really don't want to pay for them.)  So if you check it out and sign up become my friend.  I am heavenleigh07.  Help me to lose the weight finally!

Also, lately the weather has been like this

and this

and we have been enjoying it.  I love Spring and I love warm weather.  Sometimes in the middle of the snowy Wasatch winter I wonder how I ever ended up here, but Spring makes me start loving where I'm planted.  And oh boy are we taking advantage of it.  We have been walking away, if it was a little warmer we would be biking but hey beggars can't be choosers.  We walked the Highland, Utah canyon mouth trail today and really enjoyed the sunshine and warm breeze.  Thank you Heavenly Father for giving us this small show of the glory of Spring!

BTW Ry and I are 2 for 2 on going to the temple each month so far this year.  I love the temple and I love the Spirit that I feel there.  I am so grateful that I am able to attend a place that the Spirit of the Lord rests so heavily.  It truly helped me to put somethings in perspective and also helped others to put me in my place for Heavenly Father (which was heartily unpleasant but needed).  I need to look at what I have and not let my recent setbacks define me or my abilities (wow how vague).

I hope that each of us face each day as the brand new gift and opportunity that it is.  I know that I will truly try. 

Looking forward to

I have been in an enormous funk lately. In short, my 2011 has been disappointing so far and our family has gone through some challenges that has really made us reevaluate a few things. I have been trying to deduce a way for me to buck up and stop the gray moods around our home. After hours of contemplation I realized that we need to to focus on being grateful on what we do have ( a recurring theme for this blog) and that while winter always brings our mood down that we should look forward to the things that will bring happiness.
Here are a two things I am ridiculously looking forward to: our friend's Valentines celebration

Found at http://maltaddict.wordpress.com/2010/02/06/what-are-you-doing-for-valentines-day/ using Google pics

and our annual family/ anniversary vacation to St. George!

Pic of Rory and Ry last year on a hike up Snow Canyon.

A bunch of my friends and I have planned a scavenger type hunt for for our menfolk. I love the idea but I think the girls are going to have much more fun than the boys. We have t shirts and clues and candy. The best part of event will be spending some time with some primo women. These woman are amazing in their own way and it will be fabulous way for us to celebrate Valentines day and the men are going to be fed a wonderful dinner afterward and there may be sometime for some cuddling and movie watching at the end. Thanks to Abby for spearheading this project and giving us direction to our celebration.

St. George is in less than 25 days! I adore St. George. It is my favorite place in Utah no competition. It's my oasis of Spring in the desert of Utah winter. I love St. George. It holds so many beautiful memories and I love that we get to go back every year.

I hope that each of you have some fun plans in the near future as well. Alas, I must get to work! Until next time!