31 weeks strong

Pregnant with twin GIRLS!!!

My diary at 31 weeks:

How big are the babies? The fruit of the week is a pineapple! I love pineapple, and in fact just finished one today. Why I mention that, I do not know. But yes, the girls are supposedly the size of a pineapple. Accoring to ultrasound, they are weighing in at approximately 3lb 5 oz, and 3lb 10 oz. Little sweeties!

Their big changes this week: They are fattening up and working on growing those beautiful brain cells still. During an ultrasound, Little Miss Lavern yawned, stuck her tongue out numerous times and sucked on her hand! Adorable! Little Miss Shirley was shy (as usual), and barely turned her face to give us a look. But, she did, and she is stinking precious! Her foot was all the way up by her head ... she will be a gymnist. Or, a soccer player, because she's always kicking me down low.

New news/blessings?

• I am feeling very thankful that I am this far along, and am not as worried about complications should I go into early labor now. I am, however, slightly freaking out about the adventure of giving birth. Oh my, how is that possible?! Yikers! I'll be fine, no worries. Just the thought of it makes me shake my head and say, "Noooooo!" :)
• I am proud to say that I did very well over Christmas with my Gestational Diabetes. Didn't test high once! My morning fasting number is still slightly higher (by only a few points) than they want, but I am trying to fine tune my routine to keep it low. I can do it!
• I'm on week 5.5 of no couch ... but did reward myself once yesterday and a few times today when I found out the girls are both still head down. But it wasn't for too long because I just got worried that they'd flip if I relaxed there too long. Back to the floor, sister!
• Traveling to Rochester for Christmas gave me the first chance to bring my now packed hospital bag along, just in case. Crazy to think that I could need it any time now in the next few weeks!
• The girls either hate or love my singing, as they go crazy moving around when I sing (Christmas music has been non-stop for me for the past few weeks), and I quite enjoy their reactions. Though, I'm leaning towards that they hate it, because when I sing fake opera getting ready in the morning, they jump around just as much. Haha, and there's NO WAY anyone likes my fake opera singing! :)
• I think I can breathe a bit better than I had been able to. I don't know if that means they are sinking lower, or that I've just adjusted to the way I have to breathe that it doesn't seem as difficult any longer?
• In two weeks I start to rotate through the rest of the OB Drs at my clinic. My Dr said, "Well, I suppose I should make you see them, or they'll be mad at me." Haha, he didn't didn't want to give me up I guess!

Weight: 181 (last week was 180)

Total gain? 25 pounds.

Inches around? 46 (Last week was 42.5. Holy cowboy, that's a jump!)

Belly button? Innie, still.

Maternity clothes? Still the same. A little of each.

Braxton Hicks Contractions: Yep, still. I should start counting how many times a day I experience them. Tonight a few of them were so tight that my belly was so high on one side it looked absolutley hilarious! The feeling is amazing! And, I know that it's my uterus (and not my abs) that's rock hard, but I like to hope that I keep the rock hard "abs" I feel like I have now once the girls are here! Haha, fat chance, I know. I can dream tho! :)

New dance moves? I know the girls are on either side of me again and Lavern is back to being my mover and shaker. She is constantly on the move! Shirley is still my quiet one, like I said earlier, but I now know that it's her kicking me low, and she jabbed me pretty good in the ribs the other night. It made me exclaim, "Ouch!", which was a first! I was also wide awake yesterday morning from 4 am on, and both of them were bopping around. Maybe they were playing "Dance, Dance Revolution" or something? And, I'm pretty sure I have felt hiccups numerous times. Like I've said before, I am going to really miss the movements in my belly after they're born ... but am so willing to make the trade! :)

Things people say: "Your life is really going to change. No sleep, you'll never go anywhere, you'll be constantly feeding them ... (blah, blah, blah!)" I tell ya, I don't know why some people feel it's their mission in life to see a pregnant woman and try and make them feel awful or something! What in the world? I was so annoyed by a man this past weekend who saw us and then proceeded to say something similar to the above. I finally said (being smart), "You know, I don't think it will be that different. We worked for years with high schoolers, and if we can handle 22 teens all at once, we can handle this." He just snickered and said, "You just keep telling yourself that. You got to send all those teens home, you will be stuck with yours all the time." I could have pulled my hair out.

With all due respect, to anyone who would try to rain on my parade of these little girlies, I am (we are) SO STINKING EXCITED for every single aspect that comes with these precious little girls! You can point out every single "negative" you can think of that comes along with raising a little one, and I will never, ever see it as a negative. Only a blessing. When you go so long without the hope or joy of experiencing pregnancy, or having a little one, to finally being given that gift, NOTHING could steal that joy and thankfulness. Sure, there will be days I'm frazzled, or haven't slept, or showered, or have no idea how I will accomplish what I need to accomplish, but the fact that I am frazzled, sleepless, dirty, or unproductive ... well, they are just signs of the extreme blessing these little girls have brought. Bring on the dirty diapers, bring on the JOY! End of story.

Silly nicknames for the bebes? Still the same, Lavern and Shirley, Bebes, Fruit Loops. I have been having an enjoyable time with various friends and family trying to guess their names. Pocahontas and Plimpton are two of my favorites right now, along with Platypus, Pedicure, and Poland. Simply hilarious!

I don't think I've explained on here that the girls will have names that start with the letter P. Our girls have three genetic sisters, and their names all start with the letter P. We thought it would be a sweet connection to keep the P theme going, don't you think? We love that we are able to do that! And, we love the names we have picked out! That's why everyone guesses names/words that start with the letter P, haha!

Complaints? None! (This will never change!)

Feeling in general? So excited! And beyond blessed.

{The Fruit Loops are due February 28th, 2013!}