Maternity Pictures =)

This past Saturday my darling sister-in-law Zaira came over to take some pictures of mah belly. I didn't go the professional route because well, considering all the expenses coming up in our future, it just didn't seem right. And it turns out I didn't need to, she did a wonderful job, and since it was her I was able to take some nudish pics that I'm obviously not sharing but they are quite nice if I do say so myself. They don't show anything they are not supposed to and they are very artistic but I still feel awkward putting it out there.

I went for the black and white finish for two reasons: Its beautiful and timeless, AND, it doesn't highlight my stretchmarks as much... or my bruised belly button. The area where I had it pierced is almost purple and the linea negra doesn't help matters. Oh, oh, oh, and you'll notice that my belly button is still in, stretched out flat, but in... no outie so far!

Pics were taken at 31 weeks 0 days...

I was trying to kiss his "baby bump" too but couldn't stop laughing!

Here we are recreating a pic from one of the happiest days in our lifes

to include the four of us.. kinda...

Check out my profile pic on the top left of the blog

And Reality Sets In...

Did you know that as advance as science is, they still haven't come up with a painless magical way of getting babies out of a woman's body? Well, they haven't. I know because I've been checking and so far no luck. I'm actually disappointed, I've given science more than enough time but I guess it doesn't really care. Well, fine then!

I'm not going to lie, I am nervous about the whole thing. Ever since I saw a video of a woman giving birth in my high school health class I've been traumatized. And now that my turn is coming, I'll let you know that surprisingly giving birth isn't my biggest concern. Yes, I'm still nervous about it because well, I've never done it before and lets be honest.... the idea of a baby coming out from there looks quite painful.... and I don't know if its worse or better with two babies, we shall see. Besides, I don't even know if it will be natural or C-section all I know is that I don't know any better and I'll do what must be done when the time comes. I'm actually looking at it in a "matter of fact" way and that's how I plan to deal with it.

What does make me very nervous is the health of my babies.
I keep praying that they stick it out for as long as possible, I need their little lungs developed and I hope that they do NOT need to be in NICU for any amount of time. Of course this is all out of my hands, no one told short little me to get knocked up with twins and give them less chance of staying in there for longer time. Well actually maybe IVF did that, and I did sign up and pay for it, but that's not the point. Even if they require NICU time, I trust that they will be alright. I will be giving birth in a level 4 NICU hospital, which by the way is where Jennifer Lopez gave birth to her twins, so if its good enough for her then its good enough for me.

The thing is, time is flying and another reality sets in. I don't know if there is something wrong with my boy. You may or may not remember that the first NT scan gave a bit of an abnormal result (second one was fine but the Dr. doesn't go by that one), I was advised to either do a CVS or an amnio to get specific results but I chose not to do either. One, I didn't feel comfortable doing any invasive testing that could cause me to lose one or both babies. And two, no matter what the result I was NOT going to terminate either baby, which is the main reason they wanted me to do the procedure.

They said baby B (my boy), had a chance of having heart defects... well so far his little heart has been wonderful in each of our ultrasound scans, no abnormality and let me tell you they spend a good length of time on their hearts so I'm counting on those to be very good signs. But another concern was that he had a chance of being born with Down Syndrome, and that's what I wont know until he is here. I love him no matter what but of course not knowing what I'll be facing is nerve wrecking. They will both be just perfect for me regardless if he has DS or not, I just pray that I can take away any kind of difficulties life may present to him if that is the case. It might have been selfish of me to refuse to terminate and bring him into the world with something wrong but I am no murderer. I am happy with my decision and I love them more than I could ever imagine possible.

And now I'm going to change the subject to update you on a few things:
1-I'm hoping to sneak in the last 4D attempt to get baby girl's face this coming weekend, lets see what she does.
2-I just finished making the name blocks that will go in their nursery, but you wont see that until they are born, sorry!
3-My belly is getting heavier each day and I'm sure its one reason why I'm still having a hard time with my heart palpitations. I'm pretty much sitting on my behind all day, taking lots of naps and not being productive.
4-I'm going to be posting some maternity pics soon, they were taken last Saturday by my sister-in-law Z.
5-And last but not least, here is my belly pic from last week:

30 weeks belly pic:

A little Salt N Pepa for mah babies...

I think I've been working on this post since I found out I was pregnant, but now that time is ticking I figured it was time to really get on it...

You know how you get certain songs stuck in your head? And some even last several years? Okay, so most don't last several years but this one in particular has lasted with Jeff and myself since we saw/heard it on Dancing with the Stars a few years ago. Not a new song, we knew it from way back when but from that point on we found ourselves humming it together every so often.... ok, now back to my point...

Since we had the IVF done, most specifically the transfer, I've been singing it to my belly. And let me tell you, I'm lucky these babies stuck because God knows my voice is horrible! The song happens to be "Push it" from Salt N Pepa, which from day one I've been singing just two words along with the humming to them: "oooh, babies, babies" " ba-ba-ba-babies" over and over and over. As you noticed I had to make it plural in case they turned out to be twins..... and well, I didn't have to change it =)

Little did I know at that point that I would want to use this song for another purpose. I'm thinking I should take it with me and use it as my birth anthem. Cause you know the other catchy part of the song, right? It would be perfect to inspire and to give me instructions, gotta love it: "Ah, push it. Push it good. Ah, push it. Push it real good" When I think about it, it just cracks me up. I can imagine my no-nonsense OB's face if I actually had it playing. Hmmm...

Anyway, I figured I should upload it to the blog since its been a big part of this pregnancy and I want it in my memories.

Boy/Girl Twin Nursery and belly pic!

Before I get into it let me update you on the 4D scan.
They still didn't cooperate fully. My boy showed his face a few a times and the tech has the images of that, but the girl is still playing hard to get. We'll be going back to try and get her but I think that's our last chance. At that point we'll get the full DVD with both of them with pics. Well that's if she shows her face, if not we'll get his alone. We shall see. Now onto the nursery...

Jeff and I finally had time to decorate the nursery together this past weekend and I decided to share with you guys. I'm not sure how cohesive it is but Jeff wanted the tree with animals and I wanted the monkeys. We have so much more materials for decoration but we had to compromise and do some editing with our ideas. Are we done tweaking? not necessarily yet.. there is one thing for sure that needs to be added. And the organizing has been done! My sister-in-law Zaira came over on Monday and Tuesday and hooked me up with putting everything in their place. Thank you sooo much Z!

Here is an overall view from the glider,

 not too clear because I can't go back too much but you get the idea

The full tree

After they are born we are going to put

their names on the shelves =)

My little monkey girl

and

My little monkey boy!

(I used different materials from different sources to get it like this)

The changing table area

Jeff added the Owl and Bird

on each side of the window so I might do something in the middle.

 I think it looks too bare in between, what do you think?

And that's it, those are the elements of decor in the nursery. Now we wait until they are born to add their names to the shelves and finally we put the most important part of the whole nursery: the babies!

Please pray that I make it at least 6 more weeks. I'm 30w4days now with a belly that is threatening to explode so I hope it holds up. It already dropped, but you'll see a better pic of that next week =)

Here is my pic of last week at 29 weeks

The Weight Talk

I am huge... but not the way you think..

My arms and legs are chubby-ish. Unfortunately for me, I can't blame this on the pregnancy. I am all belly. The rest of me is the same as it was before I got pregnant. Which means that my original chubbiness lies intact. Don't get me wrong I'm happy that I'm not gaining weight anywhere else but I'm sad that I wasn't a bit skinnier to begin with, you know, so I can feel better about myself. At least I can blame the extra lbs on infertility treatments, cause really? it isn't my fault, is it?

My belly keeps growing, and growing, and growing. I mean its huge. And all I've gained so far is 20lbs, I did lose and gain several times in the beginning but overall that's my total. I've been the same weight for almost 3 months now. How? I dunno. My belly keeps growing and the babies weights are going up. So here is my thing... does that mean that I'm losing weight? It seems logical to me. If their weight is going up and mine stays the same then I must be losing something somewhere no? I guess I could say God bless the Gestational Diabetes diet! Which even though it keeps me eating all day long its so healthy that its helping me gain only in the belly. Who knew GD could be a good thing? Well, as long as its controlled and not affecting the twins which is my case, otherwise no its not good so don't go begging for it!

Regardless of how I look though, I'm only glad that the babies are gaining their weight accordingly. For a twin pregnancy the average weight gain required is between 40 and 56lbs give or take. Based on that by now I should have gained an extra 30-35lbs but since my doctors are not concerned neither am I. Trust me, I'm pretty content with myself, 20lbs so far doesn't sound too bad. I do worry if its not enough sometimes but there is nothing I can do. I'm already eating 6 times a day, the twins are doing good and so far I've been lucky to avoid insulin and/or any other diabetes medication. What else can a girl ask for? Yes, my belly is huge and full of stretch marks but the rest of me is good to go, woohoo!

That being said, I'm in the last stretch of the pregnancy and this is when the weight piles on.... lets see what happens... the vanity in me is pretty curious...

I'm not stinky!

I had my baby shower and I'm nice and fresh!
The babies though? They'll be two little stinkers no matter what =)
Speaking of those stinkers... they did NOT cooperate at the 4D ultrasound so we'll try it again next weekend. Now, back to the details of the shower.

My parents hosted it at their house. They did some renovation on their garage which took a lot of time and work and it turned out wonderful. Their very spacious garage, driveway and neighbors section was packed with people, I just couldn't believe it. I know my mom, brother, sister and sister-in-law worked their butts off for weeks trying to get this shower going. I still don't know how they pulled it off but kudos to them.

How did they surprise me? Well, I was supposedly picking my mom up to go over to my brother's BBQ. Of course when we got there and saw all the balloons we immediately started smiling. I had a dress with me *just in case* so that I can change into. And to clarify things, no I didn't know about the shower but that dress was going with me wherever I went so I can be prepared. Jeff thought I was silly but he is a guy, he doesn't understand. Now, finally here are some pics:

Mommy made this 

 

 My tiara says: Mom to be.

Jeff's corsage have two cute babies on it.

 The cake

My sister-in-law Zaira made it. TWICE.

It got completely messed up in the car and with lots of creativity,

Nick knocks & ribbons you could never tell!

Mom made the sign in board with an enlarged copy of

the invitation in the middle, you can see my flowers, a diaper cake, favors,

and the pink and blue napkins....awwww!

This is the actual favor

Two Peas in a Pod Salt and Pepper shakers 

My mom hosting and getting the games going

 

One of the games had the guys blindfolded and pinning

diapers on balloons. Jeff managed to do it without popping the balloon!

Go Jeff! and get ready there is more of this in your near future!

 

Us with our Mommies

(and hidden babies)

 

My sister Jenny

My sister-in-law Zaira

I didn't get any pic with my brother =(

My sister-in-law Amanda

(her husband and kids are below)

Us with Jeff's brother John, our niece Hannah

and our nephew Joshua

Jeff posing with his "Daddy's Diaper Duty Device"

His goggles are on and he is ready to go!

It contains lots of things: wipes, diapers, gloves, a mask

so he can breathe freely and even a tong to avoid touching with hands!

 

My hat with all the ribbons from the presents...

and I um forced Jeff to wear my Mom to be tiara =)

What are my sweethearts doing to my heart?

They are making it work in overdrive AND overtime!

That's all.

My heart echo showed a perfect heart, thankyouveymuch. The chambers and all its thingys looked good. No issues whatsoever. The only thing going on is that I have two little babies demanding more and more blood from mommy. Who can blame them really? They feel all the love I'm pumping into them and they are so addicted to it that they keep wanting more.

The cardiologist's only concern was that I have a while more to go and hopes that I call ASAP if my shortness of breath and heart rate gets completely out of control. For now all I can do is well, nothing.... literally nothing. He thinks I will be fine as long as I have absolutely no fun take it real slow and stay put so the kiddos can get what they need from me. And if I didn't already have a complex for being short he said that if I was 5'8" carrying twins I wouldn't have this problem, it all comes down to me being so petite. Thanks Doc, my self esteem is now low but at least my heart is good!

Speaking of me being short...
here is a pic of my non-5'8" body  in pregnant mode at 28 weeks:

Oh, and in regards to my baby shower, I haven't received any more pics yet. I'll wait for the weekend to be over and if I don't get any more I'll just post what I have. My peeps don't understand the importance of me updating my blog I tell ya!... though that's probably because they don't know I have one.... but still, I want pics!

Showering some updates...

1- We had our shower on Saturday!
It was wonderful. I'm completely overwhelmed by the amount of work that was put into it. I don't really know who did what, but I know my Mom, my sister Jenny, my brother Danny, and my sister-in-law Zaira went completely crazy getting things done. I mean a LOT of hard work. And during the shower my aunts worked the guests for us and made sure everyone was fed and having a good time. Thank you guys SO MUCH from the bottom of my womb =). I know I keep saying it but it wont be enough compared to what you guys did for us. Jeff and I really really appreciate it!
I will be posting details and pictures later, I'm waiting to get copies of pics from different sources, thanks Jenny for sending me your set already!

Here is one of us right after being surprised:
*Edited* My mom gave me this shirt, it says:
"Stand back I don't know how BIG this is going to get"

2- I saw the babies this morning!
I have no u/s pics because they were both facing inwards. Little teasers! They are positioned in a "T" shape, baby girl is head down and baby boy is laying across my belly on the top. Their heart rates are great, hers is 140 bpm and his is 133 bpm. And their weights are great too, she weighs 2lb 11oz and he weighs 2lb 8oz, that's over 5lbs of babies in there, go babies, go! Oh, and my cervix continues to be long and closed. Woohoo for that!

3- My house is in much better order!
Apparently you can get things done when you b*tch around on the blog. Sweetheart thank you sooo much!
About a month ago I wrote that my nursery furniture was in the dining room with construction materials, the very same weekend Jeff got working on that. The furniture is in but decoration is still in progress. We have 2 big cribs (given to us by Jeff's best friend and Jeff's brother) and its a small room so we decided to have them share the big convertible one for now. I wasn't willing to compromise storage space to fit both cribs in. Nor do I want to separate them into their own bedrooms yet so their nursery will be what it is.

Here is my nursery in progress:

View from door:

...with lots of sun light...

View from crib's wall:

We tried placing the furniture every which way and this was the best,

Its a little tight but the way its arranged gives us an easy flow.

You can't really see the left side but its a big storage unit and trust me, we'll be making good use of it!

On Friday I complained that the rest of my living space was filled with materials, tools, boxes and that it was driving me bananas because of my nesting needs. Well, Saturday was a busy busy day for Jeff. He moved most of the materials to the office/third bedroom and the rest to the garage and helped me clean the area. And he did it all with a smile while making sure that I wasn't working myself too hard, he gets very concerned that husband of mine. Of course now my dining room is once again filled... but this time with presents from the shower... and I don't even have everything with me yet, some things are still at my parents house. Wanna see? Ok! here you go:

The back is filled with tons of bags... my kiddos are so loved!

4- I get to see the babies in 4D this coming Saturday!
I can't wait to see them again. I just hope they turn their little heads around so that we can get some cool pics. Luckily the place will let us reschedule if we don't get any good shots but I'd like them to cooperate now. We wanna see them!!!