November 21st can't come fast enough!

There's a new extended Twilight preview out, you must watch it! I'm not gonna lie, I just watched it 4 times in a row!

Ok Mom, you can stop freaking out now. I've decided not to fly West for the election. A few weeks ago I talked my doctor into letting me go (although she wasn't exactly happy about it) and have been going back and forth with a decision ever since. Yesterday at the doctor appointment they said everything looks perfectly healthy and that I am at extremely low risk for preterm labor.

But then I started thinking... I already work 50 hours a week, do I really want to up that to 85 hours next week and spend two whole days traveling while I have a sinus infection? Ummm, I decided no. The thought of working 12 hours a day for an entire week is exhausting. The thought of going home after work to my own bed and not having to travel sounds really, really wonderful.

I'm a little bummed out, though, because my best friend Renee was going to drive down and spend a night with me while I was out west. Now I won't get to see her until January :-( *Sigh*

Well, at least I will have a (somewhat) restful week here. I'll get to the doctor and get some antibiotics, go to bed early, eat healthy non-fast food meals... and do my best to get out the vote from here!

Baby Update

So I went in for another sonogram and dr. appointment this morning. Unfortunately there aren't really any good pictures. As they get bigger, there's less fluid and it becomes harder and harder to see the babies.

However, they have grown like wildfire in the last 4 weeks! The last time I got a sonogram they weren't quite 2 pounds each. Now they're 3 pounds, 2 ounces each! They've almost doubled in size in just 4 weeks! I'm currently 28 weeks and 3 days and they're measuring 29 weeks and 4 days. More than a week ahead of schedule! The doctor said this is good for singleton babies and exceptional for twins. Their growth is definitely expected to slow down alot in the coming weeks, (they won't ever be doubling in size again, thank goodness) but they're on track to be healthy, normal sized babies. They should weigh in between 6-7 pounds each at birth.

More good news: I only gained 4 pounds in 4 weeks and almost 3 of that is pure baby weight! Oh yeah! I'm pretty stoked about that! So far, I've gained 30 pounds and am right on track to gain the recommended amount of 40 pounds total. (Although I am pretty sure I've gained a few more pounds than that because I didn't see my doctor until 12 weeks along. I definitely put on some bloat weight during those 12 weeks. I'm not telling my doctor though, I'll just continue to let her think I'm a model patient.)

Last week I was tested for gestational diabetes and you'll all be glad to know that I do not have any signs of it. The test was pretty awful as you have to drink about 12 ounces of pure sugar water and then sit around for 2 hours until they draw your blood. The stuff was terrible and made me gag and they had no good magazines in the waiting room so I was quite bored for those 2 hours. But it was worth it to know that I haven't developed diabetes during pregnancy and wasn't even close to the danger zone. Apparently, if you are on the border of dangerous glucose levels you have to stay for 6-8 hours and drink the nasty sugar water and have your blood drawn every hour! Thank goodness I wasn't anywhere near a dangerous level!

Oh and remember how I mentioned feeling kicks on my bladder and rib cage? Well that's because Baby A is now head-up and jumping around on my bladder and cervix. Baby B is head-down and kicking me in the ribs. They're both getting bigger and bigger everyday and taking up more space. Hopefully in the next few weeks Baby A will flip to a head-down position and stay there. Otherwise, I'm doomed for a c-section :-(

Is it almost over yet?

Yesterday was not a good day pregnancy-wise. I walked a little too much on Thursday so I was way sore. The back and pelvic pain were terrible, I winced everytime I had to stand up. I got a free flu shot but the walk to the nurse's office 2 buildings away was not fun. The babies kept kicking my bladder and insides all day long sending sharp little pains through my abdomen.

And I ate Mexican food for lunch and had awful heartburn. I remember the first time I had a touch of heartburn a few months ago. I freaked out because I had no idea what it was and wondered why my throat felt like it was burning. I used WebMd to look up the symptoms and realized that it was heartburn, which I had read that pregnant women often suffer from. Back then it wasn't very bad and hasn't really caused me any problems at all... until yesterday. I don't know why it chose to show up yesterday because I didn't even eat anything spicy but it did. AHHH!! I was on the verge of tears all afternoon and 8 hours later, when I tried to go to sleep, I couldn't because it got worse when I laid down. Altogether it lasted for over 12 hours. I looked on my doctor's website for safe medications to treat heartburn with. Of course we didn't have any in the house, but you better believe I'm gonna buy some today!

Anyways, I feel much better this morning. So good that I made myself some french toast and a homemade "mocha." (We don't have an espresso machine so I just mix hot chocolate and a little coffee together, yum!). I love Saturday mornings when I can sit in my bathrobe for hours, make breakfast, and drink my little mochas. Today's a rainy day so I just might do this all day long. It feels so good to relax!

Another pregnancy update...

So, I've hit 28 weeks and am now officially in the last trimester! YESS! Almost done!! And since twins are born early, I will hopefully only be pregnant for another 9 weeks or less... 9 1/2 weeks tops or else I'm asking to be induced!

The boys are at 2 1/2 pounds each and approximately 16 inches tall from head to toe. They feel much bigger than that though. They are vigorous little kickers and have begun kicking my bladder recently (extremely uncomfortable... and potentially embarassing!). Other times, they crawl up under my rib cage and lodge themselves there so that I can hardly breathe. And other times I swear they're having a kickboxing match in there because they're both going at it so intensely. I've heard that babies' temperaments in the womb indicate their personalities outside the womb... if that's the case, then Brandon and I will have two very active, non-mellow babies on our hands.

The back and pelvic pain hasn't really gotten any worse thankfully, though it certainly hasn't gotten any better either. But my heating pad seems to help alot and, after November 4th, my life will get a lot easier and I'll get to rest more.

Oh, and at my last doctor's appointment I had only gained 1 pound in 2 weeks! So I rewarded myself with a shopping trip and a Cinnabon! I have another appointment on Monday and I'm sure I've gained a couple more pounds in the last couple weeks though.

Our funny, funny cats

Oh how we love these two! They never cease to make us laugh.
They always bathe each other and it just melts my heart
Huck can usually be found lounging around like this... sometimes he falls off :-)
I guess he's impersonating a bunny here?

It's Official

As of today, my parents are officially divorced.


I know that some really great things have happened this year (like getting pregnant with twins), but I still can't help but think that it's been a really shitty year. Pardon my language, but that's really the only word for it. Two of my grandparents died, my Grandma Sue was diagnosed with a terminal disease and is dying, my parents got divorced, my brother-in-law was deployed to Iraq last week, and to top it all off, I'm living 3,000 miles away from every single person I care about.

Please pray for my parents and for me. I really need to remember that God is sovereign and works all things for our good. I also need to remember that I have everything I need and that He has blessed me beyond what I deserve, which is often extremely hard to remember. It's so easy to see everything that's wrong with your life, and so hard to see all the blessings sometimes. Also, please pray that I will know how to be a support to both of my parents and all of my sisters at this difficult time. It's hard to know how I could best help and support everybody when I am so far away.

The Ortiz Girls in DC

Well, they came and went and we had a fantastic time. I swear, thanks to Rachel, the "Nazi tour guide," they must have seen every single tourist site in the entire city. I got to tag along to a few places like the White House, to the top of the Washington Monument, and to see a Supreme Court case (which was super awesome, I can't believe I waited this long to do that). Most nights, we hung out at our apartment and cooked, played games, or watched a movie. All of us were exhausted by the evening so we usually just took it easy.

Also, can I just say that I have the most wonderful sisters in the entire world. Not only did they come all the way from California to visit me, but while they were here they cooked for me, cleaned my house, rubbed my back, feet and hands, gave me a pedicure, did my hair, went shopping for maternity clothes with me, brought me baby clothes, and just generally waited on me hand and foot. I was in heaven!!

Poor Brandon was invaded by the girls, but I know he enjoyed having them there too... except for maybe in the mornings when he couldn't get a shower because all four of us were hogging the bathroom.

In front of the White House, right after our tour

I took them to the spot where Brandon and I got engaged

We went to Annapolis on Saturday to see the Naval Academy and walk around the town. Here we are on the harbor

On Saturday night, we met up with our great aunt and uncle in Georgetown. The girls hadn't seem them for over 8 years

The girls also got to feel their nephews kick which was really exciting for me. I have been really sad thinking that none of our family members will get to feel the boys kicking or see me when I'm truly pregnant. I'm so glad that my sisters at least got the chance to feel. The next time you all come back, you'll get to hold your new nephews!

Another pregnancy update...

So I had a doctor's appointment last Friday and it went well. It was the first time I didn't get a scolding for anything and my weight gain was right on target again. Everything looks great I'm told. The babies are about 9 inches long and 2 pounds each right now. And they move all the time!! I can feel them kicking, flipping, jumping, and stretching constantly. They certainly are active little boys! My sisters are all so excited to feel their little kicks, they all gather around and fight over who gets to touch my belly.

Next week is the start of the 3rd trimester, I can't believe how quickly the second one flew by! Also, my 3rd trimester will be shorter than normal because twins are born 3-4 weeks earlier than singleton babies. It's impossible to believe that in about 2 1/2 months Brandon and I will be parents! Unfathomable! I've finally gotten used to pregnancy I guess, but it hasn't quite sunk in that my own actual, human babies come at the end of pregnancy. I usually can't think about it because it freaks me out.

Anyways, I've been really sore lately in my lower abs and pelvic region. I asked the doctor about this and she told me that it's because my pelvic bone is stretching out! What?!?! I had never heard that before and I don't see how an entire bone could stretch, but she explained that there's a little piece of cartiledge that holds your pelvis together and it stretches out during the last few months of pregnancy. She also told me that currently both my babies heads are down there putting even more pressure on my pelvic bone and that explains why I'm so incredibly sore all of the time. I have a difficult time rolling over at night or going from sitting to standing because sharp pains shoot through that region whenever I try these moves. I'm also experiencing round ligament pain which is the stretching of your abdominal ligaments... also pretty painful. There's apparently nothing I can do to soothe either of these things.

However I have begun to see a chirpractor again for my generic back pain. I hope this at least improves so I am not in so much pain from sitting at my desk all day. I bought a heating pad too and have plugged it in next to my desk. I'm using it right now and it seems to lessen the back pain significantly. Anyways, enough complaining, here are some pictures from last Friday:

Profile of Baby A

Profile of Baby B

This one is somewhat difficult to make out. If you ignore the large blob in the upper left corner, you can see Baby B rubbing his face. His hand is in a fist over his eye but you can see his little nose and mouth.

These are the feet of Baby B. Also somewhat difficult to see, but if you focus you can see his little legs and that his feet are crossed.

Happy now, Mom?

My sisters are coming TODAY!!!

Whoop Whoop!!

They won't get in until almost midnight tonight, but technically they're still coming today :) I also had another doctor's appointment yesterday but I'll wait to blog about that until I scan in the ultrasound pictures. We finally got some good ones!! I'll try to post them later today.

Well, we've got a lot of cleaning to do and errands to run before tonight, so I better get started!

Late Nights

I am so over working late and running errands every single night. I just want to go home at night like we used to be able to. We honestly have not been home before 9 or 9:30 in almost 2 weeks. I even had to drag myself into the office on Saturday for a few hours. We have so much to do at home, but no time to do it.

Tonight was supposed to be our first night at home, but I just found out that we're expecting votes late this evening so I'll be stuck here again. And we will be gone tomorrow and Friday night too... Ugh, this is exhausting! At this point, I think I'd welcome bed rest...


Update: Just now leaving the office - at 9:40

Happy 22nd Birthday Rachel!!

I miss you and can't wait to see you on Saturday!! Love you!

(sorry the post is a day late, but at least I called you yesterday)