A Big Milestone

Today, I had another ultrasound and doctor's appointment. The babies are doing great! We are 32 weeks along, which is a HUGE milestone in their development. Their weights were as they should be with very little discordance; Lily weighed in at 4.6 and Liam is a bit bigger at 4.9 which means I am carrying just under 9 lbs of baby in me. YIKES! Oh, and I am 165 lbs and measuring 42 weeks. The ultrasound photos were a little more vague as they are getting so huge.


As for me... I am still on bed rest until 35 weeks (like I could do anything anyway). My feet turn blotchy and purple and start to tingle if I am up for more than just a few minutes. Also, I have constant tightening contractions which worsen if I get up. From here on out, I have weekly appointments at the OB and weekly Non-Stress Tests at the Hospital... I'm glad we live so close and Mum really could not be coming at a better time... c'mon Friday! Still... no stretch marks (yet)!

The End of an Era

Well, that might have been a bit dramatic. Today, Abigail and Paul had their last football class of the year. Abby was excited because she came home with a medal, a brownie, yellow candy and a certificate. Paul was excited because, even though he sacrificed watching a Manchester United game for it (that's a BIG deal), United still won their game. I was excited because they brought home an egg McMuffin for me. But seriously, this has been such a great experience for both of them and the big coup for Abby was making friends with Avery... the girl who brings her own pink ball. Abby had her eye on it since day one and finally, after making friends, they shared it. What a funny kid.

Thank You

We have been receiving such generous help lately, it is really overwhelming. The woman across (or "acrost" as they say in Utah) the street has been bringing us a feast every Thursday this month and Abby has been so impressed by this act of service that she insisted on writing her own thank-you note. She started asking me to spell out every single letter and I, being busy with a crossword puzzle, told her to sound everything out and just write. I went back to my puzzle and about 5 minutes later, she announced she was finished (I, being the ever-attentive mother I am, had forgotten what it was she was even supposed to be doing by that time). I cried when I saw it... she really isn't a baby anymore is she? I had to scan it before we delivered it (which brought more tears from the recipient). Here it is in all its glory:


I love the part where she forgot how to spell "the" and just scribbled something in. Also, I was surprised at how well she was able to phonetically spell words she had never spelled before. My baby is all grown up.

When It's Appropriate to Use the Word Hate

I believe it is appropriate to use the word "hate" when talking about mayonnaise, bad drivers, getting needles put in your arms, yappy little dogs, sin and David Blaine.

Our Night at Labor and Delivery

Last night, my contractions, although not painful, were getting pretty close, so I went to the hospital to make sure everything was okay. Luckily, it is only 2 blocks from my house. Well, it turns out, the contractions were pretty regular at 5 minutes apart so after monitoring me and the babies for a while, they decided to do a cervix check and a fetal fibronectin test. The great news is that I'm still not dilated at all and the fFN test came back negative so that means no delivery for at least 2 weeks. Whoo! Also, the babies were so active they kept kicking off the monitors so the nurse was not worried about them at all... little stinkers. The bad news is that I have a little infection which is what they think was causing all of the contractions in the first place so, I'm on an antibiotic and hopefully that will keep those puppies at bay.

So, after a long evening, we got home about 12:30 AM and found my friend Heather, who had been watching Abigail, had cleaned and organised our living room and kitchen top to bottom. I wanted to cry. I am so fortunate to have a monopoly on the best friends around. Hopefully we will not have any other scares. The babies will be born perfectly healthy at 36 or 37 weeks and will already be on a good schedule and will never cry and eat perfectly well, etc. etc.

Two Days of Gourmet Food... and even more perks!

Last Tuesday, I had an OB appt. and was put on "chair rest" (or at least, that's what I call it). He said I wasn't on bed rest, but I can't really leave the house, can't cook or clean (that's the same), I have to keep my feet up for the majority of the day and I'm not supposed to go anywhere (did I mention that?). So the difference? I guess I just don't have to lie in bed all day. I can sit in a chair all day. He showed me how far off the scale I was compared to a singleton pregnancy (I'm 30 weeks and measuring 37... that's how far along I was when I had Abby! And I am now, officially, the heaviest I have ever been- 157 lbs. I was 156 when I gave birth to Abby). Oh and I have braxton hicks (practice contractions) about every 1/2 hour now so they are a little "concerned".


Here's the food part: People in my ward, Paul and my wonderful friends have been keeping us in delicious food for a couple of weeks, but the last couple of days, I have eaten some of the most amazing food of my life! Maybe part of that is that eating is one of the few things I can still do... VERY well I might add. So, Paul made a delicious stir-fry on Wednesday night with brown rice- mmmmmm. The next day, my amazing cook friend Jenny brought her kids over to play with Abby and made the best, no THE BEST sandwich I have ever eaten: BLT's (with a real garden tomato) on home-baked sourdough bread and the spread? Well, it was this cream cheese pesto thing she (and I- just because I hate mayo so she substituted the cream cheese) made. I cannot explain how wonderful this sandwich was! Then, that very night (last night) was my monthly Cooking Club meeting. Now I know I'm not supposed to go anywhere, but seriously, a girl has to eat, and I just went from my car seat to a chair in a house and my wonderful friends brought the food to me. I have never been happier to just sit and eat. From the tomato tart and bruschetta appetizers to the roast turkey (as in the turkey was roasted and carved) apple and brie panini main course to the fresh from the back yard apple pie for dessert (plus the side dishes and peach lemonade)- all of it local produce- even the turkey! It made all of the heartburn I had all last night (even though I loaded up on Zantac and Maalox) totally worth it! Oh! Don't think Abby and Paul were left out... the lovely neighbour brought over tons of food for their dinner which, I'm sure we'll be finishing up tonight. So, this morning, I am reveling in the left-overs, when Jenny calls and says she is coming over to bring pumpkin pancakes with homemade spicy syrup (it was even warm!). If you would like the recipes, check out our Cooking Club blog by clicking HERE.

Ewww.

Does anyone else find this picture creepy? I mean, I know it's fake, but I see it on pregnant people websites all over the place and it is NOT cute or adorable... it's gross. I actually think something like this happened to me last night and I couldn't take a photo because I was bending over in pain trying to push that little limb back where it should be. Also, there are a lot more blue veins and fuzzy hair on my belly... and my belly button sticks out more... oh, and I'm 10 times fatter.

I'm Making Cookies Tonight!!

...or eating some, at least! Monday, I failed my 1-hour Glucose test for Gestational Diabetes which meant Wednesday, I had to take the three-hour one.

This is why I hated the 1-hour test: It involved drinking this gross sugary drink they CLAIMED tasted like oranges in five minutes and after one hour, they took a phial of blood. That, of course gave me a bruise on my arm because of my ridiculously hard-to-find veins. This is all fine and dandy except I had already done this entire test the week before BUT the idiotic nurse did not know which form to fill out and then tried to get blood (a half-hour late I might add... on a timed test) in four places (she only stuck me twice but had to dig around) and in the end, did not file ANY paperwork, so the test was never even done.

This is why I hated the 3-hour test:
It involved drinking this gross sugary drink- twice as potent as the one before but the same size- they CLAIMED tasted like Sprite in five minutes. I had to go in fasting. It required me to give FOUR phials of blood at one hour intervals. The nurses were good and used the littlest needle, but I only have a couple of places to draw from; one of which was already bruised from Monday so I ended up leaving the place looking like a pregnant junkie! It's a nice look.

The good news is:
I PASSED so I don't have to change my diet to keep the babies healthy! My cookie cravings can continue guilt-free! Thank goodness.

Dinner with Paul's Family

We were so excited to find out that Paul's Auntie Pam was coming over to visit from Manchester. Last night, we met her, Aunt Sylvia and Uncle Steve (Paul's Mum's sister and husband who live in Bountiful) at the Brick Oven for dinner. The food was good, Steve/Sylvia reminisced about their time in Provo when Steve was attending BYU which was fun and Abby even behaved rather well, so we were all able to have a really nice time. Two things of note: 1.) Of course, there was the obligatory "where are you guys from?" comments which are always followed by "I know someone from England". 2.) They were already seated when we got there and had obviously underestimated my "new" size as they had never seen me pregnant before... well, that and the fact that I am just a huge hippo. Everyone was worried because they had been seated at a booth and after one look at me, were really nice and said we could move to a table. LUCKILY, I fit in the booth with about 1 1/2 inches to spare... glad they came this month... it would have had to be uncomfortable chairs at a table for sure. All in all, a great family night in which the only real problem was that it didn't last long enough.

Start Smart Soccer

Today, Abby and Paul started Start Smart Soccer; Provo's program for 3 and 4 year-olds to begin learning football skills with a parent (Paul is doing it with her for obvious reasons). She has been counting down the sleeps left until her class and today, she insisted on wearing her football clothes all day; even though her class didn't start until 6:00 pm. She was stoked about the shirt she got and she looked so darling. She did really well on some skills and could definitely improve on most, but she kept on going until the very end when 1/2 the kids had already had enough and quit. I was the photographer and warning: I obviously missed something in the instruction manual because it seems like they were all taken in soft lighting... any tips? Ed? Jeri? Anyway, here are some highlights:

Anything for Grandma

Here are the matching hair girls!

My dad decided to take Abigail to Honk’s $1 store where it's "Always an Adventure" for some bonding time. He told her she could get one thing and when they got there, she quickly decided on this paint set and carried it around the store as they continued down the other isles. He tried to interest her in other things, but when her mind is made up, that's it; she was getting the paints. When they got to the isle with the mugs, she thought of Grandma, got excited, and really wanted to get her one. Grandpa reminded her her she could only get one thing. I can imagine the dilemma as she looked at her beloved paint set and then the mugs and then, finally, decided to put the paints back as she said to Grandpa, “Anything for Grandma!” Grandpa got teary at how sincere she was (he’s getting emotional in his old age)- she hadn't even considered asking for both; she just decided she would rather give something to someone than get something for herself. Of course, he quickly broke down and said she could get 2 things so she get the paints as well as the rooster and sunflower mug she picked out for Grandma. When they got home, Abigail was so excited to give Grandma her mug. Her excitement was precious. Just when you think you've failed as a parent, your child goes and does something like this. She really is amazing (and, for the record, so are my parents).