(Almost) Legal

Remember a reaaaaalllly long time ago when we talked about how we were going to change our last names? We made a combination of our two last names and we were going to do it?

Yeah, that was a long time ago, wasn't it? (4 months)

Let's just say between the pregnancy, my procrastination of doing unpleasant tasks that involve bureaucracy and Chicken's travel schedule, that little 'task' got pushed back over and over until finally we looked at the calendar and said "Holy Shit".

If we actually wanted to be able to write our new family name on the birth certificate (and having no idea when these babies are going to arrive), we needed to get our asses in gear NOW.

Thankfully, Chicken took a couple of days off over the last couple of weeks to make some trips down to the courthouse. When you have a partner that works out of town all week...well, it does make it hard to get those M-F local things done!

Last week we spent over 3 hours at the courthouse getting the initial paperwork done, paid a $65 fee and today had our court date. After 2 hours waiting on a hard wooden bench in one of the most depressing rooms ever constructed, we were seen by--get this--a judge who told us she was a married lesbian! What Luck! She congratulated us and told us she and her partner had tried to combine their names, but couldn't come up with anything attractive. We got a big compliment from her on our newly combined last name and a big laugh when I told her it was either that or Pissanucker. If you can figure out our previous last names with that clue, well kuddos to you.

Now, due to some archaic law that has been on the books for like, a million years (which the judge apologized for), we have to spend $150 to take out an ad in a small neighborhood newspaper with a legal notice of our name change.

After it goes to press, we take the notice back to the courthouse (and stand in line again for gawd knows how long) and prove that we did it and then, it's LEGAL.

In order to change our names at the SS office, the DMV and our passports--we have to buy certified copies of our name change at $6 a pop each. Urgh.

Moral of the story? When your partner is ready to legally marry you, make sure she is also ready to commit to the new last name. We have had this last name picked out since before our wedding in California and IF Chicken had just been willing to write in the new last name on the line that day--we would not have had to go through any of this hassle--plus the added expense (@$275 total). Do not do what we did! Save yourself the hassle!!

At the end of the day, we're getting it done and we'll be able to write our new family name on the birth certificates which is huge, so it's all worth it. It wasn't quick and easy--at least not in NYC--but it's almost done!

Tired, but Proud

First of all--thanks for all of the comments on the baby bottles.

I have no idea what a 'set' is for the breast feeding (and I had to look up phlanges)?? What does this mean? What do I need to go buy? My god, I'm clueless.

I feel like I've researched just about everything endlessly except how to actually FEED the babies. Well, at least I've got some time to figure it out and you marvelous ladies to help me along.

Anyway, it's been a fun, albeit exhaustive, holiday weekend. Since we spent the night with relatives on Thanksgiving night, it has taken me two full days to recuperate. I was hesitant to sleep in someone else's bed given that sleep doesn't come so easily these days, but I wanted to spend more time with our family during these last child-free days that we all have.

I won't say it was a mistake, but it was exactly as I'd feared: a too-soft bed. That will do me in on a non-pregnant day with my lower back problems. Now with being heavily pregnant, I almost burst into tears when we got in bed because I knew how much pain I would be in from sleeping in this bed.

Normally in the morning I have an amazing amount of energy, but the morning after sleeping in this bed, I felt like I'd been hit by a bus. But what can you do? You smile and say, "yes, just fine" when they ask you how you slept.

We have a nice, firm mattress. Some might call it hard. It is perfect for me and the rest of the weekend I have visited it often in the afternoon to get an extra nap in. I love my bed. I love being back home.

Chicken has done so much to help out around the house--she has full Chicken nesting going on and it's amazing! She is a non-stop cleaning machine and has taken full advantage of my exhaustive state this weekend to throw out a lot of things. Normally, I would balk and want to be in control of this process, but honestly I am so tired I don't care enough anymore. Throw it out! She love hearing me say those words.

This morning was the first morning I felt remotely back to my normal self and we took advantage of my energy to make a quick run to BuhByeBebe for some returns. Then, we walked down to the West Village to meet a friend for brunch, followed by a lesiurely walk through the WV and on to the East Village on our way home.

The day was perfect with the sun shining and people out and about in the parks and on the sidewalks. I felt so thankful that I am having such a healthy twin pregnancy.

I am slowing down so much these days and I feel incredibly proud of myself when I can walk 2.7 miles in one afternoon! Granted, I was about to pee my pants by the time we got home, I needed a nap and I haven't left the house since...but STILL.

I'm 28 weeks and I'm still walking all over this city and I'm damn proud of myself. Tired, but proud.

I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday weekend!

Questions About Baby Bottles

Can someone please tell me what I'm doing? We've got 3 types of bottles because I've heard so much about how some babies will take this one, but not that one, etc etc.

The Dr. Browns were a shower gift, the Avent were given to us by twin moms as were the Born Free.

There are so many pieces with each one! I had no idea!

We washed them all in the dishwasher and have one of those handy baskets for the tiny parts...and we've made room in the kitchen cabinets for all of the new baby dish gear.

BUT--how do you keep the parts separated for the different baby bottles???

The only thing I can come up with so far is to wash the brands all separately and then put the parts in a 3 large ziploc baggies.

This is fine for now--but is this practical when I am actually feeding twins all day and all night??

I'm planning to breast feed, but I know I'm going to have to pump as well. The bottles will probably be used as a backup if I can't double breast feed. Not that I'm not going to try, but I want to be realistic about this whole thing. If a baby has to take my breast milk from a bottle, well then that's how it's going to be, you know?

So any helpful suggestions would be most welcome! Thanks!

So Thankful

Thanksgiving was great and I spent it with some amazing people. When I am surrounded by Chicken's family, I am reminded of how much love all of these people have for each other and how they support and accept us.

My own family is nothing like that and this pregnancy has weeded out even more of my family members that I have mentally checked off. More on that later...

I am so thankful to have married into this amazing family and that there are so many of us pregnant at the same time (there are now 4 of us pregnant, 3 due within 30 days of each other, the other one due in June).

Next Thanksgiving, in addition to the 5 little kids that are already part of our extended family, we will have 5 babies under one year old!

It's going to be insane, but I can't wait for our children to have the most amazing people to grow up around. I see how close Chicken is to her family and cousins--again, it's the complete opposite of how I grew up--and I can't wait to give them the experience of a real family.

It's all the most amazing gift I've been given and I couldn't be more thankful.

What a Difference a Year Can Make

There is so much I couldn't comprehend from last year to this. I was losing faith and going on overdrive, wondering what was the point anymore and feeling like it was never going to work. There were so many points I wondered if I would ever get and stay pregnant. I didn't--at least not like I thought I would--with my own eggs.

But life has a funny way of working out sometimes. Anytime I would discuss giving up and calling it quits, Chicken kept me going.

I'm lucky, I know that. I'm so thankful to have the opportunity to be pregnant. It's what I always wanted. I never thought it would take me 20 years to get here--but that was my life course. Twenty years is a long time to wait for something.

When I was trying to get pregnant and wondering if it would ever work, I was nervous about carrying someone else's eggs--even my partner's. I was worried a baby not genetically related to me would never really feel like mine, that I would always be just a surrogate.

But as soon as I got pregnant--I have never felt anything other than fiercely protective over MY babies, OUR babies. Whatever fear I had washed away the moment I saw that positive control line. Nothing else mattered.

There's too much pain out there in the land of TTC. Too many years trying, too much time lost, too much money spent, too many miscarriages, suffering, loss and grieving.

I want a successful pregnancy for all of you. I wish I could take away the pain, or pay your medical bills or even give you a few good eggs (of Chicken's--mine are crap). I can't.

But every post I read of another loss, another BFN, another dark day, makes me say a little prayer for you--to the universe, to the fertility goddess, to anyone who might be listening.

I know how hard this is and want you to know that. I haven't forgotten. I don't think I ever will.

So That's Who I Used to Be

Like many people, I've been re-reading part of my blog from last year.

I was amazed at the different person who posted last year. That person had a helluva lot of energy! It seems unreal.

http://pufferandthebabyfish.blogspot.com/2008/11/overly-ambitious.html

Today, I was lucky enough to have energy--but nothing like last year. I did manage to make:

2 dozen pumpkin muffins

2 smoked salmon/leek/dill quiches

1 apple cake

caramelized brussels sprouts with bacon (Chicken had to do this one, I couldn't do anymore!)

I took my time throughout the day and also managed to wrap a few gifts, get packed for the overnight Thanksgiving trip and write a few thank you notes, oh and take a little nap. I have not left the house and I am perfectly fine with that.

But, I have to tell you: my body aches like crazy and I'm DONE!

It's so frustrating that it's taken all day to do so little.

However, my plan to get as much done as possible in the second trimester has certainly paid off, because now that I've hit the third trimester the difference in how I'm feeling is huge (and I am huge as you can see from the belly shots!). We are slowly ticking off the to-do list and I have confidence that we'll make our Christmas deadline. It's all coming together, especially now that Chicken has been home for over a week. What I wouldn't give to have a wife who comes home every night.

I'll be very interested in seeing what I get done the day before Thanksgiving NEXT year with two 10 month old twins in the house. Wow. Now that's a crazy thought.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with lots of love, laughter and of course, great food!

Pregnant with Twins Belly Shot (weeks 25, 26, 27)

It's time for belly shots!

25 weeks pregnant with twins, 133 lbs

26 weeks pregnant with twins, 134 lbs

Measuring at 35 weeks with a singleton

27 weeks pregnant with twins, 137 lbs.

I am a little in disbelief that I'm this big and I have at least TEN more weeks to go (that would be a 37 week due date). I've gained 30 lbs now, so if I gain a pound a week for the next 10 weeks, I'll be right on target for the 40 lb weight gain. And if I gain a little bit more...I'm OK with that, too. As long as the twins are big, healthy and ready to thrive in this world, I'll do whatever I have to do!

I See You Baby

Shakin' that Ass...

Shakin' that Ass...

Both of the bat babies have decided that it's really comfortable to curl up with their butts poking as far out as possible on either side of my belly button. They move around a bit, but mostly it's just these huge ball of pressure. Sometimes when they get like this (not always at the same time), I gently put my hand on their little butt and give them a push telling them very nicely that Mommy does not enjoy this little ass display thank you very much.

Nevertheless, I am really enjoying being pregnant. No matter what I might complain about or the bloody noses, the aches and pains, I really am extremely grateful to be given the opportunity to breathe life into these two human beings. I can't wait to meet them. But not just yet!

Meme

We were sort of tagged by Journey Towards our Baby as she included everyone doing NaBloPoMo. It looks like so many people have been tagged, so I'm tagging everyone who isn't doing NaBloPoMo and hasn't already been tagged!

Chicken and I answered these together.

1. What is the color of your toothbrush?

P: I have no idea, but when it's time to brush my teeth, I know which one is mine.

C: I believe it's purplish

2. Name one person who made you smile today.

P: Chicken

C: Pufferfish

3. What were you doing at 8 am this morning?

P and C: Sleeping

4. What were you doing 45 minutes ago?

P and C: Watching the Amazing Race

5. What is your favorite candy bar?

P: Ritter Sport Bar with Cookie center

C: Either Snickers or Twix

6. Have you ever been to a strip club?

P: Yes, many times and have even had a few lap dances!

C: No

7. What is the last thing you said aloud?

P: Have you ever been to a strip club?

C: Have I really never been to a strip club? Um, no.

8. What is your favorite ice cream?

P: I'm an equal opportunity ice creamist. I like so many flavors...but a pure vanilla bean ranks highly.

C: Heath bar crunch or butter pecan; neither of which Puffer ever lets me get.

9. What was the last thing you had to drink?

P: Water

C: A glass of milk

10. Do you like your wallet?

P: I guess, it's robin's egg blue and it does the trick. It's really old.

C: It's OK

11. What was the last thing you ate?

P: Butternut squash turkey chili

C: A bagel with cream cheese, capers and lox with scrambled eggs.

12. Have you bought any new clothing items this week?

P and C: No, we're not very big shoppers.

13. The last sporting event you watched?

P: If I watched a sporting event it was purely by accident. I cannot recall any such accident happening in recent memory.

C: A little bit of the Knicks game yesterday.

14. What is your favorite flavor of popcorn?

P: I don't really like popcorn, those little kernel bits get stuck on the back of my tongue and make me gag.

C: The kind with a lot of salt!

15. Who is the last person you sent a text message to?

P: Jennifer, to tell her we were running late

C: Puffer, to tell her we are not doing Sushi Sunday tonight

16. Ever go camping?

P: Yes and I love it, but haven't been in years.

C: Yes, it was fine.

17. Do you take vitamins daily?

P: Oh so many.

C: No, but I probably should take a multi

18. Do you go to church every Sunday?

P: I never go to church, especially on Sunday

C: No

19. Do you have a tan?

P: a tiny bit, left over from the Mexican babymoon

C: ditto

20. Do you prefer Chinese food over pizza?!

P: Pizza, please

C: Pizza Pizza

21. Do you drink your soda with a straw?

P: I don't really drink soda at all, but when I used to, I would drink it from a straw if I was walking down the street at the same time. Otherwise, no.

C: Sometimes, if it's on ice.

22. What did your last text message say?

P: So sorry, we r running late. C u @ 12.30

C: Do you want me to order something for dinner?

23. What are you doing tomorrow?

P: Writing thank you notes until my hand falls off, going grocery shopping for Thanksgiving, going swimming, editing some photos...I have no idea what else. Taking a nap probably.

C: Going to work--but in NYC, so I don't have to get up at 4:30am to catch a flight!

24. Favorite color?

P: That lovely caribbean blue

C: Um, I don't know. I don't really have one.

25. Look to your left; what do you see?

P: Cat on a blanket, Chicken with a laptop

C: The rest of the couch and the wall

26. What color is your watch?

P: Haven't worn a watch for years

C: I don't have one

27. What do you think of when you hear “Australia”?

P: Nicole Kidman

C: I think of my childhood (Chicken lived there as a young child)

28. Would you strip for money?

P: Been there, done that, but only for one night and I was awful. It was totally worth it to get behind the scenes.

C: Hmmm, no. Well, it depends on how much

29. Do you go in a fast food place or just hit the drive thru?

P: The only times I've eaten fast food lately have been at the breakfast sandwiches at McD's (1st trimester madness) and I went in.

C: Neither, I don't really go to fast food places.

30. What is your favorite number?

P: 88

C: 9

31. Who’s the last person you talked to on the phone?

P: Chicken

C: Puffer

32. Any plans today?

P: We had our maternity photo shoot today and it was a long day (but fun!)

C: Yes, I went with Puffer to the maternity shoot

33. In how many states have you lived?

P: 7--MO, KS, TX, FL, MA, NJ and NY

C: 3--NY, NJ and MA

34. Biggest annoyance right now?

P: The amount of work to be done in this apartment before the babies come and the fact that I can't do it all by myself while Chicken is at work.

C: That the apartment isn't any bigger and it's a mess with baby stuff all over the place

35. Last song listened to?

P: Something by Coldplay that was playing during the photo shoot

C: Ditto

36. Can you say the alphabet backwards?

P: Never tried, but I probably could

C: It would be difficult, but I could

37. Do you have a maid service clean your house?

P: Yes, we have someone come every two weeks.

C: Yes, well a cleaning lady. Is that the same thing?

38. Favorite pair of shoes you wear all the time?

P: Right now it's my new pair of Ug.gs. My pregger feet are loving them!

C: No, but I wear sneakers a lot on the weekends.

39. Are you jealous of anyone?

P: People who get pregnant on the first try, friends who became internet millionaires overnight

C: Yes, Madonna.

40. Is anyone jealous of you?

P: Yeah, probably

C: Madonna, lol.

41. Do you love anyone?

P: Loads

C: Yes, Puffer and my babies!

42. Do any of your friends have children?

P: Quite a few

C: Yes, mostly big homo families

43. What do you usually do during the day?

P: It varies, but I don't have a job right now except baking babies.

C: Work

44. Do you hate anyone that you know right now?

P: Hate is a strong word, but there are people I strongly dislike. Hate is a heavy thing to carry around.

C: No

45. Do you use the word hello daily?

P: Nope, I'm kind of a "hi" person

C: I think so, mostly when I answer the phone

46. What color is your car?

P and C: No cars in this family

47. What size wedding ring do you wear?

P and C: I haven't got a clue

48. Are you thinking about someone right now?

P: Yes, I'm wondering which body part Shadow Boxer just stuck out near my belly button because we have never felt that before!

C: Eminem because he's on TV. I'm thinking he's an asshole, but he's a pretty good rapper.

49. Have you ever been to Six Flags?

P: OMG, I'm a roller coaster whore. I love Six Flags.

C: Yes, I like Scream Machine!

50. How did you get your worst scar?

P: I was in the second grade and was racing Rhonda G to get to the turtle toy on the playground. It was this hulky piece of metal with a coil on the bottom and the turtle had handlebars and you climbed up and rode it back and forth. Rhonda G's class always got out before ours and she would hog it for the entire recess even though you were supposed to count to 100 and give the other kid a turn. She never did. This day my class got out first and I raced to the turtle only to bang my chin on it and I had to be rushed to the hospital and get stitches. I never got to ride the turtle and the kids made fun of me and called me "stitches" for weeks.

C: I was taking out the garbage and there was a lid from a tin can and it cut my leg.

Bat Babies, GD and Iron (again)

I had my 26 week, 4 day checkup and u/s on Wednesday and am pleased as punch to report that everything is going textbook perfectly!

Chicklet is still vertex (head down) which has been the preferred position from the very beginning.

Shadow Boxer has been in just about every position but vertex, but for now has decided to try it out!

Thus, the thumpers are now being called "Bat Babies".

The Dr. told me not to get tooooo excited because they have plenty of time and space to try out new sleeping arrangements. But since SB has never been vertex, I can't help but get excited that they are both head down.

Granted, of the three options that are available to me:

• Squeeze two watermelons out of my vagina
• Squeeze one watermelon out only to have an emergency C-section for the 2nd baby OR
• Have someone cut my stomach open, reach in and haul out my babies

None of these sound very appealing. But, if I have to choose one, I'll take all vaginal please.

We won't be able to tell which way it's going to go until much, much later. Possibly up to 34 weeks, so for now, I just encourage them to keep up the upside down business.

We were able to get great measurements this time:

Chicklet, in the right corner, HB is 144, weighing in at 2 lbs, 3 oz

Shadow Boxer, in the left, HB is 154, weighing in at 2 lbs, 4 oz

Chicken and I are thrilled with these numbers b/c these kids are keeping up with the singletons in their class! I'd just like to say it again, my old OB who gave me a hard time about early weight gain can BITE ME. I know what I'm doing, thank you very much.

In other testing news, my blood pressure was 110/60 and no protein in the urine, so no risk of preeclampsia.

My cervix is tight and closed at 4.08, so no risk of babies coming out!

I passed my gestational diabetes test with 87 and believe it or not, I'm not anemic as my iron levels were 35.6.

I guess I'm just entering a new phase of the twin pregnancy (almost 3rd trimester) where I can expect to really slow down and be more tired. I'm learning to pace myself and rest up, but it's not easy as dialing it down doesn't come naturally to me!

Oh and by the way--I'm measuring at 35 weeks!!! I'm fucking HUGE, people.

Only Seven?

You know you're very pregnant and probably deficient in iron when you open your menu at the Vietnamese lunch place and the first thing you see is, "Seven Courses of Beef, $32" and you think, "YES. Yes, this is the answer to everything I've always wanted in life."

And then you remember you used to be a vegetarian and it all seems so bizarre and distant and why would anyone not want Seven Courses of BEEF?? Who was that Veggie Puff?

I got to have lunch with this lovely blogger today, who laughed at my giddy delight over the beef extravaganza. I did not order it. But I did have BBQ beef vermicelli with pork spring rolls. Oh heavenly YUM.

In other news, another nose bleed. I came this close to taking a photo for y'all. Maybe next time.

Did I Jinx Myself?

With that last post?

Because I was just sitting on the couch when I felt something....slide, roll, slip? (what's the word I'm looking for here...?) out of my nose and all over my shirt.

That would be blood steadily streaming out of my left nostril. Always the left, never the right. And that my friends makes no sense at all, because if there was ever a nostril that should be bleeding it should be the right. Ahem.

So, me and the neti pot? Well, I still made it for 2 weeks without a nosebleed.

In the meantime, I'll just be here looking pretty in my Ugg.s, baggy sweats, blood stained Tshirt and toilet paper shoved up my nose.

Neti Pots and Nose Bleeds

Have you heard of pregnancy rhinitis? You can read all about it here, but basically it's that stuffed up, congested feeling that commonly plagues pregnant women starting in the 2nd trimester.

I've never suffered from any sort of sinus problems or nasal congestion before, so I was quite surprised when--like clockwork--soon after my 2nd trimester started, I became a stuffed up mess. The breathing was really only a problem when I'm trying to sleep, so I started wearing b.reathe right strips which have been lifesaver, because it's hard enough just getting comfortable to sleep as you get bigger and bigger.

And then...about a month ago....I started getting nosebleeds. Again, I'd heard about this, but didn't think it would happen to me! Boy, there is nothing like waking up to a face full of blood covering your pillow and sheets to quickly realize it CAN happen to you and it IS.

My nosebleeds were mostly in the morning right as I woke up, but that doesn't mean they didn't come unexpectedly during the afternoon or even while I was showering (it looked like I'd killed someone in there when I blew my nose and sprayed blood all over the walls. Lovely. Hygienic, too!)

I didn't know what to do, so I mostly just walked around with a wad of tissue shoved up my left nostril. Oh yeah...always the left, never the right?!

I finally decided I needed to invest in a cool mist humidifier. We were going to get one for the babies anyway, so might as well do it now. So here I am at C.VS and what do I see? A neti pot!

I can't believe these things are being sold at places like CV.S now. We've come a long way since I thought they were only sold at 'hippy like type' places.

But what really caught my eye was the claim on the packaging that it helped with rhinitis of pregnancy. Hmmm....couldn't hurt to try it, could it?

Here I am, two weeks later, using the neti pot every night and guess what? Not a single nosebleed!! Going from a nosebleed a day to zero is AMAZING!

It's also helped with some congestion, although not enough to ditch the nose strips at night.

And another bonus is that I've heard it can help keeping away the flu as you are flushing out tiny invaders every night!

$7.00 was money well spent.

Iron Update

Thanks everyone for your helpful comments and suggestions.

Giggleblue and Bree: Floradix is what I've been taking. I agree, tastes nasty as hell. I've already been taking an Omega 3/DHA since week 6, so that is covered.

Adventures in BabyMaking: I hadn't thought about thalassemia, but I will ask about that at the appt on Wednesday.

ReproGenius: I eat a lot of organic yogurt, at least one serving a day. Does it have to be a specific probiotic? I thought all natural yogurt had them, but I could be wrong.

Kate: That's a good point. I had already taken the supplement today, but I'll lay off Tuesday and Wednesday. I doubt that 2 days of the supplement would have much of an effect on the reading, but better to get the most accurate reading possible.

After doing a bit of research and taking into account that I need to try to have Vitamin C with the iron, but not have dairy within a 2 hour window (tricky, tricky because I make a smoothie every morning for breakfast), I came up with the following plan:

I've been drinking a glass of SuperFood A.mazing Grass powder mixed with OJ every morning, so I'll take the Iron with that and have a breakfast that doesn't contain dairy--saving the smoothie for an afternoon snack.

Easy enough, right?

Wrong.

Because I'm on thyroid meds as well. Those you take first thing in the morning and I cannot eat ANY food within one hour (try that pregnant!!) and I learned you cannot take Iron within FOUR hours of the thyroid meds.

Urgh.

SO. I guess I have my regular smoothie and brekkie, regular lunch where I take my prenatal and DHA/Omega 3 and then set an alarm for two hours later to remind me it's time to take the Green Juice and Iron.

Then, regular dinner at least two hours after that, with my calcium, magnesium, zinc and baby aspirin taken at bedtime.

Not too complicated. Ha.

Does that sound right? Suggestions??

I had no idea the how's and when's and what's to eat during pregnancy would end up this mind-boggling!

As far as the constipation goes--I was not doing the smoothie or the green juice on a daily basis when I was experiencing this problem. I'm hoping these two things keep it going in the right direction. Otherwise, I have also been given the green light on flax seed oil gel caps if needed.

BTW--I have felt better in the past 2 days--not sure if it's the added supplement + beef or I've finally recovered from my past week's mommy visit exhaustion or if it's all of the above combined together, but it was really nice not to feel like I was going to faint today. Dare I say, I felt a bit back to normal.

25 Week Recap

How Far Along? 25 weeks

Total Weight Gained/Loss? +26 pounds

Maternity Clothes: Yes, on the bottoms, no on the tops. I think I will need some bigger sweaters before the babies come as I can tell I'm going to run out of room with mine and Chicken's soon.

My shoes are starting to fit tighter, so I got a pair of Ug.gs this week which are great!

Sleep? Had too many early mornings this week where no amount of tossing and turning could get me back to sleep. Good thing for naps.

Aches and Pains? Massive fatigue this week after my mom left. I packed too much in with traveling upstate, 2 baby showers, a family dinner, my mom's visit and re-organizing the house. It took me 5 days until I recovered from all of that and felt like myself again.

Best Moments of the Week? Getting a lot of repair work done in our apartment, putting the cribs together, washing all of the baby clothing, etc, moving all of the furniture in our apt so that there is room for baby gear, ordering the dresser/changing table.

Putting on a skirt and tall boots (which made me feel so pretty after living in sweats for the week ) and getting out one night to go to my friend's art gallery opening.

Movement: We've got a whole lot of thumping going on. It's fun to watch my stomach rock and roll.

Food Craving: I haven't really had any food cravings the entire pregnancy. What I have enjoyed is eating more of the food that I would normally limit myself on. For instance, I love the cereal Quake.r O.ak Squares. But I rarely buy them, b/c I I find the cost of +$5 for a box of cereal completely ridiculous. However, for the last couple of months, I've wanted them and I've bought them!

Food Aversions: None.

Morning sickness? None.

Gender: It's either a boy or a girl. Or two of each.

Labor Signs: Nope.

Belly Button: Top half out, bottom half in.

What I miss: My cat snuggling up with me. He has no lap to sleep on anymore as my belly is always in the way. Poor thing.

What I'm looking forward to: My 26 week appt and finding out what the thumpers are weighing, dinner with good friends, Chicken coming home for almost two whole weeks, getting a lot of things done in the apartment, our maternity photo shoot next weekend.

Weekly Wisdom: Neti pots are great for congestion and relief of nosebleeds.

Milestones: Still able to walk just about everywhere I need to go, I can still tie my shoes, shave my legs, go grocery shopping, climb stairs and carry a load of laundry! So far, so good!

Got Iron?

I think I might have found out what's going on with me and I believe the culprit is iron deficiency.

When I had my 24 week checkup, I asked them if they would check my iron levels, but they said they did this at 26 weeks. In retrospect, maybe I should have pushed and had them do it that week. But, I figured, I was at a high risk specialist, they are the experts and know what they are doing, right?

Over a month ago, I had bought some liquid, organic iron supplement from Whole Paycheck because I wanted to make sure I was getting enough. But, even though it said it was a non-constipating formula, that same week, for the first time in my pregnancy I started suffering the effects of "what happens when you can't poo".

Puffer no like that effect.

I thought well hell--I don't even know if I'm lacking in iron. Why am I putting myself through hard-to-poo hell if maybe everything is OK??

So, I haven't really taken much of it in weeks. Plus, it tastes like complete pukey-gag.

However, I seem to be exhibiting ALL of the classic signs of pregnancy anemia: fatigue, dizziness, lack of energy, shortness of breath and heart palpitations. And it's been a little scary.

So, it's back to the pukey-gag supplement and we had steak fajitas for dinner last night and....I have my 26 week check this Wednesday, so the iron will be checked (as well as the GD test--YIKES!) and then we'll know.

Until then, hopefully the extra boost of iron will help me to feel better. I hope!

Some Days are Better Than Others

This has been a really challenging week. Most of the time, when people ask me how I'm doing or feeling, I say "great!" because I honestly have felt great the majority of this pregnancy.

Right now it's not going so well.

I don't know if it's the culmination of events starting with my mom coming last week and we quickly started in on house projects, followed by an exhausting weekend of travel/family/baby showers, then continued on with more house projects OR if I'm just starting to get to that stage of my pregnancy where things are going to get harder. Or both.

But, today has sucked.

I stayed up last night waiting for Chicken's flight--which was 2 hours late. By the time we got to bed it was almost 2am. She woke up 5 hours later and that woke me up and I tossed and turned forever trying to fall back asleep. I need sleep so badly and I am having a hard time getting good sleep. I finally gave up and got up to have breakfast and try to get some things done, but only 4 hours later I was dying to keep my eyes open and had to go take a nap.

Except that I couldn't lay down without feeling like I was going to vomit. This has been happening from time to time. What do you call this? If I eat and then don't stay up in an upright position for hours, the food feels like it's just piled in the back of my throat if I lay down. Does this have a name? Is this happening to anyone else?

I stayed in bed for 3 hours alternating between sitting up reading and trying to lay down, but no luck. I never got that nap and only frustrated myself every time I had to sit up and burp it all out.

We were supposed to have dinner with friends tonight--a dinner that was very hard to plan and has been in the works for months trying to get everyone's schedules to coordinate. Instead, here I am, in the same clothes I woke up in (OK, I am wearing my Ug.gs boots as slippers--I never want to take them off but I've not worn them outside yet) wondering when I can try to go back to bed. Urgh.

Chicken is home and I am so happy she's here, but she's stressed out with her job and doesn't have much time to help me do things this weekend because she has so much work to do (her job never ends, it's 7 days a week). There's so much I need help with these days--stupid stuff like getting something heavy off a top shelf or lifting something. I feel so helpless and guilty that I can't do it all myself anymore.

But then, as I'm sitting here, I feel the thumpers thumping around and I lift up my shirt and can see strange movement from the outside and I smile knowing that tomorrow is a new day and we're all going to be OK.

Sometimes, you just have a crappy day.