Pregnancy: Week 26

This week we learned in my pregnancy bible that babies are supposed to start opening their eyes and being able to tell light from dark and respond accordingly. Because we are good parents, we decided this needed to be explored. A few nights this week we pulled out a flash light and shined it on my belly and watched the babies get all wiggly with the flashlight! A couple of times it was so instantaneous that we had to just laugh! 

I had a first this week as well. While at my appointment with the perinatologist I started feeling really hot, a little light headed, and like I was going to pass out while laying on the ultrasound table. This is fairly common, especially with the weight of twins as the ultrasound tech pointed out, but it had never happened to me before! Those babies were squishing my inferior vena cava and cutting off the blood flow but fortunately a roll to the left side fixed all my problems. This ended up being one of our quickest appointments as they tried to hurry and get the measurements that they needed between me almost passing out and while laying on my side. Luckily everything still looks good with the boys. The doctor said we have one small baby and one smaller baby but they're not concerned enough to make any drastic changes at this point. Baby A is our chubbier one and weighed in at 1lb 15oz while Baby B weighed 1lb 10oz this week. 

This seems to be the week that I feel more and more pregnant. My belly continues to grow on a daily basis, I'm getting increasingly tired, my back hurts by the end of the day (or sometimes during the day if I'm at work), and if I sit down on the floor in the evening I essentially forgo the option of getting up without assistance. It's rather comical actually. I also can't seem to move without groaning. Jesse even said one time "Honey, you got up without making a sound that time!" That's a little embarrassing!

We totally scored this week and went over to the house of the family I used to work for who have twin boys and bought a WHOLE bunch of things from them. We got a killer deal on their stuff and now have more baby things than we even know what to do with. It truly is amazing. We are feeling so blessed to have been able to get all these things. We ended up with two cradles, a little swing, two bouncy chairs, this random car thing, two play mats, a double stroller, bags and bags of clothes, lots of swaddle blankets, a double baby carrier, and a whole slew of bottles and binkies. I went to town scrubbing, spray-n-washing, bleaching, and cleaning things but everything has come out perfectly and looks brand-new! It is so much fun! I actually feel like we might be ready to have babies come live at our house. At least more so than I used to!

This week I was also counting my blessings after being introduced to a girl in our ward who is pregnant with triplets! My mouth seriously dropped. She has one little boy who is 3 and is pregnant with three little girls. I cannot even imagine! I felt so thankful to only have our one little tag along. I honestly do not know how you have triplets! At least with these two there are two of us so we're not outnumbered yet. This family of 3 is being doubled in one go. They'll probably go straight to heaven. Once again, counting my blessings. Twins sound absolutely great to me!

All in all...

still loving being pregnant

love watching and feeling the boys move

love when Jesse plays with the babies at night. 

(That is by far my favorite thing these days. I usually lay down and Jesse and I watch my belly move and poke the boys so they'll move more... oh it's the best!)

and starting to panic that my due date is approaching so quickly! It's all going by so fast!

Welcome Home Elder Dorius!

Elder Dorius returned home after serving for two years in the Korea Seoul mission! My mom and I had planned a couple of months ago to surprise Brad by getting me on his same flight from Salt Lake to St. George and not even tell him I was coming. Through my mom's resourcefulness she called and found out his flight plan and we subsequently booked me a flight seated right next to him! We were bursting with excitement but tried to subtly throw in some comments that alluded to the fact that I may not be able to make it.

Due to the time difference he started his journey Friday the 7th early in the morning but it was Thursday night for us. My slightly paranoid mother planted herself in front of the computer and monitored his flights to see exactly where he was and how it was going. Well it didn't take too long to discover they were delayed and flight plans would be changing. At this point she called me in a panic saying they had already rerouted him on a later flight into St. George so we needed to figure out how to get me on that flight. I knew if anyone could take care of the situation it would be her. She made a couple of phone calls and threw in some charm because they switched my flight and didn't even charge us a fee! There is still hope in humanity!

I arrived in Salt Lake and luckily was able to mosey to my connection now instead of run (which we should all know by now would be a joke anyway). After waiting a while I finally saw two missionaries walking my direction and I was really curious to see how Brad would respond!

He walked up without a change in facial expression and said "What are you doing here?" hahaha!
I responded with "I'm going to St. George with you."

Brad: "I didn't know you were coming."
Me: "Well yeah, it was a SURPRISE!"
Brad: (in his excited voice) "Is Jesse here too?"
Me: (having to crush his excitement) "No Jesse had to work."
Brad: "Oh. I really want to talk to Jesse sometime...."
Me: Silence.
Brad: "Well I was worried about not having a companion this flight but I guess I have one now."
Me: "Yeah. Because mom and I are awesome."

It was a pretty funny conversation. I thought there would be a little more visual excitement out of him but I guess after traveling for about 26 hours he may have been a little tired. :) The next hurdle came when we boarded the plan because now our seats were not together. I was holding out that humanity would take pity on a cute little missionary coming home and a pregnant sister but was sorely disappointed when we asked the man in the seat next to Brad's assigned seat. I simply asked if he would be willing to trade seats so my brother and I would be able to sit together on this flight and he responded "I'm sorry, but I'm actually really comfortable where I am." SERIOUSLY?! What kind of a person says that!? Brad was probably thinking nicer thoughts than I was because I was thinking this guy is a total jerk. So then we hoped that there would be a nice person in the seat next to me who would be willing to switch. We got back to those seats and my seat buddy wasn't there yet so we hoped that was a good sign. He finally walked up and when I asked if he would be willing to switch so we could sit together he quickly responded with "Just tell me where to go" THANK YOU nice human! You seriously made our day! And I kind of felt bad he had to sit by the jerk in the 2nd row.

Anyway, that was the long-winded version of our journey to St. George but we had so much fun on that flight home and just talked about a million different things! We arrived in St. George with a great welcoming committee and then headed to the Stake President's house to get our missionary released. And what a tender moment that is. Wow. I will never forget how emotional it is when we got to hear about Brad's mission, how the church is doing in Korea, and then the moment when he is told to take off both of his name badges. It really is an amazing experience to be a part of.

This sign has a story that needs to be shared. My Uncle Mike and Aunt Kerry live in Hurricane so they were able to make it to the airport and they made this sign. Kerry thought she was writing "Welcome Home! We love you!" but my sneaky Uncle Mike tricked her and instead she wrote "Welcome Home! What's that smell?" So Brad read the sign and instantly starting smelling himself! haha. Mike was laughing but Kerry was insistent that she had put "Welcome Home! We love you" on that sign, until the truth came out that Mike knew all along what it really said! He said they were just double checking to make sure Brad really did spend two years in Korea.

And now that he was home, the partying began! Lots of partying and food with the Dorius Clan!

We also celebrated my parents 50th birthdays! My mom turned 50 about two weeks prior and my dad turned 50 that day! It's kind of a big deal. They are now half a century. I'm sure it will be their best year yet with our two little munchkins on their way!

I even got my dad a grandpa kit.

Filled with his favorites, like memory.

(Apparently because I played this game about a million times when I was a kid, my dad may or may not be traumatized forever)

We also introduced Brad to Just Dance which was about the most hilarious thing ever! I didn't really tell him what it was, just to follow the people on the screen and we ended up laughing until we couldn't play any longer!
For your viewing pleasure:

Pregnancy: Weeks 23, 24, 25 Blur

Time is going by so quickly! I feel like weeks 23-25 just went by in a blur and I don't remember much specifically about each week. Therefore pictures will just have to do.

I did have a doctor's appointment at week 24 and Gus (Baby A) weighed 1lb 6oz and Budsy (Baby B) weighed 1lb 3oz. It is so much fun to see how much they weigh and how they are positioned each time I go in. Those are the two things I look forward to the most at each of those appointments.

I definitely keep growing but don't have many complaints. Still loving being pregnant, feeling the babies move, and sharing it all with Jesse. We have grown so much closer while I've been pregnant and he has honestly been wonderful. I don't know what I would do without him.

23 Weeks


24 Weeks

 

25 Weeks

Pregnancy: Week 22

I feel like my belly hasn't been growing as rapidly as it did there for a few weeks earlier but looking at pictures, it looks like it's keeping at a steady pace! Nothing too wild and crazy happened this week. Probably the most exciting thing was when Jesse and I saw my belly move! I was laying on the couch and Jesse was determined to watch my belly until it moved. It took all of about 10 seconds before we saw a spot move twice! haha. So weird!

Pregnancy seriously does strange things to your body. It is such a disproportionate distribution of weight that my balance isn't great, it's nearly a chore already to roll over in bed (I can hardly wait to see if I can even move towards the end!), and I've already reached the point where I have to lean over to see my toes! It still catches me off guard when I catch a view of myself sideways in the mirror. It just looks so funny! But I still love it and wouldn't change it for anything.

Jesse is the sweetest husband and is constantly taking care of me. He rubs my feet, lower back, upper back, and calves, he makes me dinner/any meal really when I'm too lazy or tired to cook, reminds me to take my prenatals and all the other pills they're having me take (I get a handful every day. 1 prenatal, 3 calcium pills, 1 iron pill, and of course a stool softener because of all the other pills! it's ridiculous!), he loves feeling the babies move and I'm always grabbing his hand when they start wiggling so he can feel them as much as possible. I am so lucky to be married to him. Our relationship really has blossomed even more with the impending arrival of our babies. I tell him over and over again that I wouldn't want to have twins with anyone else, and that is the truth. He is a gem!

I feel like my belly looks fake here! haha. I'm telling you, so weird! :)

Pregnancy: Week 21

A little bit last week and increasingly so, I have a pain that is causing me a bit of grief. I think it is rib related and it hurts in the front and on my mid/upper back. I talked to a chiropractor family friend and he said that there's not a whole lot that can be done with ribs during pregnancy because you can't lay belly down on the table for an adjustment. I'm sure it will resolve on its own eventually but it's not very pleasant at the moment in certain positions. It really doesn't even bother me unless I am sitting in one spot for awhile, such as on an airplane or driving in the car. Guess I'll just have to keep moving all the time!

I still sleep pretty well and can make it through the night with minimal wake-ups. Every now and then I'll wake up with a leg cramp or just because my body panics and thinks I'm going to miss my alarm for work but I'm still loving that I don't have to get up and go to the bathroom every 10 minutes in the middle of the night. Yay Hurray for second trimester! 

Pregnancy is seriously FLYING by. I feel so busy with work that I don't think I have enough time to just enjoy being pregnant which makes me sad. I'm extremely grateful I'm still able to work for the time being but at the same time I'd love to be home making things for the boys and getting their room set up. I still have lots to prepare before these babies get here so I need to start making a little more time for crafting and cleaning because I KNOW I'm not going to have any time once they arrive!

Here is the pain in my rib.

Pregnancy: Week 20

This week the boys made their second journey on an airplane in their very short existence to welcome home Uncle Brad from Korea! They must like plane rides because they sure start to wiggle! Their movements are getting bigger and bigger which is so fun to feel! Sometimes I jump a little though when they start twisting, flipping, punching, or something great big. Jesse nearly has a heart attack every time I jump because he thinks something is wrong.

Gus and Budsy are starting to perform a little more and other people are able to feel them move around. While I was in St. George my family would sit around with their hands on my belly and wait for the boys to wiggle. It is seriously the best thing being able to share this pregnancy with Jesse and our families whenever we can. I love it when others can feel them moving around.

While we were in St. George we were lucky enough to go to a Piano Guys concert! (If you don't know who they are you need to check out their videos here: http://thepianoguys.com/) It was an amazing concert and I pretty much decided that our boys need to play the piano and cello so they can be awesome like these guys. I also think the babies love music because they were "dancing" the entire concert. (I guess they could hate it with similar wiggling results, but I'm going to assume it is love.)

I also had a chance to talk to my aunt who has identical twin boys and we discovered that her due date was April 24th and she delivered at 38 weeks on April 10th which are the exact dates I've been given for our babies! If we seriously have our babies on April 10th just like her boys that would be crazy! I guess it would sure make it easy to remember!

All in all I'm still feeling really good. Sometimes I wake up a little sore from sleeping weird I guess but I can't complain too much. I'm still absolutely loving this stage of pregnancy!

I look a little tired! haha I'm sure I probably was. We had some rather busy days in St. George.

Pregnancy: Week 19

Week 19 was spent with Jesse's parents in town which is always a treat. We had our big check-out-the-babies-and-make-sure-they-have-ten-fingers-and-toes-and-all-other-parts ultrasound which we of course had his parents come to. It was so much fun for all of us! The ultrasound tech did very in depth looks at the babies and we saw arms, legs, hands, feet, toes, fingers, upper lips, brains, four chambered hearts, all their little organs, and watched them wiggle around. It truly is amazing watching them on these ultrasounds. Their movements are getting more and more baby-like instead of just little twitches here and there. They stretch out their legs, put their hands behind their heads and just look like real live babies!!!

I don't believe I have mentioned on here yet, but they have nicknames: Budsy and Gus. (Jesse tried to nickname them Pooter and Donut but I put my foot down on that idea!) Gus seems to be a lot more wiggly than Budsy and he also loves to lay straight out and arch his back. Budsy likes to lay out as well but he at least seems to curl up once in awhile and he just seems a little more mellow. Guess we'll see how accurate that is when they come!

Everything is still going perfectly with no signs of twin-to-twin transfusion so we are feeling very blessed with that. We still can't believe we're going to have two little babies coming to our house!!!