These are our 31 week pictures:

That poor (non-maternity!) shirt has held up pretty well.  

The babies are either the size of coconuts this week, or pineapples, which to me seem pretty different, but maybe not if you don’t count the leaves on top of the pineapple.  They should be adding baby fat now, and they are almost the length they’ll be at birth.  They were doing fine at our doctor’s appointment this week.  The doc had a medical student and a nurse with him who really wanted to watch the ultrasound, so this appointment was a spectator sport.  For added entertainment, the baby boy had the hiccups during the entire ultrasound 🙂

I don’t think it’s possible for me to go out in public anymore without someone mentioning the pregnancy- which can be funny, and it’s often endearing.  One of the most common is “Looks like you’re having a baby!”  Looks like?  Thanks- hand’t noticed!  My favorite from last week was when I went shopping and heard a father say to his young son, “Look, that lady swallowed a watermelon” to which the child replied, “Wow, how did she do that?!”  

We’ve started working on the nursery, and washing all the tiny clothes!  We are getting more and more excited each day!

We reached 30 weeks on Easter Sunday!  Here are some pictures (in the “new” house):

The weird thing you see under my shirt isn’t any sort of weird underwear, it is a pregnancy belt, which I obviously need just by looking at how far out my stomach extends.

The babies should be around 3 lbs now, and are as long as a cucumber (a 15-inch one.  These veggie analogies just get so interesting…)

We also had a wonderful baby shower on Saturday.  I couldn’t feel more lucky and grateful- it was so perfect!  So many family and friends, near and far, participated in a pre-baby welcome!

Some party decor…

This pretty little watermelon carriage was made by my parents 🙂

And here are the bunnies helping to get rid of the “practice” carriage:

Some present-opening pictures.  We had such a lovely time, and received so many great things- but spending time with our friends and family was the best part!

Yes babies, this is your daddy and his very good friend Jorge.  As you can see, you will have lots of fun with them 🙂

We are at 29 weeks now, and each baby is about the size of a butternut squash.  They should be getting close to 3 lbs. now, and I can tell there is less and less room for them, because their punches are becoming stronger and stronger.  I’ve also definitely felt them having bouts of the hiccups!  

A few disclaimers.  One, everything looks orange because of our camera- I do not have jaundice.  Two, we are running out of paper for our signs, so we are trying to be economical.

We also practiced a baby carriage watermelon for the upcoming shower- and then we let Kiki and Pitu have fun with the remains.  Kiki was the braver of the two- Pitu was scared of it at first.

And we moved into our house this week, with lots and lots of help from wonderful family and friends!  And we now have both car seats and the stroller set up and ready in their room!  Our first baby purchases- so exciting!

We are now at 28 weeks, the beginning of our 3rd trimester!  The second trimester seems to last forever, so I’m glad to be moving on.

We also had our level 2 ultrasound this week in Phoenix.  It was nerve-wracking, since they went over every inch of each baby, looking for abnormalities.  Much to our relief everything looks good!  Baby boy weighs 2.4 lbs, and baby girl is 2.2 lbs.

Then we went on an exhausting and overwhelming tour of Baby’s R Us.  There are a lot of things you can buy for a baby, and too many choices!  We did have another milestone- grandma and grandpa bought the car seats!  And the babies’ other grandma bought their bassinets!  Having actual baby things is a reminder that the big day is getting closer!

A few thoughts on being pregnant:

1.  People stare at you.  If I’ve ever stared at a pregnant woman before, I’m sorry for it now.  It seems like everyone stares, everywhere I go.  It’s weird.

2.  People give you the advice to “sleep now!” when it’s pretty much impossible to sleep comfortably.  It’s probably good advice, but really just rubs salt in the wound.

3.  You really do have to be careful what you say to a pregnant woman.  I always imagined I wouldn’t care if people commented on my pregnancy- I mean of course they are going to comment!  But when perfect strangers ask me if I’m about to “pop” or if I’m going to have the baby any day now (especially when my answer has to be “no”) I want to smack them.  Really, the only acceptable thing to say is to tell the woman how wonderful she looks.  And if you can’t do that, don’t say anything.  

4. Get used to walking like you’re 80.  Maybe that’s why people stare…

5. I never stop worrying.  Each doctor’s appointment, each week that goes by, I think will be the time I’ll stop worrying and start relaxing.  Hasn’t happened yet.

6.  Between being extremely thirsty and having the babies dance on my bladder, I might as well live in the bathroom.

7.  Despite any pain, discomfort, or anxiety- I love being pregnant.  And I already love my babies.