We are 35 weeks!  The babies are the size of honeydew melons… or my personal favorite (according to one website) the size of roasting chickens.  They are continuing to gain weight, their brains are working hard, and I read that they now have a full set of finger and toenails, which I have been imagining scratching at my bladder- because that’s what it feels like.  

You can see that my little scratching chickens are growing:

My maternity shirts are getting a bit tight!  More pictures from this week- it’s getting hot out here, so I am trying to keep the roasting chickens cool!

So I thought it would be fun to record the best things people have said to me lately- I feel like a celebrity who can’t go anywhere without comments.  Mostly people are trying to be super nice, but sometimes their “conversation starter” comes out a little badly.  So here goes:

At the hairdressers: “Are you having triplets?”  Hmmm… thank you for throwing that out there, and for going one step above asking if I’m having twins.  Now I have to say “no”, and isn’t that super awkward for both of us?

At the pool, and old man says to me: “Nice flotation!”   Wha?  Nice flotation?  I’m actually swimming back and forth, so are you saying you’re impressed that I’m not sinking?  I have a confused look on my face before he says, “The baby must like it too”. Oh!  Okay, this was your segue into talking about the “baby”.  So you weren’t really congratulating me on not drowning.  Got it.

A girl in my neighborhood told me I looked “extra pregnant”, which I thought was actually a great way of describing me.

A woman at the front desk of our community pool: “You look great!” I’m thinking, thanks! before she adds, “except for your belly”.  Okay, I see where you were trying to go with this, but really I think it came out wrong.  

I hate any comment with the word “Wow!” in it.  Especially one guy, who just made a loud, extended “Woooooowwwwww” as I got out of my mother’s car in a parking lot.  I’m sure I’m not the only pregnant woman he’s ever seen?  Right? 

Two people also asked me if the twins were “planned”.  Yes, I pre-programmed this.  It was like ordering off of a menu.

Really, it’s nice that people are so interested, and that they want to talk to me.  I just think some of the things they say are funny, and actually a lot of people do say really sweet and totally acceptable things!  And to be fair, I do look huge.  I even almost knocked a bowl of watermelon over this morning, so I can’t really blame people for noticing.

We are getting so excited to meet the babies, and now their room is almost all set and ready for them.

Thank you to all of our wonderful, amazing friends and family who have made our cute little nursery possible.  We couldn’t have done it without you, and we can’t believe how lucky we are.  I’m sure the babies can already feel how loved they are!

We’ve reached 34 weeks, which is very important in two ways.  First of all, I can now deliver in Prescott, and won’t have to be taken to Phoenix (although that also means I’m missing out on a helicopter ride).  Secondly, babies born after 34 weeks have a really good chance not only of surviving, but of doing just as well as full-term babies, with no developmental delays or health problems later in life.  I’m still ordering them to stay in there for a few more weeks, but we are relieved to be at 34 weeks, to say the least.

So here you have all the possible angles, so you can see the baby bump in all its massive glory.  Other than feeling like a house, or a beached whale, I’m feeling pretty well.  Eating has become something of a challenge- I’m either dangerously ravenous or completely stuffed.  A handful of grapes is about the right size meal… until I’m starving 10 minutes later.  I just figure that means lots of smoothies and frappes and ice cream are in order!

The babies are still being monitored with non-stress tests twice a week, and they are doing fine.  Each baby is the size of a butternut squash this week, or so I read.  They still love to kick their mother in the bladder, and I know they are still breech because I can feel two little heads.  

This week we picked a pediatrician, and we have made progress on the nursery.  We have the walls painted and the cribs put together, along with the changing table.  And the clothes are in the dresser!

Now we just need to finalize names (which will be a secret until they arrive) and pack the hospital bag.

We are celebrating Mother’s Day and 33 weeks!  🙂

Notice that the “old” shirt and pants no longer fit!  Even the maternity shirt is being tested to its limits.  The babies are the size of a durian.  Don’t know what a durian fruit looks like?  Here’s one:

The babies are pretty well developed now, so they’re still mainly working on getting fatter.

Last week we had a good doctor’s visit, and an ultrasound where we saw the baby girl yawn 🙂  We also started our non-stress tests at the hospital.  Not really fun, but at least they are keeping an eye on the babies!  Daddy also spent a lot of time getting things in the nursery together.  Thanks to wonderful family, he got to put together their dresser- great job Dad!

Also thanks to wonderful and generous family, we have the cutest diapers ever made!  And environmentally friendly too!

 Saturday was my breastfeeding class- I’m going to have to use the double-football hold!  I no longer have ankles, but I can’t see them anyway when I’m standing.  I pant if I exert myself in any way, but I so love to lay there and watch the babies’ move.  I still continue to sing the babies the same song every day (“You are my sunshine” adapted to “You are my sunshineS”, of course) so hopefully they’ll come out knowing the words!  

We are 32 weeks now, and feeling bigger every day.  This week Joshua and I “graduated” from our family birthing class at the hospital, although “birthing” isn’t really something you do as a family…

Here is Dad swaddling a baby.  We learned that if you swaddle them, and jiggle their head around, and practically scream “SHHHHHH” into their ear, they’ll be quiet.  No doubt from being so stunned at what you are doing to them (courtesy of “Happiest Baby on the Block”).

This week the babies are the size of jicama- another comparison which does me no good, since I have no idea how big a jicama really is.  

Here are the photos:

I feel like I should always be holding my stomach up now, for fear that it might just slump to the ground.  I can tell it’s getting tighter in there for them, since their movements are different.  Not so jabby, but a LOT stronger. Sometimes I feel like they push on my bladder with their feet, and my belly button with their head, in hopes of getting a good stretch.  They are pretty well developed now, so their main job is to pack on the pounds.  As you can see in the photos above, that is something they seem to be doing quite well.

Meanwhile, I’ve been sleeping like a baby.  Meaning I wake up every two hours to either go to the bathroom or eat.  I drop things all the time, which is really unfortunate for me because bending over to pick something up is a thing I really only want to do in private now.  Getting in and out of the car is a new challenge.  I still shave my legs, but how well I do it is a mystery to me (Joshua can probably tell you…)

Next week we start non-stress tests twice a week at the hospital.  Even though they call it a “non” stress test, it stresses me out.  I am, however, so glad they will be monitored so closely!