Now: 10 Hours and Counting
Later:  “What have I gotten myself into?!?”

I realize that by the time most of you read this post, the babies will probably have been born already (and I’ll probably be asking myself that second question!).  I will try to get the info up as soon as I can.  But that’s not my point here.

Mostly, I just wanted to say thanks to you all. 

Thanks for all the encouragement.  All the prayers.  All the countless comments and requests for pictures.  For everything.  It’s not that “I can’t believe it’s been 38 weeks already” because, trust me, it’s felt like 38 weeks (maybe longer!).  But I do know that my Xangals are one of the primary reasons we’ve survived so far and done so well.  I truly do appreciate you ladies!

Please do keep us in your prayers as we jump into this crazy new adventure.  As I’m sure you will. 

I’ll be back just as soon as possible…with pictures!!

Just so you all know…there’s been no change.  So it looks like Monday is the official day.  Thank Jesus! 

Of course, now they’re probably considering arriving sometime this weekend, but I’ve made it very clear that they have to wait.  All plans are hinging on Monday’s c-section, so they’ll just have to wait now.  We’ll see if they listen to me this time…

And for Jess…one final picture (sorry it’s not great)…

Of course, the best one taken recently is on Eric’s photo gallery.  But this will do for now…

I feel as if I should write some profound as this will likely be my last substantial (and not sleep-deprived) post for a while.  But I’ve got nothing.  Oh well!

One of my favorite things right now: flipping the switch on our Christmas tree lights first thing in the morning. It’s usually the first light I turn on, and I love it!  I also got my Christmas presents wrapped yesterday, so there are even gifts under the tree now…how fun!  I Christmas!

I’m definitely in countdown mode now.  I didn’t sleep well last night, but instead of being annoyed, I just kept thinking that there were only a couple more nights of this particular kind of pain and discomfort.  (I do realize that a different type of pain and discomfort are heading my way…don’t worry!)  I turned the page on my little blood sugar record book for the last time today.  I only have to take my blood sugar for 3 more days.  And there are a hundred other little things like those. But I won’t bore you with them!  Suffice it to say…I’m counting down!

Last night, Eric’s brothers came over for a bit.  They bought Christmas gifts for their parents and then went out to dinner. I think Eric felt a little bad for me to have to sit home alone again in the evening, but it wasn’t so bad.  After all, they did hang out here for a long while, and well…he’s not going to be able to do ‘brother-only’ things in the foreseeable future, starting next week.  So I’m glad they could do it.

Not much planned for today really.  I have my last doctor’s appointment this morning, but I doubt I’ll have anything too exciting to share from that.  I’ll let you know later.  And other than that, we shall see…

Happy Friday!

No, I’m not talking about the cast of my favorite movie, but the cast of my dream last night.  It included Kimberly, Trisha, Gail, Beki, and Gail & Beki’s dad.  I’m not sure why their dad popped up…I haven’t seen him in years.  But he was definitely there.  I can’t remember the plot exactly, but it was, apparently, a Xanga-filled dream!  Sorry the rest of you couldn’t be there!

I ran a number of errands yesterday and finished my Christmas shopping.  I will try to get the wrapping done today.  I do love seeing wrapped presents under a pretty tree!

The one bad thing about the babies coming right now is that I’m going to have to miss all sorts of fun gatherings in the next few weeks: a baby shower, a cookie exchange, an ornament exchange, the Christmas program at church, etc.  Of course, at this moment, I’m more focused on the babies’ arrival, but it’s still a little sad that I’ll miss all of the fun. Anyone want to just bring me cookies or ornaments?  Anyone? 

I caught one story on the Today Show this morning: the interview with the author of the new book, How to Talk to Girls.  He’s 9.  He wrote it as a class project after watching boys get rejected on the playground.   It’s a cute story, should you care to read it. 

I guess Eric’s brothers are coming over for a bit tonight.  I think they’re planning to go out to dinner, but I will probably not go along.  Still I now have to clean up my house a bit before they come.  My couch is currently covered in piles, so I’ll need to remove those so they have someplace to sit!  Sounds like fun, I know…

Happy Thursday!

Suddenly, with 5 days before the babies come, the reality of our upcoming (and very drastic) family shift is becoming more and more real.  I’m not sure why, but last night, it really struck me.  We’re on our last week of free evenings to just be “us,” and starting next week (and going for 3-6 months, we’ve been told) sleep will become a priceless commodity.  It’s a little scary, to be honest.  I think I just need them to get here so I can stop anticipating it and just start. 

Yesterday, I did make it to the nearly-empty mall with the nearly-empty parking lot.  Fantastic!  And, after I buy one small thing, I will be done with Christmas presents for my family.  Yippee!!  Of course, that does leave all of Eric’s family, but he’s responsible for those.  So we’ll see what he orders for them online…

I broke a fingernail yesterday.  I was a little sad about it because I only have a short time left for this pregnancy to make them grow really fast.  That was one perk of pregnancy for sure…my nails looked great all the time!

Today I think I’ll run little errands to a few different places.  And I’d like to get to the library, I think.  But we shall see what my body is up for today.  At least it’s supposed to be a little more balmy today!

Eric’s Christmas gift this year was a studio light for his photography hobby.  Of course it’s the sort of thing that’s useful to have before Christmas (especially with babies coming).  So he ordered it last week, and it arrived last night.  He was, literally, like a little boy on Christmas.   It was very fun to watch.  And then he needed a model to practice on.  And since, for another few days, I am still the only moving thing in the house…I was the lucky one!

Of course, this means that there are new pictures of me on the website.  Check them out if you want!

Other than that fun news, the day wasn’t much to speak of (though that won’t stop me from continuing my post…).  Here’s the breakdown…

• I made a meal plan for December (a highly flexible one, of course).  It was so much easier to do knowing that the diabetes meal plan goes out the window at the end of this week.  YIPPEE!!!!
• Just so you all know, the grocery store is almost empty on the Monday afternoon right after Thanksgiving.  It was one of the nicest trips I’ve ever had!
• I was able to buy the basics for the entire month of December in one shopping trip.  It was such a nice change from what I have been doing (shopping for 4-5 days worth of diabetes-appropriate stuff and then having to go again in a week).  Can you tell I’m ready to be done with this blood sugar stuff?
• My MIL had brought a lasagna for us a few weeks back, so yesterday, I thawed and cooked it for dinner.  I really like when other people cook for me!  And it was yummy! 
• And after watching some TV with Eric (our new favorite show is The Big Bang Theory – very funny!) and chatting some with my mom, I headed to bed. 

Today, I think I’m going to run to the mall to hopefully finish Christmas shopping.  I pretty much know what I want to get for people, but it’s been hard to accomplish that so far.  I’m hoping that, with most people back to work, I’ll be able to accomplish more (and find an open seat when I need to take a break!).  But we shall see…

Happy Tuesday!

It really was nice to have four days of family, friends, and hanging out with Eric.  I suspect those days will be few and far between in the very near future!

Here’s the quick recap:

• Thanksgiving: My family graciously moved dinner to Columbus so that I could come, but due to Jason’s not feeling well, we met at my house, instead of Karen’s.  It made for a bit of shuffling of plans, but everything worked out great.  And my mom and SIL did almost all the work (including clean-up), so I had a fantastic day! 
• Friday/Saturday: Eric and I did very little.  He was a bit bored.  But we managed to spend some QT together.  We went to the mall briefly on Friday and to MicroCenter on Saturday.  I made cookies on Friday. And I even managed to keep the kitchen clean for the whole weekend.  Lovely!
• Sunday: Communion at church was very nice.  Then dinner and watching a movie with Eric.  Then we tidied up the house a bit because my MIL came out for a brief visit with Eric’s aunt and grandma.  They just wanted to see us one more time before the babies come.  It was fun to have them, and it kept Eric from boredom! 

And now it’s Monday.  Eric has decided that the babies are just not coming until they literally cut them out of me.  I’m still hoping they’ll decide to come out on their own, but I have my doubts, too.  BUT…at least I have the comfort of knowing that by this time next week, they’ll be born.  WOO! HOO!

Today I must make a meal plan and buy some groceries.  Planning for this month will be a little complicated, but may be easier in some ways.  After all with mothers coming to help and holidays galore, I bet we’ll get lots of good food!  If nothing else, I’ll plan this week and then wing the rest of the month.  But either way, I still need groceries!

Eric was watching YouTube clips the other day.  I’m not always a big fan of Monty Python, but this sketch was truly funny (and clean).  It made me laugh…

That’s what Eric called it last night.  It made me laugh.

Actually, Eric makes me laugh.  That is a good thing at this point.  He makes these random observations that are hilarious.  I’m so thankful for him!

I think we have names finally decided on (no we’re not telling yet).  A couple of times before, we’ve thought we’d settled on names only to realize that one or the other of us didn’t like one or the other of them.  But we’ve been using the same pair of names for a while, “trying them on” so to speak, and I think we may have the winners. 

Tonight, Eric is going to take some pictures of Karen and her family for Christmas cards.  He practiced on me some last night.  He kept needing me to sit on the floor.  Um…that’s not so easy anymore.

Yesterday was an unexpectedly busy day, and my body was pretty mad at me by the evening.

• I went to bible study at church.  (Is it a rule that church chairs have to be uncomfortable?) 
• Stopped at the grocery on the way home from bible study.
• Had lunch, worked on Christmas decorations, chatted with Karen
• Eric got home (at 2:30 or so – he was bored at work), so we hung out for the rest of the day.
• I made some cookies (okay, actually, I just plopped pre-made dough on a sheet and baked them, but Eric enjoyed them!) and cleaned up the kitchen.
• I made dinner and then we watched TV for the rest of the night.   Good times!

Best of all, I seem to have turned a corner, attitude-wise.  Yesterday was a very good day.  I’m hoping it lasts more than a day or two…I’m tired of being cranky all the time!  Thanks for your prayers yesterday…

And that, I think, is about all I have to write about today.  I hope you all have a lovely Thanksgiving holiday.  I am certainly thankful for each and every one of you!  Happy Turkey Day!

That, it seems, is where we are.  According to my doctor, there’s been no real change.  So these babies seem to have no intention of coming.  I realize this could change in a heartbeat, but still, it was pretty discouraging.  After all, I’ve got at least 12 lbs. of babies (plus extras) to lug around, and I’m ready to be done.  

So I’ve decided that I just have to stop focusing on it, rehearsing my woes on a regular basis.  This is, of course, difficult since everyone, in the most well-meaning of ways, wants to know how I’m feeling.  And sadly, all their, also well-meaning, reminders that “it’s almost over” and “once they come, it’ll all be worth it” just don’t really have the encouraging effect they’re intended to have.  While absolutely true, those lines just don’t mean anything to a first-time mom who’s frustrated/uncomfortable enough to be told them.  After all, for me, two weeks until the scheduled section just means 6 meals, 4 blood tests, an itching belly and a whole lot of physical discomfort for 14 more days.  And once I start thinking that way, not surprisingly, my attitude takes a major nose-dive.

Yesterday, I was trying to figure out what my real issue was.  The best I came up with was that my expectations are not matching reality at this moment.  I’ve noticed this pattern before.  Expectations can be a dangerous thing, especially subconscious ones.  See, I never figured I’d go this far.  My doctor mentioned 38 weeks as term way back at the beginning, but that number didn’t mean anything to me.  And besides, “nobody” actually carries twins to 38 weeks, right?  So I just didn’t expect to be still pregnant at this point.  Yet I am.  And I’m having trouble re-adjusting my radar to be okay with that.  I definitely need to work on my expectations…

So, anyway, that’s my baby update.  I’m at least starting today in a much better frame of mind than I’ve had for a few days.  And as it’s Thanksgiving week, I’m trying to keep a thankful heart about all the blessings I have been given instead of letting the one fact of “still pregnant” ruin any thankfulness I could have.  And who knows, these babies may decide to make an appearance long before Dec. 8 (I hope).   Anything’s possible, right?

I pointed out to Eric that today was Wednesday already, but he disagreed.  He said today was still Monday, and he’d be working a Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule this week.  But then it’s a four-day weekend for him, so…whatever!

As for the weekend recap…
Friday was pretty good.  I did get most of the laundry done.  And I went to the mall with my sister and nephew for a bit.  I can’t walk very long, though, so it was a short trip.  Eric called me on my way home to say he’d be home earlier than I expected, so that was nice, too.  He’d met his brother to watch the Bond movie (which he really liked) early and then went to dinner.  The original plan was the reverse.  So he was home by 9:00.  Lovely!

Saturday Eric had men’s bible study early and then went back to work.  So I finished laundry, cleaned floors and prepared for Kelly’s party.  And I watched OSU win.   My parents got to my house before Eric got home.  I think my mom wanted to make sure she was there to help me finish getting ready if needed.  She’s so great! 

The party was a lot of fun.  Jason was in a very good mood, and the two girls are very cute, I must say!  And Kelly really liked her presents.  I got her the game Perfection, and Eric showed the girls how to play it after dessert.  They seemed to have fun with it! 

Sunday was a little more low-key.  I was in a really crabby mood for the morning.  Despite my efforts to the contrary, I really struggled during church, but my attitude did get better as the day went on. 

Eric and I got to just hang out.  He put up the Christmas tree for me.  I usually do this the weekend after Thanksgiving, but we decided to get a head-start on it this year.  And since ladders are a bad idea these days for me, he did the tree.  Of course, I still have boxes of stuff to put out, but I can probably handle most of those decorations.  And I must say, it is a silly little tradition to hang lights and ornaments on tree branches, but it makes me happy!

Sunday evening we had a dinner party for our small group, which turned out to be fun, too.  We had a number of children/babies there, but they played pretty well together for the most part.  And the conversation was good, too. We got home and read for a while…then to bed!

And that was the weekend.  Today it’s raining outside, but at least that means it’s a little warmer than it’s been!  We shall see what I find to accomplish today…