Pre-Op, 36 Weeks, Game Night

January 29

I met with my doctor today to go over the pre-op stuff. Since I've already gone through this, it was pretty standard only a little less rushed. My c-section is Wednesday, February 19 at noon. I have to be there at 10 a.m. for prep. A friend pointed out to me that there's a chance I could get bumped if someone (like me with Henry and Gabe) needs the room sooner and I'm not in labor. I'll cross my fingers that won't happen! I'm looking forward to meeting these little wiggle worms =)

January 30

Today I hit the 36 week mark. I'm still feeling pretty good. My girl is still very quiet and my boy is crazy. I have weekly non stress tests now so they monitor the babies. My girl is always a struggle to get readings on and my boy is quite jealous we're also concerned about the girl. He will make waves on my belly trying to get the monitor off or get the nurses attention. I'm not really sure which. Still no signs of labor. Only three weeks to go!

Henry and Miss Kristen spent some time working on Valentine's yesterday to send to the Grandmas. I put the Valentine's in their envelopes and asked Henry to help me decorate the outsides of the envelopes. I guess I wasn't specific enough because he took an entire sheet of valentine's day stickers and put them on ONE envelope =) It was a mess but he was so proud. Hopefully it will still go through the mail!

February 1

Henry was in a silly mood this morning. He dresses himself but today was a little different than usual. He got "dressed" and then wanted me to take a picture to send to the Grandmas. He was concerned they may not know he was joking so I also had to send a follow up photo of him dressed "correctly."

We took the kids to Grandma Marilyn's today to spend the night so we could go to a couple's game night at a friends. Henry was so excited to go to Grandmas. Gabe always loves it too but he doesn't really get the anticipation like Henry does. I.E. If we tell Henry Monday we're going on Saturday, he will ask every day if it's Saturday yet. Anyways, the boys had a great time at moms and we had a lot of fun at game night. Games aren't really Mike's thing but I think even he had fun. We were out pretty late but it was nice to sleep in a bit the next day.

February 2-3

Poor Henry and Gabe's stay at Grandma's was cut short by Gabe having some intestinal bug. I picked them up around noon and the poor kid had problems all afternoon. It's so tough when one of my kids are sick. I wish I could do more for them but in the end I just have to let things run their course!

35 Weeks & Final U/S, More and More Snow

January 23

Today I'm 35 weeks and still hanging in there. We had our final growth u/s today. Both babies are doing well and continuing to grow strong. Baby A is very wedged in my pelvis but we were lucky she came out long enough to get some measurements. She's about 5 lbs 5 oz. She's still pretty quiet and I struggle to feel her more a lot. Baby B is still very active and doesn't like to be measured. He came in smaller than A at about 5 pounds. I question that a bit only becuase they've been the same as far as weight since the beginning but maybe she's beat him. There's a 12 oz varience possible so who knows until they're born! Either way, they're measuring fine for where they are and are continuing to grow as they should. I'm three weeks away from delivery!

January 25 & 26

Another snow storm has blown into Michigan. I think everyone is tired of the snow and ice. We couldn't do anything Saturday because the weather was too bad. But Sunday we were able to venture out to Grand Rapids to help Rich and Lois purchase and install their new HD TV. They ended up with the exact same model that we have in our bedroom now. It looks very nice but they need a new cable box that's compatiable with the TV before they can really enjoy the new features! It's always something.

Heading home was a bit of a mess. Another snow storm came raging through unexpectedly. It usually takes us 45 minutes to get home from GR but it took over two hours that day. It was just blinding conditions on top of icy roads. Everyone was going slow. We considered a hotel once or twice but by the time we located the nearest hotel by phone, it was faster to go home! =) Overall it wasn't a huge deal. It was just slow going. I'm very grateful for our car with four wheel drive. We hardly notice really bad weather when we're in it.

January 27 & 28

Nothing exciting to report. Mike had to take my car to get out of the drive and to work so the boys and I are stuck home. The nanny was also snowed in so it was just me and the boys yesterday. Today I usually don't have anyone so it's just us again. They don't seem to mind too much but I know they're starting to get bored. Their toys are only exciting for so long. We've done quite a few movies to pass the time. The really frustrating part is how cold it is. I would take them outside if it were warmer but with -20 wind chill and -11 degree weather, it's just too dangerous! I'm looking forward to spring already. Even 30 degrees would be a heat wave at this point!

Here are a few random photos of the boys playing while we've been snowed in. Thank goodness they play well together 80% of the time...

Doctor Appointments for Gabe, 34 weeks, Weekend of Projects

January 17

We had GREAT news yesterday. Gabe had an appointment with the allergist and with his regular doctor for his 2 year appt. The allergist looked at the results from the blood test that showed he was positive to milk and dog. He completely dismissed the milk allergy as within a normal range. He asked a lot of follow up questions and when we said no to all of them, he said it was unlikely Gabe is allergic to milk at all. 

He agreed the dog allergy is real but he again asked a lot of questions and in the end, it sounds like Gabe is allergic, but not very. He also said not to take the "high" number so seriously on this particular test because it's prone to a lot of false positives. Plus, he said some one with the same number could break out into hives every time they're near a dog and that would be the "norm" for them. We've been around dogs several times in the family and for days on end sometimes and never noticed Gabe suffering with stuffiness or immediate ear infections after family functions. 

He tested poor Gabe for a few other things and basically everything came back normal. His opinion at this point is allergies are not the cause of Gabe's past ear infections and hopefully the adenoid removal will solve our problem now.

It was nice to have the pediatrician appointment right after because the pediatrician completely agreed with the allergist and said we don't have to cut out milk at all. What a relief. In other health news, Gabe had a great 2 year check up.  He's 35" tall (65%) and 33 pounds (93%). At this point they say he'll be about 5'10" when he's older. My short genes brought him down! Henry is supposed to be 6'1" like his dad.   

Yesterday I also passed the 34 week mark. I'm more and more uncomfortable as the days go on. My belly has a mind of it's own and I'm getting so large. Babies and I are healthy though and doing well. My weekly check up shows I'm still measuring 44 weeks along and the babies continue to have strong heart beats. I am starting to have more contractions at random times but that doesn't mean anything as long as they don't become consistent. They're just annoying. Only 4 weeks left now!

January 19 & 20

The weekend went by pretty fast. Mike's parents came down to help with some house projects and the kids. I've been asking for a long time to get my giant sky light window in our bedroom covered up. It's beautiful but it is so bright it's hard to sleep when I want to nap or even if it's my turn to sleep in on the weekends. I was going to use cardboard but luckily Mike and his dad had a better idea and were able to get some material from Home Depot that was opaque and looked decent in the window. I'm super excited. I also purchased some curtains and curtain rods for the lower window so Mike got those installed the next day.

They also got Henry's old bed converted back into a crib and put in our bedroom. It was a little messed up after Henry had it. A lot of screw holes were stripped so they had to buy new longer screws to fix them. It's all set up now and ready for babies! I hope =)

Finally, Mike and his dad worked on getting our new TV installed properly in the room. We had it on the wall before but the cords were showing. They bought all the stuff to get the cords hidden. It took a long time, but it looks great! I also managed to talk Mike into getting headsets for the new TV. With Gabe I was only able to stay awake the every two hours he was up to feed by watching TV shows on Netflix in his room. My plan now is to use the new TV to do the same but with the headset I can watch TV without waking up Mike or the kids. We decided to get two headsets so we can also start watching TV later in the evening when the boys are in bed. The wall isn't very thick between our rooms and the TV was pretty loud in the boys room. Henry sleeps deeply but Gabe does not!

Speaking of Gabe, he has thrown us for another loop in his new bedroom. We have to keep his old bed as a toddler bed because he keeps getting banished there to sleep. He's into everything and will not stay in bed. His recent antics involved pulling down one of the dressers. He pulled all the drawers out making it top heavy and then pulled it and everything on top of it down. Now we have to get brackets or something to secure the dressers to the wall before he can sleep in there again. What a stinker!

New Nanny #2, Skype with Grandmas, Birthday Party Play Date

January 10

Today we had the other new nanny start. Her name is Molly and she's also an education major at Western. She's super sweet and just like Kristen, the boys loved her. She watched the boys while I made huge progress on the nursery upstairs. Once again we were lazy and let the nursery room closet double as a storage area. We had so much stuff in there it was ridiculous. Unfortunately it all had to come out because we need to fit two cribs and two dressers in there. The closet is large enough it can hold one dresser with no problem - if it's empty. I did manage to get the room cleared out and organized. I have a pile of stuff Mike needs to more to the basement for me. At least now I have a clean slate. I'm not quite as excited to decorate the nursery as I was with Henry and Gabe. Partly because I know the twins won't spend that much time in there right away. Henry was in his room from the beginning (new mommy paranoia) but Gabe was with us for 9 months before we finally got him to sleep in his own bed. I imagine it will be similar with these two. Especially considering I may need more of Mike's help with one child while I'm trying to feed/change/take care of the other. Anyways, I guess I know the nursery is important, but not THAT important right now =)

January 11

Recently Henry has discovered the novelty of Skype. My mom has Skype so she can talk to my sister and her family on the Isle of Mann (UK). Henry doesn't seem to care about that though. As soon as he figured out he could call Grandma and SHOW her things, he was sold. Unfortunately, he did not understand at all why he couldn't call Grandma Lois to do the same thing. Grandma Lois does not have a camera at her house. So, today we made the trip up to Grand Rapids to help get a new camera set up for our very spoiled little boy! We were able to get it all set up and I know Henry will be excited to call and show Grandma Lois AND Grandma M all his wonderful things or maybe just bore them to death with the same stories they've heard before... either way, technology has certain come a long ways from my childhood!

January 14

Sunday and Monday were a blur. Sunday was mostly a lazy day and catch up on house projects. Monday Henry did make a few Skype calls to his Grandmas but other than that and laundry, it was uneventful.

Today however was a bit more exciting. I didn't get to have a play date for Gabe's birthday because the weather was so bad around his birthday. I moved it to this week instead. It was a bit challenging to find a milk-free snack but in the end I was able to make some cookies that didn't have any diary in it. I think all the kids had a fun time dressing up as superheroes and destroying my living room =) Thankfully Henry is pretty good at cleaning up now!

After the party, I was pretty exhausted. I attempted to take a nap but neither boy was willing to cooperate today. Of course that's my luck. In other news, I was a little concerned because I hadn't felt Baby A move all day. She's usually quiet but I at least feel her once or twice during the day until her awake time between 9 & 11 at night. Either a turn over or hiccups, something. Anyways, I finally hyped myself up enough about it I called the doctors. They said to come in for an NST to check things out. I called Mom and she and dad headed over from Battle Creek. Mike did a great job leaving work quickly to come home and wait for my mom to take over while I went to the doctors to get started on the test. In the end, everything is fine. She's definitely not moving much but it's not from distress. Her annoying little brother tried his best to outdo her at every point of the test. He was moving like crazy and his monitor was moving all over the place. Except for maybe 5 times, her heartbeat remained very steady and unmoved by any of her roommates actions. I was glad they could also see she wasn't moving because I was concerned she may have moved somewhere I couldn't feel her as well.

The whole thing reminded me of the night Gabe was out of bed when he wasn't supposed to be and happily in Henry's bed hitting Henry on the head with a stuffed footballl. Henry snored through the whole thing and didn't move once. Regardless, I'm really glad they're both still doing well and we'll follow up at our appointment on Thursday. Hoping she moves like she's supposed to tonight! This is one frustrating thing about twins. They are double the worry!!

Play Date, 33 Weeks, Allergies & Diaper Party

January 9

Busy, busy day! We had a friend of ours over for a play date this morning. The kids had a great time playing together and I enjoyed catching up with the latest news. I always worry when I have a friend comes over who only has a daughter or daughters. Boys are so rough compared to girls, I always worry my boys will shock girls the same age. Luckily my friend's daughter is in daycare and also has a good friend who is a boy. She was right there when they wanted to wrestle, play superheroes or fix some unknown problems with their tool set.

Right after my play date, mom and dad came over to watch the boys so I could go to my 33 week appointment. Everything is still going well. Babies have either gone through a growth spurt or positioned oddly: I measured 44 weeks now. Ugh. I believe it. I'm surprised my belly is still able to accommodate the growing children in my belly =)

We had some surprising news today about Gabe. If you remember, I discussed the allergy test they took during his surgery. We expected nothing to come back, but the doctor called and told us there were two positives on the test: Milk & Dog. He's less allergic to milk (.8/.35) than he is to dogs. Dogs he registered off the charts at 86/.35 (and no, I did not miss a decimal there). After receiving the news, we made an appointment with the allergic at our pediatrician's recommendation. Luckily I'm already an established patient at an allergist and my allergist was on the short list of recommendations from the doctor. We have an appointment next Thursday to meet with the allergist and get a better idea of what this all means. Right now we're trying to eliminate the milk from Gabe's diet and keep him away from dogs whenever possible. Luckily the last isn't too hard considering we don't own a dog. The milk is going to be an issue. Gabe loves yogurt/cheese/dairy products!

Anyways, after my appointment I did run to the store to get a few dairy free products to try with Gabe. Pretty much right after I got home I was running around trying to get dinner ready and then myself ready to go to a Diaper Shower some friends were hosting for me. The shower was a lot of fun. My friend Stephanie did a great job decorating and my friends were very generous with their diaper and "shower" gifts =) Since this is my third time around, I wasn't expecting anything so it was very touching to have my friends do something like this for me!

Gabe's Surgery, Massive Snow, 32 Weeks, Gabe's Birthday & First New Nanny

January 2

Yesterday we made a pretty treacherous drive to Grand Rapids to drop Henry off at Grandma and Grandpa Dozeman's for the night. The weather is getting colder and they say we have a bunch of snow coming soon and crazy cold temperatures. I think I drove at a max 50 mph when the speed limit is 70. Not a lot of people were passing me either! But we made it there and back safely and that's all the matters =) 

Today we had Gabe's adenoids surgery early in the morning. Gabe broke my heart at about 3 a.m. when he woke up thirsty and I had to turn him down since it was after midnight. Luckily he went back to sleep but it was awful. The surgery was pretty similar to when we had the tubes done. They give Gabe a little "loopy" medicine to help calm him down and then when he's really starting to get silly, they take him back to the surgery area. The surgery was about 35-40 minutes. Everything went well and the doctor said his adenoids were large so we're hoping this it he end of the ear infection problems. Gabe was slow to wake up and a bit crazy. He went from completely passed out on my shoulder to flailing angry without a lot of thought for his safety. Eventually I had to let Mike hold him for awhile because my big belly was making it hard for me to catch him when he would throw himself back. Luckily that didn't last too long and then we could take him home. 

I would say about an hour or so after his surgery he was almost completely back to normal. He was so hungry and didn't hold back eating anything we would let him have. We started small, afraid he might throw something up, but in the end we let him eat whatever he wanted. He went about his day like nothing strange had happened at all. 

We had an allergy test (blood draw) done with the surgery and they said we should know by next week what the results are. We're hoping it's nothing since the adenoids were large and the doctor was happy we removed them. 

January 3

I had my 32 week pregnancy appointment. Things are still going well. Babies heartbeats are strong and they're continuing to grow. My belly is measuring 40 weeks but I feel so many larger. 

We also had a week of car repairs. Mike's car was acting strange so we took it in and found it had a leaky tube somewhere. Then my car's defrost wasn't working well. We found out the temperature regulator something-or-other wasn't working correctly. Luckily we purchased the extended warranty on that so the repairs on that were free. Mike and I differ on how much it might have cost us. He says he signed something that said $120 but when I looked up the repairs online, I found people who said they paid $1,000 - $1,500! I think the dealer only showed what the parts cost them, not the labor or other stuff they tack on to charge people. Plus, it makes it sound so much better to say the warranty saved us $1,000 rather than $120 =) 

January 5

My baby is 2 years old! I have no idea where the time has gone =( We decided with the surgery on the 2nd we would postpone Gabe's birthday party. Plus the weather is a bit unpredictable at this time of year. In the end we had a little family party instead. We had ice cream cupcakes and we got Gabe a new Hot Wheels track set that goes on our wall. He loves the new car track and plays with it often. We're still struggling with getting him to understand that not every car is small enough for the track. He wants every car he owns to use the track but most end up stuck and frustrate him. I've had to basically duct tape the track to the wall to keep it working for him and Henry. They are rough on the track and it comes off the wall easily.

January 6 & 7 

We had a massive store come through and dump about three feet of snow on us. For the first time we are completely snowed in. Our roads haven't been plowed and from what the news is saying, even main roads are still covered. Almost the entire town has shut down. Even Stryker! Which just about never happens. Mike is still working from home but the actual buildings are closed. Tuesday things did start opening a bit but you have to have a big vehicle to get through most of the side roads. Mike did make it into work on Tuesday. As much as I hate how much my car uses gasoline, I'm grateful it's really good in heavy snow! 

January 8 

The weather has at least ceased to dump any more snow on us now. Most people are still digging out but it's getting better. I'm frustrated with the boys now. They've been home for too many days without an outing or play date to break up the monotony. School is once again cancelled but I am thrilled to have my first new nanny start today. Her name is Kristen and she's a senior at Western studying special education. I have a number of little things I want to get done around this house, especailly after a long "break" when Mike and the boys were home so long. 

She really did a fantastic job. She was great with the boys and they were so excited to have someone new to play with. I didn't get as much as I wanted done but I did get a nap in. We went to the library this morning as a group and Kristen was great watching the boys so I could get new books and a few movies for us. Poor Kristen had to read Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles about six times to Henry who just couldn't get enough of them. 

Dozeman Christmas & Pregnancy Photos

December 27

We had a fantastic Christmas with the Dozeman's today. The boys were once again spoiled with all kinds of new toys and games. They especially liked a lot of the movies they got. It was kind of a whirland day. We rushed to get up and get ready in the morning. Then we had to drive to Grand Rapids for the party. Then we had a nice lunch, opened presents and spent a little time with family before both boys were about done. I think a lot of the leftover excitement from Christmas Day and all the new toys really got to them. We were sad when we had to pack up early to take them home. We weren't in the car ten minutes and both boys were snoring away!

December 31

Today our highlight was getting my maternity photos and attempting to get a few "2 year old" photos for Gabe. It was a train wreak. We're hoping a few at least turn out in the end. We'll know for sure in a few weeks. We realized after the photo shoot that we forgot to get photos of Mike and I together for the maternity shots. It was stupid really but we were so busy chasing the kids around it was a forgotten afterthought. Mike decided to set up the camera in the living room so we could at least get a few shots of us together with my ever-growing belly!!

It's New Years Eve but we have no special plans this year. We're staying home and watching TV and most likely going to bed early =) Maybe next year we'll say good bye to another year with a bang instead of a soft "see ya later!"