Good Friday!!

Yes, that would be Good Friday as in the Friday before Easter, which just happens to be April 10 this year. It also happens to be the day that we are now scheduled to have our baby girls!! I had a great appointment yesterday, except for a shot in my behind, which I have not had in many, many years. : )

The girls are both weighing over 2 lbs. now. In fact, as Dr. C. put it, we have "one big baby and one monster baby." That's encouraging, if a little scary! We decided to for sure proceed with a scheduled c-section, since Baby B (Mackenzie) is still breech and is the "monster baby," which decreases the likelihood she would turn after Baby A is born. Jeremy and I are good with this decision, and the doctor fully supports it, so we are good to go in that department (as long as I don't go into labor and arrive at the hospital 9cm dilated, that is!). So we are all penciled in for April 10. The scary thing about that is that it's 10 WEEKS away!! Thinking about that has made a lot of things hit home for us, including how incredibly much we have left to do.

We are attending a Marvelous Multiples class at the hospital all weekend, but the nursery conversion should be in full swing by next weekend. Pictures to come soon!

25 weeks

I am 25 weeks pregnant this week (though the picture is from last week), and I am beginning to feel every bit of it. I don't have too terribly much to complain about yet, but life is definitely getting more difficult. I am having trouble sleeping...I spend most of the night going back and forth from my left side to the right, then usually wake up starving sometime around 4:00 a.m. Sometimes I can grab a snack and get back to sleep, but sometimes I have to give up and read or otherwise entertain myself until it's time to get up. Because I have a short torso, things have been pretty crowded in my midsection for quite awhile now. The babies aren't kicking me in the ribs or anything, but it is very hard to get a deep breath most of the time, and sitting up straight is quite a challenge. At my last appointment, my belly measured 35 cm. from top to bottom, meaning I'm about the size of someone 32-33 weeks pregnant with a single baby! Scary to imagine what that means for the next few months!! Occasional leg cramps and sciatic nerve pain are my only other physical complaints at the moment, so it could be much, much worse. : )
Our appointment last week went well, and the babies weighed in at 1lb., 9oz. each! They are really beginning to feel like substantial little beings now, and their kicks are getting stronger to prove it. I can see my belly move when I happen to look at the right time, and Jeremy has been able to feel them too. So many new and wonderful things going on!
We are getting to work on the nursery as well. The bedding and a few accessories I ordered have arrived, and we are starting to clean out the bedroom to prepare it to be painted. I haven't decided on just the right paint color yet...such a hard decision! I have started registering and have a couple of showers coming up in the next month or so. It's getting exciting to think about the completed nursery waiting for our two little girls to fill it with life and love (and diapers by the dozens, but that's a whole different story!).
So that's my baby update for the moment. Believe it or not, there are other things going on in our lives...the girls are just taking center stage already!
Tomorrow is a big day for our nation, as President Obama takes office. I can't deny that I would love to be in the midst of it all in Washington, DC, but maybe another year. I must admit I have already teared up a time or two watching the festivities so far, and I'm sure I will again tomorrow. To me, it's not so much the significance of the first black president, but seeing the hope and desire to make this country a better place that Obama inspires in so many people. (That was a really convoluted sentence, but maybe I conveyed my point!) I love to see Obama's devotion to his family, and to watch them proudly standing beside him at such an amazing time. I pray that the new administration can live up to the big hopes that so many in our country have for it. Either way, it seems change is coming!

Lazy Days

I have pretty much been worthless so far in 2009. On New Year's Day, I literally stayed in my pajamas all day. It was great, actually! I got sucked into a Bones marathon, and I think I watched about 14 of the 16 episodes. Sad, huh? I read one of the books that inspired the Bones series awhile back, so I thought I would give the series a try also. It's similar to the CSI-genre, but there is a lot more interaction between the characters, which makes it a little more fun.

I did at least venture out of the house on Friday, to Babies R Us and Target. Other than that, I watched a lot of Gilmore Girls and did a whole lot of online browsing for baby items. I have chosen bedding, which I plan to order in the next few days, most likely from ebay, where I can find the best prices and matching accessories. We hope to have the nursery painted and furniture ordered by the end of the month...we'll see how that goes. I received a few new books on life with twins, which I am looking forward to diving into, even if it's a little scary!

So far, Saturday looks to shape up about like Thursday and Friday. Jeremy's shift has changed, and this is his first Saturday off in a very long time, so he's still sleeping. Our big plans for the day include a trip to Costco and possibly dinner out at Mikato, our favorite. : )

I realize this post has been insanely boring and mundane, so here's a few belly pictures to embellish a little:

Early this past week, at 22 weeks. (I was also experimenting with the timer feature on my new camera to take the picture myself.)

And, because my clothes make it hard to see exactly how much I am expanding, here's one shot of the actual belly before it gets too weird. Seeing it in a picture made it feel a little more real!