Seeing Gray....Or Blue?

Well, I'm 26 weeks pregnant and we decided it was time to start on the nursery this weekend.  I know there are people out there who start in on decorating the nursery as soon as they find out they are pregnant, but that certainly was not going to be me.  Heck, if I could I'd wait until these babies are actually born, but I know that probably wouldn't be the smartest idea either.  So, a couple weeks past viability I finally felt comfortable enough to get this thing started. 

So, are you ready for the long drama?

We had tossed around a few ideas for how to do the room.  Let me just say, trying to figure out how to decorate a room for both a boy and a girl is hard.  Like, really hard.  At first we were going to do a jungle theme - and somewhere along the way decided we weren't in love with that idea.  Not to mention I was stressing out about how uncreative I am and wasn't sure I was up to the challenge of doing a themed room and having it come out cute.  So, in the end we finally decided to paint the walls gray, figuring whatever girl and boy bedding we find would go well with that color.

Ok, back to the drama.

Gray.  If I hear that word one more time I think I'll shoot myself.  Last week was spent scouring Pinterest and Goo.gle Images for gray nursery ideas and paint colors, and running around to various stores getting paint samples to see how they would look on the wall.  We painted the samples on over our currently beige wall, and everything came out....blue.  Off to the store for more samples, put them on the wall, and.....blue.  WTF?!  We finally figured out the beige was coming through, turning the colors into something they weren't.  We were trying to avoid priming, but decided it was inevitable if we wanted the paint color to turn out right. 

Jeff's mom, bless her heart, had decided to come to our place for Thanksgiving this year and stay through the weekend so she and Jeff could paint (neither of them wanted me around all the paint fumes, which was probably the right thing to do).  So they got the walls primed Friday, and Saturday morning we painted the samples back on the wall.  What a difference!  The colors actually looked gray, and matched the paper swatches this time.  Right away all 3 of us zeroed in on one color and immediately decided that was the one.  It was Benjamin Moore's Coventry Gray. So, off to the hardware store to buy a gallon of paint.

Here's where the drama continues.  BM has 3 lines of paint, and only their high end line (i.e. their $67 a gallon line) carries the satin finish, which is what we (and doesn't everyone else?) wanted.  Jeff was not happy.  At all.  Jeff can be, shall we say, a little tight with money.  I have to say I can't blame him in this case though.  $35 for a gallon of paint?  A normal amount we were expecting to spend.  $67?  Holy moly, that's unreasonable!  After arguing talking it over, we decided we already had the color we liked picked out and didn't feel like starting all over again with trying to find one we liked.  So, we forked over the dough and headed back home for Jeff and his mom to get to work:

(notice the window sill? he needed to calm his nerves after all that)

 

Finally getting some color on the wall!  Looks so pretty going on doesn't it?

 

Pretty gray walls:

 

 

Or is it baby blue?

 



Gah!  Now that it's all on and dried, it's giving off more of a baby blue hue - although still sometimes gray depending on what light it's in.  It's not exactly what we had in mind, but what can we do at this point?  We've already spent $67 on a gallon of paint, plus primer, plus who knows how much in samples.  It's too late to do it all over again.  I really think the beige ceiling, beige carpet, light brown woodwork, and light brown dresser (that we may end up not using afterall) is making it have the blue tint.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that once we get our dark cribs in there, with some cute bedding and fun stuff on the walls, that it will look much better. 

Needless to say, what was suppose to be a fun experience, turned out to be pretty stressful all the way through to the end.  I sure hope the rest of the decorating is smooth-sailing from here on out....

So what do you think?  Is is gray?  Or is it blue?

24 Weeks....

....and all is well on the homefront.  I can't believe I've made it to viability.  And I also can't believe how fast this pregnancy seems to have gone so far.  Even though we have so much to do, I'd be okay with it continuing to fly by.  Not because I'm not enjoying pregnancy, but because I'm starting to get anxious to meet these little ones and see what they look like and what their personalities are like.  Not too anxious though - I'll gladly wait until they are nice and fully baked. 

How are the babies doing?

Great!  The ultrasound this week showed everything was as it should be.  Baby A (our girl) is estimated to weigh 1 lb, 11 oz and Baby B (our boy) is estimated to be 1 lb, 8 oz.  Fluids, placentas, and all that other stuff looks good.  Right now Baby A is head down and Baby B is breech, but that can always change before delivery.  Whether I have a vaginal delivery or C-section all depends on their position at the time of birth.  It mostly depends on if Baby A is head down or breech.  As much as I don't like the thought of pushing 2 babies out of my hoo-ha, I think I'd much rather avoid a C-section if at all possible.  Either way, I just want them to get here safe and healthy no matter how that happens.

How am I doing?

Good for the most part.  I've just started to see/feel some changes with my body this week that are a little alarming, and not things I was expecting this early on.  My belly is already measuring 30 weeks, so I guess I need to remember that those uncomfortable symptoms that start later on for most people are going to start happening to me earlier. 

My feet:  are starting to feel achy for most of the day, and I've noticed some swelling in my feet and ankles.  I went to the mall for a couple hours Friday afternoon and that about did me in.  My feet were so sore afterwards, and were even still really sore the next day.  I think it's time to find some more loose-fitting, comfortable shoes. 

My back:  not too bad yet.  If I'm up walking around for awhile (like my mall trip, or just cooking supper and doing dishes) my back starts to hurt.  I was expecting my back to be the first thing to go, but so far it's holding up okay.

My insides:  one word:  squished!  This is the first week I've been able to tell that I'm running out of room in there.  I can't eat (nor do I have the desire to) like I have been anymore.  I eat a normal amount of food for a meal and feel completely stuffed and miserable afterwards.  I've read in several places that the rule of thumb with twins is to gain the weight early (ideally aiming for 24 pounds by 24 weeks) for exactly this reason, and now I can see why!  Seeing the scale creep up over 25 pounds these last few months is a little scary, but I can now see it was all for good reason.  I'll be interested to see how much my weight gain slows down now that I can't stuff my face like I use to (although managing a bowl of ice cream every night hasn't been an issue yet ;) ).

Other than that I don't have much news to report.  Feeling a little overwelmed now by all the preparations we need to start making, but that will be an entirely new post....

The Nesting Has Begun

I think the nesting has started for us.  We were in full on organizing/purging/cleaning mode this weekend.  When we moved into our house 3 years ago, all of our totes and boxes of stuff we didn't immediately need got thrown in our basement storage room and pretty much hasn't been touched since.  When we have needed something, we had to spend the time looking through each tote until we found what we were looking for.  With the babies coming, we decided it's time to get all of our junk organized.  So we bought a set of storage shelves this weekend, and got to work.

Some during and after photos:

And the finished product - ta da!

It feels good to have this project finally tackled.  Now on to the next one!

Twin/Gender Reveal Party

It's a.....

Girl and Boy!!!

We were so excited last Monday when we found out we were having one of each.  Baby A is a girl and Baby B is a boy.  It's going to be so nice to now be able to refer to them as he or she, instead of it, or A or B. 

We had our party with our immediate families yesterday to share the big news that we were having twins, as well as their genders.  Needless to say, everyone was completely shocked.  Jeff and I were both taken aback a little bit by everyone's reaction....it was way more than we expected.  I expected quiet dumbfoundedness (is that a word?), and instead we got many tears - practically on the verge of sobbing.  I've only seen my dad cry two times in my whole life, and even he was crying pretty hard.  I think his reaction got my tears flowing the hardest.  Afterwards he jumped on the phone and started calling all of his friends....it was pretty cute :)

And guess what else?  We even received some baby gifts!  My mom and Jeff's sister had brought with them both a boy and girl gift, with the intention of returning whichever one we didn't need, and instead we kept them both, haha! 

(our loot)

 

 

Jeff's sister is letting us have their baby furniture, and they went ahead and brought down the changing table with them this weekend.  So we have one piece of furniture and the stuff pictured above in our house, which is a little surreal.  I still am having a hard time completely letting go and believing this is really going to happen.  But then I tell myself I'm not sure if I'm ever going to stop worrying and completely let my guard down so I suppose I should roll with it and start having fun. 

 

 

But seriously, how cute is it going to be to see the babes side-by-side in these little outfits?

 



:)

Half Baked

Wow, I can't believe I just wrote the title to this post.  Over the last 2 years, the thought of making it to the point of walking in for our anatomy scan seemed like a dream that was so far out of our reach.  But we made it.  We had our scan Monday, and it couldn't have been more perfect. 

As for the genders?  Well, you'll have to wait until next week :p 

Our twin/gender reveal party with our families is this weekend.  How we managed to keep this a secret for this long is beyond me.  But we did it, and I cannot wait to see their reactions.  So I promise party pics will be coming next week!

16 Weeks

As promised, my 16 week bump photo:

Ugh, I look pretty bad, but that was seriously about as good as it was going to get this week.  I'm blaming this all on Jeff's lack of photography skills. 

I had another appointment with my OB last week.  I had an ultrasound to check my cervix.  It measured 3.9 cm and was nice and closed.  Apparently they start to worry when it gets below 2cm, so this was great news.  I'll have it checked again at my 20 week u/s (which is also our anatomy scan - holy crap!).  They also did a quick check on the babies, and both hearts were still beating away. 

Other than that my appointment was pretty uneventful.  No bloodwork, no peeing in a cup, nothing. 

I've started to gain some energy back.  Like I mentioned in my previous post, I've been getting out and walking again, which has felt great.  And, I don't get completely out of breath like I did during 1st trimester.  My only issue now is trying to walk for more than 30 minutes without having to pee! 

I was getting some pretty bad headaches (some even turned into migraines) for the last few weeks.  I'm prone to migraines anyway, though not this frequently.  My OB said pregnancy can either make headaches/migraines worse or better, and apparently I'm one of the unlucky ones who gets them worse now.  Under the advice of some women I've talked to, I've started drinking caffeine again this week.  I start my day off with ~8 oz of Diet Coke and that has seemed to help.  Maybe the majority of the headaches were from caffeine withdrawal and I just never noticed it in the first trimester because I felt crappy anyway?  My OB also said I can take up to 1000mg (2 extra strength) of Tylenol - when the handout I received at my first appointment said I could only take 650mg.  So that seems to help knock them out when I feel one coming on as well. 

Other than that I've been doing pretty well.  I wake up every day so thankful that I've made it this far. 

A Lot On My Mind

I promise to have a 16 week bumpdate posted soon.  I have the bump photos taken, I just haven't had time to get them uploaded to the computer.  For right now though, I have a lot of random thoughts swirling around in my mind.  So, for today you get bullets. 

- I feel like we should start planning/making preparations for the babies, but at the same time it feels so early yet.  I can't believe I'm almost 17 weeks - where has the time gone?  We're going to Jeff's sister's this weekend and they have been saving their baby furniture for us.  So we may be bringing home a crib this weekend - which scares the living daylights out of me.   

- Daycare.  I'm not sure if in-home or a center is better.  (Warning:  I know absolutely nothing about either.  All of my thoughts are based off of stereotypes I've created in my head.)  I like with in-home you might get a little more personalized care, and it just seems.....cozier.  What bothers me about in-home is providers can take off 2 weeks during the year, and you still have to pay them - and find alternative care for that time.   This isn't a huge deal for us because I get 5 weeks vacation a year, but the principal behind it bothers me for some reason.  At least with a center if an aid takes vacation, there are others there for backup and they would likely never be closed (except maybe some extra time over the holidays).  I'm also not sure if we are going to be able to find an in-home provider that will even be able to take 2 babies at once, I guess it all depends on how many slots they would happen to have open.  In-home is going to be cheaper than a center, but in some ways I think it would be worth it because it just seems more dependable.  A new center close to our house is having an open house next week and we are planning on going.  I think I'll feel better about all this once I start gathering information. 

- Maternity clothes shopping.  Over-freaking-welming.

- I always envisioned that I would be a super active, healthy, and fit pregnant person who would walk 3-4 miles a day without fail.  Yeah, that's not happening.  In the beginning I was too worried about miscarriage/tired/concerned about aggravating the SCH that I didn't exercise.  Oh, and the fact that it was almost 100 degrees here for most of my first trimester.  I've already gained close to 10 pounds, which feels like it's too much.  I asked my OB how much total weight I should aim to gain and he said 35.  Eeek!  I'm almost 1/3 of the way to that and still have a long ways to go.  Now that the weather is nice and cooler, and I'm more relaxed and comfortable with this pregnancy, I'm going to start trying to exercise every day - even if it's only a 30 minute walk around our neighborhood.  I don't feel like my diet is horrible, but I could definitely make improvements.  I've been trying to eat more fruits and vegetables, but it's hard to fit it all in.

- I have a new possible job opportunity on the horizon.  It's a different position within my same department.  It would mean more money, but also more responsiblity.  I'm not sure if taking on a new position right now is the best idea, but we could definitely use more cash once these babies get here.  I figure I'll apply for it and whatever is meant to be will be.   

I hope you are all having a great fall so far!  It's finally down into the 60s/low 70s here and I'm loving it.  This weekend it might even be cool enough to break out a hooded sweatshirt for the first time, and I can't wait :)