Are We Done Yet?

I think I have reached term pregnancy size. I am 31 weeks, which means I have at least 7 weeks to grow. I don't know how such things are possible. My trepidation about my ability to support the growth of two babies inside my body keeps me from enjoying the experience I am having. I just don't know how much more uncomfortable things will get. Sleeping is becoming extremely difficult and requires an increasing number of pillows. I hardly slept two nights ago because Lefty was kicking my ribs all night.

I am still working six hours a day, but I am still not as tired when I get home as I was the first trimester. I just hurt more. I have gained 23 lbs and my ankles are swollen. The kids are doing a pretty good job, though of helping out and being aware that I have to do less and they have to do more.

I am at the library, and I need to eat dinner--which means make it. Till next time.

Holiday in Missouri

I am winding up a cozy weekend for adults.  It has just been Mike and I and his mom and dad just enjoying each others' company.  Thursday we just sat around and ate all day.  We watched a couple of Hitchcock movies and a couple of football games.  The Cowboys are having a good year, eh?

Yesterday we tootled around Missouri.  We visited the RLDS (now Community of Christ "Temple" and the neighboring church visitor's center where they had a Dead Sea Scroll Exhibit that ends today.  It was pretty cool.  They also had some water pots and oil lamps (I was surprised how small the lamp were) from the time period.

After that we revisited Liberty Jail.  Since it was just us adults, we had a wonderful discussion with the young sister Missionary who gave us the tour.  At the end of the tour, we stopped to enjoy the Nativity display there at the visitors center.  Local members donated their Nativities from around the world.  There were probably about 50 different sets and works.  Ten of them were from the "Skembos Liberty Stake."  Consie has collected them for years.

Before we did any of that we stopped at Sam's to restock their candy at the Far West Country Store.  They made me ride the fat lady scooter cart.  I really do need to take it easy because these babies have to stay in there for two more months.  This month has gone by fairly quickly, though.  

Today is our last day here.  Tomorrow we leave after Sacrament Meeting so we can get the kids back and get back to work.  Mike has three job interviews lined up for the coming week already.  We'll see.

Pink

I have deleted all of the boy items from my Babies R Us registry. Both of them gave a clear view for the doctor. I have two girls. Doc says there are two separate sacs, but they have thin walls, which leans more toward identical. Of course, I don't expect them to be anything but identical. Doctor says their measurements are totally consistent with the 29 Jan. due date and they are growing equally.

Mike is coping well enough. He had a house full of boys growing up. He is not used to hormones. It will be a good experience for him. I am sure I will get a chance to make another post before the holiday, but I wonder if anyone will read anything before then. Just in case, Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I hope you enjoy it. I don't have enough room in my stomach to really enjoy it. If I eat two bites too many, I become reflexively bulimic. The Nurse Practitioner says I just need to have little feasts all day. This Thanksgiving be thankful for the space in your abdominal cavity.

FAQ's

Are you far enough along to find out the babies' sexes? Yes

I am 29 weeks. As long as the baby is positioned well, the sex can be determined at 20 weeks.

Do we want to know the babies' sexes? Yes.

Because we have a nice "bottoms up" situation, it should be pretty easy to determine the sexes at my in-depth ultrasound on Monday. I went to Babies R Us to update my registry today and added multiple sets of both boy and girl clothes. When I find out, I will delete the unnecessary clothing.

Can the doctor tell you if they are they identical or fraternal? Yes and no.

They can only rule out identical if they are male and female, or confirm identical if they are sharing a placenta sac. However, if they are the same sex and in a different sac, we may not even be certain if they are identical or fraternal after they are born. However, I expect that they will be identical, because of family history, and I was certainly not in fertility therapy.

When is the due date? Jan. 29th

All of my other children came two weeks late, so until I knew it was twins, I told people I was due in early February. Realizing that they usually come early, I am now telling people I am due the end of January. However, Mom said she carried the twins to full term and her singles were late like mine. So, rather than have them at 42 weeks, I will have them at 38-40 (January 15th-29th), despite the fact that the majority of twins deliver by 37 weeks.

How long are you going to work? I don't know.
I expect to be on bedrest (on orders, or voluntarily). I may be able to hang in there long enough to be of help up until Christmas Day. If I make it that far, I will certainly stop there. After that, I expect to return to being an at-home mom. There is just no value in working for 8.25/hour when I have a baby to care for. That is enough to pay for daycare and taxes, while still putting us in a higher bracket so that we are sure not to qualify for earned income credit. Not enough families realize those implications.

I will be looking at some dance/music teaching opportunities for a little extra here and there, where I can bring my babies along. Hopefully they will be content babies. I doubt they could be as easy and content as Andrew.

The answer to the unaskable question. Yes, I will be breastfeeding.

Any other questions?

It Takes Two to Make it Out of Sight

It's official. Baby A and baby B are side by side, heads down, which explains why I get so much stinking kicking in my ribs.

I only met with the Nurse Practitioner today, who happens to be the mother of twin boys. Monday I will be having an in-depth ultrasound with the doctor, who is the father of twins. This doctor was recommended to me by a couple of ladies in the ward.

I'm stuck in a 70's sitcom. I've gone from the Brady Bunch to Eight is Enough! I'm excited. Since I work right next door to Babies R Us, I registered there, though I have never been in the store, I did it all online. Feel free to visit babiesrus.com and look up our registry number: 68713835 or you can look it up by searching under Skembo.

Emylie the Artist

This is Emylie's freehand drawing in colored pencil. She did this one from an art instruction book, though this picture did not have instructions, it was inside cover art. She does a lot of other things out of her own brain.

Activity

Monday was a busy day at work. I had contractions every 5 minutes for the last two hours I was there, and another full hour after I got home. I did leave work a little early, and I laid down most of the rest of the evening. I was not feeling well at all, and I was concerned about how much longer I would be able to work.

However, I had kind of the same problem last Monday as well. I think I must be doing too much on the weekends and adding a full day of work to it after that just sets everything off. Yesterday and today were fine. I only had one or two contractions per hour, with none during some hours. Even that would be a source of concern for some, but since I regularly had contractions for a month or two before all of my other babies were born, I only see them as a warning sign to take it a little easier.

Babies were pretty still over the weekend, but there was tons of activity in the middle of all my contractions. The one on the top had been the far more active one for the longest time, but I am getting a lot more movement on the left side now too. Some of the movement is so strong that it moves the rest of my body, like someone bumping against my chair or something. I love feeling the life inside of me. Pregnancy is uncomfortable, but I love it.

Big Transition

Emylie got her certificate of achievement from the Bishop today to advance to Young Women's just before the primary program. Isaac was the only one who did not participate in the primary program today, but next year, only 3 kids will be in it.

Lexi and Emylie both went to YW today after my class. I have one more student who will turn 12 in a month. After January, I will have no students in my class, so I will be able to attend the adult classes. I took Emylie, Lexi, and Isaac to a fireside tonight. I have three children over the age of 12. Three. And two in my belly who will not go to youth activities for a long time. Just strange to think.

It is funny how pals-y Emylie and Lexi have been this weekend. Lexi had a bunch of things going on with her mom on Saturday and Emylie kept asking when she was going to be here. Their friend, Megan was here part of the time, and they all got along fine--including Claire. It was supposed to be the weekend of Emylie's big birthday party, but she wanted to keep it small. Because it was so late before Mikey and Lexi got here, we didn't have cake until 10 pm. The only present there was to open was an MP3 player, but she had gotten the wig and a nice set of leather bound scriptures the week before, so she actually got a REALLY nice birthday.

Claire, the Artist

Emylie has long exhibited artistic talent, to the point of over-shadowing her sister, Claire. However, last month Claire was selected to be part of an art exhibit at the school district office. We did not get a chance to visit the exhibit, and neither did you, however, the school district has teamed up with Artsonia.com to publish the exhibit online.

View Claire's artwork, comment, or join her fan club. Click on her work when get to the gallery. You can also buy prints of her art on greeting cards or T shirts. Proceeds will benefit the school art program.

You can appreciate her work better by taking a closer look at some of the other children's work. Her color saturation and pen strokes are definitely more mature than her schoolmates. The continuity of her border through the color changes adds to the effect as well.

Pain

Monday at work was awful. I kept having pains and contractions. I was concerned that I was going to have to stop working soon. I went home and laid down the rest of the evening. I was not able to sleep at all that night. Nothing was comfortable. Tuesday at work was much better, and I slept well last night, for the most part. I did have a dream that one of my left ribs was broken and sticking out, so I pulled it out like one would an underwire that was malfunctioning. I did wake up to a very sharp pain there.

Mike is on week two of having his car all torn apart. It has consumed him. There is little time for anything else. He has been in a lot of pain for one reason or another; whether its smashed fingers or aching muscles. He is having to take me to and from work so that he has a vehicle to fetch any unexpected parts in while he is working. He thinks he has everything he needs now. He has new tie rods, shocks, breaks, springs, rebuilt calipers, and whatever else attaches to any of those things, plus a new clutch master cylinder. We have probably spent about a thousand dollars in parts, but the labor that we are not paying for would amount to at least another $4,000. Our friends Cash and Scott have contributed to the labor, or Mike would probably have another week of work to do, and he would have had to buy a great many more tools and tidbits. We still need to get an alignment not that all of those components have been replaced, and are in great need of at least 3 new tires.

All of it has been no source of stress for me. Mike is strung out, but I am excited for him. I guess the timing couldn't really be better, since he is out of work. There is no way he could have done all this if he had his job.

Whaddaya think?

I am at 27 weeks, which marks the end of my second trimester, making me (newly) 6 months pregnant. A lady came into BB&B two days ago, who was due 2 days after me, and we were very close in size. She has been to the doctor, and is definitely expecting twins.

Did you know that your chances of having a multiple pregnancy double when you are over 35? I continue to experience significant movement in my belly. I have felt a heel right up at my diaphragm and tickled it. However, I have a really hard time distinguishing what is what. The most dramatic movement occurs on my right side.

If it is twins, one baby is facing out (the one on the right) and the other baby has its back against my belly and its limbs toward my back. It just seems like I am getting nudged from a hundred different directions.


I definitely sense the urgency of seeing a doctor now. I took the day off work yesterday so I could apply for Medicaid. UGH! I had #317. They were on number 269 when I came in. I was there for 3 hours and they were on 279. THEN I find out that I can just leave my filled out application (that I got online and filled out at home) in the box for them to review and they would call me for an appointment in 7-14 days. If I had known that, I would have done it 2 weeks ago just after work. I was expecting to have to sit in a waiting room. If I had stayed and waited the six hour minimum I still would have had to come back for an appointment.

As much as I wanted to stay in a room with mothers talking about Child Protective Services in relation to their addictions and overweight smelly people crowding the chair next to me, I had to get the van back to Mike so he could take the kids out to Matt so that I could get a ride to be at the church by 6:30 for our warm-ups for the 7:30 performance. Yes, I left.

I will not wait 7-14 days, however, until I contact doctors and make an appointment, since Medicaid can be retroactively applied up to 3 months.

Baby just woke up. I love playing with my baby. Where it kicks, I push on the spot with the same rhythm and it pushes back. I have never had a baby respond like that. It is amazing.

By the way, you haven't seen my hair yet. It is 2 months longer than it was. My hair has not been growing very fast, though. I just went 2 weeks without shaving my legs, and it was hardly noticeable.

All Saints Day

All Hallows eve is done. Today used to be the holiday that was focused on. I guess that was when a much higher percentage of the population was Catholic.

Emylie went Trick-or-treating with a couple of friends last night as some sort of princess. Her dad bought her a costume wig, but it is really uncomfortable and she doesn't like it, but her new everyday wig that we ordered showed up yesterday. She is really excited about it. Today she is wearing it to school for the first time. We'll see how the kids at school respond to it today, and how she responds to them.

I walked around the block last night with the other three. The neighbor kid, Vuk and his little sister Ani (short for something-they are Polish or Russian or something) came along with us. Claire was a Gypsi with a black wig. Isaac and Andrew and Vuk were dressed in camo as some sort of military unit. Isaac kept giving drill commands and marched them between the houses.

Somebody "Boo'd" us (ding-dong-ditch) a couple of nights ago, but Mike and I were not here, and before we got back, the kids had eaten all the candy they gave us. So last night, everyone was required to dump out their bags for "inspection." They were told to give us anything they didn't like. After that, we were free to take anything that WE liked from what they had left. The bowl that was left on our porch is now full of things to satisfy adult-only sweet-tooths.

Tomorrow I have the day off because I asked for it, so I am going to go apply for medicaid because I really need to see a doctor. It's not the doctor I need to see, it is what is in my belly that I need to see. I am just barely six months along. I have now passed into the third trimester, but I look like I should deliver in the next three weeks. My fundal measurements continue to be ahead by several weeks, and the activity in my belly continues unabated. Either the child has ADHD already, or they just like playing with each other.

I am having more spurts of sore ribs where the bones and cartilage are stressed by the pressure of baby living and growing there, which I have not experienced before.

Time for work again.