PCA 19 Weeks

This was a crazy busy week, but I love busy weeks. I go bonkers if I don't have stuff to do, which is rare, but still. This week we had two birthday parties, playgroup, kindermusik, doctor's appointment/GreenKids, two playdates, class, and more and more. Mix into that regular chores and shopping... it was a busy week indeed.

PCA:

When people previously asked me how I was feeling, my standard answer was "I have to remind myself that I'm pregnant. It has been really easy." Well, I'm starting to feel pregnant these days. A dash of heartburn, a little bit of lower back pain, it is getting harder and harder to pick both girls up at the same time, and I'm just plain pooped by the end of the day. These headaches have been relentless. I tried the Imitrex and nada. Damn. I guess I'm going to have to try the Reglan afterall. Dr. Grotegut prescribed it this week, but I was hesitant because Allen has filled my head with all sorts of nasty thoughts on this drug. It is an anti-psychotic drug. Yes, my friends, an anti-psychotic drug. What does that say about me? LOL. But, Allen says that when someone comes into the ER with a bad migraine, they prescribe them caffeine and Reglan. Dr. Grotegut assures me that I am not psycho and this will nix the headache pronto. So, I might have to try it. I wonder why I'm getting these headaches? Hmmm....

I'm just waiting for my feet to start swelling. And, if they do, I know I'll be crazy with worry. I'm convinced that my feet swelling with the twins was related to pre-eclampsia. My feet started swelling with the twins at 21 weeks... so I'm just waiting. I mean, they weren't just swollen ... it looked like I had elephantitus.

This brings me to my next point, the emotional side of things. This isn't something that I readily admit, but here goes in a public way: for whatever reason, I feel like this is my chance to do it "right" ... the pregnancy that is. Everything about this pregnancy has been so easy (so far). I feel like this is my chance to have an un-scary pregnacy, not to get sick and to have a term baby. It is like I need to prove to myself that I can do it. But, in the back of my mind, I JUST KNOW that this baby is going to be born early and that I'm going to get sick again. Perhaps I have PTSD?

Anyway, in more exciting news, Allen felt PCA kick this week. It is always such an amazing experience to share. He was really, really excited.

What will we name this baby? It is driving me crazy that I don't know yet. Arrrgh. Allen really likes Parker, but I really like Caroline. I also like Charlotte these days. Who knows...

Em and Liv:

Em and Liv had an okay week. We are having a little bit of a problem with Olivia's aggression. She is swatting a things (mainly her sister) and doing things she is not supposed to do (ie dig in the plants). Allen and I are finding it challenging to reinforce the word "no" because when we do, she laughs at us! Like a huge belly laugh. And then I just want to laugh because she is laughing. I have started plopping her down on her bottom and saying "no" with a really firm voice. It kinda stuns her for a second. I'm not into popping hands or smacking bottoms. They tend to listen to their daddy a little more because he has a more commanding voice than me. I'm also struggling with wanting to be their friend, as well as their mommy. You know what I mean? I feel so guilty at the end of the day because I feel like all I say is "no." I'm trying to redirect their behavior. I clearly need to read some parenting books because as I type this, I realize that I'm obviously breaking some classic parenting rules. Discipline is love. Right? RIGHT??? Ahhh...

We are also teething this week. The joys of teething. Liv is working on #8 and 9 and Em is working on #5 and 6. Poor babies. The night before last, Emma woke up every two hours SCREAMING. She usually just wants to be held so I take her into bed with us and cuddle her. Well, at around 4:30 when she started crying, I went in to get her, but little did I know that Olivia spied me. Once she saw me take Em out of the room, it was all downhill from there. As we all know, they can NOT not be in the same room without each other, particularly at night. So Olivia had a complete meltdown. I eventually had each girl on my lap and we rocked and rocked and sang songs till they calmed down. Daddy tried too. We finally just had to put them in their cribs and cry it out. Torture for all parties involved. The Tylenol couldn't work fast enough at that point.

Our week in pictures:

From they time she gets up, till the time she goes down, Olivia LOVES to read books. This is us first thing in the a.m. It is really cute -- she loves to sit in laps. She'll turn around and back up until she reaches your lap and then she'll finally sit. Sooo cute.

Emma with her UT gear on -- drinkin' and dialin'. She is really into using any object as a play phone. In this instance, she is using the (fake) remote control as a phone. Perhaps she sees mommy a bit too much on the phone??

Olivia LOVES apples these days. It is cute that she wants to carry one around with her everywhere... even necessary while drinking milk.

A few weeks ago, we were packing up some boxes in preparation of our big move in the Spring (we didn't want to do it A: when I have a big belly or B: with a newborn ... so we are taking care of a few things now while we can) and we thought it would be funny to put them in one of the boxes to corral them for a few minutes. Surprisingly, they loved it! We have a video of it somewhere, but here is a picture of their new favorite thing to do ... sit in anything that resembles a box. I love this picture. Olivia has her books with her and Emma has her "necklace."

These two are TRUE GIRLS. They love them some jewelry. Here is a cute picture of them wearing some play things. (safety sidenote: they are always supervised (duh!) when playing with these necklaces)