Happiness Was Born A Twin: PCA 21 Weeks

Here I am at 21 weeks:

In case you need a different view of the bump, here 'tis:

PCA:

What a great week with PCA. I feel awesome. Soooo much different than with the twins. Remember at 21 weeks was when I really went downhill with the twins -- in terms of swelling, fatigue and all the other lovely pregnancy symptoms. I know there is still plenty of time for me to get those symptoms (and I WILL get them), but I feel like it is a small victory to bypass week 21 with flying colors and no swelling. Again, I know I will swell at some point, but hopefully not any time soon and hopefully it won't be related to pre-e.

Other than that, I've been having wicked heartburn and major stuffiness. Two symptoms I can totally manage. As long as it isn't anything that impedes my ability to care for the girls, I can manage it. PCA has been moving A LOT which is amazing. What I find so cool is that this baby can be really low one minute and then really high the next -- all over the place. With the twins, I felt constant kicks all over the place. Well, there were two in there and they were pretty cramped. I had a doctor's appointment this week (previously blogged) and Dr. Brown said everything looks "perfect." No headaches this week. No nothing. I want to keep it that way!

On the emotional side of things: I have to admit that I am pretty overwhelmed with the thought of having a baby. One minute I'm so excited to meet her and then the next I wonder how the dynamic of our household is going to change. I hope this is a normal feeling... I'm also really overwhelmed with the thought of birth. I don't feel ready. Will I have another c-section? Will I have a vaginal birth? Can I do a vaginal birth? Will I tear and have a floppy vaj-jay-jay?? What is it going to be like to just breastfeed ONE baby? How will I manage the sleep issue? I feel horrible that this baby won't have a nursery until we move to Chattanooga (we are choosing to not redo our third room). How will we get around? Do I need a triple stroller? With all of that, the love I already feel for PCA can not be adequately expressed in my words. I am overwhelmed with love, excitement and anticipation. I can't wait to meet this little baby that is growing inside of me. What will be in store? What will she be like? Who will she look like? I can't wait to hold her and watch her grow. Only 20 more weeks or less! Oh boy! I love this baby.

We REALLY need to figure out a name. We like Brittain, Parker, Caroline, Claire, Adele, Elizabeth. HELP!

Em and Liv:

We had a good week, despite Daddy being gone for 9 days. Grandmuggs and Pop Pop came into town to help out, though, which was soooo nice. It is getting harder and harder to travel with the twins. They just want to play, play, play and not ride in the car ... so it was really nice of them to come to us.

I find it hard to have company (even though we LOVED having them here, don't get me wrong) because they get all off schedule and out of whack. For example, I think the girls didn't drink a whole cup of milk the entire time they were here. They got too distracted and just wanted to play with their fun grandparents. Their meals were abbreviated and I felt like their nutrition was sorta lacking. The girls also woke up several times throughout the night which doesn't happen when it is just us. I guess the girls just go bonkers for their grandparents, they love them SOOOOO much.

Another challenge is the discipline area... it is turning out that the girls have one set of rules with mom and dad and another with the grandparents (both sets). For example, someone said that Livi bit Emma when I wasn't there, but they wanted to stay out of it because Emma didn't cry... so it wasn't ever addressed. LOL. This is something we're going to have to work on. They need consistency. (But, I totally understand that the Grandparents want to be the fun ones and not the ones to have to say "no" all the time.)

Anyway, we were TOTALLY spoiled by the grandparents when they were here. Not only did they take us grocery shopping, but they brought their own groceries (so as to not deplete ours), bought the kids some toys (an Elmo doll, an Elmo phone, a riding Elmo airplane, a book for Livi and a turtle riding thingy ... soo generous), but also bought them clothes and shoes. Totally spoiled!!! We are so blessed with their love and generosity.

And, I hope she doesn't mind, but I wanted to post an excerpt from an email I just received from Grandmuggs. I really love how much they love their grandkids:

"Jeffy and I have talked about the ggirls nonstop and I cannot ever tell you how much we miss them. It's an actual physical ache. They are the sweetest, most loving, beautiful little girls in the world. You have done an excellent job with them and we are the proudest grandparents. Jeffy came through a little while ago and said he wished he could hear the pitter patter of those little feet right now. All time now revolves around "what would the ggirls be doing right now?"

Ahhhh--- got a little teary with that one! So I should definitely say that despite the minor challenges, it was a wonderful visit and the girls love, love, LOVE spending time with Grandmuggs and Pop Pop. Such a gift.

Changing the subject, Olivia and Emma learned this week to stomp their feet and turn in circles. It is really, really cute. Olivia seems to be getting better about brushing her teeth. Sitting on her is so traumatic for everyone involved. Emma has learned the word "brush" but is sounds more like she is saying "ish."

I would be remiss if I did not talk about how much my kids love french-fries. With this pregnancy, I have definitely indulged (hence the 15 pounds) and so they get frequent McDonald's treats. They have learned that every time I pull through a drive-thru, there is usually a french-fry reward at the window. Imagine their disappointment when I go thru Starbucks...

I am so proud of my sweet babies. It is an absolute privilege to be their mother.

Our week in pictures:

Below is a picture of Em with her precious baubles. The girl really loves accessories. Grandmuggs and Pop Pop brought her a necklace from Harrah's -- she really thought she was something special (which, of course, she is!). She is wearing her Halloween PJammies.

This weekend was Ryan Wolf's birthday party at Spence's Farm -- soo much fun for the girls. A heart attack for me. I think I was the only mother that walked around with wipes and hand sanitizer to periodically disinfect the girls. I about died when we went in with the chickens, but the girls absolutely had a blast. Below is Em with the chickens and Liv feeding a goat.

I don't think I could have done this trip without Grandmuggs. It is getting increasingly harder to take the girls places because they just want to walk -- usually in two different directions. But, as I've said a million times, I'm not going to punish the girls for being born at the same time. I think about this all the time: Most mothers don't have two kids the same age. If they have two kids, they are usually spaced adequately apart where one kid is walking and talking and the other is a baby. So the older kid is pretty self-sufficient and doesn't' need CONSTANT attention in terms of putting stuff in their mouths, falling, etc. With two the same age, you have to keep a very close eye on these things ... which is hard when you're in an uncontrolled area like a farm.

So anyway, I about lost it when the girls fell down and got mud smeared all over their face... it was time to go after that. We went straight home and had baths and I scrubbed their shoes of all germs and sanitized just about everything that could have potentially come in contact with farm stuff. Am I going to raise girly germ-a-phobes or what? I am fully aware of my neuroses, thanks.

Below is a picture of Olivia with her beloved Mrs. Kate. I told you about how my kids are obsessed with other kid's moms, right? As soon as we pulled up to the farm and Livi got a sighting of Kate, she started to go nuts till Kate picked her up. I'm tellin' you... I have the friendliest kids in the world. It really does hurt my feelings now because they pretty much want nothing to do with me. Even complete strangers, they'll walk up to them and say "up!" and want to be held. Are my kids bored with me? Or does this mean that my kids have a good sense of adjustment? Or does this mean that I need to teach them to be more cautious with strangers? Whatever it is, I'm really thankful that they love people. In talking to my mother about this today, she said that I've done a good job. Yay! But, that this is a core personality trait that will never change. Apparently, I was the same way as a kid. Uh oh... we're in for it.

Below is a picture of the kids with Pop Pop. We ordered take-out from Johnny Carinos and the girls decided that whatever he had looked pretty good. So they crawled up in his lap and went to town with 'sgetti. Cute kids, if I do say so.