LABOR! LABOR! LABOR!

That is the chant as of late! Cheer the babies on, everyone!!!

Well, it is officially 37 1/2 weeks and still no babies! We were so worried about keeping them in and now they won't come out! At our appt on Weds, Dr. Skory started talking about induction by next week (38 weeks). Although this is "normal procedure" with twins because 36-38 weeks is considered the "perfect" time to have twins - we are still nervous and really don't want to go that route. It's not very conducive to the whole natural-birth plan and is associated with higher rates of drugged births and surgical (C-section) births :(

So, come on everyone! LABOR! LABOR! LABOR!
lol

Here is the amazing circus side-attraction belly that my dr's nurse says "defies gravity"...


You can see the wonderful bulging veins and stretch marks in all their glory! :)

Yeah, so we're all ready! Steve has lectured the girls several times so far on the benefits of coming out into the world and has promised them that he will dutifully clean poopy, spit, vomit, pee, etc. with no complaints :P

We just can't wait to meet them! See what they look like...look into their eyes...hold them in our arms...see who will claim which name. I shake just thinking about it...how much they will be loved and cherished :)

Project: Belly Cast

Well, Steve and I just got done with casting my belly! It was really fun and really messy!
Here's some pictures of the process. When it dries I'll eventually have an airbrush artist paint a design on it. I'm thinking maybe the earth (like Gaia's belly) at this point, not positive yet :)

(click on pics for larger views)



It was a really great experience and I recommend it to anyone! It felt really weird when it started to harden and the babies were moving around in there! lol

Pregnancy-wise we are hanging in there. Things are getting a bit more difficult and uncomfortable (note my feet in above right pic), but nothing too intolerable yet!

We are just a few days from the 36 week goal! I will post some belly pics up then and an update from our ultrasound scheduled for that day, Tuesday :)

BELLY BONANZA!

The belly is taking over, the babies are kickin' and mom is exhausted!

We are so proud of how big the girls are getting! We had another ultrasound on June 6th and here are the results:

Baby A - 3lbs 15oz
Baby B - 3lbs 12oz

Woot! This means our little girls are basically 4lbs each! The doctor said these are the weights of singletons at this stage! We are very happy with their weights and progress. They have put on a pound and a half since our last measurement on May 9th. This means that in another month they will be about 5 1/2 - 6 pounds! That is perfect weight for twins and perfect timing, as 36 weeks is full term for twins :)

As some of you already know, we changed doctors recently. We are now with Dr. Skory in Schenectady. We're much more confident in his skills and know that we now have a higher chance of delivering naturally! This means we will be delivering at Bellevue (before 36 weeks) or St. Clares (36+). We prefer St. Clares, so July 10th is our goal. Must make it, at least, to July 10th!

As for everything else, we are getting closer to having the apartment ready. I continue to stay well-rested, although not on full bedrest anymore. I like to get up and help out around the house more :) Keeps the morale up!

I am now officially the size of a full-term singleton pregnancy (same size as if I had one baby and was 40 weeks along). I am definitely feeling it! It's hard to do many things due to a big heavy giant pumpkin getting in the way! We went shopping last week to get the rest of the baby essentials and I am pretty sure that was my last shopping trip, it's just too much anymore. I continue to be amazed at how wonderful pregnancy can be and I'm certainly not tired of it yet!

Here's a special treat, the next progression set (last 3 months):