Highlights From Today's Appointment

*Blood pressure and weight continued to increase but just a bit...nothing to be alarmed about.

*I am still not dilated at all.

*Both babies scored perfectly on their biophysical profiles!

*The babies got growth scans today. Charlotte is estimated to weigh in at a respectable 5 pounds, 14 ounces. Jensen is estimated to weight in at...wait for it...7 pounds 5 ounces! However, when my doctor saw this, he said there is no way Jensen is that big and he's probably just over 6 pounds. We will have to wait until Thursday to see!

*Today's ultrasound tech was creative with her phrasing...instead of the usual, "Baby B has a ton of hair!" that we usually hear at appointments, she said, "Oh my goodness, you might want to invest in some hair gel for babies!"

 So, that's all the news for today. I can't believe we have made it to 36 weeks (and one day!) and we only have one more appointment left on Tuesday and six days until we meet our babies on Thursday!

Eviction Notice!

That's right, Charlotte and Jensen have been served with an official eviction notice...at 7:00 a.m. on Thursday, April 22nd, they will be kicked out of my uterus and welcomed to the real world! This is good news because it's nine days from now. Who'd have thought three weeks ago that we would make it that far? This is bad news because...it's nine days from now! While I will be thrilled if we can actually make it to the scheduled date (which will make me 37 weeks exactly), I have to be honest here: I am freaking miserable. Name a body part, and mine hurts. I was so focused on making it as long as I could that I didn't even think about how uncomfortable the last few weeks of a twin pregnancy (probably any pregnancy, for that matter) can be. I am officially the size of a bus. I caught Brian looking at my stomach the other day and he said that for the first time, I actually look like I am pregnant with twins rather than one baby. I think these kiddos are getting big!

Here are some highlights from today's appointment:

*Wait almost an hour for sonogram because they were having computer issues...I get nervous before every sonogram so that was an extra hour of waiting nervously.

*Learn that weight and blood pressure were pretty much the same as last Friday's appointment.

*Schedule c-section and learn that we have to be at the hospital at 5:00 a.m. the day of. Decide it doesn't matter because I probably won't sleep at all the night before anyways.

*Hear (for the 4th time) that Jensen has tons of hair. Begin to wonder exactly how much hair we're talking about here. Is this kid part sasquatch or something??

Anyways, today marks my three week bed rest anniversary. I am very excited that there's an end in sight!

The Latest Update

Prior to today's appointment I had been feeling a bit puffy, so I was interested to see how everything was going. Sure enough, I have gained a couple of pounds and my blood pressure has gone up. My doctor is not overly concerned at this point and wants to wait until Tuesday's appointment to see whether the weight gain/rising BP is a onetime thing or a trend. He really stressed that hitting 36 weeks will be a major milestone for the babies, so I am supposed to take things as easy as possible for the next week or so to try to keep them cooking until then. So that is how I will be spending my weekend...hopefully you all have slightly more exciting plans than I do! Both babies looked great on the ultrasound and we were told for the third time (by the third different ultrasound tech) that Jensen has tons of hair. We are getting so excited to meet these little ones! In other news, I had a great visit with Kim and Lisa yesterday...it was great to hang out and chat, but it was so weird when they were leaving because I know that next time I see them, I will have two babies...but hopefully not for at least another week!

A Shout-Out to My Bed Rest Buddy

Bed rest sucks...but I am never lonely. I have this sweet face beside me all day long:

Confession: Yes, she is sleeping on a library book (and yes, Dana, it's an ILL. She didn't drool on it or anything though!).

Bailey can be a little pain in the butt sometimes (like when I finally manage to get semi-comfortable and she decides she needs me to get up and let her outside to go potty) but she is the best company that I could ask for and I don't know what I'd do without her. Fortunately she's a lazy girl and lounging in bed all day suits her just fine, so I don't think she minds keeping me company all day.

On another note, today = 35 weeks! Another goal met, and we are so thankful!

Another Update

Well...another good appointment today! All these updates are getting kind of boring, huh?? The only bad thing about today's appointment is that I have gained a few pounds...which led to me having to confess to the doctor about my Easter brunch. A week or so before Easter, my dad asked me what I wanted to eat for brunch, so I thought about it carefully and gave the following answer: waffles, bagels with cream cheese and smoked salmon, cinnamon rolls, and chocolate milk. Sooooo, he made all of the above. And I ate all of the above. And then proceeded to retire to my bed. So, I think we can declare case closed on the mystery of the extra pounds, yes? Anyways, since everything else was good with me, and the babies look great, we're happy! Next appointment is Friday so hopefully the good (if boring) updates will continue.

Names and Nursery

I hope everyone had a nice Easter weekend...we actually had an enjoyable few days. On Friday I had lots of visitors...my friend Renee is in town from New York so she and her mom brought me lunch, and then on Friday evening Brian and I had a great visit with Whitney and Chad. They brought us dinner, helped us figure out our huge double stroller, and we talked all about their experience delivering their twins via c-section. It's so nice to have someone who's been there and done that and is willing to share all the good and bad (I like to be fully prepared!). I spent Saturday resting up because on Sunday I knew I was going to break the rules a bit and go to my parents' house to enjoy Easter brunch. We only stayed for a few hours before I was worn out and ready to return to my bed. It's crazy, but I can actually feel myself "puffing up" when I am out of bed for too long, which I guess is further proof that the dreaded bed rest is quite effective.

Speaking of the dreaded bed rest, know what makes it even worse? When you're stuck in bed and it's 75 degrees outside and your friends are at the ballpark for Rangers opening day! I would guess that they're enjoying cold beer, hot dogs, and nachos as we speak...jerks! To cheer myself up a bit, I thought I'd post some pics of the nursery. I am obviously not allowed up there myself anymore, so I sent Brian to get some pics...after sending him up there no less than four times (I swear, the man does not understand the phrase "take a close-up picture") these are the best that he came up with:

The corner of the room.

A close-up of the changing table and shelves. This corner of the room has a golden retriever theme (I know, try to hide your shock!). The dog pic was made by my mother-in-law...the dog is a golden retriever made of felt and has a tag that says "Bailey" and April 23, 2003 (which is Bailey's birthday). The frames are going to have the pics that Dana took of Bailey, but I haven't gotten them developed yet. And the cute little piggy banks were a gift from Jill!

The chandelier. It's from Lee Lighting and I love it! The lighting is kind of weird in all of these pics but I think this is one shows the wall paint color the best. It's a very soft gray.

 These frames hang on either side of the windows. They are hanging from drawer pulls that I found at Anthropologie. 

The crib corner of the room. I feel like I need something else on the walls in between their names but I haven't come up with anything yet.

Speaking of names...we finally decided! Well, the boy name was easy since we decided on it long before we even started trying to have a baby: Jensen Todd Shelton. Jensen is a name we just liked and Todd is my brother's name. The girl name was much more challenging...naming babies is hard work! I like a lot of girl names and we kept going back and forth, but we finally decided on Charlotte Anne. We love the name Charlotte and we also like that it has some cute nicknames (Charlie, for example--I'm a big fan of boy names for girls; I just think it's really cute). Her middle name, Anne, is actually both of Brian's sisters' middle names so we knew we wanted to use it.

So...here is Jensen's side of the room:

The name is a wall decal from etsy that I think turned out awesome. The name itself is in a dark brown that matches the furniture nicely. Side note: the ugly white plastic arms of the mobiles are driving me crazy but I hear they make covers for them, so I am going to look for a brown one.

Jensen's bedding (the best shot Brian got of it, anyways!). It has green, blue, brown, white and gray.

We couldn't find any bedding sets that we liked that we felt like would work for a boy and a girl...so we went fabric shopping and my very craft mother-in-law made the bedding for us. The bumpers and crib skirts are different, but the sheets match so it ties the two together a bit.

And here is Charlotte's lair:

Her wall decal and ugly white mobile arm.

Charlotte's crib bedding. Hers is mostly blues and browns but the pattern is more feminine than the fabric on Jensen's.

Soooo...there you have it! I still feel like there are a couple of things that need to be done in order for the room to be really, truly finished, but I don't know that anything else is going to get done at this point, so this very well may be the finished product. I think it's a really calm, soothing room and I hope the babies love it!

Thankful Thursday

Tomorrow is Good Friday, but today we are thankful for another great appointment! Ultrasound went great, my blood pressure is good, and I lost 5 more pounds (I never would have thought I'd be nearing the end of my pregnancy with twins and be losing weight, but it's pretty cool!). I also got an internal exam today and I am not dilated at all. So my doctor is thrilled and so are we. Our next "mini goal" is 35 weeks and our next big goal is 36 weeks. I am starting to feel like we may actually be able to get there. The only downside is that it's hard to stay in bed and rest when I keep getting these good progress reports, and I'm not really looking forward to spending Easter weekend in my bed. But you gotta do what you gotta do, right? I know it will all be a million percent worth it in the end.