36 Weeks and Still Counting…but Barely

I finally got off bed rest last Monday at 35 weeks. My doctor figured I didn’t have much time left so I may as well enjoy it.   And enjoy it we did.
We visited my friend Kristi and her new baby Lina in the hospital (luckily our Silly Billy handled it pretty well),

Had playdates with his friend Kambree (below) and cousin Abby (not pictured),

Improved William’s biking skills,

Gave William a makeover,


Spent a morning at the new City Creek Mall, prepped for babies, and Steven and I also had one last date (for awhile, at least) of Hunger Games and Cheesecake Factory.
I’m glad we did.  It’s looking like these babies will be here within the week (I know, I kinda sound like a broken record). I only have a few shirts left that actually fit, so I guess that’s probably a good thing. I went to the doctor today and was dilated 5-6 cm with Baby Boy so low that I practically got a yelp of surprise during the check up from the doctor.  I almost was requred to walk around the hospital for an hour or 2 to make sure it wasn’t actual labor, but since I still wasn’t even feeling contractions, I was allowed to go home and eat dinner.  Yay! But stay tuned to the Garff blog…I get induced April 9th at the latest.
And for your viewing pleasure…the ever growing baby belly.
35 weeks:

36 weeks:

And today, 36 weeks, 2 days. After getting my membranes stripped today, we’re thinking this is likely the last one.

I’ve officially put on 40 lbs. and have a 44-inch belly. Just about right for 2 good-sized babies.

Bedrest and Book Review

It’s been a long 4 weeks of bed rest, with an ever-growing belly and doctor visits as my only (allowed) escape.  Luckily, this means I have been able to get a lot done on my resolution to read 12 books. Barely 2 months into the year, and done.  Glad to be done, since I’m not sure how much reading I’ll actually get done with 2 new babies, but at least that’s one less thing to worry about. I actually read 13, since one book was started before the year began, lest I be accused of cheating.

1. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith: This was a Christmas gift (books are a tradition in our stockings at our house) last year, and it took me over a year to actually complete it.  Started out slow, but did get a lot better. Lots of romance and some mystery, but really not my kind of book.

2. Twinsense: A book about having twins.  I’ve read a lot of these over the last 6-8 months, especially because of the bed rest.  No point in reviewing the twin books, but if any of our readers end up with twins, let me know and I’ll send reccomendations.

3. The Multiple Pregnancy Sourcebook.

4. The Money Saving Mom’s Budget by Crystal Paine.  LOVE, LOVE, LOVE.  With 2 periods of unemployment over the last year, I have learned a lot from the author’s blog about saving money, definitely my go-to blog. I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking to learn good ways to save money…and I do have a copy I’m willing to loan out.

5. When You’re Expecting Twins, Triplets, or Quads.

6. Raising Twins.

7. Expecting Twins, Triplets, and more.

8. Politically Correct Holiday Stories. I meant to read this around Christmas, but didn’t end up reading until January, (silly, I know). If you liked Politically Correct Bedtime Stories, you’ll love this.  Basically, it’s just classic Christmas stories written in a funny, trying-hard-not-to-offend kind of way.

9. Organized Simplicity by Tsh Oxenreider.  Got this as a free Kindle download from Amazon.  Not the best I’ve seen about organizing, but not bad for the price.  I’ve been way into decorative organizing this year…too bad most of our things are stuck in a storage unit until we get our own place.

10. My Grandfather’s Blessing  by Rachel Remen. A book of life stories from the perspective of a Jewish Doctor.  Some of the stories were AMAZING.  Others left a lot to be desired.  I had to plow through to the end, but there were definitely gems to be found inside.

11, 12, 13. Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay.  I read the entire series, mostly while I was in the hospital, thanks to my awesome sister-in-laws.  I hate to admit it, but these are my kind of stories; action, violence, and a bit of fantasy and romance.  Reminds me a lot of Ender’s Game. I was getting pretty sick of reading until I started this series…perked me right up and sucked me into the story. Couldn’t hardly put them down. Hoping the babies hold out until the end of the month so I can see the movie!

In other news, I’m nearly 35 weeks with the twins and feeling bigger every day, though the actually measurements vary pending the babies’ positions. Putting on socks and getting up after squatting down has become quite the challenge due to my current size. My weight has started hitting scary number…a 40 pound gain! But considering I’m growing 2 babies and can’t exercise, I can’t really complain too much. They are measuring 5 lbs, 2 oz (boy) and 5 lbs, 13 oz (girl), great sizes for twins, especially considering baby boy is so low, that they couldn’t really measure his entire head properly. These ultrasounds aren’t entirely accurate, but thinking I have 11 lbs of baby and only measuring 39 weeks is pretty mind-blowing. I even got my first stretch marks. :( 

I’ve been pretty consistently dilating  (currently at 4 cm and 90%, more than after 12 hours of labor and my water breaking with William, lol), and it won’t be long until the babies arrive. My MFM is surprised I made it this long, considering. We’re hoping for April babies to avoid NICU time. If they decide to stick around longer (which I’m totally fine with, btw), they will be induced around week 38 (April 7-ish). Not sure how I feel that we only have 3 weeks left, and even though I’ve been through this before, I’m not looking forward to the delivery part.  It has to be better than my LONG experience with their big brother, I suppose, so all this pre-term labor may actually be a plus in that respect.  Kind of crazy to think that it won’t be long until we get to see their cute little faces and become an official family of 5!

Silly Billyness: First Haircut

It took 2 years and 4 months but we FINALLY cut William’s hair.  It’s a good thing, too.  William had started get get embarrassed by how long it was getting. Especially the little curly rat tail in the back

He hated that when we washed it, he would get water in his eyes, and had quite the comb-over to cover a few bald spots on the sides. It was starting to get unmanageable.Our little William was such a good sport (watching Sesame Street and the promise of a cookie will do that to a kid). 

We all enjoyed watching.  Especially cousin Daniel.

Catherine Cut’s William’s Hair

Special thanks to Aunt Catherine for the trim!

We think our little boy looks so handsome, though I do miss the bit of curl we were hoping would continue.  But it didn’t, so we gave up on the surfer look and went for something more practical. What a big boy!

In other news, I have finally made it to 34 weeks.  Still on bedrest, but at least the babes are still cooking.  We’re hoping to go another month.  We’ve been lucky enough to have a few days of nicer weather and I got to do bedrest like this:

Now THIS is what I call bedrest. 

A Better Way to Spend the Weekend

I’ve been so sick of being at the hospital, I was THRILLED to not end up there this weekend as well. As a reward for my good behavior (i.e. not going into labor or some other emergency), I let myself cheat and went to my nephew Spencer’s birthday party Friday night.  It was fun to see the family.  Liam adored spending time with his cousins…in fact, he cried when we left, shouting “more Abby, more Abby”.  Luckily he woke up saying “Abby” (Spencer’s big sister) interspersed with shouts of “Disneyland!” That’s my boy!

I had permission from the doctor to go to my nephew Kit’s baptism on Saturday, and I was so glad to get out of the house again and see some family members I hadn’t seen in a few months.  My nephew Kit gave me a hug and noticed I was pregnant.  When I told him there were 2 babies in my belly, his eyes got so wide, like it was the craziest thing he’d ever heard.

Liam has been really into singing “I am a Child of God” and luckily, we sang it there.  He has been so taken with the song, that he has been sitting at the piano, playing and singing.  Steve had to be a bit sneaky since Liam gets so excited when we pull out the video camera, but was able to get a quick video Saturday evening of his encore performance.

William’s Amazing Rendition of “I am a Child of God”

I also got permission to go to a baby shower for the twins after the baptism, put on by The Man Basket Society. It was just my closest friends and family, and everyone put in so much time and effort to make it seriously the best. shower. ever. Liam LOVED playing with the presents.  I hope it won’t be too hard for him to give up his new “toys” to his little brother and sister.

In lieu of party games, the girls made homemade laundry soap, baby wipes and onesies…we’re totally set on the basics!

Some of us (Catherine) had way too much fun with the onesies. Hers turned out to be my favorite.

Katie, her sister Emma, and her mom made me the cutest coordinating car seat covers.  I’d been wanting these forever, and I love them in all their Disney glory.  The yellow buttons were an especially nice touch.

I was really disappointed to miss Kristi’s shower last week, even though being in the hospital was a very reasonable excuse.  The date had been picked to allow me to come and participate (I was in charge of games, thanks to Katie for picking up the slack!) Luckily, Kristi was nice enough to hold off on labor (she’s 39 weeks) so we could get some awesome belly shots.

My belly is ever-changing in size, though I still don’t feel too massive (yet). Pictures I have seen of other twin moms at 33 weeks always seem so much bigger, and full of stretch marks.  At this point in time, I feel reasonably sized and stretch-mark free, and I am hoping it stays that way. Last Saturday, The Belly was 40 inches, this Saturday morning it was 42 inches.  I felt so huge Saturday night that I measured again.  44 inches! What a change within a week.  Now I’m back to 42 inches, but depending on the babies stretching and positions, I am always changing.

Speaking of bellies, have you ever hugged a pregnant woman when you were pregnant?  It’s such a weird feeling.

I wasn’t the only one who had an awesome, hospital-free weekend. Steve took the opportunity (since I would be surrounded by help) to go skiing with his dad for what may be the last time, in a long time.

As of now (33.2 weeks), no babies have made their appearance.  I’m hoping for between April 1-10 for a birthdate.  We’ll see how that goes.  So far, so good.