Christmas with the Pods and Dodds!

It sounds like a National Lampoon movie, right? ..ha..ha. We had our Christmas with Devon's family this past weekend. We had a ball, as usual. Mary and Pete (Dev's stepmom and dad) got tons (and I mean tons) of presents for the kiddos. Then they put together this "Blues Clues" game for them. They hide all their gifts and the kids follow their own clues to find each one all around the house. This was the first year that Lilly was able to really play. She did so great and was so excited. Every gift she got, she wanted to stop, open and play with right away. They gave her a new dollhouse with a mommy, daddy and (get this) twin babies, a boy and a girl! So excellent. Lilly loves it! She got books, art supplies, games...they went crazy. Compared to that our Christmas here at home will be peanuts..ha..ha. We ate so much and we were all exhausted by bedtime. I was completely spent by 9pm and put my pajamas on. Everyone was tired after dinner though. Mary made delicous pork, mashed potatoes, string beans, etc. Delicious! I could barely eat alot though, there's just no room left. It snowed the entire weekend. We drove to Stow in the snow and left on Sunday while a brand new snowstorm was just beginning. Normally, it takes us about 45mins to get home...Sunday, it took us 2.5 hours to get home. The driving was terrible and all the snowplows on the highway made it that much longer.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve!!!! I still have a bunch of Lilly's presents to wrap. My mom and I went out to lunch today and then to Target for some last minute items. I bought Lilly's new Christmas PJ's. They are adorable and I can't wait to give them to her at Jamie's house (my sister) tomorrow night. Christmas day we will then go to Cori's house (my other sister). It's going to be a whirlwind, but it's always fun!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!!!!!

Glucose!

Oh and I forgot, I passed my glucose tolerance test! Yippeeeee! Another step climbed. Next Thursday I have another ultrasound. I'll be 29 weeks. I can't wait to see you both again, my precious babes!

Mrs. Gigantic At 28 Weeks

I think this is my new name. The time has now come that when I walk into stores, the YMCA..or basically anywhere I strike up a conversation with someone, the same scenerio plays itself out. I get the "shocked-OH-hide-your-shock" look on people's faces. I may just be sensitive, but I remember this look well from my first pregnancy. I recall when I was pregnant with Lilly, I went into a convenient store to buy a bottled water. I was 2 weeks from full term at the time. When I brought my water up to the counter the man behind the counter lifted his arms up and started waving his flat palms in my direction..."Oh, I don't think we're equipped to handle someone like you in here...". Of course he said this with a big smile on his face and I laughed b/c I thought it was funny...but I have to admit, I was borderline embarrassed. And so I'm noticing this silent reaction pretty quickly (and early) with this pregnancy. It's funny, people think I'm full term and I freak them out when they ask when I'm due and I say February 27th. Then their already bugged eyes become even buggier! I let their brains churn until I tell them that I'm having twins. It's become fun, actually. I was at the YMCA with Lilly last week for her Tot Gym Class and all of us parents and children were playing with the multi-colored parachute. One of the father's, with his son, arrived late. Upon his arrival to the parachute, he immediately looked at me and declared "Oh my God, you're still here???". After that comment I became the main attraction and talking point for all the moms and the teacher. Questions from everywhere. It was pretty funny. I'm supposed to go to Boston with my husband and 3 other couples for New Years Eve...oh God, what could be such an incredibly fun night just sounds like pure torture at this moment! Can you imagine the looks I'll get that night? Me in a bedspread-sized glittery tent...soooo gooooorgeous! Happy New Year! ; ))

I have to admit, I truly do not know if I actually have much room left for these babies to grow much bigger. I am getting the painful skin stretching...esp. after I eat. Ouch, it hurts. The symptom list is growing longer day by day. I now have hands that fall asleep every night, a very achey pelvis, horrible sinus pain, back pain, rib pain, daily occurances of racing heart and the latest today...light sciatic pulses I get when walking. They cause my right leg to "give" somewhat. I'm truly a sight. I'm totally "thrilled" b/c I know this is going to get worse with every coming day!..ha..ha. Don't get me wrong, babies! I am over-the-moon that you are coming in 2 months...I cannot wait to rest my eyes on your gorgeous new eager faces. Daddy, Lilly and I dream every waking day about what and who you are going to look like. Lilly seems to think you are going to look like "Pa" and nobody else. So cute. I hope she's right, he is a stunningly handsome man! : ))))

25 Week And 6 Day Ultrasound Today!

Our babies are beautiful!!! It is one of the most amazing moments, lying on that table (although nauseated) and watching your gorgeous babies float, kick and play inside of you. They look so peaceful and wonderful. Our baby girl is outweighing our baby boy! This was a big surprise to me b/c the baby boy moves so much! He is weighing 1lb, 14 oz and our baby girl is 2lbs, 4 oz. They said that is completely normal and fine that they are weighing differently b/c they are not that far apart and are in the normal ranges. My ob appt. was great too. My cervix is still perfect, which was making me anxious before b/c I get braxton hicks very frequently and last night I had a very painful contraction. It's so reassuring to be checked and know everything looks great. I can breathe again. : )) I have a whole bunch of pictures and I'll post a couple. They are a bit dark but you can still see the features, somewhat. She took pics of their faces looking out at us and they give me chills when I look at them. My next endeavors will be my glucose tolerance test and my Rhogam shot. Moving right along!!! : )))) I'm just so excited!

My Lilly is doing better, she didn't cough until waking up this morning. It is so reassuring b/c I spent the better half of yesterday washing everything in reach that exists in her room. I vacuumed like a madwoman and cleaned the headboard, spotless. I also kept the window open a crack to bring in some moist, fresh air and I think that along with the humidifier and the cleaning, it may have helped somewhat. She still sounds phlemy and hopefully that begins to subside. Fingers crossed!!!

The Coughing Game

We've had 3 weeks of sleepless nights over here in our sweet little abode. Lilly has been fighting a cold/cough for 3 weeks, yes...not fun. The cold isn't that bad, she doesn't even have a runny nose anymore. The cough...ohhhhhhhhh, the cough! The cough is wreaking havoc on our restful nights and I feel heartbroken for her as she hacks away all night long. She is finishing her antibiotic tomorrow for a double ear infection and she seems totally fine in that regard. I've taken her to the doctor twice for the cough and they keep telling me her chest and lungs sound totally normal. Okay, I get it, the lungs may sound normal...but coughing all night for 3 weeks?? Is THAT normal?? It's such a fine line we walk as parents (or at least me!)... on one hand I want to believe and trust in the doctors taking care of our precious one, but on the other hand I want to scream in their face "Do your job, find the diagnosis and give her a cure...NOW!". So, I've been relegated to scouring the Internet for reasons behind it....could it be asthma? croup? allergies? or just a stubborn cough that is taking it's damn, sweet time? Well if I was a doctor I could tell you, right? (well, you would think!) So Lilly and I got home from a visit with friends today and I stripped everything in her room; blankets, sheets, pillow cases, stuffed animals, certain pajamas she wears...and took them all down to the washer. We'll start there, I guess. I figure, I spent a little over a year trying everything in the fertile book to get pregnant; tried to diagnose my infertility everyday, I can attempt to diagnose my daughter too. We'll see if this works.

So tomorrow I have an ultrasound and a regular ob appointment right after that. I'm excited and nervous all the time for these appointments. My ob says it's time to really start to monitor the growth of the babes. I feel like I'm carrying way low. It's so different than when I carried Lilly. She was so high forever, and she never dropped down (which is mostly why I ended up with a c-section). It makes me feel kind of sad b/c I keep thinking maybe a vbac is possible this time around. My ob just doesn't recommend it at all. As long as they are born healthy, that is all that matters to me!

Laughter Is The Best Medicine!

Not that I needed any medicine but I think I almost went into labor from laughing "my ass off" this weekend. And btw, if I could literally "laugh my ass OFF"...damn! I would! It's getting larger by the second and I truly do not think eating that Heath Bar ice cream, I just ate, was of any help, either. Oh well, I'll have plenty of time to burn bum calories after the twinnies get here....oh, wait a minute, I'll have 3 children to take care of...um, on second thought, maybe not. But I'll be burning bum calories while caring for my new brood of children. Ok, that's good enough for me..ha..ha.

Anyway, this weekend Devon, Lilly and I went down to Falmouth, on the Cape, to visit with 6 of our friends and their children, Lisa & Dave and their dd, Abigail, Mary & John and Keely & Andrew and their dd's Molly and Sadie. We had a freakn' blast. Well, we always do with them. It's def. one of those things. The 8 of us just have a perfect union, we all see humor the same (usually the raunchy kind), we all appreciate a few thousand smooth bottles of red and white wines matched with incredibly fattening food (that usually involves lots and lots of cheese), and practically nothing we say to eachother could offend any of us. After eating LOTS of food and indulging in delicious vino (well, everyone but poor me!..ha..ha..just kidding, I have no problem abstaining for my beautiful peanuts!) some insane person pulled out this crazy game called "Balderdash". Now I'd never played this before but I got a good schooling on how to play this game "right". So 7 very buzzed and happy people and then me are playing this game. I don't know how other people play this game, but I have never heard so many potty-mouth words in the span of 2 and a half hour timeframe, we didn't pack it in until 2am. I've got to say, even stone sober, I was laughing so hard I nearly wet my pants and I needed tissues to wipe my tears away. My two pieces of advice to anyone....1. Get this game 2. And play this game with very close friends and/or family so you can really get into it with them. And it's preferable that they all have sick senses of humor. We had a great night and we were all very tired but happy the next morning.

On the other side of things all the girls had such a great time playing together too. I was thrilled that Lilly slept really well at Keely's house. She has been dealing with a nighttime cough that has kept her up for repeated nights. She also has an ear infection...but she did well. The doctor said she could go and she seems to feel fine, no fevers or aches and pains. I had warned my friends about her but they insisted that we come anyway. Since Lilly was feeling fine, we went and I'm glad we did, she loves to play with the girls and had a great time. I just hope nobody picked up her germs.

I also had an ob/gyn appointment on Thursday of last week. It went well. I asked my ob about the pelvic pain I've been having. I basically feel like I've been horsebackriding for a week straight...that's the best way to describe this "lovely" feeling. He checked me to make sure my cervix was still closed. All is well, thankfully. Both h/b's are strong, one is def. faster than the other. I, like so many other pregnant women, breathe a complete sigh of relief when the h/b's are detected. I feel like I get a new surge of happiness and strength everytime I hear them. And then I have enough energy to make it through to the next check-up. Things are picking up now, my appts. are now every 2 weeks. In the next two week check-up I will have another ultrasound..yay! Dr. DiLillo wants to start watching the babies growth. I'm also going to get my rhogam shot and the two weeks after that I will have my glucose tolerance test. There is so much to keep track of. It's getting so exciting!!!

My project coming up at home will be to go through Lilly's newborn clothes and pick out anything that may be suitable for Griffin (our twin boy!). I may find one or two things..ha..ha..b/c Lord knows just about everything Lilly had when she was born was pink or yellow! It may be time to do some good old-fashioned shopping!!! Right ladies!!?? : )))

ELECTION DAY!!!!

Today is THE day, one of the most important days of our history in America and as Americans. I am so excited for this day. I cannot wait to vote for our new president and I also cannot wait to vote to ban greyhound racing from Massachusetts on Question#3. My Lilly and I (and my big belly) are getting all ready to go to the polls and vote. Dev is going to go tonight after work. I was considering waiting until tonight so we could all go together as a family but I think the polls won't be as busy today when people are in work and it will be easier if I have to wait with Lilly if this is the case. Waiting in line with a toddler for long periods of time is not my idea of a good time...b/c it's not an idea of a good time for a toddler!..ha..ha. And we all know how that could turn out.

Omgosh, the other thing I'm supposed to do today is go to the RMV to get a copy of the title to our car. We were going on Saturday to possibly buy our new, sooooooo glamorous minivan, but then we realized that the title to our Honda is in storage!! Grrrrrrr! So now we have to again...wait in line...possibly forever to get a copy at the RMV. THAT will not be fun with a toddler either. We'll see how much of this I can actually get done today before I give up in frustration. I have my backpack filled with lots of fun things for Lilly...but who knows! Ooooh, I think I'll bring some Halloween candy too!!! That should help to keep her busy for sure!!!

Happy Election Day Ladies!!!!!!!