I've been home for a week and I'm still pregnant. I can't believe it, but I am. Everyday these babies grow and grow and my maternity clothes are getting stretched at the seams. I never knew I could get this big. My doctor told me I was measuring 42 weeks! Somehow I still have a belly button though. I've also been having contractions daily. Some are pretty painful, but after just a couple, they go away again. I remember the same thing happening when I was pregnant with Adia. My body likes to play tricks on me I guess. At our last ultrasound, the day I got released from the hospital, both babies were almost 5lbs! They'd each gained a pound in 2 weeks so by now, I bet they're nearing 6lbs a piece. That's a lot of baby. I have another ultrasound on Wednesday, assuming I make it that far, but at this rate, I'll still be pregnant at 38 weeks and need to be induced.

The last couple days in the hospital were nice because I knew there was an end in sight. Adia enjoyed our outside time. She got in her sword fighting with Daddy. She thinks she's a jedi and after watching some Star Wars with Daddy last night, she actually knows what that is now.






In an effort to keep Adia entertained, DiDi taught her to play concentration. We originally hoped to teach her Go Fish, but she was just too hyper for that. She was almost too hyper for concentration, but once she got the hang of it, we saw how good her memory was.




We also got in some cuddle time. Adia loves to snuggle the belly.





Adia went back to DiDi's house for the weekend. Tanae's birthday party was on Saturday and I didn't want Adia to miss it. She had fun playing at the park and with all of DiDi's toys. She didn't exactly help DiDi pack up her stuff though.










Adia was home for father's day and very much a daddy's girl. She only wanted him to sit next to her in the car and only wanted to hold his his hand. We went out for breakfast and then to Borders. Adia got a new book and so did Daddy.


The last thing we needed to do before the twins arrived was to put their car seats in the car. That involved moving Adia's seat to the back and fighting with the other two seats. It took a lot longer than we thought it would and Adia wasn't so happy about her new location at first. She likes it now because she has a view of the whole car and outside. She'll also be able to see both her sisters.


Adia helped me make cornbread muffins. She made quite the mess, but had lots of fun. She even helped me put the batter in the muffin tin. She was pretty good at that part.




We got some outdoor playtime in as well. It was mostly Daddy and Adia playing while I sat, but Adia was still happy to have me outside with her. I just can't stand for very long periods of time anymore.




Adia went with me to my doctor's appointment on Wednesday. My doctor ordered me to get in a pool and float until I gave birth, just to take the pressure off my hips and pelvis. Sounded like a great plan to me, especially since it was swimming night anyway. It felt great to float and Adia swam by herself. She's getting much better at not tipping over. Normally she has a problem with her life jacket flipping her over. We went out to dinner afterward.

Adia's also really enjoying having PigPig live with us. She talks to her all the time and holds her at least once a day. She's getting much better about not petting the poor piggie backwards. When DiDi cleaned her cage yesterday, Adia held PigPig all by herself.




Now Adia's headed back to DiDi's house for a couple days. I'll miss her, but maybe I'll be able to rest a bit more. She's been very hyper and whiny lately, no matter how much sleep she gets.

DiDi did take Adia back to the coast on Friday. Adia was happy to be there. She immediately started playing with the toy kitchen and bringing DiDi tea. DiDi was busy cleaning out some stuff and Adia helped her shred old bills. Adia's a very good shredder, no need to buy one. While they were going through stuff, they found an old book about the hospital I'm staying in. Adia wouldn't let DiDi get rid of it. She wanted to look through it over and over again and kept telling DiDi that I was there. She now recognizes the clock tower when we walk outside.


DiDi brought Adia to visit me when they came back to town. They brought me a book to read, "My Sister's Keeper". I haven't had a chance to open the cover, but I can't wait to start it. DiDi wrapped it and Adia just HAD to open it for me.




When I got up to go to the bathroom, Adia stole my spot in bed. She then told me that I had to sit in the rocking chair. Eventually she let me get back in bed and we watched Happy Feet together. Excuse the bruise under her eye. She ran into a table at DiDi's house. She's such an accident prone child.




I don't know what it is about the bed here, but Adia loves it. She keeps kicking me out of it. Sometimes she wants me to sit next to her and we cuddle. It makes me wonder if pediatrics has smaller beds or if they put little kids in such huge beds.


When Adia came to visit yesterday, she brought her new coloring book. She insisted I color with her. She's finally started trying to color pictures instead of just scribbling all over the page.




Right after they got here, my doctor came in. She wanted to discuss delivery options while she had a chance. She talked about the pros and cons of both a c-section and a vaginal delivery. Since I've already at a 6lb baby, Baby A is head down and Baby B is smaller than Baby A, I'm a good candidate for a vaginal delivery. She said she's been trained to deliver twins where the second one is breech and feels comfortable doing so. Her only requirement is an epidural since she'll have to reach up and pull Baby B out by her feet. Not exactly something I want to feel either. Of course, if either baby isn't tolerating labor well or Baby B goes into distress after Baby A comes out, we'll end up with a c-section. She'd rather not do surgery if she doesn't have to because while it's usually best for the babies, it's not always great for mommies. I'd lose a lot more blood and have a much longer healing period, which will make having twins and a 2 year old very difficult. I also get to go home on Friday at 34 weeks. She told me to take it easy until I hit 36 weeks and then I can do whatever I want to get the babies out. So far I'm doing well and keeping my blood sugar in check too. When I got home, I don't have to take nifedipine every 12 hours, but I'll have it just in case I start contracting again.

Gramma spent the night with Adia last night. Adia was happy and surprised to see her when she woke up in the morning. She also had an eye doctor appointment to go to. Adia sat in the chair all by herself and followed all the directions. She even wore the glasses like she was supposed to. Daddy said she was awesome. We don't have to go back until December to make sure her strabismis isn't getting any worse. Right now she gets lazy with both eyes, which is actually better than favoring one eye.

After the eye doctor, Daddy brought Adia to visit. Gramma followed shortly after and when they went to get food in the cafeteria, they ran into DiDi. Adia acted totally unsurprised to see her standing in the elevator when it opened. They came back and Adia ate a banana, some milk, and fritos. Fritos have become her staple here. Every time she goes to the cafeteria, she grabs a bag. Before they went to the cafeteria, Adia had a meltdown in the room. She was screaming and sliding her face against the floor. We ignored her at first, but finally I told her that her babies didn't like it when she cried and they got upset. She immediately jumped up and came running to hug my belly. She spent the next 15 minutes hugging, kissing and talking to my belly. The babies went nuts and started kicking, squirming and trying to get out. If there's one voice they know they best, it's Adia's. I can just picture how much they'll adore her when they come out.

When went for my daily wheelchair ride after lunch. It was very hot and sunny outside. I think we all needed sunglasses and Adia was very upset that she didn't have hers. She walked back and forth by the pond and looked for water bugs.


It was then back to the path by the trees. Adia immediately found a walking stick, which soon turned into a sword. She did some sword fighting with Daddy, but then complained about dirt in her shoes.








I think Adia really loves the dandelions. She gets so excited when she sees all of them and starts picking a bunch. She also thinks that daisies are dandelions though.


She started to get tired so Daddy gave her a shoulder ride.


We went through the gift shop before going back to the room. Adia got a little hedgehog and I have a magazine and puzzle book to keep me busy for a bit. Adia played a bit when we got back to the room. She said goodbye to Gramma and it wasn't much long after that Adia started to get tired too. She fell asleep in the car and took a 3 hour nap! I got a nap in too, which was awesome, but will make it tough for me to sleep tonight. DiDi and Adia came back after dinner. Adia immediately grabbed her leftover bag of Fritos and climbed in DiDi's lap.


Adia didn't last too long before wanting to go back home. I did get in some cuddles and then Adia asked, "Check blood sugar, Mommy?" She likes to watch them prick my finger to get my blood checked. I let her choose which finger this time and then she wanted to make sure I was ok. She picked a good bleeding finger because it bled for a long time. My blood sugar was good too, only 105. After the blood sugar, Adia was ready to go. She made sure she gave the babies plenty of hugs though.

Since I was actually wearing real clothes today, I had to get a few pictures. Not to mention, I feel like the babies had another growth spurt. My belly just keeps getting bigger and bigger. I have an ultrasound and doctor appointment Thursday to see how big the babies are now. I bet they've grown a bunch and are both way over 4lbs a piece.

Still Here

Yep, still in the hospital, but hoping only to have a week left here before I get to go home. I know when I leave I'll be saying hello to swollen feet and ankles again, but at least I'll get to sleep in my own bed. This bed's better than the one in labor and delivery at least. Still only the occasional contraction that doesn't hurt, just tightens my entire belly. They've managed to get a few of those on the monitor too even though I'm only being monitored for 30 minutes a day.

Adia's had some fun days with Daddy while I've been here. She spends her nights with DiDi and Daddy sleeps here. Then DiDi brings Adia to visit and sometimes Daddy takes Adia for trips. They went to the mall and Adia had a couple freak outs. She was tired and said she wanted DiDi. Daddy made it all better by buying her some ice cream. She played for a bit before having a complete meltdown and Daddy had to carry her out.


When she visited yesterday, she went for my ice water. She loves drinking out of the container. She'll sit in my lap and cuddle while drinking it.


I'm now allowed to go for wheelchair rides outside. The new hospital has some great places to go outside. Adia requested going to the pond out front and then to the river out back. She ran around like crazy and Daddy had to chase her. She also rode next to me in the wheelchair. We called it the mommy stroller.




I told Daddy when I was admitted to the hospital that he had to take Adia swimming on Wednesday like we always do. I was sad not to go, but I knew Adia would want to. Gramma and Eck came up and drove Daddy to the pool to meet Adia and DiDi. Adia took a good nap before swimming so she had a blast swimming. She played in the waves and even swam by herself! I'm sad I missed it, but I'm glad she had fun.


After swimming they went to Red Robin to celebrate Daddy's birthday. Adia gobbled down her food and then ate most of Daddy's birthday sundae too. She apparently gave Daddy a huge, whipped cream covered hug. DiDi said they went to bed late, but when I called later, Adia actually talked to me on the phone. She said, "Hi Mommy! I loves you Mommy!" She never wants to talk on the phone so I was shocked.

Adia came to visit today too. I had DiDi pick up a piece of German Chocolate cake for Daddy before they got here. When I asked Adia to say happy birthday to Daddy, she said, "Cake!" She really can't keep a secret at all. It was funny though. She did put the candle on it and then wanted to eat it. Not so doable when it's not gluten free.

Daddy took her to play for a bit and DiDi got a much needed rest. They were gone for the longest time, but Adia got plenty of playtime. She even made some new friends. When they got back, we went for my daily wheelchair ride.


We went back out to the pond and tried to get a cute family picture. As usual, Adia wasn't cooperative at all, but at least she wasn't screaming.




We walked around to the back of the hospital so Adia could run in the grass. She loves it back there, especially all the sticks. When she first got back there she jumped to pick up something in the grass and yelled, "Look daddy!" Daddy nearly pounced on her because he thought she was picking up a snake! Luckily, it was just a stick, but they have seen snakes back there before. She did get her feet completely dirty though. We're still not sure how she did it, but her feet were absolutely filthy. After studying her feet for a bit, she wanted Daddy to chase her. She's gotten fast. He used to be able to just walk faster, but now he has to run to keep up with her.




The only way we could get Adia back inside was to have her ride on Daddy's shoulders. She loved it. He was bouncing her up and down and she had the biggest grin on her face.


When we got back inside, Adia wanted to wash her feet off. She only wanted to wash them in the shower and only if I was holding her. She stripped down to her diaper and I held her. It wasn't easy and I got pretty wet, but she was very happy. It made me really feel like her mommy again since I haven't been able to do much for her lately. After she was clean and partially dried (we had to dry her with washcloths because my towels hadn't been restocked), I dropped her on my bed. She loved it, but then kept telling me I had to lay down too.


Adia was still here when they brought dinner. She ate my pears, some of my chicken and part of carrots. DiDi took her to the cafeteria to buy her some more pears, but they didn't have any. Instead they came back with yogurt. Adia ate half of her yogurt and Daddy finished it. It was pretty obvious when it was time for her to leave. She was getting tired and cranky. She gave me a big hug and was out the door. DiDi, Daddy and Adia went to Target to pick me up a few things and then DiDi took Adia back home. She was thinking about taking her back to the coast, but Adia fell asleep in the car.