Showered with Love

This weekend was a HUGE weekend of celebrating - it was the shower!

It all started when my Mom flew in Wednesday afternoon. She had come straight from two weeks of taking care of her older grandson and visiting her new grandson (my nephews) in New York. On top of catching a cold from her older grandson, she slept on the fold-out couch in the living room due to a lack of space in their Manhattan apartment - so Mom was in rough shape when she arrived. I am glad that we were able to give her some TLC and a private guest room with a comfortable bed and spa tub so she could recover, unwind and relax.

On Thursday, in addition to going to my Dr's office, we joined a friend for lunch and shopped for the baby shower.

My in-laws came in on Friday. They don't travel (they've only flown maybe four times in their lives) - so I was amazed when they said they were coming! They made it into the airport ok, but got lost (and frustrated) driving to the hotel. So they decided to have dinner on their own. Considering we only get to see them once a year (if that much), my DH handled his disappointment much better than I would have. There is no doubt that I would have been a spoiled brat and made a fuss. Another reason why I love my DH so much - he shows me things like that.

Saturday, Mom and I made preparations for the shower and we (ok, mostly she) cooked one of my favorite meals - my Grandma's brisket accompanied by applesauce, baked potatoes, string beans fresh off the farm and homemade vanilla ice cream for dessert. I know we definitely earned brownie  points with my FIL, as he is strictly a meat-and-potatoes kinda guy. To give you a perspective, I asked my in-laws if they've ever had Chinese food and my FIL said yes - he ordered his main course and then asked "What kind of potatoes do you have to go with that?"

The shower was better than I ever could have imagined! It was brunch in a beautiful restaurant overlooking the entire Denver skyline. The weather was clear - so we could see straight out from the west, all the way to the airport. With two minor exceptions - my hairdresser who got married last Saturday and a friend's mom who was entertaining out-of-town guests, EVERYONE came! Even friends who I knew had to make special accommodations - like drive back from the mountains, fly in from doing contract work in other parts of the country, and beg their husbands to take care of their kids - came! I felt so loved!

The cake went above my expectations. They even embossed the baby blanket with rocking horses, rattles, etc.

Here are a few pictures:

Diaper Cake



Me and Mom




The Twinkiie Cake




Closeup of the Twinkie Cake

 My friends were beyond generous. I felt like I was opening gifts for at least an hour straight! Some of the gift bags were so full, I feel like they never ended! Since we didn't know the sexes yet, most of my friends stuck to stuff on my registry - feeding items, changing items, towels, bibs, etc. The very last gift was a HUGE basket with two onesies stuffed to look like babies:

Mom flew home Sunday and we took my in-laws to Golden Gate Canyon Park on Monday. The trees at the higher altitudes have already started to change colors and the views from the highest points were spectacular - green, pine covered mountains dotted with golden Aspens with snow-capped mountains in the background. Too bad I didn't have my camera with me...but if you Google "Golden Gate Canyon State Park" for pictures, you'll get the idea.

The in-laws left yesterday (Tuesday) and I was so exhausted that I took a FIVE HOUR nap. Clearly, my body needed the recovery.

All-in-all, it was the PERFECT long weekend!

30 Down 7 To Go

The title of this post sounds like some type of football lingo, eh? (Not that I know that much about football. My DH and I are good at trivia, but when it comes to sports questions, we are both clueless).

I am now in my 30th week and have about 7 weeks to go. Many changes going on...

The Week of the Baby
The week of September 11th was filled with babies galore!

First, my sister delivered a beautiful baby boy on Monday:

For privacy reasons, I don't want to reveal his name here - but I will say that he is destined for a career in banking and finance - he may even replace Ben Bernanke someday (although, his first and middle names do sound like he could turn it into his screen name too - if he decides to go the Hollywood route instead).

Then, on Wednesday, Auntie Em gave birth to her two BEAUTIFUL baby girls, and my co-worker gave birth to a cute baby boy (even though he is crying in this picture, it's my favorite).

I visited my co-worker in the hospital and got to hold the baby about 24-hours after he was born. I had to restrain myself from breaking into tears. I can't believe that we will be holding two of our own very, very soon!

Four babies in one week - I have never known so many new babies born in a single week!

Work Update
The biggest change is that as of Wednesday, I have officially stopped working!!!

I learned that to qualify under STD benefits, I could not work part-time, but had to stop working 100%. Since the Family Medical Leave Act only protects my job for 12 weeks, stopping work early meant that I had a tough decision to make - risk losing my job  and stay home with the babies less after they are born, or push through and continue working.

When I visited my nurse last week, she said "Flygirl, it's your choice. You can keep pushing as hard as you've been and risk visiting one or both of your babies in the NICU after they are born. Or, you can slow down, take care of yourself and the twinks and cut lose." Well, that definitely gave me a different perspective and the decision was EASY! So about a week and a half ago, I told my boss that Wednesday was going to be my last day...and it was!

Mentally, my mind is MUSH! I easily lose my train-of-thought and,when talking to people, have trouble recalling the simplest of words. For example, "you know...that room in your house where you put your car in at night and close the door." More than once, the person I am speaking with has had to recall the word for me.

This is the only time in my ENTIRE adult life when I have had any extended time off. Throughout my career, I have been fortunate enough to have always had a paycheck coming in and never to have been "rightsized." I am looking forward to taking care of myself for a change. I have plans to finally start David McCollough's new book - Americans in Paris, watch Ken Burns' National Park - America's Best Idea (and maybe even the Civil War documentary too), maybe start attending pre-natal yoga courses close to home, occasionally meet a friend for lunch, spoil my two lab "puppies" with affection and love and rest, rest, and more rest!

To make it all very special, my boss requested one final "check up" meeting with me before I left. During our meeting she said, "I don't know if you recall, but during bonus time, we didn't distribute all the funds in our pool so that we could reward certain employees when they went far above-and-beyond." (Nope, I didn't recall at all). "Well, you've done such an outstanding job on several items lately and "saved our butt" (ok, she probably didn't use those words - but that was the gist), that you should be seeing a bonus come through soon." Wow! I was not expecting that!!!

Twinkie Update
Things could not be going better! Despite my ongoing battle with tossing-my-cookies, everything else is FANTASTIC! My blood pressure is normal and, so far, I have NO signs of pre-term labor. I took another blood glucose test and have my fingers crossed that it comes back normal. Although I feel "big", many people tell me I don't look like I am carrying twins.

The difference in intensity of movement between one week ago and now is astounding. I can now nearly constantly feel movement in my lower abdomen and, if people their hands on my belly, they can feel the kicks. It's not painful - it feels more like someone tickling the inside of my stomach or losing my stomach on a roller coaster.

This past Thursday (9/22/11), I had a comprehensive ultrasound (I only do those once a month now) and the babies look AMAZING! As usual, Baby A was lying across my lower ute and Baby B's head was near my left ribs with their feet up over their head. They were awake and alert!

I lost  couple pounds this week (so maybe the nurse was right and the 6 lbs I gained a couple weeks ago was water weight), so I am up 25 lbs. overall. My nurse says I am still on-track and is not worried about the small weight loss. Now that it's starting to get a bit cramped in my belly, I find that eating several small meals works best.

The babies weigh about 3 lbs each and measure 18" - not far from what their length should be when they're born. At this point, it's mostly putting on weight vs. growing taller. They are starting to gain some fat, so this is the first time that they looked like "babies" and not "skeletons." The most incredible picture is when Baby B gave us a great big yawn! Click here and watch the left side of the screen to see if you can see it too!

Baby A's heartbeat is in the 140 BPM range and Baby B's HB is in the 130 BPM range - so if  the old wive's tale theory holds true, it may be boy-girl twins. We saw the fingers and toes again this week - so it still doesn't matter to us!

The doctor says that assuming I go full-term, I will deliver sometime between November 4 and 18. They won't schedule me for a C-Section until about a month prior. I hadn't even thought about this until earlier this week, but wouldn't it be cool to have a birthday of 11-11-11? Not only is the date unique, but Fridays are lucky for me because it's when I had my transfer. I mentioned it to my nurse this week and she said a birthdate of 11-11-11 is a very real possibility.

Twinkie "Stuff"
Bit by bit, I have been accumulating "stuff" and feel 90% prepared to bring the babies home.

I think I have the dogs trained now to not go into the nursery (they've been sitting at the threshold the last few times I went in there) - but I shouldn't be surprised if things change once there are two new babies in there to explore and sniff.

Surprise packages have started arriving on our doorstep. What fun when I see the UPS or FedEx guy pull up these days!

This week, our BOB Duallie jogging stroller arrived and my husband set it up. It's almost like the cartoons where you have a devil sitting on one shoulder and an angel sitting on the other. Each time I look at it sitting in our living room, the emotional side of me says "No, that doesn't belong in OUR house!" Then the logical side of me kicks in and says "YES - it does..."

My baby shower is tomorrow (Sunday) and I can't believe it's here! With two exceptions, EVERYONE I invited is coming! I am in shock and feel like the popular girl on the block! Isn't it funny how, even as adults, we have the same insecurities we did as children?

My Mom came into town Wednesday evening and we've been spending time together ever since. My in-laws, who have been on a plane less than five times in their life, arrived last night! I still can't believe they put aside their fear of flying and travelled cross-country to be with us!

What else is there to say? It's finally "Our Turn" and I am in sheer bliss!

What to Do...A Post About Religion

It's time to circle back to a subject I've written about before and one that will evoke many strong feelings for some of you...

In summary, I was raised in a non-practicing Jewish household and my husband was raised in an observant Catholic household. When I met my husband, we were both non-practicing.

I always assumed that if we ever had kids we would raise them catholic because I knew religion was so important to my husband's family and not really important to me. This was when I also assumed that we could conceive "the old fashioned way." Fast forward 15 years...

When we went through our fourth BFP and fourth miscarriage last November, it hit both of us hard - really, really hard.  I never thought I would be able to carry babies in my body and I cried for three weeks straight. My husband handled it like most men do - stoic and not revealing a single emotion - but he did start to attend church.

As part of my recovery, I asked many philosophical questions and, as a favor to my Mom, agreed to speak to a rabbi. Aside from attending weddings, this was the first time I walked into a synagogue in over 20 years. What I found was not what I expected - a rabbi who was able to explain things to me on a level I could understand, yet respected that I did not believe in god (and I am still not sure I do).

Since that day earlier this year, I joined the congregation and started attending "Intro to Judaism" classes (which my husband agreed to attend with me because he loves to learn). I have also tried to support my husband in his religion by encouraging him to attend church and sometimes even going with him to keep him company.

Before we went through our most current IVF cycle, we were exploring adoption and sat down with a deacon. My hope was that if he started to get to know us, he could "hook us up" with a woman he knew did not want to have an abortion, but also did not want to raise her child. Instead, I found this man to be ignorant and insulting by suggesting we enroll in a Natural Family Planning course. Don't they teach these guys that adoption is usually not a couple's first choice when they have no children and are trying to start a family?

I also started to do some additional research into the church's position on IVF and donor eggs. As you may know, IVF is a big no-no and donor eggs is twice as sinful.

I feel fortunate that my husband believes science is a gift from god and he was not going to allow the church's position to get in the way of us having a family together - even if we had to go the donor egg route (which we did). My husband has relatives, though, who have now chosen to live childless because they want to honor their beliefs. As much as I love my husband, I don't know if I could have made the same sacrifice.

On one hand, I feel like a bad wife for having made a promise I believed was right at the time. On the other hand, I am now grappling with a few things that are at the root of my core values...

* Although my husband has continued to attend services, I find his church to be a cold, unfriendly organization that only asks for money (I do not want to make the assumption all churches are like this - so please don't jump to conclusions). As new members, they have made minimal effort to integrate us into their congregation and have almost no resources for couples - it's all focused on children or the elderly. I am sure the priest does not know my husband's name and would not recognize my husband if we passed him on the street (my husband is 6'5" - so he's pretty hard to ignore).

The synagogue and the Jewish community has welcomed us with open arms. We know our rabbis, we were invited into stranger's homes for dinner to celebrate the holidays, our synagogue regularly sponsors learning events, and we were matched with a "mentor" who has become like family to us.

* Again, I am grappling with raising our children in an institution who doubts our children should even  exist. From the beginning of this process, we intended to explain to our children that we needed "help" to bring them to life. What is going to happen when they are around other Catholic children who have been taught by their parents that assisted reproduction techniques are flat-out wrong?

* I told my husband that if we were going to raise our kids Catholic, the responsibility would be on him. With our kids due in 9 weeks, my husband has yet to look into a baptism class and the only people he knows to be godparents are his brother and sister-in-law who will not travel to Denver. So, we really don't have anyone to fill that role. Within a day, I am sure I can call rabbi and know what I need to do to arrange for a bris (assuming we have a boy).

So, this is where we sit today...to be continued.

The Twinks Have a New Cousin!

Thanks again for all the compliments on the nursery and my belly pics in my last post. I appreciate it!



My sister delivered a beautiful baby boy (her second) this morning - 8 lbs. 8 oz. Like his Mom and Dad, he has a full head of jet black hair.

While I don't want to disclose his name over the Internet, I can tell you that if he lives up to his name, he is destined to follow many of his relatives into the financial services industry.

I had my weekly appointment today and saw the twinks on the lower-resolution u/s machine. They were both facing toward my back- so not very cooperative or photogenic. Lots of movement though. Next week, I have a full scan on the high-resolution machine, so hopefully they will cooperate next week.

I have continued to work full-time (although I did take off Monday, Wednesday and Friday last week), but next week is it. My nurse put it into perspective for me...she said, "You have a choice. You can have a better chance of bringing your babies home or you can be visiting them in the NICU after they're born. It's up to you."

Easy decision...

27W Update @ 43 & Nursery and Belly Pics

Assuming the twinks go to "full term," we have about 9 weeks until we meet our two little buggers!!! We can't wait!!!

Happy Birthday to Me
Earlier this week, I celebrated my 43rd. To me, 43 is just a number. I don't "feel" 43, don't think I look 43, hope I still have my positive, can-do attitude and, despite the weight I WILL loose after this pregnancy, my husband still sees me as a MILF. I feel like I should have something deep and meaningful to share to commemorate the occasion, like some type of life insight, but the truth is that I don't. I am just enjoying the moment. What does come to mind is how much I am enjoying my 40's and what I did to celebrate my last several birthdays:

41st - Was gifted corporate tickets to the Marc Anthony concert in Miami - so flew out for the weekend and took my Dad on a "date." I had my hair done by a sexy Latino guy who looked like a movie star and gave me a kiss on the cheek to wish me a happy birthday. We were out way past 2 am and had a blast! Glad I could celebrate in such great style.

42nd - Celebrated by taking Mom to Barcelona, Spain. She treated me to a calorie-filled celebration dinner at Els Quatre Gats - the restaurant where Picasso had his first exhibition and all his cohorts used to frequent. It is one of the most delicious meals I have ever eaten.

43rd - A dream come true! A wonderful day drained of energy, feeling our twinkies kick and putting the finishing touches on our nursery - the curtains. DH took me to lunch at one of my favorite local restaurants - Yard House.

Pregnancy Update
Went to the doctor yesterday and saw the twinks. Baby A (on the right - who I feel kick more often), was lying with their head on my right and feet toward the left. Baby B was laying diagonally - with their head toward my left ribs and their feet near Baby A's tummy. Both were dancing, wiggling and waving their arms. Their kicks get stronger each week, but it's hard for other people to feel them because the kicks are intermittent and it's hard to predict where the next one will be.

I think we might have discovered the root of why I've been so nauseous lately. My iron was low, so I have been taking a slow-release iron tablet with my other vitamins - on an empty stomach. The nurse gave me a new iron supplement to try and told me to take it at night with food. So far, I 've been feeling better the last two days.

Since last week, I put on 6 lbs!!! It was a bit of a shock to me. I knew I gained, but didn't expect that much. My nurse noticed how swollen my legs were and thinks most of it is water weight. She instructed me to drink more water and put my feet up every couple of hours.

Here are front and side 27 week belly pics. My belly is now bigger than my boobs...oh my!

The Nursery

I was on a mission to finish the curtains this weekend (they've been sitting on my desk waiting for me to finish two hems for about two months now), and finally...MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!! I think we can call the nursery project complete. I love the way it turned out - simple, with just a touch of sophistication. Most of all, the nursery is "us"...

It's hard to see from the pictures (the lighting in the room isn't the best), but the colors are a light turquoise, brown and white.

  

The Baby Shower
I am not one who feels comfortable being in the spotlight. At this age, I know we can handle this financially (one of the reasons we waited to have kids for so long), so I was opposed to having a shower because it made me feel like I was obligating my friends to buy us gifts.

It took my Mom to explain and help me understand that this is a once-in-a-lifetime occasion that I deserve to celebrate - especially since these babies are true miracles, that would have never existed without what we went through the last five years.

So, my Mom is throwing me a shower - brunch at a beautiful restaurant - in about two weeks.

Now, I have to admit I am so EXCITED and can't wait. With the exception of a few friends I invited from out-of-town and one friend here who is hosting out-of-town guests, EVERYONE is coming! Even my in-laws, who NEVER travel, are flying cross-country to be here! I feel SO special and loved!!!

Last week, I found a bakery who can make my "dream" cake. The differences are that it will be my nursery colors, have two layers, say "Welcome Twinkies" on the front of the bottom layer, and have two babies peeking out of the box.

 Until next time...

Sent Straight from Heaven...

Many of you have read the story about my friends who recently adopted a newborn baby boy. They only had about a week's notice before he was born. I just couldn't resist sharing this photo with you. 

Clearly he was sent straight from heaven into their arms...

I know some of you are pursuing adoption and I hope this picture gives you the same feeling it does me...miracles DO happen!

Sleep tight little one!

Are my husband and I really going to have TWO of these in less than two-and-a-half months?!!!!