But Who Will Take Care Of You?

More loving words from Mr. Wonderful when I told him I was going out of town next week to help Sarah take care of her new baby (personally, I think he's going to miss me).  For one thing, I provide entertainment and excitement, I'm a human space heater and sometimes I clean the kitchen and do the laundry.

On the pregnancy watch, the 'how-to-raise-twins-list-of-confounding-questions' is growing.  The latest question:

• How does one go grocery shopping with infant twins?

I'm having a hard time finding cool websites with practical advice for expecting mothers of multiples.  Case in point, I've been pretty proud of myself for religiously taking prenatal vitamins.  Until I came across advice on a website suggesting some health care providers recommend increasing prenatal vitamin intake for pregnant women of multiples.  Of course I could do worse than undertake vitamin supplements (like breathing carbon monoxide by accident).

Surely all of these concerns are just normal early pregnancy jitters . . . right?

P.S. 

Kammer, Dave says 'thanks' and 'Bros before Hoes' in response to your comment about sandwich making.

You're Pregnant, Not Handicapped!

Well folks, the honeymoon's over.  Mr. Wonderful has found his limits.  I asked for a peanut butter/banana sandwich yesterday and was told, rather politely, that I was 'pregnant, not handicapped'.  

Needless to say, I made my own sandwich yesterday, breakfast this morning and lunch later today.  I'm not completely helpless--I just find food tastes better when someone else makes it for you (it's a pleasant surprise when secret ingredients are added).  

In other news, I finally completed one full session of my prenatal yoga DVD today--while trying to poison myself and the babies.  I started our gas fireplace and didn't open the flue.  For those of you with gas fireplaces, you understand venting is necessary to release the carbon monoxide.  Needless to say, after venting the fireplace and airing out the room I finally got to finish the DVD.  

Just a typical weekend for Clan Donovan . . .

Two By Two

This month's issue of Fit Pregnancy redeemed itself with some information in their 40 week guide to pregnancy.  For week 8 (that's me!) it said:

"Your doctor may look or listen for the baby's heartbeat with an ultrasound.  Once you see or hear it, your miscarriage risk drops to about 2 percent. . ."

We heard two heartbeats on Wednesday (beaming on the inside)!!!  Now the reality of twins is slowly setting in (trembling on the inside).  I have so many questions:

Do we have to buy two cribs?

How do you raise fraternal same sex twins (odds are 2 out of 3)?

Do we have to buy two of the exact same things, like clothes, toys, etc.?

Oh, in case you were wondering there is no possibility for quads or triplets at this point (phew!).

8 Weeks Update

Weight:  +5 lbs. (pre-pregnancy weight)

Fitness:  walking across campus . . . 

Food Cravings:  orange juice, spaghetti, nacho cheese dip, pickles

Sleep Count:  8 hrs. nightly, 30 min. afternoon nap

By far the best visit I've had all year!  We heard two heartbeats, one at 168 bpm and the other at 177 bpm.  Dr. Skywalker said everything looked great and healthy.  The ultrasounds were pretty grainy, apparently my uterus is tilted to the back which puts the babies further away from the 'imaging thingy'.   

Best part. . . he told me to stop taking all my medications (no more progesterone shots, estrogen patches or low dose aspirin)!  Also, I could start seeing my regular obgyn--but I'm not ready to break-up with Dr. Skywalker just yet, so I'll see him one last time next week (maybe bring cupcakes).

I mentioned my belly concerns, I seem to already be showing.  Apparently my ovaries are still pretty large and pushing my uterus upward, which is forcing the rest of my tummy up and out.  Combine that with twins and he told me I'll show like 12 weeks even though I'm only 8 weeks (always the overachiever). 

As for exercise and diet, since I've been feeling so crappy since starting IVF I need to ease slowly back into exercise.  That means restarting my strength training exercises but reduce the weights and do more reps.  Instead of doing 30 mins. of cardio do 5 - 10 mins. until I can handle more.

As for school, I survived the worst part of the week.  I'm all caught up and ready for finals next week.  This semester couldn't end any sooner, half the campus has a cold and the girl next to me in history class apparently doesn't understand the concept of Kleenex.

A Caveman's Guide To Pregnancy

Since Dave showed such an interest in my 'Fit Pregnancy' magazine, I thought we'd go find him a book of his own.  So, off to the bookstore 'we' went.  The 'we' being Dave reading comic books while I sorted through the Pregnancy & Family Planning section of the store.

Left to my own devices I opted for the less helpful but more humorous option 'The Caveman's Pregnancy Companion'.  To my utter surprise, Dave agreed to buy it and has been clandestinely reading it.

So far he's made it past the first chapter, which he said was 'insulting' and has since adopted a new approach to pending fatherhood dubbed:  'winging it'.  Personally, I think he's doing a wonderful job as a supportive and dotting husband.  From what I gather his favorite part of all this is bragging to his co-workers about how wonderful he treats me (I married a very modest man).

On a side note, Thanksgiving was wonderful.  We had 5 turkeys--including my Dad, 6 different desserts and a bazillion side dishes.  Luckily my food aversions were gone and I had the green light to eat all that yummy food.  Unfortunately, I'm sure I gained 5 extra lbs. that I cannot blame on the bambinos incubating in my belly.

I'm up for my second ultrasound on Wednesday!  Also hoping Dr Skywalker will tell me to stop the nightly progesterone shots (my backside is killing me--Dave is struggling to find a non-bruised surface to inject).

This is also the last week of classes for the semester.  I've got 5 papers and 2 major projects all due by Wednesday.  Instead of working on them, I'm procrastinating by talking to you folks.  Better get moving . . .