Buh Bye Winter!

 

 

I feel like we are finally coming out of hibernation. This winter has been awful! Between morning sickness (YUP, unexpectedly pregnant with boy number 3! Due August 31!), the seemingly apocalyptic winter weather (i.e. unstoppable snow) and sickness after sickness after sickness the boys and I are ready for spring sun! 

I'm excited to wear something other than sweat pants and extra large hoodies. Time to break out the sandals, tank tops and sip iced coffees (I'm allowed 1-2 cups of coffee a day according to my doctor. I'm a mother to twin toddlers.... don't fight me on this one.). No more "snowy/rainy day" activity madness... My boys just eat art supplies anyways.  The one time we went to a scribble art class they spent the entire time screaming and stomping on all the well behaved toddlers' artwork. They may look serene and angelic in the photo above, but they are straight up BOYS.  All snails and puppy dog tails, these two! *Love them.

My boys are outdoorsmen. They like to explore and chase birds for now.  They can be artistic when they are older and more coordinated. For now they just want to know how the world works and why they can't eat that little bit of a balloon on the ground. Why not, mommy???! Pneumonia, and gross. THAT's why.

Winter at a glace:

 <scribble art class (before the destruction)



               just some no nap kisses>

 <Fav winter activity: Cuddling and reading.





                       And more reading>

<Indian Road Playground






          Fort Tryon, just a bit icy...>



 

FIRST AWESOME WEATHER!!!! The day they opened The Great Lawn in Central Park. We got there before it become annoyingly crowded. Look at us! We own NYC :) Also, look at their faces. Seriously.



Just so you know... This is my "normal". They NEVER go in the same direction. They coordinate this, I know they do.

One of the Many Perks to Living in Inwood

Flowers In Fort Tryon Park-Beginning of Spring

NOTE: This post was written April 2013, but I just now got around to publishing it :)




This picture makes me ADORE where I live.  Just a five minute walk to Fort Tryon, and a short (albeit GRUELING) uphill mini hike away.  The trip is even shorter when you have your two napping adorable Littles, a great friend and her very own Little to keep you company.  I'm hoping for many more days like this this spring :)

Today felt good.  With twins its a day by day thing... Having a great day today means NOTHING for tomorrow.  However, I am having more and more "feeling good" days.  We are all falling into a more predictable schedule and the night time crying/waking is diminishing, and mommy is getting her sanity back, JUST in time for the predictably amazing NYC Spring.  

Since having my sanity (aka night sleep) back, I've been craving some pavement time.  My solution was to wait for Jason to return home from work and run then... however, that would definitely end up being just a seasonal thing and therefore NOT good enough.  Jason suggested that I meet him with the boys in mid-town right after he gets off of work.  This idea was certainly an improvement however visions of tired and pissed off subway commuters screaming obscenities at me for bring a double wide or double long stroller on during rush hours shied me away from the idea. Rightly so. I would have been a pissed commuter too (prior to kids. However, now? I GET IT.).  

Luckily, last week I braved the subways and traveled all the way to Union Square.  I was determined to not be confined to my usual one mile radius surrounding the apartment (MUST learn how to nurse in public without feeling embarrassed.. would make life so much easier!).  And of course, since I'm a mother now, I bypassed my pre-mommy store (Sephora) and walked straight into Babies R Us (Ill be back some day Sephora!).  I couldn't believe it... BRU had the Bob Revolution Duallie on clearance for $300! WHAT? Unfortunately I am not an octupus, so I had to drag Jason back down to BRU on the weekend.  This is actually funny, because in order to get back home (including a detour to Central Park to test out Bob) we had to haul TWO double strollers (each containing one baby so we only looked half insane) on two separate subways and up and down too many to count itty bitty elevators.  It was like Real Size Tetris. 

Testing out my new Bob. Screaming Marek riding the "trunk" ;)

Not Happening...

I was about to write a post but then Marek woke up screaming! Laters ;)

26 weeks and 4 days... its been a while!

It has been a while since I've updated! The biggest update is that Im now on bedrest due to a high blood  pressure that will just NOT go down.. Otherwise I feel great! I've been on bedrest since last Thursday and I'm doing everything I can to keep myself sufficiently occupied. Mostly I'm reading books,knitting and napping :)  I have a doctor's appt this Wednesday and I'm hoping that the doctor can give me more information on what exactly she means by bedrest...
At the last growth scan (around 25 weeks) the babies were measuring right on target at 1lb 7 oz and 1lb 8 oz. By now they could very well be over 2 lbs each!  Meaning I have over 4 lbs of babies in there! No wonder I can't breathe :) Both boys are very active and LOVE hanging from mommy's ribs and kicking her bladder.
Here are the latest pictures :)

Here are Charlie and Marek showing off their new trick, bending completely in half! Their toes are touching the back of their heads... Both boys were positioned like this at our last ultrasound. The ultrasound tech even thought it was pretty funny :) 

Mr. Marek :)

Charlie :)

One thing I've noticed with my boys is that they have completely different profiles if you look at the foreheads. I can't wait to see what they really look like!!!!

20 Weeks!

I am 20 weeks as of yesterday, what a milestone! The babies are becoming EXTREMELY active and I know we will soon be able to feel them from the outside. I can't wait for Jason to be able to experience their movement as well.  So far I have gained about 19 lbs and besides some shoulder, neck and hip pain I'm still experiencing a relatively easy pregnancy, thank goodness! Monday we have two doctors appts, one is the anatomy scan (however, we will not be finding out the sexes) and the other is my regular OB appointment.  Both Jason and I have taken the day off for this and I'm extremely excited to see my babies again! I know they have grown a lot since their last scan just by the strength behind their little kicks and jabs :)

On a sad note Jason and I lost our pretty kitty Silly yesterday.  She managed to slip through a very small crack in our window and fell 4 stories to a hard concrete sidewalk.  We took her to the vet the morning after (she fell at around 9pm at night) and the diagnosis was not good.  She had extensive internal damage of her kidneys and her liver.  Her heart was also moved and she had a large bubble in her chest cavity. The vet said that cats are very resilient and of course there was a chance, however small, that she would survive (She didn't look too convinced, but what is a poor vet going to tell a sobbing, near hyperventilating, largely pregnant woman who desperately wants her precious cat to live?) so she said if we wanted, we could give her pain meds and antibiotics for a day and see if it looked like she was showing any improvement.  We chose that route and I stayed home the next day to monitor her (my eyes literally never left my poor kitty, unless it was to go to the bathroom) and it was made apparent to me that my baby girl was not going to make it. The air bubble was definitely making it hard for her to breathe and she wasn't even slurping when I would try to give her a dropper of water (and food was impossible). My heart was BROKEN and I was beyond devastated. I knew though that I did not want her to starve to death or die of dehydration... so we made the decision to bring her back to the vet to be put down... Both Jason and I were there with her when she got the needle. I got down to her level so she could look at me and have something familiar to look at while dying... literally the hardest thing I have ever had to do...She (along with our other kitty Gula) traveled with us from Seattle, to Tacoma, to midtown NYC and then to Inwood NYC... she has done everything with us and while she tended to HATE strangers, (thereby making her a very unpopular kitty with friends) she LOVED and ADORED me and Jason, showering us with frequent kisses and cuddles.  At least once a night I would wake up to her trying to spoon me while sleeping,  she also loved to sleep on Jason chest and never once did she seem to mind his consistent and loud snoring.  Both Jason and I will miss her a ton, and I'm SO sad that my babies will not get to meet this very special cat... However I will always remember her fondly and I know that no one will mess with my babies with such a feisty cat as one of their guardian angels ;) RIP Silly Bear.. .love you so much!

Here is a picture of my pretty girl with Jason, doing what she does best:

and of course, here is the 20 week belly :)

18 Weeks!

    Yesterday I was 18 weeks! I can't believe how fast this pregnancy is going by... I am anxious to meet my little ones so it doesn't bother me too much :)  In honor of reaching 18 weeks I had an ultrasound to check for cervical length (basically  making sure my body isn't already trying to get these suckers out before their due date!) and of course I thought that they would only check for that so I told Jason he need not come (it was early in the morning and he would have been late for work) but BOY what a mistake! I asked the tech as soon as I got there if they would at least take a peek at the babies and she said " OF COURSE! that's the fun part!" She spent a good half hour on them and it was probably the best scan so far :) Both stinkers measure PERFECTLY for their gestational age. One is 7 ounces and one is 8 ounces.  What is funny is that the 8 ouncer is actually smaller, but fatter ;) LOL. I LOVE IT!  She measured femurs, heads, tummies, legs, etc.. She could have told me their sexes but I of course said that we do not want to find out :) So hard to say that! I WANT TO KNOW! but at the same time I don't... what a conundrum!
     Im also currently reading a book titled "Baby Brain Rules". So far I am loving it! It delves into the basics on how to raise an intelligent child.  The recommendations aren't necessarily what I was expecting.. (apparently playing Mozart to your belly does not increase IQ or math skills!). The basic recommedations are to not stress, make sure to gain the proper amount of weight, eat a diet rich in paleo type foods (nuts, berries, meat, veggies, etc..), there is another point but I can't remember it right now! Darn it! Either way, I need to focus on eating healthier and keeping myself calm.. I tend to be a worrywart and it will do my babies no good!
 In other good news my blood pressure has been "optimal" for the last three readings I have had... My OB instructed me to purchase my own monitor because I was consistently reading high at her office which freaked me out... Had to do a 24 hour pee jug test and everything to make sure I wasn't spilling any protein.  Everything must be fine though because I have not heard from them regarding my results :) Phew! No pre-eclampsia please!
 Jason and I have both noticed a definite increase in bump size in the past week or so, its good to actually look pregnant rather than just chubbier than usual, you can see for yourself!.  Here are some pics for this week!

16 Weeks! For some reason 16 weeks feels like a milestone... can't quite figure out why though. Many changes have happened in the last two weeks. The biggest one being the move we just made this last weekend! We moved from Hells Kitchen (aka Midtown West, Clinton or the awful new nickname: MIMA) to Inwood, which is about as far north as you can get while still remaining in Manhattan proper. We love the neighborhood... much more suburban than midtown. We will definitely miss living 5 minutes walking distance from all the Broadway shows and amazing restaurants that mid-town has to offer, but we have think differently now that we have some buns on the ole' oven. Our new apartment is AMAZING. Jason picked it out entirely on his own and he did a very good job... the apartment has three bedrooms, our bedroom and the nursery are right next to each other and Brendie's room is on the other side of the apartment (so he doesn't have to listen to crying babies!), two bathrooms and soooo much closet space!

We had some HUGE help moving from my Sister In Law, Hillary... I was not allowed to lift and I would tire very easily so it was nice to have the extra assistance. We were also able to use her muscle and truck to go to Ikea and get some needed furniture. Of course we purchased a few baby items, including two cribs and a chalkboard! I am SO excited about this silly chalkboard, I have a feeling I will get much more use out of it then the twins in the long run :)

I have been trying to refrain from buying too many baby clothing items since I am told that I will probably receive quite a bit from friends and family, but yesterday I could NOT resist these stinking adorable outfits! Hopefully at least one of these kiddos is a little girl, otherwise these outfits will become the cutest gifts ever someday haha. I can see my babies' pictures being taken wearing these outfits this summer out in the sun (slathered in tons of baby SPF and wearing adorable baby sunglasses). I cant wait for them to be here!

Here is the 16 week belly shot :) Getting big!