34 weeks

A fingertip!! I'm dilated a fingertip. That means...not much, but something!! It's not like I want to go into labor tomorrow, but this is an indicator that the babies are at least thinking about being born.

My eyes popped out of my head when I stepped on the scale today. Mind you, I've had like zero appetite for a few weeks now, but have still been trying to eat some...I just haven't been eating much...not as much as the rest of my pregnancy when my weight gain was slow and steady. However, with zero appetite I have gained 7 lbs in the past week (since last Friday, actually)...that's 12 lbs in 2 weeks. I asked my Dr if that was a concern to anyone but me. She said it was very typical of what happens "near the end"...fluid weight. She said I'll drop it in a snap once they are born...sweat, pee, breastfeeding...it drops off. Phew. I'm at 50 lbs total.

She measured me and commented on how my skin appears to be giving up the fight. The few stretch marks I had last week have become a few more. As I whined to her about it, she said that anyone having multiples just needs to expect stretch marks...just starting budgeting for the tummy tuck. Boo. Maybe I'll just get my boobs done at the same time :>

Baby A is at 160 and Baby B is at 150. They are usually the opposite...B is usually faster & more active, but A was all over the place during the appt...B must have been taking a nap.

Typically, people go into labor when the uterus has reached it's maximum capacity. Given my skin and measurements, it's probably pretty much at capacity. Another sign that we might be close to "the end" is that babies usually jump ship when they can't get everything they need via the placenta. Given my total lack of appetite (I seriously am giving it my best!!), I'm guessing that it might indicate a need to come out too. Peanut butter sandwiches, honey nut cheerios, orange juice, milk, and water...those have become my staples.

If I went into labor today, they wouldn't try to stop it (with magnesium sulfate or terbutaline)...but they wouldn't help push it along either (pitocin). Andy and I have been discussing and are feeling a little more comfortable with delivery via C-section due to the fear of a complication for Baby B...but since both babies are vertex, I wondered if any Drs would fight with us over this decision. I know my Dr wouldn't since I've talked to her about our concerns (heck, she created them!)...she's putting a note in my chart that we're leaning towards C-section. However, if I came in dilated to an 8 and A's head is right there, they'd all encourage me to deliver vaginally. She talked to me about breech extraction for B if he moves out of the vertex position and now I feel much more comfortable about it. So...we settled on leaving the note that we are leaning towards C-section, but we will just see what happens when it is time. I've never been tied to a birth plan so I'm all for doing what's right for the babies and right for us given the situation we find ourselves in at the time of labor.

I parked in a spot without a car to the left of me so I could easily get out of the van today. When I returned, some A-hole had parked ridiculously close to the driver's side. In my regular state I might have been able to shimmy myself through, but there was no way I was getting into the car in my current shape. I had to enter the car via the passenger side. That was still difficult...trying to get my leg over the console (even though it's low since it's a van) and under the steering wheel above the driver's seat. When I told Andy about it after my appt, he suggested coming in through the back seat and climbing around the driver's seat...duh...next time (I have this same issue in the hospital parking ramp...I really do need a handicap sign for my vehicle!) Regardless, I looked around to see if anyone was watching before I entered the passenger side...I'm sure it was quite the sight. Don't laugh at me.

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Here are some recent Ethan funnies...

The other night, I gave Ethan some apple juice (water with a splash of juice) in a big boy cup and sat next to him as he sat in his little lounge chair in the living room...Sometimes after he takes a sip he will say "Ahhhh"...That night, I decided to take it further and asked him to say "Ahhh, that's refreshing!" after a sip. He did it each time he took a sip...too funny. I love this stage of talking...too early for much back-talk, but I can make him repeat things for my own amusement. Awesome.

This one is TMI...stop reading if you don't like potty talk. Ethan isn't potty-trained yet, nor are we anywhere close...but he is pretty aware of when he is going potty in his diaper. He thinks it's cool when he pees in the tub and he likes to be left alone when he is pooping and will typically find a private spot behind the couch or something so we don't look at him. Most of the time he will announce that "Ethan pooped" or "Ethan has poopy diaper"...The other night, he was laying his head on my belly as we were reading a book together and my stomach was making lots of loud noises (I don't think my stomach size can handle all the water I drink)...Ethan looked up at me with excitement and said proudly, "Mommy pooping!"...it was SO funny. I try not to laugh at him when he says things like this because I don't want to make him feel silly, so I just explained that sometimes our tummies make noises after we eat. But on multiple occasions after he went to bed that night I randomly started laughing as I thought about the look of excitement on his face when he said that to me.

Ethan has a little platform that he can stand on that elevates him to counter-height called the Learning Tower. When someone is in the kitchen cooking, he runs to it saying something like "I need Learning Tower...I help Daddy/Mommy cooking"...I haven't been cooking in the kitchen much, but I holler to him from the living room to be careful on the Learning Tower because the little monkey tries to climb over the top of it to get in versus climbing through the middle space that's intended. Last night, he was helping Daddy cook and yelled to me "Mommy, I'm being careful in the Learning Tower!" Not only is that a spectacular sentence, but it proves that he listens to me at least a little bit! :>