Cribs are up!

Chad got the cribs set up this weekend. I was impressed - he got both of them put together pretty quickly (and it seemed to go really smoothly!). I ordered the crib mattresses yesterday and I've finally managed to find some (fairly) reasonable crib bedding that doesn't come in a set. It's strange - most of the crib bedding available comes in a set and it always includes crib bumpers and comforters and usually some other random stuff (do we really need a diaper stacker??) While those big, padded crib bumpers certainly look good, they aren't really recommended anymore. There is a risk that really young babies could get trapped against the bumper and suffocate. And you definitely have to remove the bumpers as soon as the baby can stand - around 6 months - or else they can use them to climb out of the crib. So I don't see much point in those! Anyway, the bedding is on a site called, appropriately enough, http://www.babybedding.com/! You can check out the bedding on the site now by locating my registry - I'll post a picture of the nursery when we have it all set up.

I've also been working on our baby registries - it's amazing how much stuff these little babies need! I mean, we have the strollers and the swings and one bouncy seat already thanks to the Moms of Multiples group, but the list of gear is still pretty amazing! We have a couple of showers coming up in June, so I've been trying to get us set up with Babies R Us and Target and I also found an online site I like - http://www.albeebaby.com/ - they have the car seats that fit into my car (barely) and some high chairs we like. As I was walking through the aisles of Babies R Us the other day, I thought back to the days when that store used to scare the daylights out of me :) So big, so much stuff - and now I feel like like I know it like the back of my hand!

Busy Weekend

Whew, I've been pretty slack about blogging lately - in my defense, lots of preparations have been going on at our house in the last week or two! My aunt Tracy was kind enough to help me out with wrapping up the painting in the nursery last week, and I finally got the closet cleared out (Chad had to give up his "Auxillary" closet), so the nursery is really coming along!

We did manage to have a little fun this weekend, too. We went to a friend's wedding here in Austin on Sunday night - here we are all dressed up :) The black hides the tummy pretty well, in the photo, at least! I wore this dress to another event last month and I have to say, it was A LOT looser back then! Notice how I am trying to accessorize to draw attention away from the tummy :) We also managed to make it out on the boat yesterday - the water was actually pretty chilly for Lake Austin, but it felt great to float around a bit. Hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend, too.

Eat More!

Yep, I went for my weekly appointment with my doctor today and she told me to eat more! What a great thing to hear :) She's not really concerned at this point, but since I haven't gained anything for the last few weeks, she'd like me to eat a little more, especially since it's going to keep getting harder to eat as the babies take up more space in there! I've been eating what seems like a ton of food already, three meals a day and at least two snacks, so it seems strange to me that I'm not gaining more. Anyway, I know it's not an excuse to drink chocolate milkshakes every day (!!), but I guess I won't feel as bad indulging in one once in awhile. And since my back is really starting to ache these days, it's nice to find another positive aspect of pregnancy!

On the update front, I asked my doctor today about how long they'd let me go before they induce labor. I've heard that twins are "term" at 37 weeks, so it seems pretty safe to assume that I won't make it until my due date on August 14th. She said that usually they don't let twins go past 38 weeks, so I'll probably deliver by the end of July at the latest. Thirty-eight weeks puts me at July 30th (Tracy, I know you're pulling for that date!). She also mentioned that if we get to the point where it looks like the babies aren't going to cooperate with their positions and I'll definitely need a c-section, we can schedule an induction for that least week in July. Of course, there's still a good chance that they will arrive even earlier than that, but it's nice to feel like I'm narrowing down the dates a bit. We still have lots to get done before then!

On a happy note, the cribs are in! So Chad and I have a fun project this weekend :)

Names

Lately, everyone has been asking us about baby names. Now that we know it's a boy and a girl, we are trying to make some progress on that. It's not easy. I'm sure it comes as no surprise that Chad and I both have pretty strong opinions! It's sure hard to find something that's distinctive, not too popular (Emma and Jacob are currently the most popular names for boys and girls, who knew?) and that rolls off the tongue.

We spent some time Friday night going through our name book and making a list of possibilities. Of course, we have to consider middle names and initials as well. But I think we're finally making progress :)

We are definitely enjoying the name suggestions that we've been receiving - keep 'em coming! And we were introduced to a pretty cool website

http://nymbler.com/

You can type in a name you like (for example, Emma) and it suggests other names that you may also like. In the case of Emma, it suggests Lisa, Olivia, Eliza and Ava, among others. I'm not sure how accurate these suggestions are, but it's fun to try different names and see what they suggest.

I'm sure we'll come up with something perfect for both of them - I just hope we have the names ready by the time we leave the hospital!

As of this week's ultrasound, both babies are heads down. Still way too early to assume they'll stay that way, but it's a good thing nonetheless. Seems strange that they can hang out that way for months - doesn't the blood all rush to their little heads?

Busy week!

We started our "Prepared Childbirth" classes this week. They started us off with a terrifying film showing the phases of delivery - I had to look away several times, but Chad was very brave! He may not pass out during delivery after all :)

I also picked up this very posh second-hand Maclaren double stroller today - gotta love those "Moms of Multiples" and their hand-me-downs! Of course, this is only one of the strollers that we will apparently need. This will be for shopping excursions and dr. visits when the twins get a little older. First we start out with a "Snap and Go" so you can snap the car seats directly into the stroller frame - thereby eliminating the need to wake the babies when they get out of the car. And of course, we will also need the jogging/off road stroller, too, for jaunts around the lake and other fun "off road" outings. As a marketer, it's pretty darn impressive to see how they market all this baby gear to us new parents! And since Chad and I both have shopaholic tendencies, this non-stop spending spree is easy to fall into.

Baby Gear Everywhere

It's begun! The baby gear has started taking over our house. Last night was the spring Buy/Sell for the Austin Moms of Multiples (AMoMs) group that I joined. Two baby swings, two activity gyms, one extra large Pack 'n Play, one bouncy seat, one baby Bjorn carrier (I picked up two other sling type carriers a couple of weeks ago) and one extra large nursing pillow later, it's starting to be clear that our house isn't going to be our own much longer! Now that we've managed to wedge it all out out of my car and into our house, I think even the cat, Madison, and the dog, Shelby, are starting to take notice :) Of course, the nursery isn't set up yet, and Chad hasn't yet vacated his "auxillary closet" in the nursery, so there's no clear home for any of this stuff yet. See how nice it looks in our living room??

25 Weeks Today

Today marks 25 weeks. Hard to believe it's still technically 15 weeks to go - although twins are considered term at 37 weeks vs. the 40 weeks for a singleton. Shelby still seems pretty oblivious - hard to believe she hasn't noticed my belly growing daily!