Change is in the Air

Evan has been a really good boy at home lately and when we have to go out to run some errands. However, at school this is beginning to become a different story. Yesterday when Kevin went to pick him up, Evan's teachers gave us a little insight as to how his days have been going lately.

We knew he had been going through a hitting phase at home and at school for a little while a few months ago. We thought we had worked through it and resolved all of the underlying issues. There was a little girl in Evan's way and she wouldn't move. Ev proceeded to hit her over and over and over. The poor little girl stood her ground (good for her!) and didn't budge an inch. Evan didn't hit her hard enough to make her cry or even leave red marks, but it is still disturbing behavior none-the-less.

He went into the corner for a few minutes and got an explanation of why it isn't nice to hit friends. His teachers think he is beginning to realize that something major is about to change; he hasn't really ever acted out that bad in the past, but I guess it is becoming a little more frequent. There are also a few pretty big changes going on within his classroom as well that could possibly be contributing factors: his best friend was just transitioned to the two year old room and his other BFF is leaving school for the summer since his mother is a teacher. That leaves him with only one of his good buddies.

We are trying our best to process this and make things go a little easier for Ev, but it is hard to judge how much of what we are telling him about his new brothers he is truly understanding. When you ask him where they are, he will lift up his shirt and show you his belly. He does give them kisses on my stomach when you ask him to, so I guess that is good?

I have to admit, the closer we get to D-day, the more nervous I get about the whole big picture. I have my moments where saying things out loud or even in my head sends me into a weird "I can't believe I'm having two babies" panic. And then to hear that Evan might not be handling this very well already is only adding to the stress.

I haven't been sleeping well at night. I'm seriously contemplating moving myself out to the recliner during the night. Sleeping in my own bed is proving to be extremely painful and restless and my general state of being has hit an all time low in this pregnancy. I have already decided no more trips out to the stores and not even down to my parents' house where it is easy for me to relax. It is all just too much for my body to handle.

On a lighter note, I had my first biophysical profile on Wednesday. It was a modified version, so they didn't really do a whole lot of "stuff". The tech made sure their fluid levels were still good, measured the heart beats and watched to see that both of them were using their lungs to practice breathing. It was really neat to see their little bellies expanding and contracting!

My Little Smunchkin

It's been a while since I've written about my son, so I figured I would tell you all about our day yesterday, even though it was pretty uneventful. I had a weekly appointment at my OB's office and after that we had a few errands to run. Kevin and I decided to pick up our little bug from school about an hour and a half early so we wouldn't have to drive back out of our way later to get him. After Kevin gets Ev situated in his car seat he hands me his stack of art work and daily report card. I glance down the activity and it seems like he had a pretty fun day. Wait, what's all this writing in the corner?

Someone decided he was really tired that day and couldn't stay awake for lunch! He fell asleep on his little cot while the other kids happily munched their food. When Kevin walked in the classroom to get him, the kids were still on their cots enjoying some quiet time - it was 3 o'clock in the afternoon! And there sat our Evan, minding his own business and "reading" a book.

We decided he was probably starving considering he hadn't had anything to eat since his morning snack around 10:30, so we stopped at Sonic and got him a kids' meal of a grilled cheese sandwich, a banana, and milk. He ate nearly the whole meal, poor little guy!

We had some things to return/exchange quickly at a few nearby stores, and I have to say I was quite impressed with the way Evan was behaving. He sat in the cart without making a fuss and was in a really good mood the entire time. Kevin even heard one mom comment on how she wishes her kid was good and would sit still in the cart like he was.

We came home and had a really good night of playing on Mom and Dad's bed, giggling, snacking, and enjoying eachothers' company. It was one of those moments I wish I could freeze in time and always keep with me. I'm really starting to enjoy this stage in his life, it is so much fun. He is becoming such a cool, smart, and exciting little boy and I can't wait to see how he is with his brothers.

Really Quick Update

I had my growth scan this morning, A is 3 pounds, 9 ounces and B is 3 pounds, 6.4 ounces. One of the boys is breech and going diagonal across my belly, the other is transverse with his little spine tucked up under my ribs on my right side. I can assure you that although this position may be comfortable to him, it isn't for me. Their heads are butted up right next to each other and it looks like they are sharing ideas and plotting against me already ;)

It Is (Somewhat) Written

Had my weekly appointment this morning, things are still looking good. The twins are definitely starting to reside in cramped quarters, just how big I'm not sure. Dr. K didn't measure my belly this week. I'm thankful in a way, those numbers are getting scary to hear out loud.

One of the kiddos is jammed in there all kinds of weird. Both are breech at this point, but one of them is curled off to the side and over the other like a "C". The other one is straight up and down. At this point Dr. K isn't too hopeful for a natural delivery (I was beginning to come to terms with this anyway). I suppose there is still time for one to turn, though it doesn't look likely at this point.

I have also come to realize that odds are I will probably make it to 38 weeks. Yay and boo! I want them to stay in as long as possible so they can be at their healthiest and hopefully come home right away, but honestly, I'm not sure how much more I can take of this.

Another upside to making it to my 38 week c-section date: no labor! How awesome would that be? I guess that will give me something to look forward to besides healthy boys.

I go tomorrow for another growth ultrasound. I'm anxious to see how much my little stinkers weigh now. I also have biophysical profiles set up each week until I deliver, just to make sure the boys are maturing and developing as they should and without any problems or complications.

My sister-in-law threw me a sprinkle this last Saturday. It was really nice and tons more than I ever expected. I was totally envisioning just walking into Kevin's mom's basement to find tables, chairs, food, and people. She had everything looking super cute. Everyone who came was waaay generous and we received a ton of adorable and useful things.

I'm pretty sure there is no earthly way that the boys can possibly wear every single article of clothing hanging in their closet. There is quite literally not another space for even one more clothes hanger. I'm actually having to order size organizer tag thingies to separate the sizes - there is that little room - and the only sizes hanging up are Newborn to 6-9 months!

We have diapers coming out of our ears it seems, but that is definitely a good thing! I don't want to even think about how much money we will drop on these their first year of life. I really hope breastfeeding works out better this time too. I'm pretty sure the failures with Evan were some underlying medical issues and the stresses and pressure of having our first baby, all of which are under control now. Can you imagine the formula costs for twins? We were spending a ton on just one when Ev was a baby, enough for a small monthly car payment.

Oops!

Sorry, I never updated last week...and I can't even use the excuse that I was too busy. I went back for another ultrasound to check my cervical length and to check out the fluid level on one of my little buddies. I'm glad to report that everything checked out fine, and all in all it was a great appointment.

I didn't get to meet with Dr. P again, he was pretty busy that day, so I saw someone else in his practice. The good news: I don't have to go back to the MFM office unless some other type of complication surfaces. The ultrasound tech, after measuring my cervix, said I was still measuring 4 cm and that I was "meant to have 'em" (kids that is). That's right, fort cervix is holding strong, the contractions are doing nothing to shorten it.

So it appeared that one of my guys flipped around yet again, so as of this moment in time we are again looking at a natural delivery, not surgery (yay!). But, as I know...things change and these little dudes have minds of their own already.

Mother's Day was pretty good. Kevin got the necklace that I had been oogling from Etsy.com. It is a bird nest with three little eggs in it. So cute! He also got me a bunch of those Willowtree figurine things that you can find at the Hallmark store - a whole family! There's Kevin and I, Evan holding his doggy, and of course the 2 soon-to-be newest additions.

At school Evan planted me some sort of a plant, not sure what it is still. But he even painted the pot for me. Kevin gave this to me early on Friday night because he was worried about killing it before Sunday rolled around. Evan also gave me a cute poem with both of his hand prints on it and a picture of my cute little bug with sunglasses on. School was even nice enough to laminate it.

We met Grandma and PawPaw Saturday morning for breakfast at Cracker Barrel. Poor Ev was starving when we got there. When the neighboring table's food was brought he was eyeing them up for a bite or two. Thankfully their backs were to us and they didn't notice his sad puppy eyes. He did stare the waitress down though. As soon as our food came he dove right into a biscuit and his apples and guzzled his chocolate milk.

After breakfast we drove to Toys R Us to finish up bringing his new swingset back to their house, it took two trips. PawPaw isn't too thrilled, apparently the instruction book says it will take twenty to thirty hours to put together! I guess I know where Kevin is going when mom and I will be at my sprinkle next weekend.

We ended up staying the night down there and Evan had a blast feeding the cows and swimming - he's such a fish! Only now we have to really keep our eyes on him - he knows how to climb into the hot tub all by himself! Scary! The plan is to have a real swimming pool installed by next summer, hopefully.