Preparations

I'm currently in my 18th week of pregnancy (that's 4 1/2 months for the non-preggo world) and things seem to be moving quickly. I am at least halfway to my estimated delivery date (36 weeks) but could have as few as 12 weeks to go (30 is the beginning of "okay"). Plus, I've only got 4 1/2 weeks left of teaching before I get a reprieve... but who's counting, huh? (Damn right I am!) This is a perfect time to begin what the books call "nesting," although I like to think of it as mandatory declutter and prep time. In my last post, I wrote a little about combining our home offices. You may think that this is a small task, but it really isn't. We've both been in control of our own spaces for three years now, so it's really like moving in with someone. The new space doesn't really feel like mine and we've both had to sacrifice some things to get everything to work, but we're making real progress. And every time I open my office door or go into the wrong room for something, I am reminded that something really is changing around here.

In my last post, I wrote a bit about registering and then realizing the cribs wouldn't work for our sitation. Well, we also thought we had a theme picked out for the nursery, but that has changed, too. I have had a vision for that space for a while and Brian was finally getting on board with it, but then we found this adorable room divider at our local Home Goods. If you know Brian at all, you know he went straight for it and we both fell in love with it. So, we are no longer going for a forest at night theme, but a medieval one. And no, my little girl will not be forced into some passive princess in pink sparkles role. She's going to be one kick-ass little girl who can be whatever she wants, whether it's a princess, a sorceress, a knight, or even an imaginary dragon. Brian seems much more excited about this theme and things are already coming together more smoothly for it. We even got some really cool foam shields to hang on the walls that the kids can use when they're older.

Baby A Profile

As for the technical/medical side of the pregnancy, things continue to look really good. We had an in depth ultrasound on Friday and confirmed that the twins are boys. The singleton is still being shy, but the sonographer felt pretty confident that it is a girl. We've been refining our list of names, as well. We thought we had those down (sound familiar?) but they have been shifting, too, so I'm not going to share them quite yet. We also are still missing at least one middle name. Otherwise, Baby A (boy lowest in my body) is the biggest. He's actually in the 80% percentile. This is something that they're watching because there is a chance that one of the boys will steal the others nutrients since they share a  placenta, which can be dangerous and even fatal for the other child. They look for a 20% difference  in size to signal a problem, but we are nowhere near that right now.

Baby B Profile

The other two (Baby B - other boy, on my left and Baby  C - girl on my right) are very similar in size. Heartbeats are strong, everybody is moving around (although I still can't feel it) and preliminary body/organ checks are right on par.

Baby C Profile

My body, on the other hand, it still trying to keep up with the amazing growth happening within it. Luckily, my cervix is still looking great. (They watch this because, if it shortens, they will put me on bed rest so I don't deliver too soon.) However, I'm filled with aches, pains and other side effects I had no idea accompanied pregnancy. I'm doing my best not to complain, but this past week I have been very irritable and grouchy, which also lends to more complaining and self-pity. My loving husband (who is teaching overload units and a class at another university) is being ever so patient and even running out to get some things that sound good to me at any particular moment. We're trying to work together on all of these activities, but it becomes difficult when I can do so little, become exhausted so easily, and he is working so much. Regardless, I think we're making the best of it and at least we seem to have happy, healthy, growing babies to show for it.