It all comes to a screeching hault...

I had no trouble keeping myself busy while pregnant. Besides all of the travel, I was working full time as a first grade teacher and pretty much conducting my life as usual. Of course, by the end of the day, my ankles were swollen, my brain was fried and I was exhausted. As Bob would say, stick a fork in her, she is done! Little did I know, that was about to become a reality.



I was excited to go to the doctor for my 27 week appointment. I wanted to see those little munchkins and see how much they had grown! I could feel each of them moving, rolling and kicking and my belly definitely proceeded me everywhere!



I had my visit with the doctor and he said her thought all looked good, but he wanted confirmation with an ultrasound. My belly was measuring about 33 weeks when I was only 27 weeks pregnant. I did no care, it meant my babies were growing and I just went along with them!



The babies were moving around on the ultrasound and we even got some really cool pictures of them. While I was waiting for the doctor to come back in the room after reviewing my pics, I was thinking of my evening plans. We were going out to dinner with Bob's parents to one of my favorite seafood restaurants. A funky, pretty upscale place...I was craving yummy fish and rich, cheesy side dishes.



I was about to find out that those culinary delights would have to be had another time. My doctor came to me and said my cervix was thinning and it was getting to a point that caused him a bit of concern. Therefore, he was going to have to put me on bedrest for the duration of my pregnancy. UM....WHAT????? Was he reading the wrong reports or something. I felt fine, my twins were thriving and I HAD A FUN DINNER PLANNED! Nope. I was not going to dinner. I was not going to be able to teach my first graders for the last 4 days of school.



I felt like he was saying, go directly to jail, do not pass go...of course I wanted to do what was best for the health of my children, but seriously!! Bedrest?!



My first job though was to go to the hospital. The doctor said he wanted me to get a set of steroid shots. All I could think of was body builders or something. What I came to realize is that they are used to "beef up" the babies lungs in case they do come early. It would help the babies avoid or not need much breathing help when they were born. So off I went to the hospital and off Bob went to the seafood restaurant for dinner. He offered to not go, but I wanted him to be able to enjoy the seafood I would now just drool over..



After getting "shot," I had to wait around and they monitored the babies heartbeats for an hour. Kinda cool to just sit in a quiet room and listen to the babies hearts beat away. Being "grounded" as I called it, would, as I later realized, be a true test of a lot of things for me, but if I close my eyes, I can still hear those heartbeats and now I can put them to faces...all worth it.

The months that followed...let the travel begin!

So, as it is probably apparent by now, I am writing this post-birth of my children...(yes, it still feels weird to say childREN instead of child). The first 26 weeks of my pregnancy were actually pretty uneventful and generally pretty fun! I was enjoying growing bigger, going to doctor appts and seeing my babies grow and develop, buying baby gear etc...

Prior to being born, these babies traveled extensively! The first travel adventure while pregnant was to Deer Valley, Utah to visit my amazing sister Liz and her now husband Joel. Yes, I went skiing...while pregnant! Oh, stop gasping, it was fine and super fun! Bob, Liz and Joel skied around me, they were my personal fence! Yes, I was careful, and I am sure the babies enjoyed the ride! I love skiing and the feeling of freedom it brings with it. I think I needed that because a small part of me knew that some of the freedoms I have enjoyed over the years might take a back seat for a little while...

Not too long after that, Bob and I jetted off to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico for an amazing trip with members of the firm he works with. Bliss, pure bliss! We stayed at the most amazing resort I have ever seen! Gorgeous views, pools galore, a spa and Mexican food, can it get any better for a gal who is pregnant? Not in my book! Floating in the pool felt so good! It was almost a feeling of weightlessness...I would just float on my back, belly up and stare at the beauty around me! (Well, and the other people enjoying cocktails by the pool, boo hoo). I was able to wear my cute pregnancy clothing, enjoy amazing food, spend time with my amazing husband, hang with friends and seriously relax.

Well, that experience was such a good one for Bob and I (the babies too!) That we decided to trek back to Mexico 2 weeks later for my Spring Break. Too cool! Bob surprised me with the trip and I HAPPILY accepted. Hmmmm, let's see. more sunshine, laying by the pool, spending time with my hubbie and eating amazing food all day...did I even blink an eye when accepting?

As an aside, for all the tacos, burritos, chips, salsa and guac I ate one these two trips, these babies better enjoy Mexican cuisine as much as we do!!!!

The final travel experience with the babies in utero was to New York for our nephew's baptism. Now, I was definitely getting BIG at this point, so the airplane seat was no longer a place I wanted to be in for very long. My airplane survival techniques were 1) Wear a comfy track suit 2) get an aisle seat so I could spread out and get up often to pee and pace the aisles, and bring lots of crunchy snacks! New York was fun, kind of a whirlwind, but another adventure to Tell about for sure!

After that point, I was no longer too comfortable traveling, I do not know if they would even let me on the plane in fear those babies would come out!

In my opinion, life, did not and does not have to come to a halt when you are pregnant. There is so much living to do! I traveled, ate sushi (cooked pieces only of course), had tons of fish (come on, Omega-3 baby!) and sat in the healing sunshine. I think, happy mommy, happy babies!

The New Freedom

It felt so much better to just get "the news" out in the open. Ahhhh, now I could tell everyone weather or not they wanted to hear it! I surly could not hide my growing belly anymore. Many of the people I worked with said they already knew just by looking at me. I would think, "don't tell me that!" I wanted to share my news and wanted the receiver to be surprised, elated, say holy crap, twins? or something! Oh well, it was still fun.

Speaking of out in the open, it is what my belly was becoming. Into maternity clothes I went! Stange you would be excited about wearing pants with fabric around the waist and shirts with tons of extra fabric, but I really was.

How are we gonna keep this a secret?

I am really bad at keeping secrets, also really bad at lying. If I ever even tried it when I was younger, I was instantly busted. My face gives me away. Well, in this case, my tummy was going to give me away, and quickly.

We finally decided to share our news when I was about 12 weeks pregnant. If we would not have said it out loud, my growing belly would have revealed the secret for us.

What do we do to let our parents know our big news? Don Pablo's of course (cheesy MN Mexican restaurant). Everyone orders Margaritas except me, already looks suspicious...anyhoo, it takes forever for our drinks to come. We were trying to make small talk, but honestly, I have no recollection of what we were talking about. We were probably making no sense at all, Bob jut kept staring at the waitress like she was going to magically produce drinks for everyone. Didn't she know we wanted to blurt something out, but obviously needed drinks to clang together (and down) when we did?

After what seemed like 5 hours, we finally were served. No sooner did the waitress set the drinks on the table did Bob blurt out "we're expecting." What? What did he say? What about what we had planned to say? Expecting what for that matter? Our parents looked at us with faces that resembled raisins. They were all scrunched up trying to figure out what the heck we were saying. Then Bob says, "Show them your shirt!" (More raisin faces) Oh yeah, I was wearing a shirt that said "My Pod has 2 Peas."

So, I whip open my coat, show them my shirt and there is seriously still looks of complete confusion on our parents faces. Bob says, "We are having twins!" Well, then, you can see the wheels turning in their heads and after a really long minute, they all smile, screech and start talking at the same time.

Proud parents that we are (we are still getting over the shock) we pull out our ultrasound photos for all to see. They are not even around yet and we are already sharing their pictures!

So over cheesy (figuratively and literally) Mexican food, we announce and celebrate the upcoming birth of our twins.

We are expecting twins??

Ok, I am going to go back a bit...as I am writing, my twins are 6 months old. But, best to start their story at the beginning.

The title of this posting really says it all. Bob and I were ready to have a baby. We had been married 8 years, together for something like 13. We got a dog about 5 years prior, so we guessed it was about time for the next step. When I found out I was pregnant, I headed to the doctor to confirm my suspicions. Well, my HCG levels were quite high so they decided to do an ultrasound to make sure all was going as planned. I was excited to see the little being...when I got all settled, the technician looked at me with what I would call an "interesting stare." Great, I though, what is wrong? She just turned the ultasound screen toward me and stared without saying a word. What do you see, she asked? I thought to myself, what is she asking me for, I am not a doctor, but I did not have to be one to realize what I was looking at. Oh....my...God....I think were the words that came from my mouth, but I am not sure. Are there supposed to be two black circles there? She said "yes, if you are having twins." I am sure Oh...my...GOD came out of my mouth again. "Congratulations. You will need to come back in a few weeks." What? She was just leaving me there with this news? I seriously sat there for a while digesting it.

Now Bob was at work, so I decided I should just break this news to him in person. I asked him to meet me for coffee to see the ultrasound photos. Little did he know....anyway, I think I talked to myself in the car the entire way to meet him. I am sure I laughed, kinda that scary, giddy laugh, cried and screamed at least once!

Once we met, grabbed a cup of coffee (mine decaf of course) we sat down at a table. I slid the ultrasound photos across the table like sliding a glass down the bar. Speaking of a bar, when Bob saw them the first thing out of his mouth, after extreme silence, was "does this coffee shop sell beer?" And so the journey began...