Names. Final. Maybe.

OK, seeing as we have somewhere between 12 minutes and 18 days until the babies arrive, it seemed like a good time to settle on some names. Of course, these are always subject to change, and I have had a LOT of people tell me that they changed their minds about baby names when they finally saw the little nuggets. So, take them with the requisite grain of salt.

First things first, I love the idea of family names (with an obvious nod to pretend family names in my case). Maybe it is because of my own checkered family past, or maybe it is because of my sense of traditionalism...but for whatever reason, I love the idea of naming people after various family members. Smoking Hot Roommate has a name that is at least quasi-traceable to someone who was born in 1848...that, to me, is super cool.

With that in mind, we set about to come up with four names (two first and two middle) for our baby girls. Immediately, you will likely note that both The Boy and I have sisters with whom we share enormously tight bonds. As such, both Twin Sister and Munchkin were the first names that automatically came to mind (well...their actual names).

Smoking Hot Roommate is the other obvious candidate, and was my next name choice. The fourth name is actually her mother's maiden name, which is a super cool name and one I like very much, especially as a middle name. So, there were our four choices.

First problem, I don't want to give one of them Munchkin's first name. She will still likely live at home part-time until the babies are eight or nine years old...and it just gets too complicated having two people in the household with the same name. So, that has to be a middle name.

Next issue is that Big Sis is having a baby in a month, and should that baby be a girl, she would very likely want to use her sister's name, and possibly her mother's maiden name as well (we had all talked about this a bit before). Obviously, I would defer to her if she wanted to use them, and would pick others to clear up the confusion. Yesterday, I finally got her to confide to me that, should she have a girl, she will almost certainly name it after her sister, and that her mother's maiden name will be the baby's middle name regardless.

Therefore...with all of this taken into account and everything worked out to my satisfaction...we have settled on:

TwinSister Munchkin, and BigSis SmokingHotRoommate.

LKM and MAM

Even scarier, she can probably say this in French

Wouldn't you know it, I am finally cleared to be a little less of a couch potato, and the weather suddenly reverts to mid-February. Seriously...the high today was about 37, and tomorrow is supposed to be just a little warmer. Then three days of cold rain before we finally maybe get some good weather later next week.

So...I am right back where I started...cooped up in the house, enjoying my sofa.

That is not entirely true...I went out for lunch yesterday with the boys in my group, which was a real treat. And The Boy and I had a brief dinner date tonight, which got me out into civilization for a couple hours. It is just nice to be a wee little bit more of an actual human being.

Now he is out for the night with some friends, and I am actually enjoying the quiet time:-). Munchkin went to the movies with a couple of the older girls that she plays soccer with (the ones I wouldn't let her go toilet-papering with in the fall) and should be back soon. I am gonna wait up for her and then go to bed...gotta sleep while I still can!!!

But I will give you one quick story that made me laugh...

Because of the cold, I decided that I wanted some tomato soup for lunch. Into the microwave it went, covered by a paper towel to keep it from splattering. As things often do, it made a big popping noise near when it was done, and when I took it out, it was clear that the soup had sort of exploded and the paper towel had absorbed a bunch of the soup.

My reaction was "Good thing I covered this, it would have exploded all over the inside."

Munchkin responded with a well-placed "That's what she said."

Oy.

Clarification

Just a quick clarification on some things based on a comment from Jen yesterday.

There is almost no chance that I will deliver these babies naturally, and that is totally OK by me. One of them has been in breach position pretty much the whole pregnancy and the other one has flipped back and forth a bit (but is not in the correct position and likely will remain there). If they don't think that they can deliver both naturally, then they won't attempt it, so it seems really unlikely that we will even try.

I have kind of wanted a section the whole time, though, so that is fine with me. The way I look at it, you either suffer coming or going and you can't avoid it. You either get the pain and difficulty of labor and two deliveries, or you get the pain and nuisance of a recovery from the surgery. And while the recovery from a c-section is not as bad as it used to be, it is still a major, invasive surgery that you don't just get up and walk around afterwards. And of course, there is recovery from a natural delivery as well.

But here is my great fear...I am worried that I will go into labor, go through 10, 12, 24, 36 or however many hours it takes and maybe even deliver one of them, but then have them say that the other one is out of position and can't be moved and that they will have to do a section anyway. No way am I going through a full labor and still having to go through that kinda surgery. And since at least one of them has been out of position the whole time, that just seems way too likely.

So, even if the doctors tell me that we could try a normal delivery, I think at this point I would probably just rather have them go ahead and have a c-section.

On another note, I see that some of you have taken note of the new "Thought for the Day" over on the right. Munchkin said that a couple of weeks ago, but I will leave it up there for a few more days because it is super cute. And we can all guess what day in April she is rooting for;-)

Tax Day

Doctor's appointment this morning, with an ultrasound before that. The girls are really chubby!!! 5 pounds 10 ounces and 5 pounds 7 ounces, both doing really well. The ultrasound tech said that they both have lots of hair:-) Yay!!!

The bigger news is that my doctor has scheduled me for an April 15th C-Section, so that will be the absolute last day. They can sort of come any time they want now, and she even told me to not worry that much about sticking to my bed rest rules, but if they aren't here by tax day, they are coming out whether they want to or not!!!

I am super excited to have a date, it makes it seem that much more real. You know, since the 35 pound bulge in my midsection wasn't already...

Returned Safely

Today was...oh...just about as nice a day as you will ever see. 70 degrees, sunny, warm and really just not at all like a late March day in New England should be like. We have a changing table that needed to be assembled, and since the instructions promised that it would be really difficult and required two people (it had at least 500 parts and pieces), The Boy's father came over to help. And, as long as his Dad was coming, his Mom figured that she would come and keep me company. And, as long as his Mom and Dad were coming, Twin Sister and her wife and their little girl came over, too.

So, the girls all sat out on the deck while the boys did the furniture assembly. And it was oh-so-very-divine to be outside on a day like today. Reclined, of course...I need to follow orders. I was pretty jealous that everyone else got to have an afternoon cocktail or two, but I will get over it. Only another month or so!!! OK, I can't totally start drinking then, but whatever.

Then I got Munchkin back this evening; I really, really missed her! More so this time than usual, just because I was so darned bored;-). But I am glad she went, despite missing her. She had a great time, and is looking super tanned and incredibly gorgeous.

She and Frenchie have really settled into what I think is a very healthy relationship. Obviously, she would rather that she saw him a lot more, but they seem to have accepted the situation and they don't let it eat at them too much (at least she doesn't). She appreciated every minute that she got to spend with him, and is already looking forward to seeing him again...but there is none of the crushing sadness that I think she felt when we left France last summer. It is almost as if they both know that they have gone months without seeing each other and that they can do it again.

Also, they seem to have a surprisingly deep friendship, but not nearly as deep a romantic relationship. In my view, that is a very good thing, because there is no way that they could maintain a relationship where they were seriously attached. They refer to each other as boyfriend and girlfriend, but they don't act like 15 year olds that are "in love". There is none of the jealousy that you would expect to consume this sort of arrangement. She knows that he has friends that are girls, and vice versa and they can talk about it openly without getting offended.

I actually think that they are both a little bit afraid (rightfully) of trying to be seriously involved. They can tell that they are great friends with a special kind of connection, and they seem to want to preserve that above all else.

I don't know if I am explaining this very well. Short version, every time they see each other it is a big event in their "relationship" and this week was no exception. They have a really neat, unique kind of bond that I think is very good for her. He has already proven to be an extremely significant person in the course of her life, and there are no signs at present that this is going to change any time soon.

I should probably get used to him;-)

Today's Sign of the Apocalypse

"I wanna warn you that I am gonna charge about $80 to my credit card. Gift for Frenchie's Mom."

That was the message I got from Munchkin earlier. This leads me to several thoughts...

1) Her with a credit card in a foreign country is a little scary. Having her realize that she can actually buy stuff with it is like ten times scarier... (she has a card on my account for emergencies and whatnot. She probably doesn't need it, but it gives me peace of mind. I don't think she has ever used it before...maybe once or twice.) So, I am not sure how I feel about her discovering that it actually works.

2) I suppose that I should be happy that she cleared it with me first. So, she understands that I get the bill and that it is not like a magical instrument that makes stuff appear with no consequence. I am grateful for that.

3) Isn't she sweet thinking of her hosts like that:-) She certainly knows how to make sure she is invited again...

So, my fashion-forward, super-stylish, social butterfly sister has discovered that the plastic card she has been carrying for years can magically make stores give her things for just her signature.

Who wants to place a wager on how long it is before I take that piece of plastic back from her...?

Because, seriously, what could possibly go wrong?

Too cute to describe

You know what is a little worrisome at first, and then super adorable when you find out what it really is?

Fetal hiccups

The idea makes me giggle. The actual hiccups kinda do, too.

Big Doings!

The refrigerator died this morning, breaking down into a pool of leaking and groaning cooling unit (or motor, or something). Normally this would be a giant pain in the ass...but when you are stuck at home, this counts as high entertainment! I had to throw out some stuff, but fortunately the fridge was kinda empty so the losses were minimal.

Through the wonders of the Internet, I managed to research, price, order and take delivery of a brand new stainless GE fridge by the end of the day. How is that for a productive day? Easiest of The Boy's money that I ever spent;-) Since I no longer have a paycheck, I find it quite a bit easier to spend:-P (Totally not true).

Maybe, if I get really lucky, the washer and/or dryer will die tomorrow, followed by the dishwasher and the oven. Fun all around!!! Of course, we would be totally broke by then, but at least I would be entertained for a few days.

This week's evidence that Munchkin is the best kid ever...she calls me every afternoon because she knows I am bored:-) Typically when we are not in the same place, we talk every night, but she has changed her routine this time because she knows I am home alone all day and have The Boy at home with me at night. So she takes 20 minutes out of every afternoon to call me and chat.

OK, so taking a couple minutes out of your busy day of lounging on the beach to call your big sister (while still lounging on the beach) is not exactly donating a kidney, but you get my point. She is, of course, enjoying herself and enjoying her Frenchie immensely...and is being very good about staying off of her foot. (Yes, I totally checked with Frenchie's Mom).

She gets home on Saturday, and then we have to think about getting her ready to move to Smoking Hot Roommate's place! We will probably move some of her clothes and stuff over, but that shouldn't be too hard. I think we just want to make sure her room is ready so that she can basically just go there after school one day and essentially be moved. Obviously, it is pretty easy for her to go back and forth, but I would rather not have to think about it after the babies are here.

I guess that is about it for now...I am tired from all the excitement

The Boy

On the heels of my bitching about being on bed rest in my last post, I feel like I should write something a little more positive. Which brings me to The Boy's overall level of awesomeness.

The objective truth is that he has been a total trooper about the bed rest thing. It puts a lot of burden on him...he ends up having to do most of the housework and random chores around the house, he has to put up with me when I get grumpy and crabby, has largely lost his favorite spot on his favorite couch:-) and is suffering from the same lack of sex that I am. I can't help him with any of the furniture moving or assembly or the painting or anything of the related activities, and I can't really drive anywhere either (so, for instance, he was up at 6:00 on Saturday to take Munchkin to the airport on Saturday). In addition, Munchkin was a cranky housebound mess for part of this time as well, so he got to deal with both of us.

So, it hasn't been a treat for him at all, and I am sure that it is super frustrating. But he never complains, he constantly brings me juice and water and snacks and lets me have the remote when we are watching TV. He also makes sure that I don't spend too much time on my feet, even when I get bitchy about it:-)

In other words, he is awesome, and he is being a super-fantastic husband through all of this. In fairness, the babies were his idea, so he better be grateful that I am going through this shit:-P. Seriously, though, I have felt all along that he is going through this with me as much as possible, shouldering as much of the burden as he can and doing everything he can to make it easier on me. It is just important that he knows that I have noticed:-)

And once we get these monsters out of me, I will most definitely make it up to him!

Even losing an hour isn't helping this go by faster

It is pouring rain outside, I am bored and confined to laying on the couch reading a selection of analyst reports, annual reports, research notes and other thrilling materials, and then translating them into PowerPoint slides for a presentation in two months. Also, it is only Monday morning and I have five more days of this shit to look forward to. Yay.

So yes, I am a little bored. So much so that I am thinking about going to school one day this week just to mix things up. And be bored there instead.

It actually wasn't a bad weekend...I had a lot of visitors. Munchkin got out safely on Saturday and is now basking in the Caribbean sun. I am not sure that the jealousy comes through in blog form;-). At least she calls me once a day to check in and allow me to live vicariously through her. The Boy did a ton of cleaning up and sorting of junk on Saturday, and I felt bad about not being able to help, but at least I was there for moral support. There were a whole bunch of boxes (well, Rubbermaid tubs) of clothes and stuff that needed to go into storage to make room for baby stuff.

He went out on Saturday night (to judge a barbecue contest, no less!), but a couple of friends came over to keep me company so I wasn't lonely. A couple other friends came over during the day on Sunday, too, and Smoking Hot Roommate came over for dinner as well. For a couple of reasons, she has been incredibly busy lately and I haven't seen her a whole lot lately...so it was really nice to have a couple hours to visit:-). Her "stuff" is wrapping up in the next two weeks, though, and then she will be back to being around all the time to take care of the two pregnant chicks:-)

And yes, she is a key part of Project Get Everyone To Move To The Beach For The Summer...

That gets us to today and my five day long grass-growing-viewing marathon. Wish me luck. And if you need me, I will be around...

"Spring Break" used to be more fun

How come no one noticed that yesterday was Tinkerbelle's birthday?!?!? I even tried reminding you, but I guess no one felt like checking the archives to figure out what March 11 is:-P. I wrote her a very long birthday email so she would have it when she woke up, and I sent her some clothes and girly stuff, too. And we talked for a while when she got home from school...needless to say, she is pretty darn excited to be an auntie! She is also very excited to come and visit her nieces once she gets out of school, which I am looking forward to as well. She is a really fun kid...different from Munchkin in a million ways, but really a treat to know.

I think I like the idea of having the babies on maybe a Friday morning, or a Thursday...just seems like right before the weekend is a good plan. Is it completely absurd for me to go to class on a Thursday morning and then head to the hospital afterwards to have them? I don't think they would let me, but it's a thought...:-D. Hmm...I would probably miss Project Runway that week, too...(yes, joke).

And, of course, they could choose to make their appearance long before then without my having a say in it. We are past the point where they would be in imminent danger just because they are so premature, which is obviously a good feeling. They still need another 4 weeks or so to be really, really healthy and not face the prospect of extra days in the hospital, but it is good to know that they could come now and be out of substantial danger.

On another note...still not totally decided on names. We are most of the way there, but not completely committed. I have a feeling that we won't know for sure until we meet them!

Not much going on this weekend. Munchkin leaves in the morning, and I will miss her lots. I am on Spring Break next week, which will make me really bored. I am hopeful that I can make a lot of progress on our group project so that I can advance it to a point where the guys in the group can pick it up and finish it during the next month when I am "less available." I think we have a good plan, so I am optimistic that it will work out. And it is not like I will be completely out of commission going forward, I would just like to step back a bit and only have to worry about my own individual work.

That is about it...other than that, I will just be around and laying low...and waiting!

Is tax day a bad birthday?

Who knows what tomorrow is? Well, really today, since it is 11:45 and most of you will read on Thursday during the day...

I watched Idol tonight, and actually thought that the guys were pretty good. Overall, they were better than the girls, but I think that the girl with the dreads is the best of the whole bunch overall. At least that is my impression after some very sparse early season watching. Not sure what is up with Kara, she seems to be overly emotional and weepy...something is going on there.

So, let's see...I had a totally uneventful doctor's appointment this morning. No ultrasound, so just a matter of seeing the doctor, having weight, blood pressure and urine tests taken and an oh-so-pleasant cervix length check and pre-term labor swab test. Looks like we are going to schedule a C-section sometime around week 38 just to have it on the books. Obviously, they can come whenever they want, but it would be kinda neat to have a date to look forward to.

It is like 90% that I will have a C section. Both girls are in the wrong position and have been pretty consistently. The chances of them both lining up before I deliver is pretty slim, so the section seems likely. Totally fine with me...my great fear is going through a long labor, delivering one of them naturally and then having the other get all twisted and have to have the section anyway. I am ok with either labor or the recovery of a C section. But I don't want to do both!!!

So, since I sort of get to pick their birthday...I am taking suggestions:-)

This is easier when it is freezing out

I assume that everyone is familiar with the legendary scene in Alien when the thing crawls out of the guy's stomach? Well...for the last few days, my stomach has looked very much like the early stages of that! Well, pregnanter...

I just can not describe how totally weird it is to see bizarre lumps and rolls and indentations coming and going all the time. Sometimes I feel like it is maybe an elbow, or a foot or something, but usually you just can't tell what it is at all. Whatever it is...they have been ACTIVE the last couple of days. Actually...you know what it looks like? It looks exactly like there is someone in there rolling around and pressing against the skin from the inside;-)

Also... the kicking in the crotch? It feels like they are trying to get out!!! I know a lot of women get the bladder kicking, which supposedly hurts a lot. I haven't had any of that, but they are doing a number on my cervix...

You know what makes bed rest 1000 times worse? Nice weather...argh...it was sunny and mid- 50's all weekend here, and it made me sick to not be able to get outside for more than five minutes. I felt like a little kid who was sent to her room and had to watch all of the neighborhood kids playing out her window.

Spring break next week, which will be really boring...lol. I should have a TON of work to do,which should keep me busy, hopefully. Munchkin is definitively leaving me to cavort with her dashing foreign boyfriend and family. PT and doctor's appointment last week and they both said that she is good to go. No running, no jumping, no extended walking or standing and just basically taking it sorta easy. Obviously, swimming is all good, which is convenient. Frenchie's Mom volunteered to make sure that she sticks to her rules...very nice of her.

Kind of a funny conversation with her about her leaving. We were making flight arrangements, and I said something about "We need to make sure that The Boy can drive you guys to the airport on Saturday morning," (her friend is going to...I mentioned that, right?). Her response was "Eh, we can just take a cab if we have to."

You know, because 14 year old girls just hop in cabs on their own all the time...right?

In other news, Bono is happy with his singning voice...

Light subject for a Friday...the Victoria's Secret "I love my body" commercials?

Seriously? Am I missing the point? The ads are done as if they are all about embracing your self image and accepting your imperfections. It feels almost exactly like those Dove "real women" ads. A perfectly good and worthwhile message.

Only thing is...you are all fucking underwear models!!! Of course you love your bodies...everyone else, does, too! Hence the healthy paychecks for posing in little or no clothing...

I am just not real sure what message we are supposed to get when Allesandra Ambrosio tells us that she is, for some completely non-obvious reason, pretty comfortable with her physique. Who would have ever guessed that?

[Unrelated note: she gets my vote for official best-looking woman on the planet. Discuss.]

Summer Plans

Sorry about being kind of a bitchy mess yesterday...I am just kinda stir crazy and it comes out once in a while. Wait...I am not blaming nearly enough on pregnancy hormones, so I should chalk it up to that. Um...yea, pregnancy hormones making me crazy. Or something.

Anyway, what has become something of an annual discussion is back on the docket again...what to do about summer? This year is a little different than years past, but I still have some questions to iron out. Munchkin had a ridiculously good time last summer living at the beach, working at the ice cream store and babysitting for a family she really likes. Predictably, she is all for doing the same thing this year (and next, and the one after that, at which point she has already decided that she will look super cute tooling around with the top down in a Jeep Wrangler...but let's not get ahead of ourselves too much.)

I have something of the same problem I had last year, which is that someone has to be with her at all times. I am OK with her being by herself for a day or two (and by "by herself" I don't actually mean alone, since there is always someone there, I mean without me, Smoking Hot Roommate, Big Sis or Papa Bear), but I do feel like one of us should be around the whole time. Without any real parents, she gets a fistful of sorta-parents...

On the plus side, both my schedule and Big Sis' schedule are much more flexible this summer, and we will both spend more time at the beach than we normally do. I will have the whole summer off, and if she delivers around her due date, she will be out of work for all of May, June and July. On the downside, we will both kinda have other stuff to do, too;-)

My own plans are kind of up in the air. A lot of it depends on how much The Boy will be able to work from the beach. Given my druthers, I would spend the whole summer down there with the babies...but I have a feeling that he would miss his baby girls just a little bit if he only saw them on weekends;-). Plus, with doctor's appointments and whatnot, I will sort of have to be in Boston for some stuff. But hopefully he can arrange to work from there in stretches so we can be down there a lot. My babies are gonna be beach bums if I have anything to say about it:-)

Munchkin's brother, wife and baby are gonna do just what they did last year...spend the first two weeks of June here to kick off the summer. I offered to let him come out later in the summer when the weather is more likely to be good, but they actually wanted that time frame. As I have mentioned, he ends up using most of his vacation, and his wife has to take the time unpaid (she works part-time) so it is something of a financial strain for them.

But, he found a mechanic last year that needed some temporary help, and he picked up a couple of days work while he was there...that guy's real pinch is the first week or two of the summer as people return and find the cars that they left there all winter have issues. So, that worked out really well last summer and he is gonna do the same thing this year. Obviously it makes it a lot easier for them, and that is good.

Other possible things on the summer docket: Munchkin has a week at soccer camp, and is planning on either going (by herself!) to France again for another week, or going to South Africa with Smoking Hot Roommate for the World Cup, along with having Frenchie come here as well. Finally, she has it in her head to run the Falmouth Road Race (which the divine Ms. Jenny ran last year). I will assume that SHR is in charge of that as well;-).

And that, folks, makes for one busy summer...

Bored

I don't want to complain, because life could be a whole lot worse, but I am getting really bored. The thought of another six weeks or so of laying down all the time except for class is kinda depressing. I know it is all for the babies' (and my own) health, and that this will all be a really small inconvenience in the grand scheme of things, but it is getting really frustrating.

I would like to be able to go out to dinner, or go shopping for myself or run my own errands or clean my own house (lie...totally fine with not doing that). Or I would like to do those things regularly and not feel like I am committing a crime against the pregnancy police if I stand up for an extra 10 minutes every day. And I would like The Boy to not feel like he is abandoning me if he goes out for a bit on a weekend night.

Heck, in a month or so, we won't be able to do any of that stuff in peace anyway! Seems unfair to not be able to do it now. At this point, I am just bored with sitting around waiting for something good to happen.

Here's the thing...I have loved being pregnant. I think I look super cute, I have no bloating or swelling or weird skin coloration issues (save for the regular dark line down my tummy). No really unusual aches and pains at all and I am sleeping great. I was sick and tired early on, but have felt really good for a long time now. Blood pressure is great, all of my other tests are great, weight gain is perfectly normal and manageable. All of the weight is in my belly, save for the little bit in my boobs:-).

And you know what? I want to be out looking all cute and adorable and pregnant and healthy! I am frustrated that I feel so good and yet I have to lay around like an invalid all the time.

Alright, I need to stop complaining, but I felt the need to vent. Given all of the complications that some people have during pregnancy, and the difficulties that others have in even getting pregnant, I have very, very little to bitch about. But whatever, it's my blog!

I will be back tomorrow with some more practical, less annoying stuff...namely, summer plans:-) Until then...