The Twin Nursery

Ok folks, it's taken forever for us to finally finish this nursery and get some pictures of it... but now it's pretty darn close to being completely ready so it's time to post pics!

The first thing you see when you walk in is this sign on the door! This was the banner we held for pictures after our gender reveal. I couldn't just throw it away!

This poster was a freebie from Shutterfly! You may not be able to see the quote but it says "Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart" -Winnie the Pooh

 This dresser was slightly hideous when we got it... but after a nice, bright white coat of paint and some new hardware it is looking much better! And it houses some of the cutest little baby boy clothes... all washed and ready!

This cute little basket was in the dollar aisles at Target. It was $3 and it is perfect for widdle socks!

This 9-cube organizer from Target is so handy! I had a bunch of Badger Basket items for Easton's room, but they don't make any that coordinate. I needed something with lots of drawers for all their little stuff so this was perfect! We found the baskets at Babies 'R Us's website and snagged them when they were buy one, get one half off. They ended up being cheaper than any I could find at Walmart, and soooo much cuter! 

This is the vinyl my mother-in-law cut for me for above the cribs. And yes, those are their middle names!! Curtis is my father's name, and James is my father-in-law's middle name. We needed some more traditional names to go with such unique first names, and we wanted to honor both grandpas! I absolutely love how the vinyl turned out. 

There they are above the cribs! 

Let's talk about the cribs... bumpers, sheets, and skirts came from Target. Actually, so did the carpet that you can see in the pic. I love Target, and I love chevron. I kind of went a little overboard with the chevron but I will be spending the most time in there so my taste wins. 

The BEST parts of the whole room, though, are those quilts hanging on the cribs. A dear friend made them for the boys and they are the most beautiful quilts EVER. We originally planned to add a little bit of yellow in the room, but after receiving those quilts, I knew I wanted to incorporate those colors instead. So we added some turquoise into the gallery wall to make the quilts really stand out. 

Next up, the gallery wall!

Everything on this wall was painted except for the anchor, which already matched. The M and T and the square canvases were from Michaels, and I had the starfish from my wedding. I think the oar was from Christmas Tree Shops, but it didn't match so I painted it all white and added the chevron. The sailboat I did by hand (it looks good from this far away!) and the turquose picture with navy polka dots was also an imperfect by-hand project. It's really uneven and I probably should redo it but I'm running out of energy for projects. The "Shhh No Wake Zone" sign has vinyl letters and we just painted the gray. The cute little whale is from my shower! Everyone there put their fingerprint on it and it turned out so cute. 

Here are some zoomed out pics to give you an idea what the whole room looks like! The corner not shown is piled up with other baby things that will eventually be elsewhere in the house (stroller, Rock N Plays, swing, etc.) 

I am not the most creative person, for sure, and in most of my house there is no real design strategy...but I LOVE how this nursery turned out. It's probably the most coordinated and decorated room in the house! I can't wait to put some little babies in those cribs!

P.S... 32 weeks today! We're getting so close!

31 Week Update

This week I had an appointment with the specialist, and it was a very helpful and exciting conversation.

It looks like at this point, I will be having my VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean)! Baby A, Maverick, is head down and most likely will stay that way now. When he flipped head down, he must have crowded his brother because now Tucker is transverse (sideways). The doctor was not at all worried about that. If after delivering Maverick, Tucker is still breech, we have a few options. He will try to turn the baby externally first, and if that doesn't work, he will do a breech extraction (with a strongly recommended epidural... oh, darn).  He does not foresee any problems with a vaginal delivery as of right now. He will continue to watch the size of the babies to make sure one isn't much bigger than the other, but that hasn't been an issue thus far. They measured 3 pounds, 5 ounces, and 3 pounds, 6 ounces this week.

He calmly discussed a few of the things that could go wrong, just so I am aware of what could happen. Not once did he try and talk me out of a vaginal delivery, so I'm very happy about that. He did say there is a 15% chance that one baby will be born and they could need to do a C-section for the second. That would be my worst nightmare... I'm going to ignore that possibility. I will have my doula there making sure we have exhausted all options before I have to have a c-section.

I asked him lots of questions about delivery, many of which weren't answered the way I had hoped. After taking my child birth class, I was hoping that I would be able to use a lot of the pain management options they suggested. Unfortunately, with the added risks that come with a VBAC, I won't be able to move around during labor as freely as I wanted. I will be hooked up with 3 monitors (one for contractions and one for each baby) as well as an IV. The nice thing is that I don't need to go to the hospital until contractions are 5 minutes apart. That gives me time to labor at home in the shower or bath tub, on the yoga ball, etc. I'll just have to be cautious since the hospital is about 50 minutes away!

He briefly mentioned induction around 38 weeks, by breaking my water. I've learned a lot from the VBAC community. So many of them are crazy DOCTORS ARE EVIL people, but they have some good points about what is medically necessary and what isn't. I could be wrong, but in my head, if they break my water too early there's got to be a bigger chance that I'll have a repeat c-section. Once water is broken, there are only so many hours before the baby needs to be out. What if my body isn't ready? What if I have the typical "failure to progress"? I guess I don't see the rush. I understand that twins are pretty full term at 38, but will it really hurt to wait until my body decides to start labor?

I'm pretty obsessed with reading birth stories, twins and singletons alike. It seems to me the ones where labor starts naturally tend to be faster and require less intervention. Those who are induced seem to have long labor and more interventions. There are only so many beds in a hospital, and if you have crazy preggo ladies lined up waiting to have their babies, they might try to hurry the process for those sitting pretty at 4 cm.

I'm hoping he gives me a say in the matter. Who knows though, I might be begging him to induce me at 38 weeks. I will have made it through almost all of July by that time and I know I will be huge and probably pretty miserable. But the doctor and I agreed the best case scenario would be for me to go into labor on my own.

I guess I need to relax a little! And trust God. My goal is to have healthy babies. I can't focus on what could go wrong.

So, I have around 7 or 8 weeks left, and I am going to try to enjoy my sleep and being pregnant. I will try to enjoy the time I have with my son, the last few weeks of him being an only child. I'll do my absolute best to not hate every day I still have to be at work. I will definitely enjoy the "go sit and put your feet up!" that I get from family and friends. I will enjoy the last weeks of having two sets of feet poking me to say, "Hi Mommy!".

I can't help but be excited and anxious though. I have a business card in my purse with numbers to call when I'm in labor... I have the diaper bag ready to go... I have two car seats ready to be put in my van...and I have two little boys inside of me that I am dying to meet!

And no matter what it takes to meet them, I am ready!

This Week's Stats:
How far along? 31 Weeks, 2 days.
How big are the twins? over 3 pounds each, and about 18 inches long! Picture a pineapple or coconut! 
Total weight gain/loss? About 35 pounds... Hopefully breastfeeding two babies will get that gone quickly!
Maternity clothes? Of course, or anything I can find that will fit this big belly! 
Sleep? Getting difficult. Sometimes I wake up and can't go back to sleep for an hour or two. I get a lot of leg cramps or restless legs. Heartburn is gone thanks to the prilosec! 
Best moment this week? Hearing that Maverick is head down!
Symptoms? Exhaustion. Leg cramps. Swollen hands and feet. Some back pain. Typical 3rd trimester stuff. It's nothing I can't handle!
Food cravings? Not much... I hardly finish meals, for the first time in my life. Guess my stomach is just too crowded.
Food aversions? Nothing really.
Labor signs? I've had a Braxton Hicks contraction a few times. Some pelvic pain, not enough to ever worry about. 
Belly button in or out?Neither. It's neutral. 
What I miss? Diet Pepsi. Being able to bend over.
What I'm looking forward to?  Calling Jer and saying "IT'S TIME!" 
Bump? See below...

5 YEARS!

I'm a number person. I've mentioned before how I usually have some sort of number in my head, counting down to something or up to something.

Today the magic number is 5. Five years ago today, I married my best friend, my high school sweetheart, my "bae" (which I am told is not "babe" without the second B. I still don't remember what it means. I'm so old).

We were just kids! Jer was 20, I was 21 and people always felt the need to comment about our age. "You're too young to get married!" we'd constantly hear. Looks like we're doing just fine, thank you very much. I wouldn't change a thing about our life!

Ten is a number with significance as well. 2005 was the year Jer and I met, a whole 10 years ago. We we're both in high school. I wish I could go back and tell 17 year old me that the goofy kid I had a crush on would be my hubby and the father of my 3 kids in 10 years. The kid that wouldn't stop talking about lacrosse. The kid I spent Friday nights with, renting a movie with his parents and cuddling on the couch (with my sister nearby... my parent's always sent the 3rd wheel to keep an eye on us).  The kid who didn't even have a cell phone when we met... I'm pretty sure we both still had dial-up internet, too... so much has changed in 10 years!

And now look at us... we have 5 years of marriage under our belts. The silly fights, the highs and lows, the "we're broke"s and the "we're blessed!"s. We've already shared some huge moments. We bought our first home. We found out I was pregnant! We became parents to the best little boy in the world. We found out we we're having TWINS! And in a matter of weeks we'll be a family of 5.

That's another number that is mind-blowing to me. Family of 5?! We have already surpassed the American standard of 2.5ish kids per family. We won't be able to fit in a standard restaurant booth. A family 4-pack of anything won't be enough! We will be outnumbered by our kids. As my cousin put it when his third child was born, we'll be moving from man-to-man to zone defense! It's crazy. We wanted a big family but I didn't expect I'd have so many so quickly!

I can honestly say there's no one in the world I'd swap places with right now. My hubby and my 3 boys are all I've ever wanted. Sure, I'd love a house bigger than 1100 square feet.  I'd like a bigger yard and maybe a pool. It would be awesome to have enough money put away to never have to worry. But there are no material things that could make me as happy as my God, my husband, and my kiddos do. My life isn't perfect, but I'm so very blessed I'd be a fool to focus on the imperfect parts.

Before I get too mushy, I'll get back to the numbers. The next number on my list is 68. Since this blog really is about my kids, I have to include the countdown to the twins' arrival! Sixty-eight days until I hit 40 weeks. I'm praying I don't make it quite that far, but for countdown purposes, 68 days until I meet my boys! Four days until my next ultrasound when I'll get to see them and talk to the specialist about delivery!!! Four weeks until I'm probably off of work, at least that's my hope. My OB tossed around the 34 week number and I'm running with it.

But today is about the number 5. Tonight, I'm going to go out to dinner and enjoy a juicy steak, maybe some cheese fries, and some time with just my husband. Date night is rare for us, so it's always special when we get to go out childless for an evening. We have a lot to celebrate... our blessings far outnumber the cheese fries that I will consume tonight.

To my hubby, I love you! You are my other half. You're as funny as I am serious, as generous as I'm stingy, as optimistic as I am pessimistic. You keep me positive, I keep you realistic. You make me laugh when I'm grumpy. You make me feel pretty when I literally look like a whale. You make me feel attractive even when I admit that I just peed a little in my pants (I have a nasty cough right now, don't judge me, people!). You don't get mad when I say I'm too tired to make dinner. You are understanding, loving, handsome, hardworking, and your biceps are huge. Our sons will think that you are superman. I already know that you are. Happy Anniversary, babe!