21 week update

Some random bits for this week:

Sleeping at night is becoming more difficult.  I usually wake up at least once a night to pee and then wait to go back to sleep.  So I am awake for about 30-90 minutes in the middle of the night as I try to get comfortable and go back to sleep. A couple weeks ago we purchased me a pregnancy pillow for sleeping that is the shape of a giant letter C.  I use it to support my belly and between my knees to take some of the pressure off my lower joints at night. I am also feeling the boys moving some at night.

On a happy note, our cribs and changing table/dresser are in, but we are waiting on the chair to come in. Once everything is in, we will have them deliver, by the middle of October, I hope.

Last Saturday we also took our 2nd Marvelous Multiples class.  Found out that because I'm having twins, it won't be in a cozy room like you see on TV, Elliot, I and the boys are headed to the operating room. This is just in case they need to do a C-section. Not quite the birth experience I had been envisioning, but I'm quickly discovering that twins mean pregnancy norms are not the average experience. This class also focused a lot on breastfeeding and we practiced diapering, washing, and swaddling a baby. Elliot did really well at diapering!  I think he did better than me actually.  Elliot does not think he is good with babies and small children, but I think it's because they make him a little nervous.  I keep telling him that young children can pick up on that and to try to relax.  He could also practice his diapering skills on the babies at church, but he is still too nervous.  He'd better get over that soon....

For the last part of the class, we drove over to the hospital to visit the NICU.  We had a tour by a NICU nurse and it was very eye opening. First, it is in complete lockdown, so you have to call and be on a list to get in.  Then everyone must wash hands upon entering to cut down on spreading germs.  We then saw the four "bays" where the babies get healthy. Each bay looked like it could hold about 20 babies!  Some of them were so pitifully tiny.  The nurse said she had just released home that day a baby born at 24 weeks! that had spent 4 months in the NICU!!  It's amazing to me that it could live at 24 weeks, but 4 months is a long time to be in the NICU. I mean the parents would have to go back to work eventually to pay for all that hospital care, but you know they would much rather be with their baby. After seeing the NICU and hearing stories like that, it makes me realize that you want to do anything to try to keep your baby from having to spend an extended period of time there. It is reassuring to know that there is a great NICU in town with a caring staff.

They also mentioned that this time of year was very busy in the hospital and NICU due to "holiday" babies being born.  I am a "holiday" baby.  It picks up again later in the fall for all the Valentine babies. The nurse said our January babies would be born at a great time since it would be so less crowded. Yea for that!  Elliot is now telling people he is buying me a shirt that says "don't open until Christmas" because if we make it that far, we'll be 36.5 weeks and ok to deliver.

Elliot and I are staying busy with school. This week I have bookfair, which is always a pain, but more so when I have to get people to move the heavy boxes and large metal book cases for me. Goes totally against my independent streak. Jan, Elliot's mom, helped me set up the bookfair last week and will help me take it down Friday afternoon.  Thursday night is open house at school and the book fair will also be open, so I'm hoping for a nice increase in profits with all the parents being there. Elliot and Jan will also be there to help me run the book fair during open house.  They usually run the cash register for me and I answer questions. Elliot is staying busy implementing the new curriculum that NC department of education is beginning this year. He's also been trying a new way of grading in a couple of his classes that go better with the new curriculum. Basically it means less daily grading, but grading the 4 tests they have a semester takes literally hours. He was holed up in the bedroom Tuesday night after dinner for several hours grading those tests. I hope it's worth it. Elliot also taught his last night class last week and has left on a good note.  He mostly enjoyed teaching there, but with classes from 6-10pm, it made for a really long day, one day a week for him.  It was good money while I was in library school, but now that I have a full time job, it's not really necessary.  I was also worried that I might go into labor while he was teaching class if he continued teaching there!

We have continued to clean out and begin switching the guest room to the former office and the former guest room to the baby room. My mom and dad are coming up Saturday and we hope to at least move the bed to the new guest room. It will be nice to have some help moving some of the heavy stuff.  It will also probably make it seem more real. oh boy!