This is my first full week of not being a student, not being an intern, not being an employee,but rather taking care of myself and being a stay at home pregnant woman. I have cleaned the apartment about 25 times (and it still doesn't feel clean enough). I go for walks, groom the cats, grocery shop, cook, read books, stretch, volunteer with the twins group we belong to, and meet friends for coffee dates. Part of me is loving the free time, and part of me is going crazy. Being busy with one, if not two jobs, plus going to school is manageable and for me and is what I know how to do. This "relaxation" as they call it, is new territory for me, I'm almost afraid to enjoy it, and I'm sure Evan is dreading the day I say "Babe, I'm not sure I want to go back to work, maybe I should stay home with the kids." Don't worry, it's not in my blood to not be working :)
One of the things I am enjoying the most is reading a book called Trauma Stewardship. I was given the book by a supervisor during school and just now have the time to get into it. It is about recognizing and managing the toll that it takes on a person to be in the helping industry. The book is not specific to counselors, but great for readers that are in any care taking role such as taking care of a sick loved one, people in environmental conservation, emergency workers, doctors, nurses, counselors, animal rescue, volunteers and the list goes on. Anyway I can only read a bit at a time because it feels like Laura Van Dernoot Lipsky ,the author, wrote this book for me personally and I need to process and let the information sink in. I suggest the book for anyone in any care taking capacity. Mom, Dad and Mandy that includes all of you.
About two weekends ago, I had another baby shower! My parents were in town for both my graduation and for the shower, and they stayed a couple of extra days to get in some sightseeing. The shower was wonderful. Three friends from school put it on, and they did a fabulous job. It was about 90 degrees outside, so we ate and played a couple of games out there and then moved indoors for gift and dessert time. The ladies made wonderful food and drinks. One friend is from Turkey, one from Iran and one with a Fillipino heritage. Each of the ladies made food from their ethnicity so we had a wonderful mix of quiche's, beet salad, white bean salad, pasta salads and so on. Everything was so tasty. They also had a photo booth set up so we could take a lot of fun pictures, and we played a couple of games. I was plenty ready to head inside though and open gifts. I had a dress on, but I wished I was in a bathing suit because it was too hot, I thought I was melting, and being this big, there was no comfortable way to cool myself off short of stripping my dress off, which I thought may be inappropriate at such an event.
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| My friend Nicole and I |
We received a lot of diapers (hallelujah!!) a couple of handmade baby blankets, toys, car seats, clothes, bumbo's, boppy's, diaper bags and an array of other thingamabobs. Between the two showers, we received just about everything we need to get by for at least the first 13 or 14 years... haha kidding. But we have plenty for now it seems, although I'm sure when they get here I'll feel completely ill equipped.
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| Everyone trying to eat under some shade |
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| Now that's a pile of gifts!! |
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| The baby blankets my friends mom made for the babies |
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| Almost the whole crew of guests |
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| Hiking in the Redwood's |
So while mom and dad were in town, Evan chose a couple of top restaurants for us to eat at, we celebrated my graduation, celebrated the babies, went on a trip up to Muir Woods which is the redwood national forest. Toured around by Pier 39, Fisherman's Wharf area downtown San Francisco, and my parents had some time to shop on Park street here in Alameda while I was finishing up at my internship. It was great to spend time with them, I can't believe that next time I see them they will be meeting their very first grandchildren!
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| Mom and I on Alameda Beach |
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| Scenery in the Redwoods |
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| Mom Dad Evan and I after the graduation ceremony |
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| Mom Dad and I on our hike in the Redwoods |
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| Evan and I on graduation day |
Wow this is a long entry, hope you aren't getting bored yet. The babies are doing great. Our boy at the last ultrasound a couple of weeks ago was 3.1 pounds - the nurse calls him Hulk. While the girl is a petite 2.1 pounds. They are both around 17 inches long - YIKES! The boy has quite a bit of hair apparently and the girl is bald as a queue ball. Their cords are both twisted like phone cords (if you can recall what a phone with a cord looks like haha) which is good, she said that indicates that they move a lot. The girl has her foot nicely placed right on my cervix, which explains why I always feel like her foot is just going to fall out of me. The low placement of her in general, also explains why I feel like someone is bouncing on my bladder, it's because someone is. Hulk is placed up tightly against my ribs which continues to be a huge discomfort for me, and apparently not too pleasant for him either because he shifts and squiggles and bends and stretches constantly. One good thing is that they tend to nap together. When one is calm they both are, and they sleep together in short increments. I really enjoy those times, however I also love when they move around, it's like our way of communicating. I just rub my belly and tell them there's more room out here for them whenever they are ready, and they go on kicking and hitting and headbutting to try to make more room in there.
Everything is going great with Evan, he just works, hangs out with friends, hangs out with me, reads to the babies and reads books on parenting. He asked me to come to the baby shower his work is putting on for us in a couple of weeks at his office. I'm excited to get to meet the co-workers I hear him talk about all the time, it should be fun.
The next big thing we're looking forward to is Evan's mom Renee coming out to visit for a couple of days here at the end of June! We haven't seen her in a while, and she hasn't seen me pregnant, so it will be fun to spend some time with her.
I am starting to have doctor appointments and ultrasounds weekly as prescribed by my doctor to ensure that babies are doing ok and that they eventually start shifting to the head down position. I will keep you updated as things progress. Oh and our new due date is July 31st!
With Love, Bree and Evan
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| Week 30 |
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