Back to Life...Back to Reality...

Even though we were gone for less than 4 days, and were fewer than 25 miles from home it is SO freakin' good to be home! Bella seems super happy and not at all miffed that we went to the beach for the weekend without her. Of course we wouldn't have chosen to do so, but my stepsister who found the house we rented forgot to check if they allow dogs.

Aside from the fact that we were pooch-free, the holiday weekend could not have been more perfect. Of course Wednesday was fabulous. My brother had arrived the night before and Wednesday morning we went out to a tasty breakfast. Once we got home I put him to work making the chili for dinner and W and I went to Part 1 of our two-part genetics counseling/NT scan appointment. The counseling part was a complete waste. It would have been valuable had we not ever seen a) the internet or b) any book on pregnancy. After about 15 minutes even the counselor was like, "Well, ok, you guys have this stuff down. Any other questions?" Since there were none, we went home to pack up the car and then on our way out of town we went to the NT scan portion.

It was my first non-dildocam ultrasound, so I finally felt like a real pregnant lady! The tech was totally into the twin thing, so we got to stare at them for a nice long time. I felt a little bad, since my brother was just sitting in the car waiting for us, but I sure as hell wasn't going to stop her. She took the NT measurements and I thought I could read that they were fine. Both babies were doing their thang and it was amazing. I can't even begin to explain how cool it was to see them like that. I wondered later if both the tech and doctor thought I was kind of nonplussed about the whole thing because I barely spoke. I just watched. You could tell that Snoozy is fucking LOVING LIFE in the top bunk. He's* got all the room, and is just kicking back and relaxing. I think I even saw a tiny ottoman for his tiny legs. At one point he gave us a little fist pump as if to say, "Hey 'Rents! It's all good in here!" As for poor G-Lo? There is a distinct cause of her* squirminess. Being on the bottom bunk, she's totally cramped. She seems to have a hard time finding a comfortable spot, but in her efforts to do so she got in a few good thumps to the top bunk, so at least she's making a stand.

Snoozy:










G-Lo









Once she was done, the tech said she was going to get the doctor to confirm some measurements. Of course at that point I started to wig out, worried that something was wrong. If only she'd said from the beginning that there would be two sets of measurements. We waited nearly 30 minutes which did not help my stress level. I was sure that the doctor had to be so baffled my our kids' rare medical condition that he was either consulting his library to find a treatment, or trying to find a way to give us the bad news.

Finally I sent W out to see if they were coming back for us. Not only was I nervous, I was starving, had to pee like a mofo and was supposed to pick up my mom very shortly. The doctor was on his way in as W went looking for him, so luckily we were "quickly" underway. Both babies made it really hard to get a good look at the neck area in need of measuring, so the doctor part of the scan took even longer than the first half. His technique of violently pulsing the wand into my abdomen had absolutely zero effect on the twins' placement, but very nearly caused me to piss my pants a couple of times. Pretty sweet. Eventually he got the measurement and confirmed what I'd seen on the tech's scan 1.3 and 1.6 and I could resume breathing. Luckily the relief didn't relax me so much that I actually peed my pants, but man, it was close. Now we just wait for the bloodwork. I guess they'll be calling mid-week. I go back for another u/s on 12/19 and can't wait to see how big the kiddies are by then. I wonder if they'll have made a masking tape line to mark out their respective territories like good siblings sharing cramped quarters should.

SO...that's a really long way of saying the weekend started out nicely. From there we drove to Tiburon to pick my mom up and headed out to Stinson. The house my stepsis(in-law, technically) found for us was so cute. We made a fire, and played Scrabble while the chili warmed up. My stepdad arrived a little later and then after dinner, he, my mom and my bro walked to the local bar while Will and I hung out by the fire.

Thanksgiving morning we woke up to crystal clear sun and went for a nice, long walk on the beach. In fact it was a little too long, because I had to practically sprint back for fear once again of soiling myself. Back at the house I got my brother and W to work assembling our appetizer - chipotle-lime marinated shrimp wrapped in bacon, which we grilled once we got to my stepbrother's house. So good! The rest of the meal was also pretty damn nice. There were about 40 of us and the food was amazing. Of course, as I phone-blogged, it was kind of rough not enjoying the tasty cocktails that were flowing, but I made myself a faux-garita and then had half a glass of pinot noir with dinner. The first couple sips were exactly what I'd hoped they'd be, but toward the end I had to give it to W because it just didn't feel worth it. After dinner we hung out by their newly built, giant outdoor fireplace and shot the shit with friends and fam.

On Feel Good Friday morning we took another beach walk and then I made rice krispie treats to bring to the beer pong party. Beer pong was out of control - mostly hilarious, and very drunken for those who could imbibe. A friend of my stepbro designated himself as shotboy and W had at least 4 shots of tequila. Everyone else had to be closer to 10. I have no idea how they do it! The shots had no effect on W's pong prowess, however and he became simultaneously the most desired partner and most targeted ringer. I was just hanging by the outdoor fire, enjoying my Becks N.A. and also loved watching shotboy (who was kind of a dick) get harassed by his pals for drinking one accidentally and not noticing that it was NA.

Yesterday after a little hike with my mom, we sent her and her husband on their way and W and I finally had the chance to hang out at the house alone. I promptly fell asleep. There was the most comfy window seat at our house and I couldn't help myself! I needed it, too because Saturday night is the annual Stinson Beach Fireman's Ball and my stepbro and their friends make quite the night of it. They have an annual cocktail party before the ball where everyone picks through several racks of costumes. The Ball itself is NOT a costume party, but don't tell them that! This is our second year going and it is a freaking blast. Last year I wore my slutty St. Pauli Girl dress, but this year I went for a hot pink mu-mu. W was resplendent in a red sequined one-piece Elvis/Superhero suit with a V down to THERE. He was so hot. I'll post pictures as soon as my brother sends them to me. As the sole sober person I drove a minivan full of 11 drunken, polyestered nutjobs to the dance. I'm sure we looked like a clown car. The music was great and I totally wanted to dance, but I felt like I should keep it sort of mellow.

Overall, such a great weekend. Back to work tomorrow and it's time to start packing! We move into our new place on 12/15! Woo hoo!

*I still have no confirmation of their gender. I'm just going by feel here.