Alive and Kickin

**UPDATE - ME is apparently in labor and it is too soon for this to be even remotely a good thing. This is so unfair.

That is, I’m alive and the babies are kickin’. It has been so long since my last post – madness! Part of it, I must say, is that this pregnancy is pretty letter-perfect so far and there is some seriously unfair shit going on out there with AMS, Alexa and ME just to name a few. it felt weird to be posting my happy happy la la bullshit while they're going through hell. Please send your thoughts their way if you haven’t already.

I do want to have this to look back to as a journal of sorts, so away we go. Firstly, my east coast shower was this past weekend just outside Boston and it was so incredibly fun. I will have to post some of the outfits we got because they’re just too cute. I didn’t really imagine there would be so many stylin' options for matching/coordinating boy/girl twins, but my friends were able to find them! I arrived in Boston on Thursday and took the T home with my friend’s husband. Unfortunately by the time I got there, their 5 month old baby was asleep, but the next morning I got to meet her and she is so gorgeous. And fun! She just smiles all the time and hops around in her jumper. Friday we did a little shopping, got pedicures and hung out with the baby. Can’t ask for much more than that, right? Then Saturday was the shower. All my Boston friends were there and it was so great to see everyone. Then, as I went to the buffet for my 22^nd slab of frittata, I looked out the window and saw my brother! He lives in Manhattan and I never expected him to be there. He’d grabbed a ride with my aunt, my cousin (who married us) and her family. They all live just north of NYC. I couldn’t believe it! I cried. How could I help it? Of course I should just realize that my brother would go to any length to be in a room full of women. In addition to holding court with the ladies, he kicked ass at the “name the melted candy bar in the diaper” game.

All my flights to and fro were right on time, and I shudder to think how tired and uncomfortable I would have been had there been any sort of delay. Flying was not all that fun, especially with my restless legs. On the way there I had aisle seats, but on the way back I changed my flight at the last second, so I was stuck in middle seats on both legs. The first was fine because the woman in the aisle seat got up a lot, but the second leg was rough. I was pinned between two champion plane sleepers. I had to shake the bejesus out of the guy on the aisle to wake him up. It was either that or piss myself and I'm pretty sure I made the right decision.

Speaking of peeing. I pee about 4,397 times a day. I take a sip of water, and ten seconds later, I'm off to the loo. But lately I have been sleeping through the night without peeing! I guess this is a good thing, but it's also weird, right?

The other day W took a look at me and said oh-so matter-of-factly, "You're large." Large. That's nice, thanks honey. Here’s the latest belly shot. (Sounds like something they serve at Coy0te Ugly – heh.) I was 23w2d. I'm wearing a size 12 non-maternity faux wrap dress, which is maybe getting a little indecent in it's tightness, but I won't let that stop me!

Other than getting bigger and noticing more and more swelling in my feet, I’m doing really well. The heartburn is only occasional and I sleep like the dead. In fact, my friend’s baby was teething while I was staying with them and apparently (I have to say apparently because as far as I know they could have been making it up) she was up screaming all night every night. Did I hear any of this? No, not really. A few whimpers here and there, but I easily rolled over and fell back to sleep. I sure I hope I hear it when it’s my kids! I highly doubt you’re supposed to start CIO right from birth. I think I’ll be more alert when the spawn is mine. Here’s hoping, anyway.

I’ve got an ob appointment next Friday and another ultrasound on 2/13. I can’t wait to see the little buggers again! They move around all the time, which is great because I’ve always wanted acrobats in the family. W has been able to feel them a couple times which he loves. Last night while I was watching the Clint0n/0bama lovefest, I was literally contemplating my navel and I think I saw my stomach actually move from a kick. Then I started huffing and puffing too much to see it again. I suppose one unfortunate side effect is the inability to take real breaths. I've always been a fan of the deep breath, but I guess I'll have to wait a few months before I can take another one. Drag.

This weekend I'm hoping to get the babies' room in some sort of order. During the move it became sort of the dumping ground for all the stuff that we weren't able to put away immediately, but I'll feel much better if that's all put away or at least out of sight. I also want to get a futon for the room, because I imagine I'll be sleeping in there w/ them occasionally when W goes back to work. (Speaking of working, I am torn right down the middle about whether or not I'll be going back. Many thoughts on that to come another day.) Also, I need to get our new car. I was driving my stepdad's car last night and as I was stuck in the middle of an intersection with the emergency brake firmly applied and no clue how to release it, I realized how awkward it can be to drive a different car, and I want to have some time to get used to the new one before I've got two tiny passengers. Hopefully we can do that in the next couple of weekends. We just paid off our GTI, so we might as well get a new car payment!

Happy Friday to all!

Please don’t forget to go visit AMS, Alexa and ME. They could all use your support right now. I hope my quick mention of them doesn’t seem crass or unfeeling. I think about them all the time, but I am finding it so hard to verbalize my thoughts on what they’re going through. If I'm honest, it's that it's too terrifying for me to even begin finding the words.