The third trimester- wow!

Apparently it has been a long time since I have updated! After a bout with bronchitis and the total exhaustion these twins bring about every night, I am falling asleep with the kids and barely making it to my own bed!

Everything is going fantastically well. We were 28 weeks on Saturday, which means we are officially in the third trimester. The twins' mom and brother were able to come spend the night on Sunday and go with my to our 28 week ultrasound on Monday morning. The best news: The twins are looking very healthy. The doctor estimated the boy's weight to be 2 lb. 15 oz. and the girl's to be 2 lb. 10 oz. That is a very good and healthy weight for this week of pregnancy- and it made me feel so good to know that they are strong! The second best news: They are both head down, which means that as long as they stay this way we can try for a vaginal delivery (hoping and praying and telling them to 'stay'!). The little girl is tucked away deep in my right side with her head in profile to the front and she is still sucking her thumb. Her feet are in my ribs, and she is very active. Her stinkery brother has his head right next to her (about the middle of my abdomen) and is turned toward my back. His feet are up by my left side, so he is basically taking up about 2/3 of the space in there. He is a little bit sluggish and doesn't move around as much. However, they are both moving enough to keep me, the kids, and my students entertained! I have gained 24 pounds- which is about how much I gained in total with my own pregnancies. I am hoping to hit 40 pounds ;)

Their mom and I took a tour of the hospital and were able to see the nursery, the labor and delivery room, and the door that leads to the OR (there was a c-section taking place so we couldn't go in). That made it all seem so real and wonderful.

The bad news: I failed the glucose tolerance test and had to take the super-fun 3 hour glucose tolerance test this morning. Hopefully we will have results soon.
The terrible news: We found out that hospital policy only lets one person into the OR for delivery. I am having fits about this, because BOTH parents deserve to watch their children be born, and it is not their fault that I have to be there taking up the 'mom spot'! I am going to see what can be done about this ridiculous rule.

All in all, things are going well. I am getting big enough that my maternity clothes are snug, I have new vericose veins in my legs that look like bruises, my ankles never cease to be swollen, and my heels hurt incessantly. If I lay down flat, I can't breathe, and if I eat too much, I get reflux. All of these things are perfectly normal and just show that everything is going the way it should be.

I have been invited to the baby shower and that means so much to me. I have also been banned from bringing them gifts- but we will sneak some in anyways. How could I not buy anything for these little loves that I have been carrying around the last six months?

My children are anxious to see the twins, sad they missed the visit with their mom and brother, and can't wait to help make a basket of "necessities" to send their parents. It amazes me that my children can understand so completely how this works. They care about the twins, the twins' family, and talk about all of it with such clarity- I am amazed that they use words like "surrogacy" freely when explaining why mommy is pregnant. I am so proud of them and their loving hearts.

As we enter into the third trimester, I feel anxious and excited and so many other emotions. There will be a sense of sadness when this is over and this amazing journey ends. There will be such a sense of relief that we made it and successfully got these two babies here. There will be such a sense of pure joy to know that another family has been blessed by children to love.

Mother Theresa said to "give until it hurts." I don't know if I just haven't given enough, but giving is the greatest gift to myself I have ever found. For when I can think of others instead of myself, I find myself full of purpose, happiness, and find that not only am I happier, but my children are as well.

My pictures just won't go where I want them to, but these are 28 weeks- and I think this is getting pretty close to my "normal" full term size. The next few months will be interesting...