Gimpin' Ain't Easy

I'm going to copy my sister's style and do a bullet point update tonight! I'm having difficulty sitting upright, so I'm having to type this whilst halfway lying down on my couch. That makes it kind of difficult to be witty and form full paragraphs. Talent folks. Pure talent.

• I'm finally able to somewhat use my left hand...which makes typing possible! I think that my poor little pyogenic granuloma has bit the dust...he's kind of drying out and doesn't look like he'll be coming back anytime soon. I'm still having to bandage my hand and cover it with a glove during showers, but it's all good. Hopefully I didn't just jinx myself.
• We're basically done packing our hospital bag. Any advice on must haves??? I think we have most of the essentials, but I don't want to forget anything.
• My butt started hurting earlier this week and I thought that my pilonidal cyst was coming back. It's still a little sore, but no signs of infection. Good Lord.
• My last day at work was 2/10 and I'm seriously glad he took me out. I really don't think I could have made it another day after all of the other crap that has popped up! I do miss my coworkers though!
• I'm a gimp.
• As of 2/15, Pow weighs 5lb 8oz, and Boom Boom weighs 6lb 13oz...I'm going to give birth to toddlers!
• The newest ailment: my left thigh started swelling up last weekend. I didn't think anything about it because I've had swelling the entire pregnancy. The last couple of days, my inner thigh has become very painful and swollen. I haven't noticed any redness or warmth but I called my OB anyway. I will be seeing him first thing tomorrow AM and may possibly have a venous doppler if he thinks it is a blood clot. This is why I'm laying on the couch with my legs elevated and trying to type this...afraid to move!
• I'm a gimp.
• Pow has the hiccups right now. I love it when they get the hiccups.
• C-Sec has been scheduled for 3/5 at 7:15 AM if I haven't had them before then!!!
• Pow is still head down, and Boom Boom is still breech.
• My high risk OB wanted me to have an amniocentesis next week, but then my regular OB told me not to. She wants to check their lung maturity. He doesn't feel this is necessary considering I will already be full term at 37 weeks and he isn't planning on delivering them until almost 38 weeks at the absolute latest. I agreed with him because I really, really don't want one.
• Gestational diabetes is still under control with diet. 
• I love fruit punch Kool Aid.
• I'm going through about 2-3 bags of Sonic Ice each week. Crack is whack. And yes, I'm on iron supplements!
• My dog needs a bath. I'm a gimp.
• Andy made me a special eggplant parmesan recipe that has been proven to initiate labor within 48 hours. That was Monday. Andddddd...I'm still here on the couch...with my legs up in the air...using 6 fingers to type...chewing on ice. 
• At my last appointment on Tuesday, my cervix has started to soften, but no dilation yet. After worrying myself to death for the last nine months about miscarriage and preterm labor, it is now apparent that I have a uterus and cervix of steel.
• Most importantly, after tonight, 10 days at the most until we meet our babies! Life is good!!!
• My butt hurts. I bid you farewell with some recent pics. I'm a gimp. That is all.

 Baney 35 Weeks (Boom Boom) Our little chunky monkey!

Anderson 35 Weeks (Pow) Still so hard to get a good pic of him! 

 35 Weeks

 36 Weeks!!!!

I Have a Tumah.

If you are easily disgusted, please turn away now. Apparently, my pregnant body likes to grow things aside from babies.

Well, I thought that I was going to be able to relax these last couple of weeks before the babies are born. I was back in the doctor's office yesterday having surgery performed on...my hand. A few weeks ago, a little red broken blood vessel that I've had on the palm of my hand for years decided to mutate into a disgusting little mass. I passed it off as a blood blister, but it just kept growing. And growing. And then...another little mass started growing out of the top of it.

Fast forward to last Wednesday when I was getting ready for bed. I looked down and both of my hands were covered in blood. I immediately looked down to make sure it wasn't coming from my woohoo and thank God it wasn't. The little bastard had burst open. I cleaned and dressed it up nicely thinking that it would now deflate and heal up. Wrong. It took about 30 minutes to get the bleeding to stop, and never decreased in size.

The same thing happened Friday as I was getting out of the shower. I looked at myself in the mirror and my white robe and towel was covered in blood. Dang thing opened up again. Through the weekend it never stopped bleeding and never went down in size. After washing my hair with bloody shampoo on Monday morning, I decided to call my dermatologist.

It's called a Pyogenic Granuloma. A benign tumor, thank God. It happens to < 5% of pregnant women. Figures! It usually occurs in the mouth, hands, and fingers. She said it was the biggest one that she has ever come across and that was probably because I had the hormones of two babies feeding it. F'awesome. They are very vascular tumors and are a pain in the arse to get rid of during pregnancy. She said that it should go away after delivery but that it could take up to 6 months. Because mine wouldn't stop bleeding, we didn't think it would be very easy or sanitary to take care of two babies while having to deal with a nasty bloody growth on my hand. She ended up cutting it off and cauterizing all of the vessels as best she could. She said it could grow back this week, and if it does I will have to keep coming back to do it again. Double F'awesome.

So now it looks like someone put their cigarette out in the palm of my hand and held it there for 5 minutes. Lol. I will say that it is entirely possible to do things with only one hand. Trying to wash my face last night was the best example...

Ahhh, of all things. If it's not supposed to happen, it will happen to Andy and Jessica! Of course, I'm not complaining at all...I just find it humorous. At least it didn't grow out of my butt this time!

Hmmm. Let's review.

• Infertility. Check.
• Endometriosis. Check.
• Premature ovarian failure. Check Check.
• Seven Failed IUIs. Check.
• 2 Failed IVFs. Check.
• Canceled Egg Donor Cycles x 2. Check.
• Subchorionic Hematoma. Check Check.
• Cluster of grapes coming out of my bunghole. Check Check Check.
• Pilonidal Abscess in my bungcrack having to be lanced, drained, and packed with gauze. Check.
• Skin tag forest inside of my belly button and armpits. Check.
• Cankles, Knankles. Thankles. Wankles. Check Check Check Check.
• Gestational Diabetes. Check.
• Drippy eye. Check.
• Liver spot in the shape of Africa on my forehead. Check Check.
• Holding two beautiful baby boys in our arms in a matter of weeks. Worth every second of the last seven years.

We're headed to the high risk doctor tomorrow and will find out how much they weigh! Yay! 

In case you are interested in seeing this disgusting growth, here are a few pictures. Enjoy! ;)

The Tumah...before

 The Tumah...before

 The Tumah...after. Sheesh!

 Please pray that it heals and doesn't grow back so I can take care of our babies!

Baby Bump Outtakes

Because being serious all of the time is no fun...

What's in a Name?

We decided to reveal Boom Boom and Pow's first names to our family and friends during our first baby shower weekend. It's just too hard to keep a secret! We are, however, keeping their middle names a secret until birth. It feels more real now that they have an identity other than their nicknames.

The names Boom Boom and Pow came about during our IVF cycle...our embryo transfer occurred on the Fourth of July, so what could be more fitting?! We were watching the fireworks in the Charleston Battery from our hotel room later that night and came up with the names for our little embabies. The next day, we received news that we had five snowbabies! We named them Sparkler, Bottle Rocket, Jumpin' Jack, Snake, and Snap Pop. We hope that one of them will become a sibling for Boom Boom and Pow in the future. Yes, one of them. Lol.

I was waiting to see how long it would take everyone to notice the names on the wall behind me in my weekly bump pics! I've had quite a few bring it up, but not many! Since they are Baby A and Baby B, we kept those initials as their first names.

Baby A (Pow) is Anderson. This is Andy's full name and his grandfather's surname. To keep from confusing he and Andy, we are going to try to call him by Anderson instead of shortening it!

Baby B (Boom Boom) is Baney. He is named after my dear Uncle who passed away from a rare cancer at a young age five years ago. He left behind my Aunt and little cousin who was seven at the time. We were trying to figure out a way to honor him, and were hooked on his last name. Andy looked it up in the baby name dictionary the next day...Baney was not in there, but he found Bane. It is a Hawaiian boys name meaning "long awaited child". Chills. We knew at that moment it was meant to be his name!

So there ya have it. Can't wait to reveal their entire names! They are a tribute to both of our families!

I can't believe I am 34 weeks...with twins. Unbelievable! We saw our regular OB this week, and will see our high risk OB next week. He is officially taking me out of work after this week. Thank GOD. This will give me a couple of weeks to chill. I've been putting my body through way too much trying to drag it out of the house 40+ hours/week. Plus, I'm starting to pee on myself when I stand up, so being at home will save me the embarrassment. Haha!

We will find out their measurements at next week's appointment. If they are growing as they should, I probably have about 11-12 lbs of baby in me right now. Heavy little chunkers they are. But, I'm loving every minute of it. I will love holding them in my arms, but will definitely miss being so close to them and feeling their every movement when this is over.  This has definitely been the ride I've been waiting for, and I'm so thankful that God gave me the opportunity to experience it and make Andy a daddy! And me a mommy!

34 Weeks!

Popopowww!

I'm not claiming stretch marks yet...work pants are really tight and leave little lines. k.

 Playing with one of our favorite gifts...the Star Projection Turtle! Thanks Aunt Laura!

I think we're going to steal this toy from A&B

Daddy wants in on the star action

Two car seats...I got this.

Cankles.

They're the new muffin top. I normally have bony chicken ankles, so it's hilarious to look down and see Fred Flintstone's legs on my body. My footsies are numb and tingly, hard to move, and won't fit into shoes very well...but it's all good. I enjoy pressing fingerprint designs into them and wearing my TED hose to work every day. With a little rest and leg elevation, it decreases in intensity...the challenge is just finding the time to lay down! Gotta stop spreading myself so thin. I am almost 8.5 months pregnant with twins and still working full time. Oy.

 Sexay...rawr

Sorry for the lack of updates. I actually had the time and energy to sit down this afternoon and write a post. I was supposed to be at a baby shower that my friends at work were throwing me...but an awesome, supportive, and oh so sensitive authority figure caused it to be canceled and drafted up new company policies because it wasn't fair that another pregnant (with twins) coworker was left out of it. Really unnecessary drama that has nothing to do with work? Was it fair that I wasn't included in said co worker's two work showers that she's already had? Yes it was fair. Why? Because she deserves her own celebrations and it is her own business. Why would I want to steal her glory? She deserves to be honored at her own baby showers. Besides, how unfair is it to invite employees to a shower for two women pregnant with four babies and expect them to be able to afford all of these gifts at one time? It puts me in a very awkward and embarrassing situation. And it stresses me out. Some people have no class.

Baby showers have been the root of most of my panic attacks over the years because of the infertility devil. I will admit that it has been a pretty uncomfortable experience going to my own baby showers. I am so grateful, but it is still very hard. Now, after almost seven years it is finally my turn and someone has to start drama and hurt my feelings. Therefore, my awesome friends have devised other plans for us to celebrate these baby boys. It's not even about the gifts. All we need are our babies, my boobs, and a roof over our heads. They have seen the ups and downs and many failures for Andy and I over the years, and they want to celebrate that fact that we will finally have our miracle babies. And I'm going to eat cake. Take that diabeetus. And take that authority figure. From this point forward, I will be keeping friendship and unsupportive business relationships separated. Click. Click. Facebook deeeeeeeeelete.

I'm alternating visits between my regular OB and high risk OB. I'm being seen on a weekly basis now...thank God. The diabeetus is under control and no signs of preeclampsia thus far. Pow is still head down and Boom Boom is still breech. They will measure them again at my appointment next Monday. I'm guessing they're probably around 5 lbs each now! I do know that Pow's head is laying on my bladder and that hasn't been fun. I have to crawl to the bathroom and only get about a tablespoon of pee out, lol. I have started having more intense Braxton Hicks last Friday and have been trying to take it easy and hydrate well. It's so weird...whenever I have one, my abdomen becomes so tight that I can see the outline of their tiny little bodies and butts sticking out. Little munchkins are getting ready to come out and meet their mama and daddy!

I am 33 weeks as of yesterday. That means only FOUR MORE WEEKS!!! I can't believe it! Hopefully they will bake for as long as possible so that we can avoid the NICU.

I know some of you have been missing Andy's belly pics, so I included him this week. He is flattered to say the least. From what I can tell, I haven't had much growth since my last post. I'm pretty sure there will be another spurt in the near future! Thank you all for your support and sweet comments! I try to get back to all of you, but it is really hard sometimes. Please know that we appreciate them all!

32 Weeks

33 Weeks

Boom Boom and Pow's First Shower

Well, well, well. It's been so busy around here that I haven't had time to update lately!

The diabeetus is under control. For now. As I figured, my OB never did the referral to high risk like he said he would. So....I did it myself. I finally got in to see her yesterday, which was nearly three weeks after finding out that I failed my glucose test. Thankfully, Andy's dietitian has me on a diet plan and I have taken it upon myself to keep track of my blood sugar. She said that my numbers look good for now, and I am to start checking my sugar 4x/day and bring the values back to my next appointment in two weeks!

I was extremely impressed with this doctor and feel so much better now. It helps to know that someone is watching me closely. My OB is still seeing me every four weeks and I'm in the third trimester...my gut tells me that isn't right. Especially with a twin pregnancy. They did a very thorough work-up including genetic counseling, a 1.5 hour ultrasound complete with anatomy scan, a doppler to check blood flow to my uterus and through the umbilical cords, monitored me for contractions, and checked labs to see how well my blood sugar has been controlled over the past three months. The entire appointment took four hours.

The ultrasound went well, and they looked very healthy. However, Boom Boom is our horse weighing in at 4lb 5oz and measuring two weeks ahead with a little excess amniotic fluid in his sack. This is all due to the gestational diabetes. He already has fat rolls! She is not really concerned and will just keep a close eye on him. Poor little Pow is our runt measuring on time and weighs about 3.5 lbs. Still, they are healthy weights and we are just grateful that they are okay. Pow is still head down, and Boom Boom is breech again. The doppler showed my blood flow to them, and it looked good as well!

I had one contraction while on the monitor and didn't even feel it. F'awesome. I hadn't consumed much water that morning from being there, so she said it was just some uterine irritability which is normal at this point in my pregnancy. She is also going to monitor me closely for preeclampsia because my blood pressure is still creeping up a bit, and she said that I am at higher risk because we used an egg donor. Something about the foreign genetic material in my body. Who'da thunk it. Overall, we are very pleased with her.

We interviewed and chose our pediatrician today as well! He is very sharp, chill, and we love him!

I had my first shower over the weekend and it was absolutely perfect. I could not believe that it was actually our babies being honored at a shower...this whole pregnancy thing still doesn't feel real and I feel like I'm in some crazy dream. It's finally our turn! My sister and close friends of the family went above and beyond to make sure it was a special day that we would remember forever! The best part was that Andy's sister, mom, niece, and our sister-in-law were able to come from out of town, and my sister who lives in Chicago flew down and surprised us all! Our brother in law and some friends threw a "Diaper Shower" for Andy as well, so he was able to go hang out with all of the guys while the girls were doing their thing. We are so blessed to have such awesome family and friends who love Boom Boom and Pow already. Thank y'all for everything!

We also revealed their first names to our family while they were at our house over the weekend...I'll save that for another post!

Whew. I think that is it for now. I'm going to go drink my fruit smoothie and hit the hay. For now, I'll leave you all with some baby shower and belly pics! I'm going through another growth spurt!

 30 Weeeekkkkks!

31 Weeks!!!

See that bump towards the top? That's Pow's butt!

I Got the Diabeetus.

Gestational Diabetes is all up in here, yo.

Apparently my family history combined with the placentas of two babies has shut down my insulin factory. I probably wouldn't have ever known had I not called my OB's office to ask for results! Yes, you read that right! I failed my one hour glucose screening on 12/28 and wasn't able to take my three hour until after the New Year on 1/3. I didn't hear any results by last Wednesday, so I called and was told that I "failed it", but the technician wouldn't give me any numbers because my doctor hadn't signed off on them yet. She told me they would call when they had orders. Okay.

I still didn't hear anything by the end of Thursday. Again, I called the office and talked to the nurse this time. I was told the same thing again. This time that the results were "still on his desk and he hasn't looked at them yet". Knowing that they were closed every Friday, I asked her if I was going to have to wait through the entire weekend to find out what I needed to do. I was told that they were open until noon and I would hear something once she had orders. Okay.

By Thursday night, the hormones kicked in and I was livid. There I sat over 29 weeks pregnant...with twins...knowing my sugar was God knows how high for God knows how long...and wondering why they were taking their sweet time telling me what I needed to do. I trust them to look after the best interests of myself and our babies and feel that we were being placed on the back burner. After all, it took us almost seven years and another mortgage to get to where we are today. Okay. Hell no.

On Friday, one of my coworkers who used to work there called to find out what in the world was going on. She was told that as soon as they opened they would look at my file and then give me a call. I still didn't hear anything by lunchtime, so I called Andy. He called and told them he wanted to speak with our doctor, and they told him he was seeing patients. Andy told them he didn't care and that he would hold until he was available. Lol. The nurse finally picked up and gave Andy the same excuse and then proceeded to tell him that the doctor wanted to talk to me himself and would be calling after lunch. She assured him that we would have some answers soon. Okay.

As a nurse, I feel really awkward being "that patient", but seriously? It is SO true that you have to be your own advocate. If they would have just told me the numbers, I would have been more at ease. I had no clue what they were...what if I needed medication? Was I supposed to be checking my sugar daily? Special diet? Did I put our babies at risk by giving them diabetes? They know I am pregnant with twins and at a higher risk...why didn't they test for this earlier? Like, BEFORE I ate 5 million pounds of chocolate over the holidays! Shhh.

He finally called Friday afternoon and told me that my fasting was 84, one hour was 208, two hour 158, and three hour normal. He said that it may be able to be controlled by diet now, but that it could get messy towards the end of the pregnancy so he is referring me to the high risk doctor (finally) to be evaluated. They will call me once they've scheduled an appointment. Uh huh.

So, here I sit almost 30 weeks pregnant and I probably won't get an appointment until later this week....and we've known for almost two weeks that something was up with my sugar. Andy works with several dieticians at the hospital, and we have taken matters into our own hands. He gave the Maternal Dietician all of my information and she has developed an ADA diet plan for me. I will call to annoy my OB's office first thing tomorrow morning so they will hurry up and do the referral. Hell, I might even pretend I'm them and do the referral myself.

Am I overreacting??? If I wouldn't have kept calling them, I would have probably never known that I failed it! Scary. Now that I think about it, I'm going through two bags of Sonic ice weekly. Am I iron deficient and they've never bothered to look? Oh, and he still has me coming to see him every 4 weeks...aren't you supposed to switch to every 2 weeks in the third trimester?? Good lawd. Thankfully my pregnancy will be managed more closely once we get to the high risk doctor. So annoyed.

We had a very Happy New Year and had a blast doing my belly cast! I think that it will be something to treasure forever since I may never be able to experience pregnancy again! I can look back and see the exact belly that Boom Boom and Pow were floating around in. And remember how big my boobies got. Please excuse my beastyness...I didn't feel like taking a shower last weekend. Well, until after the sticky mess that the plaster made.

 Andy was jealous.

29 Weeks!

Boom Boom and Pow...3-D Style

Get your 3-D glasses ready...Boom Boom and Pow are coming to a theater near you!

We went in Tuesday for our 3-D scan of the munchkins. My sisters were home for the holidays and able to go with us...never a dull moment when we're all together. It was so incredibly difficult trying to get a clear picture, and our tech warned us before we even got started. They were so smooshed up in there with membranes and cords flopping everywhere...we were lucky to get the pics that we did. Boom Boom and Pow wanted to sleep the entire time, so we decided to wake them up by singing their favorite song, Santa Claus is Coming to Town....all of us. It seemed to work for the most part...and I'm sure the tech and rest of the office think that we're a bunch of freaks!

I also had to go back Wednesday for my one hour glucose test...failed it with a 202. I have to go back next week to do the three hour test. Blech. Hey, did you know that only 2-5% of pregnant women get gestational diabetes? Hmmm. Hey, did you also know that when something only happens 2% of the time, it happens to Jessica 100% of the time? That's how I always roll.

At this time, they weigh almost 3 lbs each! Crazy! My fluid is normal, and cervix is long and closed. On Tuesday, Pow was head down and Boom Boom was breech. She scanned me again on Wednesday while I was waiting on my blood draw and they were both head down! I guess they are doing cartwheels in there. I'm excited to be in the third trimester and pray that I can keep them baking for as long as possible. We need some chunky and healthy babies!

Boom Boom...he has Andy's EXACT nose and family lips...even though poor thing is smooshed. I think that's Pow's foot/knee in his face.

 Pow...looks like my sister. I don't know how, but he does!

 Boom Boom's Penis! Leave it to me to ask for a picture of it!

Pow's Penis! And legs. He was being so difficult as usual!

28 Weeks!!!! Third trimester...ahhhhhhh!

Hope everyone has a Happy New Years! Andy and I will be drinking fake champagne and playing with the Belly Cast. Hope it turns out well. It's hard to believe that this time two years ago, we were having a D&C...that was such a hard time for us. We lost all hope and almost threw in the towel. We are so excited at how far we have come. We never gave up and now we will be holding our babies in a couple months. God is so good!!!

Best Christmas Ever.

Our family has an annual Christmas Eve party every year, and this year trumped them all. It is a tradition to play the game "Dirty Santa" with funny gifts, so Andy and I went out and tried to find the most annoying gifts we could get our hands on. One gift was a McDonalds plastic hamburger play food set, complete with all your local Mickey D's has to offer. The other was one of those annoying, but ever so intriguing, "Sing-a-ma-jigs". Google it. They're hilarious.

When it came time to draw numbers, I was told that since I was pregnant this year I had the privledge of picking the first gift...which also meant that after the game was over I could go back and steal the gift I wanted the most out of all of them. Heck yeah!

I indecisively fumbled through the pile of gifts and just ended up grabbing one. I opened it up and it was a cute little striped newborn onesie. I giggled and thought to myself, now who would have bought a onesie for Dirty Santa?

My sister had drawn the number "2", so she had to pick next. She decided that she wanted to steal my onesie. Everyone, including myself, laughed and immediately thought that she was pregnant. She then smiled and chugged a sip of beer.  

Hmmmm. What is going on here?

Since she stole my gift, I had to pick another. As I opened it up, it was an infant sleep sack. I stared at it. It was then it hit me and I started beast crying. They were throwing us a surprise baby shower.

I was in shock and couldn't believe it! How selfless of our friends and family to organize this for us. It was one of the sweetest things anyone has ever done for us and we are truly grateful for everything we received. Boom Boom and Pow are already loved so much!!! A huge thanks to everyone...you all made this the best Christmas ever and are helping us to get started with the things we will need very soon! The only Christmas that will top this one will be next year when we are chasing our crawlers around!

Here is a slideshow I made that includes some pictures from our maternity session and our surprise shower. Hope you likey! Sorry for the picture and audio quality...Blogger must have compressed and upchucked the file. You can click the YouTube link underneath and it will take you to one that is a little better quality.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!

Click here to go to YouTube link

99 Bottles of Milk on the Wall

Last Wednesday marked 99 days until our due date of March 22, 2012!

Today, we have made it to 27 weeks...I can't believe how fast this is all happening. If you consider the fact that I'm not going past 37 weeks, then we only have about 71 days left...if that. Argh Matey. I'm definitely nesting, and I believe that Andy is to. We just want everything DONE so that we don't have to worry anymore. Plus, I think that my energy is quickly dwindling and I'm not sure how much longer I'll be physically able to get things taken care of (the bump is measuring the equivalent of 36-37 weeks with a singleton). We've been cleaning out closets and drawers and trying to eliminate all of the clutter that seems to pile up over time. I've never seen so much crap in my life!

Andy has been working on the nursery closet and we tried to design it to maximize as much space as possible. We were going to get someone to do it for us, but we ended up saving over 50% by doing it ourselves. We are becoming frugal geniuses! We weren't able to get a big dresser because the two cribs take up so much space, so we basically turned the closet into one big dresser. We are very pleased and I think that he did a wonderful job!

We also got our maternity pics back and they turned out really cute...I will post some of them later this week:)

The pilonidal cyst is dying a slow death, and I'm praying that it will NEVER come back. I still have a second hole in my bungcrack that continues to drain, but it hasn't become inflamed or abscessed again. I'm taking it easier at work and not on my feet as much, so I think that is helping with the healing process.

I have been singing to Boom Boom and Pow...a lot...and I found out that their favorite song is, "Santa Claus is Coming to Town". They start squirming and dancing around whenever I sing it! Either that or they are trying to tell me to shut the hell up.

Here are some pictures from the last two weeks. We hope that everyone has a Merry Christmas, or whatever it is that you celebrate! We are excited that this is our last Christmas as a couple...we will finally have a family to celebrate with next year. We aren't even doing Christmas gifts for each other this year because the best gift is these babies and it's all about them now. We are so incredibly blessed and happy for the first Christmas in a long time, and our hearts go out to those of you who continue to fight the hellish infertility battle. I hope that our story gives you HOPE and helps you to keep the FAITH.

26 Weeks

27 Weeks

Bam!

Closet Before...we started collecting diapers and have abouttttt...2 weeks worth. k.

Closet After... Handy Andy added cube fabric drawers, white drawers, and a top shelf unit

 Some cute little munchkin clothes we've received as gifts or picked up:)

 Handy Andy's corner shelf unit

After we raped baby store of diapers & wipes on Black Friday

Merry Christmas!!!

The Bungcrack

First off, sorry for the lack of updates. Our internet service provider decided to go out of business, without notice, so we have been without internet for a couple of weeks. They were even nice enough to debit our bank account for the month of December...then cut it off two days later. Asswipes.

Second, I'm back off my feet (and butt)...for a few days, at least. I thought it couldn't get any worse than the hemorrhoids, but it does. Oh yeah. I started having a little soreness to my tailbone last weekend and didn't think anything about it. Over the last two days a hard, painful, knot/boil decided to rear it's ugly head to my tailbone area...inside....of my bungcrack. Turns out I have what is called a Pilonidal Cyst that has turned into an abscess. They tend to develop from excess pressure, ingrown hair, or sitting for prolonged periods of time. Other than that, I don't think it's related to pregnancy unless the weight of my uterus caused it. My OB referred me to a surgeon this morning and I had to have it lanced, drained, and packed with about five inches of gauze. I took my poor mother with me to the appointment because I wasn't sure what they were going to do. As it turns out, she had great satisfaction and excitement watching him squeeze green mucus out of the abscess. She's always been one of those weirdos that likes to pop other people's pimples. Thanks Mom, but you're a freak!

So now I have a hole in the top of my bungcrack. Awesomeballs. Andy has to pull 1/2" of the gauze out each day until it is completely out. I didn't think I could take any pain medicine because of the pregnancy, but they were able to call in Tylenol #3 which is supposedly safe. I'm still scared to take it though. I'm going to save it and only take it if the pain becomes intolerable. It's common for them to recur, but hopefully this will heal normally and I won't have to deal with it for the rest of the pregnancy.

Happy Thoughts. We had our maternity pictures taken last weekend and it was so much fun! Lord knows I've waited for that day for a long time, and it was perfect. I'll post our sneak peek below, but I won't have the full CD until sometime next week. I even let her experiment and we did a maternity boudoir session. I was at my sister's house and I don't think we've laughed so hard in our entire lives. They turned out really cute...however, I will save those pictures for Andy's eyes only;)

The nursery is coming along well, only because we were able to rape a baby store on Black Friday...we got all of our furniture for about 50% off! We also got a glider for 60% off! Score! Next we are going to work on decorating the walls and installing organizers, baskets, and drawers in the closet. We weren't able to buy a large dresser because two cribs took up a lot of space, and we don't want it all cluttered in there. My mom's friend is going to make the bedding and curtains, and I'm painting an old bookshelf to match the bedding! Whew!

Now, if I could just get rid of all my bunghole/bungcrack problems, I might be able to get more accomplished! The surgeon even decided to comment on the cluster of grapes while he was packing me full of guaze. Lol. Only me!

Here are some photos from the last couple of weeks...and a sneak peek from our maternity session!

In the process of painting this bookshelf to match the bedding!

 Nursery so far

 The PINK tree that Andy wanted to put in our BOY'S nursery. I guess I'm pretty flexible.

23 Weeks

 23 Weeks

 25 Weeks! Excuse the beastiness...my bungcrack hurts! For all of those asking, here is a name hint...one name starts with an "A", and the other with a "B"! Just like Baby A & Baby B:)

 25 Weeks...I look like I'm about to throw up. Damn bunghole.

 Andy at 25 weeks...lookin' good honey!

24 Week Maternity Session...Love! More to come!