i know my calculus

I haven't really posted a ton here (or anywhere, for that matter..) about pregnancy and how things are going. I never want to whine and bitch about aches and pains and make it seem as if I am ungrateful or less-than-thrilled to be pregnant, because I've been on the other side and I know how shitty it is to read those things when you'd give anything to be in that position.

And I also never want to make anyone panic over something that isn't worth panicking over.

With that said, everything is going AMAZINGLY WELL. I go in for ultrasounds at minimum every 2 weeks, where they have been doing measurements, mostly to confirm fluid levels and looking at bladders and heartbeats, but all have been just fine.

At about 13 weeks, we had a little "scare" when they were measuring the babies and "A" was measuring a week behind baby "B". The ridiculous part of this is that they had always measured a few days apart, A was curled up, and B was sprawled out. Think that might affect things, ultrasound lady? Derp. They came in going on and on about Twin To Twin Transfusion (nothing we hadn't heard before) and that I needed to come in a in a week for a re-measurement to confirm if there was/wasn't a problem. I wasn't concerned (and the doctor seemed mind boggled by this when I had zero reaction to the news) because of the above reasons and knowing I was seeing Nichole (ultrasound tech extraordinaire!) the next day.

The next day, Nichole did her scan and they were in fact only a few days apart (as they had been all along), and confirmed to be both girls. HOORAY!!

At about 16 weeks (2-3 weeks ago?) I woke up to some pretty nasty pelvic pain, called the nurses line, and was advised to come into triage to be checked out. The doctor confirmed it was nothing but normal pregnancy "round ligament pain" and that I could go home, take a warm bath, pop some tylenol, and there wasn't much else you could do about it. Totally worth the 2.5 hour wait, thanks dudes! ;P The biggest concern for me was that babies were okay though, not necessarily "fix the pain". As much of an annoyance as the pain is, I can handle a little discomfort for babies.

We took awhile, but babies got NAMED! We had separate "lists" (mine was actually a list, Kyle's was kinda just in his head) and went with the names that overlapped, and the middle names are our mom's middle names. I'm not sure which is which yet or how we'll determine that, but they are Alyssa Jean and Kaylee Rae! The easiest way is just to give "A" the name Alyssa, but.. we'll see. :)

So... that's where we are today. Still experiencing some crummy pelvic pain, which I'm 100% certain is both round ligament pain AND pubic symphysis diastasis, but.. it's manageable. I'm seeing my chiropractor (lol my boss) regularly to be sure to keep my hips in alignment to help with it, but not a whole lot else that can be done about it anyways. I'm hoping to get a massage (trade!) set up sometime in the next week to relieve it a bit too.

Next week (20 weeks!!?!) is the official anatomy scan, where we'll be told for realsies by Tricare that the babies are girls (because they haven't told us anything yet, lol). While I'm there (or, at the next OB appointment the next week?) I have to harass them to let us schedule our prenatal classes early and get them all taken care of in March while Kyle is on leave, because after March his schedule will be up in the air and change for certain.

During the month of March, we will get to work on nursery stuff (painting! arranging! putting the clothes and stuff away!) which is super exciting and fun, or at least, it is for me who will be sitting there saying what to do because I can't lift or move anything. ;)

I found a venue for the baby shower (because lets be honest, my mom and planning don't go well together) - there is a parks & rec building in Auburn that is only $30/hr and is at a park, and I'm hoping to get that planned for the last weekend of April. Anytime after that especially, we're at a higher risk of potential bed rest and then early labor... so.. I'd rather get it done a little early. ;) It is more centrally located than trying to do it in Bremerton, but I know it isn't in Seattle.. so... sorry. :P

But ZOMG you guys, BABIES ARE COMING! Hopefully not until June.. but.. it's flying by.




And required baby picture:

From Metro Blogging Seattle

Five things you can count on:

1. LIVE COVERAGE from the TOP OF QUEEN ANNE! (Doesn't matter that High Point in West Seattle is a couple hundred feet higher, it's QUEEN ANNE, and the TV god hath decreed that all LIVE OMIGAWD IT MIGHT SNOW shots in Seattle must be taken from the TOP OF QUEEN ANNE!)
2. LIVE COVERAGE from SNOQUALMIE PASS!!!! (Made better his year by the rockslides.)
3. All broadcasters will wear slick, stylish custom KING/KIRO/KOMO/Q13 all-weather -70F coats from Eddie Bauer or REI.
4. No sudden run on bread and milk at the stores. Seattleites have never done that, unlike other places in this country. It's either because Seattleites buy their soy milk from their organic producer and their bread from an artisan baker, or it's because they know the snow is usually gone by noon.
5. Absolute confusion about the Metro snow routes. Because of the hills, Metro routes shift during the snow, but it's never particularly clear where they get shifted to.



What you can do to get ready:

1. Don't panic. We've survived WTO, earthquakes, volcanoes, and Tim Eyman. Two inches of snow will not paralyze Seattle. This is not Atlanta.
2. But do stock up for the inevitable power outage. Make sure your flashlights have juiced batteries, your portable radio is ready to go, and your best available mammal is around for warmth during the cold night.
3. And make sure you have backed up your computer's hard drive. One bad power flux and your computer could be a goner. It happened to my TiVo during the January 2004 storm.

And if you're new to the whole experience of a Seattle snow event:
Just stay up to watch the 11pm news and get ready to laugh, especially if you're from the Midwest or Northeast. There is nothing funnier in Seattle than watching the local newspeople acting like a little snow shower is KILLER DEATH SNOW BLIZZARD OF DOOM '05!!!! Jim Forman [bio] on KING is always good for an accurate surmise of the impending doom about to come upon us, usually peppered with lines about children being stranded in ankle-high drifts and comparisons to previous massive 4" dumps of the last 100 years. KIRO does a decent job of injecting some gravitas into the hyperbole, while KING and KOMO tend towards the overkill of multiple reporters and multiple meteorologists. Q13 has been an up-and-comer in the "dire circumstances" category, mixing their Fox News we're-all-gonna-die style with mediocre meteorologists who have two radars but still just read verbatim from the National Weather Service forecast.

Again, people, just chill, drink some cocoa (or a mocha latte if you can snowshoe through the millimeters of snow to your nearest java dispenser), and enjoy watching the impending chaos.

(sorry, i had to edit that one. it is either a mocha or a latte. not both.)