28 Weeks-4th of July

Michelle, a friend for almost 10 years now, is expecting a baby boy around the same time that the girls are due. She reminded me that last year's fourth of July celebration was spent together with our husbands, drinking too much and watching fireworks off the back deck of her old home. Within the year, Jeremy and I and her and Paul have each moved houses and found out we were expecting 3 babies between the 2 of us! It has been a blessing to share the journey with a good friend, but she is absolutely right when she said, "A lot has changed in a year." We'll celebrate again tomorrow, (but we'll probably over-eat instead of drink) and the topics of conversation will be geared towards baby equipment, her upcoming shower, anxieties about labor & delivery and other things in lieu of last year's gossip. Regardless, we will enjoy the day!

As Jeremy & I now enter into the 28th week of this journey, there are some funny anecdotes I'd like to write about as they are things no one warned me about...

Weight gain--Now don't get me wrong, I knew I'd gain weight, I guess I just didn't figure it would be so fast. I'm up 40 pounds since the day I took the positive pregnancy test and Saturday morning put it all in perspective. I woke up, struggling to breathe a little (more on that later) and I hoisted myself up to the sitting position. As I did, I heard--crack--Jeremy rolled over, "What was that?". He knew full well what it was, but was uncertain of my mood or emotional stability and is learning to feel out whether the situation calls for sympathetic support or laughter. In this case, it was laughter, I had broken one of the slats supporting our bed....nothing like that to make you feel good about yourself. **Picture to the left is not me, we won't be chronicling any of my weigh-ins on camera.

Nosebleeds--This is weird to me as I've never really had these pre-pregnancy, but something about these girls has caused my gums to bleed when I brush my teeth and my nose to spontaneously bleed every other day or so.

Panting--Let's just say the other day at work, I was sitting at my desk and kept getting disturbed by this noise...it took me a minute to realize that it was me breathing! I expected difficulty climbing stairs or walking long distances, but typing--you gotta be kidding me.

Hiccups--Yes, the babies get them on occasion, but my own have gotten out of control. I'll hiccup once at random or I'll have violent hiccups for several minutes. My doctor said this is caused by one of them finding my diaphragm a comfy place to hang out, but I've gotten some weird looks in meetings or walking around the grocery store as I have no control over them.

I'm sure there will be more things to add to the list later, but that's it for now.

Happy 4th of July!