20 and 21 Week Update

We are back from vacation and diving into all the baby stuff. My friend Lin offered to do a baby shower for us, so we are going to have the big event on July 1, 2007. I’m excited to see friends! So the first thing I did was to give Lin my guest list. Many of the invites are to be mailed to family. So, I have attempted to register at Target, Babies ‘R Us and maybe Walmart. I am finding as I put these registries together that we are SO NOT READY for these babies! Trying to though now. I’ve bought a few more items like baby towels, wash cloths and bibs. We still have almost nothing else. I’ve tried to go to both Babies ‘R Us and Walmart. I’m seriously overwhelmed by the baby products out there. We’ll keep on and see what happens. Amidst the baby shower planning, we’ve gone to our 21 week appointment. More interesting news just keeps coming!

Chip has been so great too! He moved things around upstairs and put the crib and changing table together. He also brought the curio cabinet from the garage along with all the other goodies we had packed up to sell our house. We’ve taken the house off the market and will stay here for awhile. At least until we can wrap our heads around what day to day life will be for our family with 3 new babies and all our existing responsibilities.

We saw Dr. Bohman for our 21 week appointment June 14. Babies are growing great. I’ve been really feeling good too. Just normal pregnancy stuff....tired, in the bathroom a lot and growing a big belly! The ultrasound looks great. All are still boys. Each baby measures at about 11 inches each and about a pound each. My belly keeps growing every day too it seems. After the baby ultrasound, Dr. Bohman took a look at the cerclage stitches and the length of my cervix. It has shrunk over a centimeter in 2 weeks. My body is thinking it’s growing so much that it’s time to begin to prepare for birth. It’s way too early. So, Dr. Bohman has instructed me to be on limited activity....bed rest! I can’t walk more than 20 yards, 1 outing per day, need to be in a recliner or bed, preferably on my side. So that wasn’t good news to receive because I feel great. Day to day life as I knew it has come to a screeching halt. It’s hard to just sit all the time. I am thankfully working so at least that’s a good distraction.

Chip has been taking good care of me since my rest period started. He is becoming an expert grocery shopper and he’s really good at running the girls where they need to be. He’s staying on top of keeping the place clean and also becoming our household chef. He’s been cooking a lot. I am trying to do so stuff if I can and updating the baby registry online. I am working on the computer a lot and trying to prepare for the baby shower next week. I wish I could do more, but basically for me, it’s life on the sofa or in bed. Along with trying to buy almost everything online to get ready, we are also shopping for a mini van to cart this brood around. So, online we go again for that too. We looked at a Chrysler and think we’ll go with either a Dodge Caravan or Chrysler Town & Country. We test drove one the other day and it will suit our needs, be good on gas and be better on the environment that a full size SUV. The price is much more appealing than a full SUV also. That is a work in progress that needs to get done very soon. The only downside is that I am trading in my Honda, which despite having a bad “please damage me” vibe, has been a good car that has so many miles left on it. So.....we’ll see.