The Zoe and Silas Show

The ultrasound yesterday estimated (with a +/-20% margin of error) that baby boy weighs 6lbs, 9oz and baby girl weighs 7lbs, 5 oz. Derek and I guess these estimates might be a little high, but at a minimum they are likely at least 6-6.5lbs each. Dr. Platek, the perinatologist, is very happy! She said if I go into labor at this point that they will not try to stop it. She called these days that I go beyond 35 weeks "icing on the cake". Their lungs are developed by now, but any extra time in utero will help them better regulate their own temperatures and help the suck-swallow-breathe reflex once they are born. Because baby girl is still breech, Dr. Gibbs has scheduled the C-section for 10/22 at 11:30am. Neither Dr. Platek nor Dr. Gibbs think I will make it that far, but I remain an optimist as I take it as easy as possible. Now that I have wrapped up all my work stuff, the cats and I have been doing a lot of snuggling the last few days... I have started working on their baby bo...

One of Derek's best friends, Brad, got married on Saturday night. Derek was a groomsman along with Ricky and Keith. We figure this was our last big "event" (i.e., get dressed up) before the babies arrive. Our one year wedding anniversary is coming up on 10/11 but I'm not sure how much celebrating I'll be up for! So, figured I should post some pics of us in our fancy pants. A fun night was had by all, and Derek and I even managed to get a slow dance in before this Cinderella turned into a pumpkin (oh wait, I already AM a pumpkin as Derek would joke). I left around 10pm and the dance party was just getting started...

Once September rolled around I started working at home one day per week. I am very thankful that I have the flexibility to do that! The ratio of home:lab days has now become more skewed towards home, so that I'm now regularly aiming for 3 days home and 2 days in lab. As you might be able to imagine from the picture below, I am pretty miserable these days. I attempted to wear my Keen sandals on the day this picture was taken (33 weeks, 5 days) and that lasted for about 2.55 seconds. I have been sporting flip flips for weeks and weeks now due to my feet being incredibly swollen. We estimate that I'm now carrying ~ 12 pounds of baby! Dave is here working at a food show this week, so it's been great to see him. I just wish I was in a better mood! At the end of the workday, I head straight to bed for the evening. It's been hard this week, because on the days I've been in lab I end up having contractions pretty constantly by the time the afternoon rolls around. The only ...

Derek's mom, Joanne, and close family friend, Audrey Vieira, threw us a wonderful baby shower last weekend. Derek drove me down to Audrey's house in Swansea, where all of the guys were meeting up in order to head out for lunch. Everyone hung out for awhile in Audrey & Mike's beautiful backyard munching on yummy appetizers, and then the guys loaded into the M.V. to head to New Bedford for Portuguese food. We had a wonderful spread of fabulous food, thanks to the hard work of Joanne and Audrey, as well as Aunt Doreen and others who cooked for the celebration. We had a very special cake that was decorated with animals, going along with the theme of the nursery. Joanne and Audrey also made the cutest shower favors -- pretzels dipped in white chocolate! We enjoyed a lovely afternoon sitting outside, sharing good food and good company. Everyone was so generous with giving us gifts for the babies, and Kaylan was a wonderful helper :) We got lots of things we still needed, lik...

Shopping these days has gotten much harder than it once was. Actually, I won't lie: everything has gotten much harder! We needed to make a big Ikea run last weekend, and we decided that I wasn't going to make it through an Ikea excursion without a wheelchair. I must admit, it was the most pleasant 3-hour shopping trip I have ever experienced! Derek was so great, pushing me around and bringing me to any section I wanted. We ended up finding many things we needed for the nursery, including a toy organizer, curtains, a rug, and a small dresser. We also needed to get groceries when we were finished at Ikea and I never would have had the energy to do it without a little assistance. Thank you motorized scooter :) I did the same thing at Target on Thursday night when we had another big shopping list. Derek just laughs at me, because if I don't cut the narrow corners of the aisles quite right I have to put the scooter in reverse, and it makes a loud "BEEP, BEEP, BEEP" n...

When we found out I was pregnant this spring, we knew that we would need to get a new (automatic transmission) vehicle. I likely had this realization before Derek, because boy does he love a manual transmission. He bought the CRV last year before we were engaged, so while I accompanied him to buy the car, I did not have too much of a say regarding whether it would be a manual or automatic. I "learned" how to drive the CRV in the most basic way, but after a few months of stressful solo excursions in our hilly neighbhorhood, I gave up. When we found out we are having twins, we quickly realized that a vehicle with a single backseat would not cut it. We briefly discussed a car with 3rd row seating (i.e., a Pilot), but picturing my 60-something year old mom climbing into the last row seat made this not seem like a very good option. So that leaves one route to go: the mini van! We ended up buying a 2006 Honda Odyssey two weeks ago. In many ways, I felt like taking this step propel...

Rachel and Megan threw me a lovely shower on Saturday. The weather was PERFECT, very similar to the June afternoon when Sue and Stephanie hosted the baby shower in MN. We all gathered at Megan's house in East Bridgewater in the early afternoon and enjoyed sitting outside on her beautiful patio! Megan and Kathy Pritchard Amy Pritchard and Rachel Me, Christina Lipus, and Jane Couperus Me & Lisa Scott (Jane & Lisa drove all the way from western MA for the afternoon!) Everyone was SO generous and I had a lot of fun opening gifts! Here's a picture of all the lovely ladies (sans Kim, who had already left to get her ZipCar back to Cambridge on time)! The guys came down later on, along with Jeff's parents & Megan's parents. The heat finally got to be too much for me and I had to throw in the towel for the day, but not before some beers were consumed :) Many thanks to Megan & Rachel for orchestrating such a beautiful celebration!

I am 23 weeks along as of Wednesday and everything is going great! I continue to enjoy my CenteringPregnancy group meetings, and now those happen every two weeks instead of every month. It's amazing how much support and information they provide! I was very surprised to find out this week that my midwife, Denise, also has twins -- a boy and a girl who turned 13 years old this week. Denise's twins have two older siblings in their 20s, and the OB nurse that helps run the group also has four kids. Together they provide a wealth of practical knowledge! We've been talking a lot about childbirth and breastfeeding. I'm taking a breastfeeding class this Wednesday morning, so I am looking forward to getting more information about how to successfully breastfeed two babies. Not only will it be great for their health and immune systems, but it will also save us a lot of $$. I recently read that newborns typically eat 8-10 times per day, so we'll be dealing with 16-20 feedings pe...

Stephanie and my aunt Sue hosted a beautiful baby shower for me last Saturday at Sue's house on Lake Minnetonka. The shower had the cutest rubber duck theme, complete with coordinating punch and cake! Here are the beautiful hostesses. Stephanie put together one of the games where guests were supposed to guess how many baby socks, caps & onesies were in a large jar. Sue came up with cute a "Price is Right" game where you guessed the prices of various baby items and whoever came closest to the total without going over the real cost won. Of course the prizes were Aveda products, so Sandi & Sukoshi were pretty darn excited when they won! We had lots of sunshine, yummy food, good company and plenty of laughs! My Aunt Sally made the neatest crib blankets for each baby. Baby Girl will get the green ladybug blanket and Baby Boy will get the red lizard blanket. We are painting the nursery bright spring green, and the blankets will be used as a starting place for other deco...

Ahhhhh, it was good to be home in Grand Forks this week... Mom's gardens were in full June bloom and were absolutely beautiful. The weather could have been a little nicer, but it sounds like that was true in Minneapolis and Boston this week as well! I did plenty of relaxing, a little bit of working (I have to present all of the Romanian ERP data from the 8-year follow-up at a meeting on June 30th...), and spent lots of good time with both Mom & Dave (and Ebony, who was up to no good one afternoon!). Mom & I spent some time going through the cedar chest one morning. The cedar chest contains lots of family history, including baby clothes that are now being passed down to my lucky babes. I am even coming home with two christening gowns; one that Stephanie wore and one that I wore. Here is a sampling of some of the other clothes that will keep these babies well-dressed! My Grandma Westerlund was an amazing knitter, so there are lots of baby sweaters, booties and bonnets. My Gre...