The Last

I think I should try to write these blog posts at 9am, when I'm fed, full, chipper and ready to take the on the world. ;) Here I am crashing at 8pm on Friday after a full work week and I'm beat, yet again! Alas, many things to celebrate regardless: We are officially at the end. Third trimester. Last, final home stretch. Everybody cheer with me!!!

I made it to 28 weeks and then blew right by it. now here we are at the end of the week and only a little more than 7 weeks to go. Geez, this time is flying by!

Super excited to have made it to my second big goal of 28 weeks. (First goal was 24 weeks). Now I'm planning and praying to make it to 32 weeks! Only a little over 3 to go now.

This week was busy and honestly, pretty rough. I failed my glucose challenge 1 hour test last week (indicator of gestational diabetes risk) and had to do the 3 hour fasting glucose tolerance test Monday morning. Ugh. I am SO not ever wanting to go through that again. Fasting was not fun. I had some yogurt at 9pm Sunday night and then didn't get to eat again until 11am Monday. Blah. I was so starving and it has made my blood sugar and appetite just messed up all week. So fortunately I was able to arrange to take the glucose test at my work instead of spending 4 hours in the waiting room at St. John's. Unfortunately, I just do not have a great track record of repeated blood draws. My veins aren't close to the surface and without a significant amount of water that day to prep, I tend to be a very hard stick. (Horrifying memories here of my IV sticks and miserable blood draws while in the hospital with Sam...uhhhh...I shudder to think about going through that again). Back to Monday: Hard to drink enough water to hydrate my veins (or whatever you call it) by 7:30am. So sure enough, hard stick. They got the first baseline draw fine, but the consecutive sticks were increasingly difficult. So much so that one time there was some painful digging (accompanied by nausea and feeling faint). They put a fan on me and gave me some water. Whew. No fun. Turns out they had to try my veins on the top of my hand to get the next two sticks and OUCH that hurts a lot. Many bruises in my vein tracks this week showing the battle. Added to this the fact that the glucose solution they have you drink made me incredibly sick. On an empty stomach and I'm not used to drinking anything sugary period. I'm a water girl, through and through. So drinking pure sugar syrup was DISGUSTING. And you cannot throw up or they have to stop the test and have you repeat it another day. UGH! But good thing I was at work - spent some time chatting with coworkers about upcoming projects and the morning passed as quickly as possible. Waited...and waited...and waited some more. And then I got the all clear finally yesterday afternoon. No gestational diabetes for me! YAHOO!!!!

Another hurdle down! Of course in place of that worry this week, I've started to have heartburn. :( Boo. With Sam I had it the last week or two of pregnancy. Really hoping this doesn't last for all 7 weeks I have left!!!!

Most fun part of being in the home stretch is the baby shower fun! Have to say I was leery of baby showers with this being my second pregnancy. I'm not a huge fan of "fanfare" specifically directed toward me. With your first baby it is all new and a shower is part of that. But I actually told friends and family this time I didn't even want a shower really because I thought it might be inappropriate being my second pregnancy. Of course then those same family and friends started telling me about how many people were asking them what they could do for these twins and asking me to do a shower so they could enjoy the fun together! Have to say - I just feel so incredibly blessed. My work shower was on Tuesday, and it was so nice. They did a diaper shower for me and I got some MUCH needed diapers, wipes and gift cards, along with some blankets and baby supplies...and the craziest, biggest, coolest diaper cake ever made! It was sweet to see everyone so excited about the twins! Made me realize how rare this is, to celebrate with other people who are equally excited....way more than even a first baby or singleton pregnancy! So so neat. :)

And I have another fun shower to look forward to Sunday with my church family and friends. The shower invitation topped my vote for the most creative and cutest theme ever. :) Love it!

So as I head to bed at 10pm on this Friday night I'm wondering how many Friday nights I have left to sit here and type without the newborns here. Wondering how many weeks I'll be able to "happily" report good news. Have more doctors appointments Monday and Tuesday this coming week, and I'm looking forward to more positive news and moving right along. Before I know it, I'll be announcing a 30 week mark and then the "last" becomes the "end" I think. ;)

One of the managers at the hospital confided to me this week that she loved being pregnant with her children both times so much that she would even consider surrogacy if her husband would approve. Good grief! I laughed and just said, "That's NOT me." While I am (still) remaining positive, I definitely am embracing that the "last" trimester also means the last pregnancy for this momma! Last weight gain during. Last weight loss challenge post baby(ies). Last heartburn. Last hormone mood swings....well pregnancy-related at least! Last tossing and turning uncomfortably at night fruitlessly trying to get some sleep. Last peeing every 30 minutes. Last huffing and puffing down the hallway. Last struggle to change the laundry or pick something up on the floor. Last stopping before I pick up my child and swing him around gleefully because I no longer can.

And yes, Last precious few weeks feeling these babies move and grow inside of me. Will I miss it? Maybe for a split second. But I know I wouldn't miss meeting these babies on their "birth" day for anything in the world. Worth every second and as long as it takes of the slightly less than pleasant lasts...