the beautiful parts...

before we left vancouver we attended the best prenatal classes ever (if you are or get pregnant check out Birthing From Within) there were many reasons it was amazing but i learned so much about me and my inner journey. we explored fear and the way we cope with every day life. there was one evening where we broke into male/female groups and as females we uncovered our deepest question.. its a really neat excercise meant to have you really dig deep to discover what might be holding you back. out of this time my question took on many shapes and what i got out of it is.. How am I surrendering to each moment? this has always been huge for me as i tend to get wrapped up in the how and what and what if of it all. i have really been making concious decisions to bring myself back to that question throughout this pregnancy and it has made a difference in my every day life. in surrendering to the moment i am also gaining valuable insight into what makes pregnancy so beautiful in and around the hard times.
i have been touched by so many of you that stop here to read my thoughts or see my pictures it means so much to me! i have enjoyed the random bloggers stopping to leave comments and giving me more blogs to read. thats another glimmer of the beauty of pregnancy.

turning heads...

alright folks its official my belly is large and beutiful. i found out i am now turning heads and being asked how it feels to be overdue. yeah strangers ask that question... i measure a whopping 41.5cm which is what a women with one baby would feel like a week and a half overdue but me i have 7-9 weeks left. don't get me wrong i am still on the path of growing big healthy babies so having them inside is what we want but where do people come up with these things.. i decided to make you a list and hope you never become the kind of person to do any of these things...

Never ask a pregnant woman.. (that you don't know really, really well) espcially someone expecting twins...
1. Are you overdue? Just don't!
2. Do you have stretchmarks ? Since when would that be anyones business?!
3. When are you being induced? Seriously.
4. Can you sleep or even move at night? Maybe your husband should install a poll for you that hangs from the ceiling so you can get out of bed better.. uhh yeah enough said.
5. Probably not any clothes that fit you any more hey? No your right there aren't but don't ask!
6. Your huge, big, large, massive - anything along those lines.
7. Wow your feet are really really swollen - really?? i hadn't noticed.. did it occur to you because I DON'T WEAR SHOES ANYMORE??? Dumb.

Ok I am done. Other than all that I am feeling good. Of course I'm feeling full of baby because I am full of 2 babies but I am excited that they are moving and doing so well. I had a fetal assesment yesterday at the hospital I will deliver at and it was so pleasant and fun. I got to see the boys and hear there heart beats and even hear the blood moving through the cord which was so cool. They both weigh a big over 3lbs and are moving lots. Everything we would hope for. Baby A does not have his head down though which he needs to do right now his little bum covers my cervix. Baby B is head down and has his bum in Baby A's face. Litteraly. This is funny. We got a shot of Baby B's parts (scrotum) right on Baby A's nose. It was hilarious. So he is sitting on his brother. Maybe a sign of whats to come. Ahh at least they are keeping each other occupied. I got cute shots of their little faces. I will try to scan in pics later but am not sure they will scan well. We will see. Anyways yes we are all doing well and can't believe in 7 weeks or so we will meet our little guys face to face. Can't wait!

time is flying by

not a very clever title to this post so many things to report. last week was good. i found out i enjoy doing nothing; having no schedule and just being able to putz around however i want. i did alot of that..dave had a very busy first week working 37 hours in only 4 days. he is really enjoying work. i even got to go to wpg with him on a work errand the other day so that was fun. friday we had easter at my parents which was great. good food, good fun. the weather here is amazing. its been in the 20's for the last few days and i can't get over seeing sun everyday!
saturday we had our OB consult in Wpg. better than the last but still wierd. our doctor is hard to explain but reminds me of a plumber. he's messy, older, irish and for lack of a better word strange. but we liked his approach on childbirth and feel quite confident in his ability to give us as close to the birth that we want. with my midwife in attendance i feel well taken care of. he was funny. he could not get over how petite i was and asked me many times if i knew that i was small and how i saw myself getting even bigger than i am. i guess he never went to that school that told him your size has nothing to do with your ability to give birth.. yes i am large in the belly i measure 40 weeks pregnant with about 8 weeks to go. thats the other thing he was eager to do a fetal assement because he didn't believe me on my due date.. again muttering something about how small i am and how could my belly get any bigger. i will go in again this week for a fetal assement and will let you know how the boyz are doing in there.
before we left vancouver daves friend nick took some lovely photos of us and here are my two faves so far. i will write again this week with more news oh and pics of the house.

no need to worry

yes it looks as if pregnancy has changed my color completely but its only the camera doing the trick on my 30 week picture to the left. please don't be alarmed the water here is not bad or anything...
havn't given many updates on pregnancy lately so i figured its about time. i am well my belly is growing bigger and bigger when i last saw my midwife (last tues) i was measuring 38cm. you usually measure according to what week you are in pregnancy so you can tell that makes me BIG and looking like a woman about to give birth to one baby. its hard to imagine sometimes that i have two months to go wondering where they will fit and how on earth i will be comfortable. my feet are about double their size and even my legs are swelling. all those nice maternity clothes i bought are just barely holding on..
this saturday we have our consult with our OB in Wpg which will hopefully be a better experience than this last meeting. my midwife has worked with him and speaks highly of him and his attitude towards vaginal twin births which is wonderful. i am about ready for some good news in that regards.
i am excited to meet these boys and do relish in the miracle working inside my body every day. i don't take it for granted and can be thankful for all of this as long as my boys are healthy and doing well.
anyways that is about all. we are all doing well. dave works long hours - leaves the house at 7:30 and doesn't get home till 6:00 so that has been an adjustment but he is enjoying it as i am enjoying puttering around the house. i am missing the familur friendships i had, not sure how to seek people out or if maybe too much time has passed and the time apart has lost something. i hope not maybe its just an adjustment period for everyone involved.
must go - hungry again.. seems to be all i do eat, sleep, pee... the never ending cycle!

going the distance

yes all we are still alive and kicking. its been a hectic few weeks but we have made it to our final destination and are spending most days and evenings fixing up our new house. which by the way WE LOVE. we are one coat away from being finished painting and have already assembled a few pieces of furniture with a few left to go. we are hoping to be sleeping there tommorow night - just in time for the weekend.
lets see where did we leave off....
our final week in vancouver was sad but filled with lots of good memories. we had dinners with friends, good last coffee dates, we went for our final brittania sushi lunch with audrey which was very special as she agreed to be our boys godmother and that really blessed us. we had a lovely going away party with all our friends, an emotional sending off time at our last staff meeting where people blessed us with words and gifts that mean so much, we packed and packed and had the generous help of numerous people (thank you!) our last day was gorgous - sunny and warm. we packed up with the help of many and as we turned the corner onto 12th for the last time i lost any composure i may have been holding on to and the reality of leaving the last amazing three years caught up with me. we said our goodbyes (which were HARD) and headed off - up and through the mountains and down into the praries where when we crossed into manitoba felt a huge sense of peace even though leaving vancouver was hard we still feel that this move is whats best for us and our growing family.
so this week has been busy painting, moving in, unpacking and getting adjusted to a slower paced life. its been great to stay with my parents who have been so generous. we got to meet our midwife - whom WE LOVE! she is so fabulous. i'm excited to have her there as we meet our boys. we will have a consult in wpg soon with the OB who will be there when we deliver. our midwife suggested to have a consult with a doctor who might attempt a vaginal birth with twins here locally (remember we are pretty rural here) so we thought we would give that a try. we'll just say it was a compete waste of time... here are some highlights.
"so.. do you know about twins? you know that a lot more complications come with delivering them.. like one of them could die!"
"yeah so i am the ONLY one here who will do a vaginal birth but everyone else will gladly do ceasearans so if you want to set that up we can do that."
"oh my vacation is the first half of june."
oh great thanks for all the uplifting information i think we'll go somewhere else. but thanks.
It was kind of comical now that i look at it. I am looking forward to meeting a much more advanced thinking doctor. It's really amazing the difference between a doctor and a midwife. we'll definitly stick with the midwife.
i think you are all up to date. next time i will have pics to post and more news as well.
thanks for sticking with it. i know how frusterating it is to check a blog over and over and over and never see a new post. thanks for your patience.
you are loved.