Visits

A busy day ahead of me here!  My sister, Adina, and four of her high school friends are flying into town for a few days for wine tasting and fun.  Adina's friends are great- they've all been buddies for decades so it kind of feels like I have 5 sisters flying here.

The star of the show, however, will be my nephew Quinn!  He's coming with too and since I can't really partake in the actual wine-tasting, I plan to be on full Quinnie detail.  Jason was teasing me this morning and asking if I was more excited to see Quinn or my sister.  As I remarked to Adina on the phone just a few minutes ago, I've been seeing her for 32 years- it's Quinn's turn to get all my attention!  She took that news rather well...  :)

Meet Quinlan!  Born May 25th...

But I do have a plan for participating in the wine tasting.  I'm bringing my 'kid wine', aka Martinelli's Sparking Apple Cider, in a few different flavors.  While the other ladies are comparing Cabernets and Pinots, I'll be comparing Apple-Peach versus Apple-Grape juice (I wonder if the people pouring at the wineries know what they're in for).

While people around me (except the medical professionals of course!) have been saying that a sip or two of alcohol isn't going to hurt the babies, I haven't felt comfortable taking the risk.  There's no safely established amount of alcohol that a pregnant women can ingest, so out of love and concern for the munchkins, I'm staying away from it.  After all, there are so many other risks and challenges with this pregnancy that we have no control over- why add more into the mix?  Instead, what I do is a little unorthodox- I just take a quick sniff of whatever Jason's drinking.  Human's sense of taste is actually something like 80% smell anyway, so laugh if you want but it's been working for me.

The babies are continuing to move around like crazy.  I'm starting to be able to pinpoint exact spots that they're kicking/punching and can tell at times when they're making big position changes.  They seem to be most active in the 30-90 minutes after I eat something.  I love feeling their little taps and dancing.  It's like they have this special little language right now that really only I get to be privy to.  Soon enough, others should be able to start feeling their movements when touching my belly.  Part of what's keeping that from happening right now is that all of my placentas are attached on the front of my belly, so the kicks will have to be strong enough to be felt through them too.  Soon!

Two car seats ready to go, one still on its way!

We're pretty confident that we'll be able to fit the entire 

brood in the back seat, which means my original plan

of duct-taping one to the roof of the car won't need

to be implemented...

Yesterday, one of them decided it was a good idea to move up into the upper right section of my belly.  This was significant for me for a few reasons:

1.  No one's really ventured up there yet.  Uncharted territory!
2.  I could feel a firm large mass there- definitely a baby's body.
3.  Most importantly, it made me breathe a little bit differently than normal.  It wasn't hard to breathe, but it was definitely a different sensation.

Last Saturday, one of them got in a really well-placed kick to my diaphragm, which was a bit of a shock.  Luckily I was sitting in the car at the time, so I was able to grab on to something and "brace" myself.  I think I was mid-breath, so it threw me for a little loop.  Jason and I were able to laugh about it, and I don't think I'll be as shocked next time it happens.  

I'm not going to lie- sometimes the munchkins' movements are a tad bit uncomfortable for me.  They don't hurt (yet!) at all, but it makes certain positions a little more challenging than others.  Usually I can just roll to my other side, sit/stand a little differently, or have Jason gently rub my belly.  I envision that this is going to become a bigger challenge as the pregnancy progresses and the peanuts get bigger.  Luckily I have an ultrasound today (for those of you keeping track, I got a week off from the doctor visits last week because everything has been going so well!), so I can chat with the doctor about how to best handle this.

Camping went very well last weekend.  People were a little shocked that I was able to even go camping, but I keep reminding them that I'm pregnant- not feeble!  The only real challenge for me was the bathroom situation at night.  Most pregnant women get a little bit of a break from the urinary frequency during their second trimester, but not me.  I've got the equivalent of three summer squash sitting on my bladder, so no luck there.  It's not very convenient to get out of the tent every 2-3 hours in the wee hours of the night when it's 40-50 degrees out and trot to the bathroom, but I got it done.

We're camping!!!

Laughing around the campfire.  I look like a big grape in

the only sweatshirt that I currently fit into.  Every other one

makes me look like I'm wearing a sausage casing  :)

The whole camping gang (minus a few people) on the last day

Jason and I had a lot of fun hanging out with friends and were surprised that one of his buddies is actually a labor/delivery nurse at the hospital where we'll be delivering!  I took to liking her instantly (even before I knew about the nursing part), so that's another exciting thing to keep in our back pocket.  It is very reassuring to be going into this knowing that we will be surrounded by competent, caring people that we trust.

Belly bump pic taken almost 2 weeks ago

And I guess it's another sign that this pregnancy is being taken care of by something greater than us.  We keep randomly running into people that are wanting and willing to help.  People have been so very generous in donating things like gently used but absolutely safe car seats (thank you Helena and Lara!) and portable cribs (thank you Tessa!!).  I've got a coworker that's starting to funnel diaper coupons my way and neighbors checking in on us.  Anytime I get panicky or scared about what's going to happen once the peanuts arrive, I just have to keep repeating what's become my personal mantra:

"This was not your original plan, but this was God's plan.  And part of God's plan is to provide for these little peanuts."

Repeating this to myself really helps me to be able to take some deep breaths and calm down, because I am definitely seeing this being played out as the weeks progress.  Of course, sometimes the mantra takes on a little bit more of a neurotic bent (forgive me- I've got lots of hormones) and becomes more of a command like "and God BETTER darn help us take care of these kids", but I do try to keep that kind of thinking to a minimum!