30 Weeks (4 more to go!!!)

28-30 Weeks was mostly uneventful.  The biggest change was our attitude towards the pregnancy.  Our worries are almost non-existent and we definitely feel more HOPE and EXCITEMENT more than anything!

New Niece:  This past week our family also welcomed a new baby girl.....Berkeley Kailyn.....into the world.  My little sister, Christine, is a baby factory.  She thinks of getting pregnant and she does.  With this one she didn't even have any labor and as with all her babies only pushed 3 times!!!  Chrissy had a scheduled induction and after she got her epidural she called me.  We were talking for about 20 minutes when my doctor came in.  I was talking to my doctor for about 15 minutes and the next thing I know I get a text-pic of a baby!!!  She looks exactly like Gage when he was born.  Too bad I can't meet her until I'm discharged after my C-section.

Happy Halloween!!!:  I LOOOOVE Halloween because it's Rob's BDay!!!  This year he turned 35yo!!!  I was able to surprise him with a little BDay Party at the hospital.  My mom, dad, and Maria brought Olive Garden.  I haven't had Olive Garden in years, but I kept seeing their commercials on TV and suddenly had a craving.  It brought back childhood memories.  We used to have all of our award ceremonies from patrols to cheerleading there.  PLUS...one of my awesome nurses Jamilla....who is an awesome baker made Rob a Red Velvet Halloween BDay Cake!!!  He was sooo surprised.....AGAIN!!!   He's so easy to surprise because he never expects anything from anybody.  I can't wait till next year we can have a Halloween Party and dress up our little girls!  I have tons of Halloween decorations that are just gathering dust.

I'M A PATRIOT:  I've been in the hospital for 6 weeks now and still managed to vote....SO I hope all of you find a few moments of your time and perform your patriotic duty!

LMAO Moment of the Week:  As usual my girlsfriends Leah & Nat came for a visit.  The conversation always turns into reminiscing about the past when we all used to live together in Jax Beach.  It all started when we were messing w/ Leah about her HIP-HOP skills and then I remembered our attempt at trying to reupholster her huge/heavy L-shape doo-doo brown sofa and it turned out looking like circus furniture (purple & gold).  I have a very vivid imagination and I pictured all of this in my head and forgot about my full bladder.   Let's just say....when you're pregnant....don't attempt to hold your bladder while laughing hystereically.....IT DOESN'T WORK!!!  I ruined a Tempurpedic and Down-Feather pillow!!!  Then on my way to the bathroom....it was still coming out!!!!  I had to take a quick shower just to clean it all off!!!  LMAO LMAO LMAO LMAO!

My Obsession With Bananas:  My mom says that when I was growing up in the Philippines I use to walk to the little store next door, sit on the counter, and eat bunches and bunches of bananas.  Not much has changed.  I still love banana bread, banana pudding, banana milkshakes, and so on....   Well I'd like to send a special thanks to Maren for feeding my addiction with banana bread and banana pudding.  She knows the secret to my happiness ;-).  

Exciting Moment of the Week:  I got fingerprinted!!!  My fingerprint will correlate w/ each print of my babies' feet!!!  This made it all real to me because sometimes it's hard to imaging I really am pregnant and with twins! 

Hurricane Sandy:  Unfortunately this past week Hurricane Sandy landed in the Northeast.  My in-laws did not have power for a week, but atleast they had a generator.  There was so much devastation and the New Jersey and New York landscape is nothing like how it was when I lived there.  New York has become my second home after I moved there when I was 25 and met the love of my life.  We spent many weekends at the Jersey Shore in the summer time.  One thing for sure is the resilience of New Yorkers....they are the most hard-working people I know.  I know that it may take a while, but they will come back even better than before.  My cousin, GiGi, that lives in Brooklyn thank goodness did not loose power/water.  However, she's surrounded by the devastation.  Let's continue to keep them all in our thoughts and prayers.

28 Weeks (6 wks till showtime!!!)

28 WEEKS!!!!  HUUUUUUGE Milestone!!!!!!!  Making it this far gives our Twinnies 90% VIABILITY!!!!   There is no doubt in my mind that we are going to have our Twinnies home for XMAS!!!  Celebrating the lord's birth w/ the birth of our very own ItaliaPinos!!!  Most likely we will be scheduled for a C-Section at 34 weeks, which is Thanksgiving weekend, with that said we have a lot to be thankful for this year.  So, perfect timing for our Twinnies to be welcomed into the world!!!  God has been good to our little family.

It's All About Me....NOT!!!: This week was a little tough for me, I'm really starting to feel the effects of not only being in my 3rd trimester, but also the weakness that immobility can cause.  I have been in the hospital for 4 weeks now and in the beginning the nurses were so impressed with my energy and enthusiasm, they would walk in on me doing lunges & weights, and sometimes bending down touching my toes to stretch.  Well, that didn't last very long.  My exercise nowadays consists of just my morning care and I walk back and forth in the room.  It's amazing how just showering can be so exhausting.
My other issue is the Shortness of Breath!!!  I didn't realize how bad that could be, especially since I'm such a talkative person.  I'd say it's my #1 skill!  LOL
I still try to find the humor in everything, but unfortunately the mild-moderate emotional breakdowns are coming more frequently.  I just have to let it pass with lots of tears and the next day I feel refreshed.  Tears tend to be associated with feelings of sadness, but I've come to realize that it's also as equally cleansing.  I tell myself "It's not about you.  Focus on the end result.  Focus on the babies."  But, sometimes this is much harder than it sounds, you can't help but feel a little selfish and it really makes me feel guilty.

I take everything out on Rob and get mad at him for the silliest things.  For example his visitation schedule.  He doesn't usually come until 3pm and by this time, MaMa needs a nap and so does he.  Well, that is not QT when both of us are sleeping.  So of course I cried until I got my way for him to come earlier.  This actually became more ideal cause he can bring me a delicious non-hospital lunch and leave at 4pm before traffic gets bad.  The biggest plus is that he has plenty of time for his JiuJitsu classes.  MORE EVIDENCE THAT I'M ALWAYS RIGHT!  Honestly, I feel very bad for subjecting him to my madness and frustrations. Especially since he's taken on soooo much more responsibility from working full-time in the hospital I'm in, visiting me on his days on & off, house cleaning, yard work, laundry, and animal care.  But HE'S THE ONE I LOVE THE MOST so he is unfortunately the main target of my frustrations :-p.  WHAT A GOOD GUY!

Twinnies:  Our girls had a growth scan this week, they are now 2 lbs 12oz & 2 lbs 13oz!!! Not bad for 28 weekers.  I think it's all the home cooked Filipino food mom has been bringing by.  Our girls have not had any issues and according to the docs continue to look 'beautiful' on the monitor, like full-term babies.  One of the ultra sound techs showed me what 'DRAGON'S BREATH' looks like, basically you can see on doppler the babies breathing in amniotic fluid and then blowing it back out.  It really does look like a dragon breathing fire!!!

Because of their good behavior, the docs have given me OUTSIDE PRIVILEGES DAILY FOR 30 MINUTES!!!  I didn't even know this was possible, I had a nurse that took the initiative to ask the docs. A good friend, Thao,  took me out for my 1st venture outside in 4 WEEKS!!!  As we strolled along the St. John's River I realized how much we can take for granted the brightness of the sun or the crispness of a river breeze, until you've been in captivity.

So my ADVICE FOR THE WEEK:  Go Outside, Take a Deep Breath, Lavish in the Heat of the Sun, Feel the Caress of the Breeze, and Appreciate the Blessings that Surround Us All.

Baptist Medical Center AgeWell Institute:  I pass by this building on my way to the St. Johns River, I always wonder exactly what services they provide, must be the nurse in me.  The focus of the program is to help the geriatric population, but I think I could benefit from some of their services.  My Twinnies are not even born yet and you should see all the GRAY HAIR that they're causing me!!!!

Funny Moment of the Week:  Natalie and Leah were visiting one day and the Eucharistic Minister came in to give me my communion.  While he & I were saying the Lord's Prayer, Nat/Leah were giggling in the background.  I was sooo embarrassed, thinking what the heck is so funny?  Finally, after he left I realized what was so funny and we all started cracking up.  Leah had brought me a book titled: SHIT MY DAD SAYS.....and it was on the table right in full view of the minister and sitting next to the holy host.  GOTTA LOVE UR GIRLFRIENDS!

Crazy Moment of the Week:  I got my last round of steroid injections on Monday, this helps w/ the Twinnies lung maturity.  The needle doesn't hurt going in my bottom, but man the medication itself hurts for a while.  So of course I was whining about it and Rob says "You'll be alright."  You can't even imagine all the thoughts that started raging inside my head.  I wanted to jump out of my recliner and just pummel him!  I was looking for sympathy and got none!  Sometimes I just want to be babied.  Well, he's learned his lesson & has babied me everyday since!  LMAO!!!

Well to make matters worse....on Monday night my fetal monitor alarmed from 7pm-5am, a constant beeping/ringing in my left ear, NOTHING from television/radio could drown it out.  My nurse was new and she didn't realize you could turn off the alarm, so all night I suffered.  I thought "THIS IS IT.  I'M ON THE VERGE OF AN EMOTIONAL BREAKDOWN.  I'M ABOUT TO GO STIR-CRAZY.  EVERYONE SAYS IT'S GONNA HAPPEN".  Well, at about 6AM I remembered that I did get the steroid shot and knowing that SLEEPLESSNESS was a side effect I felt all better....sort of.   Actually, I felt better 2 days later when I had a full night of uninterrupted sleep.  FINALLY!!! Steroids can also make a person feel 'wired'.  Well, let's just say it actually helped me be more productive.  I was actually motivated enough to take some old photos that have been stored in a shoe box and organize them into albums.  So....again there's a POSITIVE & NEGATIVE to everything in life.

Pig Out of the Week: I was craving a little Pizza Hut (Pan Pepperoni & Mushroom).  So I called for a delivery thinking I'd eat a couple pieces and it would last me a couple days.  Nope, 5 pieces was in my belly by 1 pm and the whole pie was non-existent by 6pm.

Maternity Photo Shoot:  One of my co-workers, Melissa Robinson, is a very talented photographer.  We were able to get some pics done right before I was admitted to the hospital.  They turned out so beautiful.  Here is the link to her blog post....ENJOY!!!!  http://www.melissarobinsonblog.com/2012/10/18/claudette-ponte-vedra-maternity/

27 Weeks (7 more to go!)

27 Weeks

I have been inpatient with continuous fetal monitoring for 3 whole weeks!  Each day when I'm sitting in my recliner it feels like an eternity.  However, when I look back it's gone by a lot faster than I thought.  The weekdays are long and boring, but my weekends are usually busy w/ visitors.  I look forward to my weekends because my wonderful friends & family bring me all kinds of treats.  Even though I'm full, I force-feed myself even though I feel like Fat Bastard afterwards...LOL!!!  Tx goodness I passed my 1 hour Glucose Tolerance Test!  I celebrated by eating a bunch of candy that Leah brought me, hee hee!  My belly gets really tight & hard and breathing is definitely difficult.  I eat like it's my last meal on earth!  But, I'm to the point where hospital food all tastes the same whether it's beef/chicken/pork!  My energy level has decreased to the point that I'm so exhausted just from taking a shower.  Even talking makes me short of breath.   Imagine that!

Belly Update: My belly has gotten so big that one of my nurses had to cut my leggings down the middle just so it would fit me....I ended up throwing those away...LOL!  It was painful trying to fit in pre-pregnancy leggins, what was I thinking?!  Oh yeah....laundry needed to be done and had nothing else to wear.   NEVER AGAIN!!!

Cleavage:  I've never had much of a cleavage & always admired them on other people.  But now I've realized that I like the smaller boobs.  Why?  Because now that I have somewhat of a cleavage, I'm starting to collect crumbs in my little cleavage & it is NOT CUTE!  Plus chocolate stains.....Hee Hee!  

2 Heads are better than 1!  This is the only pic we can get of them together.

Twinnies Update:  THEY HAVE HAIR!!!  Can you believe it?  I knew Rob & I would have hairy babies, we both had afros when we were born.  A hairy Italian & a hairy Filipino....good mix for little hairy ITALIAPINO BABIES!  On the serious side, ultrasounds are still showing very good blood flow through the umbilical cords and the babies are doing a good job practicing their breathing.  They have stayed in the same position this past week because they're getting bigger and have less room to move.  They are side by side, head to head, w/ their heads on the RIGHT side of my belly.  They are easier to find with the fetal monitor and some nights I can get 4-5 hours of uninterrupted sleep because they are staying on the monitor.

Biggest Accomplishment for the Week:  I CAN STILL PAINT MY TOE NAILS!!!   YAY YAY YAY!!!  One of my nurses offered to do it for me, but I told her that I want to do as much for myself while I can, very nice gesture though.

Rob dozing off, after a sleepless night worrying about my emotional breakdown the day before.

Weekly Low: I was so happy to not have an emotional breakdown for over a week, but the littlest thing sets me off.  All it took was Rob to tell me that Ms. Kitty was peeing in the house and he used a frustrated tone....this threw me over the edge!  Then my mother-in-law called and told me that Kitty has been peeing even before I went in the hospital.  Well, I became so defensive, my animals do not do wrong when I'm around....Are you Kidding Me?!  Nobody can accuse my animals of such things but ME!!!  I take all my anger and frustrations out on Rob & then I have to remind myself "Claudette, what are you thinking, this man is doing EVERYTHING for you!  So GET OVER IT!"  But, it's hard to listen to myself and I end up crying all day cause I'm Mad & Sad all at the same time.  Poor Rob was so worried about me he didn't get any sleep.  So when he stopped by during work, he dozed off.  Every time I have an emotional breakdown the poor guy doesn't get much sleep. I knew it was time to call my acupuncturist and so I did.  Apparently, my Fire was low, and this has something to do w/ feeling in-control.  She's so right...I felt that if I was at home, I would have the Kitty situation under control and she wouldn't be peeing all over the place.  I have to learn to let things go, they are out of my control.  Actually, I'm learning that as a patient and even pregnancy....THERE IS NO CONTROL.  Acupuncture really helps....I felt like a different person the next day.  I'm the 1st patient that's had acupuncture as inpatient in the Labor & Delivery unit. 

Chocolate Explosion all the way from O-Town

Shout Out!!!:  Tx Cheryl for the delicious banana bread and chicken noodle soup, it always warms the soul.  Tx to Ashley for brining me my Coobie Bras and the chocolate chip cookies, nice little treats throughout the day.  Tx Melissa for stopping whenever you're at work and bringing me lunch.  Tx to Chrissy for the Boba and Filipino candies.  Tx to mom/dad for keeping me company on the weekdays and all the yummy homecooked Filipino dishes.  Tx to Maria for feeding the animals on the days that Rob is working.  Tx to Virdeo & Chien for the 4Rivers BBQ and ginormous cupcakes from O-Town!!!  Oh, let's not forget the Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks....YUM!!!  Also Tx to Leah & Natalie for the Food Coma brought on by my Big Fat Chipotle Burritto!!!