My Horizontal Life

The Hacker, aka my wonderful husband Rich, is reminding me it's time for an update and I figure I should fill you in before he hacks into our blog again and does it for me :).

As the headline indicates (as well as "the Hacker's" entries), I've landed my large basketball shaped belly on strict bed rest for showing signs of preterm labor that I didn't even know I had. And, I'm happy to say, I've completed two full weeks already (let's not talk about the fact that I hope to stay here for the next 6-8 weeks).

There are different levels of bed rest (who knew?) and "strict bed rest" means I can shower every-other day (for 7 minutes! - this is the only rule I break), sit up to eat and get up to go to the bathroom (which is often). No preparing meals, no stairs, no sitting up to update blogs. It's kind of a challenge since I am not a book reader (love magazines) nor TV junkie (like movies though) and it's wiped out my social calendar and all sense of vanity (however, I scream every time I pass a mirror and realize this is my "au naturale" look :). However, I am not complaining. The longer the babies stay put, the greater chance they have at having healthy lives. I want that more than anything. I want it so badly.

Far too many people have told me that they wish they were on bed rest. I'm convinced these people have never actually been on bed rest because they don't realize the unbelievable worry for your baby/ies well being that goes along with it. I know what they mean though - mandatory R&R; who doesn't want that (minus the worry).

Anyway, enough of that. I have changed while on bed rest. I've read one book, watched countless movies and have become a TV junkie. I need the boys to stay put so I can watch The Biggest Loser (always been a fan) that starts a new season next week as well as a new show, Undercover Boss. I also have the Hollywood award shows and the Olympics lined up in my very busy day planner :). I've reconnected with The Young & The Restless and am a big fan of Dr. Oz. I've also got to read the Twilight series and complete the puzzle book thing my friend's gave me as part of a care package (such awesome friends!!). These same friends also gave me Season 1 of Gossip Girl, which I had never seen. My husband makes me wait for him to watch it and went out and bought Season 2 after we finished the first one. I'm not sure I'd watch it if not for bed rest but we truly are addicted. We've had some marathon days and I'm getting a little concerned. My dreams now are in the form of Gossip Girls. I don't know if you've seen it but in my dreams, I get texts informing me of other people's secrets and next thing you know, all of Chaska (upper east side of NYC) knows it. Of course I'm Blake Lively in my dreams.....and then I wake up and pass that all telling mirror :)

Anyway, you'll all have to go on bed rest just to have enough time to read my yet again, looonnnngggg entry.

Horizontally yours (wow, that sounds really good),

Nichole, with an h

Jay-Z, Victor and number 32

Nichole finds it odd Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter was on Oprah. Is excited for the return of Victor to Y&R and can't wait till 32 weeks. Rich, on the other hand, cannot stand Oprah, thinks "Days" is a far superior daytime soap and also cannot wait till 32 weeks. Lots of good qt with the missus though. Merry Christmas everyone. Better hunker down for the storm of the century!

Greetings bffbabies junkies. Rich here posting a blog on behalf of Nichole (w/ an H). As you can see she's laying on her ass. I'd better get used to it, because as of December 15th, she is on strict bed rest. No that is not our bed at home, it's at the hospital. Signs of pre-term labor led Nichole to getting checked into Methodist on Tuesday. She had some testing done to make sure she wasn't going to go into full blown labor anytime soon. Tests came back negative...so we got that going for us, which is good. We are still here as of Thursday night, because of a regiment of steriods to promote lung growth in the babies. Additionally, Nichole was being administered doses of Magnesium to open her blood vessels and relax the muscles. It helps settle the uterus down and decreases the contractions. She still gets little contractions here and there, but her cervix is holding steady and we'll likely get her checked into Casa 2304 Van Sloun Rd tomorrow. But it's rest, rest, rest for Nichole. The silver lining in all of this, well, many, actually:

1.) Nichole is healthy.
2.) The boys are healthy.
3.) They are getting superb care at Methodist.

Peace and Love, Peace and Love.

24 Week Bellies

The boys have officially passed the dainty little girl in size.

Ultrasound Update

I went to the doctor on Monday for a follow up ultrasound (25 weeks, 3 days). It's a routine ultrasound to measure the growth of twins. Apparently they typically start growing at different rates during or after the 23rd week. The boys are doing awesome (and they confirmed that they still appear to be boys :). They said Baby A was measuring about 7 days ahead of his age and Baby B was measuring 5 days ahead of his age (I think my due date really is 5 days earlier based on the formula they tell you to use to determine your due date). They both are estimated to weigh over 2 pounds (2.5 lbs. and 2-3/4 lbs.) and have normal heartbeats (147bpm and 150bpm), We were nervous for the ultrasound because we've heard about complications particularly during this time, so we were thrilled by the results.

However, we weren't even thinking about me (why would we?). The technician asked if I had been working out a lot (ha, that's hilarious) but I had just returned from a really busy tradeshow in Chicago, a 12-hour day of shopping, two rigorous days of house work, etc....long story short, apparently my cervix is "shortening". They used to compliment me on my long cervix, not sure where those days went :) It's measuring at 2.6 (the numbers go in descending order - and apparently the shortening and thinning of the cervix is one of the first things that prepare the body for labor - I need to catch up on my books to understand this better) and the technician said the doctor would probably put me on bed rest or partial bed rest. Luckily, our female 12 year old version of Doogie Howser (not our normal MD), must have sensed that I expected bed rest to come with a straight jacket (at least this early). I was extremely relieved when she said she was not worried but that I'd have to come in on a regular basis to check my cervix. Sweet. Well, here I am, taking it easy and providing far too many details on our blog :).

I'd love to show you ultrasound pics (our babies have really cute feet, if I do say so myself :) but we don't automatically get them on CD like Nicole does. I have the cheap insurance :). Take my word for it, they are beautiful - the feet and the babies.

- Nichole, with an h

Black Friday Shopping at 24 Weeks

This is our cart after loading up the back of Nicole's Tahoe SUV for 5 hours (this was taken at 9 a.m.).



This is Nicole's SUV after we shopped for 12 hours (breaking the kids in early).



My share (by the way, I finished my shopping that day for Christmas and birthdays through July). A couple of screaming and pooping boys will not throw off my game (I'm laughing as I say this, knowing I will have no idea what is coming our way). I love birthdays! :)

Week 20 bellies

Thanksgiving Shopping 2009

It has been a little bit since I've blogged, actually I think it was when we found out we were having a girl. That news has sunk in and we are all getting use to adding pink to our house. I had good a friend bring over one of their daughter's tu-tus. It is so cute and I can't believe we are going to have someone running around in one of those.

Yesterday (Black Friday) Nichole and I went shopping. When I say we went shopping, we WENT SHOPPING. We met at 3:45am at Kohls at EP mall and didn't end until 4:30pm. Some of you might say WHAT? 2 pregnant women shopping for 12 1/2 hours???? Yes we did it.

We had many pregnancy brain moments throughout the day, some funny looks and comments from random people. At one place while we were checking out, the cashier said to me "You'll probably end the day at the hospital". WHAT I'm 23 1/2 weeks pregnant, I better not end up at the hospital. I immediately turned to Nichole and said to the woman, "we aren't due until March". Nichole proceeded to add that she was having twins. So basically the woman thought I was huge and ready to pop. Mind you she had 7 children, I just chalked it up to her having no brain left after 7 kids.

Another funny thing that happened, was my husband (Brian) wrote us a note for our shopping trip. It was actually a top ten list. I'll give you the general highlights. "don't spend too much money, have fun, something about what men like, life is short and something about larger body parts" We read it while we were waiting in line and couldn't stop laughing.

Nichole has some great pictures of my car (a Tahoe that we filled to the top) and us trying to fill her car with her stuff. It barely fit. I'm sure she will post them.

All in all it was a great day, very productive with lots of laughs. 90% of my shopping is done!!!

Baby Bellies - ~16 weeks

Baby Bellies - ~12 Weeks

Random Thoughts

Rich informed me that I was due for a blog update but not much is going on so you're subject to my random thoughts of the day. First, raise your hand if you are even half as excited as I am that the other Nicole is having a girl!! A GIRL!!!! How awesome is that? Too bad my boys will have to fight over her :). Nicole will be an EXCELLENT mother to a girl....but you already know that.

So here's my other random thoughts for the day. Today I'm finishing the 3rd day of my 21st week, so just over half way. I never would have guessed pregnancy was for me but so far it's been great. Here are some of the highlights:

Favorite things -

1. Baby Bargains book ($20, Target) - as a first-time mom, this book is a Godsend. However, I think it sells itself short by its name. It should be something that resembles Consumer Reports. It gives you the Cliff Notes on things to look for in baby - everything - furniture, necessities, etc; keeps you updated on recalls and helps you try to save money. Love it, love it, love it.

2. Underground parking - I dig the maternity leave at work but the underground parking priviledges is top notch - especially during the winter months! It doesn't get much better than that!!

3. Low battery in the scale - The timing couldn't be better for the battery in our scale to be losing its power. Everytime I step on it-it says the same thing...."LO". I may just have to take a picture.

4. "Be Belly" belly band ($15, Target) - I don't know when it came into this world, but right next to the Baby Bargains book, it's one of the best inventions ever! Clearly a women stepped in and developed this halter-looking belly band that has been key in helping transition from regular clothes to maternity clothes.

5. Advice and stories - I love hearing about other people's experiences and their advice. Although sometimes these stories overwhelm me (especially the "you should do this" or "you have to do that"), I've learned a lot of useful things that I will take with me forever.

6. Ultrasounds - I love getting a sneak peak at what "the kids" are doing. Even more, I love getting a healthy growth and development report! They seem to monitor twins more than single babies so we "get to" have more ultrasounds. They say that twins tend to grow at different rates particularly after 23 weeks so we'll get another ultrasound in December. I hope the boys are doing their one and only job right now - grow, grow, grow (well, and share).

7. Baby gifts - I'm not going to lie, it's fun getting miniature little outfits, books, blankets, etc. It's hard to connect the dots that these cute little things are for our babies. It's still so surreal. The ultrasound and news of two boys was a huge dose of reality but it's worn off a bit (believe it or not), so the hanging of baby-sized gopher sweatshirts helps give us cues to what is going to happen in several months, as odd as that sounds. Please, this is by no means what-so-ever a request for gifts. Believe me.

8. Nice comments about Nicole and my blog. I love hearing from people that they enjoy reading our stories. A couple have said it's weird.....so be it (maybe it's because my posts are always far longer than they need to be). It's fun to hear the positive comments - oh, and to see that we are not the only two followers! :)

9. I could go on and on but the thing I love the very most is a doting husband and dog. Okay, well Lola is not so doting but she is following me around and very loving. I feel like a celebrity. Rich, on the otherhand, has offered to do all of my ironing as long as I am pregnant (love that) and has been very good at making sure I'm taken care of. I could get used to this!! He's a great husband and will be an even better dad.

So there you have it....my random thoughts for the day.

- Nichole, with an h

It's a girl

For those of you who haven't heard yet, I am having a girl. There are 4 boys in this house (including the dog) and we are adding a girl. I must say I was a little shocked when the ultrasound tech said "It's a girl". I started laughing like someone that belonged in a straight jacket. I kept telling my self it was a girl, but when it became official, I guess it was a little more than my little brain could handle.

Now a little more than 24 hours after, I'm getting excited for another girl in this house. Thanks to some friends there are already 2 pink outfits in the house.

Nicole

Sweet Dreams

I've been reading a lot about, well, everything - what's going on with my body, baby necessities (i.e. car seats), what's going on with the babies, etc. and along the way I read a brief article about the prevalence of vivid dreams. That is one thing that I will always remember about my pregnancy (seems many of my friends do not remember this as a defining characteristic of their pregnancies). I've had the most vivid dreams - and I have them often. In the article they talked about common dreams like going back to an old boyfriend or having your husband leave you (and they explained that as being a result of not feeling attractive). I was relieved that I had not had either of those dreams until I thought about the dreams I had been having. I have dreamt, on more than one occasion, about terrorist attacks and school shootings. Ironically no one gets hurt, it's just very scary and I wake up in a panic, of course (great way to start out the work day). I always have to wonder what terrible meal I ate the night before that may have contributed to such an awful dream (lobster gives me nightmares - but I haven't had any lobster). If I had to guess, I'd say it's associated with all the worries and fears that accompany caring for another human life. Luckily, I haven't had either of those dreams in awhile.

Anyway, last night I had a vivid dream where I was at a professional sporting event (Vikings, Wild, not sure which) and I went to the pro shop only to find just beach wear and beach themed souvenirs. I was looking at a two piece swimsuit (only in my dreams), when the sales associate asked me, "Is it hard to be so big?". Annoyed, I asked, "How much is this?", she responded with, "It's not going to fit you. You're huge." I looked at her like 'are you for real'? Wanting to seriously hurt her, I regained as much composure as I could and said, "I'm pregnant. It's temporary but your rudeness is permanent. You're screwed." She responded with, "Oh I didn't realize you were pregnant." I responded with, "Obviously." How does that happen?! It felt so good to say what I thought, even though I said it a little nicer than what I could have.

I haven't had anyone tell me - yet - how huge I am but I am bracing myself. As a woman, you are never comfortable having people evaluate your size (too big or too small) on a daily basis. The backwards thing is I can't wait to get huge (and then get it over with :). I've heard so many stories about premature twins that all I want is for my babies to continue to grow, grow, grow and then come out healthy and hearty (like their parents) and ready to meet the world. I'm glad I put this in print so in a couple months when I am huge, I will remember it is what I wished for :).

Sweet dreams,

- Nichole, with an H and the twin baby boys

Healthy babies

Ok Nichole and I want healthy babies, but this is maybe a little too healthy.




A woman in Indonesia has given birth to a 19-pound baby boy, the heaviest birth ever recorded in the country, according to Agence France-Presse.

The unnamed baby measures in at 24.4 inches long, and was born by a caesarean procedure on Monday at a public hospital in North Sumatra province.

"This heavy baby made the surgery really tough, especially the process of taking him out of his mum's womb. His legs were so big," Binsar Sitanggang, a gynecologist who took part in the operation, told Agence France-Presse.

The baby boy initially was given oxygen to overcome breathing problems, but seems to be in a healthy condition, according to the gynecologist.

"He's got a strong appetite, every minute, it's almost nonstop feeding," Sitanggang told Agence France-Presse.

The enormity of the baby is most likely related to his mother, Ani, 41, having diabetes, Sitanggang told reporters. If a diabetic mother’s glucose levels are too high during pregnancy, the baby may grow too large because of high glucose intake.

Ani had to be rushed to the hospital after complications with the pregnancy. The big baby boy is her fourth child, and the only one not delivered by traditional midwife.

The Indonesian boy weighs in a bit short of the world record, currently held by a 23-pound baby set in 1879.

The baby boy is sure to be a handful for his mother, with a baby’s cry that sounds more like a lion’s roar.

“This baby boy is extraordinary; the way he’s crying is not like a usual baby. It’s really loud,” Sitanggang told Agence France-Presse.



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2009/09/24/2009-09-24_big_baby_boy_weighs_in_at_19pounds_at_birth_in_north_sumatra_indonesia.html#ixzz0UTlepEO0

God is Sooo Funny

I've had a fair number of practical jokes played on me in my time but this one takes the cake :). We went to our Level II ultrasound today with no intention (at least I had no intention) of finding out the sexes of our twin babies, so we told the technician right when we walked in the room. After extensive measurements of "Baby A" she said, "okay I'm going to look to see what sex it is; close your eyes," so we did. Then she continued as Rich squirmed in his seat like ants had just landed in his pants. I decided to bite, "do you want to find out?" He said "yes, this is too hard". The technician advised us not to make any brash decisions so when she left the room to give me a short break before measuring "Baby B" I said, "okay, if she can check Baby B and be sure of the sex so we can find out at the same time, I'll agree to it." Like an excited child Rich said, "Okay, deal." Then I quickly squeezed in one more stipulation: I get the middle name I wanted to follow the world's most beautiful girl's name we had already selected. "Deal!" he said again.

Long story short, sure enough, the technician knew both sexes. "Two boys!" That's when I blacked out. Not really, but it was quite a shock to both of us because we expected it to be two girls or one of each. Neither of us ever dreamed it was two boys. I'm still in shock and my emotions have been all over the board today but one thing, actually two things, have been consistent throughout all of the out of control hormonal emotions: I am truly madly in love with these boys, and I feel unbelievably blessed.

More importantly, both babies, I mean boys, appear healthy and are growing as expected. Baby A weighs 10 oz and his heartbeat was at about 156 bpm and Baby B weighs 11 oz and his heartbeat was about 167 bpm. Both had 10 fingers and 10 toes and are measuring a few days further along than what we are (18 weeks, 3 days).

I can't wait to meet these little buggers. Yes, God, I am laughing. Ha ha.

- Nichole, with the twin boys and the H

Who's the Boss Now?

Earlier this week Rich and I were walking out of the mall and talking about our class reunions next summer and at some point Rich said, "We don't have to do anything we don't want to do next summer" (more like we may be tied down at home learning how to change diapers, is what I think he meant). I responded with, "Yeah, we can just blame it on the babies." At that very moment, "Baby A" responded with a big kick. So big, I had to stop walking and hold my stomach for a second. It was that very moment that I realized who is now the boss of me. Goodbye, Independent Thinking. Your decisions are now made by the tiny little "angels" within you :).

- Nichole with the twins (and the H)

P.S. Nicole and I have been taking pictures of our growing bellies every month to follow our growth but for reasons that will bore you, we cannot post them yet. More to come....

I think I know.............

Last night at dinner it hit me when I went into the bathroom. I'm having a girl. Why you ask? Well as weird as this sounds my underwear is starting to hurt. This kid is sitting much lower than the first 2 (both boys). I'm now convinced I am having a girl. Bye for now. I'm going underwear shopping Oh Joy!!

Oh and for my partner in crime who isn't sure if she wants to find out the sex of her twins. I told her I would write an essay on why she should find out. Here it goes. Do what feels right! Good luck on Monday!!

To Find Out or Not to Find Out

Nicole is right. She and I are sharing this awesome journey and I couldn't be more thrilled to be sharing my first (and likely last) experience with pregnancy with her. We've been the best of friends since we were 9 (and we're AT LEAST 20 years older than that now) and have already shared so much along the way. We could not have planned this better. I'm thrilled.

However...although we see eye-to-eye on most things, our personal preferences tend to be quite different. She likes Pepsi. I like Coke. She welcomes chaos. I avoid it at all costs. She buys 7 gallons of milk at Costco at a time (for a week). I despise milk. She finds it absurd that expecting parents would not find out what they are having as soon as they can. I have never wanted to find out. In her first entry she mentioned that we both cannot wait to find out. My husband and I never wanted to find out but since we're having twins, we've started to sway toward finding out - and then back again to not finding out. It may be a game time decision. Nicole, feeling passionately about the need to find out, says she will put together a proposal for us before our ultrasound on Monday. I look forward to it. In the meantime, I'd love to hear your stories. Did you find out? Why or why not and would you change do it differently if you could?

Why start a blog? You have political views you want to share, you have a great product or company you want to talk about, or maybe you have a pet iguana that you want to show off to the world. No none of these. Best Friends named Nichole & Nicole are pregnant and due days apart. For now we'll call them "H" and "No H".

H is pregnant with her first children, yes twins! No H is pregnant with her 3rd child.

We will be taking pictures and sharing our story with you along the way.

We are both scheduled for level 2 ultrasounds October 19 and 26th. We will find out what all these kids are going to be sooner rather than later.

There was a woman who told a joke about "women who want to wait until they give birth to find out the sex of the child". She said "it is surprise enough when you see a bowling ball coming out of your ------" We both need to know ASAP.