5.27.2010

Quickie Update

Just a quick M&M update. Looks like they won't be making their appearance anytime soon! (Well, soon being a relative term, meaning not this weekend!) We had our 35 week appt today and everything was great. The babies actually picked up quite a bit of weight in the past week. Ryan was measuring right at 4lbs 14oz and Quinn was at 4lbs 9 oz. Quite a change from their 4lbs 2oz and 4lbs even, respectively, that there were last Thursday! And believe me, I feel every last ounce :) Or my back does at least.

So because their growth increase was so good, they weren't in danger of falling below that 10th percentile mark yet. All the fluid around them looks fine & they seem to be really cozy in there -- so we'll hang on for at least another week! I go back next Thursday to check things out.

Little Miss Quinn (who is becoming quite the princess) has flipped once again and is now transverse breech. Butt first. Awesome. Looks like a c-section may be the way we are heading.

To be honest, I wouldn't complain too much about that -- after worrying incessantly about her for the last 12 weeks or so, I will just be eager to get her into this world quickly and into the hands of the people who can help her. But whatever the doctor decides is best for them will work for me.

Hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend! Thanks for 94-95 degree temps here in H-town, I'll be camping out in front of the AC vent all weekend with a Sonic slush. Oh, the excitement!

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5.24.2010

Updated pictures!

Matt & Meagan - approx 32 weeks
Front belly - 32 weeks

Whoa - side belly


My great friend Kendra

Wonderful shower hostesses, Ash & Erin from Houston shower


Me & the grandmas

Meagan and "GiGi"


Holy diapers.


Changing table/dresser




Sweet little outfits

Beginning stages of closet (it looks 100 times better than that now!)

Ryan's crib



Quinn's crib, complete with "baby tv"
Lovely recliner with their monogrammed "lovies"
There are more pictures to come, especially from my Dallas shower. Have a great day!


5.21.2010

A New Chapter

Next Thursday I will officially become unemployed. Not by force, thank goodness, but by choice. When we found out we were having twins last fall, I started doing a little research on daycare options. And whoa, it quickly became evident that putting 2 infants in daycare would only be worth it if I was making beaucoups of $$$.

And I work for a non-profit, so I don't :)

So next week is my last week of work and I am feeling somewhat bittersweet about it. I am excited because it means I am beginning a new chapter of "Stay at Home Mommyhood" (at least for the time being). But obviously I am going to miss my work.

Since graduating college, I have been a temporary employee at a personnel service (the economy was really bad in '02), a Center Director at an educational/tutoring center, an Investment rep/Personal Banker (5 years of h.e.l.l.) and finally, a Communications/Admin Director of 2 wonderful churches for the last couple of years .

I can honestly say that working for a church was a curveball I never anticipated as I pranced and partied my way through my college years. But God had other plans for me. And 2 1/2 years later, I am incredibly grateful & humbled to have had the privilege.

It has been the most wonderful, spiritually challenging, and engaging job I have ever held. And mostly because I didn't so much consider it a job -- instead it has just become my way of life.

Sure, not all days are perfect. Just because you work for a place of worship does NOT mean that everything is always hunky-dory and without conflict and trial. After all, we are still just flesh and human - and we fall. A lot. Way more than I would care to admit.

But there is a certain comfort in knowing that you are ultimately working for something bigger than yourself - and it's truly humbling.

And I will miss it dearly.

So now it's time to open a new chapter. To a life where sleep deprivation is commonplace, there is no salary, no 401K options, no insurance. To snotty noses, dirty diapers, and hysterical crying (maybe from all 3 of us!). To sweet smiles, cuddly coo's, and that wonderful clean baby smell. To first laughs, first teeth, and first steps.

And I can't wait.

No doubt it will probably be the hardest job I have ever held. But I am willing to try. I feel truly blessed that I have the opportunity to do so - I know that not everyone does. And I also know that it's not for everyone to be a SAHM --- I don't know if it's right for me. But we'll find out.

(Editor's note: Stay at home mom vs working mom is a VERY personal decision. Every mom has to do what is right for their family and it's different for everyone. I do NOT wish to enter into a debate about which is harder, which is better, etc. I know a myriad of success stories to support either side. For us, financially and otherwise, staying at home is right for us. But I 150% support all of the mom's who work a 40 hour+ week outside the home AND come home to raise their children. Major kuddos.)

Soon enough, I will become a mommy. Wow. I am scared.to.death. Now that the due date is quickly approaching, I am trying to switch over from "incubator" mode to mommy-mode. It can be easy to forget that during this pregnancy thing, you are actually preparing for 18+ years of parenthood. (Kind of like when you are engaged and you get caught up in "wedding fever" and the excitement of getting new china --- and you forget for a time being that you are preparing to be MARRIED for the REST OF YOUR LIFE.)

At any rate, they will be here before we know it. At our doctor's appt yesterday, he said it would probably be sometime in the next couple of weeks (I am 34 weeks tomorrow, so they would still be early, but not devestatingly so). Their growth has started to slow in the last couple of weeks - the poor M&M's are just running out of room! Right now, they are a little over 4lbs apiece and they fall in about the 15th-18th percentile. If they fall below the 10th percentile, then my doctor will induce. At that point, you have to weigh (pun intended) their potential growth in utero to their projected growth once they are born.

So we'll see! I'll go back to see him next Thursday and will hopefully have a few more answers. The great news is that even though they are on the smaller side, they still look very healthy and Quinn seems to be tolerating her heart condition very well while in utero. She's a little fighter. And her big brother doesn't cause us any trouble at all which makes Mommy & Daddy uber-proud.

Life is going to look and feel dramatically different at the Clanahan house in just a few short weeks. It is only with a small amount of trepidation & fear that I say "Bring it On" :)

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