Saturday, August 23, 2008

Gold Medal for Bed Dismount in Preggo Mommy Olympics?




The Olympics are over and all the medals have been handed out but Kelly's medal progress isn't over yet. (Not sure if Kelly's is participating for the USA or Canada . . . we'll just say both so she can double her chances at medal contention).


Kelly's Events


*High jump . . . aka getting into and out of an elevated bed. Footage of this event could bring $100,000 to my family if uploaded to America's Funniest Home Videos or at least a viral email forward via YouTube. Judges promise my scores will increase as the weeks go on. If it's funny now, imagine at 35 weeks!

*Hurdles and Weightlifting . . . going up and down the stairs in my house, carrying a 23 month old, while stepping over shoes, toys and laundry baskets that were supposed to be brought up stairs by you know who (Ricky!)

*Synchronized swimming . . . bathing 3 kids (5 if you count how my belly gets wet now, even when I'm not in the tub or shower being utilized).

Sprints- 60 and 100 meter . . . length depends on how far away I am from a bathroom or cordless phone at any given time.

Triathlon . . . or rather an Octathlon? Wake-up, get kids ready for school, drop off at 2-3 different locations depending on day, (shower if time), keep almost 2 year old busy for several hours, straighten up house, pick up from school at 2-3 different times/locations depending on the day, homework, dance class, dinner, bath time, bedtime, pack up lunches for next day and whatever else pops up that needs doing. Now sprinkle in some doctor's appointments, grocery store trips and work here and there and there you have it. (Where are the people on the sidelines with water- I need to pour one over my head after just writing this).


Perhaps this would be a good time to give your own mother, father, sister, brother, friend, whoever is in your life raising and/or carrying kids (their own or Someone Else's) a HUGE hug for the job they do everyday . . . this includes Super Dads too, not just Super Moms! So often we overlook what a big job being a great parent is and since I'm writing about all these events above, I want to remind people there are tons of people who are doing similar things that I do everyday . . . and would like more than anything to be acknowledged for raising awesome kids- or at least have help for a few minutes so they can shower.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

The Incredible Expanding Woman




*Click photos to enlarge*


We had our appointments today and all went well. The baby girls are over a pound each which explains some of the 11 pounds I've gained so far. Actually, my doctor is very happy- since I usually pack on the preggo pounds! With my own children I'd say I easily gained 30-45 pounds each time (and that was with singletons)!

Women's Health Care Topics online describes where all the weight goes that a women will gain during the pregnancy . . .

Baby - may weigh between 6-7.5 pounds . . . obviously can be more, especially with twins.

Uterus - may weigh 2 pounds.

Placenta - generally weighs 1.5 pounds.

Breasts - may weigh up to 1.5 to 2 pounds.

Blood Volume - will increase during pregnancy up to 4 pounds.

Fluid - as much as 4 pounds.

Amniotic Fluid - weigh approximately 2 pounds.

Maternal Fat Stores and Nutrients - about 7 pounds of weight.


I think it's safe to say I probably had more "fat stores" in my last pregnancies versus a 15+ pound placenta. Especially since my kids weighed from 6 lbs 10 oz up to 7 lbs 8 oz.

When it comes to weight gain, a positive this time around will be I won't gain any after. I'm one of those women who puts on weight breast feeding instead of melting away the pounds- I'm the Le Leche League's greatest media fear!


From now on I"ll be seeing my OB every two weeks, so I'm sure I'll start to blog more often. We're getting close to beginning the third trimester- how close we are depends where you get your information. Some say the third trimester begins week 26, others say week 28 . . . all I know is regardless, it's going by really fast!