36 weeks

Who would have thought I would have made it this far into pregnancy? All the moms of twins I've spoken to had their babies at week 33 or 34, so I guess we're doing alright. The babies are growing like mad, a pound each in the last two weeks. Isabella weighed in on Friday at 6 pounds 1 ounce and Matthew at 5 pounds 8 ounces. Both received 8 out of 8 on their biophysical exam--I love to watch them practice their breathing. It's comforting to know that if they were born now they would be healthy but small babies. In the meantime, I am healthy but definitely not small. Imagine carrying almost 12 pounds of baby, plus two placentas and two sacs of amniotic fluid...needless to say, my feet are enormous and I can't really sleep at night (of course, I also can't toss and turn, so I've been using the time to read up on the first month of motherhood). I'll have to take a picture of this burgeoning belly and post it--the babies have dropped and now I only have a couple of options left in terms of pants. In thirteen days or less I will meet my little ones, and I can't wait.

35 weeks and counting...

Here are the latest pictures from the hospital. The top is Matthew's profile and the bottom is Isabella's face, looking out at us. You can see her eyes, nose, and mouth, and look at her big cheeks. They are both doing fairly well during their weekly biophysical exams--the first time they both were practicing their breathing and received 8/8 on the exam. The next time Isabella did her breathing exercises but Matthew didn't so he received 6 out of 8 and just yesterday it was Matthew who was practicing and Isabella who wasn't, so she got 6 out of 8 yesterday. I think there's just not enough space in there for them to both practice breathing at once. I feel that big, anyway. We'll take a picture of my belly and get it uploaded later on today.