“4” Shower: We kicked off the month with a fun “4” themed shower in Galion – hosted by my LGQ girls from OU. They did a great job planning the shower while all being in separate cities! And their “subtle 4 theme” was so cute – they had 4 little duckies floating in the punch bowl, 4 types of fruit on the fruit-ka-bobs, petit four cakes, a huge “4” hanging up in the kitchen, and we played a couple “4” themed games. The one game was a “Final 4” bracket of 64 names – 32 boys and 32 girls. Each guest was asked to fill out the bracket and see how close they got to the bracket that Joby and I filled out together. Of course the bracket did not have our real names – just random names that the girls thought of from movies, TV shows, etc… Such a cute idea!
After the games it was time to open presents! Although I love getting presents as much as the next girl, I was shocked at how awkward I felt opening gifts at my bridal shower back in 2005. But I think opening baby gifts are a little easier than opening wedding gifts for some reason. We received so many wonderful gifts - everyone also gave us a children’s book, which I loved! During the shower I gave my sister a new charm for her Pandora bracelet that has 4 hearts on each side – to help remind her of the 4 babies that wouldn’t be on their way without her gracious sacrifice of love. I didn’t really think it would make her cry – but Joby was right, the waterworks definitely began. ;) After all the presents were opened, I said a few words to thank everyone for coming and for all of their enthusiasm for the babies. And also thanked those that had been waiting awhile for the babies – which caused me to also shed a few tears. Happy tears, of course! Such a wonderful shower shared with a lot of OU friends, my mom, my sister, and representation from the Harbaugh, McMullen, Turner, and Arata families as well. Thanks to Sherri, Jessica, & Lauren for an awesome shower that I will never 4-get. :)
8/8 Ultrasound: We had our monthly ultrasound with Carol at Riverside last Thursday. So fun to check in on the kiddos! As usual, we started off checking in on the boys. Much to their aunt’s dismay, the boys are still breach. Baby Boy A is the lower of the two – so he’s the one that we need to flip around, in order for Aunt Chrissy to avoid a C-section. Carol said that there was still time and space for Baby Boy A to flip around. Chrissy asked if she should start to get used to the idea of a C-section and Carol said that it probably wouldn’t be bad to start thinking about it. Baby Boy A is on her left and she said she had been talking to the baby on the right – so at least she knows where to focus her energy going forward. Last month the boys were facing each other, but Carol showed us that they were actually spooning each other that day - with Baby Boy B in the back of Baby Boy A. Baby Boy A must be stressed out about the pressure to flip from his aunt, because his heart rate was at 165. Baby Boy B was much more relaxed with a heart rate of 136. J After taking various measurements – Baby Boy A is estimated to weigh 2 lbs 1 oz and Baby Boy B is estimated at a 2 lbs 5 oz. Crazy to think my sister is carrying 4 lbs and 6 oz of Johnston boys in her!
As always, it was fun checking in on the babies and seeing them on the screen in 2-D format. Since the boys were spooning and the girls were facing each other – it was tough to get any good pictures of their faces. But Carol did show us one boy and one girl with the 3-D ultrasound. They are starting to look more like babies – but the 3-D images still look kinda scary to me. ;) We will continue to have monthly ultrasounds as long as the babies stay inside – so at least one more appointment in September and hopefully one more in October. September 4th is our next ultrasound with Carol – looking forward to seeing how big the babies are by then!
Froggy Shower & Diaper Party: Last weekend we had another shower – this one was local and thrown by my Columbus girls and my sister. This one was a froggy themed shower and probably the fanciest froggy shower you could ever imagine. Katie hosted and the girls did a great job decorating – thanks to some help from Kimmy B. Elphie made the froggy shower cake – a cake she’s been dreaming about making for YEARS. It was so amazing as you can see below. (Of course back then, she always said that they’d have to have my shower at the Nationwide arena downtown.) Sara also made these super-cute froggy cake-pops! Both the cake and cake-pops looked too cute to eat – but they were both quite yummy.
I ended up being about 25 minutes late to my own shower that morning. Luckily, my guests were understanding and they waited for me to arrive. Pretty sure it’s bad etiquette to be late for your own party – but me being late probably isn’t too shocking for those that know me. I actually showered and got ready ahead of time – but I was waiting for my mama to get into town. She had to work that morning back in Tiffin. We ate all of the delicious food that the girls had put together and just hung out for a little while. After that, it was time to play one quick shower game – which my mom did not play. She’s pretty famous among our friends for something she said at Chrissy’s baby shower years ago, “I hate stupid baby shower games.” ;) Tracy was our game host and she played songs with “baby” in them and everyone had to guess the title/artist for each song. I had actually made a similar kind of playlist for my IVF buddy – so I was familiar with most of the songs. With my love/obsession for music, it was a perfect shower game. Then it was time to open gifts! Since I had gotten some practice in at the Galion shower the weekend before, I felt more relaxed opening these gifts. Again, everyone was so generous and thoughtful with their gifts. Saying “thank you” just doesn’t seem like enough to express how much love we are feeling from everyone. Just like the Tiffin open house and the Galion shower, everyone was asked to bring a book for our kiddos. I love how our book collection continues to grow! During the shower, I got a little something for my sister again. This time I gave her some small decorate plates and a plate hanger - each of the 3 plates referenced her roles as mom, sister, and aunt. ;) The Troy/Columbus girls also went in on a gift certificate for her at a local spa - so sweet and thoughtful!
For this shower, we had my Troy girls (not sure that anyone’s husband has a more amazing set of friends from high school), my other Columbus girls, Debbie (thanks for making the trip), my sister, my mom, my aunt from Pittsburgh, friends from work, close neighbor friends, and some Troy kids’ mamas. So after all of the gifts were opened and I started to say a few words to thank everyone – the tears just started pouring out. At one point I felt like I was almost bawling– though they were happy tears. The majority of the folks at this shower have definitely been in for the long haul throughout this journey and since they are local – they’ve been a strong support system for us. I can’t even remember all that I said – but after I had managed to collect myself a little bit I do remember ending with something like, “We apologize for the delay and appreciated your patience along the way!” Thanks to Katie, Erin, Chrissy, Mel, Tracy, & Sara for such a wonderful shower!
Overall, we are both still feeling pretty good! The third trimester is pretty young, so I’m sure the larger we get – the more uncomfortable we may get as well. Chrissy has been getting charlie horses at night for quite some time. After telling my OU girls that I haven’t gotten any charlie horses, I got my first one that night in my calf. I wasn’t sure what to do – tried to point my toe, but that made it MUCH worse. So I did what any pregnant girl would do – woke up my husband! ;) He helped me to flex my foot and it went away. The next morning when I told my friends, they asked if I got up and walked around. Apparently, that’s what you’re supposed to do. My sister couldn’t believe that I had woken up Joby for my charlie horse. That was back in the beginning of August and I got my 2nd charlie horse last night. My husband is traveling for work this week – so I didn’t have the opportunity to wake him up! I did get out of bed and walked it off – it was painful, but eventually went away. For the first time in my life, I am experiencing some heartburn – at least that’s what I think it must be. Although I get it from time-to-time – I haven’t really put much effort into figuring out what foods are causing it to happen. Friends have asked if I’ve taken any Tums – but I haven’t yet. It doesn’t really bother me that much when it’s happening and I never think of it when I’m at the store. My sister hasn’t been having any heartburn – so maybe it is just when you’re carrying girls (this must be how these old wive’s tales get started). ;)
Other than my two charlie horses and occasional heartburn, I am noticing that things that wouldn’t normally wear me out are starting to wear me out sooner than I expect. Sometimes just walking down the street to my sister’s house will get me out of breath a little. And walking up the stairs will also do it. One day I went grocery shopping during my lunch break and realized half-way through the grocery store that I was going to have to carry my cold items into the building to be refrigerated for the afternoon. I managed to carry my one bag of cold groceries, a gallon of milk, and my purse into the buildling and get it into the fridge. When I was leaving – I also had my laptop bag on top of everything else. I would’ve asked for help – but most folks had already left or were in meetings. So I tried to carry it all and ended up leaving my groceries/milk in the grass on my walk to my mini-van. Then I just drove the mini-van up to pick up my groceries/milke. Seemed pretty pathetic at the time, but I figured taking it easy was best for the babies. All in all, really nothing to complain about – so far this pregnancy has been so good to us!
Both the boys and girls are moving around like crazy inside our bellies. Although I’ve been feeling the girls for a while, their movements definitely feel stronger these days. I can feel more movements rather than just a little flutter. As I was blogging tonight, I swear the girls were having a dance party inside my belly. I lifted up my shirt and was able to actually see them moving around on the outside, too. They must like the songs being played on my Pandora station! Alrighty - it's waaaay to late, this mama-to-be has GOT to go to bed. :)