23 weeks?!

Today I am 23 weeks pregnant.  I find that hard to believe (which I know I say every time).  Over the past week or so it's slowly been dawning on me that yes, indeed, there are babies in there and one day they'll want to come out.  I don't know why it suddenly hit me.  Maybe because the boys have been INCREDIBLY active lately.  (LOVE it.)  Maybe because we're just a week shy of "viability."  (Which, let's face it, is a great line to cross, but I'd REALLY prefer if these babies cooked a lot longer than that.)  Maybe because I'm just a month earlier than when my cousin had her triplets and that scares me.  A lot.

Or it could be the solid round mass that's sticking out in front of me and keeping me happily uncomfortable pretty much all the time.

Side note:  I absolutely love being pregnant.  Even when I feel like crap.  Even when gas is coming out of every orifice.  (Even my ears, I'm telling you.)  Even when every burp (and there are A LOT of them) brings up just a little of what I most recently ate (ick).  Even when I have forgotten what it is like to blow my nose and not see blood.  Even when my sides are hurting so much I can't roll over.  And, I'm not saying this as a "please don't think I'm complaining" thing.  I really, really mean it.  Yes, I've been very lucky -- other than the initial OHSS and hematoma, things have been pretty easy so far (please don't let me jinx this).  My morning sickness really wasn't bad. My energy level is pretty good all things considered.  My cervix quickly returned to normal when I stopped overworking and hopefully will stay that way.  But, really, I can't stop staring at my belly.  I can't keep my hands off of it.  I'm absolutely fascinated by the size and shape of it.  The solid masses that suddenly push out when one of the boys is rearranging himself.  The flutters, the thumps.  The "stop bending over, mom, it's getting tight in here" thwacks.  The waddle I'm starting to develop.  The whole thing is just amazing and incredible.  I can't believe my body is doing this.  I really can't. 

Anyway... next week is Spring Break.  This semester has gone by so quickly.  My DH and I have both been ridiculously busy this semester.  We both have new classes and barely see each other.  My new class has pretty much been sucky -- well, that's not true, it's been OK.  It just has been cobbled together in a way that I would normally never let happen.  But, I just haven't been able to do anything else with it.  Not and keep up with my other classes and obligations (vaguely).  Normally I work a lot at night to prep for my classes and grade.  That really hasn't been an option this semester -- I'm lucky if I manage not to fall asleep as soon as my butt hits the couch when I get home.  And, the weekends?  Yeah, I take home my work and then barely manage to get up to do laundry or eat.

So, yeah, I'm doing enough to just get by.  Which, as long as I don't think about it too much, I'm OK with. 

BUT, I suddenly realized this week that the average gestation for twins is 36 weeks.  Um, that's just 13 weeks from now!  Just about three months.  Now, I'm really, really hoping to go to at least 36 weeks and maybe make it all the way to the 38 week mark (the max the MFM will let me go to).  But, even that is just 15 weeks from now.  No matter what, we are less than four months from these babies getting here and we have done NOTHING to prepare for them.  Not. A. Thing.  I think I've been afraid to do it.  I've been overwhelmed at the idea.  I've been exhausted.

Four months?  That's a long time.  But, uh, it could be a lot shorter. And, I truly don't anticipate my or my husband's workload getting any better in the next 9 weeks (that's how much more of the semester we've got left).  And, yeah, waiting until I'm 32 weeks pregnant with twins to start planning for their arrival?  That sounds like a BAD idea.

We've got some random clothes and stuff like that (mostly from my MIL) but not even any PLANS for the big items.  I've at least started a list of what we need, but I haven't even thought about how we're going to GET said items.  The main reason is that we've got no place to put them.  We've GOT to get things out of the room that is currently stuffed with books and the rest of my office stuff so we can fit the babies in there.  I'm stymied as to how to do it.  There's really no place to put it all in the house and I'm just not sure where it all will go. But, it's just GOT to be done.  Soon. And, the only time that will happen is next week.

So, Spring Break will be "Get the crap out of the nursery" week.  My DH is going to build some new bookshelves to hopefully re-house some of the books in the guest room.  (He is only able to start a new cleaning project if it begins with him building something.)  I'm going to sit my ass in a chair and get rid of some stuff.  And, when I say "some" I mean "lots and lots of stuff." 

My mother is coming at the end of next week for a few days (yay!) and hopefully we'll be able to get started on the "to do/get" list.

I'm also hoping we'll get a little farther on our quest for a minivan.  We're looking at a few possibilities tomorrow while we're in "the big(ger) city" for my cervical scan (both a "jelly on the belly" and "pole in the hole" type if you'd like to know :) ).  If nothing looks good, we're going to have to go on another trek to Iowa.  Sometimes it sucks to live in the middle of nowhere.  Decent used cars are really nowhere around and, if one does appear, by the time we manage to get there the dealer is either a) closed or b) has sold it.

So, I really, really hope that at my 25 week update in two weeks I get to say "hey, look at this, it looks like we might at least be imagining that there are babies arriving here at some point!"  I'm not fooling myself -- there won't be a gorgeous, decorated nursery like the amazing ones some of my bloggy friends have made (SO jealous!) -- that is not my forte.  But, I'm hoping there will at least be a place to put a couple of cribs and store baby stuff.  And, a plan for strollers and car seats and things like that.

If not, I've heard you can stick the kids in dresser drawers for a while.