The nursery---more choices!

Okay, I know I've shared the cribs I've chosen for the babies' room before, but now I've chosen more of the nursery decor and feel it's best to post everything together...so here again, is the crib I chose:


And here is the changing table/dresser:


And here is the bedding I chose:


And the big kid's version of the bedding to get a better idea of it:

And here is the rug I decided on...I'm having the wood floor painted white so I think the rug will really pop!

Oh, and I'm painting one of the walls spring green (to match these guys)

And I found these adhesive white circles to mount on the green wall...pretty cool!


It's really coming along. Of course, for now the room still looks like this!

17 week ultrasound

Last week I had a quick ultrasound to make sure everybody was secure in there...they routinely check the depth of my cervix to make sure I'm not beginning to dilate. This is typical for twins. While they were checking, which by the way, all is well cervixly speaking, they grabbed a few shots of the babies.

Here's a shot of both babies. Alia, always lying about like she's in a hammock is on bottom. Baby Boy is face down facing her feet above.


Here is Alia by herself...looking very comfortable...


And finally, here's Baby Boy, forever enjoying his face-down position. The stenographer assures me if he wanted to flip over, he could. I still feel sorry for him, though!

Sick of being sick!!! (In Treatment)

I haven't written lately because I've been couch-bound with a nasty cold/sinus infection. It's the worst I've had in my memory. This week I've literally done nothing but try to sleep, rest, try to sleep, and watch TV on the couch.

That said, I must confess to a new addiction...no, not American Idol...that is an old addiction. My new addiction is called In Treatment on HBO. If you haven't seen this show, here's the premise: It airs Monday thru Friday (9:30 p.m. here in California). Monday thru Thursday you sit in on therapy sessions with four different patients, one per day, with Paul, the shrink. On Friday, you sit in on Paul's therapy session with his shrink.

This show is so well-acted. It's story line is ever-twisting. The characters have so much depth. And drama!!! Wow, I just can't get enough of it. The first patient we're introduced to is Laura. She's a lovely woman around 30 years old. Over the course of the weeks, you learn she is an anesthesiology resident, very quick, bright, and witty. She's also a seductress, was a Lolita wanna-be as a teenager, and has developed feelings for Paul, which, in the world of psychology is labeled as transference.

Over the course of the weeks, she manipulates Paul, and does everything in her power to allure him into her lair. In one session, she tells Paul in explicit detail about how she got drunk and had a sexual encounter with a complete stranger in a bar bathroom, and in the following session shares that she has accepted a marriage proposal from her on again/off again boyfriend (whom she has basically manipulated into proposing by giving him an ultimatum---which she claims he delivered to her). All of this is done in an attempt to make Paul jealous and win him over. When that doesn't work, she sets her sights on one of Paul's patients, Alex. Alex is a whole other can of worms.

I guess if you have to be sick, and 18 weeks pregnant with twins, there is a remedy....called In Treatment!!!!

Rockin' Babies

Last week I heard on the radio that The Police were going to be playing at the Hollywood Bowl for one night, May 27th. Tickets were going on sale Sunday at 10 a.m. I immediately paged Ajay and planted to seed---what could be a better way to round out and celebrate my pregnancy?

So Sunday morning, we watched the clock like teenagers and called Ticketmasters at 9:59 a.m. After a 10 minute phone tree, it was official....we got tickets! I am so excited! The last real concert we went to was U2 in Amsterdam---when my sister-in-law was pregnant with Haylah... what could be better than keeping the legacy going by introducing new Lalvanis to rock concerts in-utero?!

Then I started doing the math. Ummm, let's see....I'll only be, like, let's see, May 27th...holy crap!!! I'm going to be 31 weeks....with twins!!!! As in, I sure hope I can make it to our seats and I sure hope the people in front of us are not the "stand on our chairs the whole concert" type of people! I hope I'm not the lady leaving the concert on a gurney in labor shouting "I love you, Sting!!!!".

But now that I think of it...then we'd have that...me and Sting, that is....we'd always have that special shared moment of me being wheeled out of his labor-inspiring concert on a double wide gurney....I could turn into the psycho fan that writes to him about how I named our little boy after him since I delivered at his concert...now that I think of it, little Sting Lalvani has a nice ring to it!!!!

You're pretty

Ajay and I spent the weekend in Los Angeles. This nice little get-away was to celebrate my birthday---36 already. Ajay arranged for us to go to some of our favorite restaurants and we also checked out a new place we hadn't been. It was a blast.

Now that I'm prominently displaying a soccer ball belly, I've noticed a change in people. People are definitely nicer to the pregnant girl. I'm allowed to use the employee bathroom that remains off limits to the general public. People go out of their way to pull out a shopping cart for me and open doors for me. More than anything, I notice people smiling at me.

Ajay has also noticed my new preferential treatment with enjoyment. He says there is absolutely nothing less threatening than a pregnant lady. Men feel comfortable talking to me because obviously they aren't trying to pick up on me and obviously I'm not pick up-able. In fact, we've both noticed that strange men are much more friendly to me. Ajay teases that I could easily walk up to any man on the street and ask him for his phone number or home address and they'd probably give it to me without question.

As we were wrapping up our weekend in L.A., we got onto the hotel elevator on the way to check out. A very sharply dressed African American guy was already on the elevator when we got on, me holding my belly when I entered---he looked up and said, "You look pretty". As we parted ways with our new friend, Ajay laughed out loud and said that his point is proven.

Baby Yoga

Yesterday, President's Day, Ajay had the day off. Both of us woke up feeling good and decided to go to a yoga class.

I went to the same class that I've always gone to, so I know a lot of the ladies in there as well as the teacher. I wore my signature all black outfit to camouflage my bump and sat in the back. The teacher always starts out with "any injuries I should know about? anybody pregnant?" So when I raised my hands (two for two babies) and said, yeah, twins, the whole class let out this collective "ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" and turned around with very sweet warm looks on their faces...very cute. My teacher knew that we'd been trying for a long time so she was extra in-tune to the modifications I needed to do to make room for Alia and Baby Boy. She also recommended trying out the prenatal classes they offer.

It was so funny how different my body reacts to the different poses....for one thing the forward bends while sitting...belly hits the legs...must spread 'em a little bit. Balance? What balance? I'm front-heavy! But it felt really good just to be back among the faces I know and attending a class.

So after yesterday's nice, warm experience, today I decided to give the prenatal class a try. I figured it would be a bunch a round women lying around on mats, and this assessment was not wrong. In fact, after the first 40 minutes, I started wondering when the class would really start. I need to build up some strength after all this modified bed rest and inactivity! Where are the standing poses? Where is the Proud Warrior? ......after the whole hour goes by, I realized the Proud Warrior doesn't live in prenatal class. There will be no strength training in these classes...although I must say that the stretching was fantastic and my back is happy we went.

17 week development

According to Babycenter.com, this is what's happening this week....

Our babies weigh 5 ounces now (about as much as a turnip, or 5 shots of tequila, depending on how you're more comfortable measuring), and they're around 5 inches long. They can move their joints. Their skeleton — until now rubbery cartilage — is starting to harden to bone. Their sense of hearing is also developing. The umbilical cord, the lifeline to the placenta, is growing stronger and thicker.

Breakfast of champions

I may have mentioned before that the two little people who live in my body seem to want sweet things to eat. As a result, I've been finding things like Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal in my shopping basket. Normally I'm a nutritious breakfast cereal girl...those days are in the past.

Upon bringing home this newly found "food", I realized that my babies are not the only ones in the house that crave such non-food items. It seems that Ajay, too, is a fan of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. How do I know this?

This morning, I went reached for the new box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, poured it into my bowl, and was surprised to find this:


In case it's difficult to deduce just how much cereal is in this bowl...it's roughly three bites. Why has this amount of cereal been left in the box? Talk about the ultimate psyche! Here I was thinking of my delicious and non-nutritious bowl of sugary goodness, and as I turn the box upside down, these last few pieces and a mound of end-of-the-box sugar and cinnamon dump into the bowl. And this isn't even the best part.

Torn as to whether this much cereal is worth the milk, (should I just start over with a new bowl of different cereal?) I decide what the hell, and reach for the milk...I shake my head as I pour the last two tablespoons of milk into this last 3 tablespoons of cereal. At least this strange, cereal and milk preserving husband of mine got the ratio right!

Valentine's Day

Today I woke up feeling pretty good...and why wouldn't I feel good...I slept 11 hours! I totally get needing extra sleep during pregnancy, but seriously....11 hours worth?

Since I haven't been much of a home maker these days outside of my wishful thinking about some day de-cluttering our closet and finally clearing out the room that the twins will share on arrival, I thought about how I could make Valentine's Day special for Ajay.

That's when reality hit me...I realized that it's not too hard to make a special day when my benchmark is so low. Lately dinner has been take out, left-overs from the one home made meal I manage to make every once in a while, cereal, something from the freezer...you get the picture...not quite keeping up with the standard I set for myself after I completed all those gourmet cooking classes. The truth is it's not laziness at all...I just haven't been able to get it together with all the puking and sleeping that's been going on around here!

So with that in mind, I thought a really nice home made dinner would be the one thing that Ajay would most appreciate...I've got energy today, so it'll be nice to use it to make Ajay happy! I also decided to make our favorite cupcakes (from scratch)---buttermilk cupcakes with chocolate sour cream frosting. They're delicious. So without further ado, I better get busy before the ability to pull off this dinner escapes, and the babies decide they'd rather take a nap.

Happy Valentine's Day!

16 week development

According to Babycenter.com, this week the babies are 4 1/2 inches long (head to bottom) and 3 1/2 ounces. Our babies are about the size of an avocado. In the next three weeks, they'll go through a tremendous growth spurt, doubling their weight and adding inches to their length. The patterning of their scalp has begun, though hair isn't recognizable yet. Although closed, their eyes are moving (slowly), and they're even started growing toenails. .

Feathering my nest...well, sort of....in spirit....

Now that our home addition is basically past, I've had more time on my hands. I don't spend hours on end figuring out how to better motivate the contractors to stay focused on our project (translate that to mean I don't make 50 calls a day asking each individual subcontractor, "hey, do you think the guys will show up today?"), and I don't spend the majority of days meeting with several people to make all sorts of decisions. That leaves me with time.

Now that I have time, I've turned my focus to things related to babies, of course. And more specifically, our home and it's unsuitableness for babies and children. We have polished concrete floors throughout. Very modern and stylish? Yes. Practical for baby people with no motor skills? No. Most of our furniture has sharp corners. A couple of pieces of our modern-design furniture have caused me minor injuries from sharp edges...imagine my poor wobbly babies!

I've also begun to notice clutter of all sorts. I can walk into any room....let's say the library/computer den. Last weekend I straightened and cleaned all the book cases. It looks pretty good. However, there is one little cubby whole driving me crazy...it's the one that holds all of Ajay's Anesthesiology magazines. Why? Why do I care about one cubby hole in a whole wall of built in shelving? I don't know. But I'm quite sure that without the Anesthesiology magazines dating back to 2001, our babies would have a better future. They would be able to breath better. They could perhaps spread their wings a bit more if they could benefit from the space that those magazines take up.

Now here is where I become a bit more self-critical. Rather than taking the time to sit down and write about my desire to clear out those old dusty magazines, why not actually clear out the dusty magazines? Okay, good point. And while I'm at it, why have I been meaning to clean out our closet for the past two weeks and it still remains untouched? I've spent more mental energy trying to motivate myself to clean the closet than it would actually take....and I'm not a procrastinator. Well, at least I wasn't before two little babies moved into my body.

16 week belly shot...did I already post this?

Okay, I post this photo with hesitation....I can't believe how big I'm already getting. It's crazy.



Here's the story....over the weekend, Ajay and I were headed out for a walk, and I decided to wear black exercise clothes---my thinking was that black is more slimming. Tell me, is it just me or am I NOT looking too slim these days!?

I think the babies are lying completely spread out this week! And yes, I'm only 16 weeks!!! I took the picture while standing in front of the mirror so it's not the best shot but does focus on the baby belly!

You just can't make this stuff up...

Today I decided to take a look around the web for chat groups of women pregnant with twins. I figured this may be a good way to relate to women going through similar things, and given similar circumstance, that these people would be something like me. I figured that with such a huge number of twins being born today to women that have gone through IVF, there would be a commonality in age, education, and yes, income level.

I found a chat group. I will not reveal where I found this gem, but I will publish an introduction that I found within the group that I feel is noteworthy. Here it is....

Hello I am {name deleted so I don't feel too evil} from peoria IL... Me and my fiance have been together for almost a year- its a wierd story kind off.... I was a dancer at a dejavu when we meet we sat and talked for a while but i currently was involved with someone so he didnt stay as long as he would of if i was single then i changed clubs and he was going there when he was in town i sat with him a few times he slipped me his card and the rest is history.. My fiance tommy is a truck driver- well owner operator and trains the newbies... I have a 4 yr old boy and a 3 yr old girl by an ex fiance and a 1 1/2 yr old boy by ex husband... my fiance thinks of all of them as his home... I am 24 going on 25 in april and he is 34 goig on 35 in march... We are both excitted... they say the twins due date is july 5th but we think it will be end of may early june since twins usually come early and my last two I went 3 wks early... we dont know what they are yet but we should soon..

Where do I begin???

Vitamin C

Last week, our neighbors across the street dropped off a big box of Clementine oranges. Our neighbors are very nice.

I looked at the box with apprehension....while oranges seemed like a good healthy snack, I just didn't know if my stomach could handle the citrus. So I ate one. It was delicious. Then I ate another one. It was equally delicious. Soon, I started eating these little oranges throughout the day...two at a time.

One night, as we sat watching TV, I was eating orange after orange and asked Ajay, "How many of these do you think I could eat without making myself sick?" He gave it some thought and replied, "three". While I've always limited myself to two at a time, it was good to know that he felt I had a little bit of wiggle room.

Yesterday morning, I got my 16th week update from iVillage, and this is what it said:

WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH YOU
For some women, nasal congestion and nosebleeds are an annoying -- and, come to think of it, weird -- side effect of pregnancy. Your changing hormone levels, increased blood volume and softening tissues cause the mucous membranes in your nose to swell. It's also possible that you have a vitamin-C deficiency, since this can cause nosebleeds, so eating more vitamin C-rich foods may help. Do not use nose drops, other than saline, unless recommended by your health-care provider.

Once again, my body is right on track---and even more interesting is just how clearly it tells me exactly what it's in need of. A few weeks ago, neighborhood animals were no longer safe...I just couldn't stop thinking about steaks and burgers....come to find out I'd become anemic and they prescribed prescription strength iron supplements. Now this week I just can't seem to get enough oranges...I should have predicted the reason why!

15 week checkup

Yesterday I had a pretty decent day....I had an appointment with my OB late in the day and felt well enough to attempt a trip to Target beforehand. Just to pick up the normal stuff...you know, toilet paper, cleaning products, vacuum cleaner bags, and these, for Baby Boy Lalvani.

These are Newborn size...from 5-8 pounds...adorably small...I think they might fit my cat, but she hasn't really given me the opportunity to try them out on her. I try not to even look at, let alone buy any of this stuff right now...I'll be a lot more comfortable with baby stuff in the house at around 7 months. But who could resist the little frogs, I ask! And I thought girls' clothes were supposed to be the irresistable ones!

Anyway....from Target I went to my OB and had another ultrasound. The stenographer pressed around on my belly and said...okay, here's Baby B---your little girl. Immediately I thought...hmmm, they must have changed position; Baby A was always my little girl before...(they reserve the label Baby A for whomever is closest to the exit, and Baby B for whomever is farthest). The stenographer then pressed around some more and said okay, and here's Baby A, your...other little girl! Immediately my mind ran in 200 different directions....from the obvious shock of having two little girls rather than what was in my head already-having one of each. Then I traveled to "well, at least they can share clothes!" Then, "I wonder how Ajay will feel!" Then, "uh-oh, maybe this is why I should have listened to my gut and not bought gender specific clothes! Oh well, I can return them." Then, "wow, two little girls looks a lot different in my mind than a boy and a girl". At that point I told the stenographer they had been pretty sure that Baby B was a boy at my last ultrasound, which prompted her to reposition me and do some more pressing here and pressing there....all the while she was saying, "yeah, I'm just not seeing that!" So as my mind becomes more at ease with having two girls, she says "oops! There it is!" She went on to point out Baby Boy Lalvani's boy parts and explained that his position was just very tricky and he was being modest. So once again, we have a little boy and a little girl.

From the ultrasound room I headed to the patient room and waited for Dr. K. When she came in she reviewed my file and said everything looks fantastic. My cervix is greater than the minimum length to put her at ease---no bed rest at this point. She also answered all my questions...from the caffeine study on the Today Show (small sample size and applied only to first trimester---which means I'm still okay with my Excedrin Migraine for those awful headaches) to my continued nausea, upon discussion she told me that it's completely harmless to take the Zofran for nausea, and that I'm not doing anyone any favors by being sick all the time. We also talked about my lack of ambition when it comes to exercise. She basically told me that people with migraines and non-stop nausea typically don't feel like exercising....good point. All in all a very good appointment!

15 weeks development

Once again, here is what babycenter.com has to say about 15 weeks development.

Our growing babies now measure about 4 inches long, crown to rump, and weigh about 2 1/2 ounces (about the size of an apple). They're busy moving amniotic fluid through their noses and upper respiratory tracts, which helps the primitive air sacs in their lungs begin to develop. Their legs are growing longer than their arms now, and they can move all of their joints and limbs. Although their eyelids are still fused shut, they can sense light. If I shine a flashlight at my tummy, for instance, they'll likely move away from the beam. There's not much for our babies to taste at this point, but they are forming taste buds.

Oh, and here's a final thought....instead of having one apple, I have two apples...and they are already remodeling my internal organs making room for themselves...I feel them sitting on an ovary here or pushing on my spine there. I am already feelin' it...big time. Any more Mom's of twins out there? Is it normal to be so big already? Or am I just lucky?

Cribs...finally a purchase for the babies!

So I've made a decision on the twins' cribs. I think I may have mentioned before that I was delusional to think that I could keep the twins in one crib, thereby managing space and finances with one decision. I've since read a book about twins by a Mom of twins and she says eventually, you need two cribs, and don't wait until it's too late, either....one day your little babies will sleep nicely like two peas in a pod and the next day they'll literally be on top of each other.

Previously, I was almost sure that I had found "the one". It's at Room & Board. I fell in love with the whole setup...I love the way the dresser has the removable changing table on top, which can be tossed aside or recycled into a non-government approved dangerous toy for the potty trained toddlers. I loved the crib's modern lines, and the fact that it isn't froo-froo. The room where this crib is staged actually resembles the room we'll be using for the twins, so it really felt like it was the one since it was so easy to visualize.

However, after my realization that we should just go ahead and bite the bullet and get both cribs at once, this setup became more expensive than I cared to justify. It's not outrageous...just a little more than I wanted to spend. Although it was still within reach, the final price tag with two cribs inspired me to shop for alternatives.

I re-thought about my criteria...I wanted a modern feeling nursery with gender neutral colors and, well, gender neutral everything, basically. I didn't want cutesy (not that there's anything wrong with that). I wanted modern lines. Basically I wanted something similar to the crib photographed above. So I went to my old standby, http://www.babycenter.com/ and began the search looking for modern cribs...when I spotted this gem....at a much better price than the Room & Board crib (I know, you get what you pay for. And we've been very happy with our other furniture from Room & Board...this isn't a question of quality or the R&B nursery being worth it...I'm sure it is---I'm just looking to spend a little less right now considering everything else that we'll be spending in the near future!) So, as I was saying, I came across this one:

Okay, forget the God-awful bedding they chose to adorn this smart looking crib with...just put it out of your mind. Is it modern? Why, yes, it is! And is it gender neutral? Why, certainly! And less expensive, too? YES! About half the price!!! Why, I think we've found it! Now wait a minute...is there a matching little convertible dresser with a removable changing table that the twins will find in the garage years from now and convert it to a street luge? It does! It does! And here it is!!!!!
"Buy me! Buy me! Buy all the parts of me right away!", the newly found nursery furniture shouted from my computer screen. And just as I was placing the items into my basket, I thought, hmmmm, since this isn't Room & Board exclusive, I wonder if other vendors carry this line and could save me MORE money. I became crazed. I Googled "comparative shopping" to see what came up.

That's when I stumbled onto my new second-favorite website http://www.thefind.com/ (second only to Consumer Reports since I am a research junkie). This brilliant website is basically a world wide web comparison shopper. I entered the name of this furniture and it searched it out. Not only did other vendors carry it, but thefind.com found it at a significantly better price....it saved me $100 on each crib, took another $20 off for buying the crib/dresser as a set, and they threw in the shipping for free and saved me the tax. We're talking hundreds of dollars!!!! I LOVE to save hundreds of dollars!!!! So the magical site where I found the best deal on the above furniture was http://www.csnstores.com/ since I feel that they deserve mention for saving me money!

And that, my friends, is why the internet is the best thing ever!!!!

Excedrin Migraine

As many of you readers know, my babies have been showing me whose the boss in the form of migraine headaches as well as nausea.

So here is my latest fear-based dilemma...my dilemma with Excedrin Migraine. On my last visit, I told my OB (Dr. K) about the awful headaches I've been having. She recommended Excedrin Migraine (which contains caffeine, which my fertility doc wanted me to stay clear of for the first 12 weeks). Anyway, when I mentioned that I'd been told to stay clear of caffeine, Dr. K said there have been enough studies on caffeine to prove that small amounts of caffeine would not harm the pregnancy, and I was also past the first trimester so we could ease up a bit.

On the same day, my sister called and asked if I had caught the new study on the Today Show....showing that 200 mg. of caffeine per day increased the risk of miscarriage. So I looked at Excedrin Migraine contents and found each dose contains 250 mg. of caffeine. So I didn't want to take it. Then I thought...hmmm, who do I trust...the Today Show or my doctor who told me it was okay? Further, could one billion tea-drinking Indians have it wrong about caffeine, and if so how does their race persist? Ajay's whole side of the family drink tea everyday, and throughout pregnancy, I've been told.

So I freaked myself out into not taking the Excedrin for fear of miscarriage....then realized that I didn't see the study on the Today show, and then it occurred to me that my doctor had reminded me that the risk of miscarriage is substantially lowered after the first trimester...oh, and all this time I'm suffering with a migraine trying to analyze what to do.

Ajay says listen to your doctor and take the pill. Even Maya says take the pill...and Maya never says take the pill. So I take the pill and feel better. F***ing Today Show!

Charmed, I'm sure

The past few weeks I've had good and bad days...fewer good than bad. On the days that I'm not doing so well either because of headaches or nausea, I pass the time by reading books about twins, searching for the perfect crib on the internet, or watching re-runs of Charmed on TNT. Yes, this is admittedly bad television.

Why, then, have I become addicted? Why is it almost my duty to see every episode from 1998 to 2006? I can't really explain it. There are elements of the show that I just find irresistable...one of them being that because of the writer's strike, there's nothing on TV and this is a series that I never followed, so it's all new to me. Also I love that the stars are all smart powerful girls who manage to maintain hectic lives and save the world from evil...all while remaining fashionable. And speaking of fashionable...maybe I just like to see cute outfits since the majority of my days are spent in oversized shirts and leggings or sweats or even flannel pjs. What I can admit is that I also loved Buffy the Vampire Slayer, so there is a common theme of the good guys being powerful young women who kick demonic butt. Again, why this is appealing to me is still somewhat of a mystery...and I can't even believe that I'm admitting this bizarre component of my personality.

So, all of that said, I'm actually going to post this blog about watching bad TV. It really must reflect all the excitement around here...nausea, migraines, and bad TV!!!