Thursday, January 26, 2006

January 26, 2006

I'm at a loss here. I really don't have anything pregnancy-related to post. Things are still going well -- feeling better each day, some back pain here and there, but what's pregnancy without back pain? Our Level II ultrasound isn't until next Thursday and I haven't seen or talked to a doctor since our appointment ten days ago with Dr. Harden.

But I hate the thought of having a two-week-plus gap in my postings (I'm totally aware of my OCD tendencies), so I thought I'd post just for the sake of posting.

This morning, on my way into the office, I listened to Kidd Kraddick in the Morning.

* Let me insert a side-note here about San Antonio radio: IT SUCKS. There is not a single decent radio station in town and morning shows are no different -- there is just not a thing to listen to during either drive time. Each morning when I get into the office, I log onto KSCS.com and click on "Listen Live" so I can enjoy my favorite radio show from Dallas. I miss the Dorsey Gang to no end...

So a few months ago, one of the Clear Channel radio stations in town (remember: Clear Channel is headquartered here in San Antonio, so we're rife with Clear Channel stations) got rid of their morning show to bring in the syndicated Kidd Kraddick in the morning show. The city was up in arms about it, but I was thrilled. Kidd isn't my favorite, but at least it's entertainment!

So today Kidd, Kellie and Al were talking about their guilty pleasure songs. You know what those are -- the songs you keep on your iPod and in your CD player, but that you would NEVER let anyone know you listen to. I laughed out loud as Kidd admitted to loving "I love you, always forever" by some chick we've never heard from again and that Kellie is a fan of "I touch myself" by the Devynals (I care not if I spelled that correctly).

I was laughing out loud at this because I am the QUEEN of this stuff. I not only own guilty pleasure songs, but entire guilty pleasure CDs -- all of which I am going to come forward with today. I'm shedding all of my inhibitions and letting everyone I know hear about the most embarassing music I listen to.

CDs

  • Asia's Greatest Hits
  • "The Innocence" by Erasure
  • "Flood" by They Might Be Giants (of course, anyone I went to college with will remember that at one time, I blasted this atrocity with reckless abandon)
  • "Greatest Country Hits of the 1980s" (including "I Love a Rainy Night" by Eddie Rabbit -- that's for you Sylvia).
  • Ray Steven's Greatest Hits (admit it Karen, you do too -- because I bought it for you!)

    Songs
  • "Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix Alot
  • "My Humps" by the Black Eyed Peas
  • "Goldigga" by Kanye West
    side note: I realize that the last two aforementioned songs are actually current hits, but for someone who is a self-proclaimed country-music- and 80s-rock-only listener, these are pretty embarassing.
  • "I'll Remember You" by Skid Row

    Yes, I am sure there are zillions more, but I'm drawing a blank. I'll add more as I continue to recall how much ridiculous music I own.

    I'd like to make this blog interactive -- post your most embarassing CDs and songs or email me and I'll include them in additions to this post. I'd love to hear about the other terrible music choices others make. ;)

    Oh, and moms, kid-friendly CDs don't count. Otherwise, I'd be having to list things like "The Wiggles" and "Tonka Trucks Songs" and I refuse -- those aren't my fault.

    Love to all.

    PS - I just read some comments along the blog and I was wondering who would be the first person to notice that these posts are all at like 6:30 a.m. The prize goes to Paul Peltier! Congrats, Paul! The truth is, I make it a rule to not do anything that requires brain power before 9 a.m. each day and that includes blogging. I think that Blogger.com is headquartered in California (or somewhere in the Pacific time zone) and that makes the default times two hours behind Texas times. Rest assured that I am not blogging at 6:30 a.m -- I'm just too lazy to change the time. :)

    Chris -- yes, I was a little perplexed by your first comment, but it wasn't hard to figure out after you mentioned "Malibu" and "Hey Guy." (which, you're right, I never called you. You'll always be Mistopher Christopher to me) I promise I'm not avoiding your calls -- I just can't seem to get to the phone when you call. I miss you and love you -- I hope we can talk soon.

  • Thursday, January 19, 2006

    January 19, 2006

    Bridget Cullen, if you're reading this, happy 30th birthday! I love you!

    Wow -- two posts from me in one week? What are the odds? Lately, pretty slim! But with the onset of my new doctors, there's more happening.

    It looks like we'll be seeing Dr. Higby on February 2 at 1:45 p.m. for our Level II ultrasound.

    I'm pretty excited about it. Apparently, these things are just fantastic. They have much higher definition and resolution than a regular (Level I?) sonogram and you can see so much more. When ZZ had a Level II around this time (she was 17 weeks) they found out the sexes of both of the babies. That would be great -- I'm excited to know if we're having boys or girls (or one of each, which is still possible).

    I'm pretty nervous, too, though. Ever since finding out I was pregnant, I've had a sinking feeling about it all. Like something bad is going to happen to one of the babies. In my heart, I think Baby B (the one who is always hiding from us) isn't doing very well. Nothing we've seen thus far has indicated that something is wrong, but I've just got this nagging feeling and I'm wondering if the Level II sonogram will confirm it.

    It is pretty funny, though, that Baby B (they name the one closest to the cervix Baby A and the one farthest away Baby B) is always hiding. We've had the hardest time finding him/her. We've had three sonograms now and each time it's been a quest to find Baby B. Todd has decided that this child will be the world champion hide-n-seek player. Of course since Devin will become Pope, we need to find a good title for Baby A.

    Any suggestions?

    Tuesday, January 17, 2006

    January 17, 2006

    Okay, yes, I know it's been two weeks since my last post. And apparently, I have a lot of fans of this blog (who knew? I thought I'd be the only one reading it!), so I apologize to all of those who are waiting anxiously for the next installment of "As the Stomache Churns" (a brief nod to my morning sickness).

    The reason I haven't done much blogging lately is because there really isn't much to tell. I have been slowly starting to feel better (although nausea still rears its ugly head now and then and fatigue has become as familiar as the back of my hand) and regain my life. I still spend a lot of time sleeping and, thankfully, Todd has been so good about picking up my slack. I'm very lucky.

    But now there is news to report! We saw our new doctor (Dr. Harden) yesterday and just fell in love with her. She sat down with us and explained her practice. She does 80% of all of her own deliveries and apologized in advance when she runs behind -- she just wants to be available for all of her patients every chance she can get. I was duly impressed and totally disarmed after spending nearly an hour in the waiting room.

    They took all of my vitals and while I seem to have LOST five pounds (why can't I do that when I'm not pregnant?), it may just be a fluctuation in the scale at my first doctor's office and this new scale, so no one seemed to be alarmed. Everything else looked good.

    We did a quick sonogram and there they were -- both babies. I have to admit here that I am still in shock from the news of twins and each time we have a sonogram, I wonder if there was a mistake and there's only one in there. Of course, if only one were found, I'd be devastated and probably lose it, but on a daily basis, I am still having a hard time wrapping my mind around twins.

    But both were there and I'd better come to terms with this news pretty quickly.

    Both babies looked good with strong heartbeats, but again, there was some question as to the presence of a membrane. In my first two sonograms, there was no membrane visible. Yesterday was the same -- Dr. Harden thought she might have seen one, but couldn't really tell. If it was there, it was barely visible and very thin.

    So we're off to see Dr. Higby, a high-risk specialist who does Level Two sonograms. Instead of waiting until 18 weeks, we'll go ahead and have one done at 16 weeks (I'm currently 14 weeks) to get a definitive answer on this missing membrane issue.

    This is a cause for concern. Only about 1% of all twin pregnancies are sans membrane, meaning that both babies are in one amniotic sac. If such is the case, it's considered a very high-risk pregnancy because the babies could become tangled in one another's umbilical cords. Apparently there are other risks, too, but I can't even bring myself to talk about them. They're too horrible.

    While my gut instict says that all is fine, I still can't help but worry. These are my kids and I can't bear the thought of anything happening to them. If you are one to pray, please pray that we find a membrane and that all labs indicate good health.

    Thanks for keeping up with my blog and for being interested in my life with twins-to-be.

    Peace.

    Tuesday, January 03, 2006

    January 3, 2006

    Well I thought I would get some blogging done over my 12-day vacation, but it just wasn't meant to be. Poor Devin got all sorts of sick over the break and I spent most of my time taking care of him, doing nebulizer treatments and Albuterol inhalers. He's doing much better.

    As am I! Sunday, January 1 marked 12 weeks for me and the twins and, as promised, I'm starting to feel much better. I still get bouts of nausea, especially in the evenings, but I'm not spending my days hunched over a toilet anymore. I've also got a lot more energy -- I'm not taking two and three hour naps, but rather am back to my 15-30 minute naps.

    Christmas was wonderful at the Pruetz house. We did the usual Christmas Eve Mass at 4:00 and Bar-b-que at ZZ's house afterwards. Then we started opening gifts. Wrapping paper was flying everywhere as Devin tore into everyone else's presents along with his own. It was pretty funny!

    That night Devin went to bed without a fuss and woke up asking if Santa had come. Sure enough, Saint Nick had left a number of gifts underneath the tree, including a train set, a cleaning set (so he can "help" me clean the house), lots of books, lots of Hot Wheels and about a zillion other things. It was so fun watching him play all day.

    We had a great dinner at our house and spend the day playing with the kids and enjoying Christmas. It couldn't have been better.

    The Babies Pruetz seems to be doing just fine. I'm starting to really get big and it's fun now that we're past 12 weeks and can really let everyone know our good news! Devin hasn't quite figured out exactly what it means that we're having a baby (let alone TWO babies), but he's very sweet and likes to "kiss" his brothers and sisters by laying a lip-smacker on my tummy. Too cute.

    As life gets more interesting, I'll post more exciting stuff.

    Happy 2006!