Week 22 and 23: Hungry hungry hippo

Week: 23 

Weight:149 (Pre-pregnancy weight=125)

Body changes: 1st tub of Burt's Bees belly butter empty and onto 2nd bottle. Morning routine: pee, shower, butter up like a Thanksgiving turkey, makeup, squeeze into whatever clothes that I can fit into, cry over a pint of ice cream, and go.
Rose (good thing that happened) and thorn (bad thing) of the week:
Rose-Last weekend, we joined my family at Silver Dollar City for their opening weekend. It was a wonderful day.

Thorn-Belly pain and having to slow down my pace. Having to pee 2 or 3 times during the night now instead of just once. 

22 Weeks

23 Weeks

So...pregnancy is exhausting. I told myself I would attempt to update my blog each Sunday. Well last Sunday rolled around, and I fell asleep on the couch before I even squeezed out a sentence. lol

Here's an update on the last two weeks. Not too much crazy has happened in the last 14 days, but one thing that I've definitely noticed is how freaking hungry I am ALL THE TIME. If I see a commercial or a billboard for food or someone mentions anything about food, I feel like I'm on a mission and have to go get that item. I would like to say that I have the willpower to resist and eat fruits and veggies and blah blah blah but let's be real, what pregnant lady wants, pregnant lady gets. It's not such a good thing for my scale though. This week I finally reached 149 which is the highest weight I've ever been. I know, I know. I have two humans growing inside of me. I just worked so hard to go from 148 to 125 in college. And umm...we still have at least 10 weeks to go and that's a lot of cupcake calories to consume. Going to try to do what I can to tame my inner hungry, hungry hippo the next few weeks. --Running to the kitchen to whip up some brownies....be right back. Jk jk Well, if I had brownie mix, I would be making some but too lazy to go to the grocery store. :)

Before

After

We got the nursery painted by a local painter (All About Paint) last last Monday and love how it turned out. It took the painter only 5 hours to finish the job. It would have taken Josh weeks to get it done, and we don't even own a ladder so we found the cost to be well worth it. The color we chose was Sherwin Williams Network Gray. We are going to do white and navy blue/turquoise accents for the nursery. Still have everything to buy...cribs, dresser, rocker, etc. Luckily, we still have around 10 weeks to get it done. 

I got a pickle, I got a pickle, hey hey hey hey!

Last weekend, my family came down to Branson for some good old fashioned family fun at the opening weekend of Silver Dollar City. The Spring weather was near perfect. It was a little cool but great for walking those hills and rockin' a comfy hoodie and yoga pants. I wasn't sure how much fun I could have as a pregnant lady since I'm a thrill ride addict, but I shifted by excitement from rides to FOOD. Luckily, one thing Silver Dollar City knows about is greasy, pregnancy craving-friendly foods. And you know what they definitely have? PICKLES. The most delicious pickles in the Midwest. The problem is that now I want more, and I don't have a SDC season pass. Is it bad that I contemplated buying a season pass just to go back and enjoy another pickle?! I know...I'm signing up for Pickle Lovers Anonymous as soon as I finish this blog post.

My beautiful mom and me

I had a blast just watching my family and nephews enjoy the rides while I relaxed and consumed a sad amount of calories. Dip n Dots, funnel cake, frozen lemonade, skillet dinner, jerky, kettle corn, chocolate/peanut butter fudge (that Amanda scored for me for FREE), and probably some other stuff that I've already forgotten about. It was fun to watch my brother Mark and nephew Thomas get so pumped about the rides. It made me happy thinking about watching my two sons run around in the near future. Still can't fully wrap my mind around the fact that I'm a mom, but the more it sinks in, the more excited I get.

The Great Shoot Out...the only ride they could let the prego lady on :)

The Contraption

 The last thing I'll tell you about to wrap up this week's blog is the "contraption". We bought this belly and back support band ($30 at BabiesRUs) the night before we went to Silver Dollar City. I had started noticing some additional stress on my body and back so I thought I would give this deal a try. I give facility tours every Friday at Prime to our new drivers which take about an hour of walking around. I'm not ready to give that up yet so hoping the belly band can help out.

Thank God we brought it with us to Silver Dollar City because without it I don't think I would have survived more than a couple hours of climbing those hills (and carrying the frozen lemonade, popcorn, etc). Plus, the "contraption", as we've coined it, is sexy as hell. I  mean I basically have to tell Josh to take a hike because I mean it's just so flattering. Ha. At our last appointment, the doctor did mention that pretty soon there will be no more of "that" stuff anyway because it is too risky and can cause premature labor. Sorry Josh. :)

Josh and Harper

Well that's all I got for this blog. Gonna go back to watching My Five Wives on TLC and appreciate the fact that I don't have to share my man with any other women and have him all to myself to jump up and grab whatever I'm craving. But in all seriousness, Josh is such a great husband. He has been so supportive and cute during this whole pregnancy. I'm looking forward to him being a dad to our 2 sons. We babysat our friend's adorable daughter Harper for a couple hours last night, and he was so cute with her. He's already got the "baby talk" down. He's going to be a great father.



Have a great week everybody! This week my goal is to complain less and enjoy this new, growing body more. It truly is a blessing to be able to grow a human (well two in my case) inside my body.

Week 21: Pickles and Relish

Presents from Kevin and Melissa :)

Week: 21
Weight:145 (Pre-pregnancy weight=125)
Waist size: 38 inches (Pre-pregnancy waist size=32...I think)
Body changes: Faint stretch marks on boobs. Belly button on the cusp of not being an "innie". Belly butter is my best friend.
Rose (good thing that happened) and thorn (bad thing) of the week:
Rose-Finding a surprise gift on my desk from 2 Prime Drivers Melissa and Kevin on Monday morning. 2 adorable boy outfits x 2 plus cute blankets.
Thorn- Charlie horses. 5 in the past week in the middle of the night.


Monday marked the start of Week 21 of the Mueller twin pregnancy. The first half of pregnancy seemed to go by at a turtle's pace, and now, the second half seems to be flying by as we keep thinking of all the things to get done before they arrive. I thought I would use this blog to look back (briefly) on the first half of pregnancy: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

But first...pickles and relish. Friday night, I woke up with a horrendous charlie horse in my right calf. (I had gotten a few charlie horses when I flew on a couple trips last month, but I was hopeful it was just tied to flying.) I sat up punching my leg, sharing some curse words, and screaming in pain. Josh shot up in bed, ran into the kitchen, and came back with a jar of relish. I looked at him (while still yelling in pain) and asked what I was supposed to do with that. He said it would help the pain. He didn't bring a fork or spoon and acted like I could just scoop some in my mouth. We started laughing which started to ease the pain. Umm..yeah I might barf if I scoop relish straight into my mouth Josh. lol. He returned the jar to the fridge and came back to bed. Saturday morning, we woke up and Josh did his normal routine: cuddle up to me, kiss my belly, and say something to the boys. Life was good and then BAM another charlie horse. I started screaming again as each time they get worse. Josh jumped out of bed, ran to the kitchen, and this time came back with a jar of...pickles. I look up and he's pushing a pickle into my mouth. I took a few bites and burst into laughter. I don't know what exactly what it was but seeing Josh running back and forth with pickle products trying to help my pain just made me want to laugh. Who knows if the pickles actually help as he keeps swearing they do, but the comic relief definitely helps reduce the suckiness of the charlie horse outbreaks. :)

21 Weeks

The good. Let's roll back to the beginning... It was a rough Monday at work, and for the first time in my working adult history, I swung by a liquor store on the way home. I picked up a 6 pack of my favorite apple wheat cider, kicked off my shoes at home, and went to the tv to watch some cheap reality show drama. I downed 2 bottles of cider as Josh was in the next room playing Xbox. (I'm not too proud that I had drank alcohol this night, but it's just part of my story. We had been trying to get pregnant for around 3 months, and I had honestly thought it might not ever happen.) For some reason, I felt compelled to pee on yet another pregnancy test (thinking it would not be positive of course). I set it on the back of the toilet and went back to the tv watching. At the commercial, I headed back to see what I thought would be a negative result. I glanced down. Glanced back. Umm...JOSH???!!! Josh was ecstatic about the news. I burst into tears as I started thinking "Oh my gosh. a) I just drank alcohol. b) I now have to grow up. c) We are PREGNANT." and every other thought that goes through a pregnant woman's head. After Josh calmed me down, the news sunk in and we were both happy to know we were going to bring a little Mueller into the world and start our family.

The bad. The first few weeks after finding out we were expecting were great. We wanted to wait a while to tell our friends and family because we wanted to let the news sink in as well as give the baby more time to grow, go to a doctor appointment to confirm, and didn't want to jump into announcing a baby when I was scared of the possibility of miscarriage. I didn't really feel any change in my body at first, but I did feel more tired. I began falling asleep each night around 7 to 8 pm on the couch and getting sleepy at work. I took a couple more pregnancy tests those first couple weeks because I was doubting that I actually could be pregnant. Then, the changes started happening. My senses hit full throttle. Every breeze that blew a smell past my nose made me sick to my stomach. I came home from work each night and just felt icky. Didn't throw up for another few weeks but had just a general bad feeling in my stomach all the time. My boobs had a growth spurt overnight that my husband was quick to notice (that wasn't really a bad thing ;))

The ugly. "Pregnancy is a beautiful thing." I have heard so many women talk about the great parts of being pregnant. Maybe I just wasn't paying close enough attention when they were talking about all the not so great parts, but I have experienced a lot of not so great parts in this pregnancy.
Morning sickness (never threw up in the morning...just after noon and at night) for 3 months, bloody nose (still happening as of today), 2 fever blisters, diarrhea (daily for first month or so), charlie horses, uncontrollable acne breakouts, dysgeusia (metallic taste in mouth 24/7. still happening just not as bad as beginning by far), pinched nerves in back, blurred vision/dizziness (only happened once for about 30 minutes where I couldn't see anything clearly), and horrible memory. And then there's the weight gain. At first, you just feel awkward because you feel bloated and gross, but it isn't obvious to the public that you're pregnant. Pants stop fitting as nicely, and you get to take advantage of the hairband trick to keep pants usable. Classy. For sure.

Went to workout at work and discovered my tshirts are wee bit small now. Oops. :)

Don't get me wrong. I'm really happy to be pregnant and receive this blessing in my life. I'm just saying that it can be a bit rough! I have no idea how single moms do it. I have relied so much on Josh for help. He has been amazing...doing laundry, dishes, cooking, driving me places, picking up stuff for me because I'm too tired to move sometimes. Props to those women that breeze through it and look amazing without complaining. You have my praise. I just wanted to share my experience so far because I will probably forget all of it within minutes of the Mueller twins arrival to the world....as I've been told happens. Plus, someday I want to say "LOOK BOYS...I did all this crap for you!" :)

I'm much more enjoying the second half of pregnancy so far. I haven't thrown up in 3 weeks, and my senses feel much more toned down. Plus, the fact that the babies arrival is getting closer brings much more excitement to blur out the rough parts of pregnancy. Tomorrow, the painter comes to paint the boys' nursery. I can't wait until it's done so we can start decorating their room and buying more stuff for them.

Thanks for reading. Have a great week everyone!

Oh boy. Oh boy. The Surprising Reveal.

I never thought  I would want to create a blog, but I have realized that the longer I have been pregnant, the less and less I can remember things. I want to have a record of my pregnancy so that I don't forget all of this someday when my kids actually might want to know. Thought about a journal but didn't think hand cramps on top of body aches and sickness and exhaustion would encourage too much writing. Even if no one actually reads my blog, I'm just hoping that it can one day be enjoyed by the Mueller children. So, here we go...

On Wednesday, February 26th, Josh and I took off a half day of work to attend our first ultrasound to see if Baby Mueller was a girl or a boy. The previous week waiting for the appointment was torture in itself because we hadn't had even one ultrasound. I was anxious to be able to just see the baby and make sure it was, in fact, a baby...and not a dinosaur or dog or something. Around the 10 week mark, our doctor let Josh and I hear the heartbeat of the baby. I told the doctor that my older sister had twins and how she didn't find out until her ultrasound, and I asked him to make sure he didn't hear two heartbeats in my belly. He asked, "You don't want twins do you?" Of course, I said no but that I was just nervous about it. He laughed, said he only heard one, and removed the device after only hearing our baby's heartbeat for less than 30 seconds.

At my next appointment around 14 weeks, he again let me hear the baby's heartbeat and only noticed one. He talked about scheduling my first ultrasound around 19 weeks. Having seen multiple pregnant friends bragging about their ultrasounds around 8 to 9 weeks and again around 15 or 16 weeks, I asked him if he was sure that I would have to wait that long for my first ultrasound. He told me that he liked waiting until the 19 week mark so that everything was more clearly developed and viewable in the ultrasound. Although I wanted to argue with him and unleash my pregnancy hormones on him to let me have an ultrasound earlier, I bit my tongue figuring that I probably couldn't win against a professional OBGYN. So, we waited.

Josh and I had planned on eating a nice celebratory lunch prior to our ultrasound, but of course, I worked past the time I had originally planned which left only about 30 minutes for lunch. So, McAlister's it was as it's located right next to the doctor's office. By the time we got our food, we had about 15 minutes to enjoy it so I scarfed it down and immediately felt sick. My stomach, for the second time, had this intense stretching feeling and pressure. After a few minutes, it calmed down and we headed over to the doctor's office.

This is our "oh my gosh we're having twins selfie"

The ultrasound tech was sitting behind the receptionist and didn't even let us sit down before we were taken back to the ultrasound room. We sat down, she explained the process, and plopped some warm gloop on my stomach. She laid the scanner thing (not sure of its technical name) on my stomach. Josh and I had our eyes glued to the screen with anticipation. Umm...wait a sec. What the...

Baby A and Baby B

The ultrasound tech ( I think her name was Amanda but due to circumstances I can't remember too many details) looked at the screen and then to us and said something to the effect of "So...umm...guess what?" Before she could even speak, Josh and I looked at each other and said, "Shut Up". She then said, "I had a feeling that you were carrying twins when I saw you walking in here." The next few minutes consisted of me going into a panic attack of laughter and Josh saying "Oh my gosh" "No way" "This is crazy" through smiles and teary eyes. I think I apologized to the ultrasound tech about 5 times during my laughter fit. I literally couldn't stop laughing. My mind was in literal shock. I had dreams about having twins, but I had convinced myself that it would be impossible for two sisters to both have twins. Plus, why didn't our doctor catch the other heartbeat before?? The next hour of the ultrasound were filled with questions, tears, smiling, laughing, and more shock. The ultrasound tech was so sweet about everything we asked and said. Thank God for her patience as we couldn't really focus. The ultrasound revealed TWO identical boys...which seems even more crazy since that is what my sister had in June of 2013. The ultrasound also revealed that they appeared completely healthy, had all of their limbs, and weighed 12 ounces each. I shed some tears just knowing that they were healthy. It is a scary feeling not knowing if the human you are growing inside of you is healthy up until that point. My due date was pushed up a week from July 22nd to July 14th (as the previous due date was a guess and the measurements showed 20 weeks and 2 days instead of the guessed 19 weeks).  So much news in such a short period of time.

The first calls we made were of course to our family members. Moms first. Every single family member we told had a similar response along the line of "What? Is this a joke? Are you playing a prank on us?". Then, after we convinced them that we were being honest, a scream or shout of disbelief followed. lol. We swung by Target and picked up 2 baby boys outfits so we can go show the news to my sister and my nephew. We placed the two outfits in a bag and made it appear that there was only one. My nephew Thomas pulled out one of the outfits and said "oh a boy" and then got up from his chair. My sister said something to the effect of "I'm sorry I know this is dumb, but I'm just paranoid and have to make sure there's not another outfit in the bag because you know..with me there was." She peeked in the bag and didn't see anything and acted relieved. Josh and I stared back at her and back to the bag. She looked back in the bag and, seeing the 2nd oufit, shrieked in disbelief. This photo was taken while she was pacing around the room and having trouble breathing. ha. Josh and spent the night notifying friends, family, and of course, Facebook. The response was pretty overwhelming but made us a little more happy about our news. The shock still hasn't worn off, but thanks to Pinterest and prayers, we're starting to get on to the excitement stage.

Josh showing the ultrasound pics to nephew Thomas and my sister Ashley

Welp. That's all I got for this post...mostly because I'm exhausted and might pass out at any second.