mama’s belly pie

one of the girls favorite things is when mitch gets hungry for “belly pie”!  anytime he sees a bare belly he just has to get him some belly pie!  so, he chases the girls around the house and pins them down to eat their bare belly pie, all the while the girls are screaming and laughing and wriggling around trying to break free of his belly pie frenzy!  i love to watch it!  lately even, mahea has been lifting her shirts up to expose her bare belly to mitch tempting him to eat some!  of course, he does and she loves it!!  it is so adorable!

 

since i have been in the hospital, i have not taken any belly pictures.  so, last wednesday when mitch surprised me with a sleepover in my hospital room i had him snap some pictures.  then again on sunday i had him take some more.

 

so, here is my belly (comparison to last photo taken):

 

      

             27 weeks + 2 days                                                         33 weeks

 

 

and here is my “belly pie”:

 

                                                          33 weeks + 4 days

                          

lately, when i get a nurse that had helped me a week or two earlier they see me and they all say, “wow! you have grown!!”  i guess the growth is more obvious when you’re not around it everyday.  i can tell whenever i get up to go potty that my belly seems to be getting heavier and heavier!  it’s a good thing, though!!  that’s why i am still in the hospital, to grow these babies!

 

i am happy to report, also, that, according to my nurses, i still don’t have any stretch marks on my belly pie!!  of course, i am just going on their word because i can’t see the underside of my belly!!  :o)

 

here is another picture (very unflattering) of my belly from the front.  i was brushing my teeth and trying to sit in a semi-reclined position when mitch snapped this shot.  since i know you all are just dying to know where i have been living the last 4 weeks, you can also get a glimpse of my luxury hotel  hospital accommodations.  i even labeled things for you, cuz’ i’m nice like that:

 

the hospital has the most awesome ice chips! i know, weird, but it is so true!!  let me tell you that i am so grateful for free wi-fi and my macbook!  these two things have been a lifesaver!  i have been able to finish my christmas shopping, blog, facebook, chat, skype every night with my kids and mitch, listen to music, watch movies, edit photos, make a photo calendar, and i’m even working on getting a christmas card out this year (something i haven’t done for ages!!).  so, if you want a card from yours truly, which just might include a baby announcement with two cute mason boys, send me an email with your address to mahinamason@comcast.net, even if you think i have your address please send me an email anyway, just in case!

 

so, if you are wondering what the “SCD” tubes are, i will tell you because i didn’t know what they were 4 weeks ago, either.  i have been wearing these since the first day i was admitted to the hospital in preterm labor.  being that i am on bed rest and use my legs very little my risk of forming a blood clot in my legs is increased.  these little SCD’s are like a little massage for my calves.  i wear these lovely white knee high wraps on my legs.  then, i plug the tubes into the leggings and turn the machine on.  there are three chambers in the leggings, one above the next and the machine pumps air into each chamber starting at the ankle moving up to just below the knee.  then it lets the air out.  it does this about every 30 seconds all day and all night!  so far,  it has worked and i am clot free!!  i don’t mind it so much, it feels like a massage.  the only annoying thing is when i am trying to sleep at night my legs sometimes get a bit tangled in the tubes!  that’s a small price to pay for clot free and varicose vein free legs!!

 

today, i am 34 weeks + 1 day and they will send me home the day before thanksgiving!!  i’ve got 6 days left!  they will take me off the medication and just let nature take it’s course.  mitch thinks i will have them sooner rather than later (like within days or hours of being released) and i keep teasing that i will probably have to be induced 3 weeks after i get home.  i hope mitch is right, though, this time!

 

i had an ultrasound today and found out that both babies are still head down.  they measured them, too, and they both weigh approximately 5 pounds 13 ounces!  which is awesome!!  still measuring about a week+ bigger than gestational age.  three weeks ago when they measured  them baby a was 4 pounds 12 ounces and baby b was 4 pounds 4 ounces which was 2 1/2 weeks and 2 weeks bigger than gestational age.

 

our family is surviving this really well!  i am amazed at how the girls have handled this!  our family is being made stronger through this trial and i can see everyone’s faith growing as we put our trust in our Heavenly Father.  i know we don’t ever want to go through trials, but i can honestly say that i am grateful that our Heavenly Father saw fit to give us this trial!!  i know He loves us and He has trusted us to make it through this together and to come out stronger for it!