Happy 23 Weeks!

Happy 23 Weeks! I have survived one more week of bed rest and we now have 11 weeks to go until our goal of 34 weeks!

 So, as you can see I am getting bigger. Sometimes I think I grow more overnight--it is interesting to look at the progression of how big I have gotten throughout the weeks. It makes me feel even bigger whenever I look at people who are pregnant with just one baby. But the babies are growing and that is the most important thing right now--I am learning to surrender my body to them as well as they are slowly taking over and changing it. 
Michael and I had an exciting week and we received our cribs! It feels a little more real now that we have all of them. They are set up in the bedroom right now--we had to clump them all together for the moment because my parents are coming into town and you can't get onto the futon with the cribs in their position. It is definitely a maze in the nursery and there is not much moving room. We bought the cribs from Ikea so they were a little interesting to put together. In order to save money there are no words in the instruction manual--only pictures. I was a supposed to be interpreting the instructions for Michael but we had a few mishaps along the way :) However, after the first one was together he put the other two together pretty quickly. Here are some pictures :)

 Here is where my interpreting skills failed and the crib came tumbling down :)

 Putting the cribs together

 This is where Michael decided not to follow the instructions and he had to take the crib a part :) 

  Here they are all put together! We have to still work on some organization as the babies cannot currently sleep in their cribs :) 

So, as you can see it was a work in progress to get them together, yet it feels good to have them up now! We moved the totes with the clothes inside the cribs because we are still organizing everything. We can put some of the totes underneath the cribs once we finish. And then in the back crib is a swing and some bouncer seats which will be moved to the dining room (AKA Nursery #2). But everything is starting to come together which feels great! Michael has one load of laundry left to do of the baby clothes we currently have and then I will finish folding and sorting them.  

My parents will be here on Tuesday and they will be staying for a couple weeks. So, that should keep me occupied for a little bit. It will be nice to not spend everyday by myself as Michael has been trying to work as much as possible. Michael hasn't found a second job yet but he has been able to work overtime which has been great. So, we are hoping that he can continue to get enough overtime and will not have to get a second job. It would be much easier on us (especially once the babies come) if he didn't have to have a second job. 

The babies are getting stronger and they are starting to kick a lot harder. They are getting to where I can feel them from the outside which has taken a little longer due to having anterior placentas. However, they seem to only be active whenever Michael is not here :) He has been trying to feel them and I call him over whenever the babies start kicking but they always stop whenever he comes over. It is definitely a weird sensation to have three babies kicking you because it covers my entire stomach as they kick high, low, and in the middle. Michael read that the babies can sense light now and sometimes they will start kicking if you move a flashlight around my stomach. So, he tried that the other night as well but no luck :) He does put his head up to my stomach and he is able to hear them move and squirm around inside. It is sweet :) Hopefully one of them will decide to kick him one day! 

Some days, such as today, I can understand the bed rest. I'm not sure if the babies grow more on certain days and it seems to suck my energy level. However, other days I feel great and feel like I can do anything. I like those days a lot better as I feel more productive. But I am trying to listen to my body and just relax and sleep more on the days that I don't have energy. 

So, we don't have much else to share this week. It has been mainly uneventful which I guess could be a good thing. We had our community group over this week and it was fun to see everyone and spend time talking. I had some friends come over last night and it was wonderful to have company for the evening and have some girl time. We are so thankful for everyone who has continued to support us through bringing meals, gifts, calling, and praying for us. It means so much to us and we love you all! We have another doctor's appointment on Thursday and I will update then with more information and pictures! :)