week 36!!

(I couldn't decide which picture showed off my belly better...so I am showing both...cuz maybe, just maybe, these will be the last pictures of me preggers. Ever.)

It is week 36 starting today and the waiting begins..... I am free to have these babes any day now and have them be safe to be born in the hospital I have practically been living in the past few months. Their lungs should be fully developed and since they are each growing well and at a hefty weight, I am hoping they will use their strength to push themselves out of me and give me some R E L I E F. Finally.

Earlier this week I spent the day in the hospital as I was apparently extremely dehydrated (even though I take a water bottle with me everywhere! But I have been so very nauseous, that I have to admit I haven't been drinking a whole heckuva lot....) which made me have horrible contractions. The doc thought it was just a bit too early, so the nurse stuck that dang IV in me (OUCH!) and pumped me with fluids and when that didn't work, she gave me a shot of a stop-the-contractions drug. By about 6pm, the contractions stopped.

Darnit.

I know...I know...the longer they are in my belly, the healthier they will be, blah blah blah.... But making it to 36 weeks with twins is good enough for me. Nobody will want to be around me if I am still cookin' these chicks in two weeks. That's not a joke. I'll make Cruella Deville seem like Mary Poppins.

But, enough whining. I am incredibly grateful that I and the babes are as healthy as we are (no bed rest the entire pregnancy! Yippee!) and they have stayed in my belly this long. That is a good thing. I just have to keep repeating that in my head....over and over and over again......

I am also grateful for my friends and the INCREDIBLE support they are to me. I was given a baby shower (my very first!) last Saturday and wow. Them are some seriously good friends. It was beautiful in every single way. I doubt I could possibly feel luckier than I am feeling these days...even amidst the pain and total discomfort of these last weeks of pregnancy. I meant to mention the wonderful shower in my last post about having "beauty all around me", but I tend not to stay very focused on anything these days.....

Anyway, in celebration of making it to week 36 and the fact that I don't have to worry too much about going into "pre-term labor" anymore (by being on my feet too much during the day), I made these:


Ina Garten's Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies
1/2 pound unsalted butter at room temperature
1-1/2 cups light brown sugar, packed
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 extra-large eggs at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup smooth peanut butter
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 pound good semisweet chocolate chunks (or chips)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time. Add the vanilla and peanut butter, and mix. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt and add to the batter, mixing only until combined. Fold in the chocolate chunks. Drop the dough on a baking sheet, using either a 1-inch ice cream scoop or a rounded tablespoon. Bake for 12 minutes (the cookies will seem underdone). Do not overbake. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly on the pan, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

They are THE BEST peanut butter chocolate chip cookies I have ever had. Since I'm still nauseous all the time and sweets make it worse (and I have next to zero motivation to do much of anything), I haven't baked much lately. But today, I just felt like making these. I stuffed myself with about 5 or 6 of them (warm outta the oven...I had more after dinner. Just call me Miss Piggy!) because if I'm going to be this nauseous regardless of what I eat, I might as well eat yummy cookies! Besides, maybe if I stuff myself with enough food I might push the babies out.... See how irrational I am becoming???? I need to be birthin' these babies.

SOON.


This is what I look down on. It looks much bigger from above, doesn't it? That's why I keep sayin' I'm HUGE! That and I can hardly move without waddling, moaning and grunting....