I Met the Machatunim

What the heck is a machatunim?

Yeah, I know I better explain that first before I continue.

Machatunim is a Yiddish word meaning the in-laws. I didn't really meet the in-laws last Thursday. I've already met Derek's family. (Although this month my family will meet his family for the first time and I'm so excited for that.) On Thursday I met Chloe's mother. Chloe had previously mentioned that her mother had been wanting to come to an appointment. I'm not sure if it was just to see the ultrasound or to meet Derek and me or support her daughter or a combination of everything. It was fun to meet her. Here's what I took away from that experience:

1. Chloe's mom is excited for this pregnancy. She talked about feeling the babies kick and how great it is to watch the babies grow.

2. During the ultrasound she got up to get a closer look at the monitor and afterwards she was looking at the picture (we only got one, measley picture of Baby B that day -- how sad).

3. She seemed truly excited for Derek and me.

It's this third one that really gets me. Once again I am amazed by the lack of judgement of our situation. As Derek and I start shopping for cribs and strollers and get ready to register we "out" ourselves and our situation more and more. I expect to get that surprised look on people's faces for a second as they readjust to understand they're talking with two dads; they don't. We're not so special any more. We're commonplace in (parts of) America (and the world).

Speaking of shopping, my friends with a 2 year old are taking Derek and me (and Kirsten and Marty of the kirstenmartingadopting.com fame from my last post) to register at Babies R Us this weekend. There is so much to learn: stollers, cribs, car seats, monitors, clothes, toys, bottles, etc. I'm sure we'll be overwhelmed but we have to start soon. Wish us luck and make recommendations if you want.

Also, a little update on the babies. They're big. Oh, and I don't mean big for twins -- I mean big for singletons. Poor Chloe. With every measurement I became more concerned for her. The babies are each over 2 lbs. The ultrasound technician measured their femurs and heads so we got four numbers based on the size of a singleton. I can't remember all four numbers but I believe they ranged from the 72nd percentile to the 92nd percentile. My dad has long legs. I have long legs. I'm not so worried about the femurs and sort of expected tall kids. (I believe the 92nd percentile was for a femur, not a head circumference.) It's the large heads that are tough. Women who have given childbirth can attest to that. I had a kidney stone so I have some idea of what birth is like (don't argue...people say the pain is similar!) so I'm worried for Chloe. The doctor said she is measuring at 31 weeks even though we're only at 25. We go to 38 weeks and after that the babies are coming out one way or another. One piece of good news is that the larger baby will most likely be born first and doctors like it that way. Plus baby A was not breech this time so hopefully he/she will continue to have his/her head down. We also got to listen to the heartbeats for the first time. I've heard so many heartbeats while interpreting appointments but it's different when it's your own. That sloshing, whooshing sound is beautiful when it's your own kids.

The last piece of news is that Derek proposed to me. We took a "we-need-one-last-time-to-ourselves" vacation and Mexico and he proposed on the balcony of our hotel overlooking the ocean. It was pretty awesome. We had already known that we were committed to each other, but I have to say there is something pretty amazing to have someone tell you that you are the one person in the world who they want to be with for the rest of their lives. Kinda makes ya feel special!