Without warning, the third trimester of my pregnancy has arrived. How is it possible that I'm 28 weeks already? Wasn't I just yesterday knocked back on my arse over the twin ultrasound? Apparently not.

According to my last ultrasound, the girl is vertex and the boy is breech, which doesn't mean much since I'm having a c-section anyway. They are very close in weight, with each tipping the scales at a little over 2.5 lbs. Fluid levels are good. Growth is good. Everything with the babies is good. The middle-aged, grandmotherly ultrasound tech who has been scanning me every month said to me last week, "Well, you're finally getting a little tummy."

"Finally?"

"Little Tummy?"

Bless your dear visually impaired heart, ma'am. And do you accept tips?

I am doing "remarkably well" (or so says my OB). My blood pressure is good. I'm not having contractions. Of course, most days I feel like a 90-year-old woman, what with the aching joints and feet (which are still swollen, by the way), and a toddler who hasn't quite taken a liking to walking further than a few steps on her own. I have no idea what's gotten into her, but Isabella is constantly either running into me demanding that I hold her, or stopping dead in her tracks and refusing to move until I pick her up. She just had her two-year-old checkup and the kiddo weighs almost 27 pounds. Hauling around that ton of bricks plus two more in my belly Is.Not.Fun. Does anyone have a solution for encouraging a toddler to walk by her own damn self? I've tried the "Let's walk up the stairs pretending we're cats/elephants/howler monkeys, etc." and it works some of the time, but not nearly enough for my liking.

And I've got exciting news on the preparation front. We no longer have plans to empty out the kitchen junk and utensil drawers, line them with blankets, and place the twins in there when we come home from the hospital. The hubs and I have removed our collective heads from our arses and we're in the process of actually obtaining baby gear and assembling some sort of a nursery for the twins. This weekend, I bought paint! We're doing the room in a boring-as-all-hell Classic Taupe color with Cottage White trim-not my usual color preferences, but we're trying for a neutral color because in a year or two, we're likely going to have to move. The hubs and my great aunt are painting sometime in September.

Last week, one of my fantastic friends from high school, herself a mom of boy/girl twins, gave us the motherlode of kiddie crap. We are currently in possession of another infant car seat (which we hope can fit in the Trailblazer alongside two others), a highchair, and we're going back sometime this week to pick up her twins' two cribs. She also offered us a baby swing, but I passed on that for now as I'm not sure we'll have room for two swings in our living room. She also gave me a gigantic tub of 2T clothes and a booster seat for Isabella. I am so incredibly grateful for her generosity.

Of course, there are quite a few little things we still need to buy. We have not a single boy outfit. We need bedding for the cribs. And I still have to figure out how I'm going to manage breastfeeding twins and still maintain my sanity. But we're making progress.

And that makes this anal-retentive, highly organized, list-making, usually-prepared-months-in-advance-for-something-this-huge girl very happy indeed.

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The September issue of Root and Sprout, the online parenting magazine is now live. I have two articles in this month's issue: one on purchasing environmentally friendly school supplies, and another on teaching kids respect for the earth's smallest creatures. Remember, Melissa Garrett, who created and runs Root and Sprout, would love to have you (yes, YOU) write an article. Check out the writer's guidelines for more information.