Resplendent Quetzal

Sigh.

2009-12-08T09:50:00.001-05:00

I know it's good news, but honestly, I wanted to kick the doctor yesterday for telling me that I'll pry go to 37 weeks. That's in January people. January. If you've not seen me lately, then perhaps you don't understand the gravity of that thought. I don't know where, or how I can get any bigger with these babies. I know, every day counts, and the longer they stay the better, but damn. 4 more weeks? Seriously? And of course he says: "Don't be alarmed if you start having some contractions every now and then."

I hadn't had any. Until yesterday when he told me that I would pry have some. Thanks a lot. I had three.

January, I mean really. There goes my tax break for '09.

Hair!

2009-11-23T14:44:00.006-05:00

The beauty of having twins is that almost every appointment means you have an ultrasound to check heartbeats.
Today was no exception. I went in and the ultrasound tech, who we know on a first name basis since we've seen her soooo many times do a few more pictures and pointed out a few more things. Both the girls' heart rates were good, one at 144 the other at 142. She then did a few quick pictures, and pointed out this:

No, it's not the best picture, but all that fuzzy stuff sticking out in the middle of nowhere with the arrow pointing to it is hair. The other baby though... totally bald, no hair anywhere in sight!

Happy Birthday Che!

2009-11-18T15:37:00.003-05:00

Today, Che is four. He told me this morning that he feels older and bigger today. ha!

This is also nearly three years that he has been here, home with Mike and I.

We've definitely seen some changes in the last three years. We've gone from this googly eyed 13 month old:

To a pre-schooler:

He's not even a toddler anymore!

We've learned a lot along the way, and I can't imagine what the next year is going to bring. It's going to be changes for sure!

Home

2009-10-24T12:56:00.003-04:00

I guess I really was doing too much around the house.

Over the weekend my cankles grew to epic proportions. 11 1/2 inches around to be exact. And, they didn't go back down for a few days. So I called in to say on Thursday afternoon saying something doesn't seem right. I made the call at 1:30, and had an appointment at 2:15. So I left work on Friday afternoon and headed into the doctor. They took blood pressure, which a bit higher wasn't terrible (142/86, trust me I've had higher throughout this pregnancy), and the doctor came in with the famous words, "You're not going to like what I have to tell you." She placed me on maternity leave that day, with an appt. the next day to go over some test results.

I then got a nice bloodwork paper and headed across the street for a poke. Depending on what happened with the bloodwork I was either going to be sent home, or to the hospital for bedrest.
It was a very strained evening to say the least, I didn't sleep very much, and so I got up the next morning and at my appointment my blood pressure was 120/60, and all of my bloodwork came back within the normal range, meaning I'm not near preclampsia at this point. I'm still on maternity leave, and supposed to take it very easy. It's only been 2 days and I'm already finding that very difficult. Hopefully by not working anymore and taking it easy at home, I'll be able to avoid bedrest and an early delivery. Because even though we're past the point of viability, I sure don't want to have these little girls this early. After Christmas would be a much better option.

So, because I know everyone loves pictures, here are the cankles at their greatest:

And, if you get bored in the next 12 or so weeks, I'll be around...

H1N1

2009-10-20T10:21:00.003-04:00

With Mike gone I'm doing too much around the house, causing great soreness and exhaustion, so in order to "recharge" for the rest of the week, and avoid any adverse affects (i.e. bedrest) I've decided to take a day off.

With my day off I plan to sit and watch TV, knit, and nap, but not necessarily in that order. So this morning, since I couldn't sleep anymore anyway, I went down to our county health department and received my dose of the H1N1 vaccine. I debated getting it for a really long time, but in the end when several DCS workers that I frequently have contact with came down with H1N1, and then the detention center sent out a memo that there was an outbreak, I decided I'd better get it done.

I've never had a seasonal flu shot until this year, and honestly we worked too hard to get this far to not protect at least myself. I'm also hoping that by me getting it it will lessen the chances for Mike and Che, since they aren't around as many people on a daily basis.

So, now hopefully with a full day of rest, I'll be ready to go tomorrow, back to work and back to finish out the week without Mike home. We'll see how well it all works out. It's been interesting so far and he's only been gone for 4 days.

Post it note kicker

2009-10-16T15:26:00.001-04:00

So 5 minutes ago at about 3:20, I'm sitting at my desk, quietly reading through paperwork, when I get kicked. I enjoy it, and it seems rather hard so I watch my belly, sure enough, hard enough to actually see.

So I thought hey, why not, and put a pad of post it notes right where the kicks were. Those suckers got kicked right off and landed on the floor.

Secret Belly Pics

2009-10-16T08:47:00.002-04:00

Che was invited to his first birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese this past week. To be honest, we were skeptical, but the last time I remember being in that place it was dark, and dirty, so that was my memory from oh, about 20 years ago (eek, that makes me feel old)

Anyway, the party was on a Tuesday evening, which I have to say is genius. There were about 15 kids in the whole place, and it was great, no pushing, and wildness. In face the games Che wanted to play were available and he could just walk up and do them.

The birthday boys mom, a good friend of ours, was able to take some pictures of the festivities. This is at the end of the Birthday Show, where they randomly toss out a bunch of single tickets for the kids to scramble and pick up. Being that these little guys are only 4, they didn't get the significance of picking up the tickets, but boy did they enjoy the confetti like effect.

Here's Che playing a toddler style car racing game. There were no other cars to race against, just yourself, and you followed arrows along the path. He really enjoyed it and did quite well, although most of the time he did not push the gas pedal and just let the little car putter along.

And this was one we first got there. Che was mesmerized by the animitronic Chuck E. and Friends band, and there were TV's to watch. Needless to say, I don't think much got eaten at that end of the table.

Of course, unbeknown to me, I ended up in two of these pictures, so there are belly pictures that exist. It's honestly bigger than I thought, but than I only see it from the top. We used to have a full length mirror in our house, but when Che moved upstairs, the door it was on got taken down. This has led to a lot less awareness of how things are progressing.

On another note, speaking of things progressing, we are past the point of viability, meaning that if something happened there is a 90% chance that the babies would survive. Also progressing is the size of my cankles. If you have any idea what the next naming would be after cankle I could really use your help. I truly believe that they have grown beyond that name, and need something new.

Baby Boxing

2009-10-07T14:41:00.004-04:00

The Baby boxing has been happening every day, between 2 and 3 pm. It's neat, and amazing, but sometimes annoying. I hate admitting that, but getting kicked and punched at four different areas can get mildly uncomfortable to say the least. But it means that they're in there and being feisty, so in the big scheme of things, it's great!

Mish Mash

2009-10-02T08:50:00.004-04:00

Today is just a mish mash of the randomness I've been throwing around in my mind lately.

On Sunday, the 4th, we will be at 24 weeks. That's the point of viability in the US, so I know that we've at least made it to a point that if something bad happened, we may still walk away with a baby or babies. Now, nothing has happened, I've done extremely well and this has been really easy (*knock on wood*) I don't talk about that alot, because I don't want to feel the wrath of all the women that have dealt with terrible morning sickness, bedrest, etc.
So far the only things that have really bothered me are moderately swollen ankles and feet, legs that fall asleep alot, and fatigue. I'm still able to get up on my own (not out of the couch though), put on my own shoes, cook, etc.

One of the things that I've struggled most with throughout this pregnancy though is weight. When Mike and I first met with Dr. Jarrett in January of 2008, he told us to call him back in three months after I lost weight. Ideally 30 pounds. I did, and it was great, and I felt great. Then came the rounds and rounds of fertility meds, with the wonderful side effect of: weight gain! Yippee. I did my best and tried not to gain back the 30 pounds that I worked so hard to take off in Jan., but some of it did come back. By the time the decision was made for IVF (in Jan. 2009) I had gained about 15 pounds back. I think the stress of the situation and the side effect of the drugs doesn't make for a great situation, but I did the best I could.

So when early on in the pregnancy when I lost those 15 pounds again I almost felt better, but not really, because I knew that wasn't good. At this point though I've only gained 7 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight. I struggle at 9 pm when I'm hungry, knowing full well that I should eat something, anything really, but there the little nagging voice in the back of my mind saying "You shouldn't eat after 7", and "Don't gain any weight." I think after struggling with weight for so long, and then knowing that this may have contributed in some part to our infertility struggles (not all, as a side effect of PCOS is being overweight) it's just been a struggle.

The average weight for a pregnant women to gain in 45-65 pounds and quite frankly, that scares the crap out of me.
But I guess things could be worse, I could be struggling with other issues, so for now I'm going to try my best to not think twice when I eat after 9pm, and not cringe when I down the 3rd mini-snickers of the day...

On a positive note, the kicking has gotten so strong that Mike finally felt it, and I have to say the look on his face was priceless. Yesterday it was so strong I could see my whole stomach moving, and that makes it worth it to try and not feel guilty about the weight gain. I've also notice that they "fight back" when I poke them around through my stomach, which makes me laugh, because at least I know they're feisty!

And, tomorrow Ché will be attending the sibling class at our hospital. It's designed for kids ages 3-7 to learn about what it will be like to have a new baby at home, and ways they can help. They'll also get to go on a tour and see the nursery. I'm so glad that our area offers things like this as it really helps Ché to be fully prepared for big changes.

Cool things this week

2009-09-23T10:41:00.004-04:00

Your babies' hands have grown bigger and stronger and the nerve endings in her fingers have developed her sense of touch. She's in there testing out her new found abilities by touching her face and grabbing the umbilical cord. Other cool developments:

You're already raising little Einsteins. Your babies' brain are developing at a clip this week and will continue to do so until they're five years old.

Babies' hair is now a short, bright white crop (Billy Idol, eat your heart out!). No matter what color it will end up—red, blonde, black—all babies' hair lacks pigment at this point. (If they're like me, it will stay that way for at least another year...)

Your babies have started growing taste buds and may be able to detect strong flavors in the amniotic fluid. If you could see inside, you might catch her sticking out her tongue for a taste and then grimacing, a sign that perhaps you should chill on the chili powder. (Haven't seemed to mind the spicy food I eat on a daily basis...)

Your babies now weighs almost a pound and measures almost 11 inches from her head to their heel, which is how the Stretch Armstrong in your uterus will be measured from here on out. Up 'til now your babies' legs were curled tight up against her torso, so she was measured from her head to her bottom (or crown to rump) and not head to toe. This week your mini is about as long as a package of Oreos and as heavy as a large bag of tortilla chips.

Healthy

2009-09-11T15:54:00.002-04:00

My mom, Mike and I went to the big ultrasound yesterday. This is the one where you get to so comfortably lay on your back for extended periods of time feeling your legs falling asleep while they measure and make sure your little person, or in our case persons, are growing well.

I admit to being very nervous before going in. We hadn't seen anyone OB related in nearly 6 weeks, and although I do feel little movements every now and then there were times were I didn't' feel them for days. I haven't gained a ton of weight, which made me nervous that I'm not doing something right, and quite frankly, you just don't know what's going on in there.

So, We go in and as soon as the wand is firmly placed we see two jiggling babies. I immediately felt much better. They are laying sideways, one on top of the other, and so the tech started with the baby on the bottom. Baby "B," measuring the head, abdomen, and femur bone, and one ventricle in the brain. Baby "B's" measurements put leg length at 21 weeks 5 days, which is nearly a week and a half larger than the actual time I am (20 weeks) and all of the measurements combined mean that Baby "B" weighs approximately 12 ounces. The tech then moved onto the top baby, or Baby "A." who apparently had more room and was a bit more cooperative. The same measurements were done, and again leg length was measuring at 21 weeks 6 days, and the measurements combined meant that the weight was 13 ounces.

After some Dr. Google research we found that normally at 20 weeks a baby weighs 10.58 ounces, so we have chunkos, which given the situation is really good. I'd rather have them over average weight than under.

We also found that there are two distinct placentas and a nice dividing membrane. This means that each baby has it's own blood supply and so there should be no chance of twin to twin transfusion, and they should be near the same weight at birth. At this point one ounce is not a big deal. The dividing membrane means they each have their own "space" and prevents them from fusing together to form Siamese twins, or leaching off one another. So, in a twin pregnancy we're doing really good, even great if I do say so myself!

Everyone is taking the news really well. We had kinda prepared ourselves for one of each so hearing that it was two girls was a shock. Mike is slowly but surely getting the idea.Oh the pink we will see...

He does listen!

2009-09-10T11:40:00.004-04:00

Without trying to sound like the typical biased parent, Ché is smart. He knows a lot of things, songs, ABC's, numbers, math skills, people's real names, his own long name (and he can say it almost correctly!) and much more.

The problem? He won't share the information. With anyone.

I've been working with Ché recently on writing his name, and learning his address. The address is 2nd to the name. He can recognize his name in print, and sign it using American Sign Language. (which Mike thinks is confusing, I don't but whatever...)

He is really stubborn about writing his name though so I gave up for a bit, thinking that it was alright that he wants to just play and be a little boy, and that there was plenty of time to get to writing and all those other learning things later. I figured in a few months we could revisit.

However, yesterday at a playgroup apple orchard outing the owner asked if any of the kids could write their names on the chalkboard. Guess who did it? Of course, the child that won't share anything with me, actually does listen to me. Now, he wrote the "C" backwards and struggled with the "h" before finally writing it backwards, but guess what, one perfect "e."

So, thanks for making me look like a liar Ché!

It's sinking in

2009-09-03T23:37:00.002-04:00

It's finally sinking in, and isn't as much of a shock as it was before. I think Mike and I are finally somewhat excited about the prospect of having two babies at once. For a long time other people were more excited than we were about us having twins. We were terrified (and still are) and apparently some people even wondered whether we were excited at all.

Of course we are. I think that it's wonderful and we wouldn't change it for anything, however it is a bit daunting when faced with the idea of daily life. Bottles alone will have to number close to 50 in our house just so that we have back up in case they don't all get washed in a day. Diapers are going to pry be on the upwards of 20 at the beginning, and that's just the two most obvious things that we've thought about. There's a lot that we have to prepare for, and a lot that we have to purchase, find, fix, and rearrange in our house. But, we're excited too.

I think next week, when we find out what the babies are, it will definitely hit home more that there will be two coming home, and then it will maybe make it seem more real. I think it may be more real for me, being that I'm carrying them around, however seeing them again next week will hit it home again for Mike.

Ché has successfully moved upstairs. We were prepared for more crying, and more trying to get attention, but he transitioned like a champ and still loves his room. He also told Nana today that the babies are coming around Christmas time, and that they aren't going to be staying in his new yellow room upstairs. They get his old fishy room, but not his fishy blanket, because he only has one of those!

Because a new school wasn't enough

2009-08-25T12:46:00.006-04:00

We also moved Che upstairs to his new big boy room.
Our house is a 1 1/2 story, with just one room upstairs and a hallway off of the stairway. He picked the color on the walls, yellow of course, and then he and Nana put up tons of the re-stickable stickers on the walls. We didn't want to paint any murals and stuff on the walls because I'm sure he's going to change his mind within the next couple years what he'd like his room to be.

The first night that he spent in his room, he went to sleep with no fuss. He woke up the next morning with no wakings in the night, and stated that he "loved it up here" and that he liked his new room. He had a few rough times at nap times, however I think that was due to him being very tired and needing the nap.

I'll take some pictures soon and get them up here to show you his new room. He's so proud of it and gladly gives tours to anyone willing to be entertained!

On the school front:
We thought Thursday would be rough, being that it was the 2nd day for the week. He was so excited to go, and when my mom picked him up that afternoon, he told her that he was going to go all 5 days next week because he liked it so much.

We've noticed a definite change in his behavior and speech. His speech is clearer, and slower, and he's more bubbly and outgoing. This was the behavior we saw at home, but not when out and about with other people. I'm excited to see him this way, saying Hello and Good-bye to people without being prompted, excited to be going to school.

I'll admit though, that it does make me a bit sad because he's growing up and the fact that he's going to be 4 soon doesn't help that.

Where does the time go?

2009-08-17T09:14:00.005-04:00

Ché's 1st Day of School

Of course, I asked to be late to work due to not knowing how he'd do at a new school, but fear not, no problems. We were really early, so we had to wait in the hallway about 10 minutes, but then he walked in gave Ms. Julia his filled out forms, and found his card to flip to let them know he was here. Then he answered the question of the day, "What is your favorite color, red or blue?" with blue as his answer. (His real favorite color is yellow, but those were the only two choices!) Then he preceded to the table to play with play-doh, and I said "Goodbye" and gave him a kiss. On the way out I signed to him, love you, and he signed it back then said "Bye!"

No crying, no fussing, nothing. I was so proud of him.

Ha!

2009-08-14T15:47:00.003-04:00

I read this and laughed out loud. But it's true.

"Clomid is a gateway drug."

If you don't understand it, I'm happy for you. If you do, then you'll laugh too.

16 weeks

2009-08-10T16:05:00.004-04:00

16 weeks. Wow, where has the time gone?

Get ready for a growth spurt. In the next few weeks, your baby will double his weight and add inches to his length. Right now, he's about the size of an avocado: 4 1/2 inches long (head to rump) and 3 1/2 ounces. His legs are much more developed, his head is more erect than it has been, and his eyes have moved closer to the front of his head. His ears are close to their final position, too. The patterning of his scalp has begun, though his locks aren't recognizable yet. He's even started growing toenails. And there's a lot happening inside as well. For example, his heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day, and this amount will continue to increase as your baby continues to develop.

Can you make guacamole with 2 avocados? hehe. Coincidentally, as much as I enjoy their smooth texture, I am allergic to them.

I have some more updates that I'll get to, but I don't have time right now. I promise, they're coming though!

Yea

2009-08-06T22:20:00.003-04:00

About that headache and sore throat that went away with sleep. It came back after being up for a while.

And then, the throbbing in my ear started. Sigh. Of course it's an inner ear infection. Today, was the first day that I didn't have to apply ice, or heat to get the throbbing to go away. I never got sick before being pregnant. Sigh, there goes my immune system.

I stayed home today

2009-07-31T10:37:00.002-04:00

because I could. I actually woke up with a sore throat and headache, but it went away after a few more hours of sleep. I can't remember the last time I didn't go to work. It's strange being home alone on a weekday...

Last night we went to our first child birth class. It was rather full of expectant mom's and their partners, mostly husbands and/or boyfriends. We were the ones with the due date out the farthest. I always try to plan ahead, and certainly didn't want to miss being able to take the class if I was put on bed rest, so I thought it better to go early.

When we told the people at our table about having twins they were all really excited, and felt that it was really neat. I guess we're finally there, but it's much different when you're the one actually going through it. I remember thinking too before all of this "Two at once, then we're done!" but that really doesn't hold true. I think given the circumstances, we're extremely happy to be here, we never thought we would be. I don't think that either of us thought the IVF cycle would work. I know for sure I didn't. So to be in a position where it in fact did work, and worked well, means that we're really excited, and happy. It just was a shock and took us a lot longer to get excited then an outsider!

A lot of the information of course is geared towards singleton pregnancies, but since there is another woman in the class pregnant with twins the instructor tries to point out some of the differences and talk about what could potentially happen, or change with a twin pregnancy. The rest of the room gasped when she said that there are times where there's an hour between delivery of the twins. A friend of my from high school, there with his girlfriend, looked at me and said "Good luck!"

We did learn a few new things and the best by far was the hip squeeze. Very nice. Basically involved Mike using both his hands to squeeze my hips back to where they should be. I can't even describe how nice it felt. What was even better though was that he did it again this morning, without asking.

The other thing that I picked up on last night, was that my body thinks it's about 4 weeks ahead of where it actually is, which is why a lot of twin pregnancies don't make it much further than 36/37 weeks.

On another note, we're getting used to the quiet house without Candy. I can't say that any of us like it all that much, but we'll get used to it. We've talked about another dog, but not yet. Perhaps in the spring, or summer of next year, and then again who knows. I would certainly like to make it through the winter and the rest of this pregnancy without having to worry about another animal to take care of.

What an eventful weekend

2009-07-27T13:17:00.007-04:00

It was definitely a weekend of ups and downs in our house.

We've been enjoying a visit from my aunt and uncle from Pennsylvania. It's always nice to have family in town.

We also spent time picking blueberries here. We went with my brother and his family and had a great time, even though we got rained on a little bit.

They are by far the best blueberries I've ever tasted, even Mike was seen eating a few. We made a blueberry cake with a vanilla glaze for dinner that same night, and it was like eating a giant blueberry muffin. Definitely something we'd make again, and it could be changed to different fruit, really easily. We currently have 17.5 pounds of blueberries and have frozen more than half, leaving the rest to be made into jam in the very near future.

We also took Che lunchbox shopping for his journey to a new school. He'll be starting on August 17th, and is very excited about it. He can't wait to carry his new froggy lunchbox to school and play on their playground.

We also graduated to the 2nd trimester, with this update:

"This week's big developments: Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him — a process he'll keep up until birth. He can grasp, too, and if you're having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb.In other news: Your baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches — about the size of a lemon — and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces. His body's growing faster than his head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck. By the end of this week, his arms will have grown to a length that's in proportion to the rest of his body. (His legs still have some lengthening to do.) He's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over his body. Your baby's liver starts making bile this week — a sign that it's doing its job right — and his spleen starts helping in the production of red blood cells. Though you can't feel his tiny punches and kicks yet, your little pugilist's hands and feet (which now measure about 1/2 inch long) are more flexible and active. "

Of course with the good weekend, comes the bad. We took our dog, Candy, to the vet on Friday afternoon, she had been vomiting and had tremendously terrible breath. They drew blood and gave her an antibiotic thinking that she probably had an infection in her mouth. Of course Saturday morning came with the results of the blood test, showing that she had advanced renal failure. Mike graciously took her to the vet to talk about options, and after learning that IV fluids would take 3-4 days and may not help at all made the decision to put her down. She was 11, and we'd had her for 4 years. She was a really good dog. Luckily we knew that this was a possible outcome so Che was able to say goodbye and have an explanation as to what may happen. He still is not quite aware, but I'm sure once her tray in the kitchen disappears he'll understand more. He asked where she was on Sunday, but seemed to accept the answer that she had died, just like my mom's dog Cooter, and Papa. It's sad to me that my 3 1/2 year old knows the word die, and what it means.

Goodbye Good Dog!

Sigh. Such is life.

A few updates

2009-07-20T10:16:00.007-04:00

Ché Updates:

We took Ché to the annual FTIA picnic this year (We missed last year due to a wedding), and he had a great time. Still thought nothing of all the kids looking like him. The only thing he cared about was riding the carousel. Of course, we forgot the camera, and the bag with the snacks, and extra clothes. Oh well. He also had a great time playing on the different playgrounds, and looking at the train that kept passing by. We stayed a few hours, then headed home, where Che after a lot of comments like, "I'm not tired," and "I don't need a rest," feel asleep for most of the ride home.

We are also in the mode of getting Ché ready to move upstairs to his big boy room. We have a 1 and a 1/2 story house, and there is only 1 bedroom on the 2nd floor. It's very large, and he'll have plenty of room for sleeping and playing. At this point he's really excited about it, and wants to paint the room yellow and pink. Last night we took down my bedroom set from home, and sent it back to my mom's house. Underneath the bed was a bunch of stuff left over from teaching, mostly bulletin board things, so Ché spent some time picking out the things he wants on his walls. On of which is a giraffe growth chart that goes floor to ceiling. He's pretty excited about it.

Babies Update:

We're now in the last week of the first trimester. It's pretty exciting, and I'm amazed at how fast this is all going. I've transitioned to some maternity clothes and some regular clothes and getting dressed is more and more of a challenge every day. Sunday, as I'm sure Mike will attest to was not a great day for dressing, and I changed outfits several times before finally just giving up.

This is the last week of your first trimester, and your risk of miscarriage is now much lower than earlier in pregnancy. Next week marks the beginning of your second trimester, a time of relative comfort for many women who see early pregnancy symptoms such as morning sickness and fatigue subside. More good news: Many couples also notice a distinct libido lift around this time. Birth is still months away, but your breasts may have already started making colostrum, the nutrient-rich fluid that feeds your baby for the first few days after birth, before your milk starts to flow.

Your baby has reached the size of a medium shrimp and weighs nearly an ounce. (Length: almost 3 inches, head to bottom.)

The name debate has cooled, it's just a subject we don't talk about at this point. I think that we've found a changing table solution, and we have two cribs ready to go. We're going to talk with Ché about whether or not he wants his siblings to have the fishies in his current room, or if they should get something new. We're really trying hard not to make it seem as though we're "Pushing" him out of his room, and making him give up all his things for the babies. In fact I was thinking of letting him decide which blankets out of the thousands he has to keep and which to give up for the babies. He's also very protective of the babies, and their things. He spent 7 minutes going through a grocery bag of baby clothes my SIL had sent over, "sorting" them out and making sure everything was alright for "his babies."

Other than that, life around our house is pretty normal, same stuff, different day, and I couldn't be happier with it that way.

12 weeks

2009-07-12T10:30:00.005-04:00

The most dramatic development this week: reflexes. Your baby's fingers will soon begin to open and close, his toes will curl, his eye muscles will clench, and his mouth will make sucking movements. In fact, if you prod your abdomen, your baby will squirm in response, although you won't be able to feel it. His intestines, which have grown so fast that they protrude into the umbilical cord, will start to move into his abdominal cavity about now, and his kidneys will begin excreting urine into his bladder.

Meanwhile, nerve cells are multiplying rapidly, and in your baby's brain, synapses are forming furiously. His face looks unquestionably human: His eyes have moved from the sides to the front of his head, and his ears are right where they should be. From crown to rump, your baby-to-be is just over 2 inches long (about the size of a lime) and weighs half an ounce.

And that's the update this week. The size of limes... based on the last ultrasounds they are probably both right on, as they have measured exactly right every time. I still feel alright, although the doctor took me off of the metformin, and ever since then I have been a lot more tired, and a lot less hungry. Hopefully that will taper off as my body gets used to not having the medicine.

Just an update

2009-07-10T14:29:00.004-04:00

On Monday my doctor removed me from the metformin, which means that my body no longer has help digesting sugar. The thing I've noticed though is a return of the exhaustion.

It was so much better last week, sigh. Wish that hadn't come back.

I'm happy to report though that my aversion to food is going away, although some things still ick.... like the commercial for KFC Grilled chicken, just turns my stomachache, I can't even watch it. I've also noticed a tightness in the clothes, and have thoroughly enjoyed wearing the one pair of maternity capri's that my mom so generously bought for me. They have a lot of room, don't get me wrong, but they're oh so comfy.

People keep asking me about cravings, and I don't think I've really had any that are that outstanding or that "I can't live without it..." however I guess I could start the list with orange pop and ice.

Mike has lovingly gotten me a big cup of ice from the neighborhood Speedway at least 3-4 times per week with no complaining. He did however complain when I sprawled out on the bed the other night with my knee in his back...

I am going next Thursday morning for a 1 hour Glucose Tolerance Test. Since being taken off the meds., and carrying twins my doctor wanted to be safe and do one now and one later. Hooray for me! I'm worried about it though, just because everything else with the pregnancy has been so easy, so I've been waiting for something to happen...

So we'll see what happens.

Have a good weekend and if you get a chance on Tuesday, wish Mike a Happy Birthday!

Strollers, bottles, and more!

2009-07-08T21:25:00.004-04:00

One thing that has become apparent is that we don't have a lot of "baby" stuff.

Ché was 13 months old the day we picked him up, so the littlest things we have are 6-9 months, which yes, amazingly fit Ché for quite some time. (he wore 12 month shorts yesterday...)

So, we've been assessing the situation and trying to decide all that we need to acquire in the next 6-7 months. It's apparent that we have to have two car seats, clothes and bottles. We went tonight and looked at a double stroller which I think you need a CDL to drive their so big and get an idea of the car seats that are available. I've been scouring the clearance racks for clothes, so we won't have to have naked kids running around...

We we were able to score 2 "jiggly" seats at a garage sale for $6 a piece, and a crib and mattress from Craigslist for $120. (We've decided to split the babies up as best as we can at the beginning by putting them in their own cribs, this way we avoid trying to split them up from co-sleeping with one another, which we've read has been a difficult thing to do)

The big debate now is bottles. When Che came we used the ventaire bottles by playtex, and the cheap Gerber bottles since that was what he used in Guatemala. At the time the BPA free movement hadn't quite gained momentum so bottles weren't made that way. Mike wants to do glass bottles, but I'm fine as long as the plastic is BPA free. The bad thing is that whatever we choose we have to have a lot of. There's no way that we'll be able to have less than 12-15 bottles for everyday... which could be very expensive. So, we'll continue discussing those options.

Is there anything that you recommend for infants? We don't have experience here so any comments are welcome!

The other great debate is:

Names. Mike likes much different names than I do. He contends that we should just each name one, but that prospect is scary. Names he threw out tonight are:

*Apollo

* Quinn

* Sawyer

* Tillman (Till...)

* Navarre

* Cutler (-ey... hehe)

* Harper

* Tucker

* Hollis

* Gust

*Luc

*Alburon

*Theophilus (I mean seriously????)

and that's just the beginning of his madness. So yea, that's going to be a battle. Sigh...

So, any advice on baby gear and names would be appreciated, not necessarily name ideas, but ways to bridge the gaps in our likes/dislikes.

A month betwen posts

2009-07-06T21:19:00.007-04:00

and so much to post about...

As most of you are already aware, Mike and I have done a lot of fertility work. We agreed to do one IVF cycle, and if it didn't work, that was going to be the end. Famous last words!

On May 3rd we had 7 eggs retrieved and fertilized. There were 6 eggs fertilized and so on Wednesday, May 5th we had 2 put back. At that time we had decided to do a freezing of eggs, which means that everyone they took out was fertilized and then they got to pick the best 2 to put back in. We had intentions of freezing the rest for future use. If we had not consented to the freezing, they would have only fertilized 2 eggs, which means if they didn't work, we would have lost all the time and hope we put into the process.

Then we waited, and waited, and waited some more. It was the longest 13 days of my life. On May 17th, Mike left for NABS in Michigan, which wasn't far, but far enough away that he wasn't going to be able to be home for the next day's results of the first beta test. I took a home pregnancy test on the 17th, and it declared "Pregnant" in its digital read out much quicker than the 3 minutes the box said. I ran into the bedroom, and handed it to Mike who said "What does that mean."

I went on the 18th, coincidentally, 1 year after my dad had passed away and had my first beta done. On the guidelines from the Dr's. office it said that if the number is over 50, the test would be repeated in 2 days, and if under 50 you could assume you were not pregnant. That phone call came in the afternoon on the 18th, with a beta number of 228, well over that magic 50 number. I had a repeat beta on Wednesday the 20th, and again according to the guidelines in order to celebrate we needed to see the number double, which meant we should see at least 456, ours was 526m which again was much more than needed.

We were officially pregnant at that time! Something we had waited so long for, and it seemed so surreal

I started to question the high numbers at that time, but our Dr.'s office wouldn't confirm anything, and Dr. Google wasn't very helpful either. So we had to wait again. On June 6th we went in for an ultrasound to confirm and the tech said, "There's your baby, and there's another one..."

I think Mike almost fainted, I had prepared myself that this was a possibility, he had convinced himself that it was not. The tech measured, both were measuring at the right sizes, one was measuring 6 weeks 5 days (right on), and the other was 6 weeks 4 days. the heart rates were right on where they needed to be as well.

The dr.'s office then led us to another room where we were left alone for quite some time to digest the news. I don't think they could have left us there long enough!

We had another ultrasound 2 weeks later, and the tech was not good at hiding her concern over the fact that Baby "B" was a lot smaller than Baby "A" It was very concerning, and we thought something was wrong. The comforting thing though was that the heart rates were very healthy. We were asked to wait at the doctor's office to talk to someone, but I had a mtg, and couldn't wait. The rescheduled us for a week later to re-measure and make sure everything was alright. A week later Baby "B" had turned and was measuring right on track, as was Baby "A" which meant, no problems. It was comforting to know and set my mind at ease.

I had another annual type appt. today, and since the doctor cannot use a doppler to hear the heartbeats got to have another ultrasound to measure heartbeats. This was my first ultrasound that was done on the outside, not in, and it was very cool. I got to see both babies, very briefly, and see that their hearts are pumping well, one at 171 and the other at 173. Baby "A" was chillin out, cool as a cucumber, and Baby "B" was rockin' it out in there, all limbs going at once. Both babies were head up today, which last time one was head up and the other head down.

At this time we are 11 weeks pregnant, with a due date still set for January 24th, although with twins the normal gestation is less than 40 weeks so I'm assuming it will be at least 4 weeks early, which leaves us at the end of Dec. or early Jan.

I have to say that overall I've felt great. I've not had any morning sickness and the only complaints I have are that my left leg keeps falling asleep and I'm really tired. O try not to bring it up a lot because I don't like the glares from other pregnant women, or the smiting from someone making it suddenly appear!

I feel that you can tell that I'm pregnant at this point, however I doubt that you can, it's just my perception. I'm to the point where a lot of my pants are tighter, so I bought these, which have been really helpful. They come in two different sizes and right now what they are allowing me to do is eat comfortably and move well.

I've tried really hard not to read a lot of pregnancy books because I don't want to make my mind lead me into thinking things are happening when they aren't. If I have questions, I call the doctor. I've been feeling some round ligament pain at times, which is very interesting, and I know shocking to Mike when I just stood hunched over in the kitchen one day for about 3 minutes.

Mike is really excited now, and we're both getting used to the idea that our family is almost doubling. Ché believes that the babies are his, and that Santa is going to put them in my belly button at Christmas time. He is very excited about having siblings, and insists that he is going to be a big sister.

The one site that I do check regularly is one that compares fetal size with fruit. This is week 11:

A fig. last week it was a kumquat. This for me puts the babies into perspective into something that I can hold, and make tangible.

So, that's our big news. What have you been up to?

I'll try to post some more of Che's stories, and things that he's made up, they're hilarious and definitely worth sharing!