A Tale of Two Babies

A belated Christmas Celebration!

2012-01-23T05:18:00.001-08:00

Uncle Scott, Aunt Marisa and Cate (Emily wasn't feeling very photogenic...haha)

My very best friend and her wonderful husband came over this past weekend to celebrate Christmas with us! I know, Christmas was a month ago, but we always celebrate a late Christmas since the holidays are always such a blur! It's also fun to spread out the Holiday Cheer! I even kept up 2 Christmas trees (you know, for them, not because I have an unhealthy obsession with Christmas or anything.....). They brought the girls two sweet outfits that I absolutely love, and an awesome bath toy that actually spurts water out of a periscope! It looks like so much fun - tonight is bath night so I can't wait to play with it. I mean, I can't wait for the girls to play with it! :)

Cloth Diapering 101 for Twins

2012-01-16T03:58:00.000-08:00

I have wanted to sit down and write out this post for a while! There is just so much I want to put in this, so please bear with me as it will most likely turn into a novel! There are lots of resources for cloth diapering on the web, but as far as I know, there aren't many that are specifically dedicated to cloth diapering multiples. When I was pregnant, I had a lot of CD (cloth diaper) related questions that were twins related. Such as) how many do you need for twins? What brand works best? Since I'll need double, what are some brands that are less expensive? What is the washing/care routine?

Twins are obviously more work than having one baby. So you might think that adding in cloth diapers is an unnecessary burden. However, I find it to be just as easy, if not easier, than using disposables. Once you get a good routine down, CDing is easy, fun and a GREAT way to save money!

How many cloth diapers do I need, and what is this going to cost me?

This was a question I asked over and over when I was pregnant. To be honest, I only started with a few, then added to my stash as time went on and I figured out what worked for me the best. In addition, Miss Catherine and Miss Emily were born on the small side (5 lbs and 5 lbs 3 oz) so they couldn't fit into most one-size diapers when they were still tiny newborns. During the first month we used preemie sized prefolds and covers along with disposables (we got a few packs of disposables as gifts from my showers). But anyways, here is the breakdown of how many diapers I have currently.

2 - Kawaii Goodnight Heavy Wetter (snaps)
4 - Kawaii One Size Fun Prints (snaps)
2 - Blueberry Minky's (velcro)
6 - Sunbaby's (snaps)
2 - Fuzzibuns (snaps)
26 - Kawaii Pure & Natural (velcro)

So that is a total of 42 diapers that I use daily. And, thanks to the internet, I know exactly how much I've spent: $372.57. However, my mother in law graciously bought me 10 diapers for Christmas so if you subtract $73 for those, it equals $299.57.

(I also have some preemie and normal sized prefolds and covers, but my mom bought me those so I didn't count them in my total. Plus I pretty much only use them if all my diapers are in the wash, which is rare, or for burp cloths and rags!)

So let's do the math here, shall we? My girls are 29 weeks old. Let's figure that I use 10 diapers per day, per baby. So a total of 20 diapers a day, 140 diapers per week. That is 4,060 diapers that I would have used since they have been born (and we all know that as newborns, and once you start solids, you use more than 10 diapers per day!). So let's say I was using super cheap disposables - parent's choice from walmart. Online, it states that a pack of 200 diapers is $23.88. That means I would have spent $484.76 by now! So that is a savings of $185.19 AND my girls are only 6 months old! And if I used a more expensive brand, like Pampers for example, I would have spent a total of $922.42 by now!!! That is a savings of $622.85!!! These diapers will get them well into potty training so now every month I use cloth over disposables, I'm saving money. Yes cloth is an initial investment, but over time you easily make back what you would have spent on disposables. Plus, you NEVER have to run out to the store because you're "out of diapers". With cloth, all you have to do is run a load of laundry!

In addition, all of these diapers are "pockets." That means there's a "shell," if you will, that 1 or 2 inserts fit into. The insert absorbs the liquid, and the part of the shell that touches baby's skin stays pretty dry. The outer part of the shell stays dry.

Snaps vs. Velcro
This is really personal preference. I have found from my experience that velcro is wonderful to use during the day. Dadddy's and Grandma's especially like the ease of use that velcro brings. The only downside that I have found, is that the velcro tends to wear over time with washing and drying. Little hairs, loose threads, etc. become stuck in the velcro and you have to pull it out. Diapers with snaps tend to hold up a little better through all the wash cycles, but are a little bit more of a pain to put on the baby. Especially when you are diapering one baby and the other is screaming! So I tend to use velcro during the day, and snaps at night.

Care and Maintenance
I'm going to be honest, I don't do a great job caring for my cloth diapers! Some people use special CD detergent, line dry, do rinse cycles, etc. Here's what I do. I use All Free & Clear detergent, which you can find at any grocery store. I put all the diapers in a rinse cycle first. Then I add the rest of my baby laundry to the washing machine, add the detergent, and do a normal wash cycle on hot. Then EVERYTHING goes in the dryer. To be honest, with twins, I just do not have the time to mess with line drying, etc. In the summer I liked sunning my diapers on the deck because it took all the little stains out and made them bright and new looking, but obviously I can't do that in the winter. So then I take all my laundry out, sort it, stuff my diapers and put them away. I do laundry every other day. I actually do the wash at night, and put them in the dryer right before I go to bed. Then when I wake up in the morning, I have time to sort and fold. Would my diapers, especially the velcro, look a little better if I line dried? Definitely. But we're 6 months in and my diapers are holding up JUST fine!

Storage
It's really easy to store cloth diapers! I have a changing table that is more like a dresser, and all my diapers in the top drawer.
As for dirty diapers, my mom got me a great hamper. I think she got it from Bed, Bath, and Beyond. It came with two mesh bags that velcro in. In one of the bags, I used diaper pins to pin in a wet bag. That's where all the dirty diapers go. The other bag I just leave open for the rest of the baby laundry; bibs, clothes, jammies, etc.

Diaper Rash No More
As I said earlier, we used disposables part time when the girls were newborns. Right after we got home, they both got a terrible diaper rash. I tried every cream on the market, let them air out ALL the time, etc. and nothing worked. There were just huge blisters on my poor babies tushes and I felt so bad I couldn't do anything about it. Finally at about 3-4 weeks old, I discovered that the girls finally fit into my pocket diapers! I was so excited, and we switched instantly. Honestly, one day later, their rashes were GONE. Not a trace of it left. 6 months later, they have never had another diaper rash.

Well, I think that's about it! I think I covered everything - but if you have any questions leave a comment and I'll be happy to answer! Happy Diapering!

Catherine's Pearly Whites

2012-01-15T14:08:00.000-08:00

Can you see those pearly whites?! Catherine's first two teeth have definitely come in quite a bit! She did pretty well with cutting these teeth. You could tell she was hurting, she didn't sleep well for two nights in a row (completely unheard of for her!), but after that she was back to her old self! I think the teeth just initially cutting through is what hurt the most. But for now, we are A-OK! And poor Emily is still toothless, haha! Catherine is happy about that because Emily tends to enjoy gnawing on Catherine's hands and feet!

6 month well baby visit

2012-01-05T16:30:00.001-08:00

Our 6 month well-baby visit was on Wednesday, and the girls did great! Catherine is 13 lbs 14 oz and 25 1/2" long. Emily is 13 lbs 4 oz and 24 1/2" long. Still little peanuts, but the doctor said their weight gain is just fine considering how little they started. We got a lot of info on new things to start. Namely we should start giving them pureed meat for iron, since their iron stores are about depleted by 6 months old. We can also start giving them yo baby yogurt, which I'm really excited to give them! I hope they love it! Also, we can start giving them sippies of water with their meals. I tried that this morning and this afternoon and they didn't really care for it. Catherine drank about 1/2 oz, but Emily wanted nothing to do with it. They also had some shots, and they did ok. Catherine had a slight fever this morning but after some baby tylenol and some cuddles, she did just fine!

Sleeping Babies

2012-01-04T03:48:00.000-08:00

I often get asked what my 'secret' is to get my babies to sleep so well. They have been sleeping through the night since 8 weeks and have not once regressed. So I thought I'd write out everything I do during the day and at night to help my girls to sleep through the night.

However, I will preface this by saying that every baby is different and has different needs and wants. I really think that I just got blessed with really good sleepers, but either way here are some things I do.

The first thing is maintaining an iron clad eating schedule. Every 3 hours on the nose, my girls get their bottle (except for their 1st two bottles, which are 2 hours apart). I've been on this schedule since they were born and in the hospital. The nurses encouraged it and I followed it, even when I came home. Now in the very beginning, sometimes they are hungry more than every 3 hours and that's ok. Feed them! What I did in the beginning was give them their "normal" bottle every 3 hours and if they were hungry between scheduled bottles of breastmilk (since I was pumping right away), I'd nurse to "hold them over".

Here is our schedule now, at 6 months. But besides adding in the solids (since last month) and the fact that they sleep through the night instead of waking up for bottles, which obviously all newborns do, it's been exactly the same since they were born.

7am: bottle
7:15: change diaper and back to sleep in the crib
9am: bottle
10am: fruit
11am:nap
12 noon: bottle
2pm: nap
3pm: bottle
4pm: veggie
5pm: nap
6pm: bottle
7:30: bath (every other day, usually)
8pm: nap
9pm: bottle
9:15pm: bedtime

So as you can see, we go by the "eat, awake, sleep" routine, every 3 hours. When your baby is very little, your awake time won't be very long. But usually after a baby eats they are happy, so encourage awake time at that point and play, read a book, etc. then about an hour before their next bottle, encourage a little nap.

Many people also ask when I dropped a feeding. I didn't. They did. One night they went 4 hours after going to bed and their first nighttime feed. They did that for about a week. Then they went 5 hours, etc. This will definitely throw you off your schedule, but you can get it back during the daytime. I always just nursed to hold them over to their next scheduled bottle.

Another thing I always used in the beginning was the miracle blanket for swaddling. They rarely escaped and it kept them snug and secure. We broke from the swaddle at around 5 months by leaving one arm out for a week, then both arms out, then we eliminated it and just put them in the sleep sack, which they sleep in now. They have also never had a paci in their crib. They use a paci during the day for naps, but they never seem to need it at night. Every night is exactly the same: bottle, change into jammies/nighttime diaper (since we cloth diaper), put the sleep sack on, put on their mobiles and sound machine, and it's lights out. They usually fall asleep instantly. Sometimes it takes them a few minutes to settle down, but they always do within minutes.

We also keep a sound machine on "ocean sounds" all night. If you don't have a sound machine that plugs into a wall outlet, get one. Leave it on all night.

And I think that's about it! I hope some of my methods work for you and your baby! Sleep is a wonderful thing for everyone!

Catherine's big news

2012-01-03T08:10:00.000-08:00

On December 30th, I was letting Catherine gnaw on my fingers when suddenly, OUCH! I got a pinch on my finger that did not feel good. Could it be?! I peered into her mouth and there they were...two little white nubs poking through her gums. NOOO!!! My little baby turned 6 months, learned how to sit on her own, and now has TWO teeth coming in, all over the course of 3 days! I don't know if I'm ready for all this...I love my babies and love this age, and while I'm excited for their milestones I'm sad that they are growing SO darn quickly!

A new look

2012-01-03T03:50:00.000-08:00

Looks a little different around here, huh?! I decided to give my blog a facelift if you will, and start writing in it more. Since I'm doing a terrible job writing in their baby books, and it's easy for me to write on the computer when the girls are napping, I thought I'd start documenting more on this blog. Someday I hope they can look back on it and see how life was like when they were babies!

And because I can't have a blog post without a picture, here's one for fun! The girls were holding hands during tummy time! :)

Look! We can sit!

2011-12-29T11:11:00.000-08:00

And we have babies that sit!!!!

6 Months

2011-12-26T17:44:00.000-08:00

Our Family on Christmas

The picture we sent out in our Christmas Cards

The girls with their Christmas Stockings

Their first fire on Christmas night

Opening their presents from Santa!

Their first taste of food! (Emily on left, Catherine on right)

Our family

Daddy's Girls

How is it possible that I'm writing this already? Are my girls REALLY half a year old?! Seriously???!!!!! I cannot believe they are 6 months already, it blows my mind! Every day with the girls is more and more fun. They are getting so inquisitive and love to learn new things. Let's see - there are lots of new things this month. I hope I remember everything.

The biggest news is that they are now eating big girl food! I make all their food myself. We started around 5.5 months with homemade rice cereal made out of organic whole grain brown rice. They HATED it. Catherine kept spitting it out and Emily just gagged and made horrible faces. I don't know, I thought it was good! haha! So we tried that every day for about a week. Catherine started to enjoy it a little more but Emily was just not having it. Ok. So then we decided to try avocado for a few days. Again, Catherine seemed ok with it but Emily made faces like i was feeding her a lemon and would scream after about 5 minutes into feeding it to her. SO then I decided to try sweet potato. THAT was a winner! Both girls LOVED it and started to open their mouth for it. We did sweet potato for about a week until I ran out. Then we tried banana and oh my gosh they were going CRAZY for it! They just kept their smiling mouths open unless they were "chewing"! And finally, our latest food is butternut squash and again they are in love with it! Both girls are finishing their portions and smiling all through feeding time and opening their mouths and diving into the spoon, haha! Right now I am just feeding once a day but I'm going to start doing twice a day soon. I was worried about doing it myself (right now I feed when Brian gets home from work to help) but now that they eat so well I'll have no problems feeding them in the mornings myself. I think we'll do fruit in the morning and veggies in late afternoon.

Another big event that happened this month is that we celebrated our FIRST Christmas! Wow, how amazing to experience Christmas through your children's eyes. Even though they obviously didn't "get" the concept of Christmas, it was so fun celebrating Christmas with my two sweet angels and my amazing husband. We had a wonderful holiday filled with family. We spent Christmas eve (Polish Wigilia) with my parents and enjoyed a traditional Polish feast! They got spoiled by their grandparents and got lots of toys, some clothes and savings bonds. Christmas morning we all woke up and opened presents! Santa brought the girls a Sophie the Giraffe, an O-Ball, a tea-set and some blocks! Mommy and Daddy put money into their savings accounts as well! Then we went to church in the morning, where they behaved so wonderfully. A little fussy half way through but then they fell asleep within minutes. After that we packed up and drove out to Brian's parent's house where we celebrated Christmas with them! They, of course, spoiled them as well with toys, books, stuffed animals and money for their bank accounts. We had a delicious dinner and had a great time celebrating with them. The girls did wonderfully and had a lot of fun!

Let's see what else - they are still sleeping amazing well through the night. I mean, they don't wake up at night for ANYTHING - not a paci, a cuddle, bottle, nothing. Every night they sleep perfectly. We are SOOOOO lucky. I'm still pumping milk for them and plan to continue another 6 months! I'm glad we made it this far though - it was my "little" goal!

Catherine had to start going to physical therapy a few weeks ago because she has a flat spot on the back of her head. The physical therapist thinks it's because of how she was positioned in my belly (head down) and Emily was pushing down on her, so her head was against my pelvis for months. Anyways, the physical therapist says she has a mild case and she definitely won't need a helmet (yay!) We have to work on WAY more tummy time. I wasn't doing it nearly enough because neither of them liked it, but the therapist gave me lots of tips for helping them enjoy it more....aka I have to be down there with them the whole time! But that's ok, I'd do anything for them! But they are both making a lot of progress and the therapist is very impressed! They can now roll back to belly which is new this month! They can also sit unassisted for about 30 seconds or so...but I have to be there watching them the whole time - they aren't very steady when they sit yet.

Well I think that's it for this month! Sorry for the novel - congrats if you read this whole thing!

5 Months

2011-11-27T04:35:00.001-08:00

The girls showing off their Thanksgiving dresses!

Our family - 1st Thanksgiving!

Me and my favorite girls!

Playing with Christmas lights!

Our 1st snow!!!!

Our 1st time meeting Santa!

Catherine's first time in the high chair

We love to roll into each other!

Emily's first time in the high chair

Another month has passed! The girls will be 5 months old tomorrow, so hard to believe! So many exciting things have happened this month! They got to witness their FIRST snow! I was so excited about this because I love snow so much, it makes the house feel so cozy! They also got to meet Santa Claus! They were very good and liked Santa very much! They didn't ask for anything this year, but I know next year they will! :) We also played with Christmas lights for some photos to include in our Christmas cards this year! We had our first thanksgiving, too! The girls were very good and watched us eat our big meal. We spent Thanksgiving day with my parents, then the next day we celebrated with Brian's parents. This was our first "long" car trip with the girls - about an hour to and from. They did GREAT! They were alert but didn't make a peep the whole time there and back, and they did wonderful at their grandparent's house! We also sat in high chairs for the first time. We didn't eat anything, ha, but we thought we'd start practicing sitting in our big girl chairs!

Let's see what else, I'm still pumping around the clock and making as much milk as I can for them! We have to give them 2 oz of formula per day (they are SO hungry at their 6pm bottle!) right now, but I just started a new herb to help increase milk production and I feel it's already working, so hopefully we won't need to supplement much longer.

They still sleep amazingly well, straight through the night! We are SO lucky and blessed.

They both have such different personalities, it's so funny. Catherine is a chatter bug, she loves to babble and talk and make funny little noises, it cracks us up. She is OBSESSED with her jumparoo. She could literally spend all day in it, we have to limit her time spent in it! She laughs and smiles and bounces. She loves it so much! Emily is ACTIVE. She doesn't "talk" quite as much as her sister but she loves to "stand up", play the airplane game with daddy, and roll around. This little girl is going to be walking before we know it, I can tell! They both gnaw on their hands all the time, and have just recently discovered that chewing on toys is fun too! I bought them a 'Sophie the Giraffe' for Christmas, I hope they like it!

Well, we have lots to look forward to this month! Christmas is by far my most favorite time of year, and I am so blessed to be able to share it with my little girls! I hope someday they love it just as much as I do!

4 Months

2011-10-27T04:50:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the influx of pictures this month! The girls are just getting more and more fun every day, and I can't help myself from taking HUNDREDS of pictures of them!

Tomorrow marks their 4 month birthday! They are such joys. They are sleeping in their cribs right now and I find myself wanting to go and get them to cuddle with because I just CANNOT get enough of them! But I won't, they are sleeping peacefully! :)

They LOVE to laugh, smile and ham it up for their mom and dad! They like when we do peek-a-boo, and Emily especially loves her jumparoo, even though she's still a little small for it! Catherine loves the song "I'm a little tea cup" and laughs every time I sing it to her on my lap, and Emily likes "The itsy bitsy spider". They also both like to sit in their Bumbo seats! They LOVE their daddy so much. As soon as he gets home from work they start to smile and cannot wait to cuddle with him. They all have so much fun together and watching Brian with his daughters just melts my heart! He is such a wonderful dad and husband!

One thing that is new this month is that they are really starting to notice each other. I often find them locking eyes with each other and smiling. When I walk in their nursery in the morning and they are awake, I catch them staring at each other through their cribs, which are side by side. They are also starting to hold hands which is just the cutest thing ever. However, now when one cries the other does also! I think they can tell if their sister is sad, and that makes them sad too. I am positive these little girls will be the best of friends!

They love to roll from their belly to their back lately! They still haven't rolled from Back to Belly, but I think Emily is close! Catherine would prefer to be on her back I think, so she's in no hurry to roll to her belly!

They still sleep through the night (knock on wood!)! We are still swaddling...heck, I'd swaddle them until they are 10 if I could! They are most comfortable this way and it makes me comfortable because they are nice and secure in their blankets and I don't have to worry about them suffocating.

They are also still on 100% Breastmilk that I pump. I breastfeed every so often, but now they are happy going 3 hours between eating during the day so I don't have to breastfeed quite as much. I'm not sure how much longer they will be on 100% breastmilk though, I am *just* keeping up with their needs so when they start eating more, I might have to give them a bottle of formula every now and then....I'm thinking every few days. But I don't think we'll have to do it for very long because we'll be introducing purees' at 6 months, so that's only 2 months away. I will, of course, be making all their food myself.

It's getting cold here in Northern NY! They are even calling for snow today! I cannot wait for them to see their 1st snow. I am one of the weirdos who loves snow and winter. It's so cozy!

It's so hard to believe that this time last year, I was pregnant but didn't even know it yet! I got pregnant on October 22nd and found out about it on November 5th. It's so hard to believe it's been a year and now I have the two most precious gifts that God has ever given me. We are so blessed!

3 months

2011-09-30T08:08:00.000-07:00

Well it looks like we cruised right past a 2 month update and now we're already at 3 months! Seriously, you do NOT know what "time flying" means until you have children! The hours, days, weeks, months all go by SO fast!

The girls are doing JUST wonderful. They are such perfect babies, I don't know what I did to deserve them. They brighten my day every morning with their gummy grins that go from ear to ear when they see me. You just cannot have a bad day when it starts so wonderfully!

My little angels sleep through the night now, thank you God! They actually have been for the last month or so and it's soooo nice. We put them to bed after their 9pm bottle and they sleep until at least 6 when I wake them up because I'm in pain from sleeping all night so I have to pump!

They are also on 100% breast milk! We ditched the formula a while ago and haven't looked back since. I mostly pump and give them bottles of breast milk, but I also breastfeed them intermittently throughout the day. It's the best of both worlds if you ask me, I'm not tied down to exclusive breastfeeding (which is HARD with twins, trust me!), I still get the bonding time, and they always get breastmilk! It works great for us,.

Last weekend they had their Christening. It was such a wonderful day. The weather was perfect and they were AMAZING during the service. Emily slept the whole time and Catherine was perfectly content just looking around and being quiet. They were fantastic and we came home and had a wonderful party to celebrate my little girls!

Well I think that's about it for now! Hopefully I'll remember to update next month!

1 month old!

2011-07-29T10:22:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe it's been a month already! The girls are doing GREAT. They are gaining weight wonderfully and are generally pretty easy babies! Don't get me wrong, they have their moments, but over all they are pretty easy little girls - they keep to their schedule fantastically!

Figuring out how to feed these girls was a challenge to start, but is going better now. I REALLY wanted to exclusively breast feed, but it was very hard and we had a lot going against us. Mainly that the girls were very small when they were born and they came 3 weeks early. So they had a hard time latching in the hospital and we had to give them formula. I started pumping right away and eventually my milk came in. So although they were given breast milk, I felt like a failure that I couldn't actually breast feed. But eventually I got over it and we definitely have not given up on breast feeding! They are pretty good at it now - we have even tandem fed! However, we only actually breast feed 1-2 times per day. FYI It's really challenging breast feeding twins! Mainly because it takes way longer than just giving a bottle and you don't know how much they're actually getting, and when you're trying to beef up low birthweight babies, it's important to know how much they get. So right now we're on a pretty good routine. They get breastmilk in the bottle for all but one feeding every day (basically because my supply just cannot keep up with their needs), if they get hungry between bottles I breastfeed, and we give formula once a day, at night. It works for us right now!

In terms of sleeping, well, I wish they would sleep longer of course! They stick to their every 3 hour schedule at night and it takes me an hour to feed, burp and change them both. Then I have to pump. So I get about 2 hour stretches of sleep at night. However, I get this 4 times so I DO get around 6-8 hours a night, it's just in 2 hour stretches. I can't wait for them to sleep a little longer! And I should also note that after they are fed and changed, they pass right back out. So they are great about going to sleep and staying asleep for everything BUT eating. My girls get hungry, what can I say?!

Brian is being the best daddy EVER! We all miss him when he goes to work, but it makes seeing him at night that much better! He loves his girls so much and I know he'd love to spend all day with us, but someone needs to pay the bills! I didn't think it would be possibly for me to love him any more than I did, but watching him with his daughters makes my heart SO full!

They're here!!!

2011-07-03T12:21:00.001-07:00

Catherine Elizabeth (left) and Emily Marie (right)

Our sweet baby girls are here! I thought I'd write out my birth story now (while one is sleeping and daddy is holding the other) before I forget all the little details.

On Monday, June 27th I had a perfectly normal day. Nothing out of the ordinary, except I called Brian and asked him to pick me up a big mac and fries...something I suddenly craved even though I haven't eaten one in over 5 years at least! We went to bed and at around midnight I woke up to go to the bathroom...definitely not abnormal. As I was dozing back to sleep I was woken up suddenly by a sharp, quick cramp and a few minutes later I felt something wet....and it kept getting wetter! My water had undeniably broken, I didn't hesitate for one second and was quickly elbowing Brian in the back and said "wake up! wake up! it's baby time!"

We then got everything packed and I started to feel some crampy contractions....but nothing bad. I could easy talk and breathe through them. Meanwhile I was still GUSHING fluid...going through towel after towel. We finally decided that we had to go and could not wait for me to finish gushing this fluid, so off we went with our bags packed and a towel under my rear. I called my Dr. on the way down.

Now it was about 1 AM so the highway was dead, thank goodness. Brian drove quickly to the hospital where I continued gushing fluid and having contractions that were getting worse. It was weird though, my belly wasn't really getting hard like it did during a Braxton Hicks contraction (something I was all too familiar with) it just felt like a very intense menstrual cramp and they were so weird that I had a hard time timing them.

We got to the hospital, and happily there was only one person on the street who got to witness me leaking all over the city street in front of the hospital...how embarrassing (but it could have been way worse if it were daytime!) We made our way up to labor and delivery where I was instantly admitted to triage where they took blood, got me in a gown and got my IV in. They also called my Dr., Dr. Ryu, who came in right away. I also want to note that now my contractions hurt pretty bad, but they were not coming up on the monitor! As I said before, my stomach wasn't really getting hard it just cramped up really bad. They called a resident in at this time to check my cervix where it was shockingly 7cms dilated! A couple of nurses came in and said it was really too bad I wasn't going to have a vaginal delivery since I was so far dilated and not in excruciating pain (I really wasn't - just bad period cramps!). They said I would have likely had a really easy and fast delivery. They then asked if I wanted to try it, since Baby A was head down. Brian and I talked about it and just decided to stick to our original plan to have a c-section. I have to say, a vaginal delivery was tempting. But because Baby B was transverse, there was no telling what would happen once baby A was out. Baby B could stay as she is, she could turn breech, etc. and there was a good chance I'd still need a c-section to get her out. I didn't want to risk that....I just wanted to recover from ONE mode of delivery thank you very much! So we went ahead with the C-Section once Dr. Ryu got there.

I was wheeled into the OR and the anesthesiologist immediately started on my spinal block. I felt a pinch which wasn't that bad. Then a few times I felt a sharp pain down my right leg which definitely hurt, but only lasted a second. I'd say the weirdest part of the spinal was the fact that it felt like my right leg was bent upwards the WHOLE time, but when I looked at it, it was straight! It also felt weird not being able to move anything on the lower half of my body. So after the catheter was inserted and Dr. Ryu and a resident, who he was teaching, got started, and Brian was brought right in, and he held my hand and sat next to my head. I felt everything during the c-section, but absolutely zero pain. I definitely felt all their tugs and pulls, but it was ok. It didn't hurt at all nor did it bother me.

Soon after they got started, I heard them say "here's baby A!" And I heard her sweet scream right away! I don't know what they did at that point, but Brian just said she was handed off to 2 nurses who got to cleaning her up right away and then they called him over to cut the cord! I just kept asking if she was healthy and I was assured that she was. Then a few minutes later I could feel them reach really far into my ribs to get Baby B, and soon she was here! At this point, Cate (baby a) was still crying and screaming so I couldn't tell if Baby B was crying or not, but then I distinctly heard another cry and I knew she was here and fine! I asked Brian to take a picture of them, so he went over to their bassinets and took a picture of them on his cell and showed me - they were perfect! Baby A was 5lbs 3 oz, born at 4:02 AM and was 18 3/4" long. Baby B was 5lbs even, born at 4:04 AM and was 19" long. I got to see them being weighed - it was my first real look at them!

Then I don't really remember the next part - I know they wheeled me into a recovery room and I guess I held them both for a minute or two, but then I got sick and threw up a little until they gave me zofran, then Brian said I was pretty out of it. I know I tried nursing for a little while, and my in laws and mom came and were gushing over their new grandbabies! Brian I also named them in the recovery room. I always thought, while pregnant, that baby A would be Emily and B would be Catherine. Then I was holding Baby B, who was so relaxed, and Brian was holding a very noisy Baby A. As I held Baby B, I REALLY felt like she was Emily. Then out of no where Brian said "You know, I feel like this should be Catherine because she's really noisy like you and Catherine and Kristen sound alike" haha, thanks hun. So that's how they were named - the opposite of what I had originally thought!

Then we were all wheeled down into our private room. Now I started to feel more normal and got to really enjoy my babies and try nursing a little more!

And now, 5 days later, We're all doing wonderful! These babies are my world, I can't imagine my life without them. I constantly find myself tearing up from pure joy. Thinking about what miracles they are and how blessed we are to have them. They each have VERY distinct personalities. Emily is so relaxed and "chill". She can lay there, wide awake, not making a peep. Just looking around....she is so alert. Catherine has some pipes on her! She's a bit fussier than her sister, and gets riled up pretty easily. She has the hiccups a lot, which she also did in my belly!

They both had their first visit with their pediatrician and he said they are both super healthy, especially for their gestational age and because of the fact that they're twins! He was very pleased with how they are doing which makes this mommy very happy!

As for me, I'm personally feeling pretty good! I'm still on pain killers and my incision hurts a bit if I move the wrong way or something, but overall I'm doing just fine and recovering from my surgery very well.

40 Weeks....but not really....

2011-06-06T13:32:00.000-07:00

Today I had a Dr. appointment for my weekly check up. We started with the NST (non stress test) which is just when they hook you up to monitors to trace the babies' heartbeats and see if I'm having contractions. I had one mild contraction but the dr. didn't think anything of it...it's "normal" at this point with twins. And their heartbeats were great!

Then for the 2nd part of the appointment the dr. went over everything - weight, urine, blood pressure, the normal stuff (all good by the way). Then he measured my belly. Basically they just measure top to bottom - from your pubic bone to the top of your uterus. In "normal" singleton pregnancies - the number of centimeters you are should equal the number of weeks along you are. So 30 cm's = 30 weeks pregnant. WELL today I measured 40 cm's which equals 40 weeks, so I'd be this big at 40 weeks pregnant if I just had ONE baby. But instead I am 34 weeks, 3 days pregnant but measuring a solid 6 weeks ahead at 40 weeks! Goodness!

And I can feel every inch, centimeter, pound, whatever you want to call it! My hips and pelvis hurt so bad when I stand up or walk. Honestly if I wasn't on strict bedrest as per doctors orders, I think I'd put myself on it as laying down is the only time I feel somewhat comfortable.

How far along? 34 weeks, 3 days
Total weight gain/loss: +40 lbs.
Maternity clothes? I mainly stay in sweats - some are maternity, some are just stretchy!
Stretch marks? yup - all over my sides. Not pretty.
Sleep: It's ok - Just getting up to pee 5-6 times per night.
Best moment this week: Just making it another week....
Movement: LOTs. These babies are nuts!
Food cravings: Sweets sweets sweets!
Gender: 2 sweet little girls
Labor Signs: Irregular contractions which is "normal" for twins at this point.
Belly Button in or out? Still in!
What I miss: Sleeping on my belly. Wine. Not being huge and uncomfortable...this list could go on and on.
What I am looking forward to: Having these babies (in like 3-4 weeks though)!!!!!
Weekly Wisdom: If you're having twins....rest as much as you can. Gravity is not your friend.
Milestones: Making it past 34 weeks - that was a biggie!

34 Weeks!

2011-06-03T07:23:00.000-07:00

Well I am very excited to announce that I am officially 34 weeks pregnant! When I went into Pre-Term labor 3 weeks ago, I said my goal was to make it to June and to 34 weeks. I have now accomplished both of those things and I couldn't be happier! I'd love to make it another couple of weeks, but I'm just really glad that I'm at this point.

Nothing much new to report. I'm still on strict bed rest, so I literally do nothing all day. The hi lights of my day are going to the bathroom for a change of scenery....sad, isn't it?! I'm also crocheting baby hats. I've made a lot for Cate and Emily, so now I'm working on a bunch to donate to the NICU for the preemies! I also started reading a new book called Camilla by Frances Burney. Mrs. Burney was apparently a great influence to Jane Austen (my favorite author) and I can see why! Their styles are so similar, I love it!

And finally, I went to the Dr. earlier this past week and got another ultrasound. No pictures though, the babies are officially too squished for any more cute profile pictures. Their estimated weights are 4lbs 8 oz for Baby A and 4lbs 3oz for Baby B. They are pretty much measuring right on track, so my Dr. is very happy with their weights! I personally can't wait until they hit 5 lbs though! Hopefully that'll be next week or the week after. So after my Dr. Appointment, Brian took a picture of me because I wasn't in sweat pants, haha! So here is my latest belly picture!

Catherine & Emily's Nursery

2011-05-30T07:16:00.000-07:00

Well the nursery is, for the most part, complete! I LOVE how it turned out. We started it a long time ago and just kept getting little pieces and parts here and there. I totally have to give ALL credit to Brian though - he did everything! From painting the walls, to installing the chandelier (my favorite thing in the nursery!) and to putting the cribs and changing table together, the entire nursery is a product of all his hard work! I love being married to a man who's handy!!!

Update!

2011-05-23T15:25:00.000-07:00

This morning I felt a few more contractions (nothing bad, but now I'm paranoid) so I went to the dr. and got some VERY reassuring news!

The contractions are segmented (meaning my whole belly does not get tight, just certain areas) which she said is far less concerning then if I was having full belly contractions. Also they are still pain free which is good.

She decided to check my cervix again and she said that not only has there really been no change, she feels it's tighter and longer then it was when i was in the hospital. She said I still have a very decent amount of cervix left (so I'm not too effaced) and she said that I'm absolutely no more than 3cms (which is what I was in the hospital) and if anything I'm closer to 2cms! eek!

So I told her my goal was to get into June, and did she think I could make it that far? and she said absolutely I could! She thinks I can very easily make it to MID June! eek!

So I am just going to keep doing what I'm doing....and that's absolutely nothing! But it's working and I feel so reassured by that! So it was good news today! :)

32 Weeks

2011-05-20T11:39:00.000-07:00

Well, we have had an "exciting" week to say the least!

Last Sunday (the 15th....my birthday). I noticed that my braxton hicks contractions were becoming timable, which isn't quite normal for me. They were coming every 8-10 minutes. I rested, drank lots of water, etc. and they didn't seem to ease up very much. So I called my Dr. who told me to go to the hospital if they persisted.

And they did so we went. I got examined right away and was told I was 3 cm's dilated and was indeed having contractions. I was admitted right away and started on Magnesium to stop/slow down the contractions and was very quickly given a steroid shot to help mature the babies lungs, were I to deliver. The "dose" for this shot, though, is 2 and they need to be given 24 hours apart. In addition, in order for them to be completely effective, labor needs to be held off until 24 hours after the 2nd shot.

so once I got in bed and settled down, the contractions settled down which was good. I was hooked up to monitors all night to measure the babies heartbeats and contractions. The first night I only had 4 contractions ALL night which was good.

Throughout the entire thing, the babies were rockstars. Their heart rates were awesome and they were SO active and kept kicking the monitors off which annoyed the nurses a little, haha, because they had to keep come in to readjust. But they all laughed it off and said it was good to have such active babies.

The next morning I was sent downstairs for an ultrasound to check the babies growth, etc. They each measured in a JUST under 4 lbs a piece which is awesome for 31 weeks! They looked good and healthy and are growing appropriately.

So the 2nd day at the hospital was by far the worst. The magnesium (which I previously didn't think was that bad) kicked in and made me feel like death. I was SO hot and tired but I couldn't settle down and fall asleep. My room was ice cold but I felt like I was burning up and they had to keep putting cold packs on my head. I also felt a little sick so I couldn't get down anything but yogurt. So 24 hours after the 1st steroid shot I got the 2nd and was told my magnesium would be turned off 24 hours later.

So after resting that night, I woke up feeling somewhat more refreshed for day 3 at the hospital. I felt a bit more awake and not so physically hot. Then in the afternoon the magnesium was turned off. We all breathed a little sigh of relief that I had completed the course of the steroid shots. So now if the babies are born, their lungs would be much better off than babies who hadn't gotten the shots for this gestational age.

So after that they monitored me for another day and on Thursday afternoon I was discharged! My contractions are next to nothing now which is awesome. I am on STRICT bedrest - meaning bathroom trips ONLY. They also checked my cervix one last time before I left and it hadn't changed so that's good.

So now the plan is to just keep these babies cooking as long as possible! But now we are 32 weeks and have gotten the steroid shots so if they were born tomorrow their prognosis is very good. They would of course need NICU time to get nice and big like a "normal" newborn, but health wise they should do very well at this point. My next little goal is to make it to 34 weeks though, so we'll see!

So that's the story - so far we're all still doing well and keeping very very quiet!

Baby Shower # 2!

2011-05-04T13:18:00.001-07:00

Last weekend we had our 2nd baby shower - what a wonderful day! We had it at my all time favorite restaurant and so many of my friends and family members were able to attend. I am just overwhelmed with the generosity shown to us. We literally got everything we needed - there were THREE things left on my 60+ item registry after the shower!!! Plus, I got tons of Babies R Us gift cards so we are truly all set with everything and can now save some money for all the other things these babies are going to need after they're here! I am feeling really prepared, which is good just in case the twins decide to come early! The nursery looks like a bomb went off in it, but it'll get cleaned at some point!

And of course, some pictures for your enjoyment!

At our house before the shower - 29 weeks exactly!

The amazing cake my cousin's wife made! Not only was it adorable, it tasted out of this world!
My mom and I!
My cousin and I!Our very large twin stroller!!!

My very best friend (and the one who took all of these awesome pictures) and I!

28 Weeks

2011-04-24T12:51:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe it's already been 4 weeks since my last update! As I go on day by day, I feel like my pregnancy is going slow. But then I look back and can't believe how fast it has all gone! As I type this I'm watching my belly jump around from the little babies on the inside; I still get such a thrill from it!

So some exciting things are going on - first, these babies will be here in 10 weeks or less! My C-section is scheduled for July 1st - that is, if they don't decide to come sooner! No one I know thinks I'll make it until July 1st because of how big I already am, but we'll see! We could have some June babies!

Another exciting thing is that I am no longer a working woman! My last day on the job was this past Friday and I'm now just going to try and relax and get the house ready for the babies. Happily, I won't be returning to work either, which made it possible to leave as early as I did since I don't have to worry about maternity leave.

I'm also 3rd Trimester this week! Some books said 27 weeks, others said 28 - so either way I'm definitely in my final trimester!

And finally my 2nd and final baby shower is next weekend! Of course, I'm very excited for that as well!

How far along? 28 Weeks, 2 Day
Total weight gain/loss: Up 30 lbs!
Maternity clothes? Oh yes! I'm now in almost 100% maternity clothes
Stretch marks? Yeah a few on my sides.
Sleep: It's going ok - I'm waking up more and more to pee though which is annoying.
Best moment this week: My last day of work!
Movement: Yup, lots!
Food cravings: Still don't have any consistent cravings.
Gender: We know, but we're keeping it a secret until our baby showers!
Labor Signs: Nope, but I'm getting more and more braxton hick's contractions which my dr. tells me is normal since my belly is as big as someone who is full term. Drinking lots of water seems to help.
Belly Button in or out? Still in, but shallow
What I miss: Having energy! I get winded climbing the stairs.
What I am looking forward to: I get to see the babies for a growth scan tomorrow!
Weekly Wisdom: Drink lots of water
Milestones: 3rd Trimester!

Baby Shower!!!

2011-04-13T05:33:00.000-07:00

Last weekend my amazing mother in law threw me a beautiful baby shower for all of her friends and family! It was hosted at her lovely house and the food, drinks and games were all wonderful! I was totally overwhelmed with the kindness her friends and family showed me and our sweet little babies! It was a wonderful day and we are so thankful!

And now for some pictures!

I *loved* this game - it was squished up candy in a diaper and you had to guess what candy it was by smelling, etc.! I got 5/6 correct! :)
For the next game, everyone had to take some toilet paper and cut it to their desired length. Whoever got the closest to my belly circumference won! Me and my very best friend Marisa who, by the way, took all of these great pictures and helped me out SO much! She's the best! Me and my mom and my mother in law (to the left) who didn't pose with us for this one!The AMAZING quilts my mother in law hand stitched for us! Aren't they beautiful?!A picture of the lovely hostess - my mother in law (see how tanned she is?! She just got back from spending the winter down south! I'm jealous!)!

Some presents! The beautiful cake and cupcakes my mother in law made!

24 Weeks

2011-03-30T08:17:00.001-07:00

Well I am very happy to report that I made it to my big milestone - 24 weeks! This is a big deal, because most physicians refer to this week as "viability." That means from here on out, if the babies are born they'd have a fighting chance at survival! Granted each day, week and month they stay in my womb, the better, but it does feel pretty good to know that if something bad happened they would probably be able to survive with a great deal of help from the NICU (Neonatal intensive care unit). But so far I have no signs of pre term labor and my cervix is long and closed! All great news!

I had a growth ultrasound late last week, and the babies are doing very well. They are growing appropriately and they each measured in at just about a pound and a half, which is exactly what they're supposed to be for this week gestation! Although I have to say, cute little ultrasound pictures are getting harder to come by. These little babies are SQUISHED. It amazes me that, God willing, we still have about 14 weeks to go!

Overall I am feeling pretty good! My belly is getting larger so it's more uncomfortable, but it's not that bad yet. My back is pretty sore like all the time though. That's miserable, but I know it's just temporary! I have two baby showers coming up in April (so, VERY soon!) and I am SO excited for both of them!

How far along? 24 weeks, 5 days
Total weight gain/loss: Up 20 lbs!
Maternity clothes? Maternity pants 100% of the time. Believe it or not, I'm still able to get away with certain non maternity shirts.
Stretch marks? A few white ones, ew.
Sleep: Sleep is actually getting BETTER! As long as I stay on my side, I'm pretty comfortable through the night, besides having to go to the bathroom 2-4 times per night.
Best moment this week: Passing THE milestone and reaching viability!
Movement: Yup, lots!
Food cravings: Eh, they come and go. I don't really crave one thing all the time. I just get a random craving and need to have it NOW!
Gender: We know, but we're keeping it a secret until our baby showers!
Labor Signs: Nope
Belly Button in or out? Still in, but getting shallow
What I miss: Sleeping on my belly
What I am looking forward to: My 1st baby shower
Weekly Wisdom: Rest/lie down when you can.
Milestones: Reaching viability!

20 Weeks!

2011-02-28T12:12:00.001-08:00

This week marks the half way point for pregnancy! How exciting! However, I'm now past half way - 18 weeks left at the very most!

I'm feeling bigger every day it seems like! I am loving my new figure (even a stranger asked when I was due, so it's noticeable now!) but sometimes it just plain hurts to grow this big! I can feel all the stretching and pulling of my ligaments and muscles and some days I'm just plain sore. But usually that's only once or twice a week, and the rest of the week I feel "normal."

Here's what the twins look like this week, if you were to take a peek inside my uterus!
20 Week Survey
How far along? 20 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss: Up 10 lbs
Maternity clothes? Maternity pants 100% of the time. I'm still able to get away with certain non maternity shirts though.
Stretch marks? I spotted a few white ones on my sides - yuck!
Sleep: My legs are REALLY sore at night - lots of leg cramps. I'm up a lot to change positions.
Best moment this week: Seeing a baby move my belly! Crazy!
Movement: Oh yes - lots of kicks now!
Food cravings: Cadbury Eggs (but I crave them even when I'm NOT pregnant!)
Gender: We know, but we're keeping it a secret until our baby showers!
Labor Signs: Nope
Belly Button in or out? Still in, but getting shallow
What I miss: Red wine! :)
What I am looking forward to: Hitting week 24 - viability!
Weekly Wisdom: Don't over do it!
Milestones: Making it over half way!

19 Weeks

2011-02-20T12:26:00.000-08:00

I haven't made an update in a while - but that's good news! Uneventful pregnancy = happy pregnancy! Besides the normal aches and pains that come with growing two people inside you, I've been feeling a lot better. I'm also half way through the pregnancy! I know most people consider 20 weeks the half way point, but with twins full term is 38 weeks which is when the doctor will either induce or do a c section - so that makes 19 weeks half way there!

Last week, we had our anatomy scan. This is the scan that measures lots of things on the babies to make sure they are growing healthy and strong. We also got to find out what these babies are but before you get too excited, I'm sorry to say that we're actually not telling anyone but our parents the sexes until the baby shower! Sorry! You all will find out soon though! But the best news is that the babies are indeed growing perfectly which is wonderful news!

This week the babies are the size of mangoes and I can certainly tell! My belly seems like it's getting bigger every day!
We've also started our nursery! We bought our cribs and changer and Brian put them together with no problems last weekend. They look great - we love the set! We still have to paint, so we're not going to do much else with it until after we get that project done.

16 Weeks

2011-02-02T05:17:00.000-08:00

16 weeks 4 days, and all is well with our little ones!

We went to the doctor yesterday, but didn't get to take a peek at our babies via ultrasound. The doctor used a device called a doppler to listen to their heartbeats, and they were healthy and strong so he said it wasn't necessary to do an ultrasound. As long as my babies are healthy, that's fine by me!

The big news this week is that my belly is growing leaps and bounds! The doctor felt around on my stomach to see how big my uterus is, and apparently it's measuring 22 weeks! So that means, I'm as big as a woman pregnant with one baby who is 22 weeks along, when in reality I'm only 16 weeks! But he said that's very normal with twins...since there are two little ones in me and all, they take up more space! I had Brian take a picture of my little bump last night, so here it is:
And I thought this was neat - I found this on a website. Here is what both babies look like in me this week!As for me, I'm feeling pretty good! I'm getting a bit achier though...head aches, back aches, leg aches....and we all know that these things are just going to get worse as time goes on, so I might as well get used to it now!

15 Weeks

2011-01-22T08:09:00.000-08:00

I am actually really excited to hit 15 weeks! Since I knew I was pregnant, I was really excited to hit the 15 week milestone - it just sounds very pregnant to me! Anyways, today our two little ones are the size of Oranges!

I'm feeling pretty good. The morning sickness is still with me, but not anywhere near as bad as it once was. I just have some nausea throughout the night and into the early morning. But I did find my morning sickness cure - chocolate milkshakes! So as soon as Brian gets out of bed in the morning, he makes me a milkshake that I get down as quick as possible. Then, I feel fine for the rest of the day!

Speaking of Brian, he has been wonderful throughout the pregnancy - he's going to make such a great dad. He's really stepping up and helping me with a lot of things that have been too hard for me to do, due to my nausea and just feeling exhausted all the time. He has also taken over the grocery shopping for the most part which is SUCH a relief. All that food and those smells in one place grosses me out in an indescribable way....

15 Week Survey

How far along? 15 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss: I am proud to announce that I am finally back to my exact pre pregnancy weight! I lost about 10 lbs. in the 1st tri. due to the severe morning sickness, but have really been trying to gain it back and I finally have! yay! So while I haven't actually gained anything yet, I'm very glad I gained back everything I lost.
Maternity clothes? I'm in maternity pants almost 100% of the time now. I'm still wearing non-maternity sweaters, but they are starting to get a little short on the bottom.
Stretch marks? Not yet
Sleep: I'm waking up a lot during the night - mainly to pee.
Best moment this week: Hitting 15 weeks! This was the week I was most excited to hit!
Movement: I'm still not sure! Every time I think I feel something, I always second guess myself assuming it's gas....
Food cravings: Besides the chocolate milkshakes every morning, my cravings come and go. I am enjoying cake however!
Gender: We find out in about a month!
Labor Signs: Nope
Belly Button in or out? Still in
What I miss: Sleeping through the night
What I am looking forward to: feeling undeniable baby movement!
Weekly Wisdom: Give into your cravings!
Milestones: Making it through the 1st week of the 2nd tri.

Well that's it for this week!

Hello 2nd Trimester!

2011-01-19T06:41:00.000-08:00

So now we're officially up to date with this blog. I'm very happily in the 2nd trimester (finally), at 14 weeks 4 days.

Morning sickness has subsided considerably, although I still have random vomiting from time to time! But once in a while I can handle, the 8+ times per day thing was wearing on me thin!

My appetite still isn't what it once was, but I seem to be developing a sweet tooth again! Last weekend I had an intense craving for chocolate cake, so I made myself homemade chocolate cupcakes with raspberry buttercream. Talk about hitting the spot! I have also been craving Caesar Salad and French Onion Soup. But since the very beginning, my most favorite meal of all is a tuna sandwich! This is beyond frustrating because we all know that you're supposed to greatly limit your tuna intake during pregnancy, if not eliminate it all together. I have to admit, I have given into my craving twice so far during the pregnancy, but from what I have read eating canned white tuna once in a while is perfectly safe.

Our last appointment was at 13 weeks and went great! Our babies have grown SO much - they actually look like babies now! They were moving all over during our ultrasound. Baby A was especially active, my OB says we're going to have our hands full with that one! :) I love seeing them move though, it's such an amazing sight. I just want to be able to FEEL it now!!!!

Here are their beautiful pictures from the last appointment:

This is Baby A, looking cute as ever! It's head is to the left, and you can see he or she is waving to us! See the little hand right in front of the face?!

This is Baby B who is facing down. His or her head is to the right and you can see it's spine going all the way down, with it's legs to the far left.
And here they are together! This isn't a great picture though. Baby B is on the top, with it's back facing us. Baby A is on the bottom and is staring straight at us, with his or her hands to the side! Cute and a little creepy, haha!
In terms of my body changing and growing with these babies, it certainly is! Like I said before, I lost 10 lbs. in the first trimester but my belly is growing day by day! I'm in maternity pants most of the time now (and don't forsee me EVER going back to regular pants again, even after the babies are here! They are beyond comfortable!), but I can still get away with some non-maternity shirts. Here are some progression pictures I've taken over the weeks!

The early weeks...

2011-01-19T06:09:00.000-08:00

Up until 8 weeks pregnant, I was getting an ultrasound once a week. I really enjoyed these appointments, I loved getting a peek at what was going on in my uterus! I know a lot of people don't get to see what early ultrasounds look like, so I thought I'd post pictures so you can see a progression, and see what happens from week to week with the babies.

This is at 6 weeks pregnant. At this appointment we got to see their little flickering hearts on the ultrasound screen. You can just kind of see them in the pictures - they are the little white specs in the black sac.

Here we have 7 weeks pregnant. You can see the "white specs" have grown quite a bit in a week! In the top picture, you can see the head to the left and the body to the right. The round circle next to the baby is the yolk sac. The 2nd picture is of Baby B, but it's not quite as clear as the picture of Baby A because it was further from the ultrasound. Also at this appointment, we got to hear the heartbeats through the ultrasound machine! What a sound!

And here we have 8 weeks pregnant! Quite a difference from 6 weeks, huh? This time you can see both babies in one picture. Their heads, bodies, and their little arms and legs. They are so cute already!

During those early weeks, I did suffer from severe morning sickness. It was not fun at all. Since it took me so long to get pregnant, I always said I'd never complain about any part of my pregnancy, including morning sickness. Yeah, that changed after it actually happened to me. They say morning sickness is worse in twin pregnancies because of the high amounts of the hormone Hcg pumping through your body, but since this is my first pregnancy I have nothing to compare it to. Around 7 weeks I started to get to the point where I couldn't function (ie. stop throwing up) from about midnight until noon, so my doctor prescribed a drug called zofran. What a life saver! As soon as I started feeling queasy, I would take one and in about 15 minutes I would feel relief. I tried not to take it every day, but I did more times than not. I finally started feeling a little better in my 13th week and stopped taking the zofran.

Another "ailment" from this pregnancy has been my loss of appetite. Nothing sounds appealing at all. I get these completely random cravings every so often, and then when I satisfy that craving I start feeling sick as I'm eating whatever I was craving. It makes no sense, but that's pregnancy for you! I rarely feel hungry any more, and force myself to eat as much as I can. I lost about 10 lbs in the first trimester, and have been slowly gaining it back. Now I'm only a couple of pounds away from from my pre-pregnancy weight.

Surprise!

2011-01-19T05:35:00.000-08:00

After my blood pregnancy test came back positive, I was instantly wondering about the possibility of multiples - I actually could have ended up with triplets because of the fertility drugs that I was on! But before we even began treatments, Brian and I discussed the possibility of multiples in full and decided that we were completely ok with however many babies God decided to bless us with. Granted we were not hoping for high order multiples because of the health risks for me and the babies, but we thought twins would be ideal. Then our family would be complete.

So after the first blood draw, I asked the nurse if she thought the level was indicative of multiples (I thought it was pretty high, but who am I to judge?!) and she said she actually thought it was a very strong singleton. So at that point I sort of forgot about the idea of having twins...I mean, she was the nurse and has been in this business for a while so I trusted her judgment! I was just happy to be pregnant!

So after my 2nd blood draw went up accordingly, I was scheduled for an early ultrasound at 5 weeks pregnant to make sure my lining was adequate, and to see the gestational sac (or two!). At this early in pregnancy, that's pretty much all you can see. So I went in, hoping to see one gestational sac.

Well imagine my surprise when the ultrasound tech said "There's a sac...and oh look! There's another! It's twins!"
After that, I just couldn't wipe the stupid grin off my face, or wipe the happy tears from my eyes...

Our journey...

2011-01-17T10:22:00.000-08:00

I never blogged about my struggle with infertility. I didn't want to dwell on it, so why blog about it? It was unexpected, frightening and sad, and I tried to just go through the motions of infertility treatments while always keeping my guard up.

And to this day I don't like to dwell on it, but I'm certainly not going to pretend it never happened. Now that I have seen the "other side" of infertility I can look back and truly say that I am glad it happened. It made me much closer with my husband and more importantly with God. True, there were times that I was mad with both of them! But through the hurt came a joy that I never thought possible, and I know these joys are just going to be DOUBLED over and over as time goes on!!!

So to make a very, VERY long story short, I was infertile due to PCOS, aka, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome which is a leading cause of female infertility. That was the only issue. I didn't ovulate and it's not exactly easy to conceive when you don't ovulate! But we got that taken care of via. some awesome fertility drugs (Gonal F, Menopur & Lupron to be exact) and a LOT of prayer and, well, here we are! Pregnant and with TWINS! We love them both so much already, and are excited to share our journey with our friends and family!

I'm already at 14 weeks pregnant, so I hope you don't mind if I backtrack a little...