Week 23

Well, here's its been a few weeks again since I posted any pictures. As I've told people, my photographer has been traveling and we just haven't gotten to it. In the meantime, I do have some photos (and one awesome video) to post from our appointment yesterday. The boys continue to grow at record speeds and the doctor gave me kudos for working full time while battling my headaches an growing these babies!
Some milestones over the past few weeks?
- At week 21 or so at 5 p.m. one night while I was working just a little bit late awaiting my handsome husbands arrival to pick me up, I felt movement for the first time. It was a very distinct feeling. Nothing on the outside but it was definitley more than a "fluttering" feeling. More like a twing, a muscle spasm that lasted a few seconds or more. Needless to say, this was VERY exciting!
- At almost week 23 (December 28th at 3 a.m.) I felt movement for the first time on the outside!! How would I know? Well, I had been extremely sick on Monday due to a nasty migraine, so I ended up in bed at 8 a.m......hello 2 a.m. WIDE awake. I laid around for a bit, and then it happened. "What was that"? I said to myself......"hum, that felt really weird". I waited a little longer, and it was still happening. So I put my hand down on the side of my belly, and I felt KICKS!!! Baby B was partying like a rockstar at 3 a.m.!!! So, what would a good, kind, patient, understanding wife do knowing her husband was exhausted and sound asleep? Wait to tell him in the morning. Well, have to say, I am not any of those things because I reached right over and was poking and prodding, "honey!! The baby's moving! It's kicking!!!" He whips off his mask (sexy I know) and all disoriented says, "What, where?!" And here comes this big heavy hand over my body and clamps on my belly. Then, nothing.....I thought, "Oh no....I woke him for this and now the baby is going to stop kicking and he'll fall asleep again before he can feel it". All of a sudden he goes, "I FELT IT!!" It was such an exciting moment for us and I am so thankful that we were together for it the first time. I could have been at work or in the shower and he could have missed it. As it turns out, he was very thankful I woke him.
- So, then at the doctor yesterday, we were telling Dr. Davies how we had just felt Baby B kicking a few nights before for the first time and I mentioned how now I was wondering when we would feel Baby A, we knew it would take longer due to his plaenta being in the front. Yesterday when we got home from the doctor.....Baby A started kicking up a storm!!! What? HOW AWESOME! He was a little more faint, but definitley there! And, I knew it was Baby A due to the fact we had just been at the doctor for an ultrasound so they told us exactly how and where each of the babies was laying.....now, they go all the time! They are going to be athletic!! So, without any more rambling, you do know how I can get....here are the latest on the boys! Enjoy!

Twin A was told to be coming in at 1 lb 4 oz. The lab tech measured his femur and said, "Whoa....either that's a tall baby or I have my measurements wrong.....nope, it's a tall baby"! We once again saw all four of his heart chambers and just as Baby B was doing last time, Baby A was drinking this time. They were so kind as to make us a video clip of it. It's only 3 seconds long or so, so you may need to view it a couple of times, but you can see his tounge moving and see him swallowing. Baby A came in at the 56% percentile for a single baby.




Twin B was just hanging out. He was said to be coming in at 1 lb 6 oz. And measuring in the 80% percentile for a single baby.....once again, when we met with the doc he said, "they are both excellent size for single babies". I told him that wasn't the first time he had told us that!! They did say, whatever I was doing, to continue doing it! So far, I have gained 15 lbs. I think that for being in my 7th month, that's not too bad, but I know there is a way to go!

The last picture is my favorite.....it's a picture of Baby B from the back with his arm up by his head. I'm not sure why it's so endearing to me, but it is. These boys are already so special to us and so loved, we feel so blessed to be able to see them so often. We are getting really excited to meet them, and for all of you to meet them as well! Pregnancy may not be the "blast" that I thought it would be, but the fact that we've had an uncomplicated pregnancy (although a sympomatic one) is also a blessing. I promise to post belly photos later.....trust me.....I've gotten HUGE!

Week 19

I can't believe how big I am getting SO FAST!



















We were back to the doctor today for our "BIG" anatomy scan.....everything is great! Both babies are doing really well. The heart, kidneys, bladder, stomach, brain, spinal cord, etc. checked out normal! Phew...I tell you, I may have been praying for one girl last time, but I've never prayed so hard as this morning when they were checking the boys over. They even checked the nose and lip to see about cleft lip....very through. On top of that, they are each tracking about 5 days ahead of schedule and are 49% and 51% in size - very good size for a single baby let alone twins they said :) Each weighs about 10 oz right now and they were unable to get a length at this point as they stop doing that around 13 weeks they said since they are so curled up right now. It was pretty exciting! The ultrasound tech really had a difficult time scanning each of the babies individually as they were SO CLOSE together. Then she showed us, she said, "look, Baby B's butt is on Baby's A's head"! I'm sure that'll be one we'll tell the boys all the time. I can just see it now, they roll their eyes at me and say, "Mooooom, you've told that story like 100 times"! Not much else happened, as John said, our visit with our doctor is always anti climatic.....we are really having a normal pregnancy. They said that my cervix looked good....it's "holding up" they said which is important with twins....when the cervix doesn't hold up is when the babies come early. Not that I'm a doctor, it's just what I kinda gathered. We did discuss my migraines as I am still getting them two times a week or more. Doc put me on Imitrex and wants me to try that as opposed to the narcotics they had been giving me. In my opinion....I don't much care WHAT I take (as long as it's okay for the babies of course) as long as it WORKS! So, we'll give that a shot! Next appointment will be the end of December. We'll have one more appointment in January and then beginning in February is when we will start going twice a month. The babies are moving around in there (nothing that I can feel yet) but they did say that as of right now, Baby A's head is in the downward position which is ideal for a vaginal birth. They said that can change of course, but I'm hopefully optimistic we'll be able to skip the c-section. Here are some pictures of the boys:

Twin B was actually drinking while we were looking at him....pretty neat!!

18 Weeks - Happy Thanksgiving!

So, 18 weeks is just about halfway to our "modified" due date. Doc said plan on 37 weeks, so that's what I'm aiming for. I've still not felt movement from the boys, not that I can tell for sure in any case. I've been concentrating more on Baby B vs. Baby A only because they said that Baby A's placenta is in the front so we won't feel him for quite some time yet. He's got to get a pretty strong kick going before we'll be able to feel it through the placenta. So.....I'm still growing at a fast pace. You can't really tell until you lift the shirt....then it's like, "whoa Mama"!! My mom had taken to calling me "little mama" but now that Biff (my sis-in-law) is preggo again, SHE gets the title of "little mama" and I've been upgraded to "big mama"....oh well, it was nice to be "little mama" for a while :)
Thanksgiving was spectacular. Yummy food and as always, great to spend time with the fam. I do however always miss John's family a bit around the Holiday's.....I am happy to be settled so close to my family and to be able to experience the boys (nephews) and be near my parents, but I feel badly that we aren't able to have the same level of interaction with the Fallon Family. We aren't taking our annual New Year's Eve trip out East this year either. We usually go the week between Christmas and New Years, but there's just too much going on this year.....we have lots to do yet to get ready. So, John's Mom and Dad will be coming to stay with us for that week instead. Looking forward to having them, it'll be a bit of a shock for them, they've not yet been here in the dead of winter before! I'm sure we'll have the fireplace going non stop. Well, not much else to say......hope Thanksgiving was good for everyone and that you all got a little shopping done. 18 week pictures are posted for your "viewing pleasure". Love!

17 Weeks

WoW!!! I cannot believe the way my belly is growing at such an alarmingly FAST rate!! I can only hope that all the weight I am gaining is going right to the baby and not to my hips and butt! And, if there's anything I could wish for to avoid would be, "Please, do not let me grow a double chin"!! :) I am still feeling pretty good....a little relapse of the migraines, but now with our "long-term treatment plan" in place, the severity of them should be lessened. I'm having fears that with how the pregnancy has gone (having every pregnancy symptom under the sun) that my labor is going to also be just as bad!! Not that there's a good labor I imagine, but I would be okay with an uneventful, quick labor. I've been doing a ton of research and a ton of shopping to prepare for these little ones. With the help of my good pal De, I've been able to find some steller deals on used baby equipment online and with my good pal Bish (Em) I've been able to bounce my worries and concerns without having to call the health care professionals daily....to both of you, I thank you!! And, as long as I'm giving thanks to people (what, I must think I won an Emmy or something huh?) I need to give a shout out to my darling husband as well. Although it's my body going through all of this, he still considers it a team effort....it's actually quite comforting. We'll see how thankful I am for him once we start putting the cribs together....let's just say we have completly different opperational processes.....he is a strict "by the book" have to read the directions and I am, "hum....this looks like it goes here....what are all these spare parts?" Good pal and neighbor Christine (Stinger) has offered to assist John as she has seen the two of us trying to put things together before....Thanks Stinger!! I can't tell you much else, but I do know that as I get older and my life expereinces are changing, one thing remains the same......good friends and a solid support structure are important and VERY hard to find. True friends really stand up in the front and it's so clear who you can count on.....even if you don't see them for years at a time.....looking forward to having lunch tomorrow with once such friend. As always, thank you all (all 5 of you) for your love and support. We'll have another ultrasound in a couple weeks and I'll have more to report then....we'll see how big these boys are getting!!
XoXo

16 Weeks

So, here I am again blogging two weeks at a time. It's not like the nostalgia of having a blog has worn off or anything, it's just that there's not a whole lot going on right now. I have made a trip back to the ER for fluids, at this time, my morning sickness has passed, but I have now developed migraines! It's pretty rough at the time....what with the throwing up and the bloody noses, but once it's passed, I have to say I feel SO much better and I am back to enjoying pregnancy again!

The verdict is in!!

BABY A is a ????????




BABY B is a??????





What do we have to say about it????? OH BOY!

15 Weeks

Wow.....15 weeks already!!!! That seems almost impossible. We are almost half way through. Well, halfway through to our "modified" due date. We have an appointment tomorrow and we are really excited! We are hoping that since our doctor does an ultrasound every time we go, that we may be able to find out tomorrow what the babies are!! As you all have probably read on Facebook, our cribs have been ordered, sent, and delivered and are sitting in the nursery awaiting assembly. We also got a changing table/dresser too.....a lot of furniture for one little room......our fertility doctor checked up on us yesterday and as I told her, it all seems so surreal - like the stork still brings the babies! :) I am sure once they start moving around it will all seem a bit more real. I can't wait!!

So, what's been going on in the past few weeks? Well, my morning sickness has subsided a bit only in the last week. Last Monday and Tuesday I was so incredibly sick that I ended up calling the nurse line on Tuesday morning as I was worried that I'd not been able to keep any fluids or food down. I am not usually a nervous nelly in general, but I was starting to worry about the babies. So, our dietitian appointment was canceled on Tuesday and I was told to head to OB Triage. That's where I spent the day. My husband, my loving and wonderful husband spent the day with me as I lay on the hospital bed feeling like a kicked dogs as they gave me some IV fluids and some anti nausea medication. We did at one point say that it was kind of good that this happened......we got the "lay of the land" and now know a little bit more about where to go on "that day". I haven't been sick since last Tuesday, have felt a little queasy almost every day, but thankfully everything has stayed down. I have a "war wound" to show for my bravery....or lack thereof!

What else? Hum....not much. Looking forward to our doctor appointment tomorrow. Oh! Also!! Depending on how John's health insurance matches up to mine....cost, deductible, coverage, etc. I may be staying home with the babies. If we send them to day care....either full time, part time whatever......I will not make enough in a year to cover what it costs to send them to daycare. And I'm not really comfortable sending them to a stay at home mom.....for that, I could do it myself. And it's been hard to find in-home day cares that will take two infants at one time. So this week that has been our "discussions".

Stay tuned! I'll upload new pictures (sonograms) tomorrow.....although if we find out what we are having tomorrow, you'll probably know WELL before this gets updated!

Thanks all for your continued kind words and friendship. I don't know what I would do without you!