One last post for tonight....

We went to our favorite Chinese restaurant tonight to bring in the new year. We LOVE the people who own and work at this place. They are always so friendly and the food is always so tasty.

As we were leaving, they asked when the baby was due. We explained that they were boy and girl twins. They were extremely excited for us and showed is the Chinese character for girl and then for boy. If you put the characters together, they form the word "good".

Awesome. :)

And yes, these babies are the best "good" we've ever gotten.

Happy New Year everyone!

New Year's Eve

Happy 2010!!!

(at least starting at 12 am)

For many of our friends, 2009 has been a wonderful year. Together we've welcomed several babies into the world, shared in the joy of surprise and planned pregnancies, moved into new houses, starting meaningful relationships, gone on awkward dates, achieved personal and professional goals and learned how to be better people. It's been a good year.

Within our family, we've shared many joys and disappointments; pleasant and unpleasant surprises; laughter and tears. It's good to know that despite the uncertainties of the coming year, we always have the companionship of close friends and family.

For Steve and I 2010 promises to be, if anything else, a year full of surprises. We are extremely excited to meet the twins, spend our first summer as a family and still find time to get away together.

This week marked the last of our monthly OB appointments. From here on, our appointments are 2 weeks apart (for the regular OB) and 1 week apart (starting in February) for the high risk doctor.

The babies are both doing extremely well. They are 2 pounds each (exactly where they should be for this stage), have enough amnionic fluid and their bones and organs are all healthy and developing just fine.

I am growing as quickly as the babies are. Although I resent the stretch marks, the aching back, puffy hands and ankles, difficulty breathing (baby girl sits under my ribs) and the waddling, I am MORE THAN grateful for such a healthy pregnancy. We've seriously enjoyed every moment.

At this point, people are letting me in front of them in line, picking things up for me when I drop them, and offering me the last available seat. Hopefully strangers will be as merciful when I'm carting around two screaming children in the middle of the summer.

Here are picture at 26 weeks. I'm starting to feel more pregnant than I ever thought possible and am wearing one of Steve's t-shirts since I'm quickly running out of shirts that don't end at my mid-section.

Steve has been more than wonderful throughout this pregnancy. It's amazing to see him make the transition from husband to husband and father. I wish the babies would kick on cue so he could feel them more.

Here are pictures of the twins from our ultrasound with Dr. Debbs today.

Baby girl:

At one point when the ultrasound technician was trying to get a picture of the brain, she bounced the ultrasound wand over baby girl's head and we could see her FACE ON! It was crazy! We were looking at our baby girl face to face!!! Steve and I were completely astonished. Too bad we didn't get a picture of it!

Baby Boy:

Baby boy is MOVER and a SHAKER. The technician had a hard time getting a picture of him at first because he was moving all over the place. At this point, both babies are breeched and they lay with their heads together.

Here are the tops of their heads :)

26 Weeks

We are 26 weeks (6 1/2 months) along in this pregnancy.....can't believe it!

According to http://www.thebump.com/(an excellent site) they compare the size of the babies to an eggplant.

Tomorrow morning we have the glucose tolerance test. The doctor's office requires me to fast for 12 hours (basically overnight), drink something sugary, wait around for an hour and then they'll test my blood to see how I handle the sugar. They do this to test for gestational diabetes.

On Thursday we'll meet with Dr. Debbs (high risk doctor). We'll get to see the twins and see how they're developing. So excited! We'll post pictures once we scan them.

We'll also post pictures of how the belly's growing. As of our last doctor's visit I believe I was up 30 lbs. I don't quite remember how it all breaks down, but it's amazing how these little people can really pack it onto me. It's a good thing I've banned oreos from the house. I"m sure they account for 2-3 lbs all by themselves.

More progress with the babies' room

First, Beth took a picture of me as I went out to shovel snow (the first of several times) during our 24” snowfall this past weekend:

The previous pictures we’ve put online of the nursery didn’t include some additions from the past week or so.  We added the changing table yesterday evening (but the top piece was busted!!! – the manufacturer is sending us a new piece).

It might be hard to see in the pictures, but we are EXTREMELY delighted that the color of the changing table matches almost perfectly with the cribs.  The side table by the chair and the dresser don’t match – we’ll probably hold off on that for a little while.

We love our glider and decided to put a second one back on our registry (we started with two, ordered one and decided to just do one but get a rocker/recliner… after a few weeks, we love it and want to put one in the living room).

We still have to get the closet cleaned out and take care of a lot of small details (bins for on the changing table, organizers for the closet, storage for their stuff in the bathroom, etc), but we love that everything is going smoothly.  We have been spending time (both together and on our own) in the room – there have been several nights we’ve sat in there for hours working on stuff, reading, or just talking.  The cats are getting comfortable (though they are suspicious and don’t understand why we’re getting new things that aren’t for them) with being in the room and the new things that come with it.

We also got the mattresses yesterday – Jack figured out today that he can now jump in the cribs (without them, the springs that support the mattress would have been a painful trap for the cats).  I’ve caught him (in mid air) as he tried to jump in a couple times.  We bought a pink and green sheet (blue would have been tooooo much with the blue carpet) for the mattresses.

It’s only weeks now…

Back in September when the doctor told us our due date was April 4th, it seemed lost in the future.  It felt like it might as well have been 5 years before the babies would be born.

Today, it’s a different story.  Bethany will go back to work for 7 weeks in January before the doctor wants her to be at home (February 19th is her last day of work).  Because of their orientation (the boy is sitting up/breeched), the doctor has told us to expect a c-section during week 38 (the week of March 22nd) as the latest (if Beth doesn’t go into labor before then, they’ll do it that week).  During our initial consultations with the doctor, she said to expect twins 4 to 6 weeks early – that means we’re looking for them between February 21st and March 7th – talk about “here before you know it”!

 

I took some pictures of the Christmas Tree in the living room (without the tree skirt which the cats keep taking off during the day and playing with in the middle of the floor):

The Babies’ Room!

We bought our cribs this past week (we went there to order them and ended up, because of some super-duper deals and coupons, getting them that night).  They are setup and, along with the glider from the week before, are in the room.  We’ve still got work to do, but we’re making progress!

We’ve added (since the pictures were taken) a side table beside the glider and a dresser off to the right of the glider.  We need double-check our measurements for the changing table and then order it.  That should complete the furniture for the room.

We ordered [free] samples of wood blinds to replace the metal mini-blinds behind the curtains in the room.  We’ve been wanting to put those in all of the windows but haven’t ever gotten to it.  We’re going to look through the samples and may order a set for in here.

 

We also have pictures of Bethany!

 

And a quick cat picture (Milo):

The cats have been funny – if either of us are in the babies room, at least one of them is in there with us to keep an eye on things.  We have the cribs up but no mattresses, so they can’t jump in yet (or at least haven’t while we’re home), but Jack slid under one of the cribs and explored around for a bit.  Beth and I have sat in there going through baby stuff over the weekend and they will both hang out with us.

Baby Shopping Underway!

A couple weeks ago, taking advantage of “Cyber Monday” deals (the Monday after “Black Friday”), we made our first big baby purchase – our stroller.  We tried for our cribs also, but they were sold out.

A couple days later, we bought a glider/ottoman for the babies’ room.  It is crazy how quickly everything seems to be slipping by now.  The stroller came a few days ago, the glider came last night.  On Monday night (at a regular OB visit), we talked with the doctor about scheduling for Beth being out of work, the orientation of the babies, and the possibility of a c-section.  Last night, we looked through calendars again and everything continues to be more and more tangible.

We finished our Baby Registry (at Amazon) over Thanksgiving weekend.  If you’re interested, the link is here:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/baby/7E9B2F0TTMFT

First Time at the Hospital

(Steve took this picture from his phone when we first arrived.)

Today while I was at work I started seeing "white spots".

I was shocked.

Why would my kids be throwing confetti at me?

After rubbing my eyes and realizing that no one was throwing anything at me, I took a seat and drank more water figuring I just needed to chill out a second.

Unfortunately, it happened again about an hour later. I e-mailed Steve as an update and he suggested I call our OB.

After speaking with her, she told me to go to Labor and Delivery at Virtua Hospital for some tests. Her primary concern was pre-eclampsia. While on the phone she had asked if there was any place I could have my blood pressure checked. I suggested the local CVS where they have a blood pressure machine. She responded with a definite, if not amused, "No!"

When Steve and I got to the hospital, I assumed we would check in, I'd get my blood pressure checked and assuming everything was good, we'd all go home.

To my extreme disappointment I was tagged and quickly escorted to a hospital room where I had to wear those horrible shirt dresses they have the audacity to call "gowns".

We had a very positive experience with all the hospital staff. They were very kind and professional. They hooked up two fetal monitors and we were able to hear ALL KINDS of movement! First baby boy and then baby girl were acting very crazy. The nurse was finally able to get their heartbeats.

The most beautiful sound in the world.

I have a lot of respect for people who have little if no fear of needles.

Sadly, I am not one of those people.

I try to be brave and am able to distract myself 99% of the time. This was the first time I had a needle in my hand. It was very painful.

To make an uneventful evening short, urine was good, I was well-hydrated, blood samples were normal and we were good to go home.

Lessons we learned:

When pregnant, always have a hospital bag in your car

Learn where parking and check-in are at your hospital

Wear matching underwear. You just never know....

We are at home now and I've propped my feet up due to the largeness of my ankles and legs. First of many times, I'm sure.

When we got home, we were excited to see our stroller had come!

Milestone week...

On Monday, November 30th I felt the babies' first kick. I was in my classroom eating a banana during my prep period and all of a sudden I felt three quick "pops" in my lower stomach.

There it was!

Although it was different than anything else I previously felt, I can't be sure I haven't felt them before. Let's be honest....there's a lot of rumbling and tumbling going on in there with or without the babies. :)

Tonight as I was laying on the couch, I felt one of the babies kick. I told Steve and he came over and felt my stomach...he felt one too!!!

Awesome...