2 year Angel-versary

Yesterday was baby Hope's 2 year angel-versary. Luckily I was able to keep my mind on a lot of other things.

First we had a doctor's appointment for the boys. We got to hear their heartbeats with the doppler and found out that I'm measuring at 26 weeks for belly size.

Then Thayer and I had a date day, and it will probably be one of our last. We went to lunch and to a movie. Lunch was good. The movie, however, was a huge disappointment. I really love the book "The Host" but the movie was exceedingly boring.

I will never forget our first baby, but having the boys this year did make it easier. I could concentrate on them and not on being sad. I've come a long ways since the day and even year we said goodbye to her. Now I know that my sons will always have a sibling up in heaven watching out for them.

So... here's to you Baby Hope... gone, never forgotten, and forever in our hearts!

21 weeks! - Buddha Belly

I officially can't see my feet. I knew this day would come. I just didn't think it would come this soon. I look like a little Buddha.

As far as how I'm feeling... good most days. I've had steadily increasing back pain and in the last week or so I feel a lot of pressure at times, especially when I'm on my feet a lot. Guess I need to sit down more at work. I've been trying really hard to sit as much as I can, but I don't want to feel lazy and like I'm not contributing. Babies are doing good as far as I know. I feel them moving more and more each day. I feel kicks here and there, especially in the evening.

I have a doctor's appointment on Friday with my regular OB and then one on Monday with my MFM (high risk OB). I'm not sure if they'll do an in-office sono at my appointment Friday or if they'll just use the fetal doppler to check their heartbeats. Monday I know I'll get a growth ultrasound just to make sure they're staying right on track. I'm so ready to reach 24 weeks. That is when the babies will reach viability. By this I mean they would have at least a decent chance of living if I were to have them. They would be very sick and spend a lot of time in the hospital, but pre-term labor would no longer mean certain death for them.

20 weeks - a little late

20 weeks... flat tummy is LOOONG gone...

So this blog is a little late as I will be 21 weeks tomorrow... better late than never I suppose!

I had another appointment/ultrasound with the MFM (high risk doctor) on Wednesday. The babies looked great. This time they were checking their amniotic fluid and their kidneys and bladder to make sure there is no twin to twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS) happening. Their heart rates were 134 and 145, which is normal. Both of their hearts looked good as well. That's still one of the coolest things to see... all 4 little chambers just pumping away like crazy. I'm feeling good. I do get some lower back discomfort, but other than that I feel great on most days. I've been feeling a lot more movement. I've even felt them on the outside twice now. Still no luck with Thayer being able to feel them. Hopefully that will happen soon. Yesterday he spent like 30 minutes just laying on the couch with me rubbing my belly.

I did some shopping for the nursery. I got $140 worth of stuff for $70 at Hobby Lobby. I found two perfect wall decals for their room, teal letters of R and O to go above their cribs with the other wall decor I plan on making (thank you Pinterest). I also found a twin picture frame so I bought one for myself and one for my mom. They say "Two peas in a pod" and are blue/cream striped with a little pea pod. So cute! It's so difficult to find things like that for twins! I also found two little woven baskets to help organize things on their changing table.

It's so nice to finally feel comfortable buying things for my boys. Most of my worries are gone. I have just a couple of more weeks until they reach viability outside of the womb. (24 weeks).

Now for pictures from my appointment! Little baby A was having an attitude again. He did not want his 3D picture taken and gave the tech a hard time. Both of them spent the whole appointment with their legs crossed. I guess they were being modest.

Baby A's profile... the blob to the left is Baby B (they were head to head this time).

Baby A's foot in 3D

Baby A in 3D

Baby B's profile

Baby B's face in 3D

Another shot of Baby B's face in 3D

Frugal Momma

So.. I will be a cloth diapering, cloth wipe using, baby food making, re-usable nursing pad wearing, consignment shopping, yardsale-ing momma.

Yesterday I made 80 cloth baby wipes. I figure if I have to do the laundry for the diapers I might as well save even more money and use cloth wipes when we are at home. The fabric cost me less than $12 since it was on sale. The solution for the cloth wipes is also very inexpensive; water, tea tree oil, baby soap.

I have now bought 24 cloth diapers so far. So that is just over half the stash I need. There are 10 more I want to order, including getting 2 Dr. Suess ones with Thing 1 and Thing 2 on them from Cat in the Hat. Those are definitely ones they will be getting pictures done in as well.

I've also decided we will be getting a Sam's Club membership. It will definitely save us lots of money with the twins, also they have a military discount on the membership and we still qualify for it! It will only cost us $25 a year. Between formula, baby food, meat, etc. we will definitely save way more than $25.

I'm finding and thinking of more and more ways that we can save money with having 2 babies. A teacher's salary isn't going to go too far.



I've also officially scheduled our maternity pictures. I'm having them done at 29 weeks. I'll be plenty big by then, but hopefully I won't be terribly uncomfortable or on bed rest at that point. If these end up being our only children I want to have lots of memories of the time, especially since it took so much work to get them here.

The babies also really, really love food. Within about 20-30 minutes after I eat they get pretty active. Sometimes it feels like they're doing flips in there. They've also found my bladder a few times already. My uterus is well above my belly button now, and my innie belly button is almost an outtie belly button already.

Over half-way there! - 19 weeks

We have officially passed the half-way mark of the this pregnancy. Because the babies will be born at no later than 37 weeks, I'm over half-way through!

Things are going great. The only difficulties I'm having is hip and back pain. I've gained just a little weight now. Not a whole lot, but some. I had bloodwork done at my last doctor's appointment and everything looked great. I wasn't low in any areas, but my glucose level was borderline. It was 71 and normal is 70-100. I hadn't eaten in about 2 hours so now I can really see how important it is for me to eat constantly.

I'm still a little shocked that we're having two boys. I know they're definitely going to be a handful. I'm must happy that they're healthy and I'm healthy. So far, this pregnancy has been pretty uneventful, other than the shock of having twins.

We've started making purchases. We have one crib and a changing table (we're not going to get the second crib until they're a little older because they'll share until they're 3-6 months old.) Lots of clothes that we've been given or gotten at consignment sales, a couple of pack n plays (one for our house, one for grandma's house), 2 infant carseats, a thingy for the bathtub, lots of receiving blankets, and some towels and wash cloths, swaddlers... lol.

19 weeks!

And They Are....

Identical Bouncing Baby Boys!!

Their names will be Orion Rey and Ronin Lee!!!!

We found out today that the Clomid had absolutely NOTHING to do with us having twins. Clomid can cause fraternal twins, but not identical. After conception the fertilized egg divided and both zygotes ended up implanting. The twins are in separate sacs, but they share a placenta so it is 100% certain they are identical.

Baby A (8oz) was slightly larger than Baby B (7oz). A's heartbeat was 155 and B's was 161. As far as the anatomy scan portion, both babies were perfect. Brain and heart looked good. It was interesting to see their little hearts beating because you could see all 4 chambers pumping away. Legs, arms, and all other organs were perfect and working.

We also found out because they share a placenta, there are a few extra risks so I will be monitored more closely than if they were fraternal. I will have even more ultrasounds than first thought. I will have a growth ultrasound every 4 weeks, then I will have one every opposite 4 weeks checking the amniotic fluid and making sure they both have fluid in their bladder and digestive system. So I will have one an ultrasound every 2 weeks as they will alternate these different types of scans. The one monitoring the fluid in their digestive system is to help monitor for twin to twin transfusion syndrome. This can happen when babies share a placenta (food source). They are linked through blood vessels in the placenta and in 15% of these types of pregnancies one twin will rob nutrients from the other, making one much smaller than the other. If they see this beginning to happen they can treat it so the babies aren't at risk. I will continue to see my regular OB every 4 weeks along with the MFM doctor. They will work together to coordinate my (our) care to ensure we're getting all the monitoring and testing we need done.



Orion and Ronin snuggled together! B's head is on the left and A's is on the right.

Baby A's face

Baby B's face

Profile of Baby A



Baby A's boy parts



Baby B's boy parts

18 weeks!

Today is 18 weeks! Things are going great. I have so much to look forward to this week. We have our anatomy scan in less than 2 days. I'm so ready to know if we're having boys, girls, or one of each! One big event that happened last night was I felt my first kick... or punch! One of those babies in there was feeling pretty feisty. It really surprised me. I know it's the first of many! I'm still waiting on the day that Thayer can feel them too. I know it won't be too much longer. He's just so sweet when he rubs my belly or kisses it. I'm so glad he finally feels comfortable with it all and isn't worried. I wish I could say the same. Each time we get ready to go in for an appointment I get worried/anxious that something will be wrong with one of the babies. I hold my breath until we know they're both alive and squirming in here. I wish I could be like some people and have a blissfully naive pregnancy. I wish I could have felt comfortable announcing at 6 weeks or start making purchases before 14 weeks. I wish I didn't have to worry about the "what ifs."

I still can't believe we've made it this far. I'm not taking a single moment of this for granted. Does my back hurt? Yes. Do my hips kill me some days? Yep. Are my boobs gigantic and throb? You bet ya. Do I complain? NO! I'm thankful to be pregnant. I'm THANKFUL to feel these things because I know what it's like to have to wait month after month, year after year, to finally have my dream(s) growing in my belly.

18 weeks and getting rounder!

Decisions!

I had another doctor appointment on Feb. 27th. It went great. We went in and my OB came in with a nurse practitioner. He told me since the babies are so close together he would rather look at them via the in-office sonogram instead of trying to find and hear them both on through the doppler. He also asked me if I would mine the NP practicing her sonogram skills on me. OF COURSE I WOULDN'T! lol I'll take any and all opportunities to see our babies as much as possible. We got to watch them for about 5 minutes. They checked their heartbeats, but didn't take a reading on them. I just can't help but smile ear to ear when I see them moving around in there and know that they're growing and healthy!

My OB also wanted me to have my first visit with the Maternal Fetal Medicine doctor (aka, high risk) next week so I will see her on March 6th. This is simple a precaution because I'm having twins. There isn't anything wrong with me or the babies at this point. I do have a higher risk of pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes, pre-term labor, etc. That is the reason why I have to see the MFM doctor. I do believe that I have started having some problems with my bloodsugar dropping low. This scares me some. I know the symptoms of low bloodsugar and that is definitely what I'm experiencing. I will definitely be talking to the doctor about this because I'm not supposed to have my glucose test until 26 weeks.

The most exciting thing about seeing the MFM is we also get to have our anatomy scan. This means we'll find out the sexes of the babies! We will find out on March 6th!! I'm so ready, and it's just in time for 2 consignment sales so maybe I can get some good bargains!!

My next appointment with my regular OB is March 29th. I'm not sure how often I will be seeing the MFM. I do know after 20ish weeks I will have an ultrasound every 3 weeks to check the growth of the babies.

We have officially decided on names for the babies. We have a set of names ready for each possible gender scenario (boy/girl, girl/girl, and boy/boy). I love them and so does Thayer.. and we don't really care what anyone else thinks. These are our babies and we'll name them what we want. All of the first names are pretty unique and the middle names are common. I think that makes for a nice combination.

We also have a date set for the baby shower. It will be on May 4th. It's pretty early, but that's good because I could be put on bedrest pretty early in my 3rd trimester. Also, it is out of state in Kansas and it's a long drive when you're super pregnant (4 1/2 hours). I'm really looking forward to it!

I have also found a photographer to do our maternity and newborn pictures. We've decided to have our maternity pictures taken at the park where we got married. I think that is a great idea and it is a beautiful park!