Tuesday, February 28, 2006

2/28/06 - 21 weeks 5 days

They are already trying to escape!!!

I was sitting on the couch last night and got a good kick. I told Tom that I think you could have SEEN that one. He told me to lift my shirt and we proceeded to watch the babies do the samba in my belly. After they calmed down a bit Tom walked away and I got one good kick or punch in my lower abdomen - it looked like our little girl was trying to escape!!! I can't imagine what it's going to look like when they are older ... it will really look like they are trying to break out of there!

I can't decide what is more fun.. watching my belly move or feeling it with my hand. That came so fast.. I didn't think we would be able to see it for quite some time yet.

Only 4 more months.. AHHH!!! Who sped up the clock?

Monday, February 27, 2006

2/27/06 - 21 weeks 4 days

We have movement!

I felt some little tap taps from the outside for the first time on Saturday Feb. 18th. We were up late talking and I had my hand resting on my tummy when (the girl I believe) I got a few quick kicks. It's been sporadic since then, but seems to be getting more frequent... especially when I lay down and relax for a while. Still no good wallups, but I'm sure they are coming! :)

The trip to SC was good. I was nervous about flying - I know it's fine, but I still worry and I think a lot more about my morality then I ever have before. A lot of people looked at my belly, but no one jumped up to help me on my flight out. I lugged my own bag around and even lifted it into the overhead myself... nice gentlemen on my flight! ha ha I've decided that I am for sure checking my bag when I go to Seattle! :) I had a layover in Detroit and all I have to say is thank goodness for the moving sidewalks! I can't walk too far before my stomach starts to contract and I'm supposed to take it easy so I would just jump on the moving sidewalk and stand for a while - yes I felt like a loser, but oh well!

My friend's response when she picked me up was - YOU'RE HUGE! Ha ha Thanks!

We spent our weekend relaxing and eating.. both work for me. After I felt the babies move all I wanted to do was sit around with my hand on my tummy! :) The girls surprised me and had a shower for me.. so sweet! It was fun to get some pink and blue stuff and got me closer to the reality that I really am pregnant and this is going to result in TWO babies! :)

On my trip back one woman took an interest in my well being and offered to let me go ahead of her and then helped me get my bag down when we were deplaning! I won't lie - it was nice! :)

Two days after I returned from SC Jennie came out from Seattle to visit. It was so nice to have a little piece of Seattle here with me and to have someone to hang around with! :) We spent a couple of days here in Madison really just checking out local coffee shops then we headed to Chicago on Saturday and stayed over night. We were hoping Julie and Todd would be able to come up, but they are still nursing themselves back to health so it was just Jennie and I. :) I can't walk very far and Jennie is less than excited to walk around in the cold so we were quite a pair touring the big city. .. along w/ the fact that we had some clueless moments that made us feel like country bumpkins! We ate some good food and toured around Michigan Avenue.. Jennie scored a great hotel right on the Ave.

I was sad when she left.. my little piece of Seattle.. my friend! That's when it hit me that ... Oh wow.. I live in Wisconsin!!! Why it took so many months to figure that out I'm not sure. This is permanent! We could be here a while.. AHHH!!!! I'm okay.. and we'll be fine, but damn did that hit me like a ton of bricks! ha ha I'm blaming it on the pregnancy hormones! :)

It also dawned on me that these babies will be here in just over 4 months.. AHH.. how did that happen? I was looking forward to getting home from Seattle and relaxing.. as my girth increases my movement becomes more limited!! Then I realized I would just be waiting for babies.. then I realized.. oh CRAP.. I'll only have a little over 3 months to wait by that time! I've done NOTHING to prepare! ha ha

Here is my 21 week picture! :) Jennie swears I grew even in the short time she was here.. those babies are packing it on in there!

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Wednesday, February 15, 2006

2/15/06 19 weeks 6 days - the BIG ultrasound

The ultrasound went great.. it was so much fun to see those little babies in there squirming around. They really did put on a show for us!!

They looked at Baby A first and all the while Baby B stayed in it's little corner, but when it was time to check out Baby B, Baby A started punching Baby B in the face as if to say, "hey, I'm the star of this show, come back over here."

They were moving a ton, but gave the u/s tech everything she needed.. 20 fingers and toes! :) We saw the four chambers of both hearts, their little tummys and bladders.. their kidneys... well EVERYTHING! It took about 1.5 hours and about 20 mins in I felt like I was going to pass out! Thankfully the tech let me kind of lay on my side and all was well after...

And of course the genders...we are BLESSED to be having one of each.. one perfect little boy and one perfect little girl! We are thrilled.

When she said Baby A is a boy I started thinking... "would I do this again just to try for a girl?" then when she showed that Baby B is a girl I GASPED - literally out loud - and almost cried. I'm so happy! We've waited so long and I guess I was just hesitant to think that we would get exactly what we wanted... though I would be happy with whatever.. this is perfect! :)

Hopefully now we can move on from the names Jimothy and Bobert (sorry Tom) and get serious about naming these little ones!

Here's some pictures of my ALMOST 20 weeks belly!

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Tuesday, February 14, 2006

2/14/06 19 weeks 5 days

Happy Valentines Day!

I'm back from the OB.. and thankfully we heard two nice strong heartbeats... one at 160 and one at 156. I weighed in at 166lbs (GASP!) that makes for a total weight gain of 22 lbs (DOUBLE GASP!) ... guess I will have no problem hitting that 24lbs by 24 weeks huh? I'll post a picture tomorrow so you can see for yourself!

I asked the doc about the sharp burning pain I have been getting at the top of my belly just to the left and she said it's normal. It's a ligament that holds my liver in place getting stretched by my belly growth. The good news is it goes away almost instantly after the babies are born.

I also asked her about some contractions I've been getting if I walk to far.. she said that I'm at the point in the pregnancy where I'm going to have to really listen to my body and scale back when that happens. She said the real critical point will come between 24 and 28 weeks. I'll need to really scale back and take it easy during that month because of my risk for preterm labor (because of the twins) and that if the babies were delivered during that month technology could keep them alive, but it's hard to say what the quality of that life would be. So after my trip to Seattle - I'll be 24.5 weeks when I return - I will be RELAXING! :)

Everything went well and I can't wait to see the little buggers tomorrow. They were moving around a lot while the nurse was using the doppler so now I know what it really does feel like to feel them move.. GAS! ha ha

I'm sticking w/ my guess of two boys and Tom is sticking w/ his guess/hope of one of each. I have no real reasoning behind my guess.. well I guess the lowish heartrates makes me think boy... and the fact that we THINK we saw a penis.. and since their heartrates are so close together all the time the old wives tale would indicate the same gender.. ha ha

Monday, February 13, 2006

2/13/06 - 19 weeks 4 days!

Only two more days until my big ultrasound! Keep your fingers crossed that the babies cooperate this time! :) I haven't taken a belly shot in a while. I'll take one on Wednesday to post with the results of my ultrasound!

I took a trip down to see Julie, Todd and Cooper this past week. It was so nice to see them and to take a look around thier new home. Cooper has gotten so big and is looking like a little boy now! I can't believe he will be a year old next month! Where has the time gone? He's crawling like a mad man and walking with assistance from mom and dad or his new walking toy. He's babbling quite a bit and I'm sure his first words are coming soon! The poor little guy was sick when I first got there and the Sweet family has taken a beating in the health department since Cooper started day care! Ceanne (Grandma C) came over to the Sweet house and watched Cooper on Thursday to give him a break from day care and it seemed to work wonders. By the time I left on Sunday he was getting pretty cleared out and seemed in good spirits. Hopefully he can hold onto his health this week at day care. I took my camera, but didn't get any shots of the little guy... though you can check some out at www.sweetsinseattle.com

Right before I went down to visit Todd took Jack to the vet because of a major nose bleed and they discovered that he had a tumor in his nasal cavity that was pressing on his brain. Jack has been feeling anxious and disoriented since the move. The vet said that they could do 20 days of radiation then maybe have Jack around for another year. Of course there are no guarantees as to how quality Jack's life would have been. Todd and Julie made the difficult decision to put Jack out of his misery and send him to doggy heaven. He was put down on Friday 2/10/06. I'm thankful that I got to spend some time with him before he had to go. I took this photo of him (he's not so keen on having his picture taken) the day he went to the vet.

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In loving memory of Jack.

I'm feeling good... tired, but good. I'm excited for my ultrasound and will post back on Wednesday with pictures and updates!