Bears Home Opener

Bears home opener 2009!!! Always a great time and the Bears won!!!

Tailgating

The twins first Bears game

Wayne Messmer and you can see the fly by just past the jumbotron

This one is a little hard to see but there is a guy in jeans, a black coat and black hat....

that's Vince Vaughn!

Stanley the Bear

Take that Steelers!!!

26 Week Update

Scott was feeling left out so he also gets a picture

This past Wednesday marked my 26 week point in my pregnancy. Scott pointed out that we have only 11 more weeks to go at the most. That seems both as far away as can be and just around the corner. I have been feeling good other than being tired all the time but that seems to be the theme of this pregnancy. It is definitely getting harder to sleep but not necessarily for any particular reason.

Two weeks ago I had my first visit with my OB. It was good to ask her questions and to get a sense for how she handles a twin pregnancy/delivery. She prefers to deliver in an OR just in case of an emergency C-section but I can labor in one of the regular rooms so I don’t mind that so much. I will have to get an epidural which was something that I was hoping not to get but because they take 15 to 20 minutes to put in and if an emergency C-section is called they like to have the baby out in 5 minutes I can see why she wants me to do this. She said that I can have it on as low as a dosage as possible so I can move around still so I think it will be ok. Other than that I finally gained more weight. Total for the pregnancy is 10 pounds which is still on the lower end of a single pregnancy but I was just happy to know that I finally made some progress.

Last week I had another ultrasound but this time it was just to check the amniotic fluid for both of them. Everything looks good and this time they were even able to definitively say that they are in separate amniotic sacs…..yeah!!! So that is no longer a concern. Baby B continues to be slightly smaller so when I have my fetal development ultrasound next week I will be curious to see the stats.

This week was the routine glucose test. I got the results back last night from my OB and she said that I am not showing any signs for diabetes so that is great! Also, she mentioned that my blood count was in the normal range and that was “not common even for a single pregnancy let alone twins.” She said that meant that I am doing very well nutritionally which make me feel better about the weight gain or lack thereof. So it looks like I am having a very healthy pregnancy so far :)

Many people have asked Scott and I whether we think we are having boys or girls. My generally reply is girls and Scott’s is boys. I think I am officially changing my answer to boys. Like any mother-to-be, I have occasionally had dreams about when the babies are born. Sometimes the babies in my dreams have a gender and sometimes it is just not part of the dream so I don’t know what the gender is. I have now had 6 dreams that involved the babies having a gender and each time they have been boys. I think I thought we were having girls because I come from a family of mostly girls and we have 4 nieces but because of these dreams I now am changing my answer to boys. But we shall see…

24 week update and whatnot

Last weekend we had a family bridal shower for my cousin where I was on of the hostesses. One of my duties was to figure out the favors. I decided right away to make cupcakes decorated with a sunflower on top since sunflowers are one of the flowers my cousin is using. This was my first attempt using decorating tips but I have been wanting to start using and practicing different decorating techniques so I was excited for this opportunity.

Here is some of the process and the results...

Dish of ladybugs to go on top of the sunflower made from m & m's
First time making petals
The finished product! Not too bad but I think they could have looked better.

With our family on the way and our desire to not put more money into my car we decided to sell my car and get a minivan! Here she is....our new 2007 Dodge Caravan. There was a time that I was anti-minivan so I think it is funny that I already have one. It will help out having it when the twins are born and I am happy to have this done and out of the way.

So we got our van from Carmax and we had to have it shipped from FL. Once it arrived we went over there to take a look and test drive it. I was looking at the back and on the bumper I noticed something. I took a closer look and found a live frog on the bumper! What? Has it been there since FL??? It was definitely a sign that this van was meant to be mine.

We told our sales guys and he told us to hop in the car because he had a perfect place to let the frog go. We drove across the parking lot and on the other side was this nice pond. Looks like a nice new home to me!

24 Week Update.......

I had my follow-up level 2 ultrasound with the specialist last week. It was over all a good appointment. Both babies are over a pound (Baby A: 1lb 6oz, Baby B: 1lb 2oz) which means they are right on track with being 23 weeks along last week and makes me feel better about the weight I have/have not gained. I am making myself eat every 3 hours and I feel like that is the best I can do. So developmentally they are doing well.

A big part of this follow-up was to be sure they are in separate sacs so that means finding/seeing the membrane that separates them. Since my twins were discovered so far along in the pregnancy this membrane has been really hard to see for sure. The possible complication if they are in the same sac is that their umbilical cords could get tangled which is really not good for obvious reasons. The first specialist said that he was pretty confident that he saw it and last week's specialist said that she was 90% sure. She also said that we should still sort of treat this like they are in the same sac since they can't be completely sure. That does not mean that I have to be hospitalized for constant monitoring but I will have an ultrasound every other week for the duration of the pregnancy or until they don't think it is an issue any more. I have my first appt with my new OB this week so I will find out more info then. At this point, I am banking on the 90% sureness of the specialists and trying not to think of the alternative.

Other than that, I am feeling well. I am not uncomfortable while I sleep and I have not been getting many aches or pains which I find to be a blessing. I am just happy with each day/week that passes without going into labor. Making it to 24 weeks is huge because this is the week that the babies become viable and have 90% of surviving if they are born. I definitely feel great about getting to this point. I still hope for making it to 37 weeks but at least half of twin pregnancies go into labor before 37 weeks. We'll see! I have been saying that a lot lately.

The last couple weekends Scott and I have spent a lot of time cleaning our condo and clearing out our second bedroom. We have been making great progress and with showers coming up at the end of the month I am feeling more and more prepared. This week we have our child birth class so that will help even more.

The pictures....I think I look like I am at the beginning of my 3rd trimester but I still have a month to go. Such is the life of a multiples pregnancy. Can't wait until I surpass what a full term singleton looks like.