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.

22 Weeks....

Well last week ended up being a whirlwind. Unfortunately, having twins means that I no longer can see the midwives and I had to change to an OB. I have not seen her yet but I have in the past so I know she will be great. My OB had me see a specialist right away so that is what I did last week. I am not going to complain about already having a second ultrasound and I have my 3rd next week.

Seeing the specialist was so much better than the first ultrasound. At the first one my head was right next to the screen so I could only watch for 10 minutes when she swung it around at the end. This time I was facing the screen and was able to watch the whole thing! Also, while they were taking the measurements they were really good at pointing out the different parts of the brain, stomach, heart and all the other body parts...well not all of them :) It was so interesting to see everything and it is amazing how much they can tell when the babies are so small and still in my stomach! After the first tech took a look and the specialist he said that both babies look great! They were screening for genetic disorders since they can be more common in multiples.

Something else that they were able to determine is that they are definitely identical! Craziness. They can tell this because they for sure share a placenta. For a while the first tech and the specialist could not find the membrane that separated the 2 babies and we could have sworn we saw one baby grab the foot of the other. However, there are so many limbs in there that it is hard to figure what belongs to who. Fortunately, the specialist was able to find it towards the end of the ultrasound. If he had not found this membrane that would have meant they were in the same amniotic sac and there would have been a huge threat of the umbilical cords getting tangled. Also, I would have had to be on hospital bed rest in order to be constantly monitored. I dodged 2 big bullets with that one!

There are some complications that can occur when babies share a placenta but so far they were not showing signs of them. I have a follow-up ultrasound next week and he said that if the main complication was going to develop that it would by 24 weeks. So we will see next week if we are in the clear.

I have already been put on modified bed rest. I have to have my feet up for 4-6 hours every day during the day but since I sit at a desk all day I am able to continue working which is good for now. I was also told to try not to run errands after work and I can't walk for exercise anymore :( If this is the worst bed rest I am put on it is not bad. Also, the specialist said he was going to tell my OB that he did not want me to go past 37 weeks if I have not already gone into labor by then. I have not talked to my OB yet so there is no date set in stone but 37 weeks is December 9th. It looks like we will be getting 2 early Christmas presents :) It certainly makes planning for the holidays a lot easier.

So I think that is about all I found out last week. Like I said, I have a follow-up ultrasound with the specialist next week so pray that everything is still looking great. In the meantime, I have definitely been enjoying feeling them squirm around. At one point the specialist told me he hopes I have good gym shoes because these babies are active! They are not too cooperative at this point to feel them from the outside but Scott was able to catch Baby B in a good mood and was able to feel him/her last week. I was so happy that he was able to finally feel one of them so we could share in the experience. This past weekend I took advantage of it being my last weekend before the 4-6 hours of having my feet up. Scott and I cleaned our place and began clearing out the second bedroom, went to ikea to check out baby stuff and we registered with my mom and Linnea on Sunday. I was wiped out after 3 hours walking around Babies R Us and boy do we need a ton of stuff for 2! It was kind of funny going around looking at things and deciding on something that we like/need and then saying "and we need 2!" This is already an adventure but I can't wait for the next 3 months to be done and that is when the real fun begins :)

So here are the 22 week pictures...

Seeing Double!!!!

This past Friday morning Scott and I (well more I) had our 20 week ultrasound. Well, we found out that we are going to have TWINS!!!! WHAT??!!???

For me, it started at the beginning of July. For some reason I was interested in reading about being pregnant with twins. I don't know what led me to start looking into it or what held my "feeling" that I was having twins. There were many signs or symptoms that I did not have and I did not think there was any family history on both our sides (I was wrong). When I went in for my 17 week appointment I found out I was measuring ahead by 3 weeks...sign number 1. I also mentioned to my midwife that I had felt the babies since week 12 which she thought was interesting...sign number 2 (even though I didn't know at the time that was a sign as well). I even asked if measuring ahead could be a sign of having more than one baby and she said not necessarily. She kind of searched for a second heartbeat and I thought she maybe had found one but she did not say anything but "We'll see what the ultrasound tells us."

It was at this point, when I was updating Scott on how the appointment went, that I decided I would clue him in on my "feeling." He didn't really put much thought into it. After all, at this point we didn't think twins were in either one of our families and I did not have many signs so the chances we thought were pretty low. As we got closer to the ultrasound I told a couple more people about what I thought and Scott just thought I was crazy and setting myself up for disappointment. I should mention that a lot of websites say that the mother's intuition is another sign of a multiple pregnancy...sign number 3.

So now comes the ultrasound. I went in first so that one of the techs could start the measurements and Scott was going to join me a little later. I told the tech right away that I was showing some signs of multiples and wanted that to be determined right away. I laid there as she started and saw a half smile come across the tech's face. I should mention that I could not see the screen at this point. I waited "patiently" for about 5 minutes before I asked the tech if there was one baby. She replied "do you want me to tell you or wait for your husband?" I told her to tell me....sorry Scott but I just could not wait any longer. She told me "no, you have two." WHAT!!!! I could not believe after thinking, hoping and day dreaming about having twins that I actually was going to have twins!!! I was preparing myself for disappointment and fortunately I got the opposite :)

So about 15 minutes later Scott came in the room and I just held up two fingers. He was shocked but with a huge smile on his face. There was definitely more emotions going through Scott that day because not only did we find out we are having twins but this is when the pregnancy became real to him since he was able to see the babies.

Both babies are doing very well right now. They are measuring 4 days a part and both around 19 weeks which is good to only be a week behind. I was told that they are fraternal but the tech did not seem the most confident with knowing the difference between fraternal and identical twins. They have their own amniotic sacs but share a placenta which depending on what you read is definitely identical. Scott did find an article that said fraternal twins can share a placenta too but I am not convinced. We'll see what my midwife says. I also found out that twins are on my mom's side. Who knew! Turns our my great Grandma was a twin and her twin sister had twins as well. There were 2 sets of girls so we might keep up the girl trend in both our families. We are still not going to find out the sex though :)

It has been a roller coaster of emotions all based in happiness since Friday morning. We have both had trouble sleeping since we found out. My mind keeps running wild thinking of the reality of having 2 instead of 1 and what that really means. We are very fortunate to have lots of family in the area to help us out and many friends. Several people have already been a big support to me by saying I will be a great mother of twins and that I will definitely be able to handle it. We feel so fortunate that God has decided to bless us with twins. We know it will be a lot of work and we may be walking zombies for a while but we are both really happy and excited!!

We were already planning on going to my favorite restaurant (Ron of Japan) to celebrate being half way through the pregnancy but then it really became a celebration!

Now finally some ultrasound pictures!!

Baby B's head is on the left and baby A's head is on the right. All in between are the legs and arms.

The tech said that it is hard to get a picture of 2 feet so we were lucky baby B gave us one!

This one is my favorite...You can see baby A's body, butt and legs in the center/right side and going right into baby B's head/face on the left. Great, already kicking each other. There were a couple times I was waving my finger telling them to be nice to each other.

This picture is basically the same as the one above but with labels.

The side by side shot of both their faces.

Well this is my 20 week growing belly picture with twins! For those who saw it already on facebook I made a comment about how tired I looked. Well no wonder!!!

I feel very fortunate that I have not really experienced the multiple symptoms that many feel when expecting multiples. So far it has not been too bad except for being a little more tired than normal in my second trimester but I have been very fortunate. So now come extra Dr. appointments and an extra large belly. While we will be blessed at the end with 2 babies we first need to get through the pregnancy which is now open to more possible complications. Twin pregnancies are not automatically considered "high risk" but there is definitely the potential so we ask for your prayers for the health of the babies as well as myself.

I have a Dr. appointment on Wednesday so I am sure I will have more to say.
Stay tuned...

BBQ

There were some good friends in town for weddings over the weekend and we all managed to find a time to get together for a BBQ at the Peterson's place. Out of my girlfriends from NPU, any of them with kids don't live in Chicago so it was fun to have friends with kids around since we don't get to see them too often.

Bethanie, Miles, Stacy and Lisa

Isaiah: Halli, please let me in!!!

Halli feeding Leah grapes

So cute! By the end of the night Isaiah was wearing Halli's shoes

We then went out for some drinks. My drink of choice??? Water...yum yum

17 Week Update

I just had a Dr Appt last week and it was interesting. I am 17 weeks but I am measuring like I am 20 weeks. I thought that was interesting because I read about it online and they say that it is normal to measure ahead in the 3rd trimester but not the 2nd. My blood pressure was higher than the last 2 appts but still normal. Hopefully that was a fluke. Other than that, everything is gone well. I have been feeling the baby a lot starting with last week and my Dr was surprised with how soon I have been able to feel the baby. I have actually been feeling the baby since around 12 weeks but it was more definite starting last week. Our ultrasound is in 3 weeks so that should be interesting and I am excited for that. I have only gained 2 pounds so far this whole pregnancy. The Dr is not concerned and I will take it because I would rather not gain excess weight. Over all, I have been feeling better but still tired. The "nesting" feeling is definitely kicking in because I really want to get started on the 2 bedroom/nursery while I am still in my second trimester. There is a lot of cleaning, storing, planning, painting and work that needs to happen with that room but I can't really get started until the current occupants are gone (see below).

Here are some 17 week pictures. I am definitely looking pregnant now! Woo hoo!!!

Here are the current occupants of our second bedroom. We have 2 cute rabbits, Pierre and Claudia, that we don't want to have any more when the baby arrives. We are looking to give them away and their cage to someone who wants them this week. Let me know if you are interested.

Grandma's Birthday and Ravinia

We had a surprise birthday party for my Grandma a week ago at my parents house. Here's my dad and Sonja waiting for the guest of honor to arrive.

My Grandma was definitely surprised!
Party on the party deck!!

It started raining so we had to momentarily move the party inside.

Even during the summer my family is cold in my parent's house. Pretty good for no air conditioning!

A week ago on Friday Stacy, Jonny, Annie, Kenny and I went to Ravinia for Steve Miller Band. It was a great time! Ravinia never disappoints.

Don't worry, I am drinking sparkling grape juice.

Do you see how good I am being with the stomach touching!!!

Kenny would not dance with Annie and Stacy would not dance with Jonny so they danced with each other.

Annie and Stacy "Rockin' Me Baby"