A few pics

Our Baby Boy

This is about the time he grabbed himself.

Our Baby Girl 

Since she was upside down, I took flipped the pic upside down.

Our Baby Girl's Feet

Can you tell she has them crossed?  This is right before brother kicked them.

I hope you enjoyed and are as excited as we are!

Have a great weekend!

~Sam

Details

When we started the ultrasound, we started with Baby A who was in front and down low.  His placenta attached to the front of my uterus.  Right away she could see his gender and asked if we wanted to know.  I said definitely.  I was watching the screen and I was pretty sure he was a boy.  After she confirmed it, our little boy decided to grab his "manhood" (as Shawn put it).  The ultrasound tech laughed and said it was actually a good thing cognitively.  She said its already the first thing on his mind.  Our babies are very active.  It was amazing to watch them on screen and feel the flutters at the same time.  Now I know who to blame when I have those sudden urges to pee, lol!  After we saw everything and she said he was perfectly healthy, we moved on to Baby B.

Baby B's placenta attached to the back of my uterus.  The ultrasound tech said that was perfect that they weren't together.  Baby B is much higher.  They were both normal and looked healthy.  Right away I could tell Baby B was different and I figured she was a girl right away.  Again, she measured almost identical to her brother.  We were able to see that their bellies were full of amniotic fluid.  Our little girl had fluid in her bladder too.  It was fascinating.  Both babies are laying with their heads and feet together.  As we were checking out their feet, brother decided to kick sister.  She wasn't too happy about it and started bouncing and kicking around, which I told the ultrasound tech I could definitely feel. She said as hard as our daughter was kicking, she wasn't surprised.

Both babies measured 18 weeks 0 days, which is what they are.  They both weigh 8 ounces.

According to this chart: http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/your-babys-growth-during-pregnancy.html

They are perfect.  18 weeks, 8 ounces, and around 7.8 inches long each.  I have over a foot and a pound of baby I'm carrying around now.  I can't believe how big they are now!  Our last ultrasound was at 8 weeks 4 days.  Huge difference!

According to this: http://www.i-am-pregnant.com/Pregnancy/calendar/week/18

I should have gained between 11 and 13 pounds if I were pregnant for 1 baby.  That's what I've gained with TWINS!  The Dr. wasn't concerned with my weight.  As long as the babies are perfectly healthy, he's fine with my weight.  I might just be one who gains it all later.  I hear almost daily about how small I am for having twins.  Today is the start of my 5th month.  I heard 2 days ago, "My friend looked due by the time she was 5 months.  You look small for 1 baby."  This stressed me out hearing it daily.  Seeing 2 perfectly healthy babies made me "almost" cry during the ultrasound.  It was close.  They are not small, but perfect.  I imagine I will look like an elephant before long.  It's just taking me a little longer to get there.  Knowing there is such a slim chance of either one having any neurological issues is comforting.  Well under 1% chance now.

A teacher went on bed rest a while back because she had an incompetent cervix.  I asked about it and how they can tell.  The Dr. said its hard to tell when someone has one, but my ultrasound showed a normal cervix.  He said it was not funneling, so that's a good thing.  I know, stressing over nothing.  We've just waited so many years for this, I don't want anything to go wrong.

I have terrible allergies this spring.  I never have spring allergies.  Again, pregnancy does that too you.  They were so bad, they turned into a cold.  The Dr. said I could take Sudafed and allergy meds.  I had the pharmacist double check both before buying them.  I can only take the Sudafed that you need your license scanned.  The ones up front are not pregnancy safe.  I hate taking meds when pregnant, but I feel horrible, so I have to.

It was an amazing day!  As soon as the kids got off of the bus, they ran into the living room where I was sitting.  Zac's first words were, "What are they?"  They were dying to know.  They were so excited!  Once they're born, Abby wants to hold the girl first and Zac wants to hold the boy first.  After a while, they want to switch.  I "think" we have names picked.  We plan on keeping it a secret until they are born.  Who knows, we may change our minds before then.  We have 22 weeks to go.  I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!!

~Sam

The Big Reveal!

We had a wonderful ultrasound.  Everything was perfect and right on.  Both placentas attached on different walls of my uterus   They were healthy and strong.  We saw both sides of the babies brains.  We saw and heard all 4 chambers of their hearts working.  We could see blood flow to and from their hearts and umbilical cords.  Their femurs measured right on.  We have a very slim chance of any neurological problems now.  The ultrasound tech even said quad screens are unreliable, especially with more than one baby in there.  Both measured 18 weeks exactly (which is what they are) and both weigh 8 ounces.  I can't believe I'm carrying around a pound of baby now!

Is the anticipation killing you?  Baby A, which is lower is a healthy baby boy.  Baby B, which is nice and high is a healthy baby girl.  Both babies are transverse.  We'll see if they stay that way.  Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers!  We are blessed!!!

Have a great week and weekend!

~Sam

18 Weeks

Definitely getting bigger...

How Far Along: 18 weeks with twins!

How big are the babies: Around 5.5 inches and 5 ounces. About the size of sweet potatoes.

Maternity Clothes: Yes

Weight Gain: 10-12 pounds, depends on the morning. It really fluctuates.

Belly: I imagine my uterus is measuring about 21 weeks.  We'll find out for sure tomorrow.

Stretch Marks: None, yet..

Sleep: As soon as I can.  I wake up 4-5 times a night to pee or just because I feel uncomfortable.  I wake up more and more every week.  I guess this lack of sleep is my bodies way of starting to prepare me for the future.

Best Moment of the Week: Our BIG ultrasound tomorrow!

Movement: Once in a while they play on a trampoline in there.  Not daily, but I definitely feel them more.

Symptoms: No dairy and I'm mostly better. My empty stomach still makes me sick every morning.  Growing boobs.

Food Cravings: Chocolate cake for my birthday.  Shawn made it and it was amazing!

Genders: We will find out tomorrow!

What I Miss: Not worrying about what I eat (deli, etc). Sleeping through the night.

What I'm Looking Forward to: The moment when Shawn and the kids can feel the babies move too.

Weekly Wisdom: Don't push yourself when you're sick.  It just makes you worse.

Milestones: Feeling flutters without poking around.

Emotions: I still cry easily. Especially when I'm tired, which is all of the time. Shawn is not allowed to say any slightly snide remarks. They make me bawl.

~Sam

Is it tomorrow, yet?

Tomorrow is the big ultrasound!  I'll post on Facebook as soon as we know.  Have a great night!

~Sam

Week 17

How Far Along: 17 weeks with twins!

How big are the babies: Around 5 inches and 5 ounces. About the size of onions or baked potatoes.

Maternity Clothes: Yes

Weight Gain: 9-11.5 pounds, depends on the morning.  It really fluctuates.

Belly: My uterus is in the center of my belly button.  A week ago at the Dr.'s office I was measuring 19 cm, which is 19 weeks.  I imagine I've grown a cm and week since then.

Stretch Marks: None, yet.  My boobs are stating to itch, so I imagine I will get some there before too long.

Sleep: As soon as I can run and hide in bed.  I wake up 2-3 times a night to pee or just because I feel uncomfortable.  I guess this lack of sleep is my bodies way of starting to prepare me for the future.

Best Moment of the Week: For the first time, I was sitting and could feel the babies move. I usually have to lay on my back and poke around to feel flutters. They were doing jumping jacks. Zac and Abby could see my belly move a little on the left side. Not sure why, but they usually hang out on the left side. More comfy, I guess.  I can't believe how well I feel them now.  It's so fascinating and exciting!  I've never experienced this before.

Movement:  I just wrote about it.  It was my favorite moment of the week!

Symptoms: No dairy and I'm mostly better.  My empty stomach still makes me sick every morning.

Food Cravings: Pop tarts.  I've eaten 2 packs (4 pop tarts) this week.  And CHOCOLATE!  The Maple Leaf store in Camden has chocolate way too close to the checkout.  I ate way too many peanuts with carmel covered in chocolate.  How I'm not gaining a ton of weight, I'm not sure.  I eat healthy meals, but my snacks are not as healthy.

Genders: We will find out next week!

What I Miss: Not worrying about what I eat (deli, etc).  Sleeping through the night.

What I'm Looking Forward to: The moment when Shawn and the kids can feel the babies move too.

Weekly Wisdom: Not all puking is morning sickness.  Sometimes its the stomach flu.  It was not fun!

Milestones: Feeling flutters without poking around.

Emotions: I still cry easily. Especially when I'm tired, which is all of the time. Shawn is not allowed to say any slightly snide remarks.  They make me bawl.

~Sam

Quad Screen

My results came back.  Everything was normal except I have a slightly higher risk of down syndrome.  I was listed at 1 in 200.  That a 0.5% chance of it.  The Dr. said that I was slightly above normal and he wasn't too concerned.  So, when I have my ultrasound next week, I get a level 2 ultrasound instead of a level 1.  This just means they are going to be more thorough and measure the babies bones, hearts, etc carefully.  If you Google it, you can read about how unreliable these tests are, especially if you are having more than one baby.  If the Dr. wasn't too concerned, I'm not too concerned.

I had the stomach flu today.  It was horrible.  I ate some noodles for supper and I'm feeling a little better.  This was the first time I've been sick all school year.  I was hoping to make it the whole year without getting sick.  Almost made it.

Have a great night!

~Sam