Look at me, I'm such a baby geek!

We bought baby clothes today!
I can't believe I'm so hopped up about baby clothes. I'm all "Awwwwwwwwwwww......."
It would make "10 years ago me" sick.
I don't like him much anymore.
And we're gonna go get a fancy shmancy 3-d ultrasound in like 3 weeks. We're gonna get pictures and a dvd and all kinds of cool unborn twins swag!
Preorder your copy of The Amazing Amanti Twins: Live!

All is well

Went to the doctor yesterday. All is well. I was 19 weeks, 5 days and the babies are measuring in at 21 weeks, 6 days and 22 weeks, 2 days. They are side by side, with Baby A head down and Baby B in the breech position. They are approximately 12 inches long and a pound each with a small margin of error. So they are growing really well and are even ahead. This means that when the growth slows down near the end (as it always does with twins), they'll have a good head start.

All is well otherwise- All my blood work (including the quad screen, which determines risk for Down Syndrome and other problems, including neural tube defects) came back with "perfect" results, according to the doctor. The doctor seemed fairly confident that I have a good chance of keeping these guys in until the 36 week mark (They don't want me to go past that), which is good news.

On November 17, Joshua is going to take the sibling class at the hospital, and then 2 hours later, we are going for our 3d/ 4d ultrasound. We are really looking forward to that one- They do them earlier for twins because they need room to move, so their faces won't be as filled out as what they usually are for a singleton (They are recommended at a later gestational age for singletons), but we'll get a good idea what our babies look like and exactly what they are up to in there (besides plotting to take over the world, which is a given).

No new pics this time- The printer on the ultrasound machine was on the fritz. But we got a really good close look at Baby A's facial bone structure. I'm looking forward to getting the photos and DVD from the 3d in just a little over 3 weeks!

Other than that, nothing really to report, other than that we are more than halfway there now and all is well!

The Hormones finally catch up with me!

Friday night, Twilight took me out for a nice dinner at the Rusty Barrel, a local restaurant. On Friday nights, they have lobster, which I LOVE, so I was looking forward to it. They always have impeccable service there and the food is great.

We took Joshua to McDonald's (bleah) beforehand because the kids' dinners at Rusty Barrel are not REMOTELY worth what they charge for them and because McDonald's (yuck) is as much of a treat for him as lobster is for me. He got a Happy Meal and then got a salad bar at the restaurant. He ended up making two trips to the salad bar and actually got a fairly nutritious salad both times. He was enjoying himself and we were all in a good mood.

Unfortunately, things went downhill. First, I ordered a shrimp cocktail. They are usually lightning fast, bringing them to your table before you're even back from the salad bar. While we were at the salad bar, a party was seated at the next table. It was four older people who just happened to be incredibly loud, rude, and disgusting- One of the men was LOUDLY discussing his technique for GUTTING FISH just as I was finishing up my salad. (Of course they had to sit THAT GUY next to the pregnant woman!) Well, about two minutes after their table orders, here comes the waitress with a shrimp cocktail- And delivers it to the fish gutter. Um, OK. I ordered before they got here, but whatever. I waited awhile, finished my salad, and waited some more.

I saw them bring my steamed lobster to the grill. Twilight attempted 3-4 times to summon our waitress to find out what was up with the shrimp cocktail. Every time, she made eye contact with him and then walked right past us to the loud people's table. Then she delivered our food and Twilight FINALLY got to ask about the shrimp cocktail. Her response? "Oh, do you still need that?" Um, yeah, that's why we ordered it.

When my delicious looking lobster was delivered, the butter was sitting precariously on the edge of the plate, which caused it to dump over all over the plate when the plate was set down. There was also no sign of the extra lemon I asked for OR my baked potato.

The next several minutes were spent attempting to do the impossible- Get our waitress' attention. She was hard at work waiting on the tables on either side of us, and doing it well. My thoughts were that since we were dressed rather casually, had a small child with us (who was PERFECTLY behaved and MUCH quieter than the boors at the next table, I might add...) and didn't look like we had much money, she preferred to spend her energy waiting on the others. The error of her ways was that our meal was the most expensive of the lot and potentially worth the largest tip.

Anyway, the whole situation- The loud fish gutter, the inability to get served, the butter MESS ( which was exacerbated when I knocked over the OTHER butter container with my wrist because I was upset and kind of shaky), the fact that my lobster tails had gotten cold while I waited for my lemons and replacement butter... Well, it all added up and I ended up crying. In the middle of the restaurant. Essentially over a shrimp cocktail and a potato.

The good part is that the manager and one other waitress noticed and rushed in to the rescue. I got my shrimp cocktail and they didn't charge for it. They offered new lobster, which I refused because I didn't want two whole creatures to die just to replace the two that went cold, so they reheated it for me. And they bent over backward to make it right. I've been a waitress. It's hard work. I'm a good tipper unless the waiter or waitress is downright rude. Sure, mistakes are made. Orders are messed up. Things happen. But there is NO excuse for being rude to a customer. So we saved about $30 that night between the free shrimp cocktail and the money saved on the rude waitress' tip. I guess it worked out.

Oh- And I have my first "crazy pregnant woman on hormones" story to tell the world.

(P.S... Another bummer... We had tickets for The Cure on 10-17, and they postponed the tour. They won't be back until after the babies are born, so we probably won't be able to go. Waaaaah!)

Happy Anniversary

This isn't really twins related, but one year ago today (the 16th) was when I proposed to Rebecca. we'll be married very soon now, and all my dreams will be complete. Except the one where Robin Williams dressed as Santa Claus does the pee-wee on a bar in Mexico while RuPaul does body shots off Kip Winger.

I love you, baby. And I'm sorry I'm so weird.

Halfway through

I have had my days when it felt like this pregnancy has lasted forever, but it really has flown by. As of today, I am 18 weeks along. I will likely deliver these babies no later than 36 weeks (And let's all hope and pray that they are in that long and don't have to come sooner), which means I'm halfway there now.

Last week, I found myself thinking "Oh dear- two more of THOSE". The thought of two more boys overwhelmed me. Since then it has turned to "Wow- Two more of those". Now I remember all the sweet moments with Joshua- When he brought me a flower (more than once) - roots and all- from the garden because he knows that I like flowers. I remember being gifted with a big fat earthworm by a three year old with a big goofy grin. And all the notes he writes that say "I love my mommy". Sure, girls are sweet and love their moms too, but boys and their mothers have something special, and I feel blessed to know that I'm going to experience all that again, twice over.

Every time Joshua tells me to close my eyes, hold out my hand, and "turn my feel off", I know that whatever it is is being given with adoring love, and I wouldn't trade that for ANYTHING.

Sure, there will be bugs, mud, snails, frogs, and dirty fingernails. But there will also be flowers, kisses, surprise mud pies, and lots and lots of love. I am the luckiest person on earth.

My new tickers :-)

babies? or muppets...?

Ian put these together for your comparing pleasure. Do you see the resemblance between Baby A and the Count? Or do these pregnancy hormones make me crazy?

What our babies might look like...

Here are some baby pictures of Twilight and myself for your amusement. Perhaps you may get an idea of what our babies might look like.

First me:



Now, here's Ian. He's adorable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!





There is a good chance our babies might be blonde. Both of Ian's parents were blonde, he is blonde (of course), and my biological mother is blonde. But they'll probably have brown eyes.

Pete and Repeat

We spent the whoooooooooole day at the OU medical center. Everyone there is totally cool. I mean, they all have the best bedside manner, very knowledgeable - it was just a great overall experience. Rebecca spent probably half an hour being ultrasounded by Brian - the black belt master of the ultrasound machine. That dude did stuff I didn't know you could do with them. Mostly they were checking for measurements, to check for birth defects and to see if the babies were developing downs syndrome. Other than that, we got to spend a good long time looking at the little boogers dance and move and fight. Yeah, fight. They're now named Rocky Balboa and Clubber Lang. They were boxing thru the membrane. Yeah, membrane. We found out for sure they are Monochorionic Diamniotic twins, meaning we're having identical boys. Yeah, boys. we saw (as Brian put it) "boy parts sticking out" on both of them. So we're having 2 more boys - healthy ones, as far as anybody could see - and I couldn't be happier. I think knowing the gender helps identify them. (obviously it does, you DOLT! It identifies them as males!) It just makes them more real. Today they went from the babies growing in Rebecca to My sons. Now we can actually say "he did this" and "he did that". It's great. I just hope one of them is ok being called Autumn Rose...


(P.S. from Rebecca: Twilight felt the babies move for the first time tonight when we got home from OKC!)

General update

I had better start posting more often, or I'm never going to catch up with him.

I'm nervous. We see the high risk doctor in OKC on Monday, and we also get an ultrasound - Maybe a 3d, maybe not, but certainly one of better quality than the ones we've been having. Then we have "genetic counseling". I realize the reason for this is because I'm carrying twins and because I'm 35 (shudder), but it's scary nonetheless. And yes, I know this isn't rational- The babies have been doing great so far and I'm at 17 weeks now, which is getting further and further into the "safe zone". But I can't help it. I'm a worrier by nature.

I'm going to be delivering in OKC. This relieves me and scares me at the same time. This hospital is one of the best in Oklahoma and is the ONLY one in OK with a level III NICU. This means that if the babies come early, and they likely will, they will be well taken care of. It also means the possibility of living at a hospital in OKC for awhile, particularly if I end up on hospital bedrest, another real possibility with twins.

Twins almost always come early, and in my first pregnancy I had a vertical incision on the uterus. This means that I am at increased risk for uterine rupture as my uterus gets stretched, and FURTHER increased risk if I go into labor. So the goal will be to keep the babies in as long as possible without stretching my uterus beyond its limit and without going into labor, which is a challenge when you're dealing with twins.

A good friend of mine had her fraternal twin girls at 32 weeks and after a short and uneventful (Thank God) stay in the NICU, they went home healthy. They are now two and ready to take over the world. Things like this are a great relief to me.

I know I don't have pre eclampsia- My tests have been fine and I don't have any swelling. In fact I've LOST weight so far. But my blood pressure has been hovering aroud 135- 140 over the 80s and that concerns me. I hope that the doctor in OKC will be understanding of my concern and possibly even consider prescribing one of the safer blood pressure medications. That's just something I don't want to mess around with. I haven't been tested yet for gestational diabetes, which surprises me since, with hypoglycemia, my age, and twins, I am at increased risk for it. I assume that test will happen soon. I hope so - Even though I almost hate to know, the sooner they catch a potential problem, the better for all.

I'm over my episode of panic from the other night and am feeling the babies again- a LOT. Wiggles all over the place. What a relief! I can't wait until their daddy and brother are able to feel them move around and kick!

OOH! A big plus about the appointment on Monday- The possibility that we might come home knowing if we are having little girls or boys... or both...

Finally!

This is a scan done last night, of both babies! For the first time since the first ultrasound, we got a picture of both of them at once! And they're cuddling! It's kind of weird-looking, but the one in the center is facing towards the viewer (you), and the other one is just to the left of he/she is facing booger number one's right ear. That's their names now. Booger. Booger number one and Booger number two. The reason we got this ultrasound is that Rebecca (she's the one making them) was feeling near constant flutters and tickles and butterflies and all the other things you can describe early-pregnancy baby movement as - and then she didn't feel anything, suddenly. Now, all you non-pregnant people out there might go "the babies moved around or something, no biggie." Well, we're making babies here - biggie. That's exactly what happened, by the way. They were lying in such a way as to turn the left side of her uterus into a fleshy trampoline, and they both somehow flipped around so their heads were against that wall, and their legs were just kinda out in fluid space, flailing. So this sonogram was done at 10 at night, as the more astute amongst you might have already noticed. Of course, we're not total freaks. She consulted our Ob/Gyn first. By the way, I pronounce that as one word, instead of spelling it out. I don't like saying ohbeegeewhyen. I like ohbgyn.
Anyway.
We're going down the big highway to the big city and the big medical center on the big monday, so probably more pics and stories then.

Two words:

Heartburn- Ugh.