Doctor and 3d/ 4d

This is one of the babies being kicked and hit in the face. If they are both born with black eyes, I won't be surprised.

Two faces. One is on the left, lower. The other is higher and to the right, with his hand in front of his face.

I'm feeling a lot better this week now that we know the babies are still doing great. Had another Level II ultrasound (in a much nicer office, too) and the doctor said everything looks GREAT. At this point in time, NO signs of TTTS, and their growth is excellent- Fluid levels just right. Babies are measuring at about 1 lb 6 ounces and 1 lb 7 ounces. They have moved my 40 - week due date to March 9, which makes me now 24 weeks instead of 23. The babies are measuring in the 24 week range. They are still boys- Baby B made sure we knew it too- The ultrasound tech had a hard time getting anything out of him besides "look at me- I'm a BOY!" shots. They were kicking each other a lot (hopefully not on purpose!) and seem to be fully aware of each other.

I, on the other hand, have a new hernia. Partly a recurrence of an old one that was improperly fixed and partly new because I'm getting so huge. I had a LOT of pain yesterday, but it seems to be improving a little. It's hard to stand up straight. I am really happy about these babies, but I can now say that I hope the next 12 weeks go quickly, because I hurt! I was told I should get a referral to a general surgeon at my next clinic appointment- Hopefully I can arrange to have the hernia(s) fixed (PROPERLY this time- with mesh) at the time of the c- section.

I was a bit nervous about the 3d/ 4d today because of the pain, but it wasn't too bad. I think we may have gone in a little late because the babies were interfering with each other. First of all, they would NOT stop moving, making getting photos difficult. Several times, the tech got a great shot that was blocked by the other baby's hand or foot right as the picture was saved. We got several shots of a baby's face being kicked or hit by the other. The good news is that they did a DVD of the entire session, so we'll be able to see all that anyway, just not in the still shots.

She was also afraid to push down hard because I mentioned the hernia pain, so the shots weren't as clear as they would have been if she had been more aggressive. Although it could have been better if done earlier and by a more aggressive tech, we are still pleased and now have an idea of how our babies will look. They seem to very obviously have their Daddy's nose. (He has a great nose.) See?




More pics as we get them scanned.

Long time, no post....

That's because NOTHING is happening. We had a prenatal appointment on the 8th and I am now in the process of attempting to transfer to another clinic because of some complaints about this one. Our first appointment was FANTASTIC and then it went downhill from there. Over the last 2 appointments, I've had several fairly major complaints, but the final straw was when, at this last appointment, they just FORGOT I was supposed to have an ultrasound. I insisted and managed to get a rudimentary one, but they didn't measure the babies or their fluid, which is the whole purpose of the biweekly ultrasound for TTTS (For more information: click here ) . So, we had a brief nothing of an ultrasound that didn't tell us anything (and yielded no pictures, not that that's the important part anyway), and for all we know one baby could be twice the size of the other. Fortunately, This Friday we go down for a proper one (and in 3d/ 4d). We are just praying in the meantime that everything is still going well.

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.

15 weeks!

Here is one of the babies at 15 weeks! The other one was hiding behind this one. Look at that profile. That is a camera hog. That is for sure a baby with my dna. he/she's going "Check me out right here, ain't I just GORGEOUS?" I'm nicknaming this one Showboat. The other one, who I'm calling Ninja, is pulling off the amazing - being 4 inches long inside something the size of a cantalope, and hiding from a device that can see through soft tissue. We saw his/her heartbeat, though. I'm giddy again. I'm like this every time we go to the doctor.
Other news: Dr. Northcutt is sending us to OKC from now on. He's decided that because Rebecca is a high risk pregnancy, and because it's even higher because of it being twins and all, it's probably best if we do our regular appointments down there from now on. The chances were high that she'd be delivering there anyway, and if there was a problem with the babies they'd get flown down there while she had to stay here in town and recover. We think this is the best for us. Plus they've got killer ultrasound equipment down there, so we'll get some great pictures. Only problems are that they have 4 doctors, so we'll likely see a different one every time. Plus it's the OU center, which will upset our little OSU fan a great deal... Sorry, Joshua.

Just catching up

There isn't much to report this time, but it's been awhile, so I thought I'd better check in.

I've been sick for a little over a week now. I had an abscess. Luckily, I knew right away what was going on and was able to get the proper treatment on time. I had this once before and it took them nearly a week to get a correct diagnosis, and by that time I was VERY ill. They said it was potentially life threatening and I was admitted to the hospital with a fever of 105. I spent a week in the hospital and had to have a surgical procedure under general anesthesia. This time it went MUCH better than that, and it seems that the babies are doing well.

We see the doctor again on Tuesday. At that time, I will be at 15 weeks, 3 days.

I am having round ligament pain now, much earlier than last time, and my uterus is the size of a bowling ball. I thought I felt like I was carrying a moose the first time, but I have a feeling it's not going to compare to how things feel with these two...

We are creating our baby wish list and it's frightening how much stuff we are going to need. We are probably going to have to buy another car as well. Eeek.

My Thoughts

BOO!

Secrets of the future!

I just got to thinking. Here we are all deliriously happy and overflowing with joy about these babies - but in about 7 months we'll be at our wit's end, pulling our hair out, with no sleep, poor nutrition, poor hygiene and half a million diapers a day to dispose of.


I think we'll still be happy.

today at the doctor

So we went in for a checkup today. one day shy of 12 weeks. The doctor had his little rollaway cart with an ultrasound machine on it, and we got some new pics. This one is of one twin, the one I've named "Jazzercise". Jazzercise spent the entire time pretending to be Bruce Lee. Below and behind Jazzercise was "Eeyore", who looked to be napping and only moved when prodded by the ultrasound probe. I don't know which one is baby a and which is baby b anymore. One thing we did see was what looked like a pretty clearly defined membrane between the babies. This is good. A membrane means they aren't monochorionic monoamniotic twins, which means they aren't in the same space together, at risk for getting tangled up in each other's cords. Mono/mono twins have something like a 60% mortality rate, so this improves things a lot. They're still at risk for Twin-To-Twin Transfusion Syndrome.
Just a rundown of what everything is here: The baby is inside the amniotic sac, which is inside something called the chorion. twins can share a chorion and/or amniotic sacs. Fraternal, that is, non-identical twins, are in separate chorions and have separate placentas. sometimes the placentas can fuse and look like one. Identicals can be in separate everything, or they can be in 2 amniotic sacs in one chorion, or they can be in one amniotic sac in one chorion. The closer they are, the higher the risk.
Anyway, back to the ultrasound.
Eeyore was really tough to find, and we only saw him/her enough to get a couple blurry images and a heartbeat. Jazzercise on the other hand was on stage today. Very clear spine, very clear movements (tons of them), and just generally being a baby. We go back in about a month, and I think it's just gonna be a doppler then, to hear the heartbeats. We go get a 3d ultrasound done in october. I'm going to make a baby book that's gonna be filled before the babies are even born!
SOOOOO HAPPPPPY!!!!!!!

Identical?

Well, we don't know 100%, but because both babies are in the same gestational sac (the black "void" on the ultrasound), it appears very likely that they ARE monozygotic (identical) twins. This means that they are the same sex. I'm thinking about the possibility of 3 BOYS- Maybe a full head of gray hair by the time I'm 40 and probably a few visits to the "happy home"? (Which I STILL wouldn't trade for anything) The thought of having 3 boys makes me tired, but it's all worth it- The boy I have now has been the greatest joy of my life.

I'm the mom!

Hi- I'm the mom. And forgive me, but I'm still in shock. I wasn't even supposed to get pregnant at all, let alone with twins. I lost an ovary 2 years ago, and I didn't have much hope that I'd have any more children, even though I wanted one. Oh, and then there's that little thing about being on the pill. The odds were certainly stacked against a pregnancy even happening at all, and it's a good thing I was laying down when the ultrasound tech told us we were having twins, or they would have been reviving me in the ER.

We found out entirely by accident. I had been feeling REALLY bad. I was dizzy, I was overheating ALL the time, feeling like I was going to die from the heat even when it was 85 outside, and I was overwhelmingly tired. We were moving at the time, and just doing a little bit completely exhausted me. I would drip with sweat from doing very little. Truth be told, I was a little worried that something was wrong with me, but we had so much to do in so little time that I was going to worry about that later.

I went to the ear, nose, and throat doctor on July 16 and he ordered a sinus X Ray. I have chronic sinus/ eustacian tube problems and vocal cord dysfunction, and this was the first thing on the list to start me on the way to overcoming those problems. When I went in for the sinus x ray, they asked if there was any way I could be pregnant. Well, of course not! I told them that there was almost no possible way. I guess the "almost" was enough for them and the radiology tech wanted me to have a pregnancy test. He called Dr. Howard (The ENT), who ordered a pregnancy test. I took it and then waited for my X ray. About 15 minutes later, the X ray tech came back and told me that I wouldn't be having the X ray. I was bummed that I'd sat in the hospital all that time for nothing, and about a half second later, he broke into a grin and told me my pregnancy test was positive. I don't remember much after that.

Because I didn't want to deal with female issues while moving, I had gone straight from one pack of pills into the next without taking the placebos (And no, this isn't what caused me to get pregnant), so it had been awhile since my last visit from Aunt Flo. I also hadn't kept track of that stuff for the past couple of months- Lots of stress and very little time. So I had NO idea how far along I was. So they let me have an ultrasound. The ultrasound revealed that I was approx. 7 weeks along and that- SURPRISE!- There were two heartbeats and two very distinct babies.

So... There it is. YES, I am thrilled. This was obviously meant to happen. And I love the babies already. But, because it was unexpected in EVERY possible way, I have been in shock for awhile.

Hiya!

So, my name is Ian. I'm the daddy. If these twins are fraternal, then I will forever say that my sperms were so cool that they fertilized 2 eggs. If the twins are identical, I still have the best sperm ever, but it was some randomness that caused the twins to happen. I am the happiest person ever, and every day, I'm happier. I'm going to marry a wonderful woman who is having my babies, and who already gave me a best buddy in Joshua. I honestly don't know how my life could get any better without involving twinkies.

Introduction

Above is one of our sonograms from our first ultrasound, the one where we discovered that the miracle of life had happened twice. Against all odds, we were pregnant with twins. Well, not against ALL odds. I mean I suppose Rebecca could have had a spiky uterus or I could have been a ghost or something, but we certainly did overcome quite a few odds. And a couple evens.
This is little Autumn Rose Amanti and Violet Ann Amanti, or if they're boys, we've pretty much settled on Atticus Gregory Amanti and Harrison (something) Amanti. Right now, we're a day shy of 12 weeks along. The babies will be born sometime in mid february to early march. They'll be born via c-section, so we can determine the actual birth date, to a point. I'm pushing for either valentine's day or the total lunar eclipse that happens on the 18th of February. Something about a set of twins born under an eclipse sounds extra cool. But then neither of them is going to be named Damien or anything, so I guess it doesn't matter.

Welcome!

This is the first post in the first blog devoted to the amazing Amanti Twins! This is The Amanti Twins Official Fan Club, and I am a founding member. The idea here is that both Mommy and Daddy can post whenever they want. This will give a view on how we operate, and how we view the same events. I'm making the first post just because I made the blog. I'm also going to make the next post, so there.