OB and Ultrasound Update II

Today I had an ultrasound before I saw Dr. Robbins. The babies are doing well. They are still right on target as far as weight and measurements go. They each weigh one pound. The little boy was rubbing his eye and touching his head, so sweet.  My cervix was even thicker than two weeks ago so that was a good thing. I've gained two pounds, one for each baby I guess. I still weigh less than when I got pregnant. I had a list of questions for Dr. Robbins. She has to dread seeing me but she is always patient and informative. I'm nineteen weeks today. Almost halfway there!

Wednesday I had to go to the ER. I was having horrible back pain on my left side only.  I pretty much knew before I got there that it was a kidney stone. I've had them before and believe me, once you've had that pain you remember it. So, I wasn't worried that it was premature labor but Dr. Robbins said that I needed to go to the ER anyway. Sure enough, I passed a stone and all was well again. They did do a sonogram to check on the babies, just in case. Andrew had moved down next to his sister and was kicking her. I hope this isn't a sign of things to come. At twenty weeks I get to bypass the ER and go straight to Labor and Delivery but we are hoping there isn't a repeat of Wednesday.

My Mother came up on Wednesday since I was in the ER and she stayed until this morning. Thursday we went to Babies R Us and Mother bought us the stroller that we were wanting, Todd's parents bought us the matching car seats and we finally decided on the baby cribs which Todd's grandmother bought. Todd and I picked out a couple of onesies that the babies will come home from the hospital in, they are so cute. The store was having a HUGE sale on their baby clothes and while Todd and I were choosing "going home" outfits, my Mother was filling her basket with baby clothes. She was even counting months and buying for Halloween! We had a productive day and had lots of fun.

Another funny thing from the mouth of Keaton: Keaton goes to Mother's house everyday after school. So, the day we found out that we were having a boy and a girl Keaton was there. He asked Mother is they were "still twins" since one was a boy and the other a girl. Mother told him "yes, they just aren't identical". Keaton then replied "well, I know that. One will have long hair and the other will have short hair". It's funny how kids think. I hope he isn't too disappointed when they both come out with little to no hair!

Birth Photographer and Baby Planning

Yesterday we met with Lynsey. She is a birth photographer here in the metroplex. Our friends, Phillip and Jessica, used her when they had their baby girl and she took some really awesome pictures.  She has a knack for taking the perfect pic at the perfect time. We are so excited to have Lynsey at the birth. This way there is no worry, making sure that each moment is captured. Afterwards, Lynsey will stay and photograph the babies meeting their grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends. She will also get photos of their first feeding. She then will put the pics to music on a dvd and we will get a 4x6 of all the pics. For those of you who are interested, her website is: dfwbirthphotographer.com

A few months back, Todd and I decided to check out Magic Moon, a baby store located in the Southlake Town Center. I found the perfect picture of a boy and girl frog holding hands and underneath, it said "Twice Blessed". I told Todd that if we found out we were having boy/girl twins that I wanted to come back and get the picture. So, the day after determining the sex of the babies we went in and purchased the picture. We also decided to pick out baby bedding. I'm not going to go into details about the bedding but lets just say "it is perfect!" We did decide that Andrew's accent color would be blue (of course) and Claire's would be yellow (for those of you who don't know, I'm not a fan of pink). It's being specially made so we haven't seen the finished product. When it comes in we will post pictures.

We also decided to go ahead and register at Babies R Us. Mainly because Todd's family lives out of state and most of them won't be able to attend the shower so it makes things easier for them and, since we are registered they can take advantage of the twin discount that they offer.  I feel a little awkward registering so early but I have this overwhelming need to get things taken care of early. I don't know if this is some sort of intuition or if I'm just freaking out. Finding out the sex of the babies has made this pregnancy very real...well that, and my ever growing tummy. Not to mention that the babies make sure that they make themselves known, especially at night. I'm slowly becoming aware that things are more difficult to do around the house. Sometimes I can't help but think that I'm ONLY 4 1/2 months and there are several more to go. How much bigger will I get?  I have to remind myself that my body knows what it's doing, even if I don't. :)

OB and Ultrasound Update

Yesterday I saw Dr. Robbins and much to my relief she told me of her "plan" to make sure I carry to term with hopefully little to no complications. I've lost weight, which is surprising because I certainly don't look it. Dr. Robbins said that my weight is lower than what she would like but not to worry, "there will come a time when she will tell me to stop gaining". Other than that everything looked great. She wanted  me to have an ultrasound today to measure my cervix to make sure that it was thick. A thick cervix means there is less chance of preterm labor, which twins are known for.  Joe is the ultrasound tech and he is known for his accuracy of determining the sex of babies. The secretary said that "he has never been wrong".  So today, after finding my cervix nice and thick we asked if he could tell what our babies were. He quickly determined what Baby A was but Baby B played around for a while before giving it up. Don't ask me how Joe could tell what anything was but he has been a tech for 14 years and obviously has learned the tricks of the trade. So, if you want to know what we are having read on, if not, you need to stop NOW. 

Baby A is a girl, I'm shocked because I would have bet money that she was a boy.

Baby B is a boy. Needless to say, I am much relieved. I had to have a boy!

Their names are going to be (and we aren't changing them):

Andrew Tye and Claire Charlotte-Louise

My next appointment is on the 22nd. I will see Dr. Robbins and have another ultrasound. It looks like I will be going in every two weeks from now on. Crazy!

Fenwick's Frolics

Fenwick has discovered a new breed of cats, they are what we humans call ferrel, and they are what Fenwick calls, ....well never mind that. For those of you who don't know, my parents had to take my cat, Ree, when I moved into an apartment in Granbury. I found Ree in a hospital parking lot when she was just a kitten. She is now full grown and has had many litters of her own and is currently expecting again. Fenwick, is his ignorance, thought that all cats were much like his sister, Mam. Declawed but very vocal. Upon arriving at my parents, he bounded out of the car and was on his way up the steps to say "hi" to everyone when Ree came out of nowhere and jump right on his face. All four claws sinking in. Feny started yelping and trying to get her off his head but she held on. Everyone around was hollering at Ree to leave him alone but no one wanted to physically remove her from Feny for fear that we would become her next target. Finally Feny managed to get away from her and quickly get into the house. He refused to go out for the rest of the evening and even the next morning. We finally decided that he was going to have to buck up. After all, he couldn't "hold it" forever. Todd FORCED Feny to face his fears and go outside. Little did we know, Ree was waiting. Before we knew what was happening Feny and Ree were going at it on the steps. Only this time, Feny was fighting back. We were shocked. Somehow Feny managed to "claim" the porch. Ree was on the ground, defeated. That victory gave Feny the  confidence he needed. After that, not one cat was "allowed" on the porch during Feny's watch. I started calling him the "Country Dog", because he fought for his "land" and won.

Catching up

We went to Gorman for Christmas and had a great time. I did manage to get the flu though so the following Monday I went in for an ultrasound to make sure that the babies where doing okay because I had had a temperature for several days. The babies were doing great. They were measuring right on schedule. They have finally been labeled Baby A and Baby B. Baby A is sitting on my bladder and at the time of the sono, he was trying to suck his thumb. The reason he is Baby A and  not B is because he is closest to the cervix. Oh, and I'm convinced that Baby A is a boy. Baby B is sitting on my stomach. I don't really have a strong feeling whether it's a boy or a girl. However, he/she is VERY active. So far there has been only a few times that their "playing" has kept me from sleeping. We went back to Gorman for New Year's and I managed to not only get a stomach virus but also, strep throat. I finally broke down and called my OB and she called in some much needed meds. Today my only complaint is that I think I have an ear infection. I go for another check-up tomorrow so I will see what Dr. Robbins says.

     Now for Todd, he got sick to his stomach Christmas night but felt fine the next day. However, I did learn something very valuable: my Mother is useless in a crisis! The way she responded to Todd getting sick was shocking. I thought that he was dying the way she was carrying on. It's funny now, not quite so funny then.

     We are home now and trying to recover from the past 2 weeks. I still haven't put up any of the Christmas decorations but it's on my to-do list. We hope that everyone had a great Christmas and New Year's. Many blessings to you this year!