I can’t believe Meagan and Ashley will be 12 weeks old this Friday. It’s funny looking back at my last post…I wrote that on a Thursday afternoon with high hopes of staying pregnant for a few more weeks only to have my water break early the next morning! Lee was in town for work that Thursday night and we went to Chili’s for dinner. The entire time I was very uncomfortable and my lower back was aching off and on. I thought I was just tired, but in hindsight, those were probably labor pains! I had horrible back labor pains thanks to my girls stacking on top of each other as they got ready to make their way out.  And epidurals rock! My hat goes off to all the women out there who go all natural.  As Kevin posted on our website, the girls were delivered normally which was so amazing. I must say though, that after Ashley was born, I remember laying there thinking to myself, Oh my God, I have to do this again!! But almost 45 minutes later, my Meagan as born and I felt the biggest wave of relief come over me. I’d made it through a twin pregnancy and both of our girls were finally here and very healthy for 34 weeks gestation.

Kevin posted about our NICU days…those were tough. Anyone who has ever had a baby can accurately imagine how it feels to go home without them. But those days seem like a million years ago now!  Kevin and I were very lucky and had a lot of help with the girls when we finally brought them home. My mom came and stayed with us for two weeks, then Kevins’ mom came for two weeks. Kevin’s Aunt Joanne came for a week after that, then my mom came back for another week! We are so thankful to them for helping us out. I don’t know how we would have survived without them!

People always ask us, what’s it like having twins? It’s hard to answer that question because we don’t know what it’s like having one baby, but I can tell you it is both exhausting and exhilirating. As another twin dad told me while I was pregnant, it’s a beautiful nightmare. I’ve never functioned on so little sleep in my life but you somehow find the energy. There are very few things that you can do at the same time with twins so everthing takes twice as long when you are alone with them. God bless the inventor of the bouncy chair…you can bottle feed two babies at the same time in those and rock two babies to sleep with your feet while typing in your blog…  :)  So it is double the work, but as they say, it is truly double the reward.  One of my favorite things to do is sneak into the nursery and see how Ashley and Meagan are sleeping in their crib. No matter how far apart from each other we place them in the crib, they find a way to touch each other or snuggle up close together. Another amazing crib phenomenon is how one baby can be screaming her head off and thrashing around while the other lays inches away, perfectly sound asleep. 

A few weeks ago, the girls gave us their first smiles and I must say, they are so cute! The mornings are the best. There is nothing like looking down at them in the crib and getting flashed those smiles first thing in the morning.  It makes it all worth it!  One time I was talking to Meagan, trying to get her to smile, and I looked over at Ashley, and she was grinning at me, as if she were saying, look at me Mommy, I’m doing it! A few nights ago, I was having a rough time getting Ashley to go down after a feeding, and I was up with her for several hours. I’d rock her until I thought she was asleep, put her in the crib next to a sleeping Meagan, only to have her pop her eyes open and start fussing the second I walked away. I was so frustrated! After doing this a few times, I turned on the little crib light above her head to try and shove her pacifier in her mouth and she stopped crying. I looked at her face and saw a huge smile come across it…and she wasn’t smiling at me. She was smiling at the little stuffed animals dangling from the mobile! Melt my heart! How could I be mad at her after that?!

 I still sometimes look at Kevin and say, I can’t believe we have twins! I have a feeling I’ll be saying that for many years to come. So far, it has been an amazing experience and I can’t wait for what is yet to come!

We made it! 34 weeks was such an important milestone and I’m so glad to finally be here. That little espisode and trip to Labor & Delivery a few weeks ago had me a little worried. I think being off work and taking it easy really did the trick.

This past week has been really hard on me physically. Hopefully, Kevin will post the pictures we took this morning soon so you can see why! My back hurts, I’m sore, I don’t sleep much…I’m so ready for this to be over, yet at the same time, I know that I need to tough it out for a few more weeks for the girls.

Fortunately, we had a really good doctor’s appointment today, and I think it gave me a second wind. The doctor said that she thinks I will go another week or so. I’m 2 cm dialated and 50% effaced. Baby A, who Kevin and I already refer to as Ashley, has dropped down and is lined up, ready to go! Both babies are still head down, which is outstanding, and if they stay that way and there are no other complications, I can labor and deliver naturally. Well, not totally naturally…I will be asking for that epidural!  :) 

We also had a sonogram today. It is really difficult for the sonographer to get good measurements at this point because they are so cramped and big. She did the best she could and got 5 lbs for Baby A and 6 lbs for Baby B. She could not get a good head measurement for Baby A so the estimate is probably low, and she thinks Baby B’s estimate might be a little high. So I’m guessing they are actually somewhere between 5 and 5 1/2 lbs, which is really, really good for twins at 34 weeks. We’ll get another sono next week, and maybe she’ll get better measurements then. Oh, and we could see fat around their abdomens! I was happy to see that they were starting to pack on the fat.  :)  I can’t believe I’m carrying around 10+ lbs of baby!!

Well, I’m off to lie down and watch Oprah! Hopefully, the girls stay put and I get to post about our 35 week appointment and not their arrival! 

Well, I was really hoping that it would not come to this, but I’ve been put on bedrest at least until I get to 34 weeks. That will be October 24th. The doctor said that if I’m still pregnant by 34 weeks, I may get to come off bedrest.  By then, we’ll probably only have about 2 or 3 weeks left. Yeah!!  Fortunately, I’m not 100% confined to my bed. I can get up and hang out on the couch. I just have to take it easy, stay home and not do a whole lot. At least I have my weekly doctor’s appointments to get me out of the house! Looking at the bright side, I know I’m doing what’s best for the girls, and this will probably be the last time, for a long time, that I get to watch TV, read books, browse the internet and just be lazy!

Let me start right off by saying that the babies and me are just fine!  However, we did have a little excitement this past Friday.

We had our regular appointment and sonogram on Friday morning. The girls looked great on the sono, and they both measured about 4 lbs! Both were head down, too, so if they stay that way, we can go for a normal delivery. Oh, and I asked the sonographer to double check that they were still girls…and they were.  :) 

Every two weeks for the past month or so, I get what’s called a fetal fibronectin (ffn) test because I’m considered high risk for pre-term labor. The ffn checks for a protein that starts to breakdown in the womb as labor approaches. It’s the “glue” that holds the fetal sac to the uterine lining. A negative result means it’s highly unlikely that you’ll give birth in the next week or two.  A positive result means you’re at a higher risk of giving birth early, but it doesn’t guarantee that you’re about to give birth or that you’ll deliver early at all.  Basically, a negative result is more accurate than a positive result.

Well, up until Friday, I had always received negative results. Unfortunatley, I got a call from the doctor that afternoon that my result was positive this time. She reassured me that she didn’t think I was going to go into preterm labor because my cervix looked fine on the sonogram and I wasn’t having any other symptoms of preterm labor other than some Braxton-Hicks contractions. But to be on the safe side, she arranged for me to go to Labor & Delivery to get steriod shots to boost the babies lung development and to undergo a non-stress test (NST).  

So Kevin and I left work and headed back to the hospital. The NST lasted about an hour. They hooked me and the babies up to the monitor just like they would if I was in labor and monitored their heart rates and my contractions for an hour.  The babies passed the NST with no problem, but I was having more painless contractions that they wanted to see, so I got a shot of terbutaline which made the contractions stop. I got my steriod shot and we got to go home. The steriod shot is a series of two injections given 24 hours apart so we had to go back on Saturay afternoon. I thought was just getting my shot then leaving but they said the doctor wanted to run another NST. So there we were for another hour! Again, the girls passed their NST and I only had a few small contractions so we all did great this time.  :) 

At this point, I don’t really know what is going to happen next. I’m staying home from work on Monday so I can call the doctor and find out if it is okay to go back to work. I’m not ready at all to start staying home! But I’ll do whatever is necessary to keep these little girls in for at least another month. 35 or 36 weeks is my new goal. I’ve been taking it easy all weekend and Kevin’s taking really good care of me. Please keep us in your thoughts, but don’t worry, we’ll be fine! I’ll keep y’all posted!

Macey arrived on October 4, 2007 at 2:21 pm weighing in at 7lbs 6 oz and 19 inches long. Rhonda is doing great and the whole family went home on Saturday.  I’m so happy that she arrived safely and is a happy, healthy little girl. I only wish that I could have been there! I can’t wait to meet her when our little girls arrive.

We’re 28 weeks today, and I can’t believe that, at the most, we only have 10 weeks left! The girls are doing great. We had another sono today with the specialist, and everything looks perfect. Baby A was head down on my right side and Baby B was laying across the top of my belly with her head under her sister’s feet! Their weights were perfect, too. One is 2 lbs 14 oz and the other was 3lbs 5oz. It’s no wonder I feel so heavy and tired - I’m bascially already carrying a 6+ lb baby! So they are still growing like single babies, and there is really no telling if or when they’ll slow down. Kevin is still hoping for 8 lbs each…but I’m thinking 16 lbs of baby would be a bit much to carry around. 

August was a really busy month for us! I had an awesome baby shower in Houston at the beginning of the month. We were so exicted by all of the wonderful gifts we received for Meagan & Ashley.  The following two weekends, we went to Plugerville & Houston for Rhonda’s showers. I was so happy to get to spend a lot of time with her since I probably won’t get to see her again until our girls are here. 

We also worked on the nursery quite a bit over the past several weeks. I love the way it turned out! Kevin obviously did most of the work, and he did a great job. He was also very patient with me as I decided what I wanted where. 

So overall, I’m feeling pretty good! Being tired is my only complaint for now…oh, and the constant trips to the restroom…oh, and waking up every hour in the middle of the night because my shoulder hurts and I need to flip sides…oh, and the soreness…but seeing these little girls on the sono like we did today and knowing how well they are doing makes it all worth it.

We had our regular monthly appointment and sonogram today, and the girls are doing great! The first thing Kevin asked the sonogram technician was if she could double check their sexes. We were very relieved to see that they were both still girls! It was very obvious, even to our amateur eyes, and I think Kevin breathed a huge sigh of relief that he won’t have to repaint that pink nursery!

The main reason for the sono today was to do a growth scan of the girls. She measured their brains, femurs, hearts and other major organs. One of the risks with twin pregnancies, especially when the twins may be identical and share a placenta, is that one twin gets more blood and nutrients than the other, causing the other twin to fall behind in her growth. Luckily, our girls are sharing very nicely! All of their measurements were practically identical, and they both are still measuring like a single baby. They are both over a pound now, too! The doctor said all three of us are doing great!

I think these little girls are going to love the camera when they arrive. During the sono, they kept pushing each other like they were fighting for more face time! I think they’re going to ham it up for the camera just like their Mommy and Aunt Rhonda did when they were little girls…and still do. 

Our first sonogram with the perinatologist was on July 12nd and we were so happy to find out that our babies were both girls! And probably identical! We won’t be able to absolutely confirm that they are identical without a DNA test, but it is so exciting to imagine the possibility.

Both babies are doing great! They were both head down, lying side by side during the ultrasound, and cooperated beautifully. At 19 weeks, one baby’s estimated weight was 10 oz and the other baby was 11 oz. So they are both measuring right on target for their gestational age. We got to see their profiles and their little arms and legs, hands and feet. It was amazing, and thanks to modern technology, it was all captured on DVD!

I’m feeling pretty good, too. The major fatigue and middle of the night snacking of the first trimester have passed which is a relief. I’m glad to have some energy back and get a decent night’s sleep!  And my belly just keeps getting bigger and bigger every week! And the best part is that I feel the girls moving around pretty consistently now. I love it and I can’t wait until they are strong enough for Kevin to feel!

When we first found out that we were pregnant, Kevin’s mom said that we were going to have twins and that they would either be boy/girl or two girls but not two boys. We both laughed, yea right, what are the odds? Well, according to www.twinstuff.com (my fav twin site by the way), about 1 in 60 for fraternal and 1 in 240 for identical. Sue needs to play the lottery! 

I will never forget, as long as I live, the moment we found out there were two in there. I was so nervous, irrationally nervous, about the first sonogram so I was very relieved when the little baby blob showed up on the screen and we could see its heart just beating away. We looked at the baby for a second and then the sonographer moved the wand around to look at the rest of my uterus. That’s when we saw the second little baby blob…I think in my heart I knew exactly what it was, but my mind was going, What the heck is that?! The sonographer started say, Wait a minute, wait a minute, as she moved the wand around again, double checking. I think I actually asked, What is that?? And she said, Well, what do you see? I said, Two babies? And she said yep, two babies! All Kevin and I could say for the next few minutes was “Oh my God” over and over. Yes, Kevin was speechless!

I’ll never forget it. Everytime I think about that moment, I just laugh and smile. We were in “twinshock” as they say, for several days after we found out. Two babies, two college educations…two tax deductions! But now, I can’t imagine there not being two in there. I feel so lucky and blessed, like we were chosen to enjoy this unique experience. I’ve actually had people say to me, oh you poor thing or oh I’m glad its you and not me. Well, to that I say - I’m glad it’s me too!