Ultrasound pics, expanding belly

So, unfortunately with not writing in my blog for almost a month I didn't get to share some of the pics I wanted.

I had on November 21st, my upper level sonogram. They basically look very detailed at everything on the babies to make sure they are developing properly. It went really well. The tech was patient and explained everything to us. The doctor was in there talking us through it and answering questions for a good portion of it...I am very pleased with the ultrasound, and my experience at All Children's Hospital Perinatology center.

The girls were within 5% growth of each other which is great. It's normal for them to not be EXACT, and numbers under 25% discordance mean so far they aren't showing signs of TTTS. (Meaning, they are getting equal nutrients, blood, etc.) I of course worry about it developing, but everytime I see they haven't yet, I am comforted.

Here are pics from that ultrasound. (I was 17 weeks +5 days at the time. I am now 21 weeks)

I blew the pics up a little so that you can see their "little girls pics". Since my last ultrasound where we found out they were girls was a rushed one, we hadn't gotten any pictures.

So, now for my belly! It's really popping out like crazy!  Here is my 20 week and 21 week photos! I can tell a big difference even then!

                                                       20 Weeks (above)

                                                      21 weeks (above)

My next ultrasound is December 31st.(The really awesome part of having two babies growing in me is that I get to see them so much! I get ultrasounds all the time, so I get extra comfort in seeing their cute little faces way more than a singleton pregnancy)

21 Weeks, I'll be home for Christmas, etc.

Tomorrow I'll be 21 weeks. It's hard to believe! Time is definitely flying by...though, considering I was about 10 1/2 weeks when I found out I was pregnant, it's no surprise, lol. I'm doing pretty well considering I'm five months along into my twin pregnancy. Many women got put on bedrest at like 18 weeks! I couldn't imagine! I love feeling the little girls moving my my belly. It's such a weird, but amazing feeling!

How are symptoms for me?? Obviously, I have different symptoms than those in a single pregnancy at this time... like, I'm sure my back pain, hard time getting comfortable, etc. is a little earlier than others due to just the fact that I'm already as big as someone around 28-30 weeks would be in a normal pregnancy.

Nausea - Nope. Not often at all.

Tired - Sleepy? Kinda...but more just that my body feels sort of run down. I'm out of breath for no reason lol, and 30 minutes of standing makes my back hurt. (Which is funny because I was doing 2 hours zumba marathons just a few months ago) In the mornings, it's really apparent because after showering, and drying my hair I'm so fatigued I sit down and have to cheer myself out of bed again to do my makeup. It's so much more cozy in my bed with the puppies all around me, and my pregnancy pillow snuggled up to me!

Hunger - Not as crazy as it was weeks 12-18. I felt like I couldn't stop eating then. Now my meals are a little more normal sized :) I don't have any strange cravings...the hardest thing is that water is sort of hard for me to drink right now. I don't know why...so I have a few other drinks per day, which is killing me because I've been an avid water drinker for almost 2 years now.

Good things - my belly is popping so much now! I love knowing as my belly grows, my babies are growing healthier to enter into the world! My nails and hair are growing nicely thanks to my hormones and prenatal vitamins.

Not good -  Heart burn on and off...I'm sure that will get worse. I'm breaking out way more than normal, hormones I'm sure. Occasional light headedness. I almost fainted at Burlington a few weeks ago. That was scary. I guess y blood sugar got too low, or my blood pressure dropped..it was wierd, but the Dr. said it's somewhat common in pregnancy.

I'll be home for Christmas......
Harold and I are making the big drive home next week....and by big I mean 16-17 hours big. With two babies in my belly, and 3 dogs in tow...WOW. We are driving all night, which I'm thankful that Harold is way better at staying awake than me. Plus, he'll have coffee at his disposal...and I won't. We like to listen to audio books on long trips because unlike music, it keeps our minds really engaged. I never thought he'd like that...but last time I listened to a Vampire Academy novel and he really got into it. I'll probably put the newest one on my iphone and stream it in the car for us.

I am soooooooo happy to be going to see my family. It will be the first time in a while, and it will be so nice to be able to share my joy of being pregnant with all the people that I love (family, close friends, etc) My friend Rachel is throwing me a baby shower, and I am sooooo grateful and excited. It will be so special to share the excitement with those close to me! 

So why are we taking 3 dogs? We love our puppies way too much to board them. To us, they are like children. We stay behind and say no to trips because we wouldn't want to exclude them. It would probably break my heart more than theirs to not have them around on a holiday. I've not gotten a single Christmas present for anyone, not even Harold, but I managed to fill up a stocking for them, lol.

Awwwww, who can resist those faces???
Also, here are Harold and I on Thanksgiving day.

The scale is going up as I become more pregnant, but I'm fairly confident it's mostly just baby weight. I try to make decent decisions eating, but I do give in to my cravings more than I  would before. I have waited a LOOONG time to be able to become a mother, and I want to enjoy this time. Not only that, but with two babies I worry that I'm not getting enough of certain nutrients, etc, so I figure I'm not going to deny them for the sake of gaining a few pounds. I am going to breast feed when they are born, and work out like a maniac. (ZUMBA, oh how I miss you!!) I have been looking into different ways to incorporate the girls into my staying healthy since I won't have as much time as my former non-mommy self.  (A nice double stroller for running/walking with them. A possible thing to bike with them, etc.) I lost 120 lbs before, so if I have to lose 5, 10, or 15 lbs after the babies are born I welcome the challenge.

Well, Harold turned off his video game so I'll stop writing and spend some time with him! <3 p="p">

Quilts?? Oh, my!

So, I've been wanting to do "Shabby Chic" for the girls room...which sounds great, but shabby chic seems to be expensive chic, lol.

A lot of the store-bought crib bedding sets are expensive. They mostly range from $100-$200...which is not toooo bad for one, but double that for me. Also, most of them are very kiddy looking... I want something cute, but not 100% pink. So, I started looking on Etsy, and I found what I want....only it's REALY expensive.

 

 See how pretty it is?? I love the owl theme, but like that it's not overwhelming.

So....I had decided to look online about making a quilt.... then I got a phone call from my husband which went like this:

Harold - "What are you doing babe"
Me- "Watching a video about how to make a baby quilt"
Harold- "...(silence)...That's interesting"
Me- (Thinking he thinks I'm nuts) "Well all of the ones I like are so expensive so I thought maybe I could learn. I could get a sewing machine and figure this out in a few months I think."
Harold- "I'll bust out a quilt. I will do it by hand. I don't need a sewing machine."

LMAO. I love that my husband was so confident. Later that night he continued to tell me how he would hand sew them together, because in middle school he learned to sew. After watching the videos...I thought it looked easy enough in the first parts...but once it got to actually "quilting a pattern" and then sewing on a border...I felt very overwhelmed. Not sure what I will do now. There are a few other color schemes I like too....maybe I'll do a mix & match on bedding, etc.

Twincesses

Monday (the 5th) I had a check up appointment. It was a frustrating morning...they failed to tell us our Dr. was out doing a delivery, so after an hour of waiting, we were like wtf is going on... Finally, after a loooong wait, they took us in. Everything looked ok. My blood pressure was semi-raised because I was so stressed about the wait, lol..but when they took it for the second time about 10 minutes later it had returned to normal, which is good.

The nurse was having problems finding 2 heart beats (and this woman was pressing SOOO hard it seriously hurt) She said this was normal though because when they are small still, they are close together and you get an echo from the other, etc. The doctor finally came to see me, and spent about zero time with me...but she said "Since the nurse couldn't find the second heart beat, I'm gonna see if they can sneak you in really fast to grab the heart beats with an ultrasound".

While they were getting the heart beats, since I was so disappointed after last time that they wouldn't look to see the sex...I was like "Hey, while you're in there...can you look and see if you see anything between their legs?" lol... She looked at one, then the other. She said "It looks like you are having two little girls!"

YAY!! I would have loved  having boys just a as much, but I am just really excited to find out so that we could pick names, start the nursery, add clothing and stuff to the registry, and just plan more! It's much easier to imagine what it will be like when they are here when I know if I'm supposed to be picturing two girls or boys, haha.

We also chose the names for the girls, and I'm very happy.

Hazel Rose Flowers. - Hazel is my grandmother Flower's name. I love the names that are a throwback and kind of classic. However, many of them are over used. So, this was perfect. I could honor grandma  by naming one after her, and use a beautiful timeless name that isn't quite as common.

Choosing  the middle name was somewhat of a challenge. I wanted something that was delicate and feminine. I didn't want her name to be too overwhelming with the first name...so Rose my husband and I thought was a nice feminine name. It also sticks with the theme of our family name Flowers.

Alaina Lyric Flowers - Alaine is my mother's middle name. I wanted to use it in some way. I like names like Sophia, Olivia, etc. but they are used a lot as well. Alaina I thought was a beautiful twist on the name Alaine.

Lyric as a middle name just really struck a chord with me. I love music, I always have. The name was musical, and pretty, and something about it makes me think of a carefree little girl.

PS - people have asked and they are confused... My last name is Flowers. My mother's maiden name, my grandma/grandpa's last name was Flower. My adoptive father Aaron and his family's last name is Flowers. That is the last name I have. My husband chose because of personal reasons to change his name to Flowers, so that is why we all have that name. I realize some people were really taken aback by the last name thing.


In other news: President Obama was re-elected last night! I didn't go to bed until like 2:30 am because I was so excited, and because of all the idiotic comments I was reading on facebook. Seriously....these people say stuff like "I hope the Obama supporters suffer"; "Tomorrow I'll go to work and support all these baby poppers, jobless Obama supporters".... OK... first, last time I checked, most of the areas that Obama won, are areas full of educated, college graduates. Most of the rural areas, with the less educated...go Republican.

Also, I am a married, 28 year old, college educated woman. If I want to start my family now..I should be able to without feeling guilty. I have worked since I was 15 years old. I put myself through college, and have worked my way up at my job to a position in which I'm able to make a decent living. I am a Democrat, and it has nothing to do with me wanting any sort of hand outs. I just have certain beliefs and values, and think Republicans do not represent those interests.

I am cooking Harold a pumpkin pie :) He works late today, and will be extremely happy to see this when he gets home!

Week 13 pics (From 2 weeks ago)

Ultrasound pics!! I'm 15 weeks now, so these are from 13 weeks... I'll be almost 18 weeks at our next ultrasound. (That's a plus side to having twins! We get to see the twins almost every 3 weeks!)

I forgot! I didn't post the pics of the peanuts from the Ultrasound at 13 weeks! (I still call them the peanuts, even though they are now the size of apples haha) They are growing quite a bit, and they were in sort of wierd positions so it wasn't an easy task to get them both on the same pic, but the top pic is both of their bellies, lol. Harold said "It looks like they are eating well".

Twin A is sitting down low, kinda crunched up...However, again it was moving around non stop. Their head is down low, and feet are kinda up towards Twin B. Twin A kept kicking really hard like a donkey at Twin B's back. Twin B was laying horizontal up above my belly button. Harold keeps nagging at me to sit certain ways because he thinks it will magically give Twin A more room...lol. I'm like well...if they think it's crowded now they are not going to be happy when they are way bigger!

Preparation Time!

What are we up to in preparation for operation chaos?? (aka- baby twins on the way)I wish we knew if we were going to be welcoming little boys or girls so that I could really start buying and planning things..but I'm trying to do what I can for now. I have a Dr. appointment on Monday...just to check on things. November 21st is the BIG day where we will find out what we are having!! (The days are going by slow)

Well...we're trying to conquer a few things. I have been doing lots of looking around for ideas for the nursery. I know many people who claim they didn't use their nursery...so my goal is to make it functional and useful, but cute. (On a budget!) We got a SUPER cute antique dresser from another MoM (Mother of Multiples!) for $45. It is painted with an antique finish as well which makes it super cute & shabby chic! Here is a picture of it!

It is our first piece for the nursery, and I am gonna take it an create a room around it. (Don't mind Rusty our Yorkie-Poo's little behind in front of it. They even gave us extra paint with it so we can use it for touch ups, etc. We also got a nice Jenny Lind bassinet from another MoM AND a breast pump. (Excitment!!) Those were both given to us for free. So as you can see...we haven't spent very much at all, and have already began getting together some things in preparation.

I absolutely love this one website http://www.chiccheapnursery.com/ . It is full of wonderful ideas for nurseries, and offers many ways to save money on DIY things, or cheaper alternatives to big splurge items. I am guilty of sitting around looking at this website for a few hours per day, I admit.

I'm looking at Ikea for some furniture/shelving options (Super cheap and cute stuff) and also have been hitting up craigslist and yard sales. Just this morning, Harold and I went driving around (like old people I joked) finding yard sales. We will buy some things new, but when we can find things like brand new for less money..I figure it is dumb of us not to do that. Plus, it's kind of fun taking the time to shop around.

Last week we went out with our friends Ashley and Tony to a haunted fire house for Halloween. It was really fun! Then we went to the Sponge Docks and walked around. We had some late night Greek food which was delicious, and got some desserts to-go!  The top pic I look super sleepy...lol... I feel tired most of the time, so it's pretty accurate. I don't feel like I have a pregnancy glow, but if I do ever..I'd say the bottom would be the closest I am to it, lol.

Well...my husband just pointed out that I'm humming the Jeopardy theme out loud...so I guess it's time to stop spacing out writing my blog, haha.

Twins! Whoa!

WHAT A YEAR....

Life Unexpected is the perfect title for my blog. Seriously.... Let's look at a recap really quick from September till now...

September 2011 - September 2012 - Lost 120 lbs

September 2011 - September 2012 - Mom had chemo for a year. She had surgery to remove the cancer from her right lung. Mom was "cancer free". Mom's cancer recurred in her abdomen. Mom began radiation.

September 26, 2012 - Found out I was pregnant.

September 28, 2012 - Found out I was 9 1/2 weeks pregnant...with Identical Twins.

 It was kind of funny...we had joked about how if we had twins we would literally be in shock. Harold even said about an hour before the ultrasound, when we were in the waiting room "What if we're having twins? OMG, we'd be done after that (hahaha)" So...when the ultrasound was being done, I should have KNOWN something had to be different with me. Nothing is ever normal for me.

Even the ultrasound tech saw me come in, she said "Haven't I seen you lately for something else??" I replied "Ya, ya, I was here just about 2 months ago for my complex cyst ultrasound." She kind of giggled and was like "Well now you're pregnant! You can't be normal can you?" I said "No, I can't." and smiled at her.

I'd say it took a good week for the complete disbelief to wear off...though, when I start thinking about things like going to the grocery store, flying in an airplane, waking up at night, potty training....I begin to get scared again. Most scary thing....? CHILD CARE EXPENSE. WTF are we gonna do? I REALLY wish at times like this my family wasn't so far away. 1) So they could spend more time with our babies, because family is so, so important. and 2) So I could be like all the other fortunate people who have family that help babysit if they need to go somewhere, or go to work.  Ugh....even better? I wish I could afford to be a stay at home mom. I hate the thought of missing time or important moments in my babies' lives.

Here are the babies on 9/28/12 Ultrasound when we found out there were 2! We just had our 2nd ultrasound in which I'll post pics asap.

So......"Like sands through the hourglass....So are the Days of our Lives"