Colorado Bound...

After reviving this blog for the main purpose of keeping up with the baby news, I finally have a little bit of non- baby news! After 4 1/2 years in California, Ryan and I will be moving to Denver, Colorado next month! He is being stationed at Buckley AFB.

We went out there a few weeks ago and bought a house in South East Aurora, and I can't wait to move in. 

Our New House!

We found out when we were moving about the same time we were having twins, so our lives have been pretty crazy lately.  I am sad to leave California though- we have absolutely loved living here. The Central Coast is such an interesting area- about 3 hours from LA it's a mix of agriculture, beach towns, and an interesting mix of culture. We have spent the last 4 years finding amazing local restaurants along  the coast, wine tasting at some of the HUNDREDS of wineries nearby, and exploring all the small towns that are within an hour or so from us. I sincerely hope that we will get to move back here some day and show our kids all of the things we loved about living here. 

I also have to take a second to brag on the amazing kids on my Speech and Debate team. I have coached the team at Arroyo Grande HS for the last 2 years and it has been amazing. The kids on this team constantly blow me away with their intelligence, creativity, and wit. These guys are going to do amazing things, and my time with them has been life changing. Leaving them is definitely the hardest part about leaving California. Please, guys. Keep me updated on your lives. I love y'all! 

My mom and I are driving to Colorado this weekend where we will get the house ready for us to move in. Then it's back to California for just a bit before heading to Colorado for good. We would appreciate your prayers as we make this transition and say goodbye to a place we love. Its a difficult balance to get everything done and not overwork myself- My body definitely has started to tell me to slow down sometimes. Again, thanks for the constant prayers and support!

Katie

17 (and a half) Weeks!!!

 Two more weeks have flown by (almost 3!) since my last post. I have to say, right now this pregnancy has been flying by. The first 3 weeks I knew I was pregnant felt like months... but the last 2 months or so have gone by so fast. I think it helps that I have a ton of doctors appointments, and I get ultrasounds at every one. I love that I get to check in on the babies at least every 2 weeks. Everything has looked great at all of my appointments. I will see doctors pretty frequently over the next couple of months to keep an eye out for signs of pre-term labor. Also, since my boys are monochorionic/diamniotic (a kind of identical twin), they have to keep an eye out for something called twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome. It occurs in about 20% of mo/di twins and can be pretty dangerous. 18-24 weeks is the most critical time that it can develop, so prayers that everything continues to look good are appreciated. I am trying not to stress about it to much (and trying to stay off Dr. Google!) 

We have started making plans for the nursery- I am going with a vintage cowboy theme. (That's no surprise to anyone who has met my mother, I am sure.) We also have cribs ordered and we got fabric for crib skirts. It's very exciting to finally start doing things to get ready for these boys! While my due date is March 22, identical twins are usually born at about 37 weeks, so that puts me sometime in February. With the holidays in the middle of all of that, February doesn't seem very far away at all!

Here is my most recent picture. I am getting bigger every week!!!

How far along: 17 weeks

Babies are the size of a: Large Onions. Or turnips.  (I don't know how big a turnip is though...)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: About 6 lbs. They say I will be gaining about a pound a week at this stage, so I am right on track I guess! My doctors haven't really been concerned with weight too much, which I appreciate.

Maternity clothes: Yup. I have found that even bigger regular clothes tend to look funny. Like my knit dresses are much shorter in the front. I don't know how people wear regular clothes their entire pregnancies... 

Stretch marks: Nope

Sleep: I am sleeping good but it's also been harder to get comfortable. I am thinking about trying one of those giant pregnancy pillows because right now it takes a choreographed effort involving about 6 pillows to get comfortable each night. 

Best moment last week: We got an awesome picture of Baby A... My doc switched the machine to 3-d mode and it actually looked like a real little person in there! It was crazy!

Movement: A little bit! I felt some flutters and then this week I felt some very distinct pokes. They aren't frequent but every once in awhile I feel something- its crazy and very strange!

Food cravings: Nothing too much, I still have a few aversions left over from First Tri. Like I dont want meat that isn't already cut up. It makes no sense at all... but a chicken breast is really gross to me right now, but already cut up or pulled chicken is fine. 

Gender: Two Baby Boys!!!

Labor signs: Nope!

Belly button - in or out? In, and I hope it stays that way but I have noticed it's getting very shallow...

What I miss: My back hurts very badly at the end of the day. I miss being able to sit up after 8 p.m. 

What I am looking forward to: The Anatomy Scan on Nov. 5. Ryan hasn't been able to come with me to the last few appointments, so I am excited for him to get to see lots of good pictures of our boys!

Milestones: Movement! I have already talked about it, but seriously. It's so cool. 

Oh boy...

Big news!!! I had my first appointment with the Parinatal doctor yesterday. Everything looks great, the babies are measuring about 1 day apart, and a couple of days ahead. However, the biggest news is that they were able to tell us that we are having 

Twin Boys!!!!

Ryan couldn't come with me to this appointment, so when the tech ask me if I wanted to know the sex, I ask her to write it down and put it in an envelope. After my appointment, I raced home and we opened it together on his lunch break.  I hadn't had a strong feeling one way or the other during my pregnancy, but yesterday morning  I felt pretty confident they were boys- they even looked like boys on the ultrasound! Turns out I was right! 

It took me some time to process the news-  anyone that I knows me will agree that I never saw myself as the mother of twin boys! But we are very excited and it has definitely made it feel more real. My mom and I have big plans for the nursery, and I started really working on my registry last night. Holy cow there is a lot of stuff! Crib mattresses alone were overwhelming. How nice of a mattress does an infant really need??? 

Those of you who already have children will laugh at this, but yesterday I read that newborns go through 10-12 diapers a day. I knew it was a lot, but I had never really thought about an actual number. And then multiplied it by two. Y'all... Pray for us. Please. 

Lastly, I want to say thanks for all the congrats we have gotten over the past few weeks. I know our boys will be loved and it feels good to know that we have the support of so many people from all over the  county.  We have a lot of life changes ahead of us, but we are looking forward to it all. For my Birmingham friends, we are planning on making a trip to Alabama & Georgia for Thanksgiving. This will probably be my only pre- baby trip, so I want to make sure to see all of you! 

If you have any words of wisdom (or extra diapers), please feel free to send them my way. I'm going to need them!

Katie

15 weeks!

Where have the last 3 weeks gone? We took a 10 day trip to Denver and I have been very busy getting my speech and debate team ready for an upcoming tournament.

The biggest change is my belly has grown exponentially over the past few weeks- it still catches me by surprise when I look in the mirror!

 

 



I have my first appointment with my high risk doctor this week & I started working on my registry yesterday- It's so overwhelming! I will have lots of doctors appointments in the next few weeks, so I am hoping to find out the sex of the babies at one of those. I am very anxious to find out!!!

How far along: 15 weeks

Babies are the size of a: an orange

Total Weight Gain/Loss: not really sure, I'm guessing about 3 lbs. I'll find out tomorrow at the doctor. 

Maternity clothes: yes, with the exception of a few of my regular shirts. I really need more though. 

Stretch marks: Nope

Sleep: I've started to get less comfortable at night, so that's annoying. I've also been waking up and not being able to go back to sleep.  

Best moment last week: Not in the week, but it was so fun to finally tell everyone our news. Yay for no more secrets!!!

Movement: Not really. I may have felt some weird popping feeling last week, but I may be crazy/imagining it. We will see...

Food cravings: I'm very happy to be eating normal, full-sized meals again! 

Gender: don't know yet, but I have several appointments in the next couple of weeks, so I am hoping someone will be able to tell.  Otherwise, we will find our Oct. 22!

Labor signs: not for awhile I hope!

Belly button - in or out? In, and I hope it stays that way but I have noticed it's getting very shallow...

What I miss: my sense of smell has gotten out of control. I can't open the trash can without throwing up. It's very annoying...

What I am looking forward to: Announcing it to everyone tomorrow! Eeeek!

Milestones: 12 weeks is a milestone! And seeing 2 healthy, squirmy babies! Also, I feel like I actually have a little bit of a belly now- it came out of nowhere!