A new nephew!!!

My brother and Sandi welcomed a beautiful new baby boy recently! The girls have another cousin - Calvin! :)

We made him a little gift earlier this month, decorating bibs at Erin's house. Avery loved this activity, of course!

He's such a sweetie! And from what we hear, he's a great little baby! His big brother Nolan is anxiously waiting for when Calvin can play trains with him! :) 

Hello February

Where did January go?!? The past couple of weeks have been busy, as usual. :)

The girls continue to try to make us laugh with their silly antics every day. Morgan is especially fond of the gross-out type humor - tooting, burping. She thinks she is hilarious! Just another example of silly girls... I hear giggling and "mommy, come look at us". This is what I found. :)

New fashion trend???

We got out and enjoyed a little warmer weather and sunshine a couple weeks ago. We went to the park and even got the girls' bikes out for a ride around the train parking lot near our house. They are getting much better at riding their bikes and braking (definitely a plus!).

We went on a walk looking for puddles

Then we rode bikes around for a long time!

Morgan is our daredevil - always pushing the limits

Then, I said good-bye to my gallbladder. Yep. Fun times. Turns out the pain I had while pregnant was not only due to two babies pushing my insides around in uncomfortable ways, but I actually developed gallstones (unbeknownst to me). Over the past four years, it has started bothering me more, so I finally had it checked out and found out I needed to have my gallbladder removed. The first 24 hours after surgery were seriously un-fun! But, once the CO2 and anesthesia were out of my system, I felt tons better. It still amazes me that you can go into a surgery center at 10AM, get put completely under, have an organ removed, and be home by 2PM.

Before surgery - smiling
(no pictures after surgery - I was not smiling!)

The girls got me a super cute card and flowers

While I was recovering, my parents were helping out with the girls. My dad is a "teaser" as Morgan and Avery always say. I found this "edited" note from school. My dad had change bear to beer. Funny, Papa! But, seriously, they were so much help during the few days after my surgery. I didn't feel like doing much except laying around, and they made the daycare runs and kept the girls entertained!

 

At our house there, there are many "injuries" every day. Most are invisible, but band-aids are requested for everything. We mostly go for the "it has to be bleeding to get a  band-aid" rule. But, sometimes crying wins out and a band-aid is applied to a bruise. The other day both girls fell down and hurt themselves. Apparently, ice packs were needed. :)

The girls started taking rhythmic gymnastics at a nearby gym and are having an absolute blast! They get to do ballet moves with hoops, play with ribbons and balls, jump on a trampoline, do some tumbling, etc. They love watching the gymnastics episode of Dora and this is just like that to them.

This past weekend, we celebrated Papa's birthday at the Wilken's house. Matt smoked a brisket in the Green Egg, which although there were some rough times getting it done, it turned out really tasty and was a big hit! It's always fun when the kiddos all get together. They were so excited that Papa let them help blow out the candles!



We had dropped off some baby toys for new baby boy Duesterhaus who will be making his appearance sometime at the end of May (yay for Brett and Sandi!). Apparently, the girls are never to old for baby toys!

Counting down the days

Less than a week to go! I am so surprised that I made it this far along! I have to give credit to Matt for letting me lay around on my bum these past 8 weeks of bed rest so these girls could grow, while he took over all the household duties!

I feel like I have been pregnant forever! I am really ready to get this show on the road... but then I have these moments where I think "Oh my God, next week at this time, we will be responsible for two babies!" and I sort of freak out a little. Not that I want them to stay in my belly forever, but it definitely gets scarier the closer we get to their birthday. I'm so thankful that my mom is going to be able to help us out the first few weeks and that Matt's mom will be coming afterwards.

We had our last check-up yesterday. Both babies are doing well. We had another non-stress test and they both passed with flying colors. We had an ultrasound and they estimated the babies at about 6.5 pounds each. We'll see how close that estimate is in a few days.

We found out we are first on the wait list for a c-section on Monday and that we don't have an official time scheduled yet. I was not thrilled about that - I definitely don't want to wait a single day longer than I have to. We hope to find out by tomorrow afternoon that they are able to fit us in and what time we'll be meeting our daughters!

No babies yet

These girls are staying nice and cozy... but I sure am ready to meet them!

Our nursery is stocked, hospital bag packed, car seats installed, all baby clothes washed... and I am feeling like I could explode any minute! I look like I'm smuggling a beach ball!

My doctor gave me permission to move around a bit more these days. At this point, the babies are good to go. Maybe a little more motion will move things along.

So this weekend, I left the house a few times for reasons other than my weekly doctor's appointment. It felt so nice to get out of the house. I even got a manicure/pedicure with my sister and mom!

My parents were up in Chicago for Sandi's bridal shower and Brett and Kyle's bachelor party.

Sandi's bridal shower was Saturday afternoon. I didn't go, but Erin sent me a few pictures (and brought me home a cupcake)! The theme for their wedding is the movies, so these were the cupcakes that Sandi's sister-in-law made. They have marshmallows on the top to look like popcorn. So cute!

Update

It's been a month now that I've been on bed rest. It has gone by faster than I thought it would (thank goodness!) I'm very happy to have made it to 34 weeks. The babies are doing great and estimated to weigh around 4.5 to 5 pounds a piece.

They are surprisingly strong and still trying to move around. But they are definitely running out of space. Baby B has decided to migrate even farther north into my ribs. I try to nudge her back down but she is having none of that! Baby A is pretty set in her spot. She's been breech for 10 weeks now and the doctor doesn't have much hope that she'll make a big move to be head down at this point. So, looks like I'll be having a c-section.

I had a dream last week that when the doctor pulled out Baby A, he said "It's a boy!". So at our most recent ultrasound, I asked to confirm they were both girls. Baby A is in a bad position and we couldn't see anything. So that was no help! Baby B is still definitely a girl, though. I told Matt that if Baby A is a boy, he'll be the youngest cross-dresser, because we have a lot of pink clothes! :)

Here are a few nursery pics... I wish I had taken a "before" picture of the room. It's quite a change from the dark blue paint we had in there previously! I haven't put anything up on the walls yet, but I'm planning to. Maybe their names... once we figure out what they are! Lots of thanks to my mom who spent a weekend up in Chicago setting up the nursery while I sat in the glider watching!

Matt working on the cribs

Cribs are done, but the dressers were a little more involved

Small room - packed with baby stuff!

It's pink/green with a monkey theme

It seems so surreal to me that in a few weeks, these little babies are going to be here!

Under house arrest

I didn't realize it's been so long since my last post... totally slacking here.

Both babies are continuing to get bigger and are still moving around tons. I can now see them moving from the outside, which is really freaky! Sort of like little aliens in there trying to bust out!

The girls tried to make an early appearance two weeks ago, but luckily they were convinced to stay put for a while longer. I had gone in for a regular weekly check-up (coincidentally the first time Matt wasn't at the appt with me) and the doctor sent me straight over to the hospital. I called Matt and said "um, can you meet me in Triage at Prentice?" I'm sure that was not the update he expected to get after the appointment! We had plans to go out of town for the weekend, so those were shot. Matt had to spend his birthday weekend laid up in the hospital with me, instead of lounging by a pool and playing golf.

Anyway, turns out I was 2 cm dilated and having contractions every couple of minutes. At the hospital, they monitored me and the babies for a few hours and the contractions got worse. So, they admitted me. I got medication to stop the labor from progressing and steroid shots to help boost the babies' development. I was released a few days later and put on bed rest for the remainder of the pregnancy.

So far, I haven't been too bored on "house arrest". I wrapped up my projects at work. I've been reading some baby books to figure out what to do with these girls once they get here. I've also been doing a little online shopping to get the nursery stocked.

Speaking of the nursery... we had it painted and installed new carpet. Matt put the furniture together himself. The cribs were easy - he got those done in less than an hour each. The dressers were another story. There were TONS of parts! Once we get it all set up, I'll post some pictures. It's still a work in progress!

26 weeks

26 weeks down, 12 to go!

Both babies are doing well and measuring right on track.

Baby A is the more chill of the two. She gives me a few swift kicks/punches to the bladder every day to remind me she is there. Thanks, kiddo.

Baby B is super active and a night owl! She flips around like she is dancing in there. Every time we have a doctor's appointment, she causes trouble by not staying still long enough for a good ultrasound picture or moving out of the range of the Doppler when trying to get her heartbeat. My doctor said she's a show off! Ha!

Originally, Baby A was the one that was always moving when we had ultrasounds. I was actually worried about Baby B because we never saw her move until the 20 week appointment. Funny how things change.

I've been feeling pretty good for the most part. I'm moving a lot slower these days. Getting up from sitting or out of bed takes a lot more effort than it used to! Getting comfortable to sleep is a chore and I'm constantly readjusting all night. I've elbowed Matt in the head a time or two recently. No black eyes... yet. : )

According to the average measurements for people having one baby, my belly is measuring 32 weeks pregnant. At this rate, when I'm 38 weeks pregnant, I will measure 44 weeks pregnant... yikes! It's a good thing I'm tall and have more space to disperse all this baby belly. The only other way to go is straight out! I sometimes feel like this belly can't possibly stretch any more, but it somehow manages to.

Today at our appointment, we (well, just Matt - I was totally oblivious) saw Jay Cutler and Kristin in the waiting room. I had scanned the waiting room when we walked in and didn't really look that closely at people. Then I went to the bathroom and when I got back, Matt says to me - "did you see who was sitting right next to us?" They had been called back while I was in the bathroom, so I missed them. We are there a lot, so maybe we'll run into them again. Who knows. I told Matt we need a signal when we see celebrities so I don't miss this stuff. He says to me "um, yeah, like it happens ALL the time". True.

Over halfway there

We are over the halfway mark of the pregnancy. Almost 24 weeks down and a little over 14 weeks to go! Since we are having twins, our expected delivery date is Oct 6th (at 38 weeks). We won't be allowed to go past 38 weeks, even if we make it that long, according to my doctor. We have a lot to do in the next couple of months to get ready! I'm hoping that nesting instinct kicks in soon, so I can start tackling all of our to-do's!

One thing I've noticed about being pregnant is how people will just start talking to me as if we know each other. They'll ask me when I'm due, what we're having, etc. I don't mind a few quick questions, but I'm surprised at what some complete strangers will ask.

Case in point...At the grocery store this past weekend, I was buying Matt and I sandwiches for lunch (so I was standing around for a good 10 minutes while they made them). Some girl in line behind me who was probably in her early thirties who I have never seen in my life starts asking me all sorts of questions. The typical ones like "when are you due?", "what are you having?", "how are you feeling?" and then she starts a full-on interview session - "are these your first?", "are you going to have more after this?", "have you picked out any names?", "what are they?" and so on. I tried to answer the names question by saying "oh, we can't agree on any names yet" and she asks me "well, what ones do you like?" I think I even said we were trying to incorporate our grandmas' names in somehow and she asked me what their names were. I don't remember it all. I was so happy when the sandwiches were finally done and I could get away from her. I felt like everyone in line behind us was tuning into this whole Q&A session.

So far only a few people have felt my belly. No strangers (thank goodness!), mostly friends. But one was a lady I work with. She was asking me a work-related question in her office and out of the blue just turned and felt my belly. She's a hoot! She's also the same one that asked me a few weeks ago how much weight I had gained. I really didn't know how to take that.

I've had a few weird pregnancy dreams so far that I can actually remember. One dream I had recently was sort of Harry Potter-ish. I was having my tarot cards read in some dark gloomy place and the pictures on the cards were moving (like the paintings in the Harry Potter movies). One of the cards was two-sided and had a picture of a professional looking woman on one side and sort of a gypsy on the other. I say to the lady, "we're having twin girls" and then she says "oh, one of them is going to be a doctor and the other will be a belly dancer". Um, ok. In another dream I had, everyone else knew my babies' names except me. I just kept referring to each of them as "that baby". I was so upset in this dream. And then there was the dream where I got attacked by a tiger at a public swimming pool. Nobody else was phased that there was a huge tiger roaming around the pool. It kept following me everywhere. I woke up just as the tiger was going to pounce on me. That was just plain strange.

It's a girl... and a girl!!!

Come October, Matt is going to be outnumbered! We are expecting twin girls October 20th! We found out this week that both babies are healthy and doing great! I actually was really surprised that they were both girls - I thought for sure one of them was a boy. Matt kept saying we were having two boys (mainly just to rile me), so I kind of half expected that to be the outcome, too.

Baby A - looks like she is blowing bubbles!

Baby B - she's waving "hi"

We had an almost 2 hour ultrasound on Monday, where the u/s tech went through and checked out all the arms, legs, hearts, etc. Baby A was being stubborn and would not move into the right position for some of the checks (I think she gets the stubbornness from her dad - ha!). Baby B was very chill and moved right into position. We have TONS of pictures from the u/s. Matt was getting pretty good at calling out what we were looking at on the screen.

We are both so excited and can't wait to meet the little ones!