Ultrasound Pics!

We had our "big" ultrasound this afternoon at the perinatologist.  Both babies look fantastic and were extremely active.  It's no wonder I felt like I had a wrestling match going on inside me last night--these two are busy!!  The ultrasound technician took tons of pictures of every organ and limb...except for anything that identified the babies' genders.  Sorry folks but we are still leaning towards being surprised when they are born and thus we didn't find out their genders today! 

Both babies are estimated to weigh 9 ounces right now.  They are the same size and are measuring right on schedule for their gestational age.  Woohoo!  We could see them moving all around, waving their arms, stretching out their legs, etc.  Ultrasounds are fascinating!  I still found myself staring at the screen in bewilderment that there's actually TWO of them.  How on Earth did that happen?!?!  Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think we'd have twins...that we'd one day be in an ultrasound watching one baby kick the other, then later hearing the doctor say, "see that?  That's one baby's butt in the other's face.  Nice."  I guess they'd better both get used to the cramped quarters.  They still have a long way to go and their space is only going to get tighter!

Here are the side profile pictures we got today.  The first is Baby B.  Baby A is on the bottom.  Enjoy :)

G'nite!

M and the fam :)
P.S. I uploaded pictures from April below if you're interested~

April in a nutshell :)

 We traveled to Rice Lake for my cousin Dedra's baby shower.  It was held at Aunt Marilyn's house--she has beautiful gardens that we explored (although we wished it was summer to see them in bloom!)  Here, Lauren is dancing atop a giant chair that Uncle Paul constructed.

 Playing the slots in Paul and Marilyn's barn.  Might as well teach 'em early!

 Playing the "stinky diaper" game at the baby shower.  Lauren and Mimi were trying to decide what kind of candy bar was smooshed up in the diaper.  Lauren thought the game was super silly :)

 Here's Lauren with my cousin Kristal's daughter Allison. 

 Posing for a picture in the horse-drawn carriage built by Uncle Paul out of real horseshoes! 

 We traveled to Chad's parents' house in Indiana for Easter!

 Posing with her Mimi and Boppa Steighner as well as Great Grandma Sallie, who was visiting from Florida.  Lauren loved being able to spend time with her!

 Lauren was being very silly at this point and wouldn't sit still for many pictures.  This is the best one I could get with Ryan and Jenny.

 Lauren has decided that the infant seats are still pretty comfy!

 G'nite!

Love,

M

Catching up with old pictures...

I have a backlog of about 400 pictures that I just moved off of my camera.  Here's a few from January and February...

 Lauren loves getting her haircut, thanks to this great kids' salon we found in Menomonee Falls.  Can you tell why she likes it so much?

 We had a massive February snowstorm that led to school cancellations (woohoo!).  Lauren and Westin enjoyed playing in it.

 She made a snowball to throw at Daddy :)

 Snowed in!

 The snow was up to the windows!

 This was a dinner club Super Bowl party.  We had all the kids together, minus Ella.

 Disney on Ice!

 Awwwww.  Lauren and Sophie are so cute together :)

 Excited much?

 Can you guess who she just spotted in the above picture?

 Yep, Ariel and Flounder.  Sheesh.  The girl loves them more than she ever loved Elmo!

 Making PINK cupcakes with Aunt Karlee.

March and April pictures will be posted soon.  Promise!!

If you didn't see the other post from tonight, with the pregnancy side profile pics, see below :)

Love,

M

Can you guess???

Guess how far along I am in the following two pictures...The first picture is of my current pregnancy and the second picture is from when I was pregnant with Lauren.  So how far along do you think I am/was in these pictures?

  

 Answer...The first picture was taken at 4 months (16 weeks) and the second was taken at 6 months (24 weeks).  I'd say I'm already pretty big at 4 months.  This is going to be a long summer!!
~M 

16 Weeks!

Tomorrow, I hit the 16 week mark.  We had another ultrasound this morning (I think it was our tenth for this pregnancy) and both babies look fantastic!  In fact, we observed a bit of intra-uterine sibling rivalry....check it out for yourself!  The babies were laying at a 90-degree angle to one another (that won't last long as they get bigger and have less space to move around).  "Baby B" was observed to be trying to kick "Baby A" in the head. 

Here, you see the very top of Baby A's head (as if you are looking down on his/her scalp).  Baby B is on the right, laying face down with his/her foot about to kick Baby A.  While we were able to see Baby B pretty well at some points, he or she just isn't very clearly seen here.

Both of them were so wiggly and wouldn't hold still long enough for accurate measurements to be taken. It was definitely playtime in there! We had an ultrasound at the perinatologist's office last week and the measurements were great--both babies were right on target for their growth so far. Now we have two weeks off from ultrasounds and will have our big Level II ultrasound at the perinatologist on May 17 (the equivalent of the typical "20-week" ultrasound with a regular pregnancy but this will be more in-depth). We have not decided whether to find out their genders. Originally, we were quick to say we were going to wait and just be surprised. We've started to waiver on that though...we kinda think it might be easier to plan for having two babies if we know what they are. That way, we don't have to come up with so many name options and will know whether we need to do some shopping for blue clothing :)

I have felt a great deal of movement more and more frequently. I first felt it at 12weeks and 5 days, which is very early. I was told you feel it earlier with your second pregnancy and even earlier if it's twins. The movements have really helped to ease my fears and anxiety. Feeling them move reassures me that they are doing well! I'll have to take a side-profile picture of myself and post it for you soon. I'm definitely showing and feel like I grow more each day.

Yesterday, Lauren came up with a great idea! As we were driving in my new mini-van (yes, a mini-van), she said "Mommy, I have a great idea! How about if when the babies hatch out of your tummy, you can be the mommy to one of them and I can be the mommy to the other one. Isn't that a good idea, Mommy?" She was totally serious, too! At least 2 or 3 times each day, she'll burst out with "I can't wait to be a big sister!" She's very excited.

No side profile of Baby B today.  He or she wasn't feeling very photogenic.

Telling my parents our news!

Lauren's shirt says "I have a secret..." on the front. 

The back says "I'm going to be a big sister...TO TWINS!"

Love,
M

Double the Love!

Our family is thrilled to share the news that we have twins on the way!  While we have known it is twins for several weeks now, it is still surreal and unbelievable to us.  With no family history of twins on either side, you can imagine our surprise when an early ultrasound revealed a double blessing  :-)   

So how have I been feeling?  I was very nauseous for the whole first trimester.  Food just didn't interest me very much and I was exhausted all the time.  Now that I have entered into the second trimester, the nausea has let up but the fatigue has definitely not!  I feel like my stomach is growing in "hyper" mode.  Even at a 9 week ultrasound, I was told I was measuring at about 16 weeks.  That'd put the size of my stomach at about 20 weeks right now.  No wonder I don't fit in any of my clothes anymore!  My actual stomach muscles just feel very stretched and tired all the time.  Keeping up with "doctor's orders" isn't easy either.  It's been recommended that I try to drink a gallon of water a day, which is much easier said than done.  I need to consume a LOT of protein and calcium.  I was actually told by my Dr. that a big bowl of ice cream every night before bed would be a very good idea right now.  Woohoo!   

As for my appointments, I had weekly ultrasounds throughout most of my first trimester.  Now they've spread them out to every two weeks.  I will alternate appointments between my regular OB and the perinatologist, who specializes in pregnancies with multiples.  Our next appointment is at the "peri-" on Monday morning.  We look forward to seeing our little ones again that day!

As we've begun announcing this news, there seems to be a common theme to the questions we've gotten.  So here you go...

1.)  "You used fertility drugs, right?"  Nope.  The Dr. is referring to them as spontaneous twins.

2.)  "Are they identical or fraternal?"  We aren't sure at this point.  They ARE in their own amniotic sacs, each with their own placenta.  This means there is an increased likelihood that they are fraternal, but not necessarily.  We are going to just wait & see when they are born.

3.)  "Will you find out what you are having?"  Not intentionally.  We'd like to be surprised, as we were with Lauren.  However, we realize that with ultrasounds every two weeks, there is a good chance we'll find out whether we want to or not.  Sorry to the grandparents, but we'll keep it to ourselves if we do find out!!

4.)  "When are you due?"  Technically October 10, 13, or 17 (depends on the Dr. you ask).   I will most likely have a scheduled C-section at the end of September since I had a C-section for delivery complications with Lauren.  No sense risking my health or the health of the babies by trying to do it the natural way when the doctors are recommending a repeat C-section.

Stay tuned for an update about how we told our parents & Lauren.  Lauren is VERY excited and is absolutely convinced it's two baby boys.  Depending on the day you ask her, she either wants to name them "Max and Max" or "Nemo and the rest will be Marlin Jr.".  Ha!

Good night!

~Mindy