19 wks

One of Justins favorite things is to feel the babies move. Since our babies our vertical and both sitting pretty close to the front of my uterus you are able to feel them both move pretty well. His response is 'oh, I felt that one!!' LOVE IT!

How far along: 19 wks!!

Total weight gain: I decided to not weight myself this week. Im waiting for the big weigh-in at the 20 week mark

Stretch marks: nope :) 

Sleep: It seems to be tapering off. I don't wake every night to potty and I don't seem to need as much sleep as the week before. Im even waking around 830am all on my own; if you know me and my sleep needs you know what a shock that is.

Best moment this week: Kicking babies! 18 wks and 3 days was our first kicks but they are continuing to happen more often throughout each day.

Miss anything: Running; never thought I would say that.

Movement: KICKS! I still have the vibrations and the popping feelings.

Food cravings: Corn on the cob! And its 150 calories which is an additional excitement level.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Brushing my teeth. It seems to come and go and its back again. 

Belly button: Innie but its super close to being a flattie.

Weddings rings: On

Mood: NERVOUS ~ ultrasound this week to determine the status of my cervix ~ 

Looking forward to: seeing our babies on the ultrasound -- its something that never gets old!

Memorial Day Weekend

It was a BIG weekend in our home with several cookouts and getting ready for Justin to turn the BIG 30! I wanted to share the news that I felt what Im assuming was my first kick (18 wks and 3 days) -- BABY A -- we had be swimming on Saturday before the cookout when I got out and was bossing Justin around about where to vacuum the pool (Im getting really good at being the supervisor) when I said 'OH!' and grabbed the left side of my belly. My eyes were huge and Justin yelled 'get off the ladder' noting how I feel off a 7 foot retaining wall last summer. As I climbed down and was walking around the pool towards him I commented 'OH' again and this time there was a smile with big eyes. I told Justin that I was certain that I just felt my first real kicks.

Monday we enjoyed massages -- Ill just say that Ill be a frequent flyer to ACAC this summer -- and then it was home where I decided to spend my time on the couch. While laying there I could feel the babies moving around but when I looked down I could see my belly moving where Baby A resides. I called for Justin and of course the show stopped. He adventured off and of course its started up again. I cant wait till the moments when all this is more frequent and that Justin is able to see the babies swimming my belly.

Beware folks -- this chica intends to sport a bikini all summer!

Monday evening (May 28) while laying in the bed the dancing began again; however even with my loud mouth yelling out to Justin in the master bathroom brushing his teeth he still missed it. So I decided to play the little ones some music to see if I could get them moving again. The song A Thousand Years by Christina Perri is my new found favorite song. It just reminds me so much of our journey. As I played the song from my phone and placed it on my belly both babies went crazy. You could see my belly moving and Justin was even able to feel the first kicks of BABY B. Its amazing how much I can feel them now. Once the music was over it was sleepy time however they were busy dancing. Around 230am I woke to use the restroom and they were dancing beans in there. I sat there and watched my belly for a few moments in total amazement; its moments like this that seem so unreal. I get lost in them. I cant believe it .... we are having TWINS. It just seems like it was only yesterday when they called with the positive BETA results and then the first ultrasound. 

Baby Beats

We broke down and bought a home doppler around 9 wks of pregnancy. Its been amazing to be able to hear those heartbeats here at home whenever we want. Although it doesn't come with its challenges we have learned to become patient and not always count on the number that the screen displays. As well as, we have learned to tell the difference between my heart rates vs the babies and the different between each baby. We have UVa to thank for all the extra doppler time we get thanks to them being a teacher factuality. As in this morning; we were hopeful we would capture the little beans heart rates and that the average would be accurate as we did about a week ago. However, both of our beans were jumping beans and gave us a chase. It took several minutes to get the doppler in place to where we could actually hear the heartbeats for several seconds before they were off. FINALLY! We got both of them on the doppler but not long enough to capture the true average of the heart rates but its still the most amazing sound that I have ever heard. 

BABY A

BABY B

18 wks!

May 23, 2012

Its hard to believe that we are 1/2 through the pregnancy. Yup, we know that a pregnancy is usually 40 weeks however our goal with carrying our twins is 36 wks which = September 26th!

How far along: 18 wks

Total weight gain: less them a pound this week so we are still sitting at 16 pounds ~ Im really disappointed in myself being that I was already a pound behind and now its more like two. I need to focus more on my calorie intake over the next week and do my best to make up for the missing weight gain.

Stretch marks: still a nope = a very excited me!

Sleep: this week feels like he first trimester again, Im napping and sleeping 10-12 hours every night.

Best moment this week: people in public notice that Im pregnant and knowing that our babies can hear us -- every night before bed Justin gets super close to my belly and talks to the babies Its truly my favorite moment of every day!

Miss anything: sleeping on my belly

Movement: vibrations, bubbles popping and what appears like little nudges

Food cravings: SMOOTHIES -- okay, I lie. I didn't really crave anything this week and I think that might have had an effect on my weight gain. Im not a big eater to begin with so when I crave something it gives me something to eat often. Without the craving Im not hungry for anything really. So Ive decided to try and trick my mind into craving smoothies for the next week. Oh YUMMY smoothies made with Ensure.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Ensure -- but its becoming my best friend again for the weight gain that is needed

Symptoms: yup, Im going to admit it --- hemorrhoids -- Ive actually had them off and on since about 6 wks however, now they appear to be around for the long haul of the pregnancy

Belly button: innie

Weddings rings: on

Mood: Anxious -- they said that IF Im going to have cervix issues early on they will usually present themselves in wk19. However, it can really happen at anytime. We have an ultrasound scheduled but it still get my blood moving to just think that there is still so much room for something to go wrong.

Looking forward to: reaching my weight gain goals

18 wks and 1 day

GUILTY as charged! Im obsessed with rubbing my belly and have been working really hard to not due it in public. However, in the evenings I usually lay on the couch while Justin gets his sports fix in. Which equals the perfect time for some belly rubbing. The problem is that when I get up I fail to notice that my bump is all hanging out below my shirt.

18 wks and 3 days baby bump

answering the questions

Its the questions that rarely comes up but people have asked ....

Do twins run in your family?

Yes and No. I have an Aunt that has twins and a cousin that has twins. But when twins run in your family it means that it directly effects you. Which means that you full in the direct line of twins; skipping a generation. However, when it comes to infertility it isn't about twins running in your family. Its more about the flip of that coin when the embryos are put back in to who sticks around and who doesn't.

Your X amount of weeks and Justin got home X amount of weeks ago (with a really weird look on their face)?

That is correct. Its no secret that these babies were made while Justin was deployed. The transfer was February 6th and the confirmation of pregnancy all happened while he was gone. We welcomed Justin home just in time for the 12 week mark.

Are these babies yours?

As much as Justin and I believe that it doesnt take biology to make a child your own; yes these babies are biologically ours. We did a fresh IVF cycle before Justin deployed in December (my eggs and his sperm) and we were left with four embryos in which they froze. These two embryos are part of that four pack; which means we still have two more frozen. 


Please know that Justin and I are an open book about our infertility journey so we ask that out of respect for us and our family that if you have any questions that you ask us instead of having the chat behind our backs. Its funny how behaviors that we experienced in high school we think will end with college. Then it continues in college at which time we tell ourselves that once we are adults that it will end. And, then as adults we continue to experience it.

A blogger asked us this in the comment section ...

What about the question, do you want boys, girls, one of each?? Since you have two more frozen do you plan on more?

Boys or Girls ... in all honesty we have been through so much that we will take boys and/or girls and a combination of the two as long as they are healthy and happy. Although, I will note that Justin is always joking about the fact that our bank account cant afford two girls. And to add to the madness we are not finding out the sexes of the babies :) It'll be a surprise at delivery.

Yes, we will use the two remaining frozen embryos. Since age becomes an issue for girls with AC journeys and well I have major issues with age we have already had this chat. We intend to transfer those embryos sometime after the twins turn 1 but before they turn 2. Yes, we will transfer both of them at the same time.