17 Weeks

This is a picture of fraternal twins at 16 weeks to give you an idea.

How Far Along? 17 weeks



Maternity Clothes? Oh yeah.


Stretch Marks? Yep


Sleep? I sleep for 2 hours then get up to pee, then get up every hour to pee after.


Best Moment of the Week? Feeling both babies move. For the most part I usually only feel the baby on my right side move, but the past few days I've actually felt the baby on the left move as well.



Genders? Still a mystery, but hopefully we'll find out on Thursday! I can't wait! I'm still leaning toward 2 girls, but everyone else keeps saying 2 boys, so I don't know. Although while driving with Cole the other day I was saying how I feel like it's 2 girls, but because everyone keeps saying 2 boys, I'm starting to doubt my intuition. Well 2 seconds later we pass a Dad pushing twin girls in a stroller..a sign??? Maybe! Also yesterday at Target they have a gift card that has a little wheel to spin it and it either lands on a girl, a boy, twin girls, or twin boys. I spun it and it landed on twin girls! Ha. Cole tried spinning it and just kept getting girls, so I guess we'll have to wait and see!


Belly Button In or Out? In, but it's not as deep as it used to be. It never "popped" with Grace, so I doubt it will this time either.


Cravings? Today I really want banana bread with nuts!



What I Miss? Being comfortable.



What I Love? Carrying these babies (what a miracle). Feeling them move.


What I Am Looking Forward to This Week? My doctor's appointment Thursday.



Milestones? This week I'm entering into my 5th month of pregnancy!


Feeling the Babies Move? Usually once or twice a day, still not all the time yet.


Other Thoughts? I am just really thankful to have made it this far with miner complications. Praying the rest of pregnsncy goes the same!

Twin Purchases

We finally made a few purchases for the twins, well 2 to be exact, and both of them are from Craigslist. Probably about a month ago I saw a listing for the Twin Nursing Pillow I wanted. The pillow normally runs around $50 and this woman had it listed for $15. We emailed back and forth and I found out she had boy/girl twins who were 2 years old. The woman offered to give me the twin clothes she had left over from her babies. I graciously excepted them, and the woman just gave them to me for free! So I got a barely used nursing pillow and a bag of nice Children's Place baby clothes all for $15. Yay!

This is what the nursing pillow looks like:

Then a week ago I searched Craigslist for a Double Snap N Go stroller for when the twins are infants. The stroller noprmally runs about $100 new and $40-$50 used. I saw one listed for $20 and jumped on it. So Sunday Cole and I went into the city and picked up the barely used stroller...double yay!

This is what the stroller looks like:

 Every couple days I check Craigslist for other used items we need, like swings and bouncy seats. Cole's Aunt has informed us she has an extra crib we can use, which will be so helpful! Once we find out the sexes of the twins, which is hopefully a week from tomorrow, we'll go place a bunch of items we need on lay-away. Now, we are no where near being close to having everything we'll need for the twins, but it's a start, and a great one!

Touch-A-Truck

We took Grace to a Touch-A-Truck yesterday. I was nervous about how'd she do, but she loved it!

Grace in the police van

Grace loving the police car

Grace and Cole on the firetruck

Grace in front of the tank

Grace driving

Grace on the back of the army truck.

In the Fed-ex truck.

Grace on the tractor tire.

We just had to take her picture with the Clifford Truck!

Just her size!

The Brennan Boys were there as well!

A Few Pictures

Just thought I'd share a few pictures from the last week.

Grace climbing like a monkey.

Going down the slide like a big girl!

On the swing

Look at those long legs!

Showing Daddy where they're going next.

While Cole and I were getting ready for a wedding this weekend Grace decided to rock a hat.

The twins at 16 weeks at a wedding.

Grace

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9 Years

Today makes it 9 years since Cole and I started dating. 9 years ago we started out as friends, starting flirting, Cole assured me that he didn't want a girlfriend, and yet 2 weeks later there he was asking me to be his girlfriend. Only 2 days after my junior prom Cole asked me out. Who knew 9 years later, we'd be married and on our way to 3 kids...well I guess we did know!

Cole and I at Junior Prom

Cole's Senior Prom

My Senior Prom

Happy Anniversary Cole! May there be many more years and many more kids...I kid, kind of! 

16 Weeks

We had are doctor's appointment yesterday and it went very well! My BP was 120/78 and both babies heartbeats looked good. Yay for a good appointment!

How far along? 16 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: 6 pounds, I hadn't gained anything since last week.

Maternity clothes? Yes


Sleep: The same...I wake up every couple hours to pee. The killer heartburn has set in when I try to lay down. I fully anticipate having to sleep sitting up by the end of pregnancy.



Best moment this week: Yesterday, by far. Knowing that the bp meds are working was such a relief. Also in the waiting room yesterday there was a 10 day old baby and Grace just wanted to hold it and burp it, it totally melted my heart. I love her!



Food cravings: I've really been craving pasta with alfredo sauce, I have yet to eat it yet, but I want to!


Gender: Still a mystery, but only 2 weeks left until we find out....hopefully!




Movement: I had only been feeling flutters until last night, but the babies kicked it into high gear last night!


What I am looking forward to: The ultrasound!


What I miss: Not getting heartburn every time I bend over!



Milestones: Lowering my bp!

15 Weeks

How far along? 15 Weeks 2 days


Total weight gain/loss: 6 pounds
Maternity clothes? Yes

Sleep: The same...I wake up every couple hours to pee.

Best moment this week: Cole was able to feel one of the babies. They are laying head to head and one is kind of on top of the other, so at the end of the day if I lay on my left side my belly is pretty hard and if you press down on the baby you can feel it wiggle away. Cole has been able to do this twice this week and feel one of the babies!


Food cravings: I've really been craving cereal...all cereals...cinnamon toast crunch, strawberry shredded wheats, peanutbutter captain crunch, raisin bran, you name it!


Gender: Still a mystery, but only 2 1/2 weeks!



Movement: I'm feeling flutters every now and then, starting to feel some more serious movements.


What I am looking forward to: The Dr's on Thursday. I'm really hoping my bp will be down and that the meds are working. I'm hoping we'll get a quick peek at the babies as well.

What I miss: Not feeling so crumby. Everything aches and I know it's going to get a LOT worse, but it's so worth it!


Milestones: Making it to week 15, only 9 more weeks until viability...Grow babies grow!

Mother's Day

I had a fantastic Mother's Day! First we went over to the Brennans' house for our traditional Mother's Day Brunch.

Grace all ready to go!

Gracie and I ( I don't know why I smile like that!)

Me and all 3 of my babies!

Grace giving the babies a hug.

Cole and Grace

Jacob

Grace and Jackson

After brunch we headed over to Cole's Mom's house to celebrate Mother's Day with her.

Cassie and Grace

I had a great 2nd Mother's Day and I look forward to spending next Mother's Day with 3 kids!

Dr.'s Appointment

So, we went to our scheduled Dr.'s appointment yesterday and it did not go as I had planned. First we had a new nurse and that just threw me through a loop, because I'm used to having the same nurse who knows me and my history. Then I stepped on the scale and had gained 10 pounds in 3 weeks, WHAT? I was NOT expecting that, I knew I had really started to show and was told this week I had ""popped", but still 10 pounds! I know it's not a big deal, I'm only up 6 pounds total, I just wanted the weight gain to be more steady, not all at once. Then the nurse took my blood pressure...it was 150/70...yikes! My blood pressure had slowly been creeping up so my Dr. decided to start me on a low dose of Labatelol to hopefully lower it. I must admit this makes me very nervous, my blood pressure wasn't a problem with Grace until 30 weeks and with bed rest I was able to keep her in 7 weeks then they had to take her because it turned to pre-eclampsia. I really want to carry these twins to 38 weeks, so having my bp so high, so early makes me very nervous! Then to top it off I found out the perinatologist recommended moving my due date to 11/5 based on my last ultrasound. Now I know that 4 days is not a huge deal, but it felt like such a disappointment. My pregnancy just got 4 days longer and I was now 4 days further away from viability.

Once we got to the car I started crying. I only cried for a few minutes, then it was out of my system. I was just so excited for a good doctor's appointment and this was not one. Overall I'm very happy, the babies both look good, so I can't really complain.

Water and The Beach

It's been hot here lately, so we played in the backyard with water the other day and Grace had a blast!

She chased Daddy with the hose!

And helped Daddy clean her sand toys.

and got a ride on Daddy's shoulders.

Yesterday we all went to the beach for a little while, Grace loves the beach!

Pointing at the waves.

Looking at the water.

Grace built some sand castles.

And of course ate some sand as well.

After we cleaned her up, we let Grace play at the playground for a while, see LOVED it!

And after all that Grace took a 3 hour nap, that we had to wake her up from! I am not enjoying the heat, but I am liking having new activites to do with Grace.

Belly Shots

Ok, so I have this dress, I wear probably once or twice a year.

Here it is in 2007, without a baby bump

In 2008 at 19 weeks with Grace

Again at 27 weeks with Grace

And yesterday at 14 Weeks, with the twins.

And a side-by-side comparsion