Hospital Tour...

We had our tour of the Overlake Hospital Childbirth Center last night. It was a great tour! They talked some about how things would be different if you were having twins. I took a whole page of notes! LOL!

The thing that I thought was interesting is that when you're delivering twins they automatically move you to one of the operating rooms. I guess that way they're ready if you need to have an emergency C-section. The lady that did our tour also teaches an "Expecting Multiples" class at the hospital and she said that 50% of twin deliveries end in a C-section. UGH! Those are not very good odds! We are going to sign up for that class though b/c it seemed like they will cover some good information that I'm kind of stressing about.

Oh, they do have a level 3 nursery (NICU) and they have 12 private cubicles in the NICU so I can stay with the babies in there if we wind up needing it. Cool, huh? They also have 3 nourishment kitchens in the childbirth center that are stocked with all kinds of drinks, sandwiches, salads, veggie cups, fruit cups, jello and other small snacks that are available 24 hours a day to anyone with a security band (so Chad and I will have access to that anytime we need it). After having a baby at 12:09AM, I totally realize the value of 24 hour access to food!!!

The only thing that I didn't like was that they don't have a nursery so they only have a rooming in option. I know that may make me sound like a terrible mom, but after 3 kids, I don't really need to learn how to change diapers, KWIM?? I need my sleep!!!!

Anyway, now that we know where to go when the time comes I feel a lot more comfortable. It's a nice hospital and I'm looking forward to my time there!

Hiccups...

They have begun!!!!!!!

Baby A woke me up at 2AM the other night and hiccuped for 20 minutes!!! I'm feeling hiccups from at least one of the babies everyday now. Usually I feel them from both. How much longer do I have to feel them?????!!!!

The babies are moving lots and lots these days. They're more active when I'm sitting still. Based on how they were positioned at my u/s I'm feeling Baby A a lot more than Baby B. I think A is trying to get B off his head! LOL! Chad, Ethan and Joshua have all been able to feel the babies kicking! Will has yet to feel them. Poor guy! Hopefully he will soon!

Some thoughts...

Some of you may have noticed the link, over there to the right, to the Steece family in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. You may have also gone and taken a look at their blog and become as fascinated with it as I have. Joe and Suzanne are parents to 6 month old quadruplets. I found their blog through another blog the day the quads were born. I then spent 3 hours going back to January of '07 and reading all about their journey to parenthood. I was so encouraged by their trust in God and their faith that He was in control.

Anyway, I was reading the other day and Suzanne had included a link to the post about the day they found out they were having quads. I re-read it with tears in my eyes. Her thoughts and feelings are all too familiar now, as I feel that I'm experiencing the same thing, but on a much smaller level! I know from reading her blog about her life with 4 little ones that I can do this, I'm only having two!

I still feel like I'm on the outside looking in at someone else's life. It's still so unreal to me that I'm carrying twins! I still wonder why God chose to give me 5 boys! Who would have ever thought that I would have 5 boys!! It's crazy! I just pray that I can do the job that God has called me to. What an honor!

22 Weeks!

Ok, I am posting my newest belly pic because it is definitely bigger this time!!!

See -


I'm posting this picture b/c I think it's a better picture of me, but the way I have my hands it's harder to see how big my belly is -


I don't have any news this week, I haven't been back to the doctor yet. I'm too tired right now to try to think of something else to say! Sorry!!! I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their weekend!

I think we have names!

But you all know how I do!! LOL! Don't go putting these names anywhere permanent!

Alexander Matthew & Andrew Christian

They'll go by Alex and Drew. You love them don't you??? LOL! Now we have to figure out how to assign the names! They're still "Baby A" and "Baby B" for now.

I don't have any pictures to share at the moment. Saturday I'll be 22 weeks and I'll take a new picture. I don't know if my belly has changed at all though, we'll see. I always think that it's bigger but it doesn't look like it is in the pictures.

Well, I need to go finish cleaning my house. We have more company coming up this weekend! Mom and Bobby are coming up and they're bringing my oldest nephew Tyler with them! My boys are getting so excited! Chad's off to Whistler for the annual BMO trip tomorrow. I told him that since I got to go to CA with the girls in October he should get to go to Whistler with out the fam for a guys weekend. He invited his buddy, David, to go with him, but he was unable to go. Chad will have a good time anyway. He and a bunch of his coworkers are taking a snowmobiling tour on Friday and he's really looking forward to it!

Okay, I'm really going to go now! Say a prayer for safe travels for Chad, my mom, Bobby and Tyler! Check back soon to see if there's a new belly pic!

It's Official!!

We are having TWO more BOYS!!!! Can you believe it?? My doctor did an ultrasound on Wednesday and she said, "We'll see what they say on Monday, but I'm calling it two boys!".

So, this morning we all piled into a tiny u/s room and waited for the confirmation. Yep, the tech saw it too. Two beautifully healthy babies with boy parts!! Wow, me, the mom of 5 boys! Who would have ever thought?? Certainly not me!

So here is a profile picture from today of "Baby A". His head is on the left:


And here is a profile of "Baby B", with his hand up by his face (on the right):


Hopefully I can get Chad to start thinking about names now!

Half way there!!!

I hit the 20 week mark on Saturday! Yea! I feel like this pregnancy is flying by! Anyone else feel that way? Chad says it's b/c we didn't find out we were having twins until 6 weeks ago! Anyway, it's going pretty quick for me.

You don't get a close up pick of my face this time b/c I'm sick, again. Anyway, my nose is all red and I look miserable!! So here are some pictures:





The first picture was taken in front of our window at the Bellevue Embassy Suites (more about that later). Notice the sunshine!! Yea!!!

Oh yeah, in case anyone's wondering I've gained 11 lbs so far. I'm hoping to gain a pound a week from here on out which will put me at a 31 lb gain. Doable??? We'll see!! I swear though, my belly looks so much bigger when I look down at it. It really doesn't look that big in pictures! Those of you that see me in person, don't you think it looks bigger in person?

18 Weeks!

Here is a self portrait that I took today. I am 18 weeks, 0 days. I included my face for all of you that asked! I have currently gained 7lbs and I think it's all in my face and my butt!! LOL! I have started feeling quite a bit of movement from these little buns! I had a few good thumps last night, it might not be long before the boys get to feel them move! Ethan asked me the other day if he could tell the babies something. So I said "Sure!" and turned my belly toward him. He said, "I love you babies!!!" He is SO excited that I'm having TWO BABIES!!! He'll tell anyone that will listen that there are 2 babies in my belly!! His enthusiasm is definitely contagious!!



Enjoy!

Ultrasound is scheduled...

I just scheduled my ultrasound for Feb. 18th!!! Hopefully "Baby A" will be cooperating and we can find out if we'll have 5 boys or not!

I also have my next doctor appointment on Feb. 13th, if she does another u/s then maybe "A" will cooperate then and we won't have to wait until the 18th!

YEA!!!!

Belly Pics...

Just in case you're the type that likes to see how big a pregnant belly is, I thought I'd post a picture for you.

I'm 16 weeks, 5 days by the first measurement of "Baby A", before we knew there was a "Baby B"!


I look 6 months pregnant instead of 4!!

Dr. Appointment

I had my first doctor appointment today after finding out that we're having twins. Dr. Evans confirmed that we are indeed having twins!! She did another ultrasound to see how they're doing. The babies look good and their hearts were beating like crazy! It was a beautiful sight! We did definitely see boy parts on "Baby B". There was NO denying it!! LOL!! "Baby A" was not cooperating though so we're still not sure there. The babies are in two different sacs which is really good news, but we won't know if they're identical or fraternal until birth. I think that answers a lot of the questions I'm getting. If you have more, just ask. If I don't know the answer, I'll try to ask the question at my next appointment.

Okay, I took a picture of some of my ultrasound pictures (I'm still too chicken to scan them!) and here they are!

I'm guessing this is a picture of "Baby A" from my first doctor appointment. This was before we knew there was a "Baby B". I was 11 weeks 4 days according to the measurements. The baby is tiny in this picture! It's head is on the right (profile picture) and it's torso is on the left.


This is a picture of "Baby A" taken last week (when I found out I had twins). The tech said that I was measuring right in line with my due date, which is July 5th. That would have made me 14 weeks 3 days. This is a head on shot, so you're basically seeing like a skeleton view of it's face, on the right, and it's torso on the left.


This is "Baby B" from last week as well. It's a profile view with it's hand up towards it's face.


And for the last picture. This is a picture from today of both babies at the same time. It's pretty hard to make out, as a matter of fact, Ethan said he saw 3 babies!! LOL! On the left is "Baby A"'s head, the middle is it's torso and then way over on the right is part of "Baby B"'s head. She said they were measuring 16 weeks 1 day and 16 weeks 6 days today.


So, there are the pictures of my babies!! Wow, my babIES! That still sounds funny! Thanks for looking!

What a surprise!!!

Ok, I've had a couple days to get used to this news, so I feel like I'm ready to blog about it now!

I went in for my nuchal translucency test on Tuesday. That test is an early screening for down syndrome. It consists of an ultrasound and a fingerprick. This is a test I never even heard of with the boys, but it's one they wanted to do, so I scheduled it.

I hopped up on the exam table for the ultrasound. After the tech got me all ready for it she put the little thing (I know there's a technical term for that but I don't know what it is!) on my belly and got a huge grin on her face. She asked me when my last ultrasound was and then said she had some shocking news for me. She turned the monitor around for me to see it and said, "See that? That is TWO babies!!! You're having twins!".

WHAT?????????????????????? How can this be?? We don't have twins in our blood line, at least not that we know of!!!

So, now we start the journey of a high risk pregnancy and finding out everything we can about twins! Thankfully I have step-sisters that are fraternal twins, so I'm sure I can ask them lots of questions!!!

Dawn & Heather



Please keep us in your prayers! We are still reeling from the shock of the news!