the miracle of twin birth

The end of my pregnancy had really begun to take its toll. I was physically spent and emotionally just exhausted. (Being off my meds really sucked.) So when I went to my (unbeknownst to me) last OB appointment at 37w6d and the OB decided to strip my membranes I was really, really hopeful that things would move quickly.

I was sorely disappointed.

Friday went by without any real changes. I was a teensy bit crampy and had some contractions but they fizzled out rather quickly. I tried to seduce The Monkey (who was totally on board) but my body just wasn't having it. And my brain really wasn't in the mood, either. It takes brain power to get turned on and all I could think was whether or not the sex would help get things moving. Meh.

Saturday came and again, a whole lotta nuttin'. I got on the elliptical. I cleaned. I did laundry. Not so much as a strong Braxton Hicks. It was like my body was mocking me. Every time I went to the bathroom (which at 38 weeks with twins is a LOT) I would wipe and pray for bloody show. I find this incredibly ironic. My OB told me very pointedly after the membrane sweep that I "would have some spotting" especially since my normal cervix checks had caused spotting for about a day each time. But every bathroom trip proved fruitless. Not so much as a tan tint to my TP.

By Saturday night I knew that my "window of opportunity" was closing. (Most labors begin within 48 hours of a sweep if they're going to begin.) By 8:00 PM I was sulking around thinking how I might actually make it to my OB appointment on Tuesday. I was beginning to feel like my body was mocking me relentlessly. First I couldn't get pregnant. Now, even measuring almost 52 weeks, my body didn't want to get a move on to get unpregnant. Around 11:00 The Monkey and I went to bed. I asked him for sex as badly as I did not really care to try but wound up falling asleep before either of us could initiate things. I think The Monkey was probably very relieved. (First all the pressure to "get the job done" to get pregnant... now I was asking him to "get the job done" to put me into labor. Hah!)

At 1:00 AM on Sunday July 3rd I jolted awake to a distinct pain in my abdomen. It definitely wasn't a Braxton. Or it didn't feel like a Braxton. But one tummy twinge doesn't mean jack in the world of labor and deliver so I rolled over and went back to sleep. An undetermined amount of time later and another one of those pains woke me up. Hmm... I grabbed my Droid off the headboard and opened my contraction timer app (there's an app for everything) and pushed start. About a minute later I pushed 'stop' and then dozed back off. Eleven minutes and 24 seconds later, another pain. One minute and twelve seconds and it subsided. This went on for about an hour. I decided to get out of bed and walk around. If I was in early labor I certainly didn't want to discourage things!

I hopped on the elliptical for a few minutes. I couldn't manage much, though. In between the pains I had a heavy feeling in my bladder that made it impossible to NOT try to pee every few minutes.

After about a half hour of roaming around the house I felt nothing had changed. Disappointed, I crawled back into the bed with The Monkey and tried to go back to sleep. As if in response my body started sending the pains a bit quicker and a bit stronger. Hmm..... I poked The Monkey and told him I was contracting. Mmm hmm... was all he managed through his CPAP. Obviously we've been there done that and The Monkey wasn't convinced. (Then again, neither was I.) I took my Droid into the bathroom and got into a hot shower. Not only did the contractions not subside, they got more intense and closer together. At 3:00 AM they were 5 - 6 minutes apart, better than a minute long, and it was clearly time to head to the hospital (especially since it's an hour away).

The drive was uneventful. I had fairly steady contractions -- some a lot more painful than others. I kept worrying that by the time we arrived at the emergency room things would have fizzled and I would wind up looking like a complete fool. (My hope was that even if things did fizzle, they would check my cervix and that would hopefully kick start things into gear again.)

The ER was fairly dead. I sat down and began paperwork. They called L&D to come down and get me. Once upstairs the nurse began the tedious task of trying to hunt down and keep both babies on the monitor. I kept remember thinking "Please put the toco monitor on FIRST!" so I could see the contractions on the monitor. Sort of as a way to prove to myself that I wasn't crazy.

The babies were surprisingly cooperative and the nurse left for a few minutes after hooking everything up. Being strapped to those monitors is extremely uncomfortable. The belts were tight and itchy. (The edema in my lower tummy protested vehemently.) Thankfully I was, indeed, having contractions and they were, indeed, about five minutes apart. The nurse proceeded to check my cervix. It was the do or die moment. No progress would mean that I would be getting a very disappointing NST at 4:00 AM. So when the nurse said "5 - 6 cm, 80% effaced, and a bulging bag" my heart skipped a beat. She left to get paperwork started to have us admitted. She called the doc on call (not my OB but from my OB's practice and a very awesome doc) to come give his analysis. I was asked if I wanted an epidural (HELL YES, thanks!) and they played a short informational video while we waited.

Filling out paperwork during labor is fun stuff. They could've been asking me to sign away my first born and I wouldn't have known. (Thankfully spouses have to sign too. And no worries, both babies are ours to keep!) After signing a dozen things (had to sign things in pairs, y'know) they got my fingerprint and whisked us away to a L&D birthing suite. Shortly thereafter my sister and mom showed up. By then it was just after 5:00 AM. Little did I know I had a long, long road ahead of me. A long, long HUNGRY road!

Around 7:00 AM I was done with the two bags of fluids required for an epidural and the anathesiologist came in and got me set up with my epidural. It took all of five minutes (felt longer) and in no time I was feeling NO pain. Bliss. The nurse checked me again. I was at 6 cm, 80% effaced and Baby A was at -2 station. I had a nurse by my side pretty much non-stop because Baby A refused to stay on the monitor for more than a few seconds at a time. Finally the nurse got fed up and brought the doctor in to break my water so they could monitor her interally. Around 10:00 AM he came in and introduced himself. He wasn't my usual OB (from the same practice, though) but I was very comfortable with him. (I later found out that he and his wife went through several years of infertility and conceived their son through IUI as well.) I was 7 cm when they broke my water and we all expected things to progress rather quickly. The epidural made me start to itch a bit so the nurse gave me a shot of Benadryl. I dozed on and off until around noon when the nurse came back in to check me. I was a little disheartened to learn I was STILL at 7 cm. The nurse suggested a slow pitocin drip.

2:00 PM they started the pitocin. My contractions were regular but not peaking/strong enough. With only 2 cm left to go, I was totally on board with the pit. A couple hours later my contractions had only picked up slightly so they increased the dose. Another hour went by and the nurse came back for another check. I was 9 1/2 cm and fully effaced! Baby A was now at +2 station (which didn't surprise me seeing as how it felt like her head was between my thighs). They waited another half hour. I knew it would be baby time very soon and yet things still felt completely surreal. The contractions really started to pick up. Anyone who tells you an epidural makes all the pain go away is lying. I felt those later contractions (and even some of the earlier ones). I know they weren't as painful as they would have been without an epidural but I still felt them. The ones close to and during delivery hurt plenty.

At quarter til 7:00 PM the nurse came back in for my final check. Fully dilated, fully effaced -- ready for birth. Everything moved very quickly yet in slow motion. A nurse came in and prepped the warmer. Several other nurses started buzzing around me unhooking my bed and getting things ready to head to the OR. As a precaution, most twins are delivered in the OR. One of the reasons I chose an epidural was so IF I had to have an emergency section they wouldn't have to put me under general anethesia. I wanted my babies here safe and sound and I wanted to be fully alert for their arrival! A little after 7:00 off to the OR we went.

The OR was bright and a little intimidating. There were two nurses for each baby, a nurse for me, two anethesiologists, nurses to assist the doctor, the doctor himself (of course), and an intern that was kind enough to take pictures for us. The Monkey sad dutifully by my side and held my hand. After being all set up the doc said rather matter-of-factly -- let's have some babies!

I waited for the next contraction and everyone told me to push. And so I did as hard as I possibly could. But apparently I was doing something wrong. The doc looked up and said "Push like you're going to the bathroom." Oh, duh. I seem to remember my very experienced sister telling me the same thing. The next contraction came and I pushed the right way. My anesthesiologist began coaching me through pushing. The minutes felt like hours. Several pushes later I began crying and (very cliché, I know) began complaining about how I couldn't do it! The contractions hurt (the epi had been turned off). The pressure was unbearable. Another contraction came and I pushed with all my might. I felt the "ring of fire" I'd read about and the doctor and nurses said "Here she comes!" At 7:38 PM my daughter was born. It was the biggest feeling of relief when Baby A was finally out. I couldn't believe the relief! She cried immediately and I started bawling right along with her. I looked at The Monkey and he had tears streaming down his cheeks as well. I did it. WE did it. But I still had one more baby to go!

The doctor acted quickly. He (and I!) wanted to avoid a section so he grabbed a suction cup thing and grabbed Baby B before she had a chance to "swim away" so to speak. Three pushes and Baby B was out. A mere three minutes after her sister. While the girls got cleaned up and checked The Monkey and I looked at each other and smiled. We have babies! is what our eyes said. Then for the important part... names. It didn't take us long to decide on Abigail Hope and Hannah Faith.

Abigail Hope (Baby A) was born at 7:38 PM. She was 6 lbs 13 oz and 19 1/2" long. Her sister, Hannah Faith, was born at 7:41 PM. She weighed 6 lbs 14 oz and was 20" long. I was carrying around nearly 14 lbs of baby!! They were the most beautiful things I'd ever seen in my life.

The Monkey went with the girls to have all their 'newborn stuff' taken care of while I stayed in the OR to get stitched up. I wound up with a level II episiotomy.

And now for some pictures.



Waiting waiting waiting...



Proud daddy-to-be!



So happy to be in labor!!



Final belly shot. You know, I didn't realize it was quite that big!



The Monkey (right) and his brother (left).



Me with my mom and sister.



Getting ready to head to the OR. Yes I was a little frightened.



Tears of utter joy! My Baby A! My Abigail.



More happy tears! My Baby B! My Hannah.



She was very vocal. :)



Happy little family!



I hadn't eaten ALL DAY. I was starving!!



My girls. ♥



Oma and her girl. I honestly can't remember for sure but I think she has Abigail. *blush*



Aunt Mimi and Hannah



Mommy admiring beautiful Hannah.



Daddy holding Abigail.

full to bursting

My heart. It is so full of joy and love for my girls that sometimes it's overwhelming and all I can do is cry. Happy tears, of course.

And now Christmastime is upon us and I find myself reflecting back several years ago and I am happy that this day is here. The day where I will be celebrating with my little family and I am oh-so-blessed. So blessed.


Yes my heart is full.

thankful.

Oh so very thankful.

The holidays this year are different. Instead of going "Ugh, do we have to put up Christmas decorations??" I'm going "We are TOTALLY putting up decorations the day after Thanksgiving and when can we get a tree again??!" Years of wishing/hoping/longing/praying and here I am. I'm a mom. I'm a MoM, even. Which is twice as nice.

The two little critters are doing fabulously. The Monkey joked the other day how we sort of haven't earned our "twin badges" because our journey thus far (KNOCK ON WOOD) has been remarkably easy. They are just easy going babies.

We had our four month checkup on Friday and Abigail measured 26" and weighed 13 lbs 12 oz. My chunky monkey Hannah measured 25 3/4" and weighed 14 lbs 8 oz! They are growing up so fast it's unreal! They have these little discernible personalities. Abby is a screamer/drama/attention whore. Hannah is laid back/chill. They switch, of course, to keep us guessing but mostly those "roles" are consistent. They had their vaccines on Friday also. This time I didn't cry as much. :P Abby was a little more upset by the whole ordeal (see previous comment about drama queen) and had to be consoled a little longer. They ran a slight temp for a couple of days and were kind of lethargic but otherwise are doing well. Because they've been tossing and turning more we decided to transition them to their cribs. It's not that I wanted to, really, but it was ideal for all of us -- the girls included. So for the past four nights they've slept roughly 10 - 12 hours a night in their own room in their own cribs. :') My heart is torn between being thrilled and being sad that they're already that grown up.

Their clothing size varies. I have some 3 - 6 that still fits them but mostly they are in 6 monhts (Carter's), 6 - 9 months (Children's Place), and 6 - 12 months (Old Navy/Gap). Some of their 3 - 6 stuff still fits, though.

It's hard not to be grateful with a heart this full of joy and love. I'm still having some issues tweaking my meds but it's coming along. I am now on Prozac, Lamictal, Abilify, and Klonopin for mania PRN. Also taking Ambien for sleep when I can manage.

Next time I update I need to update regarding cloth diapering. If anything about parenthood agrees with me it's definitely fluff! I'm resisting my urge to try wool in fear that I'll like it too much and want to redo my entire stash. That's just NOT an option for a stash the size of mine (easily 200 diapers).

In the meantime I leave you with something I see EVERY MORNING:

Abby


Hannah

guess what?

I'm a mom.

And guess what becoming a mom didn't cure?

My mental illness. *gasp!* Yes interwebs I am still very much bipolar after giving birth to my two beautiful daughters. And it sucks! (Um, not being a mom. That's pretty awesome. Being a bipolar mom sucks.)

I seriously need to get my meds straight. I went back on them right after delivering but it has NOT managed to keep the mood swings under control. Not even a little bit. In fact, I can't ever remember being THIS bad while on a proper med cocktail. Ever. (The Zoloft treatment circa my uber-crazy late teen/early 20 years doesn't count. Monotherapy with an SSRI does not adequate bipolar treatment make.) Right now I'm on the 20mg of Prozac and 200mg of Lamictal I was on pre-pregnancy. I feel like I'm on freaking placebos.

Things heavy on my list right now: paranoia, excessive extreme guilt, flight of ideas (O. M. G.), rage/anger/outbursts, deep depressions with crying spells, overspending, guilt, and possibly maybe some mild transient psychosis.

Right now I am rational and I can process this. When I am at either end of the bipolar spectrum (manic/depressed) I cannot. Everything is MY fault. I'm a horrible mother. My children and husband deserve SO much better. The world would be better off without me. Blah blah blah...

The only thing I can think to do for the time being is talk to my pdoc (appointment on Tuesday) about some sort of antipsychotic for the time being. I don't know what else to do. Lamictal was such a miracle drug for me three years ago and now I might as well be taking Pez in its place. And I'm not sure if the Prozac is helping (keeping me from being too awfully depressed) or hurting (contributing to the dysphoric manias I've been dealing with lately).

But these two little creatures that I have. Wow. They are amazingly worth it. I know I can get through this. It may take another dozen medication tweaks but I know we can get my bipolar stabilized. We have to. Because these two little creatures have totally stolen my heart.

12 weeks!

I have several posts pending. I sit down to write and never finish! Even my birth story is sitting in my un-posted archives waiting for me to finish it up.

Life is good. It's not always easy but it's definitely GOOD. I love these two little creatures so fiercly and completely. It's wonderful. ♥

I can't believe that they are already 12 weeks old! They are growing and changing so fast!

Here are some stats. Hopefully I'll get around to posting more often. The girls were born at 38w1d. I was in labor from 1:00 AM until they were born at 7:38 and 7:41 PM on July 3rd. I had an epidural though so it was all good. ;) Abigail Hope was 6 lbs, 13 oz and 19.5" long. Hannah Faith was 6 lbs, 14 oz and 20" long. Both were born vaginally! I pushed for less than 20 minutes to get them both out. (It sure felt like a LOT longer!) At their two month check Abby was up to 11 lbs 1 oz and 23.25" and Hannah was 11 lbs 5 oz and 24" long. They are delightful, happy little babies and I simply could not ask for more. :)

and the clock winds down!

I'm sitting here timing some contractions. I'm certain they're only Braxton Hicks. They're not what I would describe as painful. Uncomfortable, yes. Weird feeling, definitely. But painful... no. Still, seeing as how I'm only going to be 35 weeks on Saturday I'm a little anxious that they are happening regularly. On one hand I am super excited to meet my precious baby girls! On the other hand... well, I'd rather they keep cooking for a minimum of another week! Preferably two more weeks to hit full term status.

Maybe the "new baby smell" triggered something. :P My nephew's girlfriend had a beautiful baby boy yesterday. It was a rough couple of days for me. My blood was boiling with jealousy. It has been tough sharing a pregnancy with a teenager. Especially after years of infertility. I'm a little jealous that she got to go through a very normal labor. But my irritation level was extremely high the entire night and most of the following day. I went with my sister to visit them late yesterday afternoon and it was amazing how quickly a lot of those emotions melted away. He is just SOOO precious! He looks so much like my nephew it's unreal. He was 8 lbs 4 oz and 21" long. A very healthy big boy!

So now that I've gotten a good whiff of that new baby smell I keep going "Wow... I can't wait to see mine!" I have to keep reminding myself that they are better off staying in the belly for at least another week, though.

Despite all of this... it's still really hard to picture/imagine what it's going to look like. I've only just recently gotten used to being pregnant. Feeling pregnant. Believing that I'm pregnant. The fact that pregnant is going to turn into my having babies is still pretty mind boggling!

So far I've had five Braxton Hicks in the last 40 minutes. And I didn't time the ones I was having before but they were fairly regular from what I can tell.

polar emotions

Today I am 34w2d pregnant. I cannot begin to describe how fast and slow this has gone. I'm definitely in a state of disbelief that, in a few weeks (or less!) time, I could be bringing home my babies. I am excited and terrified all at the same time.

These last couple weeks of pregnancy have been rough. I tapered off my Prozac (probably far too quickly) so my emotions have been extra high. Couple that with the general discomfort that comes with being 30+ weeks pregnant with twins and, well... things are bound to get hairy every now and again. The crying spells. Oh dear Lord. The Monkey and I were heading out to a friend's house the other day to borrow a power tool and while he went in to Walgreens to get me a bottle of water I completely lost it. Blubbering. Mess. I took a nap on the way out and by the time we arrived I felt chipper again. Sleep is a luxary that I just don't see much of. I'm up four or five times a night. Three (or more) of those times I have to roll (yes roll) out of bed and hobble to the potty. Other times I just have to switch sides. (I despise side sleeping. It makes my hips and shoulders and neck very sore and I will not lie -- I can't WAIT to sleep on my back again!)

During the rougher days I think to myself "37 weeks can't come soon enough!" Not just because of the discomfort but also because, well duh, I can't wait to meet these little girls! But then I look down at my belly and think about how little time I have left to cherish it. I love my belly. I honestly love being pregnant. Pregnancy has been rather agreeable with my psyche. Dare I say, for the most part, I am comfortable in my own skin. Even though I have packed on a whopping 60 lbs already! [jawdrop] I love feeling all the rolling around that goes on in there. I like trying to figure out which body part is trying to make its way into my ribcage. I love the steady, rhythmic poking when one or both of the babies has the hiccups.

Thankfully I'm pretty sure that once they are here I will have very little time to miss being pregnant. ;) We have everything ready to go. Well, except we need to get the car seats installed in the car and then have them inspected. The nursery is done. We did some maternity portraits (and I'm hoping to do a few more this week). And I find that's another reason I keep wishing for the next few weeks to fly by -- we're ready!

Today is my final visit with the perinatologist. Everything has gone pretty much perfectly. I, apparently, have a cervix of steel. Every measurement has been 5+ cm; long and closed. My girls are growing fabulously! They've consistently remained in the 50th percentile during the entire pregnancy. At our ultrasound with the OB on Friday Baby A was estimated to weigh 5 lbs 3 oz and Baby B was 5 lbs 3 oz. Big, healthy girls!

And so the countdown begins (or picks up) and hopefully very soon (but not too soon) I'll be introducing my sweet little girls to the world.

viability

24 weeks pregnant today. Officially, the twins are considered viable. And yet, it's all still very surreal.

I wouldn't trade this experience for the world. Pregnancy has been truly wonderful thus far. The movement and kicks I'm getting (more frequently) are amazing. Really and truly. I remember thinking how amazing it was to feel my niece kick from the outside. It's a million times more incredible firsthand. The Monkey has been able to feel them quite a few times. (The kicks are still sometimes not as strong. The babies are still relatively tiny; my placenta is anterior; and, y'know, I'm pudgy.) When they're particularly active (usually sometime in late afternoon) I can sit and watching them poke my belly and just be completely awestruck. This is definitely my favorite part of pregnancy thus far.

Things are going swimmingly. Every two weeks I get checked out by either my OB or my perinatologist and we've had zero bad news. My cervix remains long and closed. Babies are always moving/bouncing around like crazy. Heartbeats are always wonderful. It's incredible how after so long of struggling with loving my body because it could never do anything right. Now it seems to be doing exactly what anyone could want from it. For that, I am thankful.

There are other things going on outside of preggie-ville. The Monkey is "scheduled" to lose his job sometime around June/July. Kind of perfect and crappy timing all at once. The good thing is that he'll be eligible for displaced worker retraining. He's finally going to get to go to college and get his A and P certification and, hopefully, after his schooling he'll be able to land a job pretty quick with one of the many aviation places we have around here. He's wanted to work on (well, actually fly) helicopters/aircraft for as long as he can remember. He moved to Alabama to do just that but things just got in the way. (In his words -- he always either had the time or the money; never both.) With the retraining program, he will get $10k to pay for schooling. There is a big of a money gap after that but we're sure he can fill it with grants (hooray for tax deductions!) and student loans if necessary. The great thing about all of this is that the college courses he took in the mid-90s (hehe... when I was still in middle school [snerk]) will ALL transfer to this new program! So basically he has all of his general ed classes out of the way. I know it's a little crazy to be excited about him losing his job with two babies on the way, but it's definitely a step in the right direction. He'll qualify (and get) unemployment. The only thing we really have to worry about is medical insurance for him as I will have Medicare and the babies will qualify for Medicaid. I'm hoping we can get him insurance using some sort of student program. He doesn't get sick often. And even when he does it usually doesn't require medical attention. Our only worries are kidney stones and his mediccation. (And even the latter is not the bigger of the worry as all of his meds can be prescribed by our family doc and they are all generic and dirt cheap.) In the meantime, we have money saved and we have virtually no bills to worry about.

April is right around the corner. We'll be celebrating our 7th wedding anniversary (8 years together!) and getting our 4D ultrasound done as well. And then there will also be my babyshower (!!!) at the end of the month. Everything is happening so quickly.

I can't wait to meet this precious little gifts on the outside. <3

21w1d -- onward march!

Pregnancy is starting to feel more real every day. It's still surreal in so many ways. Like I still can't picture two babies sleeping next to me or even changing cute little fluffy butts just yet. But I'm starting to get very distinct pokes and prods from the inside and oh man does that help with the reality! The Twinkies were particularly active the day before yesterday and I swear I couldn't stop grinning from ear to ear. Even the sharp groin kicks made me giggle (and those, uh... hurt).

The Monkey and I went and toured the Family Birth Center at the hospital we're going to deliver at. It was wonderful! All of their rooms are birthing suites. No sharing rooms! The Monkey is allowed to stay with me the entire time (overnight and everything!) which is something I had no clue about. (They don't allow that at our local hospital.) Also, you labor, deliver, and recover in the same room. No being shuffled around! The hospital has a low level NICU and capabilities to medevac to a hospital with a higher level NICU if needs be. (But we're not going to NEED a NICU at all, damnit. That's my resolve and I'm sticking to it!) (That, of course, is my hope and prayer... but we asked for the details because we all know that reality can very easily ruin one's plans.)

Before we headed out for the hospital tour we stopped in Target and picked up a couple more of our 'big' baby items. Specifically a swing and two bouncers. I was looking at a different bouncy seat but when The Monkey saw that they had bouncers that matched the swing he talked me into that one. Imagine! The Monkey being the one that wants stuff to match! [insert ironic laughter here]

I think we are nearly done with the big stuff. We bought the car seats. The co sleeper is on its way (I got a fantastic deal!). The nursery is painted. The nursery furniture should be here in a few weeks. We have the bedding and such. And now we have the bouncers and swing. We're waiting to see if we can get a better deal on the stroller we want before jumping into that. I'm trying not to go overboard on buying smaller stuff that will make good baby shower gifts. Clothes are a complete NON-issue. Between the hand-me-downs my sister gave us, the stuff I got on sale at Target, and the stuff my mom and sister "couldn't resist buying," I think we're set for the first few months at least. Oh, and I went a little nutso on cloth diapers so we're pretty good there as well. :P

Now all we need are a couple of adorable little babies! But I am patient and want them to stay right where they are for a minimum of another 15 weeks.

everything nice...

I love my perinatologist. He reminds me a lot of my RE (except she's, y'know, female) in that he talks to me and not at me. The entire staff at Sacred Heart is lovely. I know this is going to sound crazy but I'm grateful to be a 'high risk' patient. The doctors are so attentive and aim to quell my fears instead of dismissing me as some crazy worry wart.

The ultrasound was fantastic. They always are. I never tire of staring at the ultrasound screen in complete awe with a permagrin plastered on my face. I'm too overjoyed to even have tears of joy at this point. How silly. Both babies are very active (though I can't yet feel it). I've been noticing that the bigger they get, the harder they are to find with my doppler. I surmised that it was because they have so much room to wiggle around and do their acrobatics that they hardly sit still! Baby A is on my right side (head down...for now) and Baby B is on my left side happily kicking Baby A in the nose every now and again.

The ultrasound tech was awesome. She took her time and didn't just rush into doing measurements (they didn't last time, either). Both babies look excellent! Their growth is symmetrical (important for identical twins) and their fluid levels look nice and even. Both of their little hearts and brains look perfect. In a nutshell... so far, so good!

And seeing as how I'm 16w4d today they went ahead and took a peek between their legs. Baby A was bashful but Baby B readily showed us the goods and we are having TWIN GIRLS!! I'm beyond thrilled and amazed and... wow is this really happening to me?

And here is a peek at my two sweet girls! ♥ ♥

Baby A




Baby B




We're still tossing around names but I think we have a good idea who these little munchkins are going to be. :D

research

Even though my sister (and several others) think I'm completely out of my head... I really want to cloth diaper the twins. Just thinking about the cost of disposable diapers makes my head spin. Cloth will be more expensive up front but the savings in the long run... get outta town! It's a no brainer. I feel like my sister and the "others" that are frowning at me don't have confidence in me. After 7 1/2 years TTC do they really think that a little poop laundry is going to be bothersome?? I'm a little disappointed that they aren't backing me as much as I'd hoped.

Thankfully I have plenty of friends that cloth diaper (you know who you are!) and they have all been a big, big help. I'm browsing Green Mountain Diapers and watching YouTube videos about prefolds and covers. People make it look incredibly simple. I'm sure there's some learning curve involved but my goodness; surely it can't be much more difficult than all of these people make it look. (There were even a few videos with daddies doing diaper duty!)

So those of you out in my blogosphere... if you cloth diaper and have any tips, tricks, hints... etc. Please share! I think that I'll start primarily with the prefolds and covers and get a couple each of other types and see what we like best.

Also, in case anyone is wondering... the Twinkies are doing great! I had an NT Scan last week and got the results back yesterday. Both babies have a very low risk of trisomies 13, 18, and 21. Good stuff! The ultrasound was a.maz.ing because the babies were just SO active! They really gave mommy and daddy and Aunt Mimi a show. :) I have another appointment this Thursday -- this time with my OB -- and I'm hoping that they'll take a good peek between their legs and maybe we'll get a hint on boys or girls!

Things are just rolling along. Every day that passes feels like a blessing. A huge blessing! I'm really excited but still a bit in shock. I'm kind of ready to start feeling some flutters but we found out at my NT scan that my placenta is anterior so it'll probably be a while before I get to that point.

a heartbeat!

We saw a heartbeat today! It was immediate and the tears and giggles came quickly. My mom and sister went with me since The Monkey had to work. My mom asked the nurse if she saw just one. I insisted that there was only one last week so there was only going to be one this week.

Turns out... not so much. One gestational sac... two yolk sacs and two beautiful little heartbeats! :D

We were a bit shocked (er.. still are) but OH SO happy!! <3