Picture Phone Fun

Just a having fun with the picture phone...

Three Strikes

Today I've been forced to come to terms with the fact that I'll be on my anti-nausea medication (Zofran) for the entire pregnancy. My doctor has already told me this, but I thought I was making progress and might be able to stop taking the meds. The dose is very small now and I'm only taking one pill per day. Over the past 6 weeks I've attempted 3 times to stop taking that one little pill. Each time the result has put me back on the bathroom floor. My third and final attempt was on Saturday. My body managed to go without the drug for 48 hours this time before breaking down and putting me in the bathroom this morning. At 20 weeks along in the pregnancy now my hormones have hit their plateau and will remain at this level until I give birth. Then they will go back down to normal within 7 days after the twins are born. My only drive for stopping the medication is thinking about unknown long term side effects the drug may have on the babies. But, I guess I have to weigh the positives and negatives. The drug is allowing me to eat and stay hydrated, which directly effects the nutrition and growth of the twins. Therefore, three strikes and I'm officially staying on the Zofran.

Emotionally, I'm just hanging in there most of the time- not great, not horrible, but just trying to maintain a somewhat normal state of being. Obviously, if the hormones are so high they're causing me to vomit still, they are also messing with my mind. In a given week I'll have 6 good days and the 7th day will be very hard. On the 6 good days my head is up and I'm happy and feel grateful for the gift of having twins. On these days I'm able to control the nausea, hang out with Ethan and Nick and maybe get out of the house for an errand or take Ethan to preschool. Though on the 7th day of the week I'm exhausted from working so hard to be positive and control the sick feeling. This day is my "pity party" day, and all I can do is wallow in my misery of sickness, sadness and isolation and wish for the time to pass faster.

I am really looking forward to the upcoming holidays- family, friends, food and a wonderful distraction from the daily life to help time pass a little faster.

THE BIG SECRET!!

Our big "20-week" ultrasound was yesterday (although I'm only 19 weeks). The babes are perfectly healthy. Baby A weighs 11 ounces and Baby B weighs 10 ounces. They both measure right on track for 19 weeks. The ultrasound was 2 hours long (an hour for each baby). We went over every little bone with a fine tooth comb. We measured parts of their brains, watched their kidneys function, watched the blood flow through the chambers of their hearts, and even looked at the irises of their eyes! And guess what....

WE KNOW THE SEXES OF THE TWINS!!!!!

Is it 2 boys? 2 girls? Or boy/girl??

You'll just have to wait another 4 months to find out!
Only Nick and I know, and we're not telling a soul. This is SO exciting! We have already declined a $250 bribe, so unless you can come up with a much larger sum our lips are sealed. :)

Movin' & Groovin'

We are 18 weeks along now and have almost reached the half way point. The babies are now about 6 inches long and weigh about 7 ounces. Their heads are the size of eggs. Just in the last week I have started to feel a ton of movement. Interestingly, at last week's ultrasound we checked out the positioning of the placentas. Baby A's (baby A is always lower in my abdomen) placenta is in my front, between baby and my belly. Baby B's placenta is in the back, between baby and my back. Therefore, Baby A's kicks and movement will be buffered by the placenta, so I will feel most of the kicks from Baby B up higher. And boy is that the case! All of the movement I've been feeling is above my belly button.

Here is a belly shot I took this morning...

Twin gear!

Our first twin gift! Talk about a reality check! Nick and I often have moments of "twinshock" when something triggers us to think about the reality of having two babies at once! It's extremely thrilling and a little scary at the same time. We definitely had one of those moments when we opened a package with matching outfits! Wow- we are actually having TWINS!! :)

Check out these great shirts, plus some belly-balm for my ever-expanding belly. Thank you so much to our friend Lorna in Seattle! We love them.