21 weeks and Nursery Construction

Here's my 21 week pic...

This weekend was a long one for Mike and I--Friday was Statehood Day for Hawaii (50 years as a part of the big USA)--so he had the day off which was great for us because it gave us 2 full days to work on the nursery.

It's still very much a work in progress. We still need chair railings, base boards, hanging shelves, a glider, a changing table, another mattress, curtains and whatever else i decided i want to decorate with, but here's a little sneak peak.

Before Pic

Mike the Painting Master

My Contributions...taping
Baby Boy's side

Baby Girl's Side

We're Halfway There!

This week marks our halfway point--20 weeks. Technically though, we have probably already passed the halfway point being that most all twins are born early. Still, it's a milestone to celebrate. I can't say it has exactly flown by--there was definitely times when i felt so bad that i thought this would never end. But i can, for the first time, honestly say that the good is outweighing all the yuck and the excitement is really catching up with me.

As of Monday this week I could clearly identify all the feelings inside of me as the babies moving and not just a bunch of stomach noises and gurgles. Since Monday there has been pretty much non-stop movement at all times of the day--most of it i am thoroughly enjoying, but occasionally its painful at night.

Yesterday, we had our big ultrasound appointment where they measure and get pics of every part of the babies body. An hour per baby--and i can't imagine doing it for 3 and 4 babies. By the time the two hours were up i was so sore from all the pushing and poking i could hardly get back to my car. Still this morning it feels as though someone used my stomach as a punching bag.

Baby Boy was very cooperative. We learned that he is considered "baby b". His placenta is in the top part of my abdomen--which means more room for him and he will be the "younger brother" coming out second. Baby Girl, or "baby a" placenta is positioned more around my pelvic area, where there isn't as much room so it is much harder to get to her and get good pictures. Actually the techs and doc gave up on getting all of her pics yesterday after spending well over 45 mins pushing the same spot trying to get a few more measurements. Also, fun fact for those of you inquisitive minds, although the babies will move many times within the placentas, the actual placentas will never change places, so Baby Boy will always be on top and Baby Girl will always be on the bottom.

Their measurements were almost identical--both at 9 1/2 inches, which is standard for a 20 week old. After 20 weeks is when genetics kick in and babies grow at different rates, determining whether they will be short or long. Baby boy weighed 15oz and Baby girl at 14oz. Average is 12oz at 20 weeks, so for twins we are doing great. They say i need to continue getting as much weight on them as i can now since they will most likely be born early and as delivery time gets closer there will come a point where there is just no more room to grow anyway.

We were given many pics--to see them all check our pic website, but i put the best down below-- some of our favorites and the harder to read ones i illustrated for you.

Baby Boy Profile--whole body with legs bent

Baby Boy's funny face with a BIG smile

Baby Boy showing off, using his hand as a microphone

same--but my version
Baby Boy's insides and fingers/ Baby Girl's foot

illustrated--if you look closely at the Baby Boy blob, that little black dot is his bladder--just in case you were wondering ;)

Baby Girl laying on her stomach
Her 1 and only profile shot, she likes to cover her face with her hands


this is a bit scary--Baby girl with what looks like her head unattached to her body...don't worry, it's just an illusion, she is bent so the neck is further back and you can't see it..check illustration below

all curled up, rebelling against the technicians, Baby Girl and her mommy were both DONE with all the poking, she is literally hiding her body in response to all the pushing

same--illustrated

My favorite...Baby Girl showing off a little bit--again check illustration

HEADSTAND!!

It's all about the changes

These past few weeks have been about making room in our house and making changes in our lives and of course more changes in my body.

1st--Here is my latest belly pic--this is right at the beginning of 19 weeks. I keep track of my measurements weekly--weeks 16 through 18 were fairly steady, which was a bit of a relief, but then all of sudden this week has brought on a 3in. increase in my mid-section.

2nd--This past Wed. we finally got to go to our first appointment in the multiples clinic of the hospital instead of the over-crowded and frustrating OB clinic. What a change! There was only one other waiting mommy in there besides us. The chairs were like movie theatre, rocking captain seats instead of the standard uncomfy metal chairs. There was a flat screen tv hanging on the wall. The nurses were friendly, and the doctor came right out to get us from the waiting room and to introduce himself. He filled us full of information and was patient through our questions. This first appointment was a quick one and I was led to believe it was just an initial intro to the clinic--but a nice surprise, we got to see our little ones too. They are getting so big--the first thing Mike and I noticed was the clear definition in their spines. It was just a quick look this week, but next week we have a 2 hr. ultrasound appointment to take all their measurements, see how they are growing and check for any abnormalities. I know we will be receiving LOTS of pics and I will post them as soon as i can.

3rd--Making room in our house! We have been cleaning out our closets, cabinets, under the bed, and the garage trying to make room for these little ones. Houses here are much different than at home. Ours is pretty little and there is basically NO storage. We have been trying to come up with creative ways to store what we need to keep and then we are purging everything else. Last Saturday we had a garage sale--honestly i would have been fine with the dumping it all, but mike wanted to try and see what we could sale. So, we advertised on craigslist and all the early birds showed up at 6 am and we sold almost EVERYTHING. We even sold things that weren't originally for sale. Apparently the locals really want anything military--including old uniforms so everyone came in asking for those. One man even bought a pair of goggles and scissors that were in a junk pile on our washing machine. We made quite a bit of money considering what we were selling. We are using the money for a date night to a restaurant in town that I have been CRAVING and then to see a movie. It's been a while, and i am so ready! The rest will be put back in the baby fund to get everything they will need.

4th--we sold the jeep--we think. I mean we have a buyer and she has taken the title to the bank to get the check cut. We are very relieved to have this sale almost behind us and to get what we are asking for it.

5th--Our friends are almost all gone. This is the one very reluctant change. I will post more later with some pics, but for now 3 families are gone, and we have one more to go next week. Right now it doesn't seem real, but i am sure as the weeks go by we are going to really feel the loneliness where we once had so much going on.

6th-- We have started a new bible study with some people at church. This is a kid-friendly bible study so that families with small children can still be a part of a small group. We meet every Friday for dinner and then bible study time. It is good for Mike and I to extend our activities and build new relationships, especially right now with so much going on. And soon we will be a part of these other families with little ones of our own and I know they will be a big support.

So i guess that's all for now. Happy weekend everyone!

ahh...Saturday Mornings

Oh how we love our Saturday mornings!

1st to McDonalds to feed the baby monsters--no problems this time, although Sherman and i didn't try and complicate things.

2nd to the Garage Sales! -- i had checked on craigslist the night before so we would no where to go first. The first 4 or so were duds and it seemed it just wasn't our day--but then... we found a moving sale with a military family, two baby girls and everything in the house was for sale!

We got this Bumbo chair and tray along with the tummy time mat below for $20, both don't look like they've even been used. Just the bumbo chair alone is $50 then an extra $15 for the tray at Walmart--so i'd say that's a deal!

This cute surfboard tummy time mat is actually on our registry, they make a boy and girl version although i have only seen the blue one on island--and it's $20 at Target, so we basically got it for free.Then we got all these clothes for $5....all newborn sizes and nothing in the first pic has even been worn before--probably cause most people don't need too many newborn clothes, but since there's a good chance our babies could be a bit small, and they were such a good deal, i didn't want to pass them up!

more of the $5 clothes....little Sunday dresses with bloomers!
and a super cute 0-3 month bathing suit--which are virtually impossible to find i have realized

It was definitely a good garage sale day for baby girl...poor baby boy is going to have to wait...it's so much harder to find cute boy stuff!

Also for some good news, we received our first package from Amazon today with baby boy's bedding in it! I am in love and can't wait for baby girl's to come in so we can start painting the room. I will give a sneak preview soon!

The rest of the day will be spent organizing the bathrooms, cleaning out underneath our bed and then hopefully we'll have dinner with our friends and their new little girl.

Happy Weekend!