Pregnancy: Week 18

I noticed this week that I haven't had to wake up in the night to go to the bathroom like I used to a few weeks ago. That is a wonderful thing that I will enjoy while it lasts. I have had the unfortunate encounter with leg cramps again though. They wake me up and are very painful. I have had sore calves for a couple of days thanks to those beauties at night! 

I am loving being pregnant! It has honestly been so much fun! This second trimester stuff is fabulous. I feel great, I have energy, no sickness, and am not uncomfortably huge yet. My belly does seem to be getting bigger on a daily basis though! Right now it is fun but I hope it slows down a little bit so I don't become as wide as I am tall! This week I really felt as though you can tell I'm pregnant from the front as well as the side. 

I feel the babies moving around a lot more now and have even felt movements in different spots in my belly at the same time so I know it's both boys moving! Jesse still has only felt them a couple of times. If he is nearby I try to run over and stick his hands on my belly where I can feel movement but these babies don't seem to like performing and always stop moving when Jesse touches my belly. We're going to have to work on that. It gets old quickly and I want him to get to share in the excitement! I'm sure as they get bigger and stronger it will get easier but we are getting a little impatient!

I did especially enjoy Thanksgiving this year and was able to eat a couple of platefuls of food. My dad would be proud! We weren't able to go home so instead we celebrated with some friends from our ward. They cooked the most delicious food and we tried to contribute a little bit with some sweet potatoes and snickers salad. It was pretty minor contributions so we were seriously grateful for their generosity. 

After dinner we were invited to another friend's house with a few couples for desserts and games which was a blast as well. Being with friends was definitely the next best thing to being with family. And the weather was absolutely perfect as well. I love having late November mean I need a light jacket and it is 60s-70s. We really haven't missed the snow yet. Maybe in December we will??? I won't hold my breath though.

And of course these are the only pictures we have:

 The hand drawn Thanksgiving wishes on our Thai food take-out sometime last week.

And these delicious sweet potatoes we made. Honestly I was impressed with ourselves. These things turned out heavenly!

Pregnancy: Week 17

Time is seriously flying by! We of course had another ultrasound this week and the boys were absolutely adorable! Their mannerisms were so much more baby-like than some of the random twitching we've been seeing over the last few weeks and it was very endearing. They both liked to stretch straight out and arch their backs. I told them they better go ahead and enjoy it now while they still have room because there will be no stretching later!

The morning of the ultrasound I was feeling my belly and noticed that the left side of my abdomen was really soft while the right side was hard. I figured there was either a baby up that right side and one down low or both of them lined up along that side. It was fun to go to the ultrasound and find out that Baby B was laying up and down that right side so I was totally feeling where Baby B was! I've since noticed he likes that spot and have found him on multiple occasions on that side. It may have something to do with the fact that I tend to sleep on my left side though so maybe that's the only spot for him to go!? Baby A seems to run low across my belly and sometimes I can feel where he is too. It's rather strange actually but I love it! 

This week I've just continued to grow and have bought a few more maternity things over the last couple of weeks. They are so comfortable! I also love wearing Jesse's shirts. He thinks I look cute in them so it's a win-win. I find that maternity jeans make my belly look rounder and nicer instead of it being smashed by my regular jeans that I'm trying to keep below my belly. It's a little tricky though because these boys are sitting really low right now so it usually just ends up hurting. I'm sure eventually I'll get one in my ribs and one on my bladder and will get to feel the joys of feeling them high and low....

I've noticed my belly button getting stretched out if that makes any sense! haha. It's funny to look at and I have it feeling it may end up a slit of a belly button. I am also still a master belcher. Jesse wants to record it sometime because it is pretty impressive but I don't know if I want to remember that forever! Also notable this week is that I think I gained about 4 lbs in the last two weeks! haha. The perinatologist keeps telling me repeatedly that I need to gain 40-50 lbs (which I personally think is nuts but whatever) so I've been trying hard to eat lots of calories so I can please him. He hasn't seem overly impressed yet but I was excited. I think I've only put on about 7 lbs total (which is based on a combination of the doctor's scale and my scale at home so I'm not entirely sure how accurate it all is) thus far and this peri wants me to gain 24 lbs by week 24 so let's just say I'm not exactly turning down hamburgers and fries these days.

Pregnancy: Week 16

I seem to wake up with leg cramps all the time this week. It's getting old. I sleep great though unless of course I have to get up and use the bathroom in the middle of the night, so I really can't complain. This week my belly has definitely been growing. I was even asked if I was pregnant at Church just based on my protruding belly. It made me happy. 

People are still shocked when I tell them there is two in there because I'm not very big but I am convinced these babies are just taking up all the space they can internally before they start moving outward. I can only eat very small portions and if I don't sit up straight sometimes I have a hard time breathing already! 

I felt a baby (or both, who knows!) moving this week! There were a few times that I wondered about it but I was sitting in Church one day and definitely felt some wiggling or movement of some sort a few times in a row! It was awesome! I very much have to concentrate to feel them but it is so rewarding when i feel those little wiggles.

And then one night  later in the week Jesse and I were both up late and he put his hands on my belly for a little while and one of the babies kicked/punched pretty hard and Jesse was able to feel it! It was honestly the most exciting moment so far! 

I've been trying to think calm thoughts so I can get some sweet, calm little boys. Each time we go in for an ultrasound they wiggle but don't seem to be moving around in a "oh my goodness you'll have your hands full" type of way so I'm hoping the thoughts are working! haha. My two brothers are about as mellow, sweet, and funny as they come so let's hope they take after them!

Pregnancy: Week 15

We were back in the perinatologist's office this week for another ultrasound. We will start seeing him every two weeks for the foreseeable future so he can measure the babies and make sure they are growing at a similar rate. I know they are looking for signs of twin to twin transfusion and thankfully everything has looked perfect so far so I haven't explored what they even do if they find that one twin is stealing nutrients from the other. I figure I'll just plan on everything working out perfectly.

This week was exciting because we got a sneak peek at the gender of our babies! That is definitely a bonus to having an ultrasound every two weeks. We get to see them grow, change, wiggle, and of course important things like knowing if we should start buying some pink or blue!

At first the babies didn't want to cooperate but then they put on a show and we found out we'd be bringing home two little BOYS! It took me a couple of days to wrap my mind around having two little boys and all the things that come with it like sword fights, hitting, loud noises, etc. I was already seeing loudness, craziness, and things breaking in my house! haha.

But look how adorable they are!

Baby A

 Baby B

But then we started thinking of all the awesome things that come with little boys like capes, super heros, sound effects, Halloween costume duos, legos, cars, having two missionaries down the road.... and the list goes on and on. All the sudden I was having this overwhelming feeling of this amazing opportunity to teach two little boys about the Gospel so they can be valiant priesthood holders, extraordinary missionaries, and become fathers and leaders of our Church. It honestly brings me to tears thinking about this responsibility. I hope I am up for the challenge and pray that the Lord will give me the promptings I need to adequately teach our little boys. In the meantime I hope I can be laid back enough to let them play with each other without trying to protect them from every little scrape and turning them into sissies!

We seriously could not be more excited! And I am pretty sure I made my little brother Kadin's life. He was DYING for us to have little boys (because I don't think he knows that there are girl babies too) but he was elated when I told him our babies are boys. Now if we'd just name them Kadin and Kade after him, his life would be complete! haha. I've tried to tell him multiple times it will not work out that way but I think he's still holding out for a miracle.

Pregnancy: Week 14

Nothing too eventful happened this week. I of course started a new job soon after finding out I was pregnant so I have stayed busying working 3 days a week there and sometimes another day a week at my home health job as well as popping in to help Jesse at work occasionally. It's kept me busy but I can't complain. I've been feeling really good and feel blessed I'm able to be doing everything I need to be.

My belly didn't change any this week from what I noticed. Not like it happened last week where I woke up one morning and my belly was noticeably larger. 

I am really looking forward to being able to feel them moving around. So far no luck but I keep laying down and concentrating to see if I can feel something. Hopefully the day isn't too far away when I'll feel something! I'm already looking forward to when Jesse can feel them. I think that has to be the greatest thing to share with my sweet husband. Can't wait!

Pregnancy: Week 13 {Telling Family}

This is the week we spilled the beans. 

Thankfully! 

I don't think I could have held it in any longer.

Here's how we told my family I was pregnant.

And this is how we announced it was twins.

As soon as we shared the news with my family we went to town making phone calls and skype calls to Jesse's family, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and close friends. It was so much fun every single time we told someone!

My belly had been working on stretching ever so slightly but overnight while my family was here it all of the sudden poked out more noticeably! It is fun to start growing a belly, and a little strange. My mom, sister, and I went shopping one evening and we looked at some maternity clothes and ended up buying a few things so I made my first maternity clothes purchases. I totally started wearing them too. They are SO comfortable! Whoever thought they should try to get away with squeezing into their own clothes obviously has not put on comfy maternity pants and shirts! Plus I figure as I evolve into a whale there is no avoiding the maternity aisles so I might as well embrace it! 

We had loads of fun while my family was in town and went to the Dallas World Aquarium (once again, a personal favorite. If you come to Dallas you need to go there!)

 Kadin mentioned that the stork is what brings babies so we decided to tell him we need two!

We also went to 6 Flags and instead of doing all the wild and crazy rides I hung out with my parents on the sidelines. That was definitely the first time in my life I have skipped out on rollercoasters! It was kind of torturous but it's all for the sake of the babies. Luckily my dad bought me a pretzel so that helped make up for it!

I happened to be invited to a "Moms of Multiples" garage sale this week and scored all sorts of good things there! Our house started looking like we would actually be having babies coming to live with us! I got a swing, stroller, changing pad with covers, bath tub, high chairs, swaddle blankets, boppy with covers, a floor mat thing, and probably other things I can't remember. It is all in perfect condition and I got killer deals so that is awesome! We're realizing it's a little tricky to have two babies on a budget but we're trying our hardest! 

Pregnancy: Week 12

Week 12:

I started orientation this week for my new job at the hospital.... because everyone starts a new job and tries to grow twins at the same time, right?! I was in class all day long for most of the week. I started feeling a little more sickly at night for whatever reason. Once again living on tums and propping my pillows up in bed so when I go to bed my head is as high as I can get it. I had to get a flu shot and almost threw up a couple of times that day. I blame the flu shot. I still haven't actually thrown up and feel so awesome about that. We still hadn't told family members at this point and were getting so excited to spread the good news! Luckily my family was coming to town the next week so we wouldn't have to keep it in much longer!