30 Weeks and Counting

I can't believe that Christmas is behind us. In just a few hours 2009 will be behind us as well. This Christmas was different for us this year. With my expanding waistline I was put on travel restrictions shortly after Thanksgiving. We still put up the tree this year and we were glad to have George and Trudy as our holiday guests again. I will admit we put up about 1/2 of the decor that we typically do as I knew when the time came to take it down I would be larger and more tired than normal. I also didn't want to get on the ladder to put the ornaments on our 13 foot tree. Chris was a trooper in helping but I will admit until Christmas day we only had ornaments on the tree as high as I could reach.

I am catching up in the weight gain department. No longer worried that I am not gaining enough. My bi-weekly appointments with my OB have continued as well as my monthly ultrasound with the specialists. At the appointment last week with the OB I met the second doctor at their office. He educated me on the signs of pre-term labor and confirmed that both boys are still head down which at this point sets us up for a natural birth verses C-Section.

The nursery is coming together. We painted two days before the furniture arrived. At this point we have one crib put together. I hope to have the second put together this weekend. That just leaves the ordering of the mattresses so that we can finish everything. At this point I would say we are 70% ready. We have all of the basics that we need but mentally aren't quite ready (not ready to give up sleeping in on the weekends) and physcially the boys aren't quite there. I have another ultrasound next Wednesday so we will find out if they have once again doubled in size. I would not be surprised given my weight gain. (I partially blame Christmas cookies). This marks 30 weeks so only about 5-7 more weeks to go. Twins typically come at 35 weeks. Rarely will they hold out the full 40 weeks.

I am overall still feeling pretty good. Sleeping has become a struggle as my belly is quite large to manuver when changing positions during the night or getting out of bed for the numerous trips to the little girls room. Hands have started to swell so I had to remove the wedding band. Chris and I can't decide if I walk more like a peguin or a weeble wobble. And kicking ----- boy do they! One in particular likes to kick consistently for hours on end beginning around 7pm each night. He and I are going to have a conversation when they arrive.

Looking forward to a very exciting and life altering 2010!!

Look next week for an update after the ultrasound.

What do they look like?

Ultrasound day again. Yes -- we do have a lot of them! Today marks 26 weeks and 1 day into the pregnancy. Chris attended the Ultrasound with me and despite the office taking over 50 minutes to call us back it was worth the wait!

Both babies again received a perfect bill of health. Heartbeat on both babies was 155 today. Most suprising was their activity, position, and weight. At this point in the pregnancy a normal singleton baby would weigh 1 and 3/4 pounds. Twin A weighs 2.6 pounds and Twin B weighs 2.4 pounds. Needless to say they are both ahead of schedule. They have also changed positions. They are no longer in "bunk beds" but are both head down. Twin B continues to be the troublemaker. During the ultrasound he wouldn't sit still. Although he is smaller he is a hog when it comes to space as he was all over his brother. He was in his brother's space so much that the picture to the left is of Twin A pushing Twin B's head out of his way in fighting for space. Looks like they are fighting already which must be why I am constantly getting kicked and punched. We can literally see my stomach moving up and down as they move around.
I have been feeling good at this point. Tired of the 2 potty trips during every night (at 2am and again around 5am), belly is getting a little heavy when trying to sleep so I am stuffing all types of pillows under my belly for support. Occasionally get out of breath just from walking up a flight of stairs, and yes --- the appetite is 100% back. I am hardly ever full and find myself needing breakfast and at least a couple of snacks through the day which were not things I did before being pregnant.
Despite our boys already being little piglets and weighing more than normal I have surprisingly still not gained too much weight. As of now I gained back the weight I lost in the beginning of the pregnancy. I have 5 pounds of baby and I have gained 8 pounds total. I have a feeling this will change drastically over the next few weeks as the babies had doubled in weight over the past 4 weeks. I have included some ultrasound photos for your viewing. Twin A is on the left and Twin B is on the right.

Black Friday & Cyber Monday

This year I was moving a little more slowly in getting to the great sales! I didn't leave the house until 9:15. I headed straight to Bed, Bath, & Beyond for their 20% off before 10:00 sale. Bed Bath and Beyond now has baby items on their website. Unfortunatly the baby items are not available in the stores. Although the coupon was for in store purchases they allowed me to place an order and use the discount as well. How excited was I to order all of the boys bedding, mobiles, and high chairs at 20% off retail?? Best of all I was only in the store about 15 minutes to get all of that accomplished! Then it was off to the mall where I got a parking place only 3 spaces from the door. I finally broke down and purchased materity clothes. Yes --- of course all of them were on sale. I am finally at a point where the "bella bands" no longer work. Belly is getting larger by the day!

So you think my shopping deals can't get any better?!?! That takes me to Cyber Monday. Now I wasn't really going to shop on Monday but my employees were asking what cribs and bedding I was looking at for the boys. I went online to show them the crib when low and behold I noticed they were 20% off. Unfortunatly they were out of stock online. Did I stop there? I think you know better! I called the store and they said they would honor the online pricing in the store. So off to Babies R Us on my lunch hour! Got the cribs at their internet price which was 20% off then they allowed me to still use the twins discount of 10%. I also had some coupons for 20% off from items that were shipped to our home. I used the 20% off coupon on the dresser and a chair for the nursery. When I got to the check out they indicated if I applied for their credit card they would take an additional 15% off. I NEVER do this but did some quick math! That's a lot of money to save. Needless to say I now have a Babies R Us credit card and am pleased to say I got almost our entire nursey at 50% off. The 15% discount from the credit card application was good all day and I still had 2 more 20% off coupons so I of course I had to return back to the store later that day to also buy the matching ottoman for our nursery glider and the double stroller. I don't think I have purchased that much in one day since we bought furniture for our house. Thanks to everyone who gave us gift cards to Babies R Us and american express because you played a HUGE part in purchasing our nursery!! Now we have 2 weeks for all of our bedding, cribs, chair, etc to arrive. Sounds like it's time to paint the nursery!!

Baby Showers Times Two

Due to Doctor's orders and travel restrictions beginning the week of Thanksgiving Chris and I had a lot of pre-holiday traveling to complete. We wanted to make it back to both Indiana and Lousiana prior to the travel cut off. We went to Indiana the first week of November. We had a great time visiting many family and friends at our couples baby shower hosted by my sister, Charlotte with help from my mother, aunt Wanda, and Aunt Gale.

We were spoiled during the shower with many cute matching outfits for the boys, two car seats, a pack and play, toys, blankets, gift cards......the list goes on an on. Some who were unable to attend the shower even sent gives to the house which was a surprise. I am awaiting pictures of the cake table and my family to add to the blog as the didn't end up on my camera.

After our return from Indiana we had one full week to rest and then headed to Lousiana the weekend before Thanksgiving. Again we were blessed to spend lots of time with family. Dinah hosted a shower for me with help from Chris' mom and a few others. Of course in true Slidell fashion there was TONS of food! We enjoyed playing bingo, typical shower games, and we received many nice gifts. More matching baby outfits, toys, blankets, gift cards.....

I didn't realize how many things we would recieve! It's so great to have supportive families on both sides. It really eliminates many of the things on our list to buy before the kids arrive.

Thank you all again for all of the love and support. We can't wait for our first trips back to our home states with the boys next year!!

24 Weeks

I am very behind in posting as we have been traveling. Look for pictures next week of the Indiana baby shower. Thanks to all of you who came to spend time with us. You truly made it a special day for us. Post trip I have had a lot of catch up to do at work. We fly out tomorrow to go to New Orleans to see Chris' family. This past Tuesday marked week 24. The belly is getting much larger! I thought the baby on bottom was our kicker but the baby on top has now ran out of room. I have quickly learned that he doesn't kick as often as the one on the bottom but his kick packs a powerful punch. The first kick I got from him was in the car as I drove to Jacksonville. The kick was so forceful that it made the elastic on my pants snap. Amazing! I have been fortune to this point to be able to wear my regular pants with help from bella bands. I think this will be ending soon as now I can zip them at all. Oh the joys of being pregnant.

22 Weeks

Today we had another Ultrasound. It appears I will be having one every 4 weeks due to having multiples. Both babies got good reports again. Despite my lack of weight gain both are very healthy weighing in at 1 pound 3 ozs each. The doctors assure me that I should be worried about not gaining weight as both babies are getting more than enough given their weight. I lost 10 pounds in the beginning of the pregnancy due to being so sick. I have gained back only 5 of those pounds to date.

Baby A had a heartbeat today of 155 and is in the 63rd percentile for height. Baby B had a heartbeat of 167 and is in the 75th percentile for height. Looks like my height may transfer to at least one of them. Like always our kids were very entertaining during the ultrasound. One was sucking his wrist while the other was attempting to suck his own toes. Made me laugh at the fact I hadn't had breakfast yet and they may both be hungry.

Baby A (on the bottom) has became our little kicker. Baby B still has a little room in there so I don't feel as much in his space. Chris felt the kicks for the first time yesterday. We found it entertaining that they actually kick back when you push into their "space".

I can also report that as of now those who were NOT wanting to know what we were having are now aware that we are having 2 BOYS!! My mother actually guessed it correctly. Amazing that my parents will have a total of 7 grandsons when ours arrive. What is the statistical chances of that? Chris' mother was hoping for a boy as she has one grand-daughter. We can't wait until they arrive and meet everyone!

We are looking forward to our travels this coming weekend back to Indiana. It will be nice to see family and friends. We are also looking forward to the change in the weather.

20 Weeks

So I am a little behind in posting. This picture was taken last Wednesday Oct. 21st which was my 20 week mark. I had a Dr. appointment on Monday Oct. 19th. Everything looked good according to the doctor. Heartbeats were found right away at this appointment verses the search that typically took place. I also got my flu shot so I am protected. Nausea is completely gone now. Newest thing is sinus issues. I have been blowing my nose for about 3 weeks now which is a little annoying. Babies are starting to kick more. I can only feel baby A on the bottom at this point. I think the one on the top still must have room to move around. Won't be long before they are both out of space. Next ultrasound is Nov. 4th. This will be right before we go to Indiana on the 6th. We are looking forward to the cooler weather. We also have a trip planned to go to New Orleans right before Thanksgiving. This will be the last possible time I am allowed to fly. My doctor has also indicated that no more car trips can take place after week 28. Last weekend we went and registered at Babies R Us and also on amazon.com. I didn't realize there would be so many things on their checklist of "must haves". Needless to say we decided most of it was un-needed.

Ultrasound 18 weeks

Chris and I went on Wednesday for our 18 week Ultrasound. We were both amazed at the activity happening. Especially since I really haven't felt any much movement to this point. Twin A was very peaceful. It was determined that Twin A is the one laying on my nerve and causing the pain in my butt. Hopefully this is not a sign of things to come. Twin B was polar opposite. Twin B couldn't sit still and rolled over 3 times in the course of just a few minutes. Then to our surprise waved at us. It was very cute. Both babies are measuring fine. Twin A was 9 ozs and Twin B was 8 ozs. So they are very similar in weight. As of now their position is like "bunk beds". One is directly on top of the other. In addition the are on opposite sides so Twin A's feet is by Twin B's head. All I can say is I hope that they get along in there as this positioning makes it ideals to kick each other in the head. If you notice I haven't said what we are having! There are some members of my family that have decided they didn't want to know the genders. Therefore my pictures are of the babies profiles only. I'll try my best not to reveal what they are but it will be hard. If you would like to know what we are having just leave a comment or send me an email.

Belly 17 Weeks

I realized that we hadn't taken any pictures of the belly. For those of you who really like this kind of thing I thought I would include. This is my belly at 17 weeks and 1 day with the twins. Ultrasound scheduled for Oct. 7th. Only a few more days before we find out!! I took the day off as the ultrasound will take 2-3 hours to complete. My hope is that I can finally buy some clothes according to gender!


According to the vote 50% think it's a girl/boy and 40% think it will be girl/girl. Very interesting. Guess majority thinks my family has enough boys. (5 nephews at this point). Chris only has one niece so they could stand to have some boys on that side. Chris and I are pulling for the girl/boy combo but more than anything just want them to be healthy.

I have been feeling much better. Sickness has tapered off. Only sick once this week which is a great improvement from getting sick up to three times per day. I didn't realize how large the tummy was until I saw this picture of myself. I can't image how big it's going to be at the end.

Salsa Making

When I was in Indiana for Labor Day I was roped into assisting my brother with making his famous salsa. It was quite interesting seeing it all come together. I thought I should post some fun pictures of the day.

We start with Dad in his garden gathering all of the ingredients:






























I was really amazed at the size of the carrots. As you can see the carrot 15 inches long. We decided that it could also function as a great snowman nose should we save it until Winter. Kevin is playing the part of the snowman.

The final picture is of the hard work over the stove in making this salsa dream a reality. I didn't get a photo of the chili peppers that went into this salsa but let me assure you the batch that I brought home had a skull and cross bones on the top. Thanks for including me in the fun.

Mommy's Birthday

That uncle Kevin. How fun is he going to be? He sent this box of that okra stuff to our house. There was also a whole shaker full of cyan pepper that had been dried. One whiff of that and we decided maybe that should be used for Daddy's dishes only. The worst smell was that okra stuff that didn't quite make the trip. It must have got to hot because it was slimy and moldly. Mom could smell it through the box. Better luck next time uncle Kev.

Boy Mommy ate a lot of food yesterday! She had Olive Garden for lunch (with 2 breadsticks) and then Daddy took her to Logan's for dinner. Those yeast rolls were huge! I can't believe after her big lunch she was able to eat 2 of them and almost finished her entire meal. There was so much food coming at us that we completely forgot to make her sick. She seemed pretty happy about it. On the way home from the restaurant Daddy said he thought mommy would only be awake for an hour. Guess he won because we knocked her out about 20 minutes after she got home. It's so funny when she falls asleep on that couch.

Talk From the Tummy

Hey #1!
Yeah #2?
I think it's so great that we finally got one of these blog things. I mean really we have so much to say but we really can't "talk" to anyone yet. So.... I've heard mommy and daddy on the phone and in person talking to a lot of people recently. They starting telling almost everyone about us. Mommy seems to be complaining a lot about how much we are making her throw up. I figure she may as well figure out now that we will not be ignored. I mean she can't feel us, hear us, or see without the help of those Doctor people so we need to let her know that we are still in here.

I agree. Can you believe we have been in here for 16 weeks already? I heard the doctor say yesterday that we are going to have our picture taken again in just two weeks. Mommy and Daddy seem pretty excited about it. They keep saying something about how they hope we don't have our legs crossed the wrong way because mommy wants to know if we want to wear pink or blue. Maybe we should take a vote on what everyone thinks we will be.

Daddy has been so great to mommy. He spent the first couple months doing all the chores around the house cause we had mommy so sick. He also keep telling mommy that she needs to eat this stuff called okra gumbo. Grandpa grew the okra in his super garden but I don't think she's up for it. We've made mommy lose 10 pounds already. Her tummy is getting bigger but she said she never imagined that being pregnant would be a form of weight loss. We'll show her in a few months! We already have all of her pants popping the buttons.

Did you see all of the cool clothes that Aunt Charlotte and Grandma Joy gave mommy when we were in Indiana? Most of them were neutral but Aunt Charlotte threw in a dress. Does she know something? Well we better go for now. People won't like it if we ramble on and on.