Growth

Yesterday was our first growth scan since we checked in. Though the previas have not disappeared (we weren't expecting them to) everything else looks great. The babies have grown and are approximately 2 pounds each! Each day is a miracle and tomorrow will mark 26 weeks. (42 more days to go!)
It is safe to say these girls have already inherited Dustin's physical features. His nose and lips for sure and we're pretty sure they have my chin. (Though it looks like hair in the pics., sonograms can't pick up hair, not that we are doubting they will each have a full head!)
We feel like we have seen an insight to their personalities, already. Baby "A" can always be found in the same spot for heartbeat monitoring and stays pretty much in her "area" at all times. Baby "B" swims around everywhere, kicks at the monitor, letting off a tremendous noise and then runs away. We both felt compelled to name them in the womb. Baby "A" is Claire and Baby "B" aka Wild Child is Caroline.

I think it is safe to say our lip gloss bill will be hefty.

My blood pressure is great and for twins I hear I should be proud of this. My irritability contractions have practically disappeared. We get to monitor the babies two times per day and hear their heartbeats. So far very strong and independent. Caroline likes to swim around, raise her heart rate to show off and then cools off --- watching this baby is so fascinating not only on the monitor but off as she causes quite the ruckus in my tummy.

This past weekend I had my San Antonio shower. We had to improvise and hold it in my hospital room, but fortunately my room is pretty large so I think it turned out well. I don't have pics yet, but will post them soon. It was fun to open all the goodies and see all the PINK! Meg, Kim, Leslie, Stephanie, Jenn & Laura went above and beyond to make it such a nice day! The food was AMAZING and the details that went in to the day were unbelievable! We made such fun memories that will last a lifetime and I can post in their baby books -- thank you all! Laura, my friend from college that now lives in New York, flew in for the weekend so she kept me company and helped me pass the days! Gigi (Tonna) and Momsey (Sandy) came in as well and worked in our nursery. They put up books, stuffed animals, bows, diapers, etc. That in itself has relieved some stress -- they took home all of the clothes to wash and will bring them back on their next trip....this is such a time saver for me! THANK YOU -- our moms have been wonderful through all of this and have just picked up where we left off.

Dustin is still staying every night here with me and though our room is pretty roomy and even has a couch with a bed, he still insists on sleeping on what looks to be this very uncomfortable chair that folds out in to a cot. He is just too afraid he is going to miss something to go home. What a good daddy! Most nights we go to the food court by wheel chair (it's sad that that is my highlight) and end the night with best 2 out of 3 games of Yahtzee. Obviously we've really slowed down and have finally caught our breaths.

We feel so blessed to have the support we group we have both from here and afar. We cannot ever thank you all enough. Please keep praying for things to go as well as they are now. I was given a daily devotional from my mom at Christmas -- I read the paper version and my mom reads hers on the Nook (what's wrong with this picture?!?) and today's really spoke to us both:

"Come to me for rest and refreshment. The journey has been too much for you, and you are bone-weary. Do not be ached of your exhaustion. Instead, see it as an opportunity for Me to take charge of your life. Remember that I can fit everything into a pattern for good, including the things you wish were different. Start with where you are at this point in time and space, accepting that this is where I intend you to be. You will get through today one step, one moment at a time. Your main responsibility is to remain attentive to Me, letting Me guide you through the many choices along your pathway. This sounds like an easy assignment but it is not. Your desire to live in My Presence goes against the grain of "the world, the flesh, and the devil." Much of your weariness results from your constant battle against these opponents. However, you are on the path of My choosing, so do not give up! Hope in Me, for you will again praise Me for the help for the help of My Presence."

This wasn't in my planner....

Some of you may know by now that I have been admitted to antepartum for the remainder of my pregnancy (I will be 25 weeks on Wednesday and our goal is to make it to 32 weeks). So yes, I've got quite the "vacation" going on.
Thursday, I felt a little different and felt some tightening in my tummy, but as always I like to carry on and say very little. All of my Dr.'s have told me "if you feel you are having contractions you need to go to the emergency room immediately." I've been so worried about what a contraction feels like and scared that I may not listen to my body. So I went about my day, and this "feeling" just wouldn't go away even after having lunch...I had a Dr.'s appointment that afternoon and after I finished my meetings for the day I phoned Dustin to only let him know it may be a good idea to take work home because I thought this appt. could go longer than normal and I wasn't sure if he was going to be able to go back to work and well....long story short he didn't and neither did I. I was admitted on Thursday night for "minor contractions." This all sounds bad but this ultimately was only 1 week before we were originally set to check in to antepartum.
Everything is under control now, only minor contractions now and then and our babies are monitored multiple times per day to keep up with their vitals, heart rates etc. The babies are doing so so well and react very well when I do have a contraction!
We have a suite at Methodist Medical Center and Dustin, has insisted he stay every night with me and he has. He's been such a wonderful support -- shampooing my hair when my hands are wrapped up because of my IV and pretty much waiting on me hand and foot so I don't have to get up. You know you love someone before something like this happens but in a situation like the one we are in now, it is such a reminder of just why you married the person you did. He also took me on my first outside trip yesterday...WOO HOO...he said he was practicing for our nursing home days, haha.

I missed my baby shower in Levelland and I certainly was heartbroken to not be there and see everyone, but LOVE technology and the opportunity we had to facetime with everyone. Thank you ALL for making that day so special for us!!
My family came down immediately following the shower and brought all of our goodies, spent lots of time here with me, got to hear those strong heartbeats multiple times per day and took Polo back so Dustin doesn't have to worry about him too. We also had a surprise visit from Dustin's dad and several of our friends. Thank you all for making this transition so smooth, physically and emotionally for us.

So the countdown has begun....7 weeks sounds just too long we are counting down by the days..... 51 days! Pray for us to make it that long and for the health of these baby girls!

We love you and thank you for all of your calls, texts, e-mails, flowers etc....it has really meant a lot!

22 Weeks

Do you think I grew????

I am now 22 and 1/2 weeks. This picture was taken at 22 weeks. I am definitely growing. Overall I feel well but certainly feel more winded and prefer sitting over standing. I am starting to get swelling in my feet -- I hear this is normal but I was hoping it wouldn't happen to me. HHEELLLLOOOOOO KANKLES! I am thirsty all of the time and try to drink water over anything else but you know water does get boring---I am very much conscious of my sodium intake now.

The nursery is coming along and we're lacking only one major piece to come in and then I will take pictures. This room already has its' own smell and I love it!

It looks like I will check in 3 weeks from this coming Wednesday so time is ticking. I have a Dr.'s appointment tomorrow that will confirm all of this so we'll keep you posted. At this point I am actually looking forward to my stay -- an excuse to rest and not feel guilty and hopefully give my feet an opportunity to rest as well. The babies move a lot so this gives me some peace throughout each day.

It will take us a few days to get settled and a routine but I know we can have visitors so I am hoping some of you can keep me company -- or at least make TV suggestions!

The goals is 32 weeks -- so we're praying to make it that far!

The Holidays

This year we celebrated Christmas in San Antonio with the Yates' and Smith's. It was a change for all but we enjoyed everyone's company and making the sacrifice for us! We went to Christmas Eve Service followed by Christmas morning traditions. I think Caroline and Claire may already be our family's favorites. : )

Macy, Connor, Dustin and me

Yates

Smiths

We also had visits from the Northcutt's and the Brooks' but I don't have pictures. We had a great holiday break, but were very busy! Our cribs, carpet, bedding and furniture all came in!! We went to the Alamo Bowl to support the Bears -- my sister-in-law, Katie, is 3 weeks behind me in pregnancy. I wanted to take a picture together, but may have conveniently forgot since um she doesn't look pregnant and I look like I ate a ham! Dallas and Katie are having a little girl as well, Emma.

Dustin worked a lot to finish off the year strong and he also turned 29. We had dinner at Perry's, his new favorite steakhouse with all of the Brooks's, followed by Red Velvet Cake (would he have it any other way??!!). Dustin also received a hamster again from people he used to work with at his old firm. I know some stalk our blog there so here's my shout-out to you.... #findanewmammalin2012

Today was my first day back -- this week I get my classroom situated then I will be out through February 7th almost everyday to chair ARDs.....so time has flown by!! Our goals this month are to finish up the nursery, pack "the bag" and we'll be making a trip to Levelland for our West Texas shower and then back to San Antonio for our ones here. We have such a wonderful group of friends and supporters -- thank you all for your continuous kind words and prayers. We had a sonogram last week that revealed all is still well. Our cords don't look "all that tangled" according to Dr. Higby which of course is miraculous. We go back on the 16th to measure more growth and tie up loose ends before I get my orders for admission on February 8th. Initially this stay sounded miserable but at this point it actually sounds restful. Yesterday, New Year's Day, Dustin got to feel them kick/move for the first time! I have felt a lot of movement but nothing from the outside so this was really special for him. So far they are both breach, laying side by side. We got a look at them the other day with them hand-holding....now that may bring more tears than those heartbeats. It's so very sweet to see them interact the way they do. : )

Here is a sneak peak of our nursery, but no full pictures will post until it's all done!

Expansion

I think there has been growth! Today marks the beginning of the 18th week.

(As you can see the nursery has been painted!)

Healthy Baby Girls

Today was our "long" Dr.'s appointment where we basically had a 2 hour sonogram, which was fun. We got to see them a lot and they are both healthy. They each weigh 7 oz. which sounds so tiny especially compared to my weight gain, but their weight and mine are perfectly normal and on track. The Dr.'s were happy to see that they weigh the same and there isn't Twin-Twin going on (where one twin gets/steals more of the nutrition). On the screen though they look so much bigger than 7 ounces.
Their hearts checked out perfectly along with all of their organs and whatever else was checked today (we lost track). They do like to hover by each other...at one point they couldn't measure their leg bones because they couldn't decipher which leg belonged to who because they are so close. They move a lot which is fun to see and I'm starting to feel movement. Though their movement makes me nervous, I don't want them to get too tangled, I do enjoy the peace of knowing they're alive and well.
We got a lot of amazing sonogram pictures today including one of their lips.....they are HUGE. Haha....definitely got that from Dustin and not me.

Baby A and Baby B is for their marking only. The first one out of the womb will be Claire and the second one will be Caroline.

Significance of the names: Caroline was my mom's grandmother's name and her middle name Emalee comes from my dad's grandmother Ema and my grandmother's middle name Lee combined together. Claire was a name we liked and Elizabeth came from my dad's side somewhere and of course from Dustin's family they're getting Brooks. We essentially had to pick out 4 names and that was time consuming especially trying to find a name we liked that had family significance.

Our sitting area has turned in to the baby supply area for the time being. The nursery is under construction. The painter comes Wednesday and the carpet comes next Monday so in the meantime the goodies are in our room. Our cribs and furniture are supposed to be in anyday!! I love anything baby and decorating so this has been such a fun time for me. We just got in our double-decker stroller. They are seats when they are older and for now we can pop on a metal bar to hold the car seats -- this is going to be such a great asset as they can truly grow with this stroller---and it's user friendly! Thanks Momsey and Pops!

Christmas:
What a wonderful time of year. I love everyone's spirit, the smell and decor of the house. We started early this year but have moved slowly -- I am close to finishing up shopping. The weather has been extra Christmasy this year with cool days and nights, overcasts and rain....for San Antonio that's as close to snow as we're gonna get!

It takes all I have to keep Dustin from adding on to our outside decor....so I'm enjoying the simple lights on the house. I'm sure next year we'll have blow up Santa's, wrapped tree trunks, etc. We're going to give that family on Capitol street in Levelland a run for their money.

I hope you're each enjoying the holiday season. : )

Watch me Grow...

We had a wonderful and relaxing Thanksgiving in San Antonio. I got lots of rest -- literally to bed by 9 and up around 8.....my kind of schedule! My mom came for most of the week and my dad followed midweek for Thanksgiving festivities. This year we had a traditional Thanksgiving with all of the trimmings, gravy, pies, etc....just for Dustin. The Yates' came the Saturday following Thanksgiving and we all had some Red Raider quality losing time and dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, The Grill at Leon Springs between here and Boerne. MM MM MMMMM!

Updates to the nursery: We have torn out the carpet, my dad and Dustin have sanded the base boards, paint has been sort-of selected and the room has been taped off. Before I proceed too much further I do want to have another confirmation that these really are girls....I hear this is a common worry and I may be one of the biggest worriers in a 10 mile radius around here so this is super normal for me! We have ordered the furniture and found the type of chair we want -- we just need to select the fabric. Since knowing I was pregnant I have pretty much baby shopped online nonstop. Immediately I found this bedding called the Mackenzie and I'm just in-love....and so is Dustin. The designer is out of Houston and I have spoke with her -- her inspiration for this was a Mackenzie Child's catalog....and if you've been to our house you know I'm pretty inspired by her things as well. I'm almost 100% certain we're going with this crib set...or I hope at least since we ordered antiqued black furniture!

P.S. that bedding is on the crib that we ordered....it must be fate!

I have taken photos of my tummy every two weeks for the past 6. Sometimes I wonder if I am growing or not, but this is a fun way to watch my growth...so I'm going to share with you all as well. Today at school I had a student tell me "I knew they were girls!" when I announced the genders to my class and I asked him how he knew. We have another teacher that is pregnant in our department that is 2 months ahead of me and she's having a boy and obviously she is a little bigger than I am since she is further along....so his rationale was..."she's bigger and she's having boys so you must be having girls!" Ha--loved this!