Week 21

We are officially past the halfway mark! This is also the last weekly fruit update...they move to monthly changes after this.

I definitely feel HUGE this week! I swear I've grown a lot since that last picture was taken, and I know there's plenty of growing left to do. I'm to that point where no one has to question whether I'm pregnant or not...even with a winter coat on. Most days I feel great, today I felt squished...breathing was harder, bending over felt nearly impossible, and there was definitely some stretching going on.

I've been busy the past few days creating baby registries, and tomorrow I will embark on washing/organizing all of the baby clothes we've received. Hopefully soon we'll start on creating the nursery. Jason has quite a few projects going so it'll be some time before we get any pictures of that up!

Here are the links to the registries....they are a work in progress and will still be changed and added to, but it's a good start.

Target- http://www.target.com/RegistryGiftGiverCmd?isPreview=false&status=completePageLink&listId=tF-3XNw_TJoixwSxkM7viA&registryType=BB&isAjax=false

Babies R Us- http://www.toysrus.com/registry/search/index.jsp?_flowExecutionKey=_c6130C4D0-349F-CF74-D90E-7B8720F9FAC3_kDC551E33-0754-0A45-A64E-BC92804B6EE7&overrideStore=TRUS

And here's the weekly update on the babies' size:

Your Baby: Week 21

Baby gulps down several ounces of amniotic fluid every day, both for hydration and nutrition and to practice swallowing and digesting. And, these days, those taste buds actually work! Studies show that after birth, babies are most interested in tastes they've already experienced through amniotic fluid. Meaning, think about what you want your future child to eat as you prepare your own lunch.

As a side note... please keep Jason and me in mind this next week....we turned in our cable box and will be living on just the basic channels. We're already joking about how this is going to make us have to actually talk to each other or read instead of turning on the tv!

Week 20

Your Baby: Week 20

Baby's digestive system is busy creating meconium (a tarry black substance made of swallowed amniotic fluid, digestive secretion and dead cells), which will fill the first diaper after birth. And, speaking of the diaper situation... baby's genitals are now fully formed!

Jason and I definitely agree that there are not 2 cantaloupes inside me so we think this picture is referring to the diameter and not the entire melon.

Sorry for the delay in posting this week; with Christmas and traveling and just keeping my head on straight this is the first time I've had to sit down and write.

While at Christmas with Jason's family I compared my belly with Lesley (our sister in law's) from when she was pregnant... it appears that I am measuring 6.5-7 months when referring to her pictures.

New symptoms the past few weeks include reflux, difficulty sleeping, and hip/leg pains at night.

We had our 20wk ultrasound on the 21st and we have some new pics that we'll post below. The babies are measuring great and are a good few weeks ahead in weight and head size.

I hope you all had great Christmases!

Our daughter's footprint:

Our son's footprint:

Profile view of our son:

Unfortunately, our daughter was camera shy, so we didn't get too many shots of her. She'll have her picture taken plenty as many photos as Jason takes.

Week 19

Definitely not the prettiest description of the babies this week. Crazy that they're mango sized. I'm still feeling good, growing and stretching, and the little ones are becoming very active. We will have more pics next week after our 20 wk ultrasound! :) After the Christmas tree fiasco (See below) I'll keep this post nice and short!

Your Baby: Week 19

Vernix caseosa, a greasy white substance made of lanugo, oil and dead skin cells (yum) now coats baby's skin, shielding it from the amniotic fluid. (Picture yourself after a nine-month bath, and the need for protection makes sense.) You might actually get to see the vernix at birth, especially if baby is premature.

Christmas Tree Infestation

Jason and I came home from church today. It was like any other day... quick trip to Target, hit the grocery store and come home. While Jason was bringing in the groceries I decided to water the tree. As I bent down to pour the water in I noticed a spider-looking creature crawling up the base of the tree stand. I was afraid it was a tick so I called Jason over and then I noticed what looked like hundreds of little eggs and big mama bugs all over the tree skirt. Upon further inspection we realized there were hundreds of bugs crawling all over the tree. (See pics below) After researching online we discovered the bugs were probably aphids but without much debate at all the tree was thrown outside. Jason offered to buy a new one, or call Lowe's to get a refund, but we figured they'd just give us a new tree. I figure we're leaving in less than a week for Christmas festivities and the tree would die then anyway so we'll keep the rest of the decorations up and just go 'tree-less' for a few days. Definitely contemplating an artificial tree for next year. I'm not sure I can go down that road, but our next tree will be thoroughly inspected and shook out before it goes up!

today marks quite an accomplishment

19 weeks in and meg finally looks more pregnant than me!

Week 18

Your Baby: Week 18

Your fetus has become amazingly mobile (at least compared to you), passing the hours yawning, hiccuping, rolling, twisting, kicking, punching, sucking and swallowing. And, baby's finally big enough that you'll be able to feel those movements soon.

So, if you're like me you wondered what the heck this week's fruit/veggie is: a sweet potato :)

Our little ones are definitely moving a lot more. It seems that our girl moves more after I eat, though our boy kicks up a storm at times too, particularly at night. We get to see them again in less than 2 weeks and get to bring home actual photos so we're excited. What an amazing Christmas present this will be!!

We are nearing, if not at, the half-way point for this pregnancy. (I know it's only week 18, but with twins we're looking at delivering around week 36). It's been a really quick, spectacular journey this far. Though when you consider for the first 4 weeks we didn't know we were pregnant and for the next 4 we didn't believe we were it does go by fast.

Pregnancy symptoms have died off a little. I'm still tired at night, but not exhausted like I was. Definitely eating a lot and still enjoying chicken nuggets and gravy (though typically not together). Peanut butter, anything dairy, OJ and fruit are favorites. I have to force down the veggies :( My memory is also kinda shot so if I forget something you've told me please forgive me and just tell me again :)

I'm starting to organize a lot of the big things in my head. Our biggest struggle right now is coming up with a name for our little girl. Our son (crazy to say that) is taken care of, we think, but we're pretty stuck on a name for our daughter. I'll 'officially' reveal both of the names once we get them figured out, though many of you already know the boy's name. I just feel bad using his name when we don't have one for her. Any suggestions for a girl name are happily considered!

Week 17

Jason updated you all on our dr visit. It was amazing and so much fun! The even more exciting part is that we get to go back in 3 weeks for our official anatomy ultrasound so we'll be able to see them again!

This week I've been busy looking and trying to find baby bedding. I decided to buy instead of sew just due to the fact that it would take a long time to make and it would end up being much more expensive. After a LOT of searching we decided on mix and match from Carters. (It's on order so we'll see if we like it once it's in, but it was definitely the cheapest option and looks to be the comfiest). I didn't get the complete custom feel from ordering, but it's customized enough to appease me with the mix/match idea. I'll include pictures of it later if we end up liking it.

Jason's been busy as well and has begun the huge task of cleaning out the garage... partly to just have it cleaned so he can begin working on some new woodworking ideas, but mostly to let us park in there again. :)

Anyway, November absolutely flew by and I know December will too! I'm posting week 17 info, but really we're almost to week 18! You'll notice that the 'average' size of baby at this week is 5.9oz and we're already just past 7oz so I'm thinking even with twins we'll still be having larger babies. We'll see if the growth trend continues or levels off. :)

Your Baby: Week 17

Baby's skeleton is hardening, changing from rubbery cartilage to bone, and fat is finally accumulating around it. The umbilical cord is getting thicker and stronger, and those little fingers and toes are now topped by one-of-a-kind prints.

pardon the interruption

Jason here. I have to hijack the blog, because yesterday was the most fun I have ever had at a doctor's office.

It started typically enough: sitting in the waiting room, digging through the women's magazines to find the one, out-of-date Sports Illustrated, glancing around the room to figure out who's here for what. She's definitely pregnant. That guy looks as nervous as I was the first time I came here. She's old... annual or do you come back for menopause? Finally the ultrasound tech called our name and we got to go back.

Meg's belly gets all lubed up and she starts sliding across it. Wow they've grown! Last time we were here they were little peanut shaped blobs on the screen. Now they have faces and bones and fingers and...that one's bum is in the other's face! Poor kid.

She scanned around some more and we were able to see that one's a boy, and one's a girl! Wait, what's that one doing? The girl is kicking her brother in the face!

We watched the membrane separating them stretch and move like a balloon as Twin A (the girl) repeatedly kicked Twin B(the boy) right in the face for about 5 minutes. The tech measured their stomachs, heads, arm bones, leg bones, hearts -- everything looked great!

Finally, as our 30 minutes of visitation into their little world was ending, she zoomed out and our son was standing up for himself and kicking back. I can only imagine the looks on mine and Meg's faces as we watched in awe as our children swam around.

Our children both weigh about 7 oz. now, are close to identical in size, and had very similar, strong heartbeats. Everything looked great! We are so blessed!