It's raining presents

Is it possible that another two weeks could have passed?! I have a lot to tell you about today: another shower, visiting new babies, and a doctor's appointment. Let's get started!

Last Tuesday evening the women from the church in Kokomo (where Elizabeth grew up) threw a shower for her. How nice is that? She hasn't lived there since 1999, and they still threw her one. Everyone was very generous, and we received lots of nice gifts. We now have our Diaper Champ along with some diapers to be dirtied by the babies when they arrive and then placed in the Diaper Champ. We received several blankets of all different sizes. The portable swing we received will be nice because it will allow us to have two swings without losing so much floor space. We also, of course, received a lot of clothes. Elizabeth has organized everything in the closet according to size (did you expect any less?), and it seems like we have a good assortment. Here is a picture from the shower.



Since my last post two new babies have been born into our families! My cousin, Megan, had a little boy on July 10th. His name is Ethan. We got to see him this past Saturday and he is really cute (in a handsome sort of way). Elizabeth's sister, Molly, and her husband Greg also had a baby this past Friday, July 21st. His name is Shadrach, or Shad for short. We were able to go and visit with Molly, Greg and Shad at the hospital on Saturday. He is also adorable. Elizabeth and I were both able to hold each of the babies. It was quite an experience, knowing that very shortly I will have two of my own to hold all I want! Anyway, here's a picture of Elizabeth getting some practice with Shad.



We had a doctor's appointment today, so I'd better report on that now. First and foremost, everybody is doing great! Things got kicked off with an ultrasound. One of the first things we learned after that got started was that Baby B (our little boy) has flipped around and both babies are now vertex (head down). If they cooperate and stay in these positions things will be much simpler at delivery since Baby B won't have to be flipped around from the outside. OUCH! It also quickly explained why Elizabeth, and me for that matter, have really only been feeling kicks from one baby...or so we thought. It turns out that all four of the little feet are in one spot right under Elizabeth's ribs. Everything else with the ultrasound went great. Baby A (girl) is weighing in at 2 lbs. 1 oz. and Baby B (boy) is weighing in at 2 lb. 3 oz. They are both above the 50th percentile for their gestational ages. Unfortunately, since Baby B flipped around and they are now head-to-head it made it very difficult to get good pictures of their faces. I went ahead and attached a few below, but they aren't the greatest. I tried to point out some features so that you might be able to get oriented. There are two of Baby B and only one of Baby A.







We met with a midwife at this appointment because Elizabeth's doctor was on vacation. All of the results from the bloodwork at the last appointment turned out great. No anemia and no gestational diabetes! Even though Elizabeth is at 27 weeks today she is measuring as if she were 33.5-34 weeks. The midwife was really impressed that she is doing so well! Go Elizabeth! Our next doctor's appointment is in two weeks. There won't be an ultrasound at that appointment, but I'll update the blog nonetheless.

25 weeks down.... XX to go...

Wow, a lot has happened since I last checked in. I'll get you all caught up.

We got the wall decorations up in the nursery. This ended up being a two night ordeal, but now that they are up it looks great! On the wall with the cribs we have two coordinating paintings. They are from a series called "The Lion and The Lamb" and are painted by an artist in Kokomo, Indiana who happens to be a friend of Elizabeth's father. The one over the left crib is called "Love is Kind," and the one over the right crib is called "Give Thanks." We framed them ourselves using white cutom-cut mattes and frames that we purchased at Hobby Lobby. The wall hanging in between the paintings coordinates with the crib bedding. Take a look...



On the wall with the window we have a cross-stitched Precious Moments piece that has a little boy (or girl, I can't tell) hugging a lamb. On the right side of the window is a painting of Christ with some lambs. In addition to getting the wall decorations up, we were also able to get a pull-down shade and curtain rod. The valance also coordinates with the bedding. Here it is...



We had a very exciting Fourth of July. We traveled down to Bloomington for a family reunion combined with a baby shower for Elizabeth. It was a reunion for Elizabeth's mom's side of the family. Several aunts and uncles, a cousin, her parents and her brother were all there. We had a very nice time catching up. It was especially nice to see her Aunt Susie who traveled in from Connecticut.

Everyone was so generous, and we received lots of gifts. Check it out.



One special thing that we received is actually being loaned to us. It is a special blanket. The blanket belongs to Elizabeth's Aunt Susie and it was her blanket when she came home from the hospital. It ended up that all of her siblings come home from the hospital with this blanket as well. When it came time for the next generation, most of her children and her nieces and nephews had it when they came home from the hospital. The blanket tradition has never been tested by the challenge of twins, but we'll figure something out. We're not going to break such a special tradition!



As I said before, everyone was very generous. We got lots of cute matching things for them, always (almost anyway) one pink and one blue. Everything was so great!



It was my first baby shower ever, and I had a lot of fun. I even got a gift! They are matching outfits, one says "Daddy's Girl," and the other says "Daddy's Boy."



Even with all of this fun, there's still more to talk about. Elizabeth had a doctor's appointment today. There was no ultrasound at this visit, instead they did a glucose screening test to check for gestational diabetes. She had to wait around for a full hour for that test, so I didn't go to this appointment. They also took some blood to check for anemia and to make sure her blood type hasn't changed (she's Rh-negative). We'll get the results of all of the blood work on Wednesday, but I don't anticipate any problems.

During the one-hour wait, she did see the doctor. She had a new nurse midwife or nurse practicioner with her that just joined their practice. She was following the doctor around "learning the ropes." Dr. Asdell made a comment to her that Elizabeth is doing very well. (Always nice to hear.) They checked the heartbeats and the boy's was 149 and the girl's was 135 and then 142 a bit later. Since there was no ultrasound this time, she felt around a bit a said she thought the babies were still in the same positions. Elizabeth is measuring 31 weeks (she's 25 weeks today).

The next appointment is in two weeks and will include an ultrasound (yay!). Also, on Wednesday or Thursday of this week Elizabeth will go and get her Rho-Gham shot at the hospital. This is to make sure that if she exchanges any blood with the babies during the delivery, and one of them happens to be Rh-positive that she won't develop antibodies to the Rh factor. Because if that did happen, there could be problems in the future if she had another Rh-positive baby.

All in all, everything is still going great. Elizabeth is growing more and more uncomfortable, but she is a very good sport about it. I think I've mentioned before, the average gestation for twins is 35 weeks. That's only ten weeks away. Sounds scary when you say it that way. I can't wait either. I was thinking about the D-day (delivery day that is) in the shower the other day, and I almost started crying. I'm sure it will be another of the happiest days of my life, right next to the day I married my beautiful wife.

Until next time...

[In creepy Dr. Frankenstein voice] It's al-iiiiiii-ve!!

Last night was an amazing night! I was able to feel our little girl moving for the first time. Of course, Elizabeth has been feeling them move for quite some time now, but they are finally kicking hard enough to be felt on the outside.

Elizabeth called me at work yesterday to tell me that she thought she could feel them from the outside. When I got home I asked if there were any babies awake, and she said there were. Unfortunately though, I wasn't able to feel anything. She said the kicks didn't feel as hard as they had earlier in the day. Based on where she was feeling those kicks, I would guess that it was our little boy.

Finally, around 9:00 last night she said she could feel kicks again, and they were harder this time. Based on the position this time (high on the right side), it must have been the girl. I had my hand on her belly for only a few moments when I felt the first one. I continued to feel for about the next 10 minutes or so and got to feel five to ten kicks. One of them was really hard, I bet I could have seen her skin move if I had been looking instead of feeling.

I have always known that our babies are in there, but with each of these milestones it becomes more and more real. Each ultrasound has made them more real, and definitely feeling the movement now is a big step. I look forward to continuing "getting to know" them until I can finally meet them in person.

I also have a couple of pictures of Elizabeth to post finally. She spent some time yesterday getting the lambs all situated on the top of the hutch on the changing table. She did a really good job; they look so cute. The first picture shows off all of the lambs arranged. I also attached a second shot that hows off her belly and how good she looks.

A nursery for two...

The nursery is starting to look more and more like a nursery. The furniture is all put together now. There is still a lot of decorating to do, but we have lots of time. It would be a shame to get it all done at once and not have anything to do for three or four months. We're finding that it's a delicate balance between getting stuff done early to be prepared, and getting things done too early and making the wait seem longer.

It's hard to imagine the wait seeming long though. I can't help but feel like it is charging toward us like a freight train. Today marks the 23 week point. 23 WEEKS!! Considering the average twins are born at 35 weeks, that leaves only 12 weeks or three months. The weeks are flying by and it's going to be September/October before we know it.

Anyway, I have some pictures to show. We'll be getting a picture of Elizabeth and her ever expanding belly on here soon. She wanted to make sure she looked cute. I don't know what she's worried about, she always looks cute! Pregnancy is being especially good to her. I can't help but admire how beautiful she is, carrying our babies.

The first picture is of me finishing up the painting. I wanted to show it to give you some idea of how hard it is to paint textured walls! Look at how hard I am pushing on the roller. We'll be hiring professional painters from now on...or just not painting anymore.



The next step was putting together the changing table, side tables, and hutch. It looks really nice all put together. It took about three evenings to get it done. Some outside help was required to get the hutch up there too!



Once I had that all put together, I assembled the cribs. They actually went together very easily. They will be easy to convert into day beds and big boy/girl beds when the time comes. They are also very sturdy, which I like a lot. The only things I'm not so crazy about is that they don't have drop gates, and it seems to me like the babies are going to be too deep in the cribs at first. We have it on the highest setting, but it still seems pretty deep. We'll see what it looks like once we get the matresses in there.



Here are both cribs completed and in place...



I'm afraid the cats are already starting to feel upset about the changes taking place around here. To help them adjust, we went and purchased a new scratching post for them. They seem to really like it. Their favorite part is definitely the little mouse hanging from the top. It's got catnip too, so I'm sure that helps.



Well, that's all for now. Stay tuned!

Ultrasound Pictures

As promised, I'm back with the latest ultrasound pictures. Unfortunately our little boy is very squirmy and we haven't been able to snap too many good pictures of him. Here are two shots of his face, if you can even make them out.





Our little girl is much more cooperative. She even brought her hand up to her mouth for one of the pictures below. Both of these shots are profile shots.





Like I said before, the little boy is a real trouble-maker. He is in the breech position and his sister is in the vertex position (head down). Since he moves around so much he just kicks her and kicks her. I won't blame her at all if she never really likes him!

Okay, it's late again...enjoy the ultrasound pictures!