Baby Lab

If anyone is interested in what the IVF procedure involves, you should definitely check out a special show on TLC called "Baby Lab". I'm not sure how often they air it - but it is pretty accurate and insightful.

Half Way There!

Where to start... well for starters we left for our anniversary/babymoon in the beautiful Grand Cayman last Wednesday, and spent 5 amazing days in paradise - seriously, you would not believe this water - it's insane! We returned late last night (well actually about 1 this morning because of a delay in Miami). I posted some pics from the trip below - including a belly bathing suit pic - watch out it's a big one! I think my favorite day of the whole trip was Friday... we woke up, had some delicious banana pancakes at Eats Cafe, lounged around the beach, swam around in the clear blue water, read some Eclipse, then headed across the street to the Sunshine Grill for the island's best burger (it was pretty good!), Jason had a nice Painkiller, and then we headed to Stingray City. We stopped at a couple snorkel spots along the way where we swam with a huge stingray (the snorkeling was better in Hawaii though). We ended the tour at Stingray City - a sandbar in the middle of the ocean that is the home of hundreds of stingrays! They were sooo cute! I wish I could have one as a pet! They were like cats - brushing up against you, wanting you to pet them and give them treats. We got to hold them and kiss them! Apparently, if you give a stingray a smooch - you get 7 years good luck! Woo Hoo! I didn't want this part of the trip to end - but we had to get back. We went back to the Westin, fixed ourselves up and headed out to the Calypso Grill. This place was by far the best restaurant on the island! I loved everything about this place! The food was absolutely amazing - I had the lobster and shrimp champagne and Jason had the blackened Mahi Mahi - we swapped a few bites and they were both sooooo good! A girl from work told us about the place - and Megan... THANK YOU! It was awesome! Especially the sticky toffee pudding - mmmm! If we would have eaten here the first night - no doubt we would have eaten here every night!


On Saturday (our last full day), we rented a car and drove around the whole island - which took a whopping hour and a half! Afterwards, we kinda wish we would have just stayed at our hotel - it really was the best beach and water on the whole island. Oh well, it was fun to watch Jason drive on the wrong side of the road! Well worth the $40 car rental! Oddly enough, Jason ran into his freshman year suite mate from A&M while walking by the pool on Saturday - how weird is that?! Small world! Unfortunately, the vacation had to come to a end. We had a layover in Miami on our way back - which by the way is the worst airport I have ever been to! The layover was already 3 hours (which put us back to DFW around 11:15p), but with an added 45 minute delay, we didn't get home until well after midnight - ugh! Poor Jason had to work today, but Lucy and I got to sleep in :) Then I just spent the day doing laundry, playing with Lucy, and finishing Eclipse (can't wait to see the movie!), until 3:30 when I left to meet Jason for our 19 week dr. appt!


I was super excited because they were going to do a detailed sono (with our regular sono tech - no more mean sono tech). Both babies are doing great! Baby A is measuring at 8 ounces and Baby B is 9 ounces - and both are about 3 days ahead of schedule! I found out that both babies are favoring my left side - which explains why I thought I was only feeling one baby - but really I have been feeling both of them - which was a relief! We still have a boy and a girl - and it looks like it's going to stay that way - so I can officially get down to the business of shopping! Jason was such a proud papa when she showed us our little boy's business - such a man! They were both quite active today, rolling around, headbutting each other, kicking each other - already with the sibling rivalry! All the movement made it difficult to get a really good profile pic of either baby - oh well we'll see them again in two weeks! Their heart rates were at 145 and 153 and my cervix was looking nice and long - let's hope it stays that way! So far, I am 18 weeks 5 days and have gained about 9 lbs. I can't believe we are half way there! I find myself breathless alot these days and back pain has begun to set in - which is just lovely. Dr. G says it's just a glimpse of the back pain that is to come... awesome. I might need to invest in a back support thingy - it scares me to think that it will intensify and get worse the bigger I get - but I guess my smooth pregnancy was bound to hit a snag at some point!


I have started the adventure of registering - what a headache! I don't know if I am doing any of it right - but I guess it's trial by fire! If anyone has any must haves that I should know about - please feel free to pass it on! Or anything that is a total waste of money - I'm all ears :)


Here are some pics from the trip and dr. appt!



Cayman Islands from the plane

 

view from the hotel room

Nope - not the swimming pool - this was the ocean my friends!

The ever growing baby bump!

Anniversary night at the Wharf

Mmm virgin strrawberry daqueri (sp?)

My handsome baby daddy!

I guess they didn't get the memo that I'm pregnant - but Jason enjoyed the free champagne!

poppin the bubbly

A toast to 3 amazing years!

It was just so amazing - I had to add another picture of the water!

On our way to Stingray City (no pics of the stingrays b/c they are on the waterproof camera)

At Calypso Grill - an end to a perfect day

Again - my good-lookin hubby!

The happy couple :)

Jason and the blow-holes

Me and the blow-holes

Looks like a post-card - Pier at Rum Point

Hell was actually closed on Saturday believe it or not!

This is Hell - literally - I wanted to get a postcard from Hell - but as I said - Hell was closed :(

It's a boy! Jason was so proud!

And... It's a girl!

Our litte girl - twin a (at least today she was twin a)

More of girl - twin a (already a show off and princess hogging the spotlight)

You guessed it... our girl baby a again!

Our baby boy - twin b

Two heads are better than one! They were both breech today.

Twins feet - and boy do they know how to use 'em!

Well... that's all until June 28th!

Part II of Genetic Test = Muy Bueno!

The genetic doctor called today with the results of our second blood test, and they were really good! The downs results were 1 in 8300 (really good), spina bifida was 1 in 1100 (again really good), and I can't remember anything else they said except that they all came back fantastic and I have nothing to worry about! Music to my ears!

Now we are just looking forward to our next u/s on Monday the 14th - it's the big half way mark u/s.

Leave for Cayman in T minus 36 hours!  

Took some belly pics the other day - I hate myself in pics - but everyone keeps bugging me to post new pics - so here ya go...

Reflection

Sitting in church today, I began to reflect on this past year and all the ups and downs we have had... when the band began to play this song... I really felt like God's presence was with me today, and I was overcome with such gratefulness for the blessings that we have received.

You Have Been So Good

You have been so good to me

You have been so good to me

I came here broken, you made me whole
You have been so good
You have been so good
You have been so good to me


You have been so good to me
You have been so good to me


I came here morning,
You gave me joy
You have been so good
You have been so good
You have been so good to me


How can I thank you
There is just no way
How can I thank you
No way how could I to pay
For your kindness
For your tenderness
For your custom presence here with me


You have been so good to me
You have been so good to me
I came here broken, you made me whole
You have been so good
You have been so good
You have been so good to me


Lord How can I thank you
There is just no way
How can I thank you
No way how could I to pay
For your kindness
For your tenderness
For your custom presence here with me


You have been so good to me
You have been so good to me
I came here broken, you made me whole
You have been so good
You have been so good
You have been so good to me


-Paul Baloche

Yay! Another GREAT report!

I will be 17 weeks tomorrow! We had our dr. appt today and we had another glowing report! The babies are doing great - although, we had a different sono tech today and she wasn't very nice - she didn't give me any pictures and I didn't even get to see the babies b/c the curtain was covering the tv :( Hopefully we won't have that lady again. I have gained about 7 pounds so far! I was beginning to think I was never going to gain any weight!

We got a great deal on the carseats we wanted, so we went ahead and bought them this weekend, along with the bases and snap n go stroller! The nursery is filling up fast! Lucy was a little freaked out by all of it - but she gave it the good 'ol sniff test and seems to be warming up to it all :) I attached pics below. I think we have decided to just get bedding made since we can't seem to find anything we like (and by we I mean me)! 

We had a great Memorial Weekend until... we came home about 8:30 last night to a swealtering 90 degree house and a broken ac :( We ended up packing everything up and heading to the hotel for the night. Jason came home at 12:30 today to meet the repair man, and $2400 and 5 hours later... we finally have air again! Why does the ac always go out on the hottest day of the year? At least we didn't have to replace it - so I guess that's good. 

On a much brighter note... tomorrow is the last full day of school! Woo Hoo! And then... we leave for Grand Cayman a week from tomorrow - and I can't wait! 

matching carseats - Graco Snugride 32 in lemongrass

Belly Pics and Cribs

OK - I finally got some belly pics up here now that I actually have something to show! The belly popped out last week and now there is just no stopping it! I have gained about 3 or 4 pounds now - woo hoo - and am about 16 and a half weeks. We have a doctors appt on Tuesday and I go to have part two of the sequential scan (down syndrome test) which is just a blood test - and I will have more baby pics to share :)

So... on the nursery front, we bought our cribs and mattresses and both came in yesterday! Jason was so excited to put them together. Super pumped about the additional 10% discount credit we got when Jason went to pick up the cribs - apparently when you are having twins+ you get a multiples discount! So that saved us about $70 - gotta love that! We (and by we I mean Jason) moved everything out of the office and into the dining room, and everything in the dining room (buffet and dining table) into the kitchen (we have an eat in kitchen area). I was worried it would look too cluttered, but it looks surprisingly good! Poor Lucy doesn't have a clue what's going on! We still have some computer stuff in the new nursery, so we couldn't put the cribs side by side like it will eventually be, but we took pics of both cribs. Now if only bedding was as easy!

I also had a lunch baby shower at work today! It was very unexpected and I feel very blessed that my co-workers put it together for me :) And bonus, I didn't have to sit in front of everyone and feel awkward! We scored a nice gift card for Babies R Us, which will certainly help!

In other news, I finally felt the babies yesterday! It was just little flutterings, but I was so excited! I can't wait to really feel them move and kick. Between the cribs/nursery, baby shower, expanding belly, and flutters - this has been a very eventful week! I did have a random migraine the other day which was HORRIBLE and resulted in my first "sick" episode (at work no less) - but I guess there must have been some kind of growth spike that made my hormones go crazy, because I have been fine ever since - thank goodness - I don't know how all those women deal with morning sickness!

According to the books, the babies are both almost 5 inches long and weigh about 4 and half ounces! Can't wait for our appointment on Tuesday to see just how they are growing. I hope everyone has a wonderful Memorial Weekend!

Belly Pic - 15 weeks

Belly Pic - 16 weeks

Boy Crib (baby boy's first onesie from New Orleans - thanks Gran!)

Girl Crib (baby girl's first onesie from New Orleans - thanks Gran!) - sorry it's fuzzy

Work lunch shower

The Bump has arrived!

Well, a few days ago I noticed that I had developed quite the little baby bump. At first I thought I might have just been bloated, but nope... it is here to stay! There's no stopping it now! I had to break down and finally buy a belly band so that I can get through the rest of the school year without having to buy any "school clothes".

In other big news... we have booked our Babymoon/Anniversary trip to Grand Cayman! We leave on out anniversary (June 9th), and will be staying at the Westin for 4 nights and 5 days. We are counting down the days and cannot wait to relax by the beach and have some alone time for what will likely be the last time for a good while :)

We had our regular dr appt today with Dr. G - and everything is GREAT! My cervex is at a 40 - which is really good (anything over 25 is good) - so I was very relieved to hear that all is good on that front. The babies are continuing to grow big and strong and we still have a boy and a girl (woo hoo!). They had the same heartrate today - 149, and they are still measuring a day apart from one another. So far, everything seems to continue to go very smoothly, which I feel so blessed for.

On the nursery front, we have decided on cribs and a changing table, but that's about it at this point. Figuring out nursery colors/theme is very frustrating. I know I don't want any animals or characters, just use color and design patterns - but at least I still have time. 

Check out the pics from today's appointment - today baby a was the boy and baby b was the girl - I guess they like to take turns! 

 








Baby boy trying to suck his thumb!