Twin Gender Reveal: Then and Now

Part 1, April 21st, 2014

What will they be?

I'm not publishing this post until I get confirmation at my next ultrasound, since we found out so early, but on April 21st we went to an elective ultrasound for an anniversary present. I'd wanted to get one while I was in Ohio for my Dad's graduation, since my mom hasn't ever gotten to see an ultrasound or one of my ultrasounds, but that plan changed when Nathan was unable to get leave to come along. I didn't think it was fair to potentially find out the twins' genders if he couldn't be there, so we did the next best thing. We went to the ultrasound and got a video to take her to see!

I was shocked, since I was only 14 weeks, but the sonographer was absolutely certain of what she was seeing. She told us the genders! The twins were so sweet and active--one was cuddled up to it's placenta and one was punching and kicking the other.

Before we went, Shane helped me sort out pink and blue candies to put in two little eggs for a gender reveal. We had to use plastic eggs since, after all, it was right after Easter!

Shane loves to sort things...especially when you get a piece as a reward after!

So when I got home that night I filled my little Easter eggs and packed them up to take to Ohio...where the kids gave them to my parents!

And the babies are...

...One of each! Wahoo!

I know these pictures are hard to understand. This twin was the one cuddling the placenta, which is that large blob. Head on the left.

The twins have been spooning each other in every ultrasound so far. Hope that continues all the way to a double vertex delivery!

Part 2, June 2nd, 2014

Now that I've had my "official" anatomy scan I'm glad to be able to finally publish this post. Both twins look healthy and whole. The difference is that twin A is actually our girl, Dani, and twin B is actually our boy, Dean. Dani (A) is estimated to weigh 12 ounces, and Dean (B) is estimated to weigh 14 ounces. Both placentas are posterior (toward my back) and both were extremely active during the ultrasound. At one point when the tech was trying to measure Dean's humerus he was kicking to fast that his legs were little blurs! For the first time the babies aren't spooning each other: Dani is head down, Dean is feet down, and both were kicking each other in the head the whole time. In the picture below Dani has her hand up by her cheek.

Dani, Twin A

The tech was really nice about explaining what she was looking at and measuring and thanks to my Anatomy and Physiology class I was following along really well. She didn't have a very good sense of humor though. As I laid down on the table I told her I hoped she didn't find a third hiding in there, and snickered. She very seriously told me that it was highly unlikely, and if I was having triplets I would have found out at the same ultrasound in which I found out I was carrying twins. Ooooookay. I didn't make any more jokes! I was grateful to her for her explanations though.

Dean, Twin B

 I wanted the big littles to be involved in helping introduce "their" babies, but they were more interested in playing with the balloons. I just LOVE how excited Shane is. He tells every random person he meets that hes having two babies; one for sister and one for him, and he'll share with me sometimes. He plans on sharing his bed with "his" baby. Azaria doesn't get it quite as much, but she loves to pat my tummy and say "babies", and then try to look under my shirt to find them.

I have about 15 funny outtakes, but I'll spare you and just share one. They were bouncing their balloons together so much that the above is the only one where they were still!

20 Weeks

20 Weeks! Halfway again. Or, it would be halfway if I were having a singleton pregnancy.

This week we change the way we measure the babies: we're going from head to rump to head to toe measurements. They babies should be about 10 inches now, and about 10.5 ounces--about the size of a banana. They are practicing swallowing and starting to produce meconium.

Sorry, the kids ate all the bananas so you are stuck with my frozen smoothie/ice cream bananas. Also, I'm not sure if I still have toes but since I can mostly walk without falling down I am assuming so.

Said bananas were extremely cold, and Shane was not happy to have to hold them. Also, both kids were having an apple when I wanted to take these pictures so here you see my ten seconds they gave me to snap a picture.

Waaaaay back in my 13 week update I talked a little bit about how uneasy I felt through much of my first trimester, knowing how many things could go wrong. I was thinking this morning about how much that's changed, about how I feel so relaxed about this pregnancy now and confident that things will be ok. Peace that passes all understanding, for sure! It also helps that I can feel regular movement now. Goals for the pregnancy are to stay off bedrest, make it to full term, have to babies that don't have to spend time in the NICU, and deliver both vaginally. Lofty maybe, but what's life without goals!

The most exciting part of the week for me is that I started feeling movement from the outside last Thursday (19 weeks 1 day)! So cool. On Sunday I even videoed them moving but it's not very clear. I think I'm feeling them both although I always feel the movement really low while I can feel the hard lump of one somersaulting high on my right side, often even wedging into my right ribcage. Because of that I've wondered several times if righty has an anterior placenta and I'm really only feeling movement from one baby, so I guess we'll find out at my anatomy scan next week. Nathan still hasn't felt them because he's never in bed with me during their busy time. 

In way less thrilling news, I took my three hour glucose test last Friday. The three hour test is more complicated than the one hour: you fast after midnight, get a blood draw, drink 100mL of the most disgusting straight sugar in a drink you've ever tasted, and then get your blood drawn three more times. The first hour, I was sick to my stomach, dizzy, shaky, and "high". The second hour was mostly ok. The third hour I crashed, could barely keep my eyes open, and by the last fifteen minutes my ears were ringing, I started having tunnel vision, and I knew I was going to pass out soon. I kept telling myself, just get through or you'll have to do this again. Just get through. I laid there with my eyes shut until my timer rang for the last blood draw, walked to the lab as slowly and carefully as possible, and sat down. The lady asked if I as okay and asked her to take my blood as quickly as possible and get me a juice! She got me a juice and some crackers and I sat in the waiting room for a little while until I was able to see clearly. I was pretty wiped out for the day after that...it's such an unrealistic test, if you ask me.

To sandwich the bad between the good, I also found a maternity swimsuit that fits and has plenty of room to grow in the tummy, managed to get WIC, and took a tour of the Labor and Delivery Unit at our hospital. I was encouraged to hear that the nurse giving the tour is also a Doula (and the Doula certifier for our area!) as well as being one of the two hospital lactation consultants. I think it would be a huge boon to have her as my nurse, so I'll be praying for that! In trying to see the positive, I think that the benefit of delivering in an L&D unit associated with a midwife run birth center is that the nurses are used to working with midwives and tend to do things and be open to doing things more naturally. For example, during the tour we were told the the nurses encourage movement and position changes during labor. There were several other things we were told that were great, and I also like that they really focus on giving mommy/daddy/baby a lot of bonding time before they start doing the weighing and the bathing and all that business. They've even recently changed policy so that even C-Section moms are getting immediate skin to skin with their babies. (Obviously, everything I'm saying is based on maternal/fetal health). I still am struggling with the loss of they birth experience I had desired and birthing in a hospital, but I am praying desperately that I can still have good birth experience along with my healthy babes.

And for my final good news, I don't have gestational diabetes! I still haven't gotten a call from the office, but I remembered tonight that I could check if my results were in through the patient portal. All of my numbers were nice and low (but in a normal range), except the final number. You know, from the blood drawn as I was blacking out? Yeah, that number is 39. Normal would be from 65-139. That explains a lot! They have the final result highlighted, notated as PANIC LOW, and starred underneath as **verified by repeat analysis**. I find these results vindicating, and a confirmation that they high number from my one hour truly was user error. Glory Hallelujah! On to repeating the same test in seven weeks!

20 Weeks {Belated}

This past week was a week that we had been looking forward to for a long time--the week we got to have our ultrasound! We had it at 9AM on Thursday morning and the office was an hour from our house so we were up bright and early.  We got there a little bit early so Shane ran laps around the outer hallways.

The machine they used looked pretty old so while they were able to get the measurements they needed to tell us that Baby was healthy and a GIRL, it's pretty hard to see anything but blurs in the pictures they gave me. That's ok though, we saw that she is developed and healthy. She was also being stubborn and didn't want to give us a profile shot.

This is the only ultrasound I will be having, Lord willing. As much as the curious, technology loving part of me would love to go for an elective 3D/4D sono (Have you seen those things? They are creepy/cool.), the conservative, natural side of me won't allow it. Much as I'd love to see her pretty face again I don't care to subject her to another ultrasound.

After our ultrasound we stopped at Kid 2 Kid, which is a local kid stuff resale store where I had some store credit from selling a few things of Shane's. I used my store credit to buy a cute little outfit (right) and a stool for Shane's table.  The outfit on the left I bought months ago on a whim. It was only 2 bucks and both grandpas predicted girl so I got it just in case.

And, we decided on her name! Azaria Natalie V----! Azaria means "helped by God". Natalie is both my middle name and my mom's name. Originally I had wanted Jeanette for a middle name, after a beloved Great great Aunt, but Natalie won out.

How Far Along: This is my 20 week post, but I am actually 21 weeks today.
Total Weight Gain: 7 lbs
Maternity Clothes: Yup. 
Stretch Marks: A bazillion. But no new ones.
Sleep: Pretty good this week!
Best Moment of the Week: Seeing our baby and finding out that she is a GIRL!
Worst Moment of the Week: Almost leaving my wallet at Walmart--oops! And only getting three hours of sleep on New Years Eve. That was not fun.
Movement: She's really strong now, and I can feel her from the outside all the time! Nathan even got to feel her when we went on our date a few weeks ago.
Food Cravings: None
Gender: Girl!
Labor Signs: I started having Braxton Hicks around 14 weeks. They are getting a lot more frequent now, and stronger.
Belly Button: No change really.
Wedding Rings on or Off: On.
What I miss: A good night's sleep. But I've been missing that for a long time now, and I expect to continue to miss it for as long as I have little kids or am pregnant! It's a privilege of motherhood, right? If you'd like to wake up early to feed my eternally starving son so I can sleep in, let me know. I'll take you up on it.
What am I looking forward to: Finding out when we move--c'mon Navy, I need some answers!
Weekly Wisdom:I got a chance to talk to Emily about the trouble I've been having standing without passing out and she said it's because of low blood pressure. Huh.
Milestones: Seeing Baby and finding out her gender.
Weekly Verse: Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a hope and a future.

For some people, dying means going Home

A pastor that has been very special in my family’s lives is very ill and close to death. They don’t think he has much longer to live. Please pray for his wife, his children, and his church family as they grieve, and please rejoice with Pastor M as he looks forward to going home and seeing our Father.

What does it feel like?

This is a conversation N and I had a few nights ago about what if feels like when Piglet plays:

Me: I can’t wait till you can feel Piglet. It’s the neatest thing feeling him play around in there.
N: Oh, is he moving around right now? What does it feel like?
Me: Yah he just kicked me. It feels like…um…you know how sometimes you have a really big fart coming and you know it’s coming because you feel a big bubble go across your stomach and then it goes away and then you fart?
N: Yeah….
Me: He feels like one of those fart bubbles. Mostly. But different too. I can tell the difference.
N: (laughing) So piglet’s just a fart waiting to happen?
Me: Yeah, a nine month fart.

And last night I told him it was also like the feeling you get in your stomach when you go over a hill really fast.

Also last night my sweet husband looked at me and asked:

N: Did I tell you yet today that you're beautiful?
Me: No, but you still have time...
N: You're beautiful. And I think you're even more beautiful than ever now when you're carrying my baby.
Swoon. I melt.

20 weeks, 2 days

Wow, I can’t believe I’m halfway through being pregnant. It seems like I’ve come so far, and yet have so far left to go. I have so much left to do and yet I’m so eager for him to be here. He’s the length of a banana now. Growing big and strong! And, my uterus is around the level of my belly button. Piglet is breathing amniotic fluid and making meconium. He’s also covered in vernix now.

My weekend was uneventful. I slept A LOT, and didn’t do much else other than clean the house and do laundry. The best part of my weekend by far has been feeling Piglet moving around. I can’t even describe the warm fuzzies that I get from feeling him. It’s the best thing ever! My mom tells me I will miss feeling him after he is born, and I believe her. It is so special to know that I am growing this little life, and for now, just for these few months, I can nurture him and protect him and know him in such a special way. I know that in a way that relationship will continue for much of his life but it won’t be the same as it is now. Physically, we are the closest we will ever be. I’m able to bond with him and keep him warm and well fed and the reality is that as a parent you have to let your kids go eventually. You have to let them make their own decisions and their own mistakes and hope pray that they will remember the things you’ve taught them. But for a few more months, I don’t have to do any of those things. I know where he is at every moment of every day and I have a pretty good guess at what he’s doing. Every day I love him a little bit more.

Psalm 139:9

"For You did form my inward parts; You did knit me together in my mother's womb."

Jeremiah 1:5
Before I formed you in the womb I knew [and] approved of you...

And, to commemorate the half-way point, BELLY PICTURES!  (All in the same shirt, to please my mother.)

4 weeks

10 weeks

20 weeks