20 Weeks...TWO Bananas TWO Bananas

How your babies are growing: 20 Weeks

Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. He's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel — the length of a banana. (For the first 20 weeks, when a baby's legs are curled up against his torso and hard to measure, measurements are taken from the top of his head to his bottom — the "crown to rump" measurement. After 20 weeks, he's measured from head to toe.)
He's swallowing more these days, which is good practice for his digestive system. He's also producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion. This gooey substance will accumulate in his bowels, and you'll see it in his first soiled diaper (some babies pass meconium in the womb or during delivery).


Fraternal Twins at 20 weeks inside the womb



20 weeks: Baby is as long as a bananaYour baby has grown as big as a banana. (Length: about 6 1/2 inches from head to bottom, and 10 inches from head to heel.)

Two lil bananas growing in my belly...I LOVE it!!! Keep growing girls! We love you!!!

19 Weeks 6 Days

Fun Presents for the Girls

Last Friday night I got a call from my cousin Whitney checking to see if I was gonna be home in the next lil bit...of course I was...it was almost 9 which is totally my bedtime these days no matter if its a weekday or weekend. She said she was gonna stop by with a surprise really quick. So Whitney, Colton, and Pam showed up with the coolest present for the girls...

It was a pretty lil pink tub FULL of all kinds of goodies!!! Whitney won this at a raffle that night at Aunt Pam's school and she was nice enough to give it all to us and just had to get it to us asap and we were super excited to say the least!!! Look at all this great stuff...there are a couple lil onesies, some outfits, toys, shoes, lotion, wipes, blankets, cute lil bath towels and all types of cool stuff that we need!!! The girls say THANK YOU and they love you guys!!!!!!!

Week 19 stats

How your baby's growing: 19 weeks

19 weeks: Baby is the size of an heirloom tomato

Your baby equals a large heirloom tomato in size and weighs 8 1/2 ounces. (length: 6 inches, head to bottom) (Until 20 weeks the baby is measured from head to bottom only...next week the measurements should start including the legs!!!)

Your baby's sensory development is exploding! Her brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Some research suggests that she may be able to hear your voice now, so don't be shy about reading aloud, talking to her, or singing a happy tune if the mood strikes you.

Your baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces and measures 6 inches, head to bottom — about the size of a large heirloom tomato. Her arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of her body now. Her kidneys continue to make urine and the hair on her scalp is sprouting. A waxy protective coating called the vernix caseosa is forming on her skin to prevent it from pickling in the amniotic fluid.

All very exciting stuff! And to think there are two little Heirloom's growing in my belly ;) Girls are growing and so is their momma!!! Wonder how much hair these little ones will have? So fun to think about all these fun things to come!!! LOVE these updates and learning what is going on with our little girls!

Last Dr's Visit

So last week was a bit of a rough one physically. Guess it is all just catching up with me...which I am completely up for and don't want to complain because it is all for an amazing cause, but some days are just rougher than others and we could use some extra prayers for. Last Wednesday I woke up pretty miserable and literally could not get out of bed between my back/hip/nerve pain and other stuff it was a rough morning. I had a normal Dr appointment scheduled for Friday, but knew that I could not wait with the way I was feeling. So I called and let them know what was going on and they got me right in. I met with the Dr and had an exam and discovered I have another infection. Evidently it was caused by the antibiotics I took over a month ago for my UTI. Because I already have an autoimmune disorder plus it is super common in pregnancy the Dr said I could keep going back and forth between this and a yeast infection. Oh the joys that come along with pregnancy...so much fun, but all completely common and completely normal so no reason to worry. The Dr put me on some meds for the infection and hopefully it will go and stay away. We then listened to the babies heart beats and she said they sounded great!!! After the exam and talking a bit it was determined that the best thing at this time for me and the babies is that I only work in the office 3 days a week (I was shocked but will do what is necessary). There were many determining factors in this decision including twins and high risk that led to her decision, but hopefully this will prevent bedrest anytime soon. Thankfully I am going to be able to do some work from home to keep up my hours for now. So I am to continue to take it easy and no heavy lifting and bending and all that good stuff and just do what is best for me and the babies. My schedule for the past few months has pretty much been work then come home and crawl into bed to rest/relax then dinner and then bed. I am very fortunate to have an awesome husband that is extremely understanding and takes extremely good care of us! The babies and our health come first...the house stuff can wait is the motto these days. Thank you all for your continued concern and prayers through all of this. Yes some days are tough, but it is all worth it and we are doing awesome and just could not be any happier!!!

WOA!!! 18 weeks and 6 days! (remember there are two babies...CRAZY to think I'm the size of a singleton pregnancy at 26 weeks 6 days)



A perfect example of how I felt last week...look at that big belly though!!!



HOORAY!!!!

We had just had a delicious dinner so the girls were moving quite a bit...we layed down in bed to watch one of our favorite tv shows and I felt baby girl b kicking quite a bit (I seem to feel them kicking the most after dinner and then laying down in bed right after). Carl has been dying to feel them and asks all the time "when can I feel them"...the couples at the birthing class told him last week it should happen sometime in the next couple weeks...at least by week 20 they said. Well, drumroll please............................I reached over grabbed his hand and put it right where she was kicking away and THUMP she went and he felt it immediately!!!!! The look on his face was absolutely priceless...my heart melted seeing how happy he was!!! He actually was in such shock he was like was that really her?! Yes honey...that was her!!!! The girls are deffinately more active the last few days so hopefully he will feel baby girl a soon enough...its kind of wierd because typically she is the active one on the ultrasounds in the past and the one bouncing on my bladder. But I know that one little kick changed his whole world forever...I know it did mine!

Just what the Dr Ordered for Our 11th Valentines Day Together

Dear baby girls,

So this is our 11th valentines together...wow time flies when your having fun! And this year had to be the best because we have two healthy baby girls on the way plus your daddy did an amazing job as always!!!

I just want y'all to know that your daddy takes such good care of me (and you little ones in my belly) and Valentines Day was no exception. It was a typical Monday...went to work came home ya know the normal, but when I walked in the door there was a sweet little note there waiting on me. I of course took pictures of everything to share with you so you will get the total picture of how awesome he is to us (plus a picture is worth a thousand words and does a much better job telling the story than I do) so here is how the night went...

Your daddy knows me oh so well...I did want to crash in this lovely comfy bed...for some reason my back pain had kicked in full force this random day...maybe its that you girls are growing or maybe its the way you are positioned right now...who knows but you are worth it that is what I know! But I was actually on the way home telling your daddy how much pain I was in...its been a while since I have really been in that kind of pain or complained about it so little did your daddy know how bad I was feeling and he already had this all planned out to surprise me! So needless to say as much as I wanted to stop in the bed I continued to follow the rose pedals...

This is EXACTLY what the dr ordered on this lovely day and what I needed!!! I warmed the water and lit the candles (Carl had to run out for work in between setting it all up) and soaked in this lovely bath until I was wrinkly! When I got out I was surprised with...

A yummy homemade delicious fondue dinner!!!! I had been talking about fondue for the last couple days and your daddy was awesome enough to call our friend Tonya to get the cheese recipe that I LOVE, get a fondue set from my dad, and then hooked it up to say the least!! We had a delicious cheese course and then for the main course we had shrimp, lobster, and beef!, and then cheesecake for desert!! In fact we loved the cheese so much that we made more the next night along with some delicious beef kabobs from the left over meat. I think I forsee lots of these fun nights in the future!!!

As you can see your daddy is pretty amazing! I cannot express how much I appreciate all that he does for me on a daily basis enough!!! He is taking such good care of me and the house and everything right now to make this pregnancy as smooth as possible and it means the world to me!!! I don't know what I would ever do without such an awesome husband and you girls are going to be so blessed by an amazing daddy!!!

PS I'm taking your daddy for a massage this weekend!!! It will be his first and VERY much deserved!!! Happy valentines day honey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! XOXOXOXOXOXO

Stats for week 18

Week 18 (according to Parents.com)

Baby's Length: 5-5.5 in.
Baby's Weight: 5-7 oz.
Baby's Size: Soda Can

A soda can?!
Well at least I found a cute picture of some soda cans ;)

How your baby's growing:  

Head to rump, your baby is about 5 1/2 inches long (about the length of a bell pepper) and he weighs almost 7 ounces. He's busy flexing his arms and legs — movements that you'll start noticing more and more in the weeks ahead. His blood vessels are visible through his thin skin, and his ears are now in their final position, although they're still standing out from his head a bit. A protective covering of myelin is beginning to form around his nerves, a process that will continue for a year after he's born. If you're having a girl, her uterus and fallopian tubes are formed and in place. If you're having a boy, his genitals are noticeable now, but he may hide them from you during an ultrasound.
(This is 18 weeks from babycenter.com)

18 weeks: Baby is the length of a bell pepper. Your baby is as big as a bell pepper and weighs almost 7 ounces. (Length: 5 1/2 inches, head to bottom.)

Yep they are right...more movements for sure, but I am loving every bit of it!!! And pretty cool whats going on with our little girls development!

I would like to ask for some prayers though as my back pain has kicked back in...Ive been doing so well and hoping that this is just gonna pass quickly...Im sure with the way my belly is growing though that this is gonna stick around for a while. I've been wearing the lovely prenatal cradle (you should see this contraption on me its hilarious) to help prevent my rib from popping out as well as help with my back pain...to be honest its deff not helping the rib situation and not so sure about the back either, but Im gonna keep giving it a chance and hope that it makes a difference soon enough! I deff don't wanna complain because all this is worth it for these precious lilttle blessings, but I am just sharing this in hopes of lots of Prayers!!!

I will be posting more maternity pictures soon so stay tuned!



Our Appointment at Duke

These pictures were taken right before we left for our Dr's appointment at Duke

This is a video at the Dr's office right after our ultrasound (sorry its a little hard to see because they keep the lights out for the ultrasound):

As you can see from the video this Dr's office was really high tech and amazing to say the least!!! The staff and Dr's were incredible! I Highly suggest anyone with a high risk situation to go to Duke Perinatal Consultants. Not only was it a high deff ultrasound machine that they use, but they have a flat screen on the wall so that you can watch and have explained every single second of it. We wanted to video the whole thing, but they have a policy that you cannot. The tech looked at every single part of each of our little girls entire anatomy very carefully and examined each part to make sure there were no abnormalities anywhere. They even watched how the blood was flowing through the heart and the kidneys and so much more...it was the coolest thing we have ever seen. Technology is so amazing!!! The ultrasound lasted at least 45 minutes and we loved every second of it. After the ultrasound the tech sent the scans to the Dr to review and then we waited for the results...which is when we made the video above. The Dr came in just as sweet as she can be and told us everything looks GREAT!!! We of course (or should I say I) had a few quetions for her and she carefully answered each one of them. And come to find out she herself has twin girls...so we had lots to talk about. She says she wants to watch me like a hawk so I will go back there in 4 weeks for another appointment...its won't be so in depth and long, but they want to make sure everything is growing properly and all that good stuff. The appointment seriously was awesome and we left there feeling amazing!!! We are just so thankful to God for two HEALTHY baby girls and pray that things continue this way!!! We can't thank you all enough for your prayers and support!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

These pictures were taken after our Dr's appoinment and videos we made...very happy mommy and daddy to say the least...TWO HEALTHY BABY GIRLS!!!

Last night we had our first birthing class. I know its early, but because of the twins we are doing a Multiples Birthing Class which is done in the second trimester and since the next class is not until the middle of May it was too close to the 3rd trimester. There are 7 couples in the class...there are two sets of Triplets and they are each having 2 boys and a girl, then there are three sets of twin boys, one boy and girl, and then there is us...twin girls! They were excited when we said twin girls (we missed the first class because I did not know about it at first) because there are so many baby boys in the class. All the other couples are due late May and June so it was incredible to see the difference in size and to see what I have in store very soon!!! Two interesting things I learned: 1: Fraternal twin girls are the most rare...its goes twin boys, boy girl, and then twin girls so WAY TO GO CARL!!! Then we learned that with twins you should gain 25 pounds by week 20?!?! Holy cow!!! I may look big but that is a LOT of wieght...I deff want my babies to be healthy, but that is a big thing to accomplish! Better start eating more...3500 calories a day is suggested...WOW?! Other than that the class was interesting...my favorite part was getting a massage from Carl (I just hope he can keep it up) and learning the different techniques! Some parts were awkward and different but hey we can handle it and can't wait to learn more!!

Thank Heaven for little...........

Thank you all for your patience!!! It took FOREVER (over two hours) to upload! Hope you enjoy though...remember we are not the most creative or artsy and this was very quick and last second because Carl surprised me with an awesome early valentines day gift that will come in VERY handy especially for the babies...a FLIP video camera!!!!!!!! YEA!!! Becca hope you are ready to record and take pictures all at the same time ;) I am enjoying trying to figure it out but since I know y'all are waiting I just put this together really quick. So without any further ado here it is...

Thank you all!

Just want to give a quick update. Our appointment went GREAT today! Two healthy babies...can't ask for any more!!! We will be announcing the sex of the babies very shortly. To those who we are waiting on pins and needles...talk to the daddy to be! I am ready to announce it, but he wants to do something special...don't get me wrong I love the idea of doing something special, but it would be easier if #1 we had not told anyone what we were told at 13 1/2 weeks (you see I wanted to keep it a secret until we at least knew for sure but fyi babies...your daddy CANNOT keep secrets or surprises so of course he told immediately so I went along with it) and #2 I know you are all dying to know and know how that feels to be waiting in suspense!!! Please just understand this has been such an incredible journey for us and we want every single bit of it to be memorable and special for everyone we love and for the kids to look back at one day and see how just how you all did. However, I honestly think he is enjoying the suspense we are keeping you in ;) Right now I am waiting on Carl to get home so we should be posting an update within the next couple hours!

Thank you all for your prayers, emails, texts, calls, and comments!!! We need and appreciate every single bit of it and hope that you will continue throughout our journey!!! We are just over the moon thrilled to have two healthy babies and praise the Lord for every bit of the blessings we have. We know God has a reason and plan for everything and we are thrilled to see what He has in store for us!!!!!!!!!