Stay @ Home Vaca!

So- I had some,,,, well A LOT of vacation time to use before I "lost" it at work. Thankfully my office manager is awesome and let roll half of it over for my maternity leave and I am able to take some time off before and after my shower- which is this freaking weekend! Wahoo!!! I am officially on vacation! 

Day 1- work ended at 130pm! Met my amazing father in law at Walmart and picked up our 2nd crib- long story short- I'm all about re-using old furniture and we were offered a white crib from his cousin when we first found out it was twins (we already had one set of everything) so we said yes! My hubby picked it up on Memorial Day. It was beyond repair! So new crib and mattress shopping- check! 

Came home- tried to out up said crib! 2 hours later and 6 tries later- it's only halfway finished! The directions weren't the best, not everything was labeled but I do want to point out I said numerous times- this doesn't look right, but nevertheless. We had to stop because it was our nephews HiGH SCHOOL graduation. I'm still in shock and I've only been in this family 7 years. I remember watching Trey's youth league baseball and basketball games, then middle school basketball games, then all of the sudden turned into this adult. A young man with a job, interning at NASA for Pete's sake!!!, having a steady girlfriend and realizing- this was my husband. Trey is Andrews mini me! (He's not that mini just a few inches shorter than Andrew, but they are alike in so many ways!!) not to mention, everyone thinks he looks like he could be Andrew's son! If Andrew were able to father children at the tender age of 8, but anyways! 

I'm honestly surprised my husband didn't cry. It may have been the lack of air supply, sweating, and leg room that kept him occupied, who knows. It is kind of sad knowing our spontaneous bon fires, game nights, and tennis matches will probably be no more as Trey moves into the dorms at WVU, but we are honestly so proud of him! 

I totally didn't intend this post to take this turn, I had other ideas for it- but oh well! 

Vaca Day 2 (today)- wake up bright and early to drink flat, super flat orange pop. Okay, it's not orange pop. The awesome amazing drink that spikes your blood sugar up- that one. In all honesty, the first swig wasn't that bad but when I realized I had so much more to drink... I was over it. I currently have some sort of cough/ sore throat thing going on and coughing leads to gagging which leads to puking. I thought for sure I was a goner... But--- I made it! Yay! So- now I just hope that I DON'T hear from my Dr office, since apparently if they don't contact you- that's a good thing! I got a mini ultrasound, I'm saying mini because the machine is from the 1970s.. It may be the first one ever made- not sure yet.. And we can see, barely, that baby A is in her way head down! Say what?! 

Yes, head down! I cannot wait until my next real ultrasound to check on her little feet! My dr did do a little digging and found her feet and said nothing looked obvious to her- so fingers crossed! Currently, I should be cleaning- but--- I'm pulling one of these 

He's such a bad influence ;) 

Happy 25 Weeks!

Seriously- I am so blessed! I am 25 weeks today! I know I say this everytime but I cannot believe I have made it this far! 

So yesterday was my follow up one month growth scan.. Baby A is still breech, so feet down and head up by my ribs. Baby A was and has always been the difficult one (which Andrew made the comment about resembling me- I now know why). She is the girl who won't let us see her little feet well enough! We can see them, we just can't tell if they are squished against my uterus or not. However, since Baby As head is pretty far up- I did get an awesome 3D picture! I seriously love our ultrasound tech. At first I didn't know how to take her, she is kind of quiet and with Andrews hearing problem- it just sounded like she was mumbling the whole time. But she is too cute! She was like- honestly I was hoping someone else would be here to scan you because I hate telling you I can't see her feet again! We laughed that she would be the stubborn one and that she already has a favorite! 

Anywho- Baby A is breech, weighing in at 1lb 12 ounces, last weight @ 21/22 weeks: 14 ounces, at 17  weeks: 7 ounces! So excellent growth! They both have long arms and legs, which they must get from the both of us! 

Baby B is now officially head down! She is weighing in at 1lb 14 ounces, last weight @ 21/22 weeks: 15 ounces, at 17 weeks: 7 ounces! Also awesome growth! She has long arms and legs as well! Her feet are perfect, but since her head is Down near my pelvis- she was unable to get a 3D picture of her! :/ 

Their growth is within 5% of each other which is also amazing! My BP was 120/70! Yay! 

I have my regular OB visit on may 29th where I have to do my glucose test- yuck! Not looking forward to that for sure.. Then I return back June 17th for another growth scan! 

Besides the girls, Andrew has officially painted the room! It looks awesome- it's not done yet, but we are so so close! We planted all of our flowers and landscapes with river rock! I was exhausted from that! Andrew kept saying - go get scissors or go get pavers or do this. I finally said, yes master. I'm only 24 weeks pregnant with TWO of your children but ill go be your biatch and get it for you.. :) :) 

Babysitting this weekend was nuts! She was sick with an ear infection and she is normally clingy anyways. I crashed both nights after she left. Ate my ice cream and took a nap! I really don't know how much longer I can continue to babysit, I honestly do more work babysitting her because she needs to be held 24/7; than I do in 12 hours at work! :/ she's a doll baby though! 

24 Weeks & 2 Eggplants!

Yesterday marked 24 weeks for us! Which is a big deal as viability is up to 50-70%! Not that I want them to come anytime soon, but from here on out- we have hope! 

Not much else to update! I haven't been feeling very well today but I puked my breakfast up and that did seen to help somewhat. 

My shower is literally 2 weeks away! I'm so excited! I can't believe it! My mini vacation is less than 2 weeks away!! Wahoo!!! I'm pumped enough for a 3.5 day weekend this weekend even with babysitting for 2 of those days- I can't wait until I have a little 8 day break! Which will be filled with baby shower finishing touches and a crap ton of organizing our home! 

Track season is officially over- done! Finally! He ended the year with a picnic last night and we are donzo! PTL! 

Now the babies room can finally be painted! We picked out paint today and decided on tan! Hopefully my vision works out-- or it could fail miserably! Haha! 

23 Weeks 1 Day!

23 Weeks! I am amazed! 8 months ago or more- if you would have told me I would be pregnant .. I wouldn't have believed you! Fast forward, 8 months later- I am 23 weeks along with TWIN girls! Seriously, how much more blessed can I be?

Wait- I am. I am blessed more than I ever deserve!

It's been a while since I last posted. I created a blog post which I didn't end up uploading. It was a woe is me, my husband doesn't pay attention to me because he is obsessed with track season and leaves me hanging.

But- how lucky am I that he takes on a team of 100+ kids, schedules 11 track meets so he can divide the kids up to make sure they get to go to enough meets. Practices every day. He's gone from 430-730. He took on this track team 3 years ago when no one else would. There was no coach. At the time, he said 2 hours a day- easy money. It's so much more than that now, but what if that had been our kids. No one to coach the track team to which 100 kids come out for (only 3 grade levels) and my baby girls wanted to run.

I was frustrated a few days ago, felt that he was constantly gone. As an emotional hormonal pregnant lady, I was upset. I felt like I was alone going through this pregnancy. We had a long talk/cry about how involved he is and he has really made such a better effort to talk to me, talk to the girls, and just be home. Be with me. His wife. Because no matter what happens, I'm the one behind all of his crazy decisions, supporting him through everything. I will be here when it's all said and done.

This post may not make a bit of sense, but I needed to get it out. I've been feeling so insanely happy and blessed. I'm in love with my life, my husband and my girls. It's truly doesn't get any better. I am praying every day that those who haven't got to experience this- get too.. As crazy of a journey pregnancy is- I wouldn't change it for the world.

Exhausted!

I am beat! Both girls I work with requested this three day weekend off- & now I am dead! My feet are dead!

It probably didn't help that after work yesterday, we went out to dinner, went show shopping and then I scored some super big deals at Target!

Gerber 5ct Baby Spoons- on sale for $2.69 had a $2 off one coupon! = 0.69 x 3!
Nuk 2ct Pacifier- on sale for- $3.14 had a $2 off one coupon = 1.14
Garnier Fructris (made I didn't print more) - reg $2.99. Had a target coupon for $1.00 and manufacturer coupon for 1.00 = 0.99
Axe shower gel- reg $3.99, had a coupon for 1.50 off one = 2.49 x 2 (not a huge deal but hubby loves it)
Schick hydro razor- reg $5.99, had 4.00 off of one = 1.99 x 2
Mail polish remover- reg $0.97. Had 0.50 off coupon = 0.47 x 2!

Whoop whoop! Super pumped with myself! I printed coupons like a mad woman today and can't wait to see why deals I can get at Walmart tomorrow! Baby bottles included!

21 Week Update!

So I had my appointment with high risk ultrasound yesterday and the MFM.

Baby B is as perfect as can be and is a little camera hog! They were able to image everything quickly on her.

Baby A, on the other hand, wasn't so nice. They are both breech and she is situated first, in ultrasound "below baby b" so she is super hard to see much of anything, head or legs. They were finally able to image her head which they had difficulty getting last time.

Her feet were another story. After what seemed like forever in the ultrasound room, they were finally able to image the right foot, which was normal. The left foot is so squished up against my uterus they cannot tell. It seems as though her left foot is inverted but the ultrasound tech thinks its positional. They did have to mention club foot just in case, but they don't seem too concerned.

I did some research and if the club foot was genetic, she has no other images that reveal it to be genetic. Her spina bifida testing came back normal which sometimes can happen with genetic club foot. Genetic club foot also affects both feet most of the time.

If he inverted foot is due to positioning of the baby in the womb, it is a much easier fix with or without braces.

I am probably looking all of this up for nothing as I am sure her poor little left foot is just squished by her sister and my uterus. I just pray that they are both healthy and happy in there and continue to be once they arrive.

Baby A is 14 ounces in weight and Baby B is 15 ounces in weight. Right on track! So happy about that! And, my blood pressure is 108/60! I was afraid it would be elevated because they just took me straight from the ultrasound (after freaking me out by getting 2 different techs and taking me back twice) but it was great!!! Yay!!

National Infertility Awareness Week!!

It's officially NIAW! National infertility awareness week!

No- I am not "infertile"; as I am currently pregnant with twins. However, this was the hand that was dealt to me as my husband and I dealt WITH infertility for almost 2 years.

& No- that's not a long time, not compared to others. Not even compared to my own mom, who suffered in the 80s for 7 years becoming pregnant but never making it to full term until 1989- twice! :)

I am lucky. I am blessed. I know this. Our journey, however, I could have never imagined these results. After realizing early on that there was a problem, I sought help. No one would help me. We hadn't been trying a year yet. Every place I called said they were sorry, but I needed to try for a year before they could do anything. I didn't fall into the definition of infertility. I had to wait.

We did. We discussed our cap. How long we would try ourselves before pursuing other options. As in, adoption. I am adopted; I love the idea of adoption. I also love the idea of finally being part of a family where we resemble each other. Not that that's a huge part, but I'm pretty much 100% Irish and my immediately family looks part Indian- super tan and dark.

Our cap was three years. One year down- 2 to go. It was scary. Marrying my husband 2 years prior- I never imagined this is what our lives held. I assumed I would try a few months and be pregnant and get to announce it some super cute way and surprise everyone in our families.

Infertility had another option. After about 10 months, several baby questions from family, we finally decided to open up. Probably because I had threatened to knock the next person out who made a comment about "if we had babies" or why we haven't had babies.

We resumed our lives but continued to get negative ovulation and pregnancy tests, maybe one positive ovulation every few months (I may have willed it to be positive- being the darkest line over got).

I was introduced to a local OB GYN, who was able to diagnose me our first visit. Annovulation. That's enough for one couple right?

Apparently not- add in Male Factor Infertility. I figured we didn't have a chance. Then we got pregnant, for one month. & then we lost him.

I don't ovulate. Our Sperm is almost all abnormal and now a missed miscarriage and D&C?!

That's infertility. Highs and lows. Ups and downs. Always waiting for the next disappointment because its inevitable.

I was told that we wouldn't conceive naturally without assistance (as in no more timed intercourse- dr injects the Sperm and gets me pregnant that way). He said the medicine was working but sometime else was not. I left my last appointment and last Medicated cycle feeling defeated. I ovulated Dec 11- the most fertile day of the year! But- this had happened every month on the medication- and nothing else had happened. Why now?

2 weeks later on Christmas Day. I was pregnant. & I am still pregnant. With twins. That's infertility. I'm amazed at the journey it took us on. & honestly, the journey it still takes us on. Yes, we are nervous about having two instead of the usual one. There are a million unknowns. What I do know is infertility taught me, to expect anything. I no longer can plan. It's not up to me, it's now up to the babies. This is their world, and we are just here to guide them. Our baby girls... The best thing about infertility there ever was.

I prayed that this may be our only pregnancy- our only child. I couldn't emotionally handle the "TTC" process again. God knew I couldn't either & gave us two.

I have met SO many amazing women and men from this journey. Some who have graduated to motherhood, or have beat infertility, and some who are still fighting the battle. It is a battle. It's an everyday silent struggle. It's something people hate to talk about, but it helps us so much to talk. All you have to do is listen. We don't need advice on how to position your hips or what to eat or drink, or how your aunt's, sister's, boyfriend's cousin got pregnant by taking this or that. We just need a "I can't imagine" and an ear to listen. Not much..

Ella Faith and Bria Cole- I hope someday this affects your heart. Makes you realize everyone has a story and everyone needs a friend. I hope you know how incredibly loved you already are. Your brother or sister sent you both to us in a time when we needed you the most. The journey to get you here as made me love your dad more than I ever thought possible. He is already doing so much for you girls- it melts my heart. Be kind and know that we fought so hard to bring you into our lives and the lives of this amazing extended family. You are loved.