18 Weeks!!

I am a little late on this week's post, but since I'm not 19 weeks yet I figure that it still counts as being mostly on time!!

Week 18 has been pretty good overall! I really don't have any complaints at all to be honest. I went out shopping to look for maternity clothes over the weekend so that I'd have something cute to wear to Easter with Nathan's family. I must say that I HATE shopping for maternity clothes. Most places don't have any at all and the places that do  have maternity clothes only have 3 racks of overpriced clothes that just aren't me. I will admit that I'm kind of cheap about clothes though. There is no way that I'm going to spend $30 or more on a shirt that I will only wear for a couple of months when I would normally only spend $40-50 on a pair of jeans that I'd expect to wear for several years. I also generally prefer simple clothes. Jeans and a plain colored short sleeved shirt or tank top.  I ended up finding a shirt at Target that looked ok and bought it, but really it's completely not me at all and I still spent $20. Luckily I already bought a few pairs of jeans at Zulily for really cheap. Their maternity clothes are hit and miss. Normally they are still above my price range, but every once in awhile they have sales that fit my style and budget. With twins on the way I feel like I need to be extra careful about spending money! After that fiasco of a shopping trip, I ended up on just buying a handful of maternity shirts online at Old Navy since our store in town doesn't carry maternity. They had a good 25% off sale, so I felt pretty good about it in the end.

In other much more exciting news, we found out the genders of the babies!!! We decided to spend $50 and have an elective gender ultrasound done so that we could find out the genders before Easter  Unfortunately, I can't spill the beans yet because I know my mom reads the blog and she's not allowed to find out until this weekend. I promise to share with you guys once our immediate families know though. Here is a little preview of what my mom will be getting in the mail though to hold you over.

That's right Mom, you are getting two Easter eggs in the mail and you are forbidden to open that package until we are on Skype together!

Here is a picture of my twins' heads next to each other. Don't ask me about angles though cause it was really hard to even get a shot with both  babies in it. I am assuming that it's the top or back of their heads though since you can't see any facial features. Ultrasounds are really quite baffling though!

Here is my weekly survey and belly pics to wrap things up:

Weight: 142 (+6 lbs overall)
Due Date: August 22, 2013
Baby is the size of: A Bell Pepper! (note: all sizes are comparing the length of baby to a fruit)

Maternity Clothes?: Maternity pants all the time! I haven't even attempted to wear my regular jeans in a couple of weeks. I don't NEED maternity shirts yet, but anything that was originally form fitting definitely doesn't fit anymore. Looking forward to getting my shirts that I ordered online sometime soon.
Symptoms: Doing pretty well this week. My back is still sore, but much better than last week. There have been some less than exciting other symptoms that ended up requiring a t-shirt change as well. I am really kind of bummed that I only gained one pound this week. Honestly, it seems impossible. I am eating all the time! One night I ate a one pound steak plus potatoes and vegetables for dinner...yet here we are only one pound heavier than last week. 
Emotions: Happy!
Notable News or Events: Elective Gender Scan!

Movement?: Still really not sure. I think that whatever I was feeling before wasn't the babies though since they were still fairly low at the ultrasound. Last night I felt some weird thumps that might have been them...but it might have been gas too!! Ugh...who knows! I do know that one of the babies has an anterior placenta which acts like a pillow between their movement and me. 

Stretch Marks?: Just the one on my boobs so far. I have been trying to make myself use cocoa butter on my belly, but I only end up doing it 3 or 4 times a week because I hate the feeling of my shirt sticking to my belly. 

Upcoming Appointments: March 27 - So today! I switched so that I would have an appointment with my regular OB instead of the nurse practitioner since I have some questions and concerns I want to talk about.

What People are Saying: Nathan and I finalized our name choices last night!! I am sure that I will have much more to post next week after the big reveal!

17 Weeks and Growing!

We've made it to 17 weeks!! Honestly, every week feels like a little miracle. These babies are such an amazing gift and I feel so blessed to still be pregnant. I think that too many women take their pregnancies for granted. Mind you, I wish that I was still naive about the things that can go wrong.  I had my own early loss and through that I have met so many women who have dealt with late miscarriages and stillbirths. Perhaps that knowledge and those relationships is why I worry so much, but I wouldn't change it. It sounds weird, but I know that without that first heartbreaking loss, I wouldn't have my twins. I still mourn the what ifs of that baby, but I know that I am on the path that I was meant to be on.

I had no intention of this becoming a sappy post, but there it is...I am completely in awe of this pregnancy and the little lives growing inside me. I am not really sure, but in the last couple of days I have started feeling odd sensations in my stomach. They have been a little higher than where I've been finding babies' heartbeats though...so I am not getting my hopes too high yet. The babies are growing, growing, growing and should now measure approximately 5 inches long from crown to rump (which means head to butt, so that doesn't count their little legs), so it's entirely possible that it really is the first sign of movement in there. If it's not, I know it should happen within the next several weeks. I am so eager to feel them moving and know that it will make me feel even more connected to the pregnancy than I already am! I will say that having the doppler and being able to find and listen to their heartbeats (one on each side of my belly now!) is the most amazing thing in the world. I normally wait to listen for the day until Nathan gets home so that I can share the moment with him. It makes me feel even closer and more connected to the babies and I hope that it does the same for him.

We also started working on the nursery this weekend!! We picked out our primary paint color and Nathan primed and painted the room. I intended to help paint since we purposely bought low VOC paint, but honestly the smell of the paint was just too much. I've always had a strong sense of smell, but now it's crazy! I will post some pictures soon to share our nursery progress with you.

I also have a post planned to share some of my craftier baby projects with everyone. I don't have a ton done yet, but I'm suddenly in the mood to make things for the babies and am really happy with how things are turning out. It's so exciting to actually be able to start doing things for these little ones, it definitely makes it seem more real that we will have two babies this summer!

Now, onto my weekly pregnancy update:
17 Weeks!!

Weight: 141 (+5 lbs overall)
Due Date: August 22, 2013
Baby is the size of: A turnip (note: all sizes are comparing the length of baby to a fruit)

Maternity Clothes?: I got my second pair of maternity jeans in the mail at the end of last week and they fit much better than the first pair. I also got a pair of capris for the spring and summer even though it's WAY too cold to wear them now. I tried on my first maternity shirt and I think it will still be a week or two before it fits quite right. I am small busted, so that's actually where most of the fit problem is at. Luckily most of my shirts are made of stretchy cotton and will fit for awhile longer. 
Symptoms: Tired and achy mostly, but overall doing alright! Sleeping is fairly uncomfortable and so is staying in any position for a long time, but as long as I can readjust every 15 minutes or so I am doing ok! I have also had a pretty big appetite this last week as evidenced by gaining 3 whole pounds in a week! I'm honestly not concerned at all about weight gain, especially since I know that I should have gained a lot more than I have by now with twins. So hopefully that trend of 2-3 pounds per week will continue for awhile. 
Emotions: Optimistic and thankful! 
Notable News or Events: Painting the nursery!

Movement?: Not sure. Nothing that I can be certain is fetal movement, but some new unique sensations that have me wondering!

Stretch Marks?: I got my first stretch mark this week and it's on my breasts of course. I have always been very small busted and have only gone up MAYBE one cup size, but apparently that was enough. 

Upcoming Appointments: March 26

What People are Saying: People are mostly excited about the fact that we should be finding out the genders of the babies in the next several weeks! 

15 And 16 Weeks

So I failed to get a blog post up for 15 weeks, but I did take my picture and still remember what was going on...so it's probably not too late!

Week 15 was pretty uneventful for the most part. Not a lot new happened. My belly grew some and I continued to be able to hear my little ones on my doppler at home.

Week 16 on the other hand, was stressful. The week was mostly good...but on Sunday I ended up having to go to OB Triage at the hospital due to spotting. Now, I know that spotting in pregnancy can be very normal, but with my past miscarriage I was terrified. I called the after hours line for my OB's office and the doctor on call said that she thought it was probably ok, but since she could tell how worried I was that I should head to the hospital and have things checked out. It ended up being a sensitive, irritated cervix and the spotting has stopped since then. While we were there we did get to see the twins on a quick ultrasound (sorry, no pics since it was an emergency sort of scan). Both babies were moving around like crazy in there. We could see them kicking each other and even punching at my stomach. It was so surreal to see a baby hitting me and not be able to feel it! So, the week has been rather stressful overall, but the babies are still looking ok and I am hoping that we won't have any repeat episodes.

Week 15

Weight: 137 (+ 1 lbs overall)
Due Date: August 22, 2013
Baby is the size of: An Apple (note: all sizes are comparing the length of baby to a fruit)

Maternity Clothes?: Same as before, just maternity jeans.
Symptoms: Sore breasts and random cravings.
Emotions: Felt alright this week. Time sure seems to be dragging though.
Notable News or Events: Honestly, not a lot happened.

Movement?: Not yet.

Stretch Marks?: Still too early.

Upcoming Appointments: March 26

What People are Saying: Not too much. My mom is always very interested in how I am feeling though.

Week 16

Weight: 138 (+ 2   lbs overall)
Due Date: August 22, 2013
Baby is the size of: An avocado (note: all sizes are comparing the length of baby to a fruit)

Maternity Clothes?: Just maternity jeans for now. My regular shirts still fit, but I expect I will have to switch to maternity shirts in the next several weeks. The belly just isn't growing very fast yet.
Symptoms: Tired and generally speaking uncomfortable. There was the unfortunate spotting incident. I also had my first middle of the night, pregnancy leg cramp and that was a little rough. 
Emotions: It's been a roller coaster of a week. Everything from being terrified, to relieved, as well as starting to feel excited about the emerging baby bump.
Notable News or Events: Saw the babies at the ultrasound in the hospital. It was quick, but such a relief!

Movement?: Not yet.

Stretch Marks?: Still too early.

Upcoming Appointments: March 26

What People are Saying: My mom and sister have been great this past week. They have both dedicated lots of phone time to raising my spirits and talking about the babies in general.