They say seeing is believing ...

... but hearing makes it pretty real too!



For the fun of it, I purchased a doppler to use at home this pregnancy. I've tried a couple of times over the last week and nothing but ... today I found one of the buggers! I think this would be the fetal heart tones of Baby A (on my left).

Surro Snuggles and 1st OB Visit

It's been a busy week in my lil surro-world. :)

On Monday we went into Chicago for a little family field trip. Jason the girls and I spent the day exploring the Museum of Natural History and enjoying the lakefront - the weather was beautiful! Afterwards we had the very special treat of meeting up with A&T and Giovanni for dinner.

It had been several months since we had seen one another so we had plenty to chat about and catch up on. Baby G is no longer a "baby" and is quite the busy toddler. Mom and dad said keeping him occupied while dinning out is sometimes a challenge but I thought, for a not quite two year-old, his behavior was pretty typical. Within a span of five minute he had put a crayon in mom's drink followed by her necklace which she had taken off to entertain him. Jason and I couldn't help but get a chuckle from that. Giovanni was really into our girls. He kept flirting with Lauren (7) reaching out to hold her hand or to stroke her hair.

They headed off to Italy this week, this is Giovanni's second visit to Europe. A&T wanted to squeeze in one more trip oversees while the lil guy still gets to fly free. When they return it will be time to start planning for the big birthday party - I can not believe he will be TWO at the end of next month. We are looking forward to joining them in the celebration.

In other news, K&S and I had our first OB appointment this week. Two beautiful lil babes doing jumping jacks measuring right on track (10w5d) with heart rates of 173 (A) and 170 (B). What a relief for us all to know that everything was perfectly as it should be. After the u/s we met with the OB and she went over all the "what to expect when expecting twins" stuff. K sat their quietly taking notes, S had plenty of questions and I pretty much just kept nodding, agreeing with the doctor. I can only imagine how overwhelming that first meeting would be for new parents going through this for the first time. It was even a lot for me, a veteran, to take in at times as she discussed the difference this being a twin pregnancy makes. We'll have a bunch of extra monitoring; bi-weekly cervical length checks staring soon, additional appointments we Maternal Fetal Medicine (MFM), and weekly non-stress tests (NST) towards the end all due to this being multiples - then on top of that all the other typical appointments too. The plus is we will get to see these two lil ones on a very regular basis. :)

We are headed towards the end of the first trimester and I've been feeling really good - can't complain. Some queasiness still now and then and I'm having to eat smaller meals already thanks to slowed digestion but considering this is twins I feel great. I even have the beginnings of a bump and the maternity clothes are slowly replacing my regular wardrobe.

Oh and, I did my last injection as of yesterday!! 153 needles later (total from all three cycles) and we are pregnant x 2!! Each and every poke was so very worth it.


Pictures have been added to the photo album - give me a shout if you don't have the password. :)

Week 8 - Raspberries

We are 8 weeks now and excited that both babies, who are the size of a raspberry, are thriving and looking great. We won't get another peek at them till later this month and I'm already getting anxious about seeing the dramatic difference in their appearance. In the meantime we wait and pray all continues to go well.

I've been feeling rather good so far. As I said earlier this week I haven't had any real m/s, just some occasional queasiness. The fatigue has started to hit but right now a brief 10 minutes on the couch will give me a much needed second wind. (Thank goodness for nap time here at the daycare!) This week I've reluctantly had to start eating smaller meals because my digestion has slowed WAY down ... if I eat a full size meal it sits like a rock in my stomach - not fun! This is something you anticipate having to deal with later on as the baby/babies get bigger but not THIS early. However, I do remember experiencing the same in other pregnancies during these early months. Overall I'm doing really well though and looking forward to this new experience.

Webbed fingers and toes are poking out from baby's hands and feet, his eyelids practically cover his eyes, breathing tubes extend from his throat to the branches of his developing lungs, and his "tail" is just about gone. In his brain, nerve cells are branching out to connect with one another, forming primitive neural pathways. The babies are — about the size of a raspberry — and are constantly moving and shifting.