21 Weeks - hooray! Friday - September 28, 2007

I can’t believe it’s already the end of September and I’m now 21 weeks into this pregnancy. I’ve got a long way to go, but we’ve passed another milestone. Hooray!

We had another ultrasound today (we’ve had 9 total now) to check growth and do second anatomy scans. The boys were movin’ & groovin’ again… the technicians always comment on how busy these two are and how they make the anatomy scans difficult to complete. At our last ultrasound, they weren’t able to capture clear imagery on the hearts—hence the reason for the second anatomy scan today. Finally, after laying there for an hour+ today, we finally got the needed images. BTW: Not at all comfortable for a 21 week prego mommy of twins to lie on her back that long. Anyway, both babies are looking GREAT! No abnormalities have been detected. Such wonderful news. Also, they are both growing SO well. Estimated weights are:
Baby A: 1lb 1oz
Baby B: 1lb

The weights put them ahead of their gestational age growth-wise, at 21wks, 4 days for Baby A and 21wks, 1 day for Baby B. Wonderful news for a twin pregnancy! Hopefully, they’ll keep growing ahead of their true gestational age.

Our little monkey, Gabby, is sick today. She was up every hour last night and sometimes every half hour, crying and flopping around trying to get comfortable. So, Dan brought her to see Dr. O and found out she has an ear infection. All day today she’s been going around saying “Mommy, I sick… I need medicine”. She truly knows how to milk it and melt mommy & daddy’s heart. Poor little monkey-doodle…

On a side note, I had a lunch date the other day with friends who have 12 week old twins. It honestly scared me. The twins are their first babies – so they are clearly managing like pro’s. And, they gave me lots of input on what has worked for them & the babies, as well as some twin books. They have a night nurse help them 3 nights a week during the week so that daddy & mommy can both get at least 3 good nights of sleep. And, her mom comes on Wednesday’s to help all day. They said they don’t know what they would do w/o the night nurse. I, of course, think it’s so wonderful that they are able to have that help… and at the same time wonder how we would afford it! Ha! A night nurse sounds like such a luxury! Hmmmm…. Anyway, I’m hoping to employ some of their tricks. But honestly, the lunch date officially made me a bit anxious about the arrival of the twins.

Fun with dolphins… Wednesday – September 26, 2007

Well, our last family vacation as a trio was a success! Gabby had so much fun playing in the ocean, on the beach, playing in the “leatherback sea turtle pool” as she called it (the kiddy pool had sea turtles tiled on the bottom) with dada, and swimming w/mommy in the big pool. But her favorite, you ask - all the dolphins! Our resort was centered around a dolphin cove ("Dolphin Quest”)… so every day she got to say good morning and good night to the dolphins, watch them while she played, etc. She was SO into the dolphins that Dan & I decided to treat her to the Wee Family Dolphin Adventure. She got to sit right on the dock and the dolphins would come up to us so she could touch them and feed them fish & octopus (not the best smell for her prego mommy!). The trainers also taught her signals and allowed her to signal the dolphins to do certain tricks and tickle their nose and bellies. Gabby was in absolute awe when the dolphin came up onto the dock and she got to stand right next to it and pet it. See photo above! Hmmmm… do we have a future dolphin trainer on our hands??

Anyway, it was great fun… and so fun to make more memories as our little "trio" of a family! I was looking quite large, as you can see… and I was just hoping nobody would confuse me with Shamu or a beached whale. I got a little more attention w/the big belly than I would have liked – but hey, I’m not going to sit on a beach or by the pool in Hawaii w/shorts and a t-shirt!

The twins are moving around more & more and now I'm feeling frequent kicks and punching sessions. I had another regular OB appointment - nothing special to report. I guess once I hit 24 weeks, I need to go in for a check-up every 2 weeks. And, ultrasounds will also be more frequent after 28 weeks... right now they're every 4 weeks.

More about the twins on Friday after my next ultrasound!

Babies on the move! Friday – September 7, 2007

Today marks the half-way point for an average twin pregnancy – 18 weeks! Yippie!

The boys are trying to remind me that they’re taking over my body. I am beginning to feel them move around a little more frequently now. The first time I felt one of them move (baby A) was either late in the 15th week. It was just a flutter – but felt somewhat familiar. Now however, I can feel movement that I definitely recognize. No kicking yet… just those odd movements that weird you out a little. Last night when I was reading while laying in bed, baby A completely distorted my belly because it slowly got all pointed on the right side… it wasn’t the nicely rounded belly. I had to push baby A back into the center because it felt so funny and off-kilter. He was pretty cooperative, so maybe that’s a good sign. I truly hope so. Or maybe this is a sign that baby A tries to do the unusual and has lots of energy. Scary thought.

Speaking of energy—Gabby has SO MUCH I can hardly keep up with her! She runs everywhere. If you dare ask her to come back to you when outside – it’s her signal to run as fast as she can the other way while laughing really hard. Dan pretty much has to be with us when we’re outside because I’m getting to the point where I’m incapable of running after her. Also, she’s talking to us in Spanish more frequently now saying things like “Vamanos momma!” while running away, or trying to climb things while singing “Subon!” (spelling? just how “Diego” sings it when climbing). Clearly, she’s retaining something from watching “Diego” and “Dora”. Dan and I are pretty entertained by it all.

Gabby had quite the active end to summer. In mid-August we visited family and friends in Minnesota – and she got to play with cousins Maddy & Emmy and then all of our MN friends kids (visit: http://martino.shutterfly.com/ and click on the August 2007 Minnesota album). She also took swim lessons with daddy and her friend Livy & Livy’s dad. We had several family dates, allowing lots of playtime with Leo (or was it a date? see kissing photo above) David, and Victoria and Natalie.

We’re off to Hawaii next week for our last family vacation as a trio. I’m SO EXCITED! Definitely need a break from work and a little R&R to help recover from all the stresses of this past summer. Between babies, work and house stuff… yikes! I’m quite certain the spa & I may become good friends for a day!