Our Kids

So now that we have to wait to week 20 to find out the sex of the babies, time seems to be dragging. I still don’t feel any movement that I can readily identify. I thought I felt something today but who knows. No dreams about the sex of the baby either. So we are all destined to just sit and wait.

Other than that nothing much else is going on. I am continuing to expand but still have a waist and am feeling very good. Only gaining in the tummy area so sometimes people can’t even tell I am prego.

Jason and I got the kitchen all prepped for the new floor (our last home improvement project) this weekend. He did most of the heavy lifting and was pretty pooped last night. We moved the stove and refrigerator out to our garage, which entailed moving them out the front door and down about 4 steps. But we had an appliance dolly and that worked super. Jason leveled the floor in the dining room bringing it up about 3/8″ and now with the extra cabinets and appliances removed we are ready for the new floor. Now the fun begins, trying to find a refrigerator and stove to replace the old ones without breaking the bank!

All for now:)

I know that week 16 has almost come and gone and I have not updated you on what is happening this week (according to prego guides that is). So here we go….

The babies nails are well formed, and some babies are even in need of having their nails trimmed at birth. The ears have also moved from the neck to the head (thank goodness:).

The babies are emptying their bladders every 40-45 minutes. The limb movements are becoming more coordinated. The books say 3oz but we already know that ours are bigger than that due to the last ultrasound. The gender may be detectable by ultrasound, but we don’t have one until September. Keep watching for Jason’s gambling pool:)

I am doing great, feeling good. The only time I get a little upset stomach is when I eat something they don’t like (which I don’t do) and when they are going through a little growth spurt which I think they are doing right now because I can hardly keep my eyes open.

Some books say you can start to feel them now but I am not sure that I can/am. I might be but I don’t know it. I will keep you posted on that development.

I know its an old wives tale but if the food indications are right its boys (because I don’t crave sweets, I can hardly even look at chocolate, sniff sniff). But one heartbeat is high (girl) and one is lower (boy). So if any of you have any good wives tales or tests (other than peeing in drain-o) let me hear em and then we can take bets on what we are having. Sounds like fun doesn’t it? Or gambling:)

How do you not buy everything in the store when you go to Baby Gap? Ok, besides looking at the price tags and computing just how much money per day an outfit will cost… obviously Mystique and I stopped by our local Gap over the weekend. I was raised on Gap, so I of course liked everything. We hit the sale items which seems like the best way to buy stuff from the Gap. I don’t think the babies will notice that they’re a season or two behind. They’ll just be happy that mom and dad bought them fleece.

Also hit a couple garage sales with our garage-sale-tutor in tow… we’re garage sale newbies, so we needed some help in that category. Apparently we got a great deal on a musical swing thing. It seemed a bit scary to me, but I hope the kids will like it. It was kind of tough buying clothes for the kids since we don’t know their sexes yet. We got a couple unisex items (i.e., not pink and not blue), and a very cool toy car that has velcro, crinkly stuff, and a pull-string that makes the car vibrate. Rupert loves it.

As far as I can tell, Mystique and the kids are doing fine… it’s funny how the kids help Mystique decide what to have for meals… they have no problems telling her they didn’t like something by making her throw it all up an hour after eating it. Oddly, it seems that the kids don’t like fast food, so they must have missed that gene from my contributions. We’ve been to our local farmer’s market the past couple of weeks and they seem to love the stuff we get from there: fresh fruits and veggies, and some tasty pork and beef from local farmers.

We were also able to check off a few things from our “Get done before the kids come” list, so that was nice… we’ve got some more work to do this week, and then next week one of the biggest items (new floor in the kitchen) will get done. That’s the last big thing we were worried about, so we’ll be real happy to get it done.

jason

Well everyone keeps asking if I can feel them move yet and I always say no. Maybe I can but I don’t know what it is, I am feeling a lot of things but mostly it feels like things stretching. Thought I would give a quick update on the doctor’s appointment. The news is that everything is so normal I don’t have to go back for 4 weeks. We heard the heartbeats and one was fast (170bpm) and the other was slower (140bpm), but that is normal. We heard the heartbeats and everything seems fine.

I have gained about 4 pounds (we will be four months on Monday) and that seems okay too. The interesting part is that I can account for most of that weight, so here is the breakdown:

babies – 4 oz each or 8 oz
uterus – about 10 ounces
Amniotic fluid – about 7.5 ounces for each baby

So that accounts for a couple pounds and then there are some other things that are bigger and I know they weigh more but I will leave it at that. I feel great, my tummy is getting really hard. I can’t wear my normal pants anymore but that is due to the tummy, everything else is where it was (for now). I think I am getting less sleepy but as I say that I feel like I could use a nap:) I still get sick if the babies get mad at me for eating something they don’t like (like junk), not getting enough rest, or not eating enough.

All in all things are really good. Jason and I have some last home improvement projects that we will be starting soon so that everything is in order for later in the pregnancy. Talk to you soon.

Well not much is happening with the babies this week. They are continuing to grow and may even start sucking their thumbs this week according to the week by week guides.

I can’t fit into my clothes anymore due to the expansion right under my waist. I have some kind friends that have loaned me some clothes that are getting me through this patch. I picked up a couple things at a store that will grow with me and my mom is sending me up some more clothes. So between all that I should never be seen running around town naked (collective sigh of relief).

We had some friends over last night and they have a 2 and a 1/2 month old. It was nice to have a baby around to see what having one would be like:) Rupert (our golden retriever) wasn’t too interested in the baby but really wanted her burp cloth and dirty diaper.

Jason is still holding on to his sympathy weight which I appreciate. We should see how much I have gained tomorrow when we visit Dr. Peters. We will be sure to update you all after the appointment which is late afternoon MST. See ya then!

Ultrasound, sonogram… I guess they’re both correct, but I still never know exactly what to call it. All I know is that Mystique has to drink a lot of water, get all gooe’d up, and then have a microphone rubbed all around her belly while trying not to pee her pants. Sounds like fun!

Anyhow… all is well with the little ones. According to the radiologist and the doctor, the kids are just the right size for 14-week old twins-still-in-their-mother, so that’s good. I think the closest thing we thought of for a size comparison is a half a stick of butter. So now whenever I butter my bread I think of the children… how sweet.

Let’s see if I remember this right… they’re about four ounces in weight, and I think about four inches from head to toe. We did the best we could at identifying parts… counted two legs on each (their femur bones are about an inch long), we got to count five digits on one hand of Baby B, and we were able to see what each of their heart rates were (150 bpm). Pretty cool machine, this ultrasound… I need to check eBay to see how much they’re going for. Wouldn’t mind having one at home for boring saturday nights.

Baby A is all set up and ready to come out, point her head down. He’s a bit early, but I like her idea of getting in line so far ahead of schedule. He’s a planner.

Baby B, on the other hand, seems to be relaxing right-side up. She was quite the mover during our time together with the ultrasound… I think alot of his movement had to do with the fact that Baby A was kicking her, but I guess kids will be kids.

Of course we have no idea what their sexes are yet… that should come around week 20. My money’s on a boy and a girl, but that’s just going with the math. What do I know? I couldn’t tell a hand from a foot today…

Mystique’s starting to actually show to the rest of the world that she’s pregnant. In the evenings her belly sticks out almost as much as mine does. It’s a beautiful thing… it sounds like a cliche, but it’s true.

Next up for the Haslup family: a doctor’s appointment on Tuesday to go over all the measurements and pictures we had done today.

Pictures of visit #3 are off t the right of this page… more when we get it!

jason

Okay so here is your week 14 update. Now most of this information is for a singleton pregnancy so we won’t know the actual sizes of our babies until they measure them tomorrow. But in the meantime, here is what is normally happening in week 14.

The babies could be about 12.5 cms or 4.92 inches. My uterus should be the size of a grapefruit but I know that it is already bigger than that, it is about two weeks ahead of where it would be with a singleton pregnancy. I am starting to show, especially at night, if I get up the nerve I will get a couple of snapshots and post them. The babies are now producing urine and actually urinating into the amniotic fluid. They can also practice “breathing” the amniotic fluid in and out of their lungs.

Amniotic fluid is an amazing substance. Did you know it completely regenerates itself every three hours. It is partially composed of urine from the baby, but where amniotic fluid in general is still a medical mystery.

See ya tomorrow!