12 weeks. (and then some)

Thanks to a computer on the fritz, this is a little late, but a lot has happened!  Here are the highlights:

• Had an appointment at 11w4 days, and got a unexpected peek at the babies. YAY! Everyone looks great-- it's incredible to see that they look like BABIES now instead of shrimp :)
• Told Mr. M's parents. WONDERFUL!!  Apparently we did a good job of keeping things quiet and discrete on our vacation-- they didn't notice anything was up!
• Told my siblings.  We were going to do all the siblings the same day, but my brother was over at my parents house, and then when you tell one you can't not tell the other... so we did :)
• Went back and forth and back and forth again about the NT scan.  Couldn't make up our minds.  After lots of thought, we decided we wanted to do the u/s but not the bloodwork. (My insurance covered it, and who wouldn't want an extra-long u/s!)  I called to schedule it and they were pretty booked, but there was an opening that afternoon (Tuesday) so we rearranged our afternoons to make it.  Great pics of the babies, everything is right on mark, growing perfectly, arms, legs, fingers, perfect.  The u/s tech said they looked great, and then came right over to do the finger prick for the bloodwork.  It was so fast, I just did it, and Mr. M didn't stop me.  Afterwords we were worried a bit, but in the end we love these little guys already, and will love them no matter what.
• Told Mr. M's siblings. :) SO fun to tell!
• Told work.  I think people are in shock, but it's so nice to be "out."  I'm showing already, and have been having a hard time finding clothes that hide my growing tummy.  To be fair, I wasn't small to begin with, but my Dr. said that moms of twins measure 4-5 weeks ahead, so that makes me like a 16 or 17 week singleton mom.  So the fact that I've sworn off of regular pants is totally legit, right? ;)
• Got a call today from the genetics specialist, and in the end we're glad we did the bloodwork-- 1/10,000 risk (the lowest risk they give on the test) for BOTH babies for all three issues. What a relief!
• Counting the days to the weekend when we can tell more friends! and THIRTEEN weeks! woohoo!!

heartbeat!

Labor day seems a fitting time to FINALLY FIND A HEARTBEAT WITH THE DOPPLER!!

Yes, I'm crazy.  Yes, I bought a doppler.  What?

It came in the mail when I was 8 weeks-ish, and the first many tries resulted in finding nothing other than my own heartbeat. :(  I know it's been (and still is) on the early end, but I was hoping that with two, and a bigger uterus, maybe they would have moved up enough.  We tried again last week, hoping to hear them before we told my parents, and no luck.

This morning I wake up and feel great.  It's been a long time since that happened!  I worked out, threw in a load of laundry, cooked eggs for breakfast and ate them (!), vacuumed the house, baked cookies... too good to be true... so I figured I would give the doppler another shot.

After a couple of minutes searching, Mr. M came out to join me in the hunt.  And a couple minutes later... WE FOUND ONE!!!!  :)  The doppler isn't super-awesome at locking in on one reading for a heartbeat, but it was 160-ish. :) We searched for a little while longer, and heard what sounded similar to the "fetal movement" sounds I heard online, so that might have been the other one... We'll give it a few more days and try again.

YAY!

oh baby, bab(ies)

I've been freaking out for the last two days... my symptoms all seemed to fade, if not stop. Nausea? gone. Boobs hurting? gone. Face? clearing up.  Last night, I barely slept, worrying about everything.  I decided I had to call and at least try to get in early for my appointment.  (It was set for the 31st- just shy of two weeks from now.)  When I called, I got my favorite nurse, who was super-sweet.  I asked if they even had 5 minutes to squeeze me in.  She asked when my appointment was scheduled for, and I told her.  Her response was "No it's not. We're getting you in today!" Love her.

Mr. M came and picked me up from work-- I was suddenly nauseous and freaking out.  We went back, hoping to just see a little heart beat hanging in there... and saw TWO! IT'S TWINS!!!

I think both of us just paused for a minute and couldn't move. Amazing. Incredible. God answered our prayers so much more than we ever expected. Two blessed babies, measuring 7w1d and 7w3d (I'm 7w4d today, so perfect) and with heartbeats at 154 and 160 (again, perfect).  Thrilling. Shocking. Ohmygod we're going to need two of everything!!  Who cares. What a blessing.

We're shocked and thrilled and everything in between.

Little babies, we prayed for you, and asked God to bless us with just one, and what do you know, he thought we were fit to be parents to two.  Everything we went through was so very very worth it.  And you know how I know it was God? She found the corpeus luteum (?) on the right ovary.  That's right. The side where "endo has attached the tube to the wall and it's kinked shut like a garden hose."  The one "we don't expect to work."  The one "you'll need a specialist to take care of."  Yup.  It's a miracle.  We promise to love and care for you, little ones, like the blessings you are.

Incredible.

7w4d pregnant... with TWINS!

today's happiness

so today, my friend called (the one that is pregnant with twins) to tell me that it's a boy and a girl.

and (wait for it.........)

I was really happy for her.

No jealousy passed through my mind. No why-not-mes. Just sheer joy and excitement for her. I told her I wanted to see ultrasound pictures, and I meant it.

thank god I'm not totally loosing it. I was so thrilled that I was happy for her, I called Mr. M to tell him. And when he asked if I was okay, I said "Yes!" And I meant it.