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9 weeks and a present for me!

Thank you to thebump dot com for letting me know that our babies are the size of olives!  According to babycenter they are the size of grapes!  Either way both sound kinda yummy! 

From the babycenter:  Your new resident is nearly an inch long — about the size of a grape — and weighs just a fraction of an ounce. She's starting to look more and more human. Her essential body parts are accounted for, though they'll go through plenty of fine-tuning in the coming months. Other changes abound: Your baby's heart finishes dividing into four chambers, and the valves start to form — as do her tiny teeth. The embryonic "tail" is completely gone. Your baby's organs, muscles, and nerves are kicking into gear. The external sex organs are there but won't be distinguishable as male or female for another few weeks. Her eyes are fully formed, but her eyelids are fused shut and won't open until 27 weeks. She has tiny earlobes, and her mouth, nose, and nostrils are more distinct. The placenta is developed enough now to take over most of the critical job of producing hormones. Now that your baby's basic physiology is in place, she's poised for rapid weight gain.

Oh goodness, did you read that last line I put in bold?  We are poised for double rapid weight gain!! Here we go!


How far along: 9 weeks FINALLY!
Total weight gain/loss: gained 1/2 pound
Maternity clothes: Not yet, but i am planing on buying some soon.
Stretch marks: way to early for that!
Sleep: great except when I am peeing, I am up to 4 times a night and i've been sick all week so sleep has been harder due to a soar throat and runny nose :(
Best moment this week:   Finding out there might be a cleft meaning two sacks and our babies are less high risk.  Also, the new necklace that I ordered today from the jewel box.  It is my belated anniversary present from my husband!!  This is the first item we have bought since finding out I am pregnant!  Ours will look similar to this one except have a green dangle for May the month they are due!
Gender: Team green, still thinking they are boys
Belly button in or out?: In
Craving: nothing except EVERYTHING, I am eating every 2 hours.
What I miss: nothing...i am so excited to be pregnant finally!
What I am looking forward to: Our next ultrasound on Nov 13th!
Milestones: making it to 9 weeks, more than 1/2 way through the 1st trimester!

bump pic, 8 weeks 5 days

Still no visable bump, but from all the food I am eating I should have gained 10 pounds!!

medicad & insurance

I had left a message with a lady in the medicad office in Alamance county.  She called me back!  She said we should definatly apply. 

A little background on why we do not have maternity health insurance.  BlueCrossBlueSheild requires that you add maternity in November when the policy is being renewed.  Then you have to wait 6 months before getting pregnant.  There for you have to pay for the maternity coverage for 15 months at $500 a month that is $7500 if IF you get pregnant the first month.  In our case what could have happened was add the maternity (6 months) and try to conceive (14 months) equaling $10,000.  So, we decided that it would be better to pay out of pocket.  Well, what we didn't think would ever in a million years happend.  We are having twins, putting us into a high risk category and now we are stressing about medical bills.

So, anyway the lady from medicad had 2 suggestions for us.

1. We can apply for medicad after we have the babies and have over 6k in unpaid bills.  There are some other requirments that we will have to figure out, but she thinks we could be approved.  In this case they would pay for 1 month of our bills, so most likely the delivery and any hospital say for that 30 days.
2. The second option is even better (sort of).  If I go on bedrest and am no longer making an income we can apply and hopefully get the pregnacy medicad.  If we get this then ALL the bills will be paid for AND the babies health insurance will be paid for the first 13 months of their life!! This would be amazing. 

Of course we are not counting on either option actually happening but it is nice to know we might have a chance at getting some help.  Unfortunatly, I work for a company who does not do benifits and my husband's company is too small to have a health insurance group plan.

If anyone has any other suggestions for us, we are always open to hearing them!

1st OB apt today!

Well, that was an interesting appointment! That was the first male doctor that was ever "down there" and my husband had to watch!  Anyway, the DR did another u/s and the babies heart beats were 187 and 177!!!   They are growing right on track and are healthy!  The DR thinks he saw a cleft, meaning that their might be TWO SACKS!!!  We are still praying that they confirm the second sack at the next appointment .  If this is the case they will keep me at the clinic in Burlington and I won't have to be sent to Chapel Hill!!  This means there is less chance of being on bed rest and in the hospital!  One thing the DR mentioned was that I would be measuring full term at 28 weeks.  Basically, I will look like I am fully pregnant at 28 weeks and will still have at least 10 more weeks to go!  I am going to be a big belly and that I should enjoy being pregnant now because I am going to be uncomfortable later...but we are going to have two babies in our arms to kiss and love!

8 weeks again!

We are 8 weeks again this time two raspberrys.  No belly pic because our camera is broken.  I am going to have to get Chris to try and fix it soon or we are going to have to buy the video camera that we keep talking about!  I started back on the prescription prenatal vitamins for the twins and this morning I had to make Chris go to my car and get me some Ginger-ale before breakfast.  It is the weirdest feeling to be starving and nauseous at the same time!  So far today I have eaten:  a bagel with butter, 1 can of ginger-ale, a pack of peanut butter crackers, 3 ginger snap cookies, a chicken pita wrap with a side of fruit.  I did eat that in that order, yes that was some cookies before lunch!  I just finished lunch about 30 minutes ago and I am hungry again!  At least Chris is being sweet about letting me eat all I want, at first he thought I was being a dramatic pregnant lady, but now he knows it was the twins sucking all my energy!

In other news: I found out a girlfriend of mine has the same due date!  I am so excited that we are going to go through this together.  We are getting together for lunch tomorrow at one of my favorite restaurants downtown. 

How far along: 8 weeks (for the second time!)
Total weight gain/loss: 1/2 pound, i've lost a 1/2 pound somewhere in all this eating!
Maternity clothes: Not yet, but i am feeling the pants getting too tight
Stretch marks: way to early for that!
Sleep: great except when I am peeing, I am up to 4 times a night
Best moment this week:   1st ultrasound and finding out they are twins and healthy heartbeats
Gender: Team green, really thinking they are boys now
Belly button in or out?: In
Craving: nothing except EVERYTHING
What I miss: nothing...i am so excited to be pregnant finally!
What I am looking forward to: Our Dr apt on Wednesday to find out more info on MoMo twins
Milestones: Nov. 13th--2nd u/s

MoMo Twins

As of right now the doctors think we are having Monoamniotic Twins.  Basically, they share the same sack of fluid.  Please pray that at our Nov. 13th u/s they find a second sack.  This would be better for the development of the babies. If you are looking at the picture ours is the 3rd one down.  But we are hoping for the 2nd picture.  Thankfully, we are not the last picture!!!  I did ask this during the u/s and she said they are two SEPARATE bodies!
click here for more info

I included the link to the website where I found the picture and if you want to read more about our type of twins go there!  The shortened term is MoMo for Monochorionic/Monoamniotic twins.

u/s pics!

baby A and baby B together!

baby b

baby a

OMG!! TWINS!

So the dr appointment went great!  We found out we are having identiacal twins!  We saw the 2 hearts beating side by side in their little bodies and then got to hear them too!

This DOES NOT run in either side of the family so it is a TOTAL shock.  I will post ultrasound pictures later after I stop freaking out and am able to sit down and scan them in!  We are excited!!!!  God has blessed us!

BTW: you may notice my ticker changed from 9 weeks to 7 weeks, 3 days.  Our new due date is May 31st!  I knew I o'd late and this would happen!

say a prayer ~headed to the DR today

Yesterday, I began having some weird twinging pains on my right side.  It lasted about 3 hours of on and off pain.  I called the DR office and by 4:30 the nurse called back and they want to bring me in today for an u/s @1:30 and do a beta b/w test.  Basically, they will take my blood today and on Saturday and make sure my numbers are doubling, meaning a healthy pregnancy; see below for a better description

click here to see original website

The hormone human chorionic gonadotropin (better known as hCG) is produced during pregnancy. It is made by cells that form the placenta, which nourishes the egg after it has been fertilized and becomes attached to the uterine wall. Levels can first be detected by a blood test about 11 days after conception and about 12 - 14 days after conception by a urine test. In general the hCG levels will double every 72 hours. The level will reach its peak in the first 8 - 11 weeks of pregnancy and then will decline and level off for the remainder of the pregnancy.

My coworker that teaches childbirths classes emailed me this:
Don't be too worried about the pain on your side, but it is always a good thing to get things checked out. It's common, your body and your cycle are just now starting to get used to this. However, your age does play a role. And, also the fact that you had problems conceiving, they will keep a close check on you, but I always tell my classes " you will never regret calling and getting checked, but you may regret it if you don't"!

I am praying that everything is healthy and we hear a nice strong heartbeat!  

Please vote

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gift cards are on their way!

I just turned in my discover card's rewards points and I will be receiving $75 to Motherhood Maternity, which my BF says is the best place to buy maternity clothes!!!  By the time these get here I will be ready for some maternity clothes!  As I am sitting here with my pants un-buttoned!

8 weeks-kidney bean

So the DR called back and basically, I am going to have to be patient.  They were going to move my Nov 6th apt to Nov 17th and I decided to just leave it be.  Belly pic to come later, we forgot this morning!

New this week: Webbed fingers and toes are poking out from your 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. You may be daydreaming about your baby as one sex or the other, but the external genitals still haven't developed enough to reveal whether you're having a boy or a girl. Either way, your baby — about the size of a kidney bean — is constantly moving and shifting, though you still can't feel it.(babycenter.com)

How far along: 8 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: 1 pound still
Maternity clothes: Not yet, but i am down to 3 pairs of pants that fit comfortably
Stretch marks: way to early for that!
Sleep: really good last night, went to bed really early and I feel great today!
Best moment this week:   Deciding to give up on the prescription prenatal vitamins and feeling so much better
Gender: Team green, starting to think it is a girl
Belly button in or out?: In
Craving: Nothing in particular but I am LOVING eating whatever I want
What I miss: nothing...i am so excited to be pregnant finally!
What I am looking forward to: Getting to hear the heartbeat and feeling like this is REAL!
Milestones: Nov. 6th, 1st Ultrasound and meeting our midwife!

called the dr today

So, I have been really disappointed when I switched Dr's that my first chance to hear the heart beat moved from October 15th to November 6th.  I know that is only 2 weeks, but it is still a month away!  I have waited so long to conceive this baby that I am ready to FEEL like this is really happening.  I like the new Dr's office and the lady on the phone was super nice today, she really made me feel it was OK to call with any little concern.  She is going to talk to the Ultrasound technician and see what she thinks about doing an EDD (estimate due date ultrasound).  Say a prayer for me that they are in a good mood today and we can get an appointment ASAP!!!  My cell is permanently attached to my hip until she calls!  I do hope it isn't in the middle of my 1pm appointment today....thank to my girls for encouraging me to call the Dr.  Stay tuned.....

watch our little bean grow

So there are only 2 pics and both are already in posts, but keep an eye on the bottom of my blog for the slide show of my growing belly....not that it is growing yet! But it will be the way I am eating! LOL

swine flu....take that!

LOL!!!  

Thanks Pippy for the pic!

7 weeks and 4 days to be exact!!

It is so interesting that I used to count by days because when you are trying to conceive every day counts.  Now that we are pregnant every thing is counted by weeks.  The best part is that we don't keep starting over!  We keep going up until the baby is here!  I can't wait for the baby to be here, I mean I am not ready by far in regards to the baby "stuff", but emotionally I have been waiting 18 years to become a mommy!

Right now we are counting the days until a few things:
Christie's Baby Shower: 12 days
The day we close on our house: 25 days
our first ultrasound: 32 days!!!!!!!

I know you all have been waiting for it so here I am!  7 week belly pic!

How far along: 7 weeks, 4 days (over 1/2 way through 1st trimester!)
Total weight gain/loss: 1 pound (but lots of bloat!)
Maternity clothes: Not yet, but started using the belly band with some of my skinny clothes
Stretch marks: way to early for that!
Sleep: Somewhat comfortable, it is harder to lay on my stomach due to the titty fairy's visits, I am peeing at least twice a night (i used to pee only once a night)
Best moment this week:   At the U2 concert when Chris realized he could tell our bean that they did get to hear U2 (even though our little bean can't hear anything yet!)
Gender: Team green, but we WILL be finding out!
Belly button in or out?: In
Craving: I dont think I've had any cravings, but my husband thinks differently.  Apparently, I now like Nabs, the square orange crackers with peanut butter in them.  I will go to the pantry and really the only choice is between those and Nabs, and for some reason (i think it is because I have my husbands DNA growing inside me, those crackers sound good).  I am getting in trouble eating them and a lot of friends and family are laughing at me!
What I miss: Not being nauseous all the time, thank goodness it is not bad enough to throw up, but it is there in the pit of my stomach the whole day.
What I am looking forward to: Getting to hear the heartbeat and feeling like this is REAL!
Milestones: Nov. 6th, 1st Ultrasound

Our little beans growth this week: the size of a blueberry!
The big news this week: Hands and feet are emerging from developing arms and legs — although they look more like paddles at this point than the tiny, pudgy extremities you're daydreaming about holding and tickling. Technically, your baby is still considered an embryo and has something of a small tail, which is an extension of her tailbone. The tail will disappear within a few weeks, but that's the only thing getting smaller. Your baby has doubled in size since last week and now measures half an inch long, about the size of a blueberry.

If you could see inside your womb, you'd spot eyelid folds partially covering her peepers, which already have some color, as well as the tip of her nose and tiny veins beneath parchment-thin skin. Both hemispheres of your baby's brain are growing, and her liver is churning out red blood cells until her bone marrow forms and takes over this role. She also has an appendix and a pancreas, which will eventually produce the hormone insulin to aid in digestion. A loop in your baby's growing intestines is bulging into her umbilical cord, which now has distinct blood vessels to carry oxygen and nutrients to and from her tiny body.

(Thanks to babycenter.com for the above info)

as promised....a blog

So, my girlfriend Christie got mad at me yesterday for the lack of blogging!  I have neglected this blog somewhat.  This is due to TONS of other things going on in my life and not that our little bean is not important, it is more that this blog has become neglected!  Sorry, my little blog you have been there for me these past painful months and I am excited about they next 9 months of excitement and fun!

Anyway, update time.

So, we did switch doctors (thanks again Christie for your DR's name!).  I have been to the new OB's office and meet with a nurse and did the edcutaional meeting.  I had about 7 vials of blood drawn and had to do a pee test.  The weirdest thing about this office is when they gave me a pee cup for the next visit.  This is their standard practice...i am predicting that I will forget the pee cup and end up like Christie with several in my purse!!!

Ok, Christie--you know I love you and I hope you enjoyed the shout outs!!! More blogs to follow, I PROMISE with Belly Pics!!!!

cried at a black eyed peas song

I left work to run some errands and the song "i've got a feeling" by the black eyed peas came on the radio.  My eyes filled with tears remembering my sister's wedding last weekend.  As she entered the reception with her new husband they played that song.  Then the last song of the night was that song and I was standing on a chair with their video camera filming them as they danced in a circle of their friends.  They were so cute and they are still on their honeymoon in Hawaii!  While, I was standing on the chair, my dad came over an put his hands on my hips so I wouldn't fall.  He would never have done that if I hadn't been pregnant!!! So sweet and he held onto me till the song was over and helped me down from the chair.  But, I got off topic--my hormonal crying!  Anyway, so then I sucked up the tears started laughing at myself and decided to call my friend Christie to tell her about my craziness and in telling the story started crying all over again!  Once, I mentioned I was grabbing some lunch at Panara bread she was like YUM, and I think she ended up going to get it too.  I guess our babies were craving some Panara!  Summer corn chowder soup and a tomato and mozzarella panini....SO YUMMY!!!  There wasn't a crumb on my plate when I was done!