Thursday, March 31, 2011

Now that's real life!


When I found out I was having twins and decided I was also going to cloth diaper,
my thoughts,as well as I'm sure anyone who has seen the usual state of my Laundry room were

'how the heck is she going to handle MORE laundry!?'

Well. Two weeks ago. Thanks to my mother in law... I got all caught up on the laundry... got everything folded. and put away.

You see, I have a TINY problem where I tend get overwhelmed and just STOP folding clothes or putting them away...

so usually my laundry room is FULL of baskets of clean, unfolded clothes. eek. Enter my personal goal.

Project Laundry.
I am trying to prove to myself that I can keep up on it prior to the babies arrival.

Here is my laundry room today,

Almost two weeks in.





I must say that I am proud.... now to keep it up indefinitely!

Now.

Onto another tale from the laundry room.

This.






This has been hanging on the Laundry room door for months.

Today it actually spoke to me.

Do you know what it said?

You fit me (and looked darn cute) three short months ago!

My reply?

I hate you. HA!

If that isnt real life I dont know what is.

Dear Lasenza Lingirie. We will be reunited one day....you will see!

Monday, March 28, 2011

What really matters.

What really matters to me? giggles. I always want my kids to have a reason to giggle. health. happiness. snuggles. sitting together at the supper table. having someone I love's hand to hold. being asked to scratch one of their tiny little backs. hearing tiny footsteps running through the house after bedtime because they forgot to kiss the babies in my belly goodnight. reading stories, building clubhouses, or playing walmart in their bedroom. knowing that if they are hurt, sad, or scared I can make it better. It is not about having the coolest gadgets, the shiniest jewelry, the most fancy ride, or the biggest house. For a LOOONG time I thought these were the things that really mattered to me, That along with my perception of how other people viewed my 'success' but now...

Watching my family grow.

I realize this is what is important to me.
Being here for them.
Watching them.
Not missing a thing.

That is success. Having a hard working husband who enables me to be here for my kids.

You may notice health is also on that list.
Thank goodness I have a healthy family.

I *think* I have finally gotten to the point...
Where I will be just FINE if God plans on us being a family with 5 boys.

Sure, I may have a moment of disappointment or those odd moments when I'm driving to hockey... wishing I was going to dance... but my boys have brought SO MUCH JOY into my life! How could I NOT want more just like them!?

As long as they are healthy, I am happy. Girls/Boys. Does not matter Sure Pink would be nice... But I get plenty of what I need as a mommy from the little boys in my life.

I would be SO BLESSED if 5 boys is what God's plan is for me. Because its just that. Gods plan. Not mine. I'm sure whatever he has chosen to bless us with, that there is a plan behind it. After all, who would have thought we'd be blessed with TWO babies instead of one. So obviously he has great plans for us in the works!

Thursday, March 24, 2011

16 weeks

From the right angle,
and if I bunch my shirt a bit,
I kind of sort of look like my old self!!

But then I turn,

and...

KA-BAM



There it is! The 16 week baby bump!
So what is going on in my pregnancy this week?

Well. For one. There are TWO BABIES growing inside me! (I know it, I'm excited by it now, but yet I still have those moments when I think...'Really!? REALLY!?'
Yes Elisha, really.

I am SO forgetful. Never before have I been this bad in a pregnancy. This morning I looked for a pen in my spice cupboard. Yes. I'm that good.

I'm SO tired. Thank goodness both big boys are in school every other day, because then Kyler and I can snuggle on the couch while mommy naps... I'm usually awoken a couple times each nap when Ky has to give me a kiss on the nose. SO. CUTE.

Cravings? Slurpee's maybe? I don't have them that often but if I'm craving anything its a good ole Coca Cola Slurpee... and Milk.
No. Not TOGETHER. Gross.

Weight gain. Oh my. I knew it was coming... but I really did not prepare myself for it. In the past 4 weeks, if my scale is not lying to me... I have gained nearly 7 lbs! Shocked the heck out of me since I hadn't weighed myself for a while... but two days ago when I found my paper recording my weight, and the last one was at 12 weeks I thought I better get a new 'reading'. So with my 7 lb weight gain I am now officially back at my pre pregnancy weight... which is good... but it is still always depressing to see that scale number move up, no matter how noble the reason.

Nose bleeds. Wow. I'm getting glamorous here I know. But a nosebleed a day. Really? Not enjoying that.

A lot of this pregnancy update is sounding negative... so here we go... We have movement! I have been feeling flutters for a few weeks now(must be a multiple time mom thing, because with my first I did not feel a THING until after 20 weeks!), but this week they are definitely getting more substantial, grow babies grow! I LOVE feeling them move... and I cannot wait to feel it even more as they grow.

So there we have it, 16 weeks, hopefully 20-22 more to go :)

Monday, March 21, 2011

My little men

We have had so much baby talk around here lately that I thought I would share one random photo of each of the boys from this past month...

Here is Keaton... and Steven. Where he got the idea to name his fish Steven I will never know. This was a photo I took for him because he had to take a photo of him and his pet to school this week. So since the other boys are allergic to cats/dogs... Steven is the family pet!

This was Actually in February, Kolbys hockey team was drawn to go play during intermission for the Edmonton Oilers... He looked forward to this for MONTHS, constantly needing me to reassure him. 'Mom, I'm going to play for the Edmonton Oilers right?' Yes honey. ' But mom... I'm scared I wont be good enough' Don't worry honey, The Oilers don't have the highest expectations. HA! In the end he was the goalie, and let something like 9 goals in, in the 3 minutes they were on the ice... so he was distraught, but it was the opportunity of a lifetime and I'm sure he will never forget it!
And last but not least. Kyler. This was last week, when I was writing that last post... He helped himself to half a box of fruit loops in a huge Tupperware container. When I came upstairs he had the blankets all laid out on the floor for his 'picpic'(picnic). What a waste, but can you blame him? Aside from the lack of nutritional content, Fruit loops ARE delicious. Just ask the twins, they've been having them every couple days as a snack ;)




Thursday, March 17, 2011

So, now that we've had some time to adjust and the initial shock of TWINS has worn off... we've begun to think of the logistics of things.



What do we really need?

What do we need two of?

How will we get things done?

I plan on breastfeeding/pumping, but do we need to stock up on bottles as well? If so how many? I've never done the bottle thing other than the odd bottle if I was going out and someone was babysitting.

Diapers, wow. the diapers!
-How many do we need?
-I want to cloth diaper, but plan on using disposables for the first little bit (until the babies are
at least 8lbs and will fit most one size cloth diapers)
-What size of disposables do I buy if I want to start stocking up now? Newborn? or Preemie,
because I have no idea how big these babies will be!

This is what I've figured out, Month 1, I am estimating we will use SEVEN HUNDRED AND TWENTY DIAPERS! That is about 9 of the big boxes of diapers... Which is $171 IF I can get them on sale, If not we're looking at $225... for DIAPERS... for ONE MONTH! This is estimating with 12 diapers a day per baby... so it may be a little less, but I'd rather over estimate than under estimate and be un-prepared!

I read somewhere online that on average a set of twins will use 13,000-15,000 diapers by the time they are potty trained! So for those of you who question WHY I would ever want to cloth diaper, that my friend is why! I cant even begin to imagine that many diapers in a landfill if I can avoid it, or PAYING for that many diapers in the next 3 years, ouch! My cloth diapering may cost me close to $1000 initially for two babies, but that is significantly less than I would spend on disposables, a huge burden off of our landfills, AND... I can sell them and get at least SOME of my money back when I am done with them!

So that my friends, is another of the many things floating around in my head these days... I'm off to the elementary school now... Gotta love it when you forget to pack your son a sandwich in his lunch! I'm sure he wont mind since that means he gets a sub now :)

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

It has been a while, But today was one of those days that I woke up and thought...

Was that real?

Am I really having twins?

Unlike the last time I woke up and had that feeling, I did not get the urge to throw up and then have a good cry.... Rather, this time I just smiled!

I'm not sure if my initial reaction is a normal reaction to finding out that you are carrying two babies. But I must admit that my first reaction was nearly dread, How could this be? I was already feeling overwhelmed that we would be adding a fourth child to our family, So how could this happen!? Five, I was going to have FIVE children!?

Now that I have had a couple weeks to get used to the idea, although I'm still overwhelmed at how I will manage 2 newborns and 3 older children, I am now also starting to get excited! We will have double the first smiles, double the baby giggles, and HOPEFULLY a couple little girls for mommy to do girl things with! I know I have probably jinxed myself by saying that I hope it is girls, But I really truly do. I also hope that if these babies are not indeed girls, that God will help me come to terms with the fact that I will not be getting a daughter.

When I thought we were having one baby I was okay with another boy, I actually HOPED for another boy. Because I KNOW boys, I can DO boys.

Since finding out that I am carrying TWO babies however it seems greed has gotten the better part of me. I find myself saying that I better get my girl, because really, all that I've ever wanted is a daughter, and if I give birth to FIVE children and don't get a daughter I will not be impressed.

I don't want to feel like that.

I know that these babies are a blessing and their sex should be the LEAST important thing to me... I just wish my heart could FEEL that. Does that make sense? Maybe one of you moms out there will get it, and hopefully before my next ultrasound I will have a change of heart. I love these babies irregardless, and if they are in fact boys, the LAST thing I want to feel at my next ultrasound is disappointment, because there are FARRRRR worse things out there that I could have to deal with than not getting my daughter.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

The belly and other random thoughts

So here it is!! I am, 14 weeks and I believe 2 days today. Please do not look too closely at the photo. I was tempted not to post it as you can see the hideous-ness that is my hair in the mirror.


On another subject? How do you moms find time to do your darn hair!? Mine is in a pony tail so often that when I actually wear it down I am shocked by how much it has grown since the last time it was down!

Flipping subjects again, I bought the double stroller and car seats yesterday! I feel like it is so soon to be doing anything like that, but the way I see it... In the event that I end up on bed rest, I will be glad I got everything organized so early! Not that I'm planning on being on bed rest, but you do see the size of me right? At 14 weeks? These babies are going to start growing FAST now and it should be interesting to see how ginormous I get!

Another random subject? Sure, why not!

Has throwing up become a contest in your house? If not then you are not in a house full of boys! Keaton was up sick most of last night... so tonight at bedtime I told Kolby to go straight to sleep so he can get lots of rest and hopefully not get sick as well. His reply.

'But mom!! I'm already sick! I just puked in my mouth and swallowed it'

Great dude. I'm glad you felt the need to share. Yet another reason I hope that I may get a daughter out of this twins deal... enough of the puke/fart talk for me... I need makeup and shopping! STAT!

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Prenatal appointments

So today was my first prenatal appointment since the Ultrasound that told us we were having twins...

To say it was underwhelming would be an exaggeration.

I was expecting him to sit down, tell me about what to expect differently with twins, tell me a little about how my prenatal care will differ as opposed to a singleton pregnancy, measure the fundal height, take my blood pressure...listen for heartbeats...send me for blood work...You know... all of the regular pregnancy stuff, plus prepare me a bit for how this pregnancy could be different.

INSTEAD.
-The nurse weighed me ( and as I predicted, I Have gained a pound, putting me at -6 but I'll take it since I was -8!), The doctor told me he got my Ultrasound report and it is indeed twins... That he'd like me to see another Dr. in town(but that's as far as that went), asked how I was feeling, said things were looking good and he'd like to see me back a week after my April 18th Ultrasound. So if you're looking at a calendar... That would make my next prenatal appointment in 7 weeks.

So lets look at the stats here

I am 14 weeks along with Twins. I have not had blood work done since the initial blood work at 4/5 weeks. He has not once listened for a heartbeat/heartbeats, not once checked my blood pressure or measured fundal height, and now we're going 7 weeks between appointments in my second trimester.

This cant be normal can it? I was really excited for today because I thought I'd leave the appointment with a better understanding of what to expect in the months to come. Instead I'm just as confused as ever... and frankly now quite frustrated by the situation.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Introducing...

In their first blog appearance, Baby A and Baby B!
They even look identical via ultrasound! HA!

I'm really confused by this identical vs. fraternal idea. The tech told us that it is highly likely that they are identical since they share a placenta. HOWEVER based on what he told us and again, Google... Everything I have read says that in our scenario(one placenta) the twins are identical...I did read however that occasionally two placentas will fuse together giving the appearance of one, thus being misleading... So that must be why they wont say that they are 100%. Or at least that's the conclusion I have come to.

A... For Alex or Ainsley?


B- For Brad or Bertha?

For those of you who may be worried about the name choice of Bertha, have no fear! That name is actually not on the list ;)

Random thoughts today:

-Im feeling pretty darn good. I'm very tired... and having crazy dizzy spells/headaches... but I'll take it over all day sickness!

-I *think* I gained a pound!

-Current snack of choice would be strawberries and cream loaded with sugar. I tell myself that the strawberries balance out the cream and sugar.

-I bought my first two boxes of diapers, and a Medela dual electric breast pump.

-May be getting ANOTHER crib this week as well as the double stroller and two carseats.

-I think I might be buying too much too soon, but I'm a planner so it feels SO GOOD to be buying. LOL

Friday, March 4, 2011

Crazy Coincidences

Now that we know we are having twins, when I look back there are SEVERAL strange, almost 'warnings' if you would.... Further proving to me that this is meant to be...

Are you ready to have your mind blown? I thought so. HA!

1)Since I was 5 years old I told my mom when I grew up and got married I was going to have identical twin girls(strange considering there were no twins in the family, and I'm not sure we even KNEW anyone with twins). WELL, when I grew up, got married, and had THREE boys I pretty much threw that idea out the window. Now, now it seems it may be a possibility- who EVER would have thought!?

2) Kyler, Oh my dear Kyler. I am sorry that Mom and Dad have been lying to you for months. Since the day we found out we were expecting and told the boys, Kyler has continually told us that there were TWO babies in my belly. I have continually told him that he was crazy and mommy was only growing one baby. oops!

3) I bought two cribs. HOW CRAZY IS THAT!? I was determined to buy as much as I can used this time since baby #4 was definitely going to be the last baby. I had made a rush decision to purchase an ikea crib on kijiji, without really looking at it first. Well when I got home I discovered(and remembered) that ikea cribs are shorter than regular cribs-almost like a playpen, and that was not what I wanted. WELL, two days later to my surprise the identical crib to the one that I had sold months earlier was for sale on kijiji, so I bought it as well, with plans to re-sell the ikea crib. So here we are. TWO CRIBS.

4) a couple weeks ago Motherhood maternity had an AWESOME sale online.I bought a ton of stuff, I bought half of it in Medium, and half in large since I know that I usually end up quite big. A week or so later I was disappointed to find that some of my items were out of stock and I would not be receiving them... HOWEVER imagine my dismay when I received the items that were in stock, and they were all size Large, and all absolutely HUGE, there was no way, no matter how big I got... that these would fit me. That doesn't seem to be the case now, since I'm bound to get bigger than I ever have before!

5)I receive daily emails from a pregnancy site with different things to expect during your pregnancy, diet and excersise ideas, that sort of thing.

I had my ultrasound this past Monday, I bet you will NEVER guess the subject of the email they sent me on Sunday ?

The subject was 'Expecting Twins?' I opened it up and it was an article about signs that could mean you are expecting twins! I thought that had to be a terrible omen and deleted it immediately. HA!


So there we have it, little coincidences that I thought nothing of at the time, but now I cant help but think WOW!

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Identical, or not identical? That is the question!

Okay, so at the ultrasound we were told it was 'highly likely' that the babies are identical as they are sharing one placenta, and just a thin membrane seperates the babies in the amiotic sac. Below I will share what I have learned about that since:

A) I was addicted to google BEFORE this happened.

and

B) I am double addicted to google now.

So first, a photo. They believe We are the second photo down in the following series and considered 'Monochorionic diamniotic twins'

Monochorionic means they developed from a single egg and a single sperm
Diamniotic means they are in two amiotic sacs. Sort of. As you can see in the photo.




I found this explanation online that explains it clearly. I think. HA! I have made the font red for the sentance that describes us :)


Here goes...twins can be identical (30%) or non identical (70%). Dichorionic means two placentas, and diamniotic means two amniotic fluid filled sacs. A non identical twin pregnancy is always dichorionic diamniotic, which means that your babies, despite both being in your womb at the same time, have their own placenta and amniotic sac. It becomes more complicated with identical twins. They are originally from one embryo that split into two. If the embryo splits very early on, then the twins are identical but have separate placentas and amniotic sacs (dichorionin, diamniotic). If the embryo splits a little later, the result is identical twins that share a placenta (monochorionic) but are in separate sacs (diamniotic). Very late splitting of the embryo is rare but can result in conjoined (siamese) twins, or two babies that have the same placenta and are in the same sac (monochorionic, monoamniotic). This type of twins is at highest risk of various complications of pregnancy.

Now, any of you who know me know I'm slightly OCD, and slightly a paranoid freak when it comes to being pregnant. I read the following and now am totally freaked out, yet determined to deliver two healthy babies that do not require nicu stays. That is my goal!!


'Twins in general are at increased risk for certain complications including premature birth, death, and anomalies. When monozygotic twins split later than 3-4 days after fertilization, they are called 'monochorionic' twins(which is what we are) and they have complications which are many-fold higher that those of dichorionic twins. Monochorionic twins are at especially high risk of complications and death because they often share the placenta and have one outer membrane (chorion) as compared with dichorionic twins which have a separate membrane (dichorionic). Monochotionic twins have a significantly higher risk of complications such as twin-to-twin-transfusion-syndrome (TTTS) and require more intensive surveillance during pregnancy. Many doctors deliver monochorionic twins around 36 weeks to decrease the risk of complications.

So yes, I am now officially a REALLY paranoid freak. Thank you google...for freaking me the heck out.


Part II

BEFORE YOU READ THIS, MAKE SURE YOU CLICK HERE TO READ PART I FIRST.

So there we are, Tyson, Kyler and I... all hanging out in the Ultrasound room.

The tech put the thingy to my belly(so technical, I know!) and I thougtht I saw something funny, TWO 'blobs' but the tech moved around quick so I took a deep breath and told myself to stop freaking myself out, how could there possibly be something else in there!

Maybe a minute went by when the tech finally asked if this was our first ultrasound with this pregnancy.

Yes...

WELL. You're having twins.

WHAT!?

Okay. at this point I zoned out, rambling and babbling to the tech. But all I could think was. Okay, I know I'm looking at two heads side by side on the screen. But this CANT be right.

There was not a lot of logic in those moments! lol

So there we are. We left if up to god, tried once, were shocked to find out we're expecting, and then KA-BAM. Its TWINS!

They appear to be identical (I've got another post in the works to describe all about that)

So long story short. When you are prepared to trust God and let him make decisions in your life. Also be prepared for the fact that he may trust you with more than you thought you could ever handle. But rest assured there is a reason behind it!

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

PART I

Its been a long time since I've updated. And a LOT has happened. A LOT. I have discovered that god must really have some plans for us since I put the future of our family in his hands and he has never failed to amaze me... Here is the story.

Tyson and I were unsure about whether our family was complete and in December decided to leave it up to God. We tried ONCE, and decided that if it was meant to be it would happen that once, and if it werent meant to be then our family was complete and we would be okay with that too.

I really wasnt expecting to find out that we were pregnant, but that is exactly what we discovered on December 29, 2010. We were shocked but figured it was meant to be. I was nervous about our family becoming 6 but that soon wore off and we began to get excited.

NOW. this is where things get a little hairy. I was extremely sick. It got to the point where I was sick 24 hours a day for just over a 2 week period. I could not look at, smell, or eat most foods. I lost 8 lbs in those 2 weeks! Never before had I been this sick, or this tired during a pregnancy... but I thought nothing of it, I was hoping that perhaps that meant we were having a girl this time, despite the fact that it really doesnt matter to me either way. The all day sickness eventually faded to just the occassional bout with nausea, which sounds great to me! So here I was... 12 weeks 5 days along, still down about 7 lbs, and headed to our first ultrasound.

TO BE CONTINUED...
YOU CAN CLICK HERE TO READ PART II.