9 Weeks!

And hopefully close to 30 left to go! I know I'd probably be miserable carrying twins to 39 weeks, but if it means they'll be healthier, then I'll try my best to keep them in that long!

We had another beautiful ultrasound on Tuesday... at first the doctor scared us and said one was measuring quite a bit smaller than the other, but then he realized he had included what was left of the yolk sac in the measurement of the larger one. So they were really measuring very close in size (YAY!) M & D then took me shopping for some maternity clothes at A Pea in the Pod, and spent WAY too much money on me! I told them I get an allowance for that, but they really wanted me to have some nicer basic pieces that should last me through most of the pregnancy. I'm so spoiled! The pic to the left is of me in the dressing room... no that's not a real belly... just the fake pillow they have in there! I'll take another REAL belly pic and post again soon. None of my pre-preggo pants or shorts fit at all anymore! I'm currently using the rubber band trick to make my work pants last a little longer, and I did buy a pair of black maternity capris that I can wear to work. I'm definitely getting bigger much faster than I did with R... of course I guess that's expected... especially since there's two in there this time!

I'm going to send out an e-mail today, officially announcing the pregnancy to all of our family and friends that aren't close enough to know already. I'm going to set it up sort of like an FAQ thing... so hopefully I can answer most people's questions all at once to avoid repeat questions. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we won't get any negative feedback from anyone! So far almost everyone I've told has been very supportive... one sister-in-law is nice about it, but will blatantly tell me "I don't know how you can just give a baby that you carried away"... I just tell her, "Well, they aren't mine to keep, and I knew that from the beginning!".

R had her first "practice day" of pre-school on Tuesday. S took her, and she had so much fun! She cried when they had to leave after 45 minutes or so. I think she'll do just fine on her first day :) My little girl is growing up so fast!! Her first real day is next Tuesday... I'm thinking about taking the afternoon off to go with him to drop her off, and then go sit at home and mope until its time to pick her up... I know I'll be an emotional wreck! I'm so sure that I'll take her first day much harder than she will!

So it happened....

8 Weeks on the dot: I had "morning sickness" in the morning! ha! Hopefully that was the first and last time. I think what caused it was I woke up late, and instead of eating breakfast first thing like normal I attempted to shower & get dressed first. BAD IDEA! Half way through my shower I start dry heaving. So I cut my shower short, and continue to gag while attempting to dry off & find something to wear. Finally I just give up and make myself something to eat in my towel, and feel a million times better. Apparently these twins don't feel they should wait an extra 15 minutes before feeding them, and I can tell you one thing... I won't make them wait again... ever! I'm secretly hoping that I will not have any other nausea today, but I'm not going to hold my breath... it usually starts right before lunch and continues throughout the rest of the day off and on. So we'll see how it goes. I keep staring at the little ticker on the side of my blog here... The little guys are changing so fast!! I can't believe my belly is already so big and the babies are each just over half an inch long. I'm going to start telling more people (other than just close family & friends) after our second ultrasound next Tuesday (just 5 days!). I know it's still possible to miscarry 1, or both (heaven forbid!), but every day these little guys stay put just increases our chances! Plus I truly believe in the power of prayer, so when more people know, more people can pray for our healthy pregnancy & babies! Ok... I'm really off to get some work done now :) Teaching at church again tonight! Hopefully the kids won't be as crazy as last week...

Life in the Fishbowl...

I think that's what I'm going to call my new pregnancy blog that I'll be starting for just the pregnancy (since it has definitely taken over this one). M & D are going to have their own for their friends and family to view, and they'd like to be able to link to mine so their family can read my thoughts and how I'm feeling, etc. I would just let them link to this one, but since it's public and I sensor names (and I ramble about things in my "normal" life that would probably just bore them) I figured it would be better to just have a separate one just for the Lil Fishies. I figure "Life in the Fishbowl" is appropriate, because first I plan on my belly being so round that it will look like a fishbowl, second because of the nickname we gave the twins, and third because I sort of feel like I am in a fishbowl sometimes! When you have this many people involved in making a baby, no matter where you turn, someone is looking at you, either they want to feed you, they want to inspect you, or they just find you exciting to watch because they've never seen a "Surrogate" fish before. The attention isn't really getting to me, but I am still looking forward to the point when this is just treated like a "normal" pregnancy... if there is such a thing with a twin pregnancy. I can't wait to go see my OB and have one of those 15 minute appointments... ya know, get weighed, ask the doc a couple questions for which he always has an answer, hear the babies heartbeats on the doppler, then make another appointment for a couple weeks later on my way out the door. Don't get me wrong... I'm not saying I don't want my doc to treat me differently than with a singleton, but I'm just truly hoping and praying for an uneventful, smooth ride of a pregnancy. I don't expect a "textbook" pregnancy, but just uneventful would be great.

On other topics, S is going to be switching jobs at the prison, which is both good and bad. He's going to the transportation team and will have weekends and holidays off (GOOD!). The bad part is there's lots of overtime required, and since he's moving to weekends off, that means that R will still need Nana to watch her at least two days a week... if not more due to S working overtime. We were hoping to almost eliminate Nana's babysitting duties, but she was complaining about that anyways, so maybe this is for the best. I just don't like the idea of her being babysat or in pre-school 5 days a week... with our schedules before his move to transportation, we only needed a sitter 3 half-days per week. Oh well... I guess we're becoming more like the "regular" working family, where both parents work mon-fri. We'll also probably have to find a new Life Group to meet with at our church ::cry:: Our current group meets Monday evenings, and obviously that won't work for S anymore. I might have to go by myself until we can find one that meets on Saturdays (if such a thing exists!).

Anyways, I've been at work for over 30 minutes now, and haven't touched a thing... better get something done!!

7 Weeks!

Yep.... I officially have a Baby Belly... Make that a TWIN baby belly... (please ignore my streaky mirror in the pic... I obviously have been too lazy to clean). I have a feeling I'm going to get huge, but that's fine with me as long as they're big babies!! I'm sort of excited to be showing so soon, but at the same time I was hoping to hide it from co-workers until we're out of the first-tri. Oh well! Maybe I'll just wear baggy shirts and no one will notice for a few more weeks. So far my biggest complaint is being tired all the time. Other than that, the nausea and heartburn are manageable, and I hardly notice that my boobs are sore either... guess I just got used to it! We have another ultrasound scheduled for the 26th of this month, and then our first OB appointment on the 24th of next month! YAY! I can't wait to be back with my OB again. He seriously rocks :) I've been having crazy vivid dreams again like I did when preggo with R. You know the type where you wake up and acutally believe what you dreamed really happened?? Well this morning I apparently dreamed that S was running late for work and asked me to pack him a lunch... so imagine the look on his face when he found me in the kitchen this morning at 3:30 am, making a turkey sandwich... he said, "Are you that hungry?", I said "No, I can't have lunchmeat... you asked me to make your lunch..." he says "Babe, it's 3:30 in the morning... I'm pretty sure I don't need lunch right now." haha!! Sort of embarassing, but he understands :) I don't know why I didn't realize that it was still dark outside and he doesn't leave for work until 1 in the afternoon... so how could he be running late that early in the morning??

Anyways, tonight I'm going to start working on my neice's baby shower gift (yes I'm a Great-aunt... this is her second baby!) and of course I'll be helping at church again tonight. I also need to get a move on reading the book for my book club. Again it's another book that I really just can't get into... maybe I'm just not the type to read books of substance. If I'm going to make time to sit down and read, I want something like a murder mystery or a psychological thriller... something that is pretty mindless and will let me escape reality for awhile. Our current book (The Rape of Nanking) is just a little too depressing for me I think... I know it really happened, and more people should be educated about the horrors that happened to the Chinese at the hands of the Japanese, but I just can't read much at a time before I start getting a little depressed. I'm going to look up some light-hearted funny books to suggest for next month.

Let the excitement begin!!

IT'S TWINS!!

We saw TWO beautiful heartbeats at our appointment yesterday! What an AMAZING way to end a perfect weekend! All I can say is "wow!". I don't think it's really sunk in yet, because I don't really feel that different... just a little distractable today. I guess I had a pretty good feeling it was twins the whole time... so maybe it wasn't such a surprise. I have to say though, seeing those two little hearts beating away, and seeing the looks on M&D's faces was something I won't ever forget! I can't wait to see them in the delivery room when they hold their two little babies for the first time. I gotta get caught up on some work stuff, but I'll try to write more about our FABULOUS weekend later :)

Cruisin...

right along! Tomorrow we will be officially 6 weeks preggo!! YAY! Also only 5 days left until our exciting ultrasound. I've barely made it through this week! Lots of procrastinating at work... I'd much rather read about other surrogates news on my fav. message board than draw subdivision maps. More exciting news too. M&D are BOTH comming for the ultrasound! Double YAY! I'm so looking forward to a fun weekend with them, and (God willing) ending it with a beautiful heartbeat(s) on Monday morning. As far as symptoms go, they come in waves... nausea (I've only gotten sick once though), heartburn, and big time bloating come and go as they please. The only ones that stick around constantly are extreme tiredness, and incredibly sore boobies! UGH! If that's all I can complain about, I'm blessed though! Oh... I guess I could complain a little about the sore areas on my behind that all our injections are leaving. It's not too bad, and it doesn't really hurt while injecting, but even with heat and massage afterwards I seem to be developing some lumps! I'm not sure if it's meds that aren't completely absorbing, or some scar tissue building up, but I'm running out of places to inject! I need a bigger behind!!

Not much to update on the homefront... R is starting preschool the first week in Sept.! I'm so excited for her, but a little emotional all at the same time. My baby is growing up too fast, but I love seeing her learn and discover new things. Other than that, not much news, which I'm not complaining about :) It's nice to be in somewhat of a routine now... we'll see how long that lasts!

I'm finishing up a quilt for the little neighbor girl's birthday present tonight, and then teaching the kids tomorrow night like always. Friday is my day off, so it'll be filled with chores and errands in preparation for the weekend, preschool, and P's birthday party! I have an exciting week coming up!