17 & 18 Weeks & Names Revealed!

This was taken a few minutes ago...so 18 weeks 3 days. Please excuse the many bruises. Gotta love daily Lovenox injections! It's all for you babies :)

I realized it's been awhile since my last post. I guess with summer in full swing now, I've been spending less & less time inside at the computer. That's a good thing though, right? My 17 week appt went well. No ultrasound because something was wrong the machine. My OB was able to find 2 distinct heartbeats very quickly. One sounded calm, cool & collected. And the other (we believe to be our rambunctious boy) was pounding hard & fast. Lucy was heard on the left side of my belly button, Oliver on the right. Yep...we're 90% sure we've chosen names for Mac & Cheese! We will soon (well in about 4 months) be the proud parents of Oliver & Lucy Hammontree!!!! It is so exciting to have them named :) They can hear now so we've been talking to them daily & I've been singing loudly in the car. I figure they better get used to my "wonderful" singing voice now!

Oliver & Lucy had their first experience in a pool today! I don't know if they noticed the difference, but their Mommy sure did! Man oh man did that water feel nice! I know I'm not that big yet, but it felt great to feel some pressure lifted off my back. I predict we'll be spending lots of time at our neighborhood pool this year. One of my neighbors was there with her 8 month old son. She was pregnant at the pool last summer. It's crazy/super exciting to know that that will be me next year. Times 2!

Well, I'm off to enjoy a nice evening of poker & wii playing with some good friends. Gotta love summer!

16 Weeks

Not much going on this week. Just a few belly pics to post. I'm no longer sure that I can feel the babies. I can feel different things, but it's hard to say if it's them or not. I think I'm going to need to feel a big kick in order to be convinced. Hope everything is going okay with them...it's been 11 days since I saw them & I'm starting to get anxious again. Ugh!! I wonder if I'll ever feel totally comfortable.

The nursery is still coming along. We found a glider/rocker at a garage sale for $20! I love garage sales :) Kyle also put the peel 'n stick tree decal on the wall. It looks awesome. I'll try to get some pictures posted later this week. I have my 17 week appt on Wednesday & my level II ultrasound is scheduled for June 10th (I'll be 20 weeks then).

15 Weeks: Genders Revealed!

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mothers out there. And to those who are still struggling with infertility, I am thinking of you all today. I hope your dreams come true soon. We are all mommies at heart!

Some very exciting news...I think I felt the babies move yesterday! So, at 15 weeks 3 days, better mark my calendar! I can't say for sure, but it had to be them. I was laying in bed on my back for a few minutes yesterday morning when I felt this huge bubble in my lower abdomen. It felt like a gas bubble, but a little different & much bigger. Later that afternoon I felt it again while reclining in a chair outside. Woohoo! My dad later said he thinks the babies were trying to wish me a Happy Mother's Day. I got tears in my eyes :)

My 15 week appt was pretty exciting on Wednesday. Our ultrasound tech was looking at the babies' heart beats & she asked if we wanted to know the sex of our babies. Of course we did! We have known all along that they were probably boy/girl but it was a relief to hear the confirmation. So...Twin A aka Mac is our baby girl & Twin B aka Cheese is our baby boy!!! It is so amazing to know who is who now. We have been thinking a lot about names since then. I'd really like to name them soon, but it's so hard to decide. We had 2 names picked out, but now that it's real, we're not so sure. We want to pick something unique, but not over the top. I wish we could see into the future & know whether or not a name will make or break our child. We are in love with a name for our son, but it is a bit eccentric & I don't want him to be teased. But, then again, children are teased for more reasons than a "different" name. We want him to feel special & to know we chose his name out of love. Maybe we need to wait until they enter this world, & then we can choose the name that fits them best. My type A personality doubts I'll be able to wait, but we'll see.

Side note: My labs all came back normal from the blood that was drawn last week! Thyroid was normal & Lovenox is therapeutic. We will continue to monitor my thyroid levels monthly.

Happy Mother's Day!!

14 Weeks

Here is my latest belly pic. This was taken today, at 14 weeks 2 days. Quite the bump, don't you think!? It's hard to imagine just how big I'll be getting!

With a week of work under my belt, I'm feeling much more normal & happy. Now don't get too excited...I only worked about 15 hours, but it's a good start. Speaking of feeling better, I don't want to jinx it, but I think my nausea is starting to subside! I'm super-pumped about that! It was really great to see all my co-workers this week. Thanks everyone for being so supportive!

This week was also "doctor" week. Monday, I had an appt with my Hematologist. Nothing too exciting. Continuing the same treatment with Lovenox, & sometime next week I'll get labs drawn to make sure the dose I've been taking is therapeutic. Tuesday, I had my first appt with an Endocrinologist. My TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) level is very low & my T4 (the main thyroid hormone) level is high, meaning I have hyperthyroidism (an overactive thyroid). For now, my doctor is not concerned. He explained that thyroid levels are always a little high in the first part of pregnancy while the body is trying to adjust to the extra hormones, estrogen & progesterone. My body seems to be taking a little longer to adjust, but there is no harm to me or the babies for now. We will continue to monitor my labs every 6 weeks until things normalize. I was really relieved I didn't need to start taking medication.

Thursday, we drove west in pursuit of a second crib for the nursery. I know it seems a little early, but we've had some bad luck with furniture orders lately. (We ordered a king-size bed on Dec 30th & just received it last week!) Anyway, we went to Nebraska Furniture Mart & bought a convertible crib. It's a Stanley Young America crib, from the My Haven collection. We chose the color "sea grass". This will be our baby boy's crib. Our girl will have the antique white crib that Kyle's dad bought for us last year. It was a hard decision, but we decided the colored crib would best "match" the white one. We are so excited about the nursery! It will be the one & only nursery we will decorate & it has to be perfect :) Kyle actually got a wild hair & painted the nursery today! (I told you...we're just a little excited.) We chose a light blue color "sea spray". It already looks so darn cute, I can't stand it :)

My next OB appt is on Wednesday, when I'm 15 weeks! This pregnancy is still so surreal. I already can't wait to meet our babies :)