36... Sorta

The final photo in my pregnancy sequence. This was taken yesterday, 11 days after the boys were born. I can't believe how amazingly God created the human body! It knows exactly what to do to not only grow babies but also to feed them exactly what they need for every step along their developmental journey. I can't say that I miss my baby belly, but right now while they are in the NICU and I can't see them all the time, I sure do miss the constant kicks and prods that reminded me that they were always with me.

34

Since we could techically have these babies at any point now, we decided to take pictures more frequently than every four weeks. For today I just wanted to upload the 34 week picture - the real update will come on Friday after we have our next ultrasound. It was confirmed today though that if I haven't gone into labor on my own that I'll be induced the week of September 22-26, when I'm 38 weeks... so there's an end in sight - and not a moment too soon - do you SEE how small this t-shirt is getting?!? (Here's the 32 week comparison. Good grief!)

32

Six weeks to go! I had an appointment this afternoon and was measuring 39 cm, which is only 1 cm from "full term." Someone asked me yesterday when the triplets were due - thanks buddy, that makes me feel awesome (note: sarcasm). The first non-stress test went great too - strong heartbeats, only one contraction, nothing scary to report. Here's the 28 week comparison.

30

No belly picture this week, but I had an ultrasound for the first time in 8 weeks and wanted to report the stats. I saw the high risk specialist for the first time and he's the one who did the ultrasound.

Baby A:

• Measuring 3lb 11oz
• Head down
• Plenty of fluid
• Face smushed into the placenta, so no good pictures could be taken of him

Baby B:

• Measuring 3lb 4oz (the doc said that the difference in weight, 12%, is nothing to worry about)
• Also head down (he flipped since the L&D incident a few weeks ago!)
• Plenty of fluid
• Face was turned so we got a good (4D!) shot of his face

How cute is he?!


A few more interesting tidbits from the appointment:

• They are 90% sure that the babies are identical. They can't be 100% unless we did DNA testing of the placenta (which we won't do), but chances are likely that they will be


• The doctor said that they will still watch for signs, but that the risk of Twin-to-Twin Transfusion (when one baby grows much faster than the other and they both suffer for it) is usually only up until 26 weeks, so we're looking good there.


• He said by the looks of things that I still have a while to go (no signs of pre-term labor) and that he wouldn't be surprised if I went to term. For a twin pregnancy, that's 37-38 weeks. That seems like a LONG time from now and a LOT more growing, but it's only mid-September, and that's not really all that far away!

28

Charlie and I were able to take our 28 week picture a day early when I went to visit him in NY last night, so I added the traditional pose (remind me to wear my hair down next time!!) but I also uploaded a self taken view too. I think it's funny how baggy the red shirt looks in the 16 week picture and how it's actually too small at this point! I'm refusing to buy more maternity clothes though - my luck I would buy more that fit, take the tags off and go into labor!

And I almost forgot, check here for the 24 week comparison.

Does anyone know how to take a picture without using the flash that won't come out blurry? I would like to avoid the bright flash shine, but couldn't figure it out for this picture.

24

Ok, I'm almost going back to packing, but I wanted to update the belly picture first. Check here for the comparison to the 20 weeks picture. It doesn't look like a huge difference, but it sure feels like it! Both heart beats are above 150 and they are kicking like crazy. I won't have another doctors appointment until after July 9th when Charlie starts working and his insurance kicks in, so I'll have to wait until then to see them again, but it's nice to know that they are doing great so far.

20

The growing baby bump!

I didn't think that the past month brought that much of a change, but looking here, I guess it has! From what I've read, the twins are about about 10 inches long and weigh a pound each. Within the next several weeks they are going to grow like crazy - it'll be pretty cool to see the "flip book of belly expansion!

16

And now, the long awaited "first belly picture!" This is at 16 weeks and the plan is to keep this outfit throughout the belly pic shots to see just how different I look by the end (I'm counting on a considerable change!)

We have our ultrasound scheduled for May 10, the day before our 6 year anniversary. And yes, before you ask, we are going to find out what it is. We have many reasons, some of which would make sense and others of which wouldn't, but overall, we decided to because:

1. There are enough "unknowns" in our life right now and we don't want to add to that list
2. We want to be able to start praying more specifically for the needs of a baby boy vs girl
3. We want to be able to wrap our heads around things to look forward to with a boy vs a girl (not to say that we couldn't do most things with either gender, but you know what I mean) - tea parties vs playing in the dirt with trucks

Provided the baby cooperates on the big day, we'll keep you posted on the gender... and don't ask - we're not telling names until the baby is born : )