Week 25: Ultra Sound and Appointment!

Saturday marked our official "25 week" mark; however, I decided to wait until tonight (Monday) to post, because I knew we had an ultra sound appointment and a follow up with our Dr. right after.  This way, you get belly pics AND baby pics :)

Lets see, at 25 weeks, our babies are measuring (according to the books) 13.5 inches long and should be a pound and a half.  Just wait until you see their actual measurements below :)

I have been feeling great!  Fully energized and NO back pain (I hope I didn't just jinx myself).  I do get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, but only once and I fall right back to sleep.  Josh only slept downstairs one night this past week due to my snoring!  That's pretty good!

My belly button is out, but I do not have the 'brown line' yet.  I looked back at Callie's pregnancy and noticed that the "brown line" didn't appear until I was about 30 weeks along.  So I still have some time yet!  I was wondering when that would appear again :)

Regardless -I'm HUGE now!

 Here you can see my belly button sticking out - clear as day :)  Man - there are two babies in there!

During our ultra sound, we noticed right away that our babies were HUGE!  Which meant it was a little more difficult to make them out.  Our technician only gave us 7 pictures, which is so much better than none, but some of them are pretty hard to make out!  So bare with these...

Baby A:
Measuring 1 pound 13 ounces, 130 beats per minute, right on for scheduled due date!
Here is his/her cute little round face, you can see his/her chubby cheek, nose and mouth :)
You can see his/her abdomen and the black hole is actually his/her stomach.  There is a leg bent upward as well...so if you are trying to decide what it is - good luck :)  Even our technician wasn't able to see today (which is good, because we don't want to know!)

From the label you can tell this is Baby A.  I believe it is a more side profile - legs on the left of the screen, bent...  Some of the bubbles you see is the umbilical cord.

Baby B:
Measuring 1 pound 12 ounces, 137 beats per minute, right on for scheduled due date.
Not sure - to be honest :)  I think that is his/her head on the right of the screen!  It was so much more confusing this time around because they kept moving and since they are so much bigger, it was hard to see everything!

Again, Baby B.  Some of those objects are hands and feet while others show the umbilical cord.

Baby A & Baby B - picture this...

Baby A is head down with his/her feet going upward towards my right side (your left if you are looking at me).  Baby B is in a breech/transverse way - feet down by Baby A's head and his/her head is by Baby A's feet!  No wonder I am always feeling so much kicking in a certain spot - I have feet and a head fighting each other for space!  This picture below is both of their abdomen's.  You could see both of their strong hearts beating together - it was AWESOME!

Here she was able to get a picture with both of their heads!

 This picture makes me laugh!  This is indeed Baby A & Baby B :)  When she pulled this up, I could make it out clear as day!  So baby B is more hunched over - you can see his/her spine on the left (5 dots) and then it rounds and goes downward (like a roller coaster) - well, that is Baby B's butt!  There is a divide between the two - their separate sacs, you just can't see it!  But then there is Baby A's head - plastered right up against Baby B's butt!  I told her that is looks like Baby A is kissing Baby B's butt!

After our ultra sound, we headed up to our Dr. appointment.  I love our Dr!  He is A-MAZING!  The pictures weren't into his system yet, but I was able to give him some of the "stats" he may want!  He asked about positioning (since the technician showed us)!  And he took his time to answer all of our questions - which we typically have a lot of  :)

He did let us listen to their heart beats, and both heart beats went up to 140 beats per minute.  I asked him why there was such a difference, and he informed me that I was laying down completely relaxed before...he said, 'It changes all the time!"

One thing he did tell us, was that at 39 weeks for twins, they will induce labor - so there is absolutely no way I am going to 40 weeks.  Even though they say my due date is June 9th, I feel like I can move it up to June 2nd as that 39 weeks!  Josh and I asked a lot about premature delivery/birth, where we would be, what it would look like, etc...

I also found out some bad news :(  I was hoping that I could ask my mom to be in the room - not to hold babies right away, but to take pictures.  We look back now and wish we could have had someone in the background photographing each moment - especially the first moment we laid eyes on Callie!  When I asked him about it today, he made it sound like we will for sure be delivering in the operating room...which does NOT allow cameras :( :(  STUPID STUPID...I am so mad that Austin Medical switched over to Mayo Health System's and has to follow their stupid policies.  I'm going to do everything I can to capture those moments on film!

Tonight, when Josh finished taking my pictures - he decided to keep snapping.  There were about 20 to choose from, but I decided that the world did NOT need to see THAT side of me :)  So here are a few...and these are only posted to make Josh smile (I told him I wasn't going to post these and he was like, "WHY NOT!?!").

I'm Sexy and I know it!

Mommy Daughter Fun Day :)

Josh had an away basketball game today, so Callie and I spent the afternoon hanging out together!  When Josh left for his game, Callie was napping...during her nap, I made a couple fun games for and prepared the ingredients for a double batch of chocolate chip cookies.  I made a double batch, because I made dough balls and put them in the freezer.  Once frozen, I'm going to create individual cookie bags!  One ziplock will have 10 dough balls - 7 bags = 70 cookies :)  This way, after the babies are born, we can have yummy homemade cookies prepared in a heartbeat :)

When Callie woke up from her nap, we got right to business!

 Callie posing and saying "CHEESE" with all of our "pre-measured" ingredients!  And Taylor Swift playing in the background :)

 Pouring in the sugar

 Pouring in the flour!  This we had to measure as we went.  We needed 4 1/2 cups of flour and I didn't want to dirty another bowl just for flour!

 Callie cracked each egg and then poured them into the bowl!  She literally poured the whole bowl in  :)  I think her hands were slippery from the egg!

 She was fascinated with everything mixing together!

 :)  Loving this!  And I loved this entire time - by far my favorite baking experience...EVER!

 Pouring the chocolate chips in :)

 Oops - if you notice, you can see the chocolate chips actually pouring on the counter...I think she wanted to eat those!  

 Watching our cookies in the oven!  Luckily, we have an oven that the door does not get hot on the outside!

 The final product - They had Callie's approval :)

 MMM - Give me a kiss :)

Here are the pre-made cookie balls that went into the freezer!  I use my Pampered Chef Small Scoop - Josh likes the smaller, bite size cookies, so we make those :)  In case you were wondering, that's 70 cookie balls right there :)

Callie cracking the eggs for our Chocolate Chip Cookies :)

Callie singing along with Curious George soundtrack!  She loves this song. She only sings along to 1 part, but it's super cute!!

Callie also really enjoys getting her own water - ice first :)

One of Callie's art projects today was just coloring!  I drew a heart, but she wanted a star - so we drew that. I told Callie to draw a moon, which is the orange half circle near the star.  Later I drew Callie in the grass.  Then I gave Callie different Sesame Street stickers and told her where to put them!  Grover was to be by Callie, Count by the moon, and Bert & Ernie next to each other.  The rest she picked :)  I think it turned out great :)

I made Callie a new game!  I wasn't sure how she's like it or if she'd even be able to do it.  I showed her once how to do it, and she caught on right away - said, "Let me do it!"

 I saved milk caps then modge podged letters onto them!  I printed out pictures of her favorite Sesame Street characters, along with their names and put them on construction paper!  Laminated them and voila :)

 She LOVES this :)  Instead of giving her a ton of letters.  I just give her the letters in the name she's working on.  She has to decide which letter goes where!  I was surprised she knew a couple letters (said them out loud) as we haven't pushed this with her!

YEAH!  She was so proud of herself whenever she finished!  You'll see in the videos below :)

Bert & Zoe - Milk caps...a FREE game :)


I also have been saving can lids.  I have my Pampered Chef can opener, so the edges are smooth and not sharp.  I simply washed them and let them dry.  Then I stuck stickers on them (you'll need two of each sticker) and Callie finds the matches!  I've done this before, but she hasn't gotten into it, until tonight - when I put Sesame Street stickers on them :)

My little dancing queen!  She always asks to have either "George" playing (which is the Curious George soundtrack sung by Jack Johnson), or "lalallaalalala Swift" - which translates to Taylor Swift!  Her favorite song is "Love Story!"

At the Austin boys basketball game last night, it was senior night!  Callie was given her favorite player's "face on a stick".  She has been playing with it tonight (was very shy around him last night at the game)!  Well, Callie is giving kisses to Nate Schwab...and here's the proof!

Let the crazy dreams begin...

Well, this isn't a surprise to me, that I would be having crazy dreams!  I remember having weird ones when I was pregnant with Callie -and I think this is about the time they started!  The other night, I had a HORRIBLE nightmare - so bad in fact, that I woke up, hardly able to breathe with excruciating heart burn :(

I tried to close my eyes and go back to bed, but that wasn't happening.  So I got up, went to the bathroom, took some tums, drank some water.  Tried again - nope, every time I closed my eyes...I saw everything (I'm not getting into details on this one).  So I got up, checked on Callie, drank some more water, sat in bed checking out Facebook and FINALLY I fell back asleep.

The very next night - it happened...the most hilarious dream I have ever had!  This one, I will share with you - in fine detail :)

We were 25 weeks pregnant in my dream, which if you do the math - that's NOW (today).  We were just leaving my mom and dad's house, driving through St. Paul Park (for some reason we were IN St. Paul Park, not on the highway), and we were in a serious car accident.  I just remember (from my dream) that my side of the car was hit.

We flash forward a little bit and the story sets in!  I was injured VERY badly (I guess I said this dream was hilarious-just bare with me), and I was immediately unconscious (at the scene of the accident) - however, because I am this amazing super mom, I was still able to DELIVER my baby.

I woke up (in my dream I woke up) at my mom and dad's house.  I remember wondering why I wasn't in the hospital after they had told me I was in an accident, but that is minor details.  They drove me to Children's Hospital in St. Paul (where I was born!) and that is where our baby was.  My mom informed me that I gave birth, at the scene of the accident, to a baby girl (remember, I'm 25 weeks pregnant).  When we arrived at the hospital, Josh was there waiting for me - along with the rest of our family.

He and the Dr.'s were bringing me back to meet our daughter.  I sat down in the chair they had sitting in the middle of the hallway - it was more like a kiosk than a hospital room.  It was very strange and random, but that's what it was.  The Dr. brings out a 10 pound baby BOY!  I look down at him and immediately start kissing him and telling him how beautiful he was.  It wasn't until a little later than I realized he was ASIAN!  Yup - I gave birth (at 25 weeks) to a 10 pound Asian boy!

Josh informed me that everyone had already held him and loved up on him, so I could take my time (remember this sentence for later...).

I looked up at the Dr. and said, "Doctor, I'm sorry to sound crazy here, but I am pregnant with twins!"  He informed me that Yes, Indeed I was, and I am STILL pregnant with the other one :)  HAHA - WHAT!!!

...................

So our alarms went off, we got up and ready for work.  On our way, I started telling Josh about this dream!  There were several parts that made me laugh - like giving birth at the scene of an accident, even though I was unconscious.  Giving birth to a 10 pound baby boy - who was Asian.  Still being pregnant with the other twin!  Wondering HOW big this baby was going to be!

It then struck me, why was I the last person to hold our son?  I told Josh, as we are walking into school, "Josh, if something happens to me and I can't hold our babies right away- you better not let anyone else hold them before me.  You and Callie - that's okay - but I'm the mom, I carried them, and I better be the first one!"

He looked at me smiling and said, "Well, I probably let everyone else hold him, because he was Asian - I figured he wasn't mine!"

HAHAHAHAHA  Oh boy - I look forward to my dreams at night :)  At least the ones I can remember :)

Will you be my Valentine!?!

I'm going to be very honest here, and I don't care if I offend anyone...I have the WORLD'S most BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTER!  Yes, Mom - she is even more beautiful than NOT ONLY your youngest daughter, but ALL of your daughters!!

She is the such a well mannered and kind girl!  For Valentine's Day this year, we found her outfit on accident. That day when we spent 6-8 hours at Babies R Us, well, this is something we walked out with!  Top to bottom (bows, shirt, skirt, shoes & purse) - I could not resist!  Hey it was all on sale :)

For Valentine's that night, Daddy had a basketball game in Faribault, so Callie and I drove up, had a Valentine's dinner with my mom and dad and then went to the game.  It was our last time seeing them before they headed off on their cruise (which they are enjoying right now...and I am VERY jealous!).  They were going to drive down to Austin to say goodbye, but this worked out better anyway - especially since Callie and I were going to the game :)

Sometimes, in the morning, we like to sit around and be silly!  This is our typical Saturday/Sunday morning!

Daddy finally shaved!  He's going to KILL me for posting this picture, but Shellum girls - who does he look like!?  If you guessed a younger version of Dad - you are correct!  Maybe not as much in this picture, but I have another one I didn't post...hahaha - Josh, mustaches are NOT for you!

While mommy was cooking supper in the kitchen on Saturday night, Callie and daddy were busy playing!  I walked over, and Josh had informed me that Callie did every single one of her puzzles (you can see the stack to the left of Josh's head)...and all by herself!  Hopefully she is good at math with all of this practice :)

Every nap time and bedtime, we put Callie to bed with a pull up on.  She hasn't needed them during the day at all (unless we are driving for a long distance).  Over the weekend, we were starting to figure out the dresser move (Callie's getting a new dresser!!) and I realized that I had ONE diaper left.  So, we put her in her diaper before bed...

Here Callie is, showing off the LAST diaper she will wear!  Wow...big girl!

Callie was VERY sick over the weekend too :(  On Thursday night, we ended up bringing her into the ER because her fever spiked to 103.3.  Typically we would have stayed home, but the on call Dr. wanted her to come in, because she had a scratchy throat as well.  Poor girl kept sticking her fingers in her mouth and point in saying "OWIE OWIE"...she didn't go to bed until 1:30 AM...Josh stayed home with her all day Friday.  Her fever went down only a little with Tylenol :(

Saturday and Sunday we kept it easy.  Her fever was hit and miss - until Sunday afternoon, after her nap, she had a fever of 101.2 AND her eye left eye was swollen and red on the outside...UH OH!  She's sound asleep now with a terrible cough.  Thankfully, her cough does not wake her up in the middle of the night!

Another reason she is so beautiful...through this sickness and pain she is experiencing, she has the best spirit and attitude!  She is so smiley and happy, cuddley and playful!  I love her so much :)

During the church service today, the music was wonderful, and Callie really enjoyed the upbeatness of it!  When it was all finished she said, "AGAIN" very loudly and then started cheering by YELLING - yes YELLING "YEAAAAAAAH" while clapping :)  The elderly couple near us sure thought it was cute!

:)  During our prayers tonight, I started our prayers the way we always do, by thanking God for this wonderful day.  Then I always list the things we are thankful for...
Lately, I have been saying, "I am thankful for ___" and Callie fills in the blank :)  Tonight she said Daddy, Mommy, Kixie, Grampa, Mama (meaning ALL grandparents, because we always are thankful for all - not just 1) and her aqua-doodle!  Hahaha!  And she always shouts out a happy "AMEN!" at the end!

Such a funny girl :)

I love you Callie Lynae :)

24 Weeks - Possibly only 14 to go???

This week, our babies are measuring in about 1 1/2 pounds EACH and gaining about 6 ounces per week!  OH BOY! (or girl)!  They are the length of an ear of corn :)  If it's anything like the corn I grew this past summer - they are BIG!  Delicious too ;)

I was reading one of my "week by week updates" I receive in my email, and it listed some of the typically pregnancy symptoms for 24 weeks.  YUP - I'm experiencing most of them:
Constipation (sorry to throw it out there, but it's true), occasional headaches, lower abdominal achiness (this is from my ligaments, that support my GROWING uterus, that continue to stretch, backaches - OH YES...experiencing these almost daily... & sometimes vision changes.  I had a "dizzy" spell over the weekend, but I think I had eaten too late.  Regardless, it sucked!

The good news - Josh is still in bed with me every morning :)  Meaning - I am not kicking him out due to some late night law cutting...AKA snoring!  I wake up many nights not even using my body pillow (shhh...don't tell Josh or he'll want it out of bed as it acts like a 3rd person in the middle of us!).  The downfall, I was up in the middle of the night probably 4 times this week to use the bathroom...bummer, I guess I can't sleep through the night every night!

Some people (mostly my mom, don't worry mom, I love it - and I love you) have been asking me if I can feel both babies kicking at once.  At first I couldn't, but I am pretty sure I can!  I really feel HUGE kicks in one area (Josh feels them daily!) and you can see my stomach moving, but the cool thing, is while that one leg is kicking there, there's more movement on the lower section-opposite side!  So unless we have an Olympic Gymnast in there-I'm pretty sure that is two different baby kicks :)

My belly button has popped out too!  One day, Callie started pushing on it like it was a real button!  Sorry honey - nothing is happening when you push this button - at least not yet :)

Check this picture out - My stomach is so big that it makes a regulation size basketball look TINY!

Okay, okay - so it's Callie's little ball :)  But by the end - this ball may look like a marble :)

Week 23 - Some changes need to be made...

This past week has been wonderful!  The babies have been moving around like crazy!  I love sitting in meetings (which I'm in A LOT of) and watching my belly move!  I love feeling them constantly!  I love that Josh can feel them now too :)

First of all, our babies are weigh just over a pound and are about 11 inches long - about the size of a large mango!  Now picture two of them - and put them in my stomach!  No wonder I'm getting so big :)

I haven't gotten the dark brown line yet - I will have to look back and see when that started to appear when I was preggo with Callie!  My back has started hurting me this week.  It feels like someone is constantly stabbing me in one spot - but I guess that is what happens when you have two kids in you!  I'm still sleeping good and through the night!  I have noticed that some of my clothes are already getting too small - and they're maternity clothes, so that sucks :)  As long as I'm covered, I might not care :)

This past weekend, my mother in law offered to come down for the weekend and hang out with Callie so Josh and I could spend some time together!  It was PERFECT!  Well, there were a few bumps, but it all ended okay :)  Here's a recap of our adventure :)

We headed to Rochester on Saturday morning and went straight to Babies R Us.  While we were there, Josh carried in and out a gazillion different car seats to try and fit two infant car seats and one toddler car seat in the backseat of our 2011 Mitsubishi Outlander!

We bought this car BRAND NEW in July 2011 knowing we'd have more kids!  However, not knowing that we'd have twins so two infant seats and one toddler seat at once!  So here we were - well, Josh!  On what felt like one of the COLDEST days YET this winter - in and out of the car.  I was sitting in the front seat with the heat blasting on me :)  We were parked on the sidewalk right by the door.

After several attempts - we realized nothing was going to fit.  So Josh went to get the store manager.  He came out - NOTHING...he made suggestions, but still, nothing fit.  We attempted to move Callie up to the "next" car seat knowing she is just shy of the weight requirements - NOTHING...

So Josh brought them back into the store, and I sat, thinking alone about how much this just SUCKED!  When he came out, he got in the car very slowly and said in a very serious voice, "I have some bad news.  The massage place called and the lady who was supposed to give you your prenatal massage is out sick".  SERIOUSLY!?  That did it - I started crying.  Stupid hormones.  Long story short, Josh called them and in a semi-nice way, gave them the business!  She called him back and said they made changes and we are still on :)  THANK YOU GOD!  I have been looking forward to this massage for two weeks...my back has been KILLING me!

Josh also called the Mitsubishi dealership to discuss our options for a trade in.  Turns out - we'll be out some money - but hopefully not TOO much...we're looking at getting...wait for it...
A mini van.  We told ourselves we would NEVER own one, because, well, I just don't like them!  But, it looks like we might be going this route.  Just know - I'm not a "soccer mom" I'm a "Basketball Mom!"

We had a quick lunch, and headed to the massage place.  It was a couples massage, so while Josh and I were preparing to have our massages, he kept asking me if I thought they've ever done this with two people in the room, if they've ever felt awkward or uncomfortable...I didn't know!  When they came in, Josh of course asked his masseuse!  She answered with, "There was this one time I had a couple in here and it was so uncomfortable, because they kept calling each other this weird name...Schmoopy"!  HAHAHA - Josh and I just about DIED laughing!  If you know us, you know that we call each other Schmoopy ALL THE TIME - but it's more of a joke :)  But it's also our thing :)  Oh man, it was a riot!  Half way through the massage, Josh asks me, "How are you doing Schmoopy!"  Haha!!!

We then headed BACK to Babies R Us and purchased our crib (Thank you Lynn & Larry for buying that for us!) and the extension pieces to convert it all the way to a full size bed in the future!  Now we officially have two of the SAME cribs with all of the materials to have two full size beds!

For our February gift, I had Josh open his envelop to see what our date entailed!  He had to pick a letter-he picked "C", and we each were given $10.00 to spend on each other in the mall, but the gift HAD to start with the letter C!  Let me tell you how hard this was!  We had 30 minutes to do so...WOW!  Very hard :)  He got me Cha Cha Cherry nail polish & nail Clippers!  I got him the Cosmo Card truth/dare game (wink wink) :)

When we headed out for dinner, EVERY place we went to eat at was at LEAST 45 min. to 2 hours!  We went from place to place...NOTHING!  So finally we ate at Whiskey Creek in Rochester!  HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!  It was so good and the service was amazing!  Their strawberry lemonade is by far the best :)

Overall, it was an AWESOME day!  I'm so thankful to have such a wonderful husband :)  I love you Schmoopy :) :) :)

Callie's Birthday Wishlist

You might think that we are absolutely crazy for doing this; however, I think most will find it extremely beneficial :)  Josh and I took pictures (on our date) of the things we KNOW Callie will LOVE.  We originally wanted her to pose with everything, but then we realized that she would want to take them home with her - so to avoid a tantrum in the store - we went this route!

NOTE - This is for those family members that want to get Callie a birthday gift.  Don't feel like you have to follow this & you certainly do not have to get her anything.  This is for those family members who have contacted us asking what Callie would like for her birthday.  Josh and I thought it would be easier to do it this way, rather than telling everyone the same thing...and it's good idea to help people know what it is she plays with now and enjoys - since not everyone sees her everyday!

Below each picture is a description to help out :) :)  We took these pictures at Toys R Us.

 Dress up SHOES!  We're not sure if she's into the "clothes" yet, but she LOVES the shoes!  Whenever we pick her up from daycare, she's walking around in their dress shoes!

 Callie is totally into Sesame Street right now, so you'll discover MANY Sesame Street toys!!  This is a "house/town" thing - and there are fun cars that go with it.  She loves cars right now as well :)

 Cookie Monster's Find & Learn Number Blocks - She LOVES COOKIE monster!  She already has the toy where you feed him cookies!!

 Elmo's Find & Learn Alphabet Blocks - this was a mommy & daddy choice.  She loves Elmo, so why not learn her letters while she plays with him :)

 Callie LOVES bath time!  Here's a Water Fun Elmo...

 Grandma Lynn bought Callie Big Bird ABC's for Valentine's Day - she carries him everywhere!  Here's the "Rocking Shapes & Colors Elmo"!!

 Rocking 123 Ernie - which she also loves!  Are you noticing a trend here?  Callie LOVES Sesame Street!  It's CRAZY!  She's addicted!

 An Abby Cadabby Doll - you have GOT to be kidding?  Yup - she'd go crazy!

 We had a great sandbox; however, it had a tarp over it and just didn't work out.  Callie LOVED playing in it last summer, but we tore it apart when it was finally cool enough (remember the SCORCHING HEAT) to play outside!  We realized we need a sandbox with a lid on it!  There was a turtle one and crab one as well, but Josh liked this one best, because it won't be so obnoxious in our yard :)

 When do you start your child on a trike?  Well, here's a great one that we can help her out until she is ready to pedal!  I'm thinking by this summer she could be pedaling?!?!  And we decided to go with a girly color!

Callie not only LOVES Sesame Street & Dress Up - but she's OBSESSED with her babies!  She has some babies & loves them!  I took this picture of the entire isle at Toys R Us, because anything to go with babies would satisfy this girl :)  She does have a great wooden baby crib that she got for Christmas this year, and she does not need a baby stroller.  Anything else is A-OK :)

We hope you find this helpful!  If you ABSOLUTELY want to get her something off this list and don't want someone else to get it, let me know and I'll mark it.  

If you want to do something totally different - please do - she'll LOVE anything!

She's currently wearing a size 24 months/2T.  Please avoid clothes that have a onsie with a button crotch.  Callie is potty trained and no longer wearing them.  Which means, YES, she has a lot of REALLY CUTE clothes that we don't have her wear anymore - but it makes going potty independently much easier for her!  We're so proud of her :)