Introducing Eliana Jean and Joelle Rose

We are thrilled to announce the birth of our twin girls, Eliana Jean and Joelle Rose. They were born at 3:07 and 3:10pm on August 7, 2007, via C-section. Everything went smoothly and mom and babies are all doing well. Eliana (formerly "Baby A") was 5lbs 14oz and 19 inches long. Joelle (formerly "Baby B") was 5lbs 6oz and 19 inches long. Big Sister Abigail is having lots of fun holding the babies and is doing a great job learning how to be a big sister. I will post some of their pictures here, and you can go to our online web album (click here) to see all the photos we have so far.

One last belly picture - 37 weeks

Abigail giving her sisters one last tummy hug before Mommy goes to the hospital for the c-section.

The belly - 36 weeks

I am ginormous! At my 35 week appt, I was measuring 44. I forgot to ask what I measured this week, but it is BIG!

For comparison, here I am at 40 weeks with Abigail:

35 week update

Fundal Height: 44!
Babies positions: Baby A breech, Baby B transverse. Baby A could still turn head-down, but considering that she's been breech since at least 28 weeks and they are getting really cramped in there, the midwife said it's not really likely at this point. I have another ultrasound next week to check their growth, so we'll see if she moves at all by then.
Delivery plans: I am being scheduled for a c-section around 38 weeks (near Aug 14), due to the babies' positions. I will post when I have a date and time confirmed. If Baby A turns head-down before then, we will cancel that plan and go for a natural delivery.
Misc: My feet/ankles are still huge. They will likely stay that way until delivery. It's pretty bad when I can barely even get my feet into my flip flops! BUT, I do have a nice, pretty pedicure now! Aaron took Abigail to the Zoo on Saturday, and I got the day off. I used some birthday money to get a pedicure, get my haircut, and get a massage. I also took care of some appointments at the hospital and just generally enjoyed having the day all to myself. Possibly for the last time in...um...EVER?

Oh, I also got the crib all ready to go. We plan on having the twins in our room at first, but it feels nice to have the crib all set (and maybe we'll use it for naps sometimes). We still have a TON of prep to do before I'll feel "ready" for the babies, but I'm trying not to worry about it too much. It's just hard to get anything accomplished nowadays, so I feel a little overwhelmed by my to-do list sometimes. BUT, #1 on my "to-do" list is stay healthy and keep these babies cooking until they're good and ready to come out, so I make sure to not overdo it, and I don't feel bad about taking naps and being generally unproductive most of the time.

Fat feet

My feet are huge! These pictures don't really show the extent of the swelling, but here is a comparison between my normal feet (left) and my current preggo feet (right).

The belly - 32 weeks 1 day

Here I am at 32 weeks with Abigail. I look tiny compared to today!


Here's the Abigail belly at 37 weeks. I think that's a lot closer to how I look now - and that makes sense, since I am measuring 37.

Belly update - 25 weeks

Ultrasound picture and mini-update

Baby A 1 lb 6 oz. Baby B 1 lb 5 oz. (On schedule for growth). I feel like I'm already getting really big. It's hard to believe that if these babies are born at a healthy weight, they will probably weigh more than 4 TIMES as much as they weigh right now! Oh, my poor belly is going to be huge!
*I just looked it up, and a normal singleton pregnancy would reach 2lb 11oz (my current total baby weight) around week 29. That means I'm currently carrying the weight of a singleton pregnancy that's five weeks ahead of me.*

Both Vertex (Head down). This is good. If they stay in this position, there is a better chance of avoiding a C-section when delivery time comes.

Everybody looks healthy! Yay!

Belly update - 23 weeks

Here's the belly, at 23 (and a half) weeks.





Just for comparison...here I am at 23 weeks when I was pregnant with Abigail.

White Tulips

20 weeks - update and belly pic

This week's Dr. appointments confirmed that both babies are girls. Aaron is going to be really outnumbered! Everybody looks healthy. Baby A is 12 oz, Baby B is 13 oz.

My fundal height is measuring as though I'm 24 weeks. (I looked at my belly pics from Abigail's pregnancy, and I'm definitely bigger now than I was at 21 weeks last time.) I'm starting to feel extra tired again lately. My back pain is still there, but I'm being very careful about bending or lifting, so it is not too bad.

Sorry for the lack of bloggage lately. I really don't intend for this blog to consist entirely of pregnancy updates and spordic randomnity...but it is what it is.

Bloomin'

The belly - 17.5 weeks

Ultrasound pics

Here are some of the ultrasound pictures. In case you can't tell, they show Baby B's profile, Baby A's face and tummy, Baby B's face and tummy, then Baby A's "gender determination" (in that order).

You can click on any image to view full-size.

Precious

Ozark Beauty

Signs of Spring

Belly update - 16 weeks

Things that made me smile in the past week...

Abigail spontaneously running up and giving me big kisses on both cheeks.

Singing as a sub on two sets in the prayer room.

Thinking that maybe I felt the baby moving when I poked my belly.

The beautiful orchid that is blooming in my kitchen.

Weather that involved sunshine, and temperatures like this:

Driving a Bobcat for the first time. (I received only brief operating instructions over the phone, but managed to re-park the thing without hurting anything or anyone. Did I mention that I was wearing flip-flops? I'm sure that's a safety violation of some kind.)

Seeing the most beautiful rainbow while driving to the store. It was a supernumerary rainbow, with the whole arc visible, along with a vibrant secondary rainbow. I couldn't get a picture that really captured its beauty, but it was stunning.



Showing Abigail her first rainbow, and teaching her that a rainbow is a sign of God's promise and faithfulness; then hearing her say rainbow (maimbo) over and over for the next hour or so.

Family hugs and spending time with Aaron when he comes home from work.

Giving Abigail's head lots of kisses while she snuggled in my lap before her nap.

Abigail reaching up after those kisses and saying "pretty" while pointing to my cheek. She doesn't really know how to say "I love you" very well yet, but calling me "pretty" is close enough to melt my heart.

There's a baby in there!

12.5 weeks