18 Weeks Today

I am really starting to show now. I can't hide it anymore, not that I was. My belly looks so funny, I guess because I am not used to it sticking out so far. It is really neat to know you have life inside you.

Antoniette, where are you when I need you! Hair...

Starting to feel them move this week. The first time I felt them move, it felt like someone poked me from the inside out. Now it feels like a baby who is stuck in a tiny area trying to move around. I feel it now and then, but not too much. I can't believe they are 5 1/2 inches each now and that is only head to rump. My stomach is really tight now and I can't imagine how much more it can stretch.

This week I started sleeping with my pillow between my legs. That feels better and you move around less. It is starting to feel more comfortable sleeping on my sides now too. Getting used to it. Currently, I am working on a faux paint job and it is wearing me out. I am not doing too much, it is just draining! I am almost done thought, two more days to go.

That is it for now...

How your baby's growing: Head to bottom, your baby is approximately 5 1/2 inches long (about the length of a large sweet potato) and she weighs almost 7 ounces. She's busy flexing her arms and legs — movements that you'll likely start noticing more and more. Her blood vessels are visible through her thin skin and her ears are now in position and stand out from her head. Myelin (a protective covering) is beginning to form around her nerves, a process that will continue for a year after she's born. If you're having a girl, her uterus and Fallopian tubes are formed and in place. If your baby is a boy, his genitals are noticeable, though he may hide them from you during an ultrasound.

16 Weeks and a 1/2

I went to the doctors on Mon the 6th of Feb. They set me up for an ultrasound for March 3rd to find out the sexes. I am excited to know, but part of me is thinking as long as the babies and I are healthy I don't mind having either or, or one of each. I got to hear the heart beats of both babies again. I also had to go get another blood test to find out if the babies are down syndrome. I am kind of sick of those, I hope there is no more. Even if the babies had down syndrome, it is not like I am going to change my mind, so they shouldn't subject you to the pain.

I will be doing my final paint job next week. It will all be very simple things like stenciling and faux painting a mantle and beadboard. I am starting to feel the best I have in what feels like a long time, so maybe I will do a few small things so I won't get too bored. No sickness, not too much tiredness and my appetite is coming back...ohhhh nooooo! I also considered eaching a chicken tender yesterday, but when I went to Costco to get groceries, I sampled a chicken ravioli and uuuuggghhhhhh! I am up to 140.8 as of yesterday. Started at 130 lbs. I am right on track for my 40 pound weight gain.....ahhhhhhhh!!

I don't know about this sleeping on my side thing I have to do. It is so uncomfortable and I know it is going to get worse. I try not to sleep on my back, but sometimes I just wake up that way. Man would I love to sleep on my stomach. I probably could be I wouldn't get much sleep thinking I was squishing them. My hip is killing me like crazy, probably from sleeping on my left side.

We had a 100% chance of snow today, but none so far, just a little rain and that is it. It was a bummer because some of our youth group is here and my cousin Kurt and they wanted to slide down the hill. One day of snow is great, but not continuous day of it. Then you can't go anywhere and it is so boring, especially since I can't sit on a sled and zoom down the hill right now.

Here is what is going on in my belly...

How your baby's growing: At 4 1/2 inches long (head to bottom) and 3 1/2 ounces, your baby is about the size of an avocado. In the next three weeks, she'll go through a tremendous growth spurt, though, doubling her weight and adding inches to her length. Her lower limbs are much more developed now. Her head is more erect than it has been, and her eyes have moved toward the front of her head. Your baby's ears are close to their final position, too. Some of her more advanced body systems are working, including her circulatory system and urinary tract. Her heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day, circulating her total blood volume through her body many times. (By the end of your pregnancy, this will increase to about 190 quarts.) The patterning of her scalp has begun, though her hair isn't recognizable yet. Although closed, her eyes are moving (slowly), and she's even started growing toenails.• Note: Experts say every baby develops differently — even in the womb. This developmental information is designed to give you a general idea of how your baby is growing.

How your life's changing: Have people been telling you how wonderful you look? (Oh yes!!! I wish) The "glow of pregnancy" is real, thanks to increased blood flow to the skin. You may be enjoying yourself more, too, now that your hormones have stabilized and nausea has eased up. You're also probably less anxious about something happening to your baby (the risk of miscarriage drops dramatically after the 14th week) which likely adds to your overall sense of well-being.

My Doctor Appointment Today

Just got back from the doctor. Unfortunately, no ultrasounds today, but I do have a special appt. for March 3rd to find out the sexes of those two little babes! I did get to hear the babies heartbeats again and then had to go get my blood tested for Downs Syndrome at the lab. I am thankful that I have great doctors to go to. Today I was thinking part of me wants to know the sexes and part of me wants to let it be a surprise. The biggest reason I want to know is so I can start shopping for the right colors and to decorate the nursery. I guess I could always do the netural theme that I was thinking of. Oh well. I think Nathan is really anxious to know now. I know that one of the babies is definately a boy. I don't know why, but I feel like I just know it. I would be completely shocked if they were both girls, not that I would mind. My prayer is to have happy, non crying, healthy babies. Maybe one of those prayers in unrealistic.

I went to JCPenney afterward to pick up my free catalog. They do have some cute stuff for babies in that catalog. I wanted to go spend a little of my beloved gift certificate too, but this JCPenney's was really small and only had clothing. They also have a maternity catalog and have cute outfits in it as well.

Some info about the babies development at 16 weeks, which will be tomorrow. Time is sure flying!

PS: The above pictures you see are not mine, they are from another website. Just incase you didn't know...

Week Sixteen

• Fat begins to form underneath skin, providing your baby with insulation for the coming months.
• Did you know that both baby and placenta are now about the same size?
• Your little one has reached 4.57 inches (11.6cm) and approximately 3.53 ounces (100gm).
• His head and neck are held straighter now.
• This is a week of "mights!" You might hear the tiny thumps of his heartbeat with an external monitor now. The genitals are developed sufficiently that an experienced sonographer might be able to determine if your baby is a boy or a girl.
• Her heart is pumping as much as 6 gallons of blood a day and beats at a rate about double your heartrate.
• If you could take a peek inside, you would witness your child's reflexes in action! (Sucking, swallowing and blinking are now evident.) She is probably even hiccuping even though you don't feel it yet!
• Your baby has learned to breathe! This is apparent from the regular movements of his chest. Isn't it amazing that he is able to breathe "underwater," inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid? These actions help the lungs to develop and grow.

15 WEEKS

Yes, those are some regular Levi's, they are stretchy kind so they are not tight at all on my belly( Ginger). They are super low riding. I hope I can wear them for a long time because I hate maternity pants. They are kind of too big, but I can't fit into any other regular pants or jeans without leaving them unbuttoned. I will take this as a blessing because it won't be long before I might be wearing a moo moo. I found a great deal at Old Navy. All their winter maternity wear was 75% off. I got about 7 things for $52! Before that I used my Christmas card from Sears to purchase some junior shirts in large with loose fronts (kind of the old hippie style stuff.) Those should last me for a long while. I couldn't bring myself to buy the boring non flattering maternity things they had for mom's to be.

My mom also bought me two shirt that are really cute too. I definately need to start searching for some new pants soon.
Grandma K splerged on us and got us a nice gift certificate to JCPenney. That place has the cutest nursery items I have seen so far. I am excited to go spend that soon.

14 WEEKS

Jena needs a taaaaan! HAHA. No can do right now! Here is my belly at 14 weeks. Sometimes it look huge and other times it looks small. It is weird, but it is nice to be able to stick your belly out in pride! The only thing is that you are in the stage where people are probably thinking " is she chubby or pregnant." I had a lady ask me yesterday if I had any kids yet? I pointed to my stomach and it didn't look like she got it at first. Oh well, it is nice to have evidence for you and your husband that you are in fact pregnant and that I haven't been using the old "I am sick" trick for the past 3 months.

I am finally starting to get some energy now! I feel much better, just have to snack a lot and I will have a good day. Hopefully I will get back to wanting to cook every night for dinner. Poor Nathan had chicken for the first time in 3 months. We used to have it with everything but I refuse to eat it until the end of this. Blahhhh!

I don't have any strech marks yet and I am hoping that I am lucky enough to walk away with out them. Not sure though with how big I am anticipating to get. I have been putting the Palmer's on everyday since I received some in the mail from Kristina. Thanks K-dogg!

Starting Kind Of Late...

Thank to Antoniette for helping me find out about this great blog site.

Hello all....

Where do I start?

Well we started trying to have a baby in Sept 2005. I guess I would say that it obviously was God's will for this pregnancy to take place. God was allowing us to catch up with most of our friends. LOL!

I told Charlene that it was all her fault for this because she had a conversation on the phone with me about how you will never have enough money, time etc...so we better get on the move. I figured she was right about that.

I know Nathan and I would have liked to have started earlier, but we wanted to have a padded savings, stable careers (haha for us) etc..etc...etc. Our "smart plan" was to try and wait to have kids until he was fully out of the Marine Corps, that way we wouldn't have worry too much about him getting called up and missing out on a lot of things. Well I guess we made it so that he would only have about 6 months left until he is out.

I figuring that I became pregnant around the 2nd or 3rd week of Oct (Kristina's Birthday maybe--haha??).
I started feeling a little weird around November time frame. I thought I actually had the flu that wouldn't go away. I just felt tired and queasy. I decided to take a prego test and it was negative. Come to find out I took it at 7 weeks and the doc said that would have been too early to tell.

I continued to feel that way and kept saying to myself that I should make an appt because I was soooo sick of feeling like this. When I was at the dollar tree one day I decided to by a 99-cent prego test because I didn't want to by another $10 test for it to be negative.

On Dec 30th, I went home and took the test. My mind was so negative about it. I was saying to myself here goes nothing....and tada, two lines showed. I examined it for a while because I thought that one from the dollar store would really be playing with my mind, one that cheap couldn't be accurate.

So I made an appt on Dec 3th with a doctor I pointed to in the Tricare directory and prayed that God would lead me to the right one. That I wouldn't have to deal with a doctor who was going to try an give me "options" one whether or not I wanted to go through with it or a doctor who believed in abortion. God did, of course, and Dr. Nickerson is a Christian. I went in the office and they had Bibles laying out everywhere and Christian children's books. He also had the Ten Commandments on the wall in the office. So that was great.

I felt like I was waiting in the room forever!! I hate going to the doctor, that part drives me crazy. You think, "why do I need an appt, I might as well walk in and wait in line." At least you would know that you were next instead of hearing the doctors voice go from room to room.

The doc comes in and says, "Mrs. Hargrave?" I say, "Nooooooo." He says," I will be right back." WRONG ROOM. So he finally gets to me after I have read every chart on the wall 15 times. He asks me why I am there and I say am waiting for a pregnancy test. He says ok and goes out of the room. MORE WAITING...I hear him wandering around looking for a nurse. I figured out I worded it wrong and he is looking for the results. Maybe he realized I had already been there for 45 minutes and that I must have already taken it. Anyway, I take a pee test and it is confirmed. So glad I didn't have to get to a paint appt that day.

He referred me to an OB near by. When I went to give 6 viles of blood, the blood test lady said,"Yer vary lucky young lady." I asked why, and she said, "Back yonder you couldn't git an OB appt to save your life in this county." "These doctors moved right in and now it's great!"

I went to my first OB appt on December 15th, 2005. It was the first time I was excited to go to the OB/GYN. After jumping through about 3 loops and driving in icy weather we made it. I get there and the receptionist tells me, "I am sorry we never got your referral." I was so mad at that point after being sent to the wrong place and showing up about 45 minutes late to my appt. I told her that it would have been nice if someone would have let me know this before we drove in icy weather! Finally I figured that I would have to take this in my own hands and call the insurance company myself. I called and the first time and they told me that my doctor never faxed one in. Then I called my doctor and they said they did and that they would again. Then I called back my insurance to find out if they got it and they said it was a 48-hour turn on this. She asked me what type of insurance I had (shouldn't she know?) and I said the reservist plan. She said, "ohhhhhhhh, you don't need a referral with that kind." I said great and finally got to see the doctor.

They sent me to the bathroom to test my sugar levels while Nathan went in the room and waited for me. I came into the room and his eyes were big and pointed to the vaginal probe used for ultrasounds. We both laughed. Why is it that guys get so nervous around things like this? It is not like they have to do anything else but cough and turn their heads, right??

So I met the Dr. Pitson and she is great. The only thing that I didn't like is that it is a practice of three doctors and you have to switch off because you could give birth with anyone who is on call. It is 2 ladies and 1 man. I don't like the man part. She starts the ultrasound and says, "Oh my!" Her and the assistant started smiling big and snickering. I wasn't sure what that meant but I figured she was going to play a trick on me because the only thing she could say was that there was more than one. She says, "Well there are two!" Nathan jumps out of his chair and says, " I knew it!" What??? He knew what??? How could he know that? It doesn't run in the blood!
Nathan said he always had a re-accuring dream that he had twin boys. Don't know about the boys yet, but we will see if it was true.

The doctor said that she has two children and they are twin girls, so that was nice to have a doctor who has actually experienced the whole sha-bang. She did make a comment that she was done after that. I can imagine. She said it was a one percent chance that twins could happen when they are not in your family, so I told her we should go buy a lottery ticket we have great odds. Just kidding, we don't even have lottery here.
Chance smance....no such thing as chance.

If you look at the ultrasound photo you can see the two little yolk sacs the babies first feed off of and that tells you there are two. She said she is almost sure they are fraternal, but can't be positive yet. She told me that I was 8 weeks along and everything was on track.

On January 10th I had my second appt which was pretty uneventful except that I got to hear the pitter patter of two little beating hearts. It was really neat to know there was really life inside of you. The baby on my left looking down had a heart rate of 150 and the baby on the right looking down had 160 bpm.

So far I have gained 8-10 pounds. Not sure on the weight because I never owned a scale until this last Christmas. If I gain a pound a week I will be right on track with the 40-45 pound range for twins. That is insane, I can't even imagine that! Where will it all go? I am just looking to have healthy non-crying all the time twins, even if I gain a lot I can always loose the weight. :)

Might have gained a couple extra on this road trip we just got back from buying Nathan's truck.
I had a bunch of trouble putting my shoes on. I said I guess I shouldn't wear thick socks with these. On the way home I looked at my feet and I screamed. I had cankles! They look like swollen balloons. I have never had this before. Nathan told me to put my feet up on a small pillow on the dash and I put some lotion on them. They went back down. We just went so far in such a short amount of time and it got to me. Too much sitting is not good for you!