bubbles!

We finally had a short time of real spring weather the week after Easter.  The twins and I enjoy being outside and miss it after being stuck inside all week with this non-stop rainy weather!

Miss Katherine has been inseparable from her skirt (from her Easter outfit) and Tangled (Disney movie) tiara.  She sports these two items all.of.the.time!  From the minute she wakes up it goes over her jammie pants and continues with any outfit whether it matches or not.  So pretty much the only time she's not wearing either of them is nap and bedtime.  It's pretty cute and I can't lie - it's fun to finally see a little girly side come out. 

A saying "Cheese!" smile

The twins loved blowing bubbles for each other to run and try and catch.  

trying to catch the bubbles 

Hopefully we can get back outside real soon!  

28 Weeks!

Twenty-eight weeks marks the start of the third trimester!  I can't believe I'm in the final trimester already!!  I feel that so far this pregnancy has gone by fairly quickly.  Probably a lot to do with that comes from staying busy with taking care of Kate and Matthew.

At 28 weeks the baby weighs 2 1/4 pounds (about the size of a large eggplant) and measures 14.8 inches from the top of his/her head to his/her heels.

I continue to receive the weekly progesterone shots to help minimize my contractions.  I have these shots until 36 weeks pregnant...only 9 times left!

At my 28 week doctor's appointment this past week I had the glucose testing done.  Every one's favorite - drinking the really, really sugary orange drink.  I was happy to hear I passed!

My uterus is measuring right on track at 28 weeks and the baby's heart rate was ranging in the 140's. 

The little one moves around A LOT!  Always love these movements and watching my stomach move around.



Check out cute Princess Kate's tiara and fancy Minnie Mouse shoes!

Overall, I am feeling pretty good!  I do notice I get winded more easily and am beat by the end of the night.  I have been sleeping well at night but do have to wake up at least once to use the bathroom and wake up to switch positions from side to side.  Thankfully the twins still take naps so I am able to take a little cat nap with them in the middle of the day.

The two things I really miss are sleeping on my stomach and being able to bend at the waist, lol! :)

We are getting more and more excited to meet you little one!

Foto Friday - Our Week

Matthew goes to speech class twice a week.  I drop him off for the hour an a half class.  He has to take his own backpack and I must say he looks adorable wearing it.  I had to get a picture. The backpack looks so big on him.

On Tuesdays we head to the library for story time with our friends.  

Kate and her friends, Gwendolyn and Conrad

BFF's Gwendolyn and Kate

Katherine and Matthew love going to their ECFE classes!  I took some pictures from class on Monday.  They are learning about animals!

Animal painting!

Caging in the zoo animals.

Princess Kate!  She's been rocking this crown everywhere.  But I am sad to report that both of her crowns have now broke and I can't find another at the store.  Bummed because she looks so cute in it.

Circle Time

Class picture

Their teacher did a pretty good job of getting all of those 3 year olds to sit nicely for a picture!

Bedtime Singing

Sometimes after we read the twins their bedtime stories, we leave the light on for a little while longer so they can sit and read to themselves before falling asleep.  I had left the room and while I was cleaning up toys, I heard this cute little voice singing the ABC's as she was reading her new Eye Spy Alphabet book.  A book that she absolutely loves and reads to herself or asks us to read to her over and over again!  She just loves alphabet!!!!

I also love these moments when they are in their room talking back and forth with each other.  It's fun to listen to what kinds of conversations they have and makes me so happy to see the friendship they have and will continue to have. 

I love it after Kate finishing singing the first time she laughs and says, "I did it!"  She's so cute! :)

26 Weeks - Baby #3

This little one has made it to 26 weeks on Saturday, April 5th! 

The baby at 26 weeks now weighs about 1 2/3 pounds and measures 14 inches (about the size of a scallion) from head to heel.

Yes, can you believe Kate actually posed for another pregnancy photo shoot?!  I asked her and she was more than willing and quickly ran into our previous photo spot.  I love how her Sofia the First doll also made the pictures. :)

Kate likes to tell us that she also has a baby in her tummy!

We asked Matthew what we should name the baby if it's a boy and he replied, "Baby Kate".

I heard the baby's heart beat several times this past week.  He/she has been ranging between 140-152 bpm.

Last weekend I was experiencing more contractions throughout the day.  A lot of those came in the evenings which was a typical pattern with my uterus with the twins' pregnancy.  Even after laying down and drinking lots and lots of water the contractions were picking up to be as much as 6 in one hour a few different times.  Because of their frequency I called my Obgyn.  I then went in to see her and to have a Fetal fibronectin test done.  This test is done to see if I were to go into labor within the next 2 weeks.  Luckily, the test came back negative so the chances of that are less than 1%!  I also had another ultra sound done that same day to check my cervical length just in case these contractions were causing it to shorten.  My cervix still measured around 4 c.m. give or take and is still closed/not dilated. 

To help minimize my contractions I now take nifedipine on an as needed basis every 6 hours.  I was on this drug around the clock the whole time while on bed rest with the twins.  So...I'm very familiar with it!  

During this ultra sound I did get to see Baby Willms and he/she has grown so much since last time at 20 weeks.  Everything looked great - checked blood flow, body parts, and major organs.  I actually got to see Baby W. yawn!  It was so cool! 

Here are a few pictures from that ultra sound:

We're so happy to hear everything continues to grow normally with our little baby and he/she is able to stay put this far!

The baby's movements are getting stronger now where I can now see my stomach move up and down from the movements. 

24 WEEKS!

Yes!!!  Yay!  Yippee!!!  I can't express to you how excited I am that I've made it to 24 weeks!  As a normal pregnant women.  Up walking around.  Not confined to my side in a bed.  Free to roam around!

This past Saturday, I made it to the 24 weeks mark!  By this time today I was admitted onto bed rest at United Hosptial.  I would be a week into it already.  I'm thrilled and relived that so far we aren't feeling those same emotions we felt at this point in the twins' pregnancy.  

Last Friday, I had my last cervix ultrasound with our high risk doctors.  Thankfully we received amazing news that all is going well and my cervix is remaining nice and long at 4 cm.  Praise God for listening to our prayers and answering!

I know we still have 4 more months to go until our baby's July due date a lot could still change, but for right now we are celebrating these mini-milestones along the way.  Baby steps, taking it week by week.  And remembering to take it easy and drink lots of water to control the contractions I do have during the day.

This past week I also had my regular every 4 week check-up with our regular Obgyn.  I got to listen to little Baby Willms' heartbeat again.  Always a wonderful sound!  He/she's heart was beating at 140 bpm.  

I think the twins are starting to understand Mama has a baby in her tummy.  To help not put pressure on my cervix I am not suppose to lift the kids much (which is very hard to do!!).  We are constantly telling them, "Mama can't lift you because of the baby in my tummy."  The other day I over heard Kate tell Matthew, in a very motherly voice, "No, Matthew.  Mama can't give you a piggy back ride.  She has a baby in her tummy."

Matthew also asked while I was getting ready in the morning if the baby could come out and play. :)

I was asking Kate what we should name the baby.  I was going through several different name ideas and each name she would say, "No, not that name."  So I asked if she had any better names and she replied back, "Hmmm, Baby 24."  Lol!  That's a good name if I were having a litter of children! 

Do you like my little photo bomber in the background. :)

Joy

It is evenings like these that bring pure joy to my heart!

Practicing for their Daddy/Daughter dance....with a little boy tip toeing dancing around. :)