One year.

Today is a sad reminder of how far we have come.

One year ago today, we lost our first baby from IUI #3.

One year later, we are 22 weeks pregnant with our twin boys.

What a difference one year makes.

(Miss you, Little Buddy)

Oh, so much has happened!

21 weeks and 5 days.

Well, I am taking a break from the craziness for a minute to update!

1. We have sold our house. We have to be out my August 1st.

2. We have an accepted offer on another house. We should be moving in August 10th.

3. We will need to spend the "in-between" days 100 miles North at my in-laws with both our cats.

4. We are in mad packing mode to be out my next Sunday! Ahhh!

5. I'm seriously preggo!

So sorry, I haven't updated in so long but has been nearly impossible to have time for anything.

But I can't disappoint this week with my banana babies!

Week 20/21 stats!

Weight Gain: I have gained about 13-15 pounds since the FET.

Cravings: I have finally had some cheeto puffs last week. But my main cravings consist of melon (any kind), ice water and a good Coke with lots of ice.

Nauseous: I get nauseous when I need to eat.

Belly touches: DH is my constant belly toucher since we have been busier than ever lately.

Feeling: Tired and achy, I've had some really painful pains on my right side where I can't even think about moving my right leg without excruciating pain. DH and I went to the ER for it on Wednesday night-- and they couldn't figure out what was wrong--story of my life. I thought it may have been my kidney stones acting up again, but it doesn't seem to be the case. The doctor wrote me a Rx for vicodin but I am afraid to take it, despite the fact he says Women do all the time. I'm not convinced. I told him I paid over Thirty-Thousand dollars for these babies and I;m not screwing it up for some vicodin.

Emotional state: Stressed about the move, but happy to have the house sold and to have pretty much decided upon our next home-- pending on the results of our inspection--even though it is a new home we've decided to have one anyways. But as soon as we get to move in, I will try to get the nursery completed asap! :)

Movement: They move a lot. It can get annoying sometimes with two of them in there! :) But DH has felt it a few times-- but we can't seem to time it right on a regular basis yet. No massive punches yet.

Maternity clothes: I'm feeling fairly well stocked for now, although I know I'll need a few new things once the colder weather arrives. I also bought two nursing night gowns today from Zulily-- my current obsession.

Nesting: House found! All brand new appliances purchased! I am pumped! The hard thing is going to be controlling my spending on new items for the entire house. But man it's so hard. I'd really like to get a bedroom set for our Master bedroom since we are still using a mismatched one I've had since I was in 2nd grade! In addition, I'd love a set for the guest room since my in-laws will most likely be staying with us for a bit after the Boys are born. Well, that and a new couch and dining room table. Yeah, nothing cheap about a new place! :)

I would just love to be able to show off our schanzzy home during my baby shower that will take place at our new house. We figure that is a good idea since we don't know if I will be on bedrest during that time or not.

Baby purchases: I MUST STOP LOOKING AT ZULILY. I am obsessed. Seriously, I have a problem! What haven't I bought for them?

Baby gifts: I received a great gift from our current neighbor. A few thing from our registry at "Babies 'R Us": the two Cookie Monster bath hoodies, nail clippers, hair brush and comb set and a bottle of Aveeno baby wash-- BATH TIME! :)

Half baked for a twin Momma!

Week 19 stats! My mango babies!!!

Weight Gain: About 10 pounds now since FET. (Lost about 8 during the first few and have since gained it back and then 10 more!) I've been gaining about 1-3 pound per week.

Cravings: Decaf Iced tea, Colas, Cheeto puffs (still haven't eaten any!), any melon.

Nauseous: Pretty darn rare.

Belly touches: No one new recently. I enjoy DH's tummy touches the most anyways. :)

Feeling: Worn out easily. I hate stairs. These extra pounds and belly pulling forward are hard on my body.

Boy or girl: We know they are boys! Two little boys. It's been way too tempting to shop!

Emotional state: Excited put a bit stressed. We have accepted an offer (A low-ass, cheap offer) on our house. Can't believe it actually. But we are still waiting for the inspector to come next week Tuesday to be able to finalize everything. So in the meantime we have been frantically looking for homes we like since we have a "move-out" date of August 1st!

We also have the four most adorable 4-5 week old kittens in our house right now. I know some people may think I am crazy, but I can never turn any animal away. Just can't. So we have been taking care of four feral and VERY well behaved kittens for almost a week now. Problem is DH and I see this differently. He is VERY worried/upset that I will end up with toxoplasmosis. I am not as worried based on the fact that we have fostered feral and domestic cats since 2006. So I figure, if I hadn't gotten it by then, what are the odds of getting it for the first time now??? Either way, I understand his concerns to be on the safe side. So for the last couple days DH has been in with them exclusively and I still make the food, etc. before we tale them to the Humane Society tomorrow to go out for fostering. But I tell you, it's very hard. They are so dang precious! See photo of 'Moostache' below :D

"Who's a big mess after they eat?!?!?!"(By the way, that is DH's hairy arm, not mine).

Movement: I'm pretty sure I can feel them moving around a bit and doing some light punching exercises. But nothing DH has been able to feel yet. I can't wait for him to feel them!

Maternity clothes: Haven't bought any this week-- but I will need some bigger underwear and bras very soon!

Nesting: We are looking for the new house-- pretty much buying it for the kids. I'd say that one Hell of a nesting project :)

Baby purchases: I swear I am tempted to buy things every day. I just bought more cute boy things today on Zulily. I LOVE that place! I believe I bought several onesies, two pairs of shoes, a few cute little boy hats (fedora style :) and a maternity shirt for my ever-expanding belly.

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th, everyone!

Today brings happy thoughts and a bit of sadness to DH and I. Today we are pregnant with two boys who are coming this Fall! But today is also the due date for the baby (babies) we lost due to my second ectopic pregnancy back in November 2010. They were cute little buddies, weren't they? :)

It's a comforting thought to know that now we are pregnant. It makes me think back on the very emotional and dark days we had last year and how wonderful it is that we are successfully pregnant now. I can't wait to meet our baby boys this November!!! Mommy and Daddy have waited for SO long! :)

In other, lighter news, my mind has been racing lately with the thought of actually DELIVERING these Boys!

So of course the fireworks in my head have collected themselves into bursts of energy when looking into nursery inspirations. Here are a few of my faves. (Keep in mind, DH wants the furniture to be expresso brown and NOT white). Thoughts???

This one from last time. . . .

Currently, DH and I have started the search for items that match each of our favorite colors: Green and Orange. I found a jumping off point from this poster on the "Land of Nod" site.

Although I love the colors on their own, with the expresso brown furniture I feel it needs some brightening up. Perhaps using white and silver/metal accents in the room?

I also love a grey wall color, one with a hint of brown/taupe.

Do I need something else to lighten it up? Like a splash of blue or yellow? Or is that too much?

I want the room to look fresh, bright and tasteful without overstimulating babies that should be sleeping! :)

Hmmm. . . Good thing I've got a few more weeks ahead of me.

Suggestions greatly appreciated! :)

Again, Happy fourth!

18 weeks preggo with TWO BOYS!

My bad, everyone.

I had intended to post on Sunday after we had told everyone and I could make a weekly update. But with the Open House, every day showings and constant cleaning before and after--not to mention hunting down the cats to take in the car for our hour+ wait-- I have not had the time. I can only imagine what this will be like hen we have the dang kids-- Oh did I mention-- they're both BOYS.

Holy cow, eh?

DH and I were convinced we had one of each in there. No idea why we thought that, but we did. Perhaps it was because our perinatologist was so sure one of them was a boy back at 12 weeks and didn't know on the other one yet. Clearly, Baby A was not cooperating then--and still wasn't at the last check-up.

We had a LONG ultrasound with not the nicest tech doing it. At one point she actually said, "This baby is not nice at all." Umm. Excuse me. Perhaps you're the one who can't do their job-- babies are babies--they do whatever the Hell they want.

Anyways, We got to see the two again and despite Baby A's awkward position (they were right on top of one another-- each head next to the other's feet) we got some pretty good 3-D photos of them. (Soon to come when DH scans them for me).

What was a little concerning is that Baby A's placenta is on my cervix. Not completely covering the whole thing, but enough that the Doctor put me on "pelvic rest" until we see some change. Her hope is that as the uterus expands it will continue to move away from the cervix and not more onto it. Yeah, lets hope. A placenta previa will put me on bedrest for sure!

In other news-- I hate going to OB appointments. They are completely pointless when you have a perinatologist. I go in and pay to have her find the heart beats for two seconds and then leave. Why do I waste my time and money for that? Within a few days I see the specialist and get the king of all thorough ultrasounds. So someone please explain to me what the point is. I am a lost and confused preggo lady.

The babies look pretty good from what I can tell. Baby A had a heartbeat of 153 b/m and weighed about 8 ounces. Baby B's heart rate was 142 b/m and weighed about 7 ounces.

Now for my weekly stats.

Weight Gain: About 8 pounds now. I seem to be gaining 2-3 pounds per week. I feel like that is a lot. My books say at my weight I only need to gain 1-1.5 pounds per week. So I am going to try and be even more careful about what I'm putting in.

Here's my belly at 18 weeks. . .

Cravings: Teas, Cheetos puffs (although I haven't had any), gazpacho.

Nauseous: Just the occasional one when I begin to eat in the AM.

Belly touches: DH, friend, fellow art teacher and my Uncle Joe talked right to them on Friday when we told him and my Dad they are two boys. (My Dad is an identical twin). His twin Brother, My Uncle, is crazy mind you-- doesn't everyone have at least one crazy Uncle? He pretty much grabbed my belly and yells something like, "Hey babies! We are gonna part-aayy!"

Feeling: Good Lord. The right side is still driving me nuts. I also don't feel that "Second trimester burst of energy" that people talk about. Yes, I am less nauseous, but I certainly don;t feel like my old self. Maybe it's a multiples thing.

Boy or girl: Sorry, no blue cake to reveal. We decided against it since my parents couldn't come on the same day as DH's parents. We ended up telling them both separately, which was totally fine. I am pretty sure DH's Mom wanted at least one girl, but I'm sure she'll get over it.

Emotional state: Up and down. I feel kinda bummed sometimes--but I think it's mostly because I am bored. I'd love to clean this house from top to bottom and decorate the nursery--but I can't. Not on;y do I not have the energy, but our hope is that we will sell this place and find a new home with a much better room and layout. So there isn't much point in becoming too invested or involved in designing one here until we know for sure that we have to stay put.

Movement: I feel sudden pains and jolts but nothing I can say is for sure a baby movement.

Maternity clothes: My new maternity swim suits are pretty sweet! I got both of these from 'A Pea in the Pod' on sale.

Nesting: Again. Awaiting our house sale for most of it. However, I did organize the downstairs closet on what used to be my office. It now holds all of our baby things. I could stand in there at stare at it all damn day.

Baby purchases: Oh geeze. DH and I had a Kohls shopping marathon last Friday after we knew they were two Boys. We pretty much bought everything in the store that we wanted--getting quite a few things on clearance. In addition, we went rummaging that same day and found a lot of new things for super cheap. Since then I have looked in the clearance of every baby store buying the good deals. I have also washed each item, bought blue velvet hangers and size separator tags to use in the closet.

My problem now is trying not to boy every cute piece of clothing I see that is on sale or clearance. But MAN! It's so hard not to now that we now there are two little Boys coming this Fall!

Week 17 (and 2 days...)

The babies are as big as Onions. They weigh about 5 1/2 ounces and are over 5 inches in length!

DH and I are starting to come to terms with the fact that these babies are for real. Now that I am on Summer break (and a 4-5 year Mommy break) I find myself thinking about babies all damn day long. And it's GREAT! I can't wait to decorate the nursery-- choosing each item, making sure I got the best thing possible for them. But there is SO much to choose from! Depending upon if we have boys or girls or a boy and a girl, will determine what color the cribs and furniture is-- therefore dictating the entire color scheme of the room! So for now, at least until Thursday, I will have to hold off on all of my decorating plans. Oh yes, and we need to sell this house first!

This one's pretty cute though!

Current Stats:

Weight Gain: About 5 pounds since FET. But of course it went down when I was sick in first tri.

Cravings: Popsicles, ICE cold water, and organic applesauce.

Nauseous: Kind of gone for the most part. Just a few occasional bouts.

Belly touches: DH, as always. But my BFF from childhood also gave it rub when she saw me on Saturday. Funny story: As I was choosing my 'slo fe' at Walgreen's today, a man that looked like Charlie Daniels (cowboy hat and all) told me I had a "beautiful bulge". I assumed he was referring to my bump.

Feeling: Still having morning and evening pain on each side--especially the right side. I hope it isn't kidney stone related. I have two stones in my right kidney after all.

Boy or girl: If babies cooperate, we should know by Thursday evening! BUT we may keep it a secret until the weekend. We are hoping to have a 'cake' reveal party for our parents this weekend. Photos will follow if we do! :)

Emotional state: Now that I am on Summer vacation--and frankly a 5 year or so break from teaching-- I feel great! If Wisconsin's weather would improve, I could enjoy more relaxing times at the pool.

Movement: They could be making some movements that I detect--but so far I have pushed them all into the 'gas' and 'bloating' category-- 'cause of course I have that too!

Maternity clothes: Other than my pre-pregnancy stretchy pants and a few tops that are loose, I pretty much exclusively live in maternity wear. I actually have to go purchase a new swim suit for the Summer. My bump is getting BIG! I should post some photos. . .

Nesting: Had a bunch of people come to look at our house already. Two showings seem like there still may be some life to them, but we still have another 3 this week and an open house on Sunday. Pretty much everyday of the week (sometimes several times during the day) we are taking the cats out of the house and trying to figure out what to do with ourselves. Someone PLEASE buy this place!

Baby purchases: Ordered a bunch of cute onesies and baby T's form "Threadless". DH and I love their shirts. The outfits are pretty gender neutral and 'hip' either way.

Here's one of our faves:

My favorite Summer dress.

As today is the first day of my Summer Vacation-- and long time 'step away' from teaching, I thought I'd post my favorite Summer dress that I am wearing today!

I love it! It has pockets, adjustable straps and plenty of baby belly room. I feel like the skinny chick in the photo is pushing OUT her belly even more, making the dress look kinda weird on her-- but I swear, it is extremely comfy and cute. :)

Bought at 'A Pea in the Pod'.